Santana had honestly thought that she wanted to be alone. For most of the day, she had felt smothered, surrounded by too many people at all times, everywhere she was and no matter how strongly she suggested they leave her be. All of them professed concern for her well being, of course, and all of them seemed to know exactly what was best for her, whether that be the officials at the hospital, Faith in her own damn house, or her mother, every friggin' place she happened to be. And maybe they were right. As much as she hated to admit it, Santana couldn't think of anything else but Faith's explanation for what was going on in her life, and she couldn't think of any way to get around her staying in her house. But god, did she have to admit that and accept it all at once?
She thought she wanted everyone to shut up and leave her be, give her time to process all the confusing, strange things she had experienced and been informed of in the past few days. But the longer she sat alone in her room, the more restless and keyed up she grew. Despite being an only child, or maybe because of it, Santana had never been good with being to herself. it gave her too much time to think, too much time to let herself start to feel and worry about things she didn't want to, and before she could quite think it through she found herself jumping up, her cell phone in her hand as she pecked out a text quickly to Brittany.
Going out. Can't take car, Mami is all stalk mode. Gonna walk, meet me two blocks past my place, corner of Aldridge & Iverson?
She got Brittany's responding text a few minutes later, indecipherable and full of emoticons as usual, but Santana knew her well enough to get the gist of it- Brittany was on her way. Only with this knowledge could Santana finally let herself start to relax.
She didn't waste much time getting herself together to go. Stuffing her cell phone into her jeans pocket, Santana ran a hand through her hair, then slid open the window to her room, glad that it was on the first floor and therefore didn't require much effort to jump out of. Without so much as a glance backwards to check if her mother or Faith happened to be spying, she took off down the sidewalk, head held high, hands stuffed in her pockets as she walked.
It seemed forever to her since she had seen Brittany face to face. Sure, Brittany had visited her briefly in the hospital- she was pretty sure she had, that she hadn't imagined Brittany's hand in hair, stroking the tears off her cheeks- but she had been so out of it at the time that it hardly seemed real. She wanted and needed to see her in full, aware reality, to feel her arms around her and hear her voice, because with Brittany, she could always manage to block out the rest of her world. Brittany had a magic in her that was far better than anything Faith could claim Santana herself had, and it was Brittany's magic that Santana needed then.
Coming to a stop at the street corner she had specified, Santana rocked back and forth impatiently on her heels, rolling her eyes to the darkened night sky. It was true that Brittany lived a little bit further away from it than she did, but still, the girl should be here by now. But Brittany was Brittany. It was not just possible but likely that she had been distracted by her obese cat's many implausible capers, or even that she had gotten lost on her way to a street that she should have known like her own face in the mirror by now. Brittany was nothing if not different, in a way that others labeled as stupid but that Santana simply regarded as extraordinary.
She heaved her breath out, getting out her phone and preparing to call or text to check on her, but then she could see the blonde's figure in the distance, coming towards her. Almost immediately Santana's face broke out into a smile, and she realized then that a part of her had feared that Brittany would not really come. Dropping her former irritation, she almost flew forward, crushing Brittany into a hug so fierce that Brittany's eyes bulged, and she gasped with pain before Santana, horrified, let go, backing up.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I just wanted- shit, did I hurt you? Damn it!"
"No, I'm okay. It's just super weird that my teeny tiny Tana is so super strong now," Brittany assured her, cocking her head to the side as she regarded her with undisguised curiosity. "Did you accidentally drink one of the football player's drinks instead of our cheering shakes, because I bet they totally put steroids in there. If you start getting big guy veins and man boobs, we'll know what happened."
"Eww! Britt, please don't give me one more thing to have nightmares over," Santana shuddered, even as she couldn't help but smile. How could she not, when Brittany was still calling her hers? When Brittany was still looking at her with affection, when her arm was still wrapped around Santana's shoulders so gently, like Santana was still less strong and more delicate than she was?
