Title: Pact (9/?)

Author: Mina Robins

Fandom: Glee

Pairing: Brittana/Faberry, Faberrittana. Polyamorous.

Rating: T

Summary: Rachel stumbles into the underworld hidden beneath Lima's dull exterior when the slumbering genotypes in her DNA finally awaken and exert themselves. Thankfully her mates will help her navigate through the more dangerous paths she has to encounter.

Rachel twitched when she heard the tone of voice Russell was using towards Judy. She caught Quinn's eye and gave her a nervous smile that she hoped showed that she sympathised with the blonde.

Quinn gave a watery expression back, she flapped her wings in agitation and turned her head to face away from her house's door but her ears still perked back to catch Russell's grumblings. Brittany leaned up and perched her paws against the Shifter-equine's neck and nibbled at Quinn's ears.

'Queeny.' Brittany pathed softly, using a childhood nickname she had for Quinn whenever the other blonde became stressed. 'Let's go to Santy's.'

The singer carefully maneuvered her sleeping bundle so that Santana was more comfortably settled in her arms. The feisty Latina was out cold again and softly snoring. "I agree, let us leave this place."

Quinn tapped her hoof onto the cement a couple of times and glanced at the place she had called home for the majority of her life once more and then with conviction galloped into flight. Brittany broke into a calm pace after Quinn and Rachel followed suit, cautious not to jostle Santana too much.

The diva was thankful that she was at least back into a bipedal state. She found it much easier to keep balance and pace than her fully shifted form, or at least was more use to moving in this way since she had never been aware of her heritage.

'Rachel, are you okay, do you need me to carry Santana?'

'No, I am strangely not fatigued after that last bout.'

'That was actually really cool!'

'That was my father.'

Brittany glimpsed up at Quinn sheepishly. 'I mean, it's just very rare to see an alpha get so whipped.'

Quinn snorted and remained silent.

'Quinn, I apologize for my earlier outburst, I would normally never stoop to violence.' Rachel offered up, her voice sincere and fretting for severely injuring Quinn's father.

'You have nothing to be sorry for, and it's not unusual for our kind to break into brawls, both intellectual and physical prowess are desirable traits.' Quinn answered back and when she felt Rachel's anxiety she supplied. 'My mother will tend to my father's wounds; there won't be any lasting damage.'

'That is a relief to know.' Rachel let out a soft breath and quickened her pace to match Brittany's.

'If S was awake Russell wouldn't have dared manhandle Quinn in front of her.' Brittany added. 'Santy would have made such a fuss.'

'And it would have been in her right.' Quinn neighed and started her descent when the Lopez mansion came into view. She phased through the electric magic barrier that domed over the estate and morphed back into her human form to push open the gates for her approaching mates.

'What do these rights pertain to; because I heard you mention them before and…' Rachel's mouth dropped when she approached a building even larger than Quinn's had been. The starlet raised an eyebrow recalling that Santana had mentioned living in Lima Heights Adjacent and this was definitely not the improvised neighbourhood.

…...

A pair of towering, bulky fellas in black tailored suits opened the thick twin doors to welcome the girls into the house. While they were impressive in size their features were only what one could call plain and rather unremarkable though not off-putting. The one with buzzed-cut hair professionally kept his eyes leveled and handed burgundy silk robes to the nude Quinn and Brittany.

The modern exterior of the house hid the archaic and opulent interior. The building itself had looked as an impressive construct among the other large houses in their neighbourhood. Though it appeared to fit in with the rest of the homes in this street the inside resembled a castle. The walls were a combination of solid granite stone slabs and bark. Where the stone ended the foliage easily picked up to construct a high arching ceiling dangling with plant life. The roots of the bark carved up into the walls and instead of cracking the rock the plants aided in the cohesion of the building. The floor was made of warm brown wood panels that appeared to have been grown for the very purpose. There were no lines to separate individual strips, only small crevices between large boards that originate from different trees but come together as one whole floor that stretch from wall to wall.

The doorways had hand carved trims depicting varying kinds of mythical creatures who were frozen in an endless chase of one another along the walls. A large round bowl filled with clear glass pebbles sat elevated one a marble topped birch end table, the leaves of the miniature pomegranate shrub tumbled from the bowl and curled over the legs of the table. A wide doorway stood between two winding staircases that veer d off to the left and right upper levels. There were beautifully carved pieces of furniture and rich tapestries to line the walls while every corner of the mansion housed a plant of some kind.

"Ms. Fabray, Ms. Pierce and Madame." The fiery red-haired one nodded at Rachel. "If you would please hand over Ms. Lopez we will place her in bed."

"I would rather you show me to her room." Rachel realized the individual continued to move forward and she had an armful of Santana to contend with so she warned them off with a growl.

"Rachel is with us, open Santana's wing of the house."

The redheaded one clasped his hand over his heart and nodded. "Right this way."

