A/N: This chapter of this story is from Santana's POV and really has no pairing. This is mostly a Friendship chapter/one-shot with F/F love as an underlining current. The story is AU after Brody flicks on the lights in the hotel room and see's Santana sitting there. So general spoilers for 'Feud' you are forewarned that this is an AU Fic it is NOT meant to follow Canon so please do not yell at me for not making it follow what happened in the show. If you want that just watch the show and you will never be disappointed. Also be aware this Fic has some mild Finn bashing though I do not really consider it bashing so much as pointing out Finn's known flaws just that in this fic it's not something that the characters find cute or endearing, but a real threat. Also something to be aware of when and if this story picks up again it will be from Quinn's POV. I am in the process of writing it, but I've also have my Done Pretending story going on as well which kind of has priority. Also when and if I pick this up again future chapters will be longer and be more involved than this one.

Disclaimer: Glee is not mine, otherwise Finn and Rachel would have never happened in the first place. I'm making no money off of this, it is all just for fun.

Enjoy!

Steps

by: Jaely

Chapter 1 - Step One

"Evening, Vickie."

The sound of his smooth voice made me want to throw up right there on the spot. I was right about him. As much as I love to be right, this time it made me hate it. Not because I really liked the guy all that much, but because I didn't want Rachel to have been put into the position to be hurt like this. Yeah, I know, I've always given the Hobbit flack, for like ever, but the truth is I love her. Over the last couple of years she has come to be one of my best friends.

It's more than that now, though. I really do love her as in, the in love kind of love. I can understand why people fought over her and all that shit in glee, once they got to know who she is. I mean when you get to know who the fuck she really is, you can't help but see that Rachel Barbra Berry is like a one of a kind person. I mean, don't get me wrong and shit, she has her fucking faults and there are times I just want to sew her mouth up, or just stuff a sock in it, just to shut her up now and then. But, seriously, the truth is... Rachel is the sweetest most loyal and loving person I've ever met after Brittney and that is fucking saying something.

Rachel fucking believes in people. She fucking believes with all her heart, that there is good in people, and is willing to put herself on the line for that belief. Everyone in glee benefited from Rachel's stanch belief, because she gave all of us all the chances in the world to be better; to become the better people Rachel saw that we ourselves didn't. Even if I wasn't in love with her I would be here for her because she believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.

I don't believe Rachel would ever reciprocate my feelings for her and in truth, it doesn't matter if she ever does. She needs me to be her friend. To defend and protect her, now more than ever. Even though she lied to me earlier and then defended the ass-wipe that has been putting her at risk, because of his side... job. The resulting argument after her defense of him lead to me being kicked out of the apartment, but I can forgive that shit because she is just fucking trying to keep everything together right now.

I mean I'm well aware of the reason Rachel lied to me about not being pregnant. She knew I would kill the plastic man-whore the second I saw him, and had he been alone when I found him at NYADA I fucking would have. Had I known what I know now, then it wouldn't have mattered that he wasn't alone, I would have still ripped off his fucking dick and force fed it to him before I killed him. At the time I just thought he was sellin' dope and shit. Now... I could confirm that he was quite literally a fucking man-whore, but I can still understand why she took the ass-wipe's side before now. I mean seriously in her mind she had no choice he's the father of her child. She is thinkin' that she needs his help or will whenever she gets around to telling him and shit.

At least that's my hope, how fucked up is that really? I'm so hoping that the bun in Rachel's oven is this fucking man-whore's, because I so don't want it to be the other option. As hard as the next eight or so months is going to be for Rachel, she will still be able to fucking move on and make the life she wants to have. She can still graduate from NYADA, maybe a semester later like Kurt is, but she will still be able to do it. That would not be the case if the kid is Finnessa's. Finn would drag her life to a grinding halt at even the possibility that the kid might be his. I can't let that happen. I don't care who's kid it is, Finn can't ever be told that there is even the possibility that it could be his or he will convince Rachel to marry him and settle down back in Lima – Fucking – Ohio and that would be it for Rachel Barbra Berry; her dreams would go up in a big fucking cloud of smoke.

