Einstein defined insanity as, "Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."
The ride back to headquarters was quite unsettling for both Brittany and Santana. While the Latina was working on sobering up before she saw the team's fearless leader, the blonde was lost in thought thinking about everything the profiler had said to her throughout the day.
Once arriving at the FBI field office, each member of the team silently made their way into the conference room where their Unit Chief William Schuester was awaiting. Santana uncharacteristically takes a seat in between Puck and Abrams. Brittany immediately notices, but doesn't take offense, seeing that she felt it was too soon to be in such close quarters with the profiler.
"Hey guys... sorry to pull everyone away from their weekend so soon," he genuinely states. "There's been a rash of homicides in New York."
As Schue begins to pass out a copy of the case file to each member of the team, Fabray queues up the projection screen, displaying the faces of three unknown females.
"Rachel Berry, Tina Cohen-Chang, and Mercedes Jones were all brutally murdered within the past few months," Quinn states. "It appears all of these women were already dead before being placed on fire."
"Oh my God!" Brittany exclaims as photographs of the various crime scenes are displayed on the screen, including the ones of their burnt corpses. No matter how many psychopaths the team catches, seeing the capability of what some people are willing to do to others never got easier for the blonde. Santana catches Brittany's eye and gives her a sympathetic smile.
"Obviously these women have been linked together by the way they were killed, but what connects them?" Hudson questions.
"They all appear to be in their mid-late 20s, but they're all different races and body types," Puckerman adds in. "What do they do for a living?"
"Both Ms. Berry and Ms. Cohen-Chang were actors, mainly Broadway productions, while Ms. Jones was an up and coming musician," Schue states.
"The autopsy report shows that Ms. Berry was the only one to suffer blunt force trauma," Santana says. "She also appeared to be the only one of the three that was strangled and had her vocal chords ripped out. Seems like the UnSub had a lot of aggression towards her."
"Yes... that's probably why Ms. Berry was the first victim," Schue begins to say. "The police believe that her murder was possibly an accident that turned into a crime of passion. With the other two vics, the UnSub shows much more restraint and control."
"Out of the three of them, Ms. Jones looks like she suffered the least," Brittany chimes in, commenting on the photos that show burn marks on only 50% of her body.
"From the looks of it, the UnSub was interrupted and didn't get to see his final masterpiece," Abrams states. "Based on the initial report, Ms. Jones' fiancé found her body only a couple of hours ago."
"What was the cause of death in each case?" Hudson ponders.
"Based on the petechial hemorrhaging, Ms. Berry died from manual strangulation. Her vocal chords were cut out postmortem," Schue clarifies. "Ms. Cohen-Chang suffered a deep laceration to her carotid artery, causing her to bleed out; the knife was still in her throat when her body was found," he continues. "As far as Ms. Jones... we'll have to wait for the preliminary exam to determine her COD."
"How were they able to link Ms. Jones to the other vics then?" Puck questions. "The other two were involved in Broadway so how does she fit in?"
"Maybe the fire has significance to the UnSub," Abrams suggests. "As far as we know right now, all of the vics were dead or at least incapacitated in some way before being set on fire. The M.E. found traces of GHB in Ms. Cohen-Chang's system."
"For Ms. Jones' sake, hopefully she was already dead..." Santana adds in. "I can't imagine still being alive and feeling your flesh burning and not being able to do anything about it."
As Santana looks down at the table with a mix of disgust, hurt, and anger, Brittany briefly stares at her. It's not often that the Latina lets her walls down and comments about how sick some people are. But... just as quickly as one brick comes down from her wall, it quickly gets replaced by a new one once Santana looks up and catches the blonde looking at her.
"I agree, that's why they need us on the ground ASAP before the UnSub strikes again," Schue reiterates. "Puckerman... you and Lopez will go to the latest crime scene and speak to Ms. Jones' fiancé; Hudson and Abrams... you'll go to the Eugene O'Neill theatre and re-interview the co-workers of the second victim," he continues. "Brittany and I will be at the precinct setting up the command post and going over all of the evidence. Wheels up in 30."
