A/N – thanks for the alerts, reviews, and for reading in general! The story will have flashbacks occasionally from here on out and those will be in italics. I'm not a police officer so I don't really know much about how the investigation deal goes but I tried. It might be a little slow moving in these first few chapters but I have a plan. Thanks again and on we go.

Chapter 2

"Congratulations San." Brittany said with a huge smile.

Santana returned the smile and pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss. "Congratulations B."

Brittany giggled and nuzzled her nose against Santana's cheek. "Happy Graduation."

"Happy graduation B. Did you ever really think this day would get here, that we would finally get here? We're free!" Santana exclaimed.

Brittany gently thumbed Santana's cheek before leaning back in and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Well, I always knew you would get here. But I bet no one actually expected me to graduate from high school."

"What?" Santana said quickly, pulling away. "Don't say that B. There was never a doubt! Don't you dare put yourself down! Don't make me have to dump Jew Fro into the dumpster just to make you laugh, you know I'll do it!"

Brittany laughed just at the thought of Santana chucking the annoying and nosy nerd into the dumpster. "San, only you could still be sweet while threatening to dump a nerd."

Santana's eyes sparkled as she laughed loudly. "Anything for you babe. Now, we have to celebrate! We are high school graduates Brittany! We can finally be together for real. Just you and me."

"And Quinn." Brittany replied seriously. "And Puck too since he stopped trying to have sex with us. And my sister Hailey. Oh, and maybe Rachel too. She's ok, right?"

Santana groaned slightly. "B, I meant us as a couple, you know like dating, together? I love Quinn and Puck and Hailey of course. But I meant the two of us, together forever. You know, in love and all that. And you know I hate Berry."

Brittany chuckled. "Well of course we're going to be together forever San. I think that's written somewhere, like the stars or the Bible or something. You and me. Together forever."

Santana was certain her heart would explode with happiness. "Yeah, you and me, together forever. I love you Britt."

"I love you too."

xxxx

"Holy shit." Puck muttered from behind her shoulder. Santana blinked rapidly, trying to catch her breath.

Brittany's face initially showed the same shock as Santana's. She sat up a little straighter in her seat but her head fell forward slightly and her eyes were downcast.

"Brittany?" Santana breathed again. "You're…you're the girlfriend? Shit."

Brittany finally lifted her eyes to meet Santana's gaze. The blonde pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "Hi Santana."

Santana was certain she was about to either faint or vomit. She clenched her jaw and quickly turned on her heel and shoved Puck out of the way as she rushed back out of the room. Puck glanced back at Brittany before running after Santana.

"San, wait!" He called as he saw her rushing away. She didn't slow. He followed her out of the station and all the way across the street to the Courthouse where the District Attorney's office was on the top floor. He followed her all the way to Quinn's office.

Santana didn't knock and simply pushed the door open once she saw a light was still on in Quinn's office. The blonde startled slightly and stood up as Santana came bursting in.

"It's Brittany." Santana said in a rush. "It's Brittany, she's the boyfriend killer that was just brought in tonight."

Quinn stood, too shocked to say anything. She watched as Santana tensed and seemed ready to snap, her jaw and fists clenched. "Brittany? As in Brittany, Brittany? Is accused of killing her boyfriend?"

Santana stopped pacing the office and leveled her gaze on Quinn. "That's what I said isn't it? What the fuck? It's crazy right? It's Brittany. Where the hell has she been for ten years? What the fuck am I supposed to do? Give me your flask!"

"My what?" Quinn exclaimed.

"Oh don't give me that Quinn." Santana growled. "You're an attorney. You've got that expensive decanter on your desk and I know you keep a flask in your briefcase. Give it to me!"

Quinn was struggling to control her own emotions but seeing Santana so close to losing it allowed her to keep her expression neutral. She nodded slightly and turned back to her desk. She barely had the flask in her hand before Santana grabbed it and had it turned up in a quick gulp.

"Santana." Quinn said, reaching to pull the alcohol from the brunette's hand. "Pull yourself together. Like it or not, you have a job to do and you can't do it if you're drunk off your ass. Either do your job or hand the case off to someone else."