"Totally not hot," Brittany agreed, seemingly serious. "Your girl boobs are way better."
She kept her arm around Santana's shoulders, meeting her eyes more seriously as she spoke to her. "People said you were going to jail. Did you break out?"
Santana tensed immediately, her lips pressing into a thin line. She shook her head hard, cursing the "people" who were saying this even as she replied tightly.
"No. No, I'm not. I'm not going to jail, I'm not going anywhere."
"That's what I said," Brittany agreed, nodding. "I don't like that you slapped Finn, Santana. I don't, you know I don't like violence and bullying, and that's bullying him even if he bullied you first. I really don't like what he did to you either, you know that. But you can't help it if Finn's super, super weak compared to you. That's not your fault. That's like, Finn's super bad genetics' fault."
Brittany was very serious in saying this, and as funny as it was in a way, Santana couldn't muster up a smile. She shrugged one shoulder, exhaling, and burrowed herself further under her arm.
"What are they saying about me?" she asked softly, her voice smaller than she wanted it to be. "At school. Are they…"
She trailed off, not even sure what it was she wanted to ask. She didn't want to know, didn't want to feel hurt and helpless against their words and assumptions. And yet she had to know. Did they all hate her? Did they all blame her, look at her like a ruthless killer instead of just the shallow, sometimes cruel bitch most assumed her to be? Did anyone feel bad for her, was anyone willing to hear her side?
Brittany sighed softly, even as she ran a soothing hand over Santana's arm.
"Some people talk about you," she admitted softly, leaning her head against Santana's. "They say that you killed him, and you're paying for people to cover it up. Some people are just confused. Tina cries all the time, and Puck won't go to class. Rachel, well, she's sort of pathetic but I guess that's nothing new. But Quinn…she's sticking up for you, Santana. She knows it wasn't something you meant. Quinn and Mercedes and me, Troubletones, we all have your back."
Listening to this, Santana swallowed, feeling her eyes tear up. She was emotional in spite of her fierce wish not to be, and for Brittany not to notice if she was. But of course, Brittany did. Despite her many quirks, Brittany was nothing if not attentive to Santana's emotional state, even if she didn't notice things more clearly obvious to people, such as the difference between a duvet and a duck.
Brittany's fingers stroked through Santana's hair, and she kissed her forehead with tender attention.
"We miss you, San," she said softly, still keeping her fingers in Santana's hair. "We want you back. When will you do that for us?"
Santana shook her head, swallowing again, and willed her voice not to shake as she replied.
"I don't know that I am. It's probably better if I don't."
"You have to," Brittany insisted. She pulled slightly away, taking Santana's chin in her hand so the girl had to look at her as she spoke. "You have to, San. It was an accident."
"They don't think so," Santana told her bitterly, her lips pressing into a thin line. "Not most people."
"And do they really matter?" Brittany challenged, and Santana dropped her eyes, not responding. She knew that Brittany wanted her to say that no, they didn't. And it was probably even true. Brittany was the person who mattered most. But that didn't mean she didn't care, and Brittany echoed this thought aloud.
"They don't. But you still care. You always do."
Again, Santana couldn't respond to that. Brittany was right. With the things that mattered, she almost always was. She did care. She cared so much that her body ached with the weight of it, and as her head bowed forward in silent acknowledgment, Brittany cupped her face in her hands, forcing Santana to look up into her eyes.
"I love you," she said quietly. "I know you, Santana, and I know that you're super sweet and awesome and how strong you are inside, and how that's all that really matters. I know that even when you don't." She paused, tilting her head, before concluding, "I guess now your strong outsides just match up with your strong insides. It's kind of awesome. I guess that means I can't be top anymore…oh well, that's kind of hot."
Santana couldn't help but laugh at that. It was so Brittany, for this to be her line of thought, that she couldn't help then but to feel a rush of affection and love for her. She hugged her, gently at first, then more tightly, careful to avoid crushing anything breakable with her newly strengthened grip.
