A/N: Hi everyone! Here is the update. There is an aviation tutorial just below, but I promise the amount of technical references in the actual chapter is minimal. It's nowhere near as involved as last chapter. The points below are just to give you a little background on the terms that you will see Santana and Brittany talk about in the dialogue.
1) A TRACON is another type of air traffic control facility and is an acronym for Terminal Radar Approach Control. It is also a radar facility, but it differs from an En route Center (like Cleveland Center where Santana works) because while a Center will have several hundred miles of airspace that it will have jurisdiction over, a TRACON's airspace is much smaller and is associated with a specific airport, or area, in the case of New York where they have several busy airports close to each other.
2) D-Side and Tracker: In a Center a radar sector can have up to three people working the sector. The R-side or radar controller is in charge of the sector and the one that speaks to the pilots. If the sector gets busier, a second controller called the D-side will be put in to help the R-side work the sector, but they will not talk to the aircraft. If it gets busier, a third controller called a Tracker will be put in to help. Basically, if a tracker is put into position, the sector is really busy and complex.
3) Ground stops and EDCT: Ground stops and EDCT (Expected Departure Clearance Time) are methods that air traffic control uses to slow down and control the traffic volume going into an airport or airports. They are delays that are used before the aircraft departs. These delays could be for a few minutes or a few hours depending on the situation causing the delay.
4) A 'deal' is what air traffic controllers call an operational error, such as a loss of separation or an airspace violation.
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Chapter 4
Early August 2026
Santana had had a bad day. Actually to say that it was bad was an understatement. It had probably been one of the worst days of her career. It was a Monday, and from the moment that she plugged into the sector when she first got to work that morning, until she left eight hours later, it had just been the day from hell. All she wanted to do was go home and forget that work existed.
She went straight to her car when her shift ended, and as she stepped outside, she sighed. It was a relief to be out of the control room and in the sunshine. She rolled down the windows and opened the sunroof so she could take advantage of the beautiful day on her way home. She was hoping that it would help to bring her down from her agitated state.
Unfortunately, when she was halfway home, traffic had backed up and slowed because there had been a minor car accident. It wouldn't have been a big problem except that one of the cars was disabled and it was blocking one lane and part of another and it took a while for the police and a tow truck to arrive to move it out of the way completely.
Needless to say, by the time Santana got home, she was even more anxious than she had been when she left work. She saw Brittany's car in the garage, so when she went into the house she had been hoping to find Brittany lounging in the living room since she had not been called out to go to work, but all she saw was Lord Tubbington sprawled out on the couch.
"You have the life, don't ya big guy." She said with an envious chuckle and rubbed the cat behind his ears.
Lord Tubbington started to purr and rubbed his head on her hand. Surprisingly, it made Santana feel a little better. She set down her small book bag that she usually took to work on the floor and scratched and rubbed Lord Tubbington with both hands for a few moments before she went upstairs to find Brittany. When she went into their bedroom, she heard the shower running.
Their bathroom was one of the more therapeutic places in the house. There was a Jacuzzi tub that was big enough for two and a separate shower that had three different shower heads, one of which was a rainfall shower head. Santana thought a shower might help her wash off her stress, so she quickly stripped out of her clothes and went into the bathroom. She saw Brittany in the spacious tile and glass shower with her eyes closed, rinsing the soap out of her hair. She was just going to step in the shower with Brittany and wrap her arms around her, but then she thought better about it, because she thought that might scare Brittany considering she thought she was home alone.
"Britt, can I get in with you?" Santana asked softly.
"Hey!" Brittany chirped and turned to look at Santana. "Of course you can, honey."
"Thanks." Santana said opening the door to the shower and stepped under the hot water. She immediately wrapped her arms around Brittany and kissed her.
Brittany was startled by the intensity of the kiss, but she quickly felt the tension radiating off Santana and tightened her hold around her to deepen the kiss a little more. When they ended the kiss almost a minute later, Santana sighed and leaned into Brittany a little more. She felt a little better just being with Brittany.
"Baby, what's wrong? You're so stiff." Brittany asked as she gently rubbed her fingers into Santana's back to massage her tense muscles.
"I just had a stressful day." Santana muttered, pushing her wet hair back and out of her face.
Brittany frowned. "Aww, I'm sorry. What can I do to help you feel better?"
"Just kiss me."
Brittany smiled because that was something that she could do very well. She leaned down and kissed Santana again. It wasn't as intense or as needy as their first kiss. It started out slow, sweet, and lingering, but after few minutes, Brittany deepened the kiss and ran her hands down Santana's slick back to her ass and pulled her hips into own.
When Santana let out a low moan into Brittany's mouth, Brittany moved her lips away from Santana's and started a trail of kisses down her jaw.
"I love you." Santana sighed tilting her head back so Brittany could have more room. Her stress was fading with every second that Brittany touched or kissed her.
"I love you too." Brittany cooed and she nibbled on Santana's ear for a few moments before she slowly kissed down her neck to her collarbone.
