By 10:30 there had been twelve reports of gossip in the school halls and four of them had been cruel in nature, six neutral, two supportive. Rachel knew that was only a small sampling of the stirrings running through the school, but the fact that more than half were unsupportive or unopinionated on the matter made Rachel nauseous. How could her peers, people she saw every day, not be outraged on Quinn's behalf? How could they not be up and arms against the abuse a girl their age had suffered?

It made Rachel lose some of her faith in people. She could only imagine how Quinn felt, day in day out.

The glee club was more fired up than ever after they started their individual missions. They had all cared as much as one might for someone they only vaguely knew but believed didn't deserve what she'd been through, but hearing some of the vitriol and ambivalence had lit a fire in them. It was not only a matter of protecting Quinn's rep, it was the principle of the thing driving them. That worked as well as anything for Rachel. Only she, Santana, and Britt had true investment in Quinn as a person. If the fury of the act itself was enough to fuel her friends that's what mattered.

By 12:30, Puck had punched a boy and Kurt and Mercedes had gotten into a screaming match with some sophomores in the middle of the west corridor hallway.

By 2:30, things were rapidly falling apart. Puck, Finn, and Santana had all been sent to Principal Figgins's office for fighting, there had been three more shouting matches, and Sue Sylvester had told five students they were suspended and chased them out of the school without checking in with Figgins.

The mood in the glee club choir room was less than upbeat when Rachel entered that afternoon.

No one could quite meet Rachel's eyes as she entered and sat down in her customary seat. Brittany and Santana weren't in the room yet and Rachel sat alone at the front. Rachel knew her friends, she knew they weren't mad or frustrated or second guessing themselves in their silence. They were ashamed that they hadn't done better. Even the more contrarian of her friends like Tina and Puck looked upset with themselves. Things had gone wrong on their very first day of the fight.

What were they going to do?

Mr. Schuester entered the room before Santana and Brittany managed to arrive, his usually tight curls out of place as if he'd run his hand through his hair dozens of times, his face with a flabbergasted look about it like he'd been dropped into water and he wasn't confident in his swimming skills. He met eyes with Rachel briefly before swallowing and looking away. Rachel scowled. Coward, she thought before shaking her head and looking down at her knees. That was unkind. He was just as thrown as she was. Mr. Schue had his faults and his biases but he had always been kind to Quinn in his own way, had always believed in her as a student, and how many of the teachers could even claim that.

Mr. Schuester stood in front of them, quiet and pale, for long enough that Rachel almost shot to her feet and stomped out because she had things to do, when finally he spoke. "I'm sorry. I don't have words. Usually when that happens I turn to song to help me, but today…" He trailed off. Rachel looked at him again and noticed the shimmering in his eyes. Her own eyes widened in shock.

"Mr. Schue?" Finn ventured.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry. I was saying, I usually turn to song when I don't know how else to express myself, but today I'm not going to do that. Today what I am going to do is say… I am so proud of you. Of all of you." Mr. Schuester's voice shook as it rose a notch.

Rachel gripped the sides of her chair with all her strength.

"Why?"

The word wavered in the air for a moment before Rachel realized it was her who had uttered it. She could feel all eyes on her, boring into her back. Mr. Schuester looked at her and did not look away this time. "Why?" she said again, hot tears beginning to streak down her cheeks. "I didn't help her in time. The whole school is talking about Quinn as if she's some hot topic and not a living breathing human being who goes to school here and has for almost three whole years, who none of them bothered to get to know. I can't stop them talking. No one can. We got into fights today to try to defend her and that just made more people talk, and most of them aren't even kind or decent, and we failed, we're all failing and Quinn doesn't have anyone, ANYONE, why is this happening, how could- how-"

Rachel was sobbing into her hands before she could stop herself. She had cried since finding out but nothing like this, the type of sobbing where one loses control of their entire body as adrenaline suddenly flees, leaving a husk of emptiness that tears rush to fill. The type of crying that hurts, throat raw and chest constricting and muscles tense in every part of the body. She had failed. She had failed in the before and she had failed in the moment and she was failing in the after, every single movement she made was failing Quinn. And there was nothing, nothing that she could do about it.

Arms wrapped around her from all sides and Rachel grabbed hold and pulled them to her with all her strength. She had no idea who was hugging her. She didn't care. Soon she was surrounded, her face pressed into fabric as snot and tears mixed and made her cheek adhere to whoever she was clinging to. Rachel sobbed for all she was worth, the world shattering at her feet with the force of her shudders.

When she could finally form a coherent thought she was able to place who was holding her.

Santana. Brittany. Mercedes. Kurt. Finn. Tina.

