Warnings:
Violence
The Wings of A Griffin
Chapter 6: Phoenix Ball
"San?"
"Mm?"
"Isn't chamois a cloth people use to clean cars?" Brittany asked curiously as herself and Santana sat on the orange couch in the flight house.
"Yeah," Santana chuckled, "But, it's also a mountain goat in Italy. We eat the goat not the cloth."
"Thank god." Brittany sighed as she snuggled closer to Santana and pecked her shoulder. The brunette smiled out a small laugh as she held Brittany closer and focused on the TV, "So, um, when are you gonna ask me to that ball thing tomorrow night?"
Santana frowned, confused, before realisation hit her and she groaned, "Shit, Britt, I'm sorry. I completely forgot about that. I usually don't even go and the guys just bring back chamois." Santana said earning a giggle, "Do you wanna go? I mean, I only never went because I never had a date. But now I've got you. And, let's face it, you'll be the most beautiful woman there."
"I'd love to go." Brittany replied with a bashful smile as she leaned in for a kiss. Santana smiled back and kissed her mate. She cupped Brittany's cheek and exhaled gently into the kiss. Brittany tilted her head to the side and deepened the kiss, running her tongue along the brunette's bottom lip and letting it dance inside the woman's mouth.
Santana hummed as they kissed and let her hands rest on Brittany's lower back. She tickled her fingertips along her mate's spine and felt goosebumps raise on the woman's skin.
"Yo, yo!" Puck hollered as he walked in the front door with a blonde woman following, "Woah, San, sorry." He said and then smiled, "Woah, San, sorry." He chuckled out as Brittany pulled out of the kiss and gave him a smile.
"Hey, Noah." She greeted.
"Hey, Britt." He greeted back and gave the blonde a high five before putting his hand on the other blonde's back, "Guys, this is Quinn. Quinn, this is Santana Lopez, she's the king of our flight and that's her mate-"
"Brittany Pierce." Quinn interrupted with a nod, "You don't know me but I work for your dad. I'm one of his nurses and he has pictures of you and your brothers all over his office. He talks about you constantly. It's nice to meet you both."
"Yeah, you too. Last name's Fabray, right?" Brittany asked, shaking Quinn's hand.
"Yeah, exactly."
"My dad likes you a lot." Brittany said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Quinn." Santana said, shaking Quinn's hand, "Puckerman, are you taking her to the ball tomorrow night?"
"Yep, we just stopped by to grab my car keys. We're going shopping for dresses and suits and all that." Puck said with a nod as he moved to the cabinet to grab his car keys out of the car key bowl.
"You guys are going shopping now?" Santana asked, earning a nod, "Can we come with you? I completely forgot about the ball and only asked Britt now."
"Oh, because you never go and make us bring back take out boxes of chamois?" Puck asked earning a nod and an eye roll, "Sure, come with us. But hurry up and get dressed because the shop closes in twenty minutes and we wanna be in there before closing time, that way they can't kick us out until we've paid."
"We are dressed, Puckerman." Santana said as she stood and stepped into her sneakers, reaching down and pulling them fully onto her sock clad feet.
"Then let's go." Puck said, "You know what we should do? We should get matching dresses and suits."
"No way in hell." Santana said, "Besides, I don't wear suits."
"Party pooper."
-T.W.O.A.G-
"Rach, could you do my make-up?" Brittany asked as she walked out of Santana's room and down the hall to the purple door on the left. She knocked twice and walked inside. Rachel was seated at her dressing table and gave Brittany a smile through the mirror.
"Sure, sweetness, sit down." She said and finished tying her hair before standing and letting Brittany sit down in her place, "Okay, what were you thinking? Light? Dark? What color is your dress?"
"It's red. Flowy and red. Hold on, I'll get it." Brittany said and stood. She stood and moved to Santana's room to get her dress and heels before moving back to Rachel's room and shutting the door behind her, "Here, see."
"Oh, it's beautiful." Rachel gushed as Brittany held her dress in front of her body and put down her shoes, "Like a summer dress with a formal twist."
Brittany smiled and nodded, "Quinn helped me pick it out."
"Alright, I can work with this." Rachel said, "Sit down. You'll be beautiful."
Brittany sat down and bounced excitedly in her seat. Rachel giggled and undid Brittany's hair. She ran her fingers through it and looked at it in the mirror.
