Glee and all related characters and places are owned by Fox - I just make them dance for my own amusement.

First of all, for those reading The Stones Unturned - don't fret, there will be more. While that fic is rigidly tied to the show's canon, this one is not. Secondly, yup, it's based on Iron Man. Have a gold star. Well, I say based on it - 'inspired' would be a better word. While I'm using a lot of the ideas and themes from the Iron Man Movieverse, I will NOT be using the plot in any way. So no, Santana will not be getting kidnapped, build a suit of armor to escape, and become a superhero.

However, if you're in the mood for something a little different to the average post-series AU, read on...

~xxx~

Brittany Susan Pierce was an average young woman in every way. She had a normal job, normal friends, and a normal life. She drives a normal car, lives in a normal apartment, and has normal hobbies. And her cat reads her diary to quell his cigarette cravings. And she still believes in Santa Claus. And fairies.

So in actual fact, it would be more accurate to say that on the outside, Brittany appeared to be an average young woman. Who sometimes wears leg warmers on her arms and often skips from place to place.

Alright, so she's not average or normal in any way possible.

Ever since graduating from William McKinley High School, Brittany had worked in her local library. It was hardly the career she had planned or hoped for, but she enjoyed it all the same. People often complimented her; after all, it must take some serious brain power to remember just where all those books go. Truth be told, when she had first landed the job, Brittany had thought the Dewey Decimal System involved numbers that got wet overnight. In actuality, Brittany worked in the children's section of the library. As a child, she had loved having stories read to her, and as many of her friends would testify – Brittany had never really stopped being a child. So now, every day, she would take her seat by the window, surrounded by all the colourful oversized books, and read to visiting kids. Sometimes it was school visits, others it was simply children left there by parents wanting five minutes of peace and quiet while they browsed for themselves, but either way – Brittany loved it.

In fact, the position hadn't even existed until she had applied for it. She had been visiting the library herself, returning a book she had hoped would curb Lord Tubbington's smoking habit – it didn't – when she overheard a child complaining to his mother that he needed help reading a book he had picked up. His mother had simply snapped that she didn't have time for it. And so, having been seeking employment for over two months, the blonde had invented Brittany's Reading Corner. It hadn't been a hard sell to the library staff – they were glad to have a way of keeping the children from noisily running around and destroying some of their more valuable literature.

She had of course planned to go to university, but the stress of choosing the right course, coupled with her less than stellar grades, had put paid to that. She had in fact always wanted to be a dancer; it was the only thing she truly excelled at, and it had been her dream to light up the stage. But even then, her lack of academic prowess had held her back. What made it even worse was that one of her closest friends, Mike, had been in the same position – only his grades were good enough and now he was working as an instructor at a nearby dance studio, with interest shown from several larger productions. It was with a forced smile that Brittany listened to his tales of meetings with talent scouts and the like. She would never state just how bitter she was, but it seemed to be something of an open secret anyway.

As for her other friends, Rachel Berry had of course followed her dreams – Broadway. The speed at which she had made it startled even those closest to her, but she had remained surprisingly humble. They had often theorised that having actually made it big on the stage, Rachel's insecurities had subsided, making her for more agreeable than in the past. Tina had always been less sure of her career path, deciding to help Mike fulfil his dreams first and foremost while she settled on what she wanted to do. As it turned out, she had been helping Mike practice on the same day as one of the talent scout visits, and was quickly snapped up by a tap dance group. She had been surprised, to say the least, but had run with it. Mercedes was currently working as a vocal coach at their old high school, but it seemed that bright lights were on her horizon too, with interest being shown by several record companies.

And then there was Kurt. The man was practically born for show business. Having initially shared Rachel's Broadway dreams, Kurt had taken a less than surprising side-step into fashion, and was quickly becoming the hottest new thing in the world of designer clothing. He was already in high demand, and split his time between costume designs for Rachel's shows, and tailoring the rich and famous.

Despite her bright and bubbly personality, Brittany couldn't help but feel strange surrounded by a group of friends who were either in the process of – or already had – made a name for themselves. Yet there she was, reading to children in a library. The last piece of excitement she had had at work was when a visiting school group had included a child so hyperactive that he had somehow ended up on the roof.