When Brittany got to the tops of Santana's breasts, she kissed the top of each of them before she leaned down a little further and grabbed Santana by the thighs and picked her up. Santana had not been expecting that and let out a surprised yelp before she wrapped her legs around Brittany's hips and her arms around her neck. Brittany started another heated kiss between them as she blindly backed them up out of the direct streams of water until her legs bumped into the tiled bench that was in the back of the shower.
She sat down, Santana straddling her lap, and she immediately kissed her way back down Santana's chin, along the front of her neck, and stopping only when she got to the valley in-between her breasts.
"I love your boobs so much." Brittany husked before she took Santana's left nipple in-between her lips and sucked hard as she kneaded the other breast with her hand.
"I fucking love it when you do that." Santana groaned, burying her hands into Brittany's wet hair to hold her close to her.
Brittany teased, tweaked, and nibbled on Santana's nipples eliciting cries of ecstasy from Santana for several minutes until she had her shaking in her lap. While Brittany took pride in the fact that she could make Santana come just from playing with her nipples, she didn't want her to come yet, so she stood up, turned around, and gently sat Santana on the bench, before she kneeled in front of her.
She kissed Santana's lips again before she moved back to her breasts. She kissed the tops of each one softly, then ran her tongue down the valley of her breasts, before she placed slow lingering kisses down her abdomen, stopping short of her center, as she placed one last kiss just above her clit.
"I love it when you're all wet." Brittany said with a teasing smirk, and the double meaning was not lost on Santana, especially when Brittany swiped her finger across her aching folds and then licked her finger. "Mmm, you taste good, I want more."
Santana couldn't help but to whimper and spread her legs a little wider. Brittany scooted in-between Santana's legs, sitting back on her own legs, before she looped her arms around Santana's calves and pulled her closer to her, so her ass was on the very edge of the bench. Santana leaned back, propping herself up on her elbows as she watched Brittany. She wanted Brittany to touch her center so bad, it was throbbing.
Brittany leaned down and kissed Santana's inner thigh by her right knee. Then she turned to the left thigh, and kissed the same spot, before she returned to the right thigh, and kissed a spot a little higher than she had before. Santana felt her arousal spike within her as she watched Brittany suck and nibble higher and higher up her legs.
By the time Brittany's lips made it to the creases where her legs met her body, Santana thought she might pass out from a combination of the steam in the shower and how worked up she was from Brittany adorning her body with her lips.
Brittany chuckled to herself when she glanced up and saw Santana's head slightly tilted back and breathing deeply. She couldn't make her wait anymore, so she slowly ran her tongue through her soaked center.
Santana moaned loudly and put her hand on Brittany's shoulder to help steady herself. Brittany circled Santana's clit a few times before she closed her lips around the sensitive nub and sucked it into her mouth.
"Unf, fuuuuck!" Santana breathed out as she tightened her grip on Brittany's shoulder.
Brittany flicked the nub a few times with her tongue before she pressed her tongue flat against Santana's center and made long broad strokes. Santana's breathing became deeper as Brittany's tongue moved against her. Her whole body shook in pleasure, and she knew she wasn't going to last much longer at this rate. Brittany took Santana's clit between her lips again, and flicked the nub a few more times before she slowly ran the tip of her tongue down Santana's folds and pushed her tongue inside her, moving it in and out as swiftly as she could.
Within moments, Santana couldn't hold on anymore and she cried out, holding onto Brittany's shoulders as her orgasm flowed through her and Brittany licked up her wetness.
When Santana finally came down from her high, she let go of Brittany's shoulders and leaned back against the wall of the shower. Brittany placed lingering kisses to her lower abdomen, in-between her breasts, and then she put her arms on each side of Santana and leaned up into her so she could kiss her lips.
"How do you feel now?" Brittany asked when they parted from the sweet kiss.
Santana smiled lazily. Brittany had completely worked her magic, because she didn't feel stressed anymore. "So much better."
Brittany returned the smile and kissed Santana softly on her lips again. "Let me wash you." She cooed and took Santana by the hands and helped her to stand up.
When they stepped back under the water, it had cooled a little, but it was still comfortable, so Brittany put some of Santana's shampoo into her hands and gently worked it into her hair, massaging her scalp.
Santana hummed as tingles from the calming sensation coursed through her. After Brittany rinsed Santana's hair, she washed her body with a loofa, and then when all the soap had washed off, she placed several soft and lingering kisses along the length of Santana's shoulders and the back of her neck.
"Do you know what I think?" Brittany whispered, tightening her hold on Santana from behind and kissing under Santana's ear.
"What?" Santana asked tilting her head back and resting it on Brittany shoulder.
Brittany kissed the back of her jaw. "I think we should get out of the shower before it gets cold." She said and then placed two more kisses up Santana's jaw. "Then I'm going to dry you off," She kissed her chin, "put you in bed, and then for dinner I'm going to get all of your favorite snack foods and movies and we can cuddle in bed for the rest of the night." She said and kissed Santana softly on the lips. "How's that sound?"