After a short flight, each team arrives at their respective locations.
Once Puck and Santana arrive at the latest crime scene, they speak with the officers on scene to get caught up.
"Detective Hollis," one of the men say as they shake both agents' hands. "Thank you guys for coming on such short notice."
"That's no problem at all; we're happy to help," Puck states sincerely. "This is Agent Lopez and I'm Agent Puckerman. What've we got?"
As Detective Hollis advises the FBI agents on everything they've gathered so far, Santana observes a distraught male sitting at the end of the hallway with his head buried in his hands. Once Det. Hollis informs them that the male is Ms. Jones' fiancé, the Latina makes her way to his location.
"Mr. Evans?" Santana says softly, not wanting to startle the broken man. "My name is Santana Lopez and I'm with the FBI. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"Sam... you can call me Sam," the blonde-haired man says as he wipes away the residual tears from his face.
"Ok then, Sam... can you tell me what happened?" Santana asks.
"I was coming over to surprise Mercedes..." Sam begins. "When I got here, I noticed that there was smoke coming out from under the door. I tried to open it, but the handle was too hot."
Sam then proceeds to tell Santana how he managed to break the door down and found Mercedes' body in the living room. By the time he reached her, her face and chest were severely burnt. Sam was able to locate the fire extinguisher and put out the fire before it spread more into the apartment.
"That was very brave and also incredibly stupid of you Sam... you could've easily hurt yourself," Santana seriously states.
"I guess I wasn't really thinking. All I knew is that I had to find her, but I was too late..." Sam says as he begins to sob again. "I wasn't being brave... people do stupid things when they're in love."
Santana lays a comforting hand on the blonde man's shoulder and gives him a sympathetic smile.
"Earlier you said that you were coming over to surprise Mercedes... what was the occasion, if you don't mind me asking," the Latina ponders.
"I've been in London on a photo shoot for the past few days... I'm a model," he explains. "Anyways, I wasn't supposed to be back till Monday, but I couldn't wait to see Mercedes so I took the red-eye."
"That was really sweet of you," Santana comments. "Well... I think that's all of the questions we have for right now. I'm so sorry for your loss."
As Santana turns around to make her way back towards her partner, the blonde gains her attention again.
"Agent Lopez... you're gonna find whoever did this, right?" Sam hopefully asks as his eyes begin to water again.
"I'm gonna do everything in my power to catch this sick son of a bitch," Santana sincerely replies before walking away from the shattered man.
Once the rest of the team arrives at the police station, they confer with each other to sort through any new information they may have ascertained.
"Everyone... this is Lieutenant Beiste," Schue states, introducing the woman standing to his left. "Lt. Beiste... this is SSA Hudson, SSA Puckerman, SSA Lopez, and Dr. Abrams."
"It's nice to meet you guys," Lt. Beiste says as she shakes each person's hand. "I was just telling Agent Schue and Agent Pierce how grateful we are that you guys could come on such short notice."
"Alright... let's see what my team found out in the field."
"We re-interviewed all of Ms. Cohen-Chang's co-workers from the show," Hudson begins. "Besides that, none of them really had anything new to add and no one was familiar with the Jones subject. However, we did establish a connection with Ms. Berry."
"Yeah... apparently Ms. Cohen-Chang was the understudy for Ms. Berry in Spring Awakening last year. When Ms. Berry opted not to reprise her role this year, Ms. Cohen-Chang was the first in line to replace her," Dr. Abrams adds in. "Everyone was very familiar with Ms. Berry and some of them even got to work with her in the past. They raved about her talent, but most of them said that Ms. Berry could be a 'pain in the ass' to work with," he continues.
"That might explain why Berry was the first vic," Puck contemplates. "Maybe she pissed off the wrong person and they didn't take too kindly to that..."
"And maybe Tina did the same thing and ultimately met the same fate," Santana states.
"What's even more interesting is that not even two weeks after Ms. Cohen-Chang's death, the male lead of the musical had to drop out due to injury," Abrams adds in.
"What kind of injury?" Schue questions.
