So this is my first fan fic ever so any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. I love the campy quality to glee but I will be channeling more of a dark theme from modern graphic novels while using the awesomeness of glee for levity. Tame right now but will contain violence, bit of gore, definite mature themes, sexuality and of course some obscene language. Right so this is an AU obviously, but in general their highschool experience is true to cannon. I will fill in this in as time goes on but I will start by saying at the moment they are not together but that will change. Not set in Lima, for now it's just an unnamed city as that's just about the only thing I haven't figured out yet.
A stoic silence crawls across the city as all the evil creatures slither back into their holes as the veil of darkness begins to threaten to lift. Whispers of the morning whistle through the trees and finally a wounded hero finds herself at home. The silence isn't a sign of change or of peacefulness taming a wild city it's simply an unspoken code of conduct and its good enough for the Veiled Fairy. She vaults smoothly onto the windows ledge and sits perched high above the city staring into the penthouse studio apartment in Motta Towers. Darkness shrouds the apartment with the only light being offered by the full moon sitting defiantly in the sky. She doesn't need the light to see inside her eyes are trained for the darkness and she can see the beautiful woman perfectly without any help.
Brittany Susan Pierce lays sprawled out on the leather sofa with her blonde hair framing her angelic features in a way that defies logic. She's perfect and appears even more innocent as she slumbers with a laptop clutched close to her chest. The Veiled Fairy is careful not to wake her as she steps softly into the room finally relaxing into her surroundings. The pretty blonde doesn't stir she continues to slumber with the softest of smiles painted across her lips and the image almost tugs a smile from Santana. She struggles to tear her gaze away from the woman and it is that feeling of attachment that chills her blood. The beautiful woman on her couch is beautiful, innocent, everything good about a miserable world and the only thing in the city worth protecting but she is no longer Santana's. Having her as a friend and partner in a war against an ocean of evil is often bittersweet and tonight those feelings feel heightened. The fact that she can still fall asleep with a smile on her lips makes Santana feel proud because it means she's doing her job, she's making the city safe for one of the only people she cares about anymore.
Her body begins to betray her as the pain slowly settles in as the adrenaline bleeds out of her and it's a welcome release from the emotional torment of being so close to something she can't really have. There's something about the pain she feels at peace with, maybe it's because it's the only way she feels anything anymore that isn't that confused anguish birthed from regret. Tonight it isn't the dull ache of regular exertion, it's a sharp pain that sets her senses on fire and she revels in it as her body eases back against the wall her body screaming at her enough to cause her teeth to grind together. Slender fingers shake as they lift to remove her mask and she holds it down in front of her staring down into the hallow eyes.
Like the criminals she likes the darkness though unlike most of the common creatures the darkness likes her back just as much. She controls the shadows but sometimes she doesn't even know it, like right now, they creep down from the corners of the room drawn to her body like a moth to a flame. They offer protection and a place to hide away and slumber in the quiet embrace of feeling even a little bit alive for a moment. The idea is in her brain and she fixates on it long enough to forget to pay attention to what's going on around her. She doesn't hear Brittany stir or put the laptop down or even her graceful footsteps as she glides across the floor towards her careful in her approach.
"Santana?" her voice is soft and sweet as it drips from her lips and is full of caution as she's barely even sure if Santana is really there at all.
The veil of darkness withdraws quickly as the voice brings Santana's thoughts back to reality and her eyes flick up to stare deeply into the bluest eyes she's ever seen. She watches stoically as they grow wide in horror as the extent of the damage done to her face is revealed to the innocent girl. Santana doesn't hesitate as Brittany reaches out to touch her cheek; she swats the hand away with precision. She offers no apologies as the Brittany winces and she knows it isn't from pain because she didn't hit her hard. It's the reminder that nothing is the same anymore, that everything is still just out of reach. Santana can't find the words her jaw merely tenses and her eyes continue to drown in the beautiful blue in front of her.