The loneliness didn't help either. Tina and Mike had been together since high school, and their continued relationship was hardly surprising. Rachel had met Finn Hudson – star quarterback – on a talk show, and the two had struck up an unlikely romance. Mercedes was dating a rap star – Brittany had personally vetted him to make sure he was 'one of the clean ones' – and it was through him that her music career appeared to be taking flight. Kurt had a long-term boyfriend, but Brittany had only ever met him once, and didn't even know what his occupation was – other than it kept him very busy and away for a lot of the time. But even then, they were so solid that Kurt didn't seem to mind. And once again, Brittany was the odd one out. She was alone. She had dated a few guys and the occasional girl at high school, but her only long-ish relationship had been with Artie Abrams. Said relationship had quickly gone down the drain when Artie had discovered Brittany's bisexuality, and like a lot of guys, assumed it meant Brittany wanted both a man and a woman at the same time. Brittany was so baffled by how much it threatened people, and had withdrawn rather quickly from the dating scene.

She now shared an apartment with Mike and Tina, though it as becoming increasingly rare for all three of them to be living there at the same time, given the others' commitments. Rachel and Mercedes still visited relatively often, though Rachel would often bemoan the extreme measures she had to take to not be followed – the last thing they needed was paparazzi knocking at the door trying to find Broadway's latest star. Lord Tubbington hadn't enjoyed the move from Brittany's house, but was now settled. Her friends had given mixed reactions when they had first moved in together and discovered that Brittany's cat was only four years old, meaning he was going to be around for a while yet. But they had all adapted, and now he was just another part of their dysfunctional family. Kurt wasn't able to visit often, and most of Brittany's contact with him was through the internet. But they still made the effort to talk at least once a week, just chatting as they had done in the old days. Kurt was of course unable to talk about what or who he was working with at any given time, but Brittany always enjoyed trying to trip him up. It reminded her of the good old days – the two of them sat there in their pajamas talking random gossip. But whenever the video chats ended, the reality that those days were over crept back into Brittany's mind, and was not something she relished.

But despite everything, she was happy. Her friends were still there for her, and her job paid well enough that she didn't have to sponge off of her roommates. All she really wanted was a chance to shine herself, rather than simply admiring her friends' success from afar. But, as such an opportunity seemed unlikely to present itself in the near future, she was content to continue as always; finding the silver lining in everything.

~xxx~

Two weeks after the 'schoolboy on the roof' incident, Brittany strolled into work as usual, humming a spontaneous tune as she went, bobbing her head along with it. She was rather surprised when she found one of the senior staff members heading straight towards her, looking rather flustered.

"There you are!" she snapped, instantly wiping the blonde's cheerful smile from her face. Fearing she had done something wrong, Brittany paused and looked around, as if trying to find some clue as to what she had done. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"

"But…I start at nine every morning…" Brittany replied slowly, brow furrowed. "Have the clocks changed again? Because you know how bad I-"

"I left you three messages telling you we'd need you in early," the elderly woman said waspishly. "Do you even have your phone switched on?"

"Ohhh. Sorry, I think Lord Tub-" She paused, remembering what had happened the last time her cat had caused problems and she had tried to explain it to her colleagues. "…I lost it."

"Well I suggest you either find it or get a new one," her supervisor said, shaking her head. "Anyway, you're here now so that's something." She began walking away and towards the main room of the library, and Brittany assumed she was to follow. "Now, if you'd received my messages you would know that we have a very special guest coming here this morning to sign copies of her new book. This is the first time we've had a celebrity author come here since that debacle with the goat, so everything must be perfect."

"What do you need to me to do?" Brittany asked, confused as to why she was even needed for such an event. "Do they want me to read her book to everyone?"

The woman just gave the blonde a withering look.

It soon transpired that Brittany's role would be limited to filling plastic cups with coffee and orange juice. She didn't mind, but she was a little disappointed that she wouldn't get to read anything today; there was a new unicorn-themed book that she had been itching to share with the kids. She spent most of the morning in a side room, working diligently to keep a steady stream of drinks going. Just before mid-day, she heard a sudden wave of noise from the main room, and assumed that the famous author had arrived. Brittany wondered briefly if her book involved unicorns, but she could already hear her boss's voice in her head telling her not to be so stupid. She wondered if she would be able to at least see this woman that appeared to be causing such a stir, but no sooner than the assembled press and fans quietened down, the door was closed and she was left alone, with only the very faintest of muffled sounds from outside. She sighed, and flopped down onto one of the few chairs that hadn't had chunks ripped out of it by fidgety children.