Hence why I'm here now. I have a plan. First thing I have to do is get the Plastic Man-Whore out of the picture, and to that end... Let the games begin. I plant a huge ass grin on my lips and sit up impossibly straighter as he flicks the lights on. Just as he does I turn to look at him. I know my grin turns predatory once his eyes lock with mine. In that moment he knows his time is up, he's lost but like most men he doesn't know when he's truly beat and tries to squirm his way out of it.

"Santana, how did you-" I run right over his question he didn't need to talk he needed to listen and listen well.

"I told you this is what I do" I say flippantly as I stand up.

"You can't tell Rachel, Please! I'm not proud of this." he tries to plead. I can see that there is a bit of truth in that he is not proud of what he is doing. The thing is I don't care. If it was just him and he was nothing more than a friend and roommate to Rachel, not sleeping with her – not to mention leading her on – then I wouldn't care that this is how he chose to get money. But he is sleeping with and leading Rachel on. And that there is not okay in my book.

"Save it." I say calmly because for once I planned way ahead on this and I brought in back up. I didn't have to do this on my own, just like Rachel doesn't have to do it on her own or even with this lying, cheating, literal man-whore. "I'm not the only one you have to try and convince tonight." I continue, a smirk forming over my lips as I hear the door behind Brody click open and I see my other best friend walk out. I'm not the only one that loves and owes Rachel Berry. I can't confirm that Quinn Fabray is actually in love with the little diva like I am, but I know that the ex-head Cheerio loves her and will be there for her just like I will.

He warily walks closer to me and turns as he hears the door click open to see who was there. I just walk around him so that I'm now standing next to my blond ex-Captain. I can see the look on her face is pure barely contained rage, that would put the fear of god in anyone that's on the other end of it. There is a reason Quinn Fabray ran McKinley when she wore this face.

When I looked back at plastic man I see confusion and a bit of fear. I'm sure he is starting to figure it out as to who the blond next to me is. I know for a fact that he has heard about Quinn, and even if he hadn't, the look Quinn was giving the man-whore now more than cemented the fact that he was in deep shit. He may not be afraid that we will be able to hurt him but he was afraid of what we planned to do about his relationship with Rachel.

"I don't think there is anything he can say to convince me not to tell Rachel." Quinn starts, her arms crossing over her chest as she stares down the ass-wipe. Quinn wasn't dressed like she normally is. Gone were the sun dresses and pretty shoes. No the woman standing here now was looking like pure sex on two gorgeous legs.

She was in a pair of form-fitting boot cut black jeans a sky blue turtle-neck shirt that hugs all the right curves of her body, a pair of three inch wide heeled black leather boots that peaks out from beneath the bottom of the hem of her jeans. She has a thigh length black leather trench coat that fit her like a glove – even though it was hanging open – with a cream colored long stylish scarf hanging loosely from around her neck. Her much longer blond locks were down and framing her face exquisitely, with just the right amount of make-up to bring out the now vivid greens and golds in her hazel eyes.

She dressed to make an impression, and what an impression she is making. While the man-whore looks 'dashingly handsome' in his suit, he couldn't hold a candle to how Quinn looks right now. She looks like the Ivy League graduated, Oscar winning, actress she will one day become. I know people might think that clothes are minor in something like this but the deeply bobbing adam's apple at Brody's throat as he tries to swallow proves how dressing the part can intimidate someone and there is no way Brody could be anywhere in the same league as Quinn Fabray...ever.

"Listen, who ever you are-" Brody didn't get very far with that kind of opening.

"No, asshole! You will listen and you will do exactly what I say when this is over." Quinn interrupted the man-whore. I can see that he is confused as to why he was doing just what Quinn had ordered. He doesn't realize that nearly everyone does what Quinn says when she is in her HBIC mode. And this time she wasn't just doing it for her own gain but to help someone she loves and that makes my Captain even more frightening.