Tilting her face up towards the taller girl's, Santana kissed her, gently at first, tentative, then more firmly, wanting and needing to feel the girl against her own flesh. As Brittany kissed her back, her fingers twining and lightly tugging at Santana's hair, Santana closed her eyes, letting everything from the past few days fade out of her thoughts, letting go of everything in her world but the taste and feel of Brittany in her grasp.
"Human affection, how sweet," came a sneering voice from close behind her, startling her to the point that Santana gasped, pulling away from Brittany with panicky reaction not because of fear of danger, but because of her fear of who might have watched her kiss. "I wonder if it affects the taste of your blood?"
"We'll know soon enough," responded the second voice, giving a sinister chuckle. "I call the blonde!"
"Actually, Santana had me first, and this sidewalk here is definitely not the most comfortable place for a threesome or foursome," Brittany deadpanned, looking past Santana at the other two critically. "Also, you need a facial and fixing your overbite before I'd even think about kissing you. It looks like it would hurt."
"You have no idea how right you are," the taller male snarled, and then both figures were lunging towards them, mouths opened wide, and Santana's mouth dropped as she took in their deformed faces, the sharp teeth that could only be described as fangs.
Were these the vampires that Faith had told her about? Could this actually be happening?
Giving a shriek of shock as much as fear, Santana leaped backwards, with an agility and distance she could not have achieved two weeks before. She grabbed hold of Brittany's wrist and dragged the taller girl with her as she did so, forcing Brittany to stumble and fall to her knees. As one of the vampires dropped before Brittany, snatching at her, Santana reared back and kicked it in the face as hard as she could, getting surprising and grim satisfaction when it howled, blood spurting from its nose and mouth. As the second vampire came forward, giving an infuriated hiss, Santana struck out blindly, battering it with her hands and fists. She could hear Brittany behind her, calling out comments that were more admiring in tone than encouraging, and Santana barely felt it when the vampire returned her blows in kind, struggling to gain control.
"Aren't we supposed to cut out their hearts and fill their chest with garlic?" she heard Brittany muse, and that was when Santana remembered a piece of what Faith had said. Stakes- you were supposed to kill a vampire with a stake to the heart. But where the hell was she supposed to get a stake?
Her eyes scanned the sidewalk frantically, and seeing a fairly large stick lying in the grass beside it, Santana scrambled for it, taking it up in her fist in a firm grip. The next time that the vampire came towards her, she thrust out her left hand, puncturing its chest with a rough, jerky jolt forward.
At first nothing seemed to happen, and Santana started to panic, wondering how she was going to pull the stick from its chest and just how pissed off it would be with a fresh new chest wound to spur it on. But then she watched the vampire scatter into ash, its skeletal frame briefly distant, and disappear into nothingness. She heard Brittany comment calmly, "Wow, that didn't even make you sneeze…hey, hands off!" before she remembered that there was a second vampire to contend with as well. Snapping closed her gaping jaw, Santana spun on her heels, grabbing it by its shoulders just as it seized hold of Brittany's upper arm and jamming the stick into his chest as she forced it around to face her.
As this vampire too faded into nothingness, Santana stood still for a few moments, her chest heaving, still tightly gripping the stick in her hand. It was difficult for her to believe that this had really happened at all, that she had genuinely just…killed? staked? slayed? what could not have been anything but a vampire.
So what Faith was telling her, if that was true, that vampires were real…then the rest of it was too. Santana was a Slayer. And apparently, she had just slayed her first vampires.
"That was totally awesome," Brittany's chipper voice brought her into the present again. "You totally kicked their ass, San. Do you think you're a robot? Like the terminator?"
Looking over at her and meeting her bright eyed gaze, Santana forced a smile. She didn't want to let go of the stick- not only because another vampire might show up, but because her hand might start shaking.
"Of course not, Britt. How would I suddenly be a robot?"