The three trailed after the lumbering butler until they reached the end of the left corridor, he reached up and pushed his hand into a small hallowed out alcove. Rachel watched as the area around his hand sizzled and his skin became crisped black, vivid bright lines skittered over his finger tips and up his arms. Rachel noted that his body soon resembled the molten surface of the earth's crust.

The singer pulled Santana's still frame closer to her own. Quinn noted the tensing in Rachel's body and placed her hand on the shorter girl's. 'They are golems; enchanted beings that are bound to Santana's father.'

The wall in the corridor split open and the now golem with the shifting plates for skin stepped back to allow the girls to walk past him.

'Bound?'

Quinn nodded. 'Yes, they can be created by powerful incantations and spells, though lately there's been a small revolt because of their growth into sentience, not all of them really ever reach that stage but the more time passes the more they change.'

'Are the one's here sentient?'

Brittany shrugged noncommittally. "You'll have to ask, S."

'They are quite polite.'

'Trained and built that way.' Santana answered from Rachel's arms.

"Santana!" Rachel said happily while hugging the brunette and rubbed her muzzled against the Latina's neck.

"Goddamn it, Berry, I'm not a stuff toy." Santana verbally admonished but didn't physically push away from Rachel.

Brittany sped up a bit and opened another ornate door and pushed a chocolate burgundy curtain aside to reveal a black suede carpeted oval room with navy leaf-patterned walls. A lofty Eastern King sized russet bed sat against the middle wall of the room on top of what looked like white tiger skin, its headboard had the shapes and outlines of pomegranate leaves and bark etched into it. Cushiony metallic blue pillows perched along the headboard and blocky candles sat on two small tables that guarded the sides of the bed. There was a simple white vanity that sat outside the door to Santana's private washroom. Another door led to what Rachel could only presume to be Santana's walk in closet. Everything was spotless and well taken cared for down to the clawed feet of the bed and tables.

'You live here?'

"Obviously." Santana replied and nudged weakly at Rachel's ribs. "You can put me down now."

The singer gently slid the girl forward and waited with her clawed hands around Santana's hips for her to steady. Brittany moved forward and looped an arm around Santana's waist. "Let's go get you cleaned up before taking nap, kay?"

Santana nodded mutely and allowed Brittany to walk her towards her washroom but not before reaching out her hand for Quinn and tugging the blonde to come with her. 'C'mon.'

'Rach, you wanna come?'

Santana bristled slightly at Brittany's invitation to Rachel but when she turned back to glare at the diva she didn't voice her agitation. She was slowly but surely becoming used to Rachel's presence though the idea of being less irked by the songstress bothered Santana more than Rachel herself.

Rachel nodded and followed the three girls. As it turns out Santana's bathroom was more like a private spa center. The washroom was big enough to comfortably fit the entire Glee club for a dance recital. Midway into the room the milky marbled ground sloped down into a slow decline that allowed the occupants of the bath to wade into sizzling waters, the facets were pumping out streams of heated water the moment Santana approached and the pooled sized basin was magically enchanted to keep the steamy temperatures to her liking. To the side was a tripled sinked counter surrounded by a polished silver rimmed mirror and further in was a white tiled corner with clear curved glass.

Quinn guided Santana into the glass corner and it was now that Rachel noticed that it was full body shower.

"I guess that means we can have our shower now." Santana gave Quinn's body an appreciative glance over.

The blonde laughed; glad that at least Santana had the energy to tease since she knew there was no way even Santana could have the energy after the cleansing to participate in their favourite physical activity.

While the two co-captains busied themselves in the shower Rachel politely averted her gaze and looked to see Brittany sitting on the smooth malachite stone edge of the bath right where the water skimmed the edge. The dancer was watching with a smile on her lips at the showering duo and blinked up at Rachel. "We'll shower after them; S doesn't like it when we just roll into the tub with so much dirt."

"I can appreciate her notion for cleanliness."

"There's also the fact that I don't want to cut myself on the glass that's still probably stuck in your fur since you can't even shift back to human form." Santana said as she and a much cleaner Quinn exited the full body shower fixture.

Rachel pouted since what Santana stated was true and while Brittany went into the glass corner Rachel turned on one of the sinks to wash her bloodied paws. The singer frowned with revulsion at the drying evidence of her earlier strife with Russell.

"Rach, you coming?" Brittany asked, poking her head out of the glass door of the shower.

"Umm, I prefer to wait for my turn." Rachel replied, her face feeling expectantly warm. It was hard enough ignoring the three naked girls all within arm's reach of her, she didn't need to get cornered with Brittany to make her feel any more needy.

"But I want you in here." Brittany whispered dejectedly, her lips pursed and eyes taking a very puppy dog quality.

Rachel glanced helplessly at a snickering Santana and grinning Quinn. When neither provided any aid the starlet took one more glimpse at Brittany's pleading expression and knew she wasn't going to put up any more resistance. Rachel meekly entered the shower corner while Brittany squealed.