Santana turned in Brittany's arms and held her close as she nuzzled her nose in the crook of Brittany's neck. "I think that sounds perfect." She sighed contently.
Brittany kissed Santana on her temple and then reached over to turn the water off. She released Santana from her hold so she could open the door to the shower. She stepped out of the warm shower stall, shivering slightly as the cool air of the bathroom hit her, and dried herself off before wrapping her towel around her. She grabbed Santana's towel off the hook and then brought it into the shower so she could dry her off in there so she wouldn't be completely wet when she left the warm stall.
She brushed all the tangles out of Santana's hair, and then quickly brushed her own hair before she took Santana by the hand and walked her into their room. Brittany looked through Santana's drawers for a new set of pajamas. Not that the ones that Santana had worn the few nights before were dirty, but she thought she would feel even better with a fresh set.
Once they were both dressed, Brittany tucked Santana into bed and then went downstairs to get the snacks and movies. When she returned to their bedroom, Lord Tubbington followed her into the room. She set everything on the bed and lifted Lord Tubbington up so he could lay in his spot at the end of the bed. She held up three DVD's that were some of Santana's favorites, and Santana pointed to the 'Clueless' DVD. Brittany put the movie into the player and then slipped into bed with Santana, who had already broken into a bag of Dorito chips and a can of Sprite.
Brittany leaned over and kissed Santana on her temple. "How you feeling babe?"
"Better, thanks sweetie. You always know how to make me feel better."
"Do you wanna talk about what had you so stressed?"
Santana sighed. "It was just work. It was fucking crazy today. I can't even remember a time that I was that busy. It was like a perfect cluster fuck. There was a line of weather that blocked off the New York area to the south, and a second area of weather that joined with that line and blocked it off from the north, and then it just stalled and sat there all day. They rerouted everyone around and into my airspace because they could still get into New York from the west. We had insane in-trail restrictions and then of course New York TRACON shut off New York Center twice because of volume, so they backed it up to us, and we had to put everyone into holding at the last minute. We were so busy today that we had to have D-sides and Trackers in the whole day."
"They didn't put out EDCT times or ground stops to slow down the traffic?" Brittany asked.
"They did, but every aircraft going into and out of New York today literally went into my airspace. The only words to describe it was 'fucking insane'. I mean we did it, and thankfully, we didn't have any deals, but it was just stressful because we didn't really get a break from it. We were on position for almost two hours each time and even though we got breaks, it didn't help much because as soon as we came down from the last session, it was time to go back into the next one."
"Aww, I'm sorry honey. Thankfully you don't have days like that often." Brittany said and leaned over and kissed Santana on her lips.
"I'm just glad it's over. Hopefully the weather will have dissipated by tomorrow and traffic can go back to normal."
"I hope so too, not only for you, but I got called and I have to fly to New York tomorrow. Mr. Motta will be pissed if we get delayed for too long."
"Anyways, enough about weather and airplanes." Santana said waving her hand. She was done talking about them for the day. "How was your day? Obviously you didn't get called out, so what did you end up doing?"
"I googled how to fix the drip in the sink in the downstairs bathroom. I think I have that fixed now. It just needed a new washer."
"Oh that's cool." Santana chirped.
"And I mowed, weeded, and edged the yard. I had just finished up and hopped into the shower when you came home."
Santana frowned. "I didn't even notice that you had done the yard. I'm terrible."
"Hey, you are not terrible." Brittany said and leaned over to kiss Santana's cheek. "You had a hard day and I'm sure the yard was the last thing on your mind when you got home."
"I know, but still." Santana said. She felt bad and she didn't want Brittany to think that she was ungrateful.
"Honey don't even worry about it. Now, stop hogging the chips and give me some." Brittany said playfully and reached into the bag, pulling out a handful of chips.
Santana laughed and then looked at all the junk food on the bed. "Chips, cookies, candy, and soda for dinner. Seriously, you'd think we were five years old instead of in our thirties."
"Hey, there's no shame in our game." Brittany said with a goofy smile. "Sometimes you just need to veg out in front of the TV with a bunch of snacks."
"Yeah." Santana cooed and scooted a little closer to Brittany, resting her head on her shoulder before she turned her attention to the TV. "Thanks for everything Britt. You really do make everything so much better."
Brittany smiled and kissed Santana on her forehead. "You're welcome honey. Love you."
"Love you too."
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A/N: I hope everyone liked this little emotional glimpse. It came about from a random conversation that I had with my friend maythestarsguideyou about wanting to upgrade the shower and tub in the master bathroom in my house and then she suggested that I write a Brittana one-shot with a shower scene, so I just decided to incorporate it into this fic, haha. Just goes to show that inspiration can come from anything.
I owe a huge thank you to my beta naynay1963 for proof reading even when she has a million things going on.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.