She hadn't even realized San and Britt had come into the glee room.

It was Mercedes's shirt her cheek was stuck to and as she pulled away the cotton clung and peeled away with a sharp snap.

Mr. Schuester stood with Puck, Mike, Sam, Artie and Matt just outside of the hug. He was crying, too. Other glee members crowded around, the ones who weren't her friends but were her people, her community, all looking on with worry and alarm.

"I'm sorry," Rachel croaked out. She wasn't apologizing to any of them and they knew it.

"Mija, you have nothing to be sorry for." Santana said, the barest of snaps to her tone.

Brittany leaned in and put her forehead against Rachel's. "You are the most amazing."

"I'm not," Rachel said, shaking her head. "I hurt her so badly and I can't fix it."

"You didn't hurt her," Mercedes said, her hand squeezing Rachel's shoulder. "At least not in the way you're thinking. And this ain't something you can fix, Rachel. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true."

"You can help," Mr. Schuester said. Despite her rocky relationship with him, Rachel's entire body reacted with something like relief at his words, desperate for an adult to tell her how to deal, how to do this. "You've already helped. I have a few suggestions, education rather than retaliation, but that can be another discussion. You are managing under the weight of circumstances no one should have to deal with. Not you, not Quinn. All I ask is that you go easy on yourself. I know that Rachel Berry has always been able to do what she sets her mind to, but this isn't necessarily something with clear goal posts. You do what you can, and let others do what they can, and hope it's enough."

"And if it's not? What if there isn't enough, not in this whole entire world?" Rachel asked. Her whole body felt heavy and she leaned into her friends. They held her up.

"Oh, Rachel. There is enough."

.

Rachel left glee club early with a handful of her closest friends and they headed to the Lima Bean for some cake pops and tea. Rachel argued that it wasn't a productive use of her time until Santana and Brittany had pinned her on both sides and walked her out of the club and to her car. She had acquiesced and driven to the Lima Bean when Santana had threatened to yank the steering wheel out of her grip and drive them there her "own goddamn self".

Mercedes, Kurt, and Finn followed behind them and the six crooners grabbed themselves a table near the back, away from most prying eyes and curiosity. Rachel's favorite barista was on duty and was already halfway through making her order before Rachel went up to the counter. She smiled gratefully and took her soy chai tea and vegan cake pop and sat, her usually ramrod straight posture slumped forward so that her chin nearly hit the table as she put her cup down and clutched the stick of the pop in her hand.

"What are we here for?" Rachel asked when the other five had finally returned to the table with their orders. "It's a waste of time when we have so much to do."

"That's the thing, Rach," Mercedes said as she leaned back and took a swig of her coffee. "There isn't anything to do right now."

Rachel sat up, nostrils flaring, and she began to speak but Mercedes spoke over her. "Ahp, ahp, ahp, no girlie. It's true. I know that kills you, but there is literally nothing else for you to do right now except wait and see."

"That is NOT true. I could be getting our sectors ready for tomorrow, pinging the cheerleaders to see who we can trust, I could be-"

"No," Mercedes said again, more firm.

"It wasn't working, R," Santana said glumly. Her elbows were on the table and her cheeks in her hands and she glared at her own coffee as if she was sure it was poison. "I wanted it just as bad as you, but we weren't doing anything but making people talk more. Not to mention the fact that Frankenteen over here couldn't keep his hands to himself."

"Look who's talking,"Finn whined, but he was looking just as dejected as everyone else. Santana didn't even react to his rebuttal. "Puck got into more fights than us, anyhow."

"Guilty consciences grow fists," Brittany sighed. Rachel shot Brittany a look but Santana hadn't seemed to notice. Rachel was furious with Puck, she couldn't look him in the eye and she could barely contain her ire in his presence, but Santana still didn't know about Puck's knowledge that Russell hit his daughter and his failure to tell anyone. It was the only thing keeping the boy alive, that and the pragmatic distance he had been keeping from Rachel and Santana as he tried his best to make up for his mistakes. She hated Puck right now but that didn't mean she wanted Santana going to jail for murder one.

"Mercedes and I have been talking, Rach," Kurt began and Rachel winced when she heard his airy diplomatic voice and realized he was about to say something that she would not like. "I understand that you want to do something. I want to, too, and I'm not in any way as attached to Quinn as you are so I can't imagine how you must be feeling in all this. But Rachel… this might be a case where you have to take a step back and let others move some pieces around before you can join back in."

"NO!" Rachel burst out, slamming her hands against the table and causing people to look their way in alarm. "I refuse to accept that!"