"With a dress like that your hair needs to be down." Rachel said, "I have a clip that's red and I can use it to hold back your fringe."
Rachel moved to the chest at the foot of her bed and opened it, rummaging through it to a small shoe box. She opened the box and took out the red flower clip sitting in it. Rachel stood and placed the clip on the dressing table before running a comb through Brittany's wavy hair.
"Excited?" Rachel asked and watched Brittany nod eagerly. She chuckled, "The Phoenix Ball is always fun. It's the one event everyone looks forward to every year."
"What happens at the ball?" Brittany asked as Rachel spun the chair around and knelt in front of her.
"Well," she said as she opened her make-up bag, "First is dinner which, as I'm sure Santana's told you, is chamois steak and Santana gets the head. For the vegetarians and the people that just don't eat steak is salad but Dave makes a chamois bone salad dressing which is to die for."
"I like Dave. He's sweet." Brittany commented as Rachel put concealer on her.
"He is." Rachel agreed, "And after dinner we dance."
Brittany smiled and Rachel gave her a wink.
"Usually there's a vote - kind of like prom - for most beautiful mates." Rachel said, "Santana never goes to the ball so, usually Finn and I win. But the last two years it's been Blaine and Kurt."
"That's so much fun." Brittany said happily as Rachel took out eye shadow.
"It is fun." Rachel confirmed and chuckled at Brittany's eagerness, "You know, Britt, I'm really happy you're Santana's mate. I didn't know when I introduced you two, you know, I just wanted you to meet everyone. But I suppose there's a reason for everything. And Santana's been... not miserable but, lonely... for the past few years. And then she met you and it was like everything changed."
Brittany licked her lips and smiled at the confession. Her eyes sparkled before she closed them to let Rachel put eye shadow on.
"This color's beautiful on you." Rachel said and Brittany smiled, "She loves you. She may not have said it yet but she does."
"I love her too." Brittany whispered in admittance and Rachel smiled as she finished off the eye shadow.
"I know you do." Rachel said happily, "Open your eyes. Stunning."
Brittany giggled as Rachel began to put on light blush and then liquid eyeliner, "Rach, how come San won't spend her mating weeks with me? She's had three since I found out we're mates and we still haven't spent one together."
"Oh," Rachel said and then gave Brittany a reassuring smile, "Mating weeks can get... rough. Very rough. And not rough like normal rough sex, I mean rough like... she's afraid she'll hurt you. I felt the same way about spending my mating weeks with Finn but, with Finn and I it isn't as violent as it'll be with you and San. In mine and Finn's case, I'm the woman whereas with you and San, she's the one with the penis. And because of that she has this drive in her that makes her... more aroused than I get. The men usually get more animalistic than the women do and because she was born with a man's appendage it gives her that... raw, animal force that could end up hurting you. When the men go into their mating weeks they have no control over themselves. The task at hand during that week is to impregnate their mates and they become incredibly aroused."
"It's different for the women?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah," Rachel confirmed, "For the women it's just a hell of a lot of arousal. Constantly. And we get very sensitive so we orgasm easier to ensure pregnancy. Santana spends her mating weeks here alone and... I probably shouldn't say but, we can hear everything because our senses are heightened. She struggles a lot because she can't help her erections and with every erection comes the need to ejaculate. So... I know it's explicit but, it's a lot to handle."
"I don't want her struggling like that." Brittany said, concerned.
"I know but, she'd rather struggle than hurt you because she couldn't control herself." Rachel said as she finished the eyeliner.
"Will I ever get used to it?"
"Absolutely. But, more importantly, Santana will get less aggressive because her griffin will feel you." Rachel said gently, "Her griffin then won't let her be overly aggressive and it'll sense how much aggression your body can take. It's just the first day of the first week that's painful."
"She'll spend it with me soon enough, though, right?" Brittany asked as Rachel began to dab lip gloss to her lips.
"I'm sure she will." Rachel said, painting Brittany's lips with lip gloss, "Give her time."
Rachel smiled as she finished Brittany's make-up and she packed away her stuff. She then turned the chair around and let Brittany look at herself before picking up the clip and sliding it through her hair, clipping her fringe and moving some of Brittany's hair over her shoulder.
"Beautiful." Brittany whispered in awe as she looked at herself in the mirror, unable to recognise herself, "Thank you, Rachel. For the make-up and for the reassurance."