"We don't give a damn about what you do with your life. If you want to go around fucking people for free or for money we don't care. That is your business and a risk you are willing to make on your own. But you see, asshole, you made it our business when you involved Rachel and that is not going fly with us. We will not stand for anyone putting Rachel at risk." Quinn's voice was so dangerously low at the end of that statement I was half expecting her to jump him and beat the shit out of him, herself.

"I don't-" Brody tired again to speak only be cut off once again by Quinn's voice running right over his.

"So on that note, man-whore," Quinn jabbed Brody in the chest with one of her perfectly manicured fingers. Letting him know she was speaking to him, and to shut him up I'm sure. She continues as she withdraws her finger and he tries to subtly rub the spot where she jabbed him with his hand. I know first hand that that actually hurts to have her do that to you, but it just makes me grin wickedly. I'm a fighter and I know that I would have handled this all wrong and it would have come back to bite me in the ass if I did this on my own. Quinn was the one with the words and could make them count.

Don't get me wrong I would be more than willing to beat the living shit out of this asshole but it would get back to Rachel and I would be held in a bad light because lets face it, right now, without witnesses to back me up Rachel is not going to take just my word for it and Brody will once again put the blame on me. I know Rachel is not thinking clearly right now and that she is trying to protect herself as best she can. So right now to protect herself she thinks she has to protect Brody, because she doesn't realize that she has other options.

This is why I called in back up. Quinn is the voice of reason. She is going to tell it like it is and be the one to confirm to Rachel that Brody is up to this shit and that way we will be able to convince her that she is not alone, that we will be there to help her through this. First though, we have to get our point across to the asshole and get him to leave Rachel alone so we can get through to our little diva.

"You are going to disappear from Rachel's life. You are going to pack your shit and leave when she is gone tomorrow. You will delete her number and never contact her again, in any way shape or form. Do I make myself abundantly clear?" Quinn's explanation on what Brody was going to do did not sit well with him, not that I really blame him. I would balk at some seeming random chic telling me what I was going to do too, so his outburst was not unexpected and therefore planned for in advanced.

"Listen here! I don't care who you think you are but I love Rachel and I'm not going to do anything you say. She will believe me not you!" He shouts and stalks towards us. I had been pretty sure he would try to push past us to get out the door, but he wouldn't do more than that. With all his faults I firmly believe that he would never hit a woman. Like I said this was expected and we had planned for just this eventuality, we both parted at the last second to let him pass. I know this caused him just enough confusion that left him open to walking right smack into the person he missed coming out of the bathroom.

Brody came stumbling back between Quinn an I at an alarming rate having been pushed back away from the body of the person he had stalked into. The large enraged figure of Noah Puckerman steps out from the shadows of the hallway to step between Quinn and I so that he is just in front of us. His body physically blocking Brody's path to the door.

Like I said, I planned this out. Puck would do anything for his 'jew babe' and a beat down was just up his ally. I could have called Finn and the idea had crossed my mind, but the chance of him finding out about Rachel's pregnancy was too great. I knew for a fact that Puck could and would keep it to himself in order to protect Rachel, even from herself. Which is what each of us was doing now. Getting Brody out of the picture was to not only to protect Rachel from Brody but from herself too. Each of us knew that unless irrefutable proof was laid out before Rachel she would let herself, self-destruct over all this and let either Brody or Finn walk all over her. Rachel needed her friends now more than ever.

"Now let me make myself clear, Weston, you don't have a choice here. You will do as I have laid out and you will start now by not going back to her apartment tonight and deleting her number. Then tomorrow when she is at school you will get your shit out of her place under our watchful eye and disappear. You will not seek her out at school and if you have contact with her in school it will be brief and you will remain polite. If any of us find out otherwise we will be revisiting this situation but it will be far less pleasant. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Quinn stated calmly again when Brody got himself standing up right after being shoved. Brody's eyes didn't leave Puck's seething form, as Quinn laid everything out for him again.

"I love her and she loves me!" Brody snapped out his eye flicking over to Quinn as she finally finished with her question, her words sinking in fully. He knew he was losing and he didn't like it one single bit.