"A broken ankle," Hudson responds. "Apparently he got jumped when leaving a bar."
"That sounds a little too coincidental, especially right after the female lead has to be replaced unexpectantly," Santana chimes in.
"I agree," Brittany states, shooting the Latina a small smile. "Who replaced Tina anyways?"
"Some girl named Marley Rose," Agent Hudson replies. "Apparently she's an up and comer too."
"Okay... so what are you guys thinking?" Lt. Beiste asks.
"The UnSub is someone whom is very familiar with the Broadway scene," Puck starts off. "More than likely they knew the victims well, which would explain why there were no signs of forced entry at any of the crime scenes."
"Ms. Jones' fiancé advised that she didn't personally know Ms. Berry or Ms. Cohen-Chang, so we're still missing a connection there," Santana says.
"Let's get Fabray on the horn and see if she's had any luck," Schue states.
Puck then hits the speed dial on his phone and waits for the other line to pick up. "Fabray... you're on speaker phone."
"This is the Goddess of All Knowledge... speak and be spoken to," Quinn replies with her eccentric sense of humor.
"Fabray... have you been able to find a connection to all three vics yet?" Schue questions.
"No sir... I've checked where each of the victims grew up, went to school, and their previous employment, but I can't seem to find a connection with Ms. Jones to the other two women," Fabray sadly notes.
"We're sending you a list of Ms. Berry and Ms. Cohen-Chang's former co-workers... maybe one of them had an axe to grind," Schue states.
"I'll run background checks on them ASAP sir," Quinn says. "Fabray out!"
"Alright then... since it's too late to do any further follow-up interviews tonight and we won't know the official COD for Ms. Jones until the morning, let's head to the hotel and get some rest," Schue politely orders. "Because of such short notice, the Bureau was only able to get three rooms for us so we're doubling up. Hudson... you're with me, Puck and Abrams, and of course... Brittany and Lopez."
As Schue lists off the room assignments, both Santana and Brittany have an uneasy feeling overcome them. Once they arrive at the hotel, both women contemplate how to make this situation less awkward.
"I'll just pay for my own room... that way you don't have to worry about sharing one with me," Santana suggests.
"Why would you do that?" Brittany ponders.
"I don't know… I just figured that given everything I told you earlier, you might feel uncomfortable sharing a room with me," the Latina solemnly answers.
"Santana... I don't feel uncomfortable around you," the blonde states.
"Oh... I guess I just figured as much since you haven't really spoken to me since we left work earlier," Santana reminds.
"Don't get me wrong... I have been avoiding you," Brittany casually states. Once she sees the hurt look on the profiler's face, she realizes how her statement might've been taken. "But, it's not because I'm uncomfortable. I guess I just needed some time to process everything, y'know? I mean... it's not every day that your best friend tells you that they're interested in you."
"I guess that makes sense..." Santana acknowledges. "So... we're okay?"
"Always," Brittany sincerely says as she brings the Latina into a side hug. Almost immediately, all of the tension leaves Santana's body.
Once everyone makes it to the hotel and checks in, the team says their goodnights to each other and head up to their rooms.
"Hey… were you planning on taking a shower tonight or in the morning?" Santana wonders.
"I'll probably just wait until the morning," the liaison replies.
"Okay... I'll go ahead and take mine now, that way it won't take as long for us to get ready in the morning."
As Santana gathers her sleep clothes, she heads towards the bathroom. Before she has the chance to shut the door, Brittany's voice stops her.
"San?"
"Yeah Britt..." the Latina replies as she turns around to give the blonde her full attention.
"I just wanted to say thank you..." Brittany begins.
"For what?" Santana questions.
"For having the courage to actually tell me all that stuff… I know it couldn't have been easy," the blonde elaborates.
"Yeah... it's no big deal," the brunette nonchalantly replies.
"But it is..." Brittany interjects. "You're an amazing woman Santana and I appreciate you so much. You are so special to me."
"Brittany... please," the Latina begs. "Hearing you say all those amazing things isn't really helping with the whole 'me having feelings for you' thing."