"Anytime, gorgeous." Rachel said with a smile, "Now get into your dress, I wanna see it all together."
"Okay!" Brittany squealed, "This is so exciting!"
Rachel laughed as Brittany hopped over to her dress and began to get changed.
-T.W.O.A.G-
"Ladies, are you about ready? We gotta get goin'." Finn called up the stairs as himself, Santana, Blaine, Kurt, Puck and Quinn waited in the flight room for Rachel and Brittany.
"Don't rush us!" Rachel snapped and Finn flinched, taking a sip of his beer.
"Is your guys's mating week coming up?" Kurt asked and Finn nodded, "So, she's on her period. Hormones all over the place. Cannot tell you how grateful I am for men."
"Alright, Liza." Santana teased and Kurt rolled his eyes.
"You look lovely, Santana." He complimented and she smiled. She was wearing a tight, knee length black dress with no straps, hair straightened and up, light and suitable make-up with high black heels.
"Thanks, Kurt. You too." She said and inhaled deeply as she sat down. Rachel came walking out of her room a few seconds later and walked excitedly down the stairs.
"Aw, babe, you look beautiful." Finn said with a smile and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Come on, hon, don't kiss ass. I'm dating you." She said and then gave Santana an excited smile, "She's just putting on her heels. I can't wait for you to see her, god, she looks so... just, god."
Santana laughed out a breath as Brittany walked out of Rachel's bedroom and across the balcony toward the steps. All eyes in the room were on her as she walked down the steps, eyes on her feet as she walked. Santana stood and stared at Brittany in awe, her eyes glistening and a lump forming in her throat.
"Suddenly I feel underdressed." She muttered as Brittany reached the bottom step and looked up. She looked at each person in the room, confused as to why they were all looking at her with wide smiles on their faces, and then frowned.
"What?" She asked. Santana walked toward her and held out her hands. She smiled and took Santana's hands, her attention now on her mate, "You okay?"
"You take my breath away." Santana whispered and gave her mate a teary smile.
"You don't look too bad yourself." Brittany said jokingly as she wrapped her arms loosely around Santana's shoulders and pecked her lips, "You ready to go?"
"I don't know. I feel like I should be wearing a wedding dress walking in there with you." Santana joked, earning a giggle from Brittany and chuckles from her flight.
"I think we all feel like we should be walking in there wearing a wedding dress after seeing Brittany." Finn said and Rachel shook her head with a sigh.
"Think before you speak, honey, that didn't sound right."
-T.W.O.A.G-
"Seriously, San, I never thought I'd like the taste of something's head but it was so good." Brittany said as herself, Santana and the rest of the flight walked to the ballroom.
"You never thought you'd like the taste of something's head?" Puck asked as he walked next to Brittany, "What about the head of San's peni-"
"Noah, you know what I mean. You don't always have to take it there." Brittany warned and Puck chuckled.
"Alright, sorry." He said and rubbed her back as they walked into the ballroom.
"That's fine." Brittany said, "San, seriously, it was the most delicious thing I've ever put in my mouth."
"How do you expect me not to take it to a sexual place when you say things like that?" Puck asked and Brittany chuckled.
"That one was on purpose."
"I see how it is, Pierce. I see how it is." Puck said dramatically before pulling a dramatic face and turning around to find Quinn. Brittany snorted and rolled her eyes.
"I can see why chamois is so expensive." Brittany said, "And I can also see why you love it so much."
"See? So good." Santana said and gave her mate a smile, "Do you wanna dance?"
"I'd love to." Brittany said and took Santana's hand, leading her onto the dance floor where a few people were already dancing, "You know, in preschool I majored in dancing."
"You did?" Santana asked, playing along.
"Oh, yeah. I was the best doo-wapper and boogie-woogier in my class." Brittany joked and Santana chuckled as she put one hand on Brittany's waist and put her other in Brittany's, taking the lead, "By the end of the year I was named best twister and mash-potatoer in the chipmunk class."
"I love you." Santana said through a laugh and Brittany's eyes immediately teared up. She swallowed the lump in her throat and gave her mate a smile.
"I love you too." She said softly and pressed their foreheads together. Santana smiled widely and brought her mate into a kiss, wrapping her arm around her waist and pulling her closer as she danced them in slow circles around the dance floor.