"Programmed with amazing combat skills and a super powered computer brain," Brittany nodded, obviously already convinced that this must be true. "Makes total sense. You're at the very least a cyborg."
"Britt," Santana countered, amused in spite of herself. "How exactly would I become a robot."
"Well, they say cell phones cause cancer," the blonde shrugged, seeming to find her response reasonable and quite logical. "Maybe they cause people to become robots too. Way better outcome. Maybe we need to start sexting more, so I can even up with you."
Santana just shook her head, not able to hide her smile. Even as the adrenaline remained in her system, flooding her veins so that her entire body felt as though each nerve had been prodded into action, she tried to take a breath to settle, focusing on Brittany instead.
"Maybe we need to go home, Britt. That was pretty fucked up, I don't want you getting hurt."
"Oh, I'm sure my robot genes will kick in soon, maybe tonight," Brittany shrugged her off easily. "But if you're worried they might be delayed, you can walk me home."
Santana did as she suggested, not letting go of her hand for one moment until Brittany had safely been kissed good bye and had disappeared beyond the confines of her back door. Every step of the way she had found her eyes darting side to side, searching for any possible approaching danger that she would again have to fight against, but nothing approached. It wasn't until she was almost home again that she heard someone address her.
"I saw all that go down before you walked your girl back, you know. You got the job done, not bad for a first timer, but compared to where you should be, skills-wise, you suck ass."
Santana's head whipped around, and as she took in the outline of Faith, leaning casually against a tree a slight distance away, she scowled quickly, stopping short in the middle of the sidewalk and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Okay, you might through some freak of nature mistake be somewhat blood related to me, but you're taking the whole big sister thing way too damn seriously if you're gonna be stalking me out the house to go tattle to my mommy."
"Didn't have to stalk, I was out doing my own patrol and you and the blonde weren't exactly quiet," Faith said wryly, her own eyebrow raising in a near mirror of Santana's. "I was gonna back you up and save your asses if you needed, but you handled it on your own. Sort of. But if you go about it like that the next time, all clueless and half assed, and you get distracted for a second, your girlfriend could die. You really want that to happen?"
Of course Santana didn't want that to happen. She had been terrified of that exact possibility even with everything that was going on around her. As much as she hated how Faith had worded it, what she had said to her was true. She didn't know how to fight in a way that would definitely keep them both safe; she had been lashing out blindly and in the end, had just been lucky.
But she didn't want to acknowledge what the older girl had said. Instead, she voiced the other thought that had been on her mind from the first moment, the one that might be obvious to Faith, but needed to be said, in Santana's opinion, all the same.
"So…that was a vampire? A real one?"
"In the flesh. Or in the dust, or bone fragments, or whatever you want to call the things and what's left of them," Faith confirmed. She pushed herself off from the tree, taking a few steps towards Santana, and Santana noticed then the sharpened piece of wood in her hand- a homemade stake. "And there's gonna be more. You're a Slayer, Santana. If you deny that now, you're pretty damn stubborn, but way more stupid. And vampires and Slayers, they've got some kind of crazy magnet thing going on. If you're out at night they're gonna find you, because they have a death wish and a kill the Slayer wish all at once. Your goal here is make sure the Slayer death is the one that doesn't come true. So. You gonna come with me, or what?"
Santana just blinked at her, unsure of how to react. Faith was right, she could hardly deny it now…but still, stubbornness in her ran deep.
"Where is it I'm supposed to be going, Dracula's castle?"
"Nope, some hole in the wall diner that's open 24/7," Faith explained. "'Cause you're hungry, right ? Hungry and horny, but I can't help you with the second and you already dropped the blonde off."
At Santana's startled stare, Faith broke out into a grin, the dimples that mirrored Santana's appearing in her cheeks.
"Slayer thing, kiddo. You'll learn."
She started to walk off, not glancing back to see if Santana was following her, and after a few moments of hesitation, Santana did. What the hell. She was hungry, and if Faith was going to pay, well, she wasn't one to turn down something free thrown her way.