"What?" Santana exclaimed incredulously. "How can you be so calm? This is Brittany. Our Brittany, my Brittany and you expect me to just be able to walk in there after ten years and listen to her confess to killing a man in cold blood without any emotion whatsoever? I think I'm entitled to a small meltdown, thank you very much!"

"Oh I don't care about your meltdown Santana, I'm worried about my expensive decanter. When you start throwing things, don't you dare break it!" Quinn replied trying to calm her friend down.

"San," Puck said softly. "Maybe we should let someone else handle this one. Rico maybe. Or Williams. There's no reason for you to have to do this. If you can't handle it-"

"Fuck you Puckerman!" Santana cut in harshly. "There isn't anything I can't handle, you hear me? You're going to owe me a hell of a lot of drinks by the time this is over. Now come on."

Quinn was left with her swimming thoughts and emotions as Santana stormed out at what she clearly considered a challenge from Puck.

xxxx

By the time Santana returned to the interrogation room, she appeared calm on the outside and the quick shot of alcohol was helping to at least knock the edge off. She stiffly crossed the room and sat down at the table across from Brittany. The blonde hadn't taken her eyes off of her since she'd returned.

"Congratulations Santana." Brittany whispered. "I heard you made Detective. Congratulations, I'm proud of you."

"Thank you." Santana replied, tone even. "It's been a long time Brittany. How've you been?"

Brittany stared at her for a second before a grin tugged at her lips. "I've been better San-er, Detective Lopez. But thanks for asking."

Santana narrowed her eyes and watched the woman across from her. She looked just the same but something was different, something was off. She was no longer the carefree girl Santana remembered. She seemed hard, sad. Santana felt her instincts kicking in.

"Where've you been these last ten years Brittany?" She asked calmly.

Brittany glanced up and met her gaze again. "I've been around. Here in the City mostly. But around."

She spoke so softly Santana had to strain to make out the words. She'd been in the City. In the same City as Santana for the last ten years but had never bothered to contact her. Santana felt anger rising once again. Instead of lashing out, she laughed. A cold, brittle laugh.

"You've been here? All these years and you couldn't be bothered to say hello? Did you know Quinn is still here too? Did you ever consider saying hello to her? Or was it just out of sight out of mind for you Brittany?"

Sad blue eyes snapped to brown. "Of course I know Quinn is here. I've kept up with both of you. I know she's an attorney now. You were never out of my mind Santana. Never."

"Tell me about Jackson Vicks." Santana interrupted, not liking where the conversation had turned. "Why did you shoot him?"

Brittany flinched slightly and dropped her eyes to the desk in front of her and pulled her hands down into her lap. "I don't think I want to talk about that."

"I'm going to find out, you might as well just tell me." Santana replied. "I know that was your apartment. I could tell. I could feel you in that kitchen. The duck magnet."

Brittany finally raised her eyes once again. Santana stared back. Her heart broke all over again at the sight of those deep blue eyes, at the pain and resignation she saw there. And fear. Santana could tell that Brittany was terrified. She knew she had to get to the bottom of this mess, for her own sanity. She couldn't deny the old protectiveness toward the blonde also kicking in but she was trying her best to stamp it down.

"Yeah, it's my apartment. And my magnet." Brittany said softly.

Santana nodded. "I knew. I could tell. But the only rooms that felt like you were the kitchen and the bedroom. Everything else was cold. It didn't fit you. How long have you lived there? Did anyone live there with you?"

Get her talking, Santana thought. Get her talking, it's Brittany, she'll let something slip. You can do this Lopez, you can get to the bottom of this, just keep her talking.

"Hi Puck." Brittany said, ignoring Santana's questions. "How've you been?"

Santana looked over her shoulder to where Puck was standing by the door. She glared at him, daring him to interrupt.

"I'm good Britt." He said with a small smile, Santana's glare having no effect. "It's good to see you again. Well, not like this of course."

Brittany smiled and shrugged. Santana growled. "Brittany, your apartment? What the hell? You can't cook but one of the only rooms that fit you is the kitchen? That living room, nothing like you. Who decorated, your grandmother? Or Jackson?"

Brittany brought a hand up to her neck absent-mindedly and chewed her lip again. She nodded just slightly. "Jackson wanted the living room clean for if company stopped by. He didn't like the kitchen messy either but I didn't get a chance to clean. And…I learned to cook a few things."