Dinner had been a laugh and everybody had had a great time. Puck and Quinn had cuddled and talked amongst one another all through the dinner and the rest of the flight couldn't help but be overwhelmed with happiness that their flight was almost complete - all that was left were kids to add to the flight and, in later years, take over the flight.
The perfection of the night was too good to be true. And that was proven when a loud shout of male voices was heard outside the ballroom causing Santana's griffin to become alert. The ballroom door burst open and Puck and Blaine came racing in. Santana and Brittany stopped dancing and Santana gripped Brittany's hand, leading her to the two men.
"What is it?" She asked urgently, worried by the fear on their faces.
"Britt!" Rachel called as she came into the ballroom with Finn following, "Sweetie, go with Finn. He's gonna take you, Kurt and Quinn back to the flight house."
"What? No. I wanna stay. What's happening?" Brittany asked, worried.
"Britt, you can't stay. It's not safe. Just go with Finn, okay?" Puck said and Brittany slowly nodded after seeing the fear in his eyes and hearing it in his voice.
"Okay." She said and turned to Santana, "I love you. Be careful, okay?"
"I love you too." Santana said and kissed her mate, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting her go with Finn, "What the hell is going on?"
Just as Blaine was about to answer, the wall of the ballroom came crashing in and loud screams bounced off the remaining three walls.
"Shit." Santana said at the sight of the basilisks now slithering into the ballroom, "How did they get into the forest?"
"A dragon broke the gate." Blaine said and Santana's eyes widened, "And Dave's dead."
-T.W.O.A.G-
Loud griffin shrieks sounded through the broken ballroom and the loud screams of phoenixes followed as dragons blew fire and basilisks bit and slithered.
Santana's large griffin wings knocked a basilisk unconscious and she tore off its head with her talon. Puck, Blaine and Rachel were all fighting the battle as well along with phoenixes who were shrieking violently as they blew fire into the eyes of the basilisks.
The largest basilisk - unmistakable as Jesse St James - came slithering up behind Santana, his evil snake eyes focused on her wings. His entire upper body raised and he shot his head at her, mouth open and fangs out. She flew up after seeing his reflection in a broken mirror in front of her and turned around, shrieking loudly and diving forward, talon open and ready to rip. Blaine ripped a chunk out of the basilisk's tail and he hissed in pain, squirming on the ground before turning around, eyes set on Blaine.
Another loud griffin scream was heard and Santana flew forward when Jesse went for Blaine. She knocked Blaine out of the way with her right wing and Jesse bit her left. Her griffin shrieked in pain and the sound pierced through the brokenness of the evening. Puck and Blaine were immediately there, tearing and biting at Jesse until he let Santana go and hissed loudly. A phoenix came up behind Jesse as he curled his body in to spring out again and breathed out fire which landed on the snake's tail causing him to writhe on the floor in pain.
Santana was struggling to stay in the air, her right wing flapping rapidly as she dropped to the ground, thick blood dripping from her left wing as she fell. Puck shrieked as Santana began to lose vision and the last thing she saw before she passed out was Jesse's head being ripped off with the force of three griffins - her flight.
-T.W.O.A.G-
Brittany was biting her nails as she sat, worried out of her mind, on a bar stool in the kitchen. Rachel had stopped by an hour before and Finn had given her a bag of the flight's clothes before she left again.
Kurt and Quinn were seated on the couch, Quinn fast asleep with her head in his lap and Kurt drifting off when the door of the flight house burst open and Blaine came walking in with Rachel following, eyes worried as Puck came in with an unconscious Santana in his arms. She'd been dressed by Rachel and her left arm was gashed open and weeping with blood. Brittany's eyes immediately watered at the sight and she got off the bar stool as fast as she could as Puck walked up the stairs and moved to Santana's room to put her in bed.
"Brittany, call your dad." Rachel instructed, "We would take Santana to his office but it's closed."
"What happened?" Brittany asked, tears dripping from her eyes as her hands began to shake.
"Britt, just call your dad." Rachel said, "Get him to come down here and look at her arm."
"Okay, but what happened?" Brittany asked again, desperate to know what had happened to her mate. Rachel was frantically trying to find the first aid kit in the kitchen and Brittany clenched her jaw.
"I don't have time, Britt, just call your dad."
