Warnings for mature themes - language, sexual situations, spanking of teens, rape, self harm

Be aware of trigger warning throughout the entire story

Don't own Glee

RATED M with adult content including TRIGGER WARNINGS for this chapter. It's intense, so if you are triggered by these things please BE AWARE OF MY WARNINGS.

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Chapter 10

Santana was riding in the sedan with Detective Reina Sanchez behind the ambulance that carried her entire family. She was deathly silent and very pale. Her left hand was wrapped in snowy white gauze, but her torn knuckles were bleeding through to the surface. A paramedic had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, to keep her warm. It was important to stay warm while in shock, he had explained.

Reina had glanced at her friend a few times; it was like looking at Mount Rushmore. Santana Lopez-Pierce had completely shut down emotionally. She might as well have been made of stone.

"I'm here with you as your friend, cariño, not a detective. I will testify as what I saw him doing to Rachel, and what he said about Quinn. It's ok to talk to me Santana." The detective said gently to her broken friend.

"I failed them, I failed them all." She choked out desperately, "It's my job to keep them all safe. I swore it to Brittany in our wedding vows. I swore it to each of the girls, the first time I held them. I failed as a wife and a mother."

Reina pulled the car off the road.

Santana looked around frantically, "Why are you stopping? We'll lose them. I have to be there when they arrive at the emergency room."

Putting her hand on her friend's forearm to calm her, "Just take a second to breathe and calm down. You won't be any good to them like this." She waved her free hand vaguely around, "There was nothing you could do, cariño, nothing. You have rules for your girls, you watch them, you know their friends, and you know where they are. You cannot protect them from being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Santana stared out the car window, "I'm fine Reina, can we go now?" she muttered darkly.

"Brittany and the girls are going to need you now, more than ever. Feeling guilty right now is pointless, and you know it."

The mother shot a glare at her friend, "Oh really, is this coming from your vast years of experience as a parent?"

"No, it comes from over 18 years as a detective, dealing with scumbags like Hudson every day." She spat back.

"Sorry, I'm just all over the place emotionally right now. I shouldn't have said that. My head knows you're right, but my heart is broken and guilt-stricken." Santana exhaled shakily, "Let's just get to the hospital, Reina, alright?"

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The two girls were whisked into the ER on gurneys. The paramedics were talking to the doctors and nurses, the police were talking to the paramedics. It was terribly confusing. Brittany followed close behind her daughters. She watched in confusion as Rachel was taken in one direction and Quinn in the other.

Just as she was about to give in to her fear and frustration, and sit down on the floor and cry, Santana walked up behind her. She pulled her back into her warm, comforting embrace. Wrapping her arms around the shivering blonde in front of her, Santana kissed her shoulder softly, "Go with Quinn baby, I'll go with Rachel."

Brittany turned and looked at her with a questioning look, "I want to be there if the police talk to her. This has to go by the book sweetheart. It will be fine baby, stay with Quinn."

Her look of hesitancy melted into one of such trust and love, it took Santana's breath away. She nodded, kissed her wife's cheek, and rushed off in the direction they had taken Quinn.

Santana watched her until she was out of sight then turned and followed the gurney carrying Rachel.

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A young, blonde policewoman was standing outside of the room Rachel was in. She stood there with her the older detective. They were waiting for Santana before entering Rachel's room.

"This is Office Christine Rhodes, Santana; she works in the sexual assault division. She has a great deal of experience in these cases. Chris, this is Santana Lopez-Pierce, she is Rachel's mother as well as the prosecuting attorney for Allen County." Reina Sanchez introduced the two women.

The officer directed her attention to Santana, "I'm going to document the physical exam, take pictures of bruises if there are any, and oversee the collection of physical evidence." She watched the beautiful brunette flinch at her words, "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but as a prosecutor you understand the importance of getting this right. Making sure we follow the chain of evidence rules."

Santana nodded brusquely.

The detective placed her hand on Santana's shoulder, "Do you want me in the room with you San?" She whispered so only her friend heard her words.

"Please?" The mother's voice cracked with emotion.

"Okay, let's do this."

The two police followed the stoic mother into the room. A female doctor and a nurse were standing next to Rachel's bed. The young teen looked pale and she was clearly disoriented.

Santana stopped dead in her tracks. It was as if the last hour just suddenly became came into focus for her. This was no ordinary victim, this was her baby girl. She had been drugged, kidnapped, physically abused, and perhaps sexually abused. She felt a searing pain in her chest where her heart was. The room became blurry as tears flooded her eyes. She willed her feet to move and then walked swiftly to the bedside, softly speaking words of comfort to her child.

Rachel grasped the sleeve of her mother's jacket, and held on as she sobbed incoherently.

"Mija, this is Officer Christine," she motioned for the blonde to come closer, "she is here to talk to you baby. I'm right here with you. The doctor is going to check you over as well. We want to make sure you are ok." Santana didn't know how much Rachel could understand, but she wanted her to be aware of what was happening. She didn't want Rachel to be any more afraid than necessary.

The teen tried to focus her eyes, "Mama, where's mama?" she cried harder.

"Mama is in the other room with Quinn, baby. She bumped her head and is getting it checked out right now. I'm sure she is going to be fine, just like you."

The doctor spoke up, "We are going to need to take blood for the toxicology report. Does your daughter drink alcohol?" She snapped on a pair of blue gloves, "Any allergies, latex? Anything?"

Santana bit back her initial angry reply and said carefully, "She doesn't drink or do drugs. She isn't allergic to anything except cats."

Officer Rhodes moved to the head of the bed, and began speaking to Rachel in a soft, but professional tone of voice, "Where were you tonight Rachel?"

" homecoming dance." She sniffled.

"Good, very good. Did you drink any alcohol tonight Rachel?"

She shook her head violently, "I don't drink. I had punch, Finn gave me punch." She was clearly sleepy and was slurring her words.

"Rachel, I need you to stay with me, and talk to me. Can you do that?"

The teen whined and turned her head into her mother's chest, "Mommy." She cried softly.

Santana replied gently, "Rachel Barbra, I need you to pay attention and answer the officer now." She could not bring herself to respond harshly.

"Ok mommy, I'll try." She sounded like a very young child. It was breaking Santana's heart.

The Latina mother nodded at the blonde officer to continue.

"How did you get to the hotel Rachel?"

Rachel just shook her head.

"Do you remember calling your older sister with your cell phone?"

She shook her head negatively again.

Santana smoothed the hair of her youngest child's forehead carefully, "What do you remember mija?"

"The dance; Puck and I were joking around. Finn apologized and gave me punch." She said vaguely, "That's all till now."

Santana didn't know whether to be grateful or be devastated.

The police officer took out a plastic evidence bag, "Rachel, we need to take your clothes and get you into a hospital gown. We need to look for scratches and bruises. If there are any, I'm going to take a picture of them."

A lab technician had entered the room and was drawing blood. The nurse was helping the officer remove Rachel's party dress. Santana took a few steps back to let the professionals work. She backed right into the arms of her friend. Santana was not a woman