"I know... I'm sorry," the blonde apologizes. "I'm just so flattered that anybody - especially you - would think so highly of me."
Santana lets out an exasperated sigh before looking deep into the blonde's cerulean eyes. "I wish that you saw yourself the way I see you every single day. Goodnight Brittany."
And with that, Santana enters the bathroom and shuts the door behind her, leaving a confused Brittany alone to her own devices. Once Santana finishes her very long shower, she finds the blonde passed out on her bed.
The next morning, Santana wakes up and finds that her blonde counterpart is still fast asleep. Seizing the opportunity, the profiler makes her way to the bathroom and begins to get ready for the long day ahead of them.
Once Brittany finally wakes up, her eyes are still blurry from the restless sleep the previous night. Apparently, she found it very difficult to get a peaceful night of sleep with so many thoughts running through her head and a beautiful Latina lying in the bed next to hers.
Without checking her surroundings, Brittany goes towards the bathroom and opens the unlocked door.
"Son of a bitch!" Santana yells as she drops the hair straightener from her hands after being surprised by the blonde's sudden appearance.
"Oh my God! Santana, I'm so sorry!" Brittany exclaims as she quickly grabs the brunette's right hand and places it under the faucet to allow cold water to run over it. "I didn't know you were in here. I'm so sorry... I didn't even check to see if you were still in bed."
"Relax Pierce... it's probably not even a first degree burn," Santana casually states as she looks at the slight discoloration on her hand.
All of a sudden, the temperature in the tiny room appears to get 100 degrees hotter once Santana takes a minute to dissect her current situation.
Santana had only gotten half way dressed before she started straightening her hair, meaning that at this point in time, she stood clad in her dark blue skinny jeans a black laced bra. What made matters even worse was being in close proximity with blonde she couldn't get out of her head.
Brittany, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to what was going on around her because she was currently having a staring contest with her best friend's boobs.
"Brittany..." the Latina says a little breathlessly, "you should probably stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Touching me..." Santana whispers out.
Once Brittany is finally able to take her eyes away from the Latina's voluptuous twins, she realizes that she had been subconsciously stroking her thumb over Santana's hand that was under the faucet, unaware of the fire she was stirring inside of the other woman.
"Oh, sorry..." Brittany says as she quickly detaches her hand from the profilers. "I didn't realize I was doing that… I guess I'm just used to being close to you."
"It's okay..." Santana assures. "I think my hand is okay now so I'm just gonna go finish getting ready out there."
The Latina quickly grabs her belongings and exits the bathroom, once again leaving the liaison alone with her thoughts. What she didn't know was that as she finished getting dress on the other side of the door, Brittany was feeling just as hot and bothered by their little moment.
"Holy shit..." the blonde thinks out loud as she splashes cold water onto her face in an attempt to cool herself off. "I didn't see that coming."
Author's Note:
Hello to all of you beautiful people! Here's the next installment, which I hope you enjoyed. Thank you to everyone that has read, reviewed, followed, or added this story to their favorites list! As for 2 of my guest readers whom I can't send a PM to, hopefully this will answer some of the questions/concerns that you brought to my attention.
Guest #1: In reference to feeling that Quinn was a miscast for Garcia, I appreciate your feedback but I think you should give it a chance. I think Quinn is a good fit for the role because when she was acting like the HBIC and not the leader of the Celibacy Club, she was very sassy and practiced the whole "all about the teasing, not the pleasing" motto. My goal isn't to try and pass off Quinn as Garcia because that's just impossible, but I wanted her to have a little uniqueness and quirkiness so that fans of Criminal Minds could still relate and feel the essence of Garcia. However, this story is in an alternate universe so all of the characters aren't going to be 100% like they are on Glee. As far as Mercedes goes... I already had other plans for her.
Guest #2: In reference to the 'Quick is disgusting" comment... I didn't put a warning in because nothing is going to happen between Quinn and Puck. They are strictly platonic, although they do flirt with each other a lot and their relationship could be deemed as unprofessional (much like Morgan and Garcia). Hope that eases your mind a bit.
Anyways, thanks again for reading everyone!