Now we're getting somewhere, Santana thought to herself. "Was Jackson strict with you Brittany?" At Brittany's furrowed brow, Santana pushed on. "Was he mad that the kitchen was a mess? Did he yell at you? You know you can tell me Brittany, I just want to help you."

"No you don't." Brittany whispered. "You don't want to help me. You just want to get a story out of me. And I know it's your job San, I know you're just doing your job. But I don't want to talk about it."

Santana sighed. "I do want to help you Brittany. But I can't if you don't talk to me. I need to know what happened. I need you to tell me. Do you understand just how much trouble you're in? Let me help you."

Brittany met Santana's intense gaze and didn't falter. She shook her head slowly. "No. I don't feel like talking about it."

"Are you asking for a lawyer then?" Santana asked. "Because if you ask for a lawyer I'm not allowed to talk to you any more. At all. Are you asking for a lawyer Brittany?"

The look of confusion and pain returned to Brittany's face. Santana hated it just as much now as she did when they were growing up. Brittany scratched her head, her brow furrowed, a sign Santana vividly remembered as showing the blonde was deep in thought.

"If I ask for a lawyer I can't talk to you? Like, ever?"

Santana knew she wasn't being completely truthful but she shook her head. "No. If you ask for a lawyer we're not allowed to talk to you any more. You'll just sit down at the jail with no one to talk to. No one except the lawyer that is, and the other inmates. Is that what you want?"

Brittany's eyes widened at the thought. She shook her head again. "No. I don't want a lawyer San. I don't really think I need one anyway. But can we not talk about this anymore tonight? I'm kind of tired."

Santana felt her jaw muscles clenching again. She wanted to push Brittany, to get the story out tonight but she found herself nodding instead. "Yeah Britt. We can talk to tomorrow. Will you talk with me tomorrow?"

Brittany smiled sadly and nodded. As Santana stood to her feet, a uniformed officer stepped into the room to take Brittany down to the jail. Santana felt her heart clench.

"Has she officially been charged?" She found herself asking the officer. The young man nodded slightly and handed some paperwork over to her. She briefly scanned the papers, her jaw clenching again at the words "premeditated" and "murder" along with the papers ordering Brittany to be held without any bond or bail.

Santana watched as the officer took the blonde by the arm and led her out of the room. Brittany didn't look up or protest as she followed the man out. She seemed resigned to her fate already.

Santana wearily stood to her feet after watching Brittany be led away. Puck inched closer. "You're not going home are you?" he asked softly.

"Fuck no."

He nodded slightly. "Moe's? We can get started on those beers you now owe me?"

Santana let out a long shaky breath. "Moe's. Shit do I need a drink."

The pair silently made their way to the bar a few blocks away from the station. Moe's was for all intents and purposes, a dive. But it was their bar and most of the cops in town called it their own as well.

They slid into a booth in the back and quickly ordered two drinks. Puck eyed Santana warily. "You doing ok Lopez?"

Santana narrowed her eyes and downed her drink, quickly ordering another. "What the fuck. Brittany. How could she do this? We know her Puck."

"We knew her." He corrected softly. "It's been ten years San, a lot can change."

Santana shook her head. "Not that much. No way. This is Brittany. Brittany could never hurt anyone, not even those bitches who made fun of her in high school. This just makes no sense. There has to be more to this. And I'm going to figure out what."

"Oh, whoa, hold up now." Puck said, holding up a hand. "There is no way in hell Captain is going to give you this case. She's your ex girlfriend. You honestly think Captain is going to overlook that?"

"The Captain doesn't need to know about that." Santana replied. "And we're the only ones who know about it so there's no reason to think she'll ever find out. Puck, please. I know her; I know there has to be more to this. Brittany isn't a cold-blooded murderer. And if she is, hell, this will be just the closure I need to get over her. I need this case."

Puck exhaled and picked at the label on his beer bottle with his thumb. "Ok then." He sighed.

"Ok what?"

Puck smirked. "Ok, we'll get to the bottom of this. I'm just worried you won't like what you find out."

Santana smirked. "I think that's a given. Pretty sure anything I found out is going to suck one way or another."

Puck placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. They didn't speak the rest of the night.