"I knew something was wrong", Brittany finally breaks the silence; her voice is a hushed rage and cuts the air easily. Persistently she steps back into Santana's space her brow becoming tense as she studies the injuries from afar, "Sugar said the feed cut out but I knew she was lying, she said you were safe on the docks.." her voice trails off and the hurt is evident in her features. She hates being misled but Santana isn't going to rally to her defense this time she's grateful Sugar cut the feed to the laptop, she isn't even sure how Richie Bitch knew Santana was in trouble but for not she doesn't care. What happened there Brittany didn't need to see, she likely would never have fallen asleep peacefully again. "She said you were safe" she repeats and her voice trembles as things become unhinged and emotions rush steadily in.
"Britt don't, really it looks worse than it is" Santana encourages and finally breaks her own rules laying a hand gently onto Brittany's head her fingers weaving into the pretty blonde locks. Brittany looks at her with a sad smile and suddenly Santana can't think straight anymore and getting far away from those blue eyes becomes a priority. "I need to upload this footage…I should…" she cuts herself off and slips around the dancer moving towards the laptop with determination knowing her voice betrayed her. She sounded nervous and scared, bordering on vulnerable and she promised herself she wouldn't do this to Brittany again.
Her attempted escape is futile and she gets no more than a few steps before she feels a hand wrap around her shoulder and her body suddenly freezes. Santana's head hangs slightly as Brittany moves around to stand in front of her again and this time she reaches to touch Santana without having her hand batted away. Santana stands perfectly still as Brittany's fingers slide up her jaw her hands now gently framing her face. She can't breathe or think about anything other than the warmth building beneath Brittany's fingertips. Brittany is more than just Santana's friend, she also happens to be her healer. Santana was always grateful that Britt never got offensive powers, it made it easier for her to convince the woman not to go out patrolling with her.
Brittany works slowly her fingers move gently sliding across the bruises and scrapes the wounds healing perfectly beneath her touch. Santana's lower lip is split wide open and she freezes when Brittany's thumbs pause at the corners of her mouth. It's not her touch that has Santana's attention but the intense look in her eyes as she stares down at the wound. It feels like the air has gone out of the room and Santana cannot find the words to stop her and her brain disconnects from her body to prevent her from defending against what happens next. Her eyes slide shut and her other senses kick into high gear as Brittany's lips wrap around her lower lip pulling it into her warm mouth. Brittany's fingers slide back and one hand goes to the back of Santana's head tangling it in thick black locks. For a second all of the pain seems to melt away as she completely submits to the kiss.
It's over too soon and yet not soon enough as Brittany pulls away and Santana's eyes slowly open like she's waking from a deep sleep. Brittany stays close her eyes seeming to stare right through Santana's defenses and she asks quietly, "Are you hurt anywhere else?" she hesitates a moment before continuing to speak, "I should be going but if you need any more help…" and this brings Santana back down to reality. She remembers to exhale and pulls away from the embrace crawling back behind her walls trying to ignore the intense feeling of longing building in the pit of her stomach. 'She isn't yours' she reminds herself and shakes her head lightly and then more forcefully as her brow furrows and she seems to come back to her senses.
"No don't go though, I mean it's not safe" She rambles the words off quickly and motions for Brittany to follow her to the laptop. Santana crouches down at the coffee table and ejects a small microchip out of the mask before abandoning the mask on the table. She inserts the chip and boots up the laptop while Brittany looms nervously above her. Santana has momentarily recovered some of her resolve but it's the fear of what happened at the docks that has her on edge. The city is quiet but she doesn't trust it and as she finds the right spot of footage she shows Brittany why. The clip is only a few seconds but it's long enough to get the point across. The screen displays a monstrous beast towering effortlessly above Santana muscles bulging from every inch of its body and a look of pure anger across its disfigured face.