After what felt like hours, the door opened and Brittany's boss poked her head in. "Are you still here?" she asked, startling the blonde from the trance-like state she had fallen into.

"I think so…" she murmured, blinking rapidly at her supervisor as she remembered where she was. She had been so lost in her elaborate fantasy involving the coffee machine's fight to prove his innocence after being accused of treachery by the fridge.

"Well our guest is leaving now, so you may as well get going too," she was told. "I can't imagine there'll be many children visiting today, what with all the press hanging around. It'll give you a chance to look for that phone!"

Not wanting to spend another moment in the stuffy side-room, Brittany hoisted her back over her shoulder, musing for a moment that she hadn't even opened it today, and headed straight for the exit. As she passed through the room, she saw what was left of the book signing; rows of chairs facing towards a table, behind which were another two seats, and behind those was a large backdrop featuring the book's title: 'A Bigger Stick.' Brittany remembered reading a story about a lonely stick, and wondered whether this one had anything to do with it. She stepped out into the afternoon sun and pulled her bag further up her shoulder; it had developed a habit of falling down during high school, but she had never got round to replacing it. She didn't want to hurt it's feelings, after all.

As she neared the road, she wondered whether she would ever be able to make it as a children's author. She had definitely read more than enough to know what sort of things appealed to children; scratch that, the same things appealed to her. Maybe her coffee machine storyline had some merit to it? As she continued to daydream, she lost track of exactly where she was, busy pondering a potential sequel in which the fridge seeks revenge.

Brittany was so lost in her daze that she nearly let out a shriek when she felt a strong hand grip her wrist and yank her backwards. But before she could even attempt to work out what was happened, a large truck went barrelling past, it's horn blaring. Falling back to reality with a thud, she realised she had nearly walked straight into oncoming traffic. Her heart in her throat, she turned to look at her rescuer.

"You wanna be more careful," the woman said, giving a lopsided grin. Brittany just stared; she was gorgeous. Like, super-model gorgeous. Attired in a form-fitting black suit, and with the top few buttons of her shirt undone, she was nothing short of breathtaking. Her tangled mane of dark hair swayed slightly in the breeze as she released Brittany's arm. The blonde fought to come up with a response; to thank the woman; but all she could manage to do was stare into those dark eyes. Still smirking, the woman pulled on a pair of sunglasses and took a couple of steps back. "See you around."

Brittany watched, still in silence, as the woman turned and jogged to a waiting car; a large black monster of a vehicle with tinted windows. Standing beside it was a man, also wearing a suit but looking far less casual than the woman. He said something to her, and she just smirked in response and climbed into the back of the car. The man entered through the driver's door, and moments later they pulled out into the traffic. As she watched the car disappear from view, Brittany finally found her voice.

"Thanks…"

~xxx~

"I think she was giving me the eye," Santana chuckled, pulling out her phone.

"You think every cute blonde is giving you the eye," her driver replied, glancing over his shoulder with an amused look on his face.

"C'mon, Blaine, you don't know the first thing about cute blondes," the Latina shot back.

"Maybe not," the man said with a shrug. "I dunno, that one looked like there was something wrong with her."

"I tend to have that effect on people," Santana said with a shrug of her own. "She's only human." She slid the screen of her phone away and looked up. "So what's next? Holly's schedule speech put me to sleep this morning."

"Meeting with the Air Force chiefs of staff," Blaine replied, and Santana instantly groaned.

"Fine, but you know the drill with those schmucks – drive-thru first, ass-numbing meeting second."

~xxx~

When Brittany returned home, she was surprised to find both Tina and Mike present. Mike appeared to be putting lunch together, while Tina was reading through a document of sorts. They both looked up with surprise as she entered the apartment, and for a moment they all just stood there in silence.

"…is there a bird's nest in my hair again?" Brittany finally asked, slowly closing the door behind her. Mike raised an eyebrow, and Tina just smiled.