The shower cubicle offered abundant room for both girls to easily take up a corner but of course Brittany stood close enough to Rachel to cause the singer to gulp and back into the wall of water pumps. After such a stressed filled day the diva sighed with relief at the sensation, Brittany smiled and pressed a button and the sprouts started gushing out frothy pomegranate scented soap over the pair for a good half a minute until the sprays returned to mainly pouring water.

The willowy blonde worked the suds through her blonde tresses and Rachel watched mesmerized. The singer felt dry in the mouth and wet in a completely inappropriate area as her eyes followed the path the bubbles ran along Brittany's muscular abdomen and over that impossibly toned ass.

"Stop leering at her." Santana warned with little malice.

"I am trying not to!" Rachel turned away from Brittany and closed her eyes to let the water drizzle over her face. "You know it would be great if you could stop reading my thoughts."

"I would if you stopped broadcasting every flipping thing that crawled from your crazy, little, egotistical-."

'Santana, hush.' Quinn chided. 'We'll have to teach her."

Rachel started working the soap over her fur the best she could and wagged her tail when Brittany's hands joined in on washing her back. "Thannnk you."

Rachel turned around to return the favour. "Brittany, would you like me to wash you back?"

"Sure, thanks!" Brittany grinned up and held up a wash cloth but didn't turn around. Rachel was left staring down at the girl that was usually taller than her and shuffled to circle around Brittany without actually touching the blonde.

"I think you guys got most of the debris, come into the bath." Quinn suggested.

"This is more fun though!"

"Brittany, you're making her feel uncomfortable."

Brittany bit her lip and clicked another switch to turn off the water. "Alright."

Rachel followed after Brittany and stepped out onto the floor, soaking wet from the sprays and instinctively wanting to lessen the weight in her fur, shook her whole body and splattered the others with droplets of water.

"Berry, fuck, stop."

Rachel sheepishly smiled at the other occupants of the room. "Sorry, I normally never, I usually do not have fur to contend with and-"

'Shhhh, come into the water.' Quinn held out her hand and waited for Rachel to wade into the waters.

'You're lucky we're all wet anyways." Santana groused and moved to the deeper end of the pool so she could lean her hands up onto the side and place her head on top of her arms. The wound on Santana's right shoulder looked like a blackened sun with its tendrils dripping down her shoulder. The bite mark where the mare's sharp canines had punctured was the darkest while the flesh at the center of the scar was scored over too smoothly. The trailing lines were the areas where the poison flowed strongest and was thankfully stopped before it could spread to the rest of Santana's body.

Brittany cried out and touched the singed appearing skin. "Santy…"

"It's okay, B, really, it doesn't even hurt anymore." Santana noticed that Brittany was still looking quite ready to burst into tears. "It's like a war trophy, think of those achievements you get on Xbox, it's cool."

The dancer continued to trail her fingers over the wound experimentally, watching to see if Santana was hiding any pain. When Santana only started to purr, Brittany sighed happily and kissed the shorter girl's shoulder. Quinn moved in to Santana's other side and placed a hand firmly on the Latina's unscarred shoulder.

"It was my fault Santana, I really should have paid more attention, I'm so sorry."

Santana turned fully to face Quinn and clasped her finger tips on the blonde's chin to tilt her gaze up to meet hers. "It was no one's fault so there's nothing to be sorry about, how are you feeling about being exiled."

Quinn quietly sniffled which caused Santana to envelope the taller girl into her arms and run her fingers lightly through Quinn's hair. "I think I don't need to tell you that you're always going to be part of this clan."

"It's always nice to hear you say it out loud."

Rachel sat at the shallower end of the water and tried to not feel too left out from the conversation. Glancing up, Rachel noticed that the ceiling was made of a dome of glass and the room was kept bright by the bulbs by the sink and the candles that surrounded that tub. Strangely the candles haven't been splashed out when she had shaken her body.

"They can't be put out by water, Berry." Santana explained as she cupped a handful and poured it onto the candle, the flame didn't even flicker. "The flames in this room are shifted away from any water that it comes in contact with, only by wind," Santana blew at the candle to demonstrate. "Will the flames stop."

"That is very interesting; I appreciate you explaining that to me." The shifted girl answered.

Quinn watched quietly, curious at Santana's change in demeanor towards Rachel.

"I know you protected her when I couldn't, thanks." Santana tone was sincere and her eyes softened.

"I just wished I could have done that to the mares that harmed you." Rachel replied and stood in front of Santana, she dip her head and ran her tongue over Santana's scar because it felt like the right thing to do.

Brittany looked over at Quinn for guidance and nodded when Quinn held up a finger to her lips to signal for silence.

"Where have you been this whole time?" Santana asked the question that has plagued her mind since becoming aware of Rachel's Shifter status. It's clear now that Rachel hadn't intentionally hid herself from her Destined and wasn't trying to harm her mates so the question now was who did.

A/N: My, Santana, what an awfully large bed you have. (Insert Coy expression here.)

Also, I don't know why but I think Brittany is a gamer ;3