"It's like Coach Bieste and Lauren...combined but like ten times bigger and really ugly and without boobs" Brittany manages to get out after a few minutes of silence. The words are honest and cause a slight smile to twitch at the corner of Santana's mouth but they do not make her forget the damage it did to her and could easily do to Brittany. She gets to her feet and turns towards Brittany a soft expression on her face, "exactly and without boobs it's really not fun to wrestle with so you are staying here until morning okay? Take my bed you've already logged enough hours on the couch" she muses pulling out a familiar smile. They both know it's fake but Brittany mirrors a genuine smile back at Santana and nods hesitantly. Britt doesn't go right away however she pauses and raises her hand gently touching Santana's arm, "just make sure you actually get sleep tonight okay?" she speaks cheerfully but the worried expression she wears tells Santana she shouldn't argue the fact and instead she simply nods.
Santana is grateful when Brittany finally crawls into the bed and she can escape into the bathroom a set of pajamas clutches against her chest as she steadies herself against the bathroom door. She has been fighting back the pain since she stepped into the quiet apartment and as she slowly exhales it takes all of her resolve not to scream. Brittany would have healed her wounds but Santana wouldn't admit to them when she asked and even now she stands vigilantly by her decision. She drops the clothes down and moves stiffly to stand in front of the sink her eyes focusing on her reflection in the mirror. Her face is back to how it should and running her tongue across her lower lip there's not a trace of the injury that had been there before. But it wasn't her face she was worried about, it's what happened beneath her suit.
Sugar Motta in her endlessly supply of money and technology came up with the design and Santana never questioned its effectiveness. They teamed up years ago, Santana saved the girl's life even after Sugar discovered her secret identity and in return Sugar funds Santana's hero business and gives her a cover for her day to day life. The suit has saved her life more times than she can count and running her hands over its material she can't feel any breaks in the material. But something feels wrong all the same and it makes her hands shake as she reaches for the zipper unlocking it and dragging it down the fabric comes loose no longer clinging to her body.
She takes off the gloves and boots first before pulling her arms out of the tight sleeves and peels the suit down to her hips and it's there she stops. Her torso is painted red, blood smeared all up her side and it trickles from a large gash on her left side just below her ribs. She swallows hard and tries to decipher how it even happened but the memories of being tossed around like a rag doll chase her curiosity away. She stares at it for a moment before stripping down the rest of the way and turning the shower on though she doesn't spend as much time beneath the water as she normally would. She wants out and dries off carefully before grabbing a heavily used first aid kid. Brittany isn't always around to play doctor to her wounds so she's had to learn to bandage things up well enough to survive until she can be healed. But this is different, she wants to hide this away like a dirty secret and can feel panic as she tapes the bandage over the spot and then wraps the bandages around her torso.
It isn't just the gash either, bruises cover her body from her shoulders down to her toes and they're already showing up deep and purple. She exhales a ragged breath and spins away from the mirror unable to stare at them any longer and hurriedly pulls a long sleeved shirt over her head and plaid pajama bottoms over her legs. Her stomach churns violently and she closes her eyes saying a silent prayer to whatever might exist to keep her from being sick. She steadies herself and takes a few more moments to herself before exiting into the still dark apartment. She pauses in the doorway listening carefully and only when she hears the slow rhythmic sound of Brittany sleeping soundly does she move towards the couch. She lays down slowly her body screaming with every tiny movement and she buries her face down against the couch her eyes clamped shut trying to control the overwhelming emotion that erupts inside her. She's bruised and broken and the only person who can help her is the person she's afraid to let touch her. She misses when things were easy and she didn't think twice about crawling into bed with Britt, nuzzling gently into her neck and staying tangled in her body until she absolutely had to get out of bed.
She doesn't remember falling asleep but when she wakes up Santana finds herself covered by a blanket and can smell the coffee brewing in the kitchen. She almost smiles for a moment before the pain comes rushing back to her and she covers her mouth to muffle a scream. The ache in her muscles has set in and she struggles to even push back the blankets to get off of the couch. Her body moves slowly and her eyes stay painfully shut until she's found her feet and when they open they search for the blonde by habit. Brittany is still asleep in the bed she's tangled herself around the blankets and is clutching a pillow tightly against her chest. She isn't smiling but she's safe and that's enough for Santana as she finally moves towards the kitchen and coffee. Her feet shuffle as she refuses to take full steps and they carry her slowly towards the cute set up. Her mug is out with sugar already in it and there's a post it note attached, the message is not as adorable as the thoughtfulness of covering her with a blanket and getting her coffee ready. 'Don't forget you have an interview at noon, casual dress no pictures, love Sugar' Santana reads wearily and crumples the paper throwing It with irritation into the sink.