"No, it's just you're back early," she said. "I didn't think you'd be back until later, especially with what was going on at the library today."

"Oh, right," Brittany nodded. "No, there was something going on at the library today, so they shut me in the store-room, then they let me out and said I could leave early, and then I nearly got hit by a truck-"

"You what?" Mike asked, stepping out from behind the kitchen counter.

"Oh my god, Brittany, are you alright?" Tina got to her feet and moved to the blonde's fine.

"…I'm fine?" Brittany replied, sounding confused. "It's okay, this super-hot girl saved me." She shook her head, trying to rid her mind's eye of that stunning face. "Anyway, how did you know there was something going on there this morning? They only told me, like, when I arrived."

"Uhhhh…" Tina turned to Mike, an incredulous expression on her face.

"We thought you knew," he said. "That's why we didn't mention it."

"Why would you mention it?" the blonde asked, moving further into the room and depositing her bag on the sofa. "I didn't think either of you were into books."

"Yeah, but…" Tina sighed, and shook her head. "Nevermind." She forced a smile and sat back down. "So, this girl. What was she like?"

"I dunno," Brittany shrugged. "She didn't say much. Mind you, I didn't say anything. She was wearing these really expensive clothes and she left in this totally awesome car; it was like that thing they drive the President around in. She even had some guy driving it for her; I think it may have been her dad."

"Wait…" Mike turned to Tina, exchanging a look of understanding. "Britt, this girl wasn't Hispanic, was she?"

"No, she wasn't wearing blue," the blonde replied, taking an apple from the bowl on the coffee table and sinking her teeth into it.

"Okay, but did she have tanned skin? Dark hair?" Tina tried, and Brittany nodded.

"Yeah," she replied, swallowing a mouthful of apple. "Wait, were you there too?"

"Brittany, that was Santana Lopez," Mike said, his tone becoming one of exasperation. When he received a nonplussed look from the blonde, he shook his head. "CEO of Lopez Industries?"

"So you were there," Brittany said with a nod. "You should have said hi."

"No. No, Brittany," Mike replied, starting to sound more and more incredulous. "We knew she was there because she's ridiculously famous. She was there signing her new book – that's why we thought you would have known, it's over the news and everything!"

"…that would explain why all those people with cameras came out and asked me where she went," Brittany said, nodding again. "I thought they wanted to thank her for saving me too."

"How can you not know who she is?" Tina asked. "She's only probably the most powerful woman on the planet."

"I thought that was Wonder Woman," Brittany replied. Mike threw up his hands; clearly comic-book references were his limit. The blonde shrugged. "Cool."

"You should have got her to sign something," Tina said. "I'd love to have meet her."

"Small chance of that," Mike replied, turning back to the food he had been preparing. "She's so famous she makes Rachel look like the back-half of the donkey in a school nativity play."

As Brittany continued to listen, she wondered about the woman that had saved her. Had that been such a mega-famous person? She thought celebrities gave off some sort of aura. Shrugging again, she took her bag into her room, and let her hair down from it's ponytail. She wondered whether Mike and Tina were laughing at her for not knowing who Santana was. Outside the world of celebrity gossip, she was totally clueless when it came to famous people. She was okay on authors now, but that was entirely down to her workplace, and she got the distinct impression that Santana wasn't just an author, judging by the level of interest her flatmates had shown in her.

After a moment, she pulled her laptop towards her and turned it on. While she waited for it to start up, she closed the door to her room and grabbed her headphones from her desk, plugging them into her computer. Once everything had loaded and she was sat cross-legged in front of it, she opened the internet and immediately typed 'Who is Santana Lopez?' into the search engine. Mike always insisted she only needed to use keywords, but Brittany didn't want to be rude. She felt a small prickle of smugness when the first result matched her search perfectly – it was a video. A little too eagerly, she clicked the link, and waited a moment for it to play.