"Look at me!" Brittany snapped, tears rolling down her face as Rachel flinched and stopped her actions, turning around and looking at Brittany, "If that were Finn you'd wanna know what happened, so, you better start talking because I'm not going to take instruction from you when my mate is bleeding her own body weight!"
Kurt and Quinn had gotten up and moved to Blaine's room and Rachel swallowed her tears, "It was Jesse St James. He went for Blaine and Santana flew in front of him. Jesse caught her wing and tore it. We tore his head off after but she was already unconscious. We're doing everything we can, Britt, but we aren't doctors. You have got to call your dad." Rachel begged and Brittany clenched her jaw before taking out her cell phone and calling her father.
After Brittany had made the call, she moved upstairs and barged into Santana's bedroom, "Get out." She demanded and Puck gulped, stood from Santana's bed and moved toward the shattered blonde.
"Britt, I-"
"Out!" She snapped and Puck flinched before touching her shoulder and leaving the room. Brittany let out a sob and stumbled toward Santana's bed as the brunette bled and shook in cold sweats. Rachel came in with the first aid kit and Brittany let her attempt to stop the bleeding. Puck had put a towel under Santana's arm and it was already soaked.
Rachel had tears falling down her face as she cleaned the wound and Brittany's heart clenched at the sight of her mate in pain. Blaine came walking upstairs ten minutes later with Wayne Pierce behind him. Brittany stood from Santana's bed and moved to her father.
"Dad," she said desperately and Wayne cupped his daughter's cheek.
"It's okay. Let me do my job." He said gently and moved over to Santana, "Leave us."
Rachel, Blaine and Brittany left the room and closed the door. Blaine helped a sobbing Brittany to the flight room where everybody had moved to. He helped her onto the couch and sat on the coffee table to look at her.
"She's gonna be okay, Britt." Blaine said gently, taking Brittany's hands into his, "She's a griffin. She's a king. After your dad treats her arm and gives her pills to ease the pain, the wound will heal quickly. A week tops and she'll be back to normal."
"I didn't know a person could have that much blood." Brittany said, tears falling freely from her pained blue eyes. Puck wrapped Quinn in his arms, Finn stood with Rachel clinging onto him and Kurt and Blaine sat consoling Brittany.
An hour later, Wayne came walking out of Santana's room, drying his hands on a towel as he walked down the stairs, "She'll be alright." He informed the flight, glancing at his daughter and bringing her into his arms, "I've stitched up the wound, covered it and bandaged her arm. I've put a sling on her as well so her arm stays in place. Now, I'm going to give these to you, Bee." He said, handing a tub of pills to his daughter, "They're to ease the pain but they're very strong so she's only allowed three a day. One after each meal. Now, she won't want to eat for the first two days but she has to eat something to take the pain killer. Her arm will be healed in about a week and a half."
"When do you take the stitches out?" Rachel asked.
"You don't. They'll dissolve once her arm's healed." Wayne said and looked at Brittany, "You need to change her bandages after her baths and she has to bath everyday. Wash the wound with this." He handed her a bottle of disinfectant soap and a bag of bandages, "Take her bandages off before her bath and put a new one on afterward. If you need anything, call me. Okay? Quinn can help you, she knows about all of this."
Quinn gave Brittany a gentle, reassuring smile and the blonde smiled back, now calmer, "Thanks dad. I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart. Everything's going to be fine." He assured her before saying his goodbyes, comforting his daughter with a hug and then leaving.
Brittany lay next to Santana that night, watching her mate breathe in and out steadily. Her father had given Santana a pill to ease the pain before he left and told Brittany the brunette would be awake the next day around noon. Brittany didn't sleep the entire night as she watched her mate sleep.
Rachel had told her before she'd gone to bed that Dave had died as well and her heart couldn't possibly go through any more.
The Phoenix Ball had started off incredible and perfect and it ended with injury, pain and death. Brittany and the rest of the flight were, while mourning the loss of their friends, thankful they hadn't lost Santana.
Everyone in the flight had seen a side of Brittany that night that proved her worthy of their king. Her hard side had come out and she showed herself to be a true queen. And as Brittany watched her mate breathe steadily in and out, her injured arm wrapped securely in a bandage and slung to her shoulder, she knew she was one and was proud to be mated to the woman in front of her. Santana was stronger than she thought and braver than she thought but her heart was just as she knew it was - focused purely on family.
-T.W.O.A.G-