She has time to get ready and she needs it, lucky for her Brittany sleeps like the dead and doesn't hear her moving around. She showers and changes the bandages on her wound which seems to be content to continue bleeding, changes and finishes about three cups of coffee. She is almost ready to wake up Britt to tell her she's leaving when she hears a knock at the door and for the first time that morning she moves with determination and speed. Glancing quickly at a still slumbering Brittany Santana opens the door she smiles softly at the girl though it faces abruptly when she sees who is on the other side of the door. Without hesitation she slips into the hallway and closes the door finding herself standing face to face with Brittany's boyfriend.
In Santana's opinion there's nothing spectacular about him and for all intents and purposes she wouldn't be too bothered if he was suddenly mangled by a serial killer. Pain is forgotten, she pulls herself up to proper posture and folds her arms smoothly across her chest a look of contempt sliding across her features though she says nothing, she waits.
"Is Britt in there?" He finally asks, the irritation in his voice is enough to cause a genuine bitch smirk to slide across Santana's lips.
"Where else would she be?" Santana responds with a slight tilt of her head.
"Well go get her.."
"One you don't tell me what to do and two she's sleeping asshole"
"Yeah and where is she sleeping"
The questions causes a slight laugh to fall from Santana's lips and she's all too encouraged to answer, "she's currently in bed, again where else would she be Mark?" she answers smoothly as she watches his face contort in discomfort and anger.
"Well I don't think that's going to be happening any longer" he abruptly announces digging his hand into the pocket of his suit jacket pulling out a small black box. As though it's been practiced he flicks it open and shows the ring to Santana, "See bitch, we're going to get married and these little sleep overs are going to stop because she'll be my wife."
Santana hesitates only a moment before raising a carefully sculpted brow, "And why on earth would she say yes to YOU?" She retorts irritation now getting the best of her.
He snaps the box shut and puts it into his pocket before his hands move sliding his thumbs into his belt loops his hands splayed down at his thighs he drums his fingers pretentiously, raises his brows and mentions, "because I can give her something you can't. Deep down you know it's true there's just no substitute for the real thing" he beams.
"Listen here Lurch, I don't know what Brittany sees in you because frankly you look like you dress yourself in the dark and your hair line is receding so badly you'd might as well just shave it all off but make no mistake you can't compete. Sixteen hours, yeah it's exactly what you think it is and I'm sure Brittany is an amazing actress but surely even you don't believe that she's actually satisfied by your five minute speed runs. So how about you and your tiny man parts get the hell out of my face afores I end you" She speaks loudly and steps into his personal space not seeming to notice that he towers easily over her.
He stumbles over words for a moment and when he does find words they're cut off before they can be formed by a sudden snap of fingers and Sugar is bouncing down the hall towards them. As though oblivious to the tension she slips between them and wraps her arms loosely around Santana's neck though is quickly pushed aside though she merely continues on throwing the door to the apartment open yelling at Brittany to rise and shine. Her whirlwind performance concludes as she emerges with Santana's sunglasses and purse and grins at her, "time to go okay? Murder isn't on the schedule" she beams at Santana and radiates an unnatural amount of energy and Santana submits casting one long glare at him before glancing inside the apartment watching Brittany gather her things before following Sugar down the hall towards the elevator.
The ride to the interview is completely silent while Sugar hums absently, Santana stares blankly out the window. She wants to believe Brittany would never say yes to someone like that, or anyone really she isn't completely confident. Her body still screams and she shifts with discomfort every few seconds trying to find a position where tender bruises aren't being pressed against something. There's no relief and she has little time to prepare before Sugar introduces her to the woman interviewing her about Sugar's new fashion line. This is her day job, she models whatever Sugar wants her to and is thus free to keep her nightly schedule completely free for patrolling. The woman is middle aged though desperately trying to look younger, she smiles thinly at Santana as she shakes her hand and they sit down in the small room in comfortable chairs sitting across from one another with a small coffee table between them.