"Santana Lopez," a voice began, and an image appeared of a magazine cover. There she was, smartly dressed in a similar suit – this time with a tie - and with a stoic expression, the same woman who had grabbed her arm that very day. Brittany was immediately impressed; even Rachel hadn't made the front cover of a magazine yet. A caption on the magazine read 'The Mind of Santana Lopez', and Brittany wondered just what the woman's mind had to do with anything. "Visionary. Genius. Child prodigy. Even from an early age, the daughter of legendary weapons developer Dr Antonio Lopez quickly stole the spotlight with her brilliant and unique mind."

As the voice spoke, a black and white photo depicting a young girl appeared; that had to be Santana, the eyes were the same. Brittany felt her cheeks colouring as she took in the adorable child. Young Santana had that same smirk, and beside her sat a man whom Brittany assumed was her father – that scratched her theory of the car driver being her dad; this man didn't have the same distinctive eyebrows.

"At age four she built her first circuit board," the voice went on. "At age six, her first engine." Another magazine cover, a lot older than the first and again depicting Santana as a child alongside her father, carried the subtitle 'Chip off the old block: Six year old Santana Lopez builds first V8.'

Brittany was immediately impressed; Santana was already the smartest person she had ever heard of. "And at seventeen, she graduated summa cum laude from MIT." Yet another magazine cover, showing Santana in her teenage years. Brittany felt the subtle change in her reaction – teenage Santana was a total hottie, and the blonde had to wonder why none of the girls at McKinley had been that good looking.

"Then, the passing of a titan." The image changed again, replaced with a newspaper front page. A single picture of Santana's father sat beneath the headline 'Antonio and Maria Lopez Die in Car Accident on Long Island: Thousands to Attend Funeral in Manhattan for founder and president of Lopez Industries.' Instantly Brittany's smile vanished, and she felt her heart break for Santana. She had harboured some decidedly dark thoughts about her own parents after they had reacted badly to her coming out as bisexual, and suddenly the blonde felt incredibly guilty over some of things she had said. The woman she had met earlier that day - however briefly - had seemed so cheerful and full of life, and yet her parents had both been dead for years; taken from her during that period in life when most people needed them the most.

"Antonio Lopez's mother and lifelong advisor, Alma Lopez, steps in to help fill the gap left by her son, the legendary founder." Another magazine cover, depicting a stern looking woman. She had hard eyes, holding none of the warmth present in either her son or granddaughter's. The caption read 'Keeping It In The Family: Antonio's mother to lead Lopez Industries.'

"Until at age twenty-one, the prodigal daughter returns, and is anointed the new CEO of Lopez Industries." Upon sight of the far more recent photo of Santana, Brittany felt her spirits lift. It was yet another cover, depicting a smartly-dressed Santana in the foreground, with her grandmother behind her. Beside them were the words 'The New Kid: Santana Lopez takes reigns at 21.' That must have been relatively recent – the Santana she saw today couldn't have been older than her mid-twenties.

"With the keys to the kingdom, Santana ushers in a new era for her father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting." As the words continued, the pictures were replaced with video footage, showing animations of missiles in flight, as well as turnarounds of various machine components. It was all over Brittany's head, but she was very impressed. "Today, Santana Lopez has changed the face of the weapons industry, by ensuring freedom and protecting the interests of America and her allies around the globe."

One final image of Santana appeared, depicting her flanked by two fighter jets, with several others flying in formation behind her. This was definitely a recent picture; it could have been taken that very morning. Brittany couldn't help but be slightly awed by the woman on her screen; she had never seen a woman so successful in an industry she imagined would be male-dominated. She had her reservations about Santana being involved in the design and manufacture of weapons, but that paled next to her admiration for the woman's intellect. That video was a very short summary of the Latina's life, but already Brittany felt as though she knew her. Either that, or she was simply filling in the blanks herself; she imagined a young Santana, living in her father's shadow, with expectation heaped on her. Then the anguish she must have felt over losing her parents at such a young age. And despite it all, she had defied it and continued her father's legacy.

Brittany was glad no one could hear her thoughts at the moment, otherwise she was pretty sure she would come across as a babbling idiot. She hit 'back' and instead searched for Santana's name under 'images.'

A few hours later, and with a couple hundred images saved in her new folder marked 'Santana Lopez,' Brittany was called through for dinner. She knew celebrity crushes were often mocked, but all the same, she couldn't wait to find out more. After all, who else could say Santana Lopez has saved their life? Don't you know she's famous?