"Not accepting it doesn't mean it's not true!" Kurt retorted. "But if you're so goddamn determined to make things worse for Quinn, by all means!"

"Hummel, back the fuck off," Santana growled.

"No, Santana, I don't think I will!" Kurt spat back, surprising both Santana and a nervous looking Finn into leaning back. "Rachel, your heart is in the right place. I know it, everyone KNOWS it. But you are off base with this one. This beginning crusade isn't helping, it's drawing attention, and the fact that it's so fresh and raw right now for Quinn's best line of defense is making sure that defense becomes dangerously offensive dangerously fast, creating a space where people who don't know what's going on are going to default to the group of people not attacking them. It sucks, I know. It's a messed up fucking situation. But Rach, honey, you have GOT to pull back and take some breaths or this is going to get away from everyone. INCLUDING and especially Quinn."

Rachel could have exploded with rage, but as she processed his words she looked around at her friend and… all of them besides Kurt where either avoiding her gaze or looking at her seriously and Rachel realized they all agreed.

Betrayers! Scoundrels! Rachel was about to surge to her feet and stomp out when Brittany said, softly, "It's not fair that you're right. You shouldn't be and we should be able to fix it."

Sadness washed over Rachel, an overwhelming wave crashing against her and taking her feet out from under her. That simple statement by Brittany… Kurt was right. He shouldn't be. It wasn't fair.

"I can't not do anything," she murmured to the table. "I can't, I can't."

"You can do things, Rach," Kurt said. His voice had softened again and he held a hand out over the table. Rachel took it with shaking fingers. "You can do so many things. You can do some reading up on what things Quinn might need and be looking for when she starts talking to you again. You can help your dads figure out what they need to do to help Quinn and work on making some household changes to make Quinn feel as welcome as possible. You can be there to calmly talk about this stuff if it comes up at school, but not go out looking for fights. You can be there for Santana and Brittany."

"I'm fine," Santana snapped.

"That is the world's biggest lie," Mercedes said. "You and Britt are struggling. That's okay. We're here for you."

Rachel looked at her friends, her two best friends in the whole world. Santana was clenching her hands on the table and red splotches were blooming on her cheeks as she tried to hold back tears. Brittany was staring at Rachel and on the surface looked put together in comparison, but there was a hollowness there that Rachel had seen glimpses of, that seemed to be growing in her eyes as they days went by. It was bad, really bad, and Rachel had seen but been so laser focused on fixing things for Quinn that she had ignored it.

Rachel stood and walked between Brittany and Santana's chairs, draping her arms around their shoulders and leaning in to hug them. She heard Santana start to cry and Brittany leaned into her embrace.

.

Quinn unpacked her belongings into the drawers and closet, put her book on the nightstand, and then went back to sleep.

She slept like the dead until she heard pairs of feet clomping up the stairs that paused at her door before going towards Rachel's room. Quinn could hazard a guess that Santana and Brittany had returned to the Berry household to see if she had emerged. It had taken months to shake Santana and Brittany last time. How long would it take this time? Hopefully not quite as long, since her friendship with them had been so short lived this time around.

She had already decided she wasn't going to keep them.

Not Brittany or Santana. Certainly not Rachel.

Why would she? And how could she? At least with Rachel it was clear cut. Rachel had betrayed her, exposed her shame for all the world to see. Brittany and Santana, well. She was saving them the curse of being the friend of the girl who was raped by her own father. Saving them from the whispers and the looks. From the questions.

Quinn guesstimated it would take maybe a month, a month and a half before Santana and Britt backed off again, realizing she wasn't worth the effort. Santana had always had one foot out the door just in case and she'd pull Brittany along with her. That was good. A clean break.

Rachel was complicated by the fact that she now lived in the Berry household for the next short while. Her eighteenth birthday would see her gone but until then Rachel would be doing her Rachel darndest to talk to her and that just wasn't going to happen. She understood that Rachel had wanted to help her and that in her own goody two shoes way she thought she had. But telling Quinn's secret also told Quinn that Rachel had assumed she hadn't thought of going to the cops, of spilling the beans on her own father. Of course she had! Quinn wasn't fucking stupid. She'd thought of it countless times. What Rachel didn't know, wasn't privy to, was that there was nothing of Quinn to save. Nothing redeemable, salvageable. Just a girl who had already melted away in her cocoon, waiting to be reborn a stranger of a butterfly when college came and she could fly away forever.

What a rotten thing Rachel had done, forcing the world to deal with Quinn Fabray.

This year has been rough. Know that I am so grateful for everyone who has stuck with this fic, and my heart goes out to all of you and all of the Glee fandom. Rest in peace Naya.