The interview drags for a while with polite conversation; Santana expresses her enthusiasm with the new line up, saying how honoured she is to still be the face of the franchise. She can turn this professional enthusiasm on and off at will and now she feels like she's on auto pilot. Things come to an unexpected crash however as she begins to feel light headed she stares at her lap for a second trying to focus and the next question catches her off guard.
"Are you doing anything musically lately? You released your first album and received amazing praise for it and then you seemed to disappear after the first tour, any plans to return?" She asks in a chipper tone that grinds at Santana's nerves.
She wrote the album when everything went wrong, everything happened so fast and she wound up alone and it was from that pain she had written the music. But she could never go back to that, it was hard enough to stay out of the public eye being a model and trying to patrol she didn't need to extra press. Santana stumbles at first but finds her words after a moment, "I take music seriously, I'm not really in a place where I can commit one hundred percent to writing and I don't think it's fair to the fans or the music to only do it half way, maybe sometime in the future not no I'm not working on anything now"
The interview presses on and Santana's breathing becomes faster, she can feel her temperature rising and her mouth goes dry. It's what she feels next that chills her to the bone, blood trickling down her side from the bandages. Her shirt is dark but she doesn't think she can hide it and she sends a panicked look to the door to the room Sugar is in. As though on cue the tiny fireball bursts into the room and abruptly ends the interview and once she secures the door she is calling for security. Santana watches as her vision becomes a dark tunnel that slowly closes in on itself and then everything becomes out of focus. She can vaguely hear Sugar's voice in the background and then she can feel someone lifting her up, the arms are massive and for a second her body panics and she struggles but it's useless the energy isn't there. She falls limp against a broad chest and mumbles Brittany's name.
She wakes briefly in the back of the limousine her head is on Sugar's lap and the girl is brushing out her hair anxiously. Sugar tries to talk to her but Santana cannot understand anything she is saying the pain throbbing in her ears is too much and everything slowly become black again and she slips once again out of consciousness.
When she wakes again it's like coming out of a deep sleep all of her senses are struggling to make sense of her surroundings. She can feel a gentle hand on her forehead and the scent lingering in the air is all too familiar. Her eyes flutter open slowly and she finds herself back in her apartment staring up at those ocean blue eyes filled with tears. Brittany wipes them away quickly and bends down before Santana can stop her and kisses her cheek, "you're so stupid do you know that" she questions choking out a laugh clearly happy that Santana is okay.
Santana shifts with discomfort, her body is still not completely healed, the wounds might be gone but the fatigue is there and she has put her muscles through the ringer. Santana tests her voice carefully clearing her throat before smiling gently up at Brittany, "thank you" she says softly and shifts sitting up and suddenly pulls her arms around Brittany hugging her tightly burying her face into her neck. There is no protest and Brittany clings tightly back to her exhaling with deep relief.
"You really scared me, don't do that again, just stop being so…next time just tell me" Brittany demands her voice fierce as she holds tightly onto Santana.
Santana swallows hard and buries herself deeper into Brittany unable to find the words to apologize or explain herself but she doesn't have to as the blonde sighs and relents quietly just holding on. After a moment Brittany does speak again it's soft and familiar in its cheerfulness "I dragged the tv over here, and I put in sweet valley high and I'm staying over and you're going to just have to deal with it" she demands.
She's tired of fighting so Santana merely nods and lets Brittany go turn things on while she adjusts the pillows and props herself up against the headboard. Brittany crawls back across the bed and slips beneath the blankets snuggling up against Santana. She doesn't ask if Mark popped the question or if she even knows about the argument they had this morning, she just slips her arms around Brittany and stares at the television. It feels normal, like that thing she's been missing so long she almost forgot what it felt like. Tomorrow she'll have to patrol, put the suit back on and go out and make things safe again but for tonight she gets to be normal like everyone else.