"She doesn't even know who you are... Yet." That surprised me. Not the words but who said them. Puck's arms had dropped to his sides and he leaned forward a bit from having said the final 'yet' to get his point across. He was waiting to see if Brody would take the bait, and it looked like he wasn't until Puck leaned back and both Quinn and I stepped into the hall to move towards the door figuring he got the point when he just stood there in stunned silence.

Then all at once everything flipped. Brody grabbed Puck jacket, as he moved back to walk out behind us, hissing out "You can't tell her-"

Puck's left hook cut off whatever he was going to say next and both Quinn and I jumped back and into the bathroom as Brody recovered and lunged for Puck. The fight that ensued was brutal but thankfully brief. The damage to the room was not something out of the realm of possibility when I brought up my plan to include Puck to Quinn. To that end both of us set enough money aside to cover the damages should Brody not take heed to our demands and Puck's services became necessary.

Puck's final shot at Brody's face was accompanied by him shouting "Stay away from my sister, Dude! We are a family and we protect our own, you fuck over Rachel the rest of us will make damn sure you pay, so stay the fuck away from her!" Puck loves the little diva just as much as me and Q, and I knew he would not hesitate to stand up for her like this. Rachel was his sister and in a warped way his fantasy dream girl just like Q is. Puck would do anything to protect either one of them and even me to some degree. Glee is our family... a strange dysfunctionally incestuous one in some ways, but our family none the less and we protect our own, just like Puck said. You fuck with one of us and the rest will hunt you down and make you pay.

We both watch as Puck drops Brody back to the remains of the broken table they had landed on earlier and walk back towards us. "Remember, Weston, stay away and tomorrow you will come get your shit." Quinn spoke up again, I smirk when all Brody did was nod slowly that he heard and would comply with our demands. We had won, Brody had given up. Quinn took my hand as she started to walk towards the door, leading me to walk out, because I could only stare at the ass-wipe that nearly ruined Rachel's life. I hated him with every fiber of my being I hated him and what he did to our Pequeña Estrella. I will never forgive him for nearly destroying Rachel's dreams, because had I not been as persistent as I am or as nosy as I am then I wouldn't have known that Rachel was Pregnant and then by the time we all would have learned about it would have been too late to have helped to save her future career.

Now, there is hope and with Quinn, me, Puck, and Kurt behind her, Rachel will be able to move past this and still have her dream firmly within her reach. As I we move the final steps to the door I take one final look back to see the fucker now laying down on his back still on the broken table and I couldn't feel an ounce of sympathy for him. What felt even better was knowing that the others in that room hated that hijo de puta just as much as I do too and with that pleasant thought in mind I let Quinn lead me out of the room. Step one complete... Now, it was time to move on to step two...

Next chapter will be in Quinn's POV so we will see what is going on in her mind but don't worry it will not be a repeat of this chapter it will move with the story. I've still not determined the pairings yet so if you all have an opinion on who you would rather see with Rachel here or maybe even Puck and Kurt please let me know in a review or PM. Just so long as none of the our girls are with Puck or most assuredly Kurt or any other male or Quinn and Santana, I might consider it. Sorry I will never write an all out Quintana pairing... I don't think I can ever get behind that pairing because I believe they would kind of self destruct rather quickly. Hot explosive sex but not something that could last long term.

Here is some choices:

Rachel/Quinn: Rachel/Santana: Rachel/Brittany: Rachel/Dani: Rachel/OFC

Santana/Dani: Santana/Brittany: Santana/OFC

Quinn/Dani: Quinn/Brittany: Quinn/OFC

Kurt/Blaine: Kurt/Adam: Kurt/Elliott: Kurt/OMC: Kurt/Puck: (Only putting that in there because a friend challenged me saying I couldn't get it to work. If people want to read it then I will see if I can get the pairing to work damn it!)

For Puck I'm pretty much open to giving it a shot as long as it's not Quinn, Rachel, or Santana. I will even find a way to bring in some of the other New Direction people if you want for him... old New direction not the new people... Anyone officially in Glee in the first two season that are not our three main girls and Finn are up for grabs.

Ok Thanks for reading and I hope I hear who people want to see together soon! Until next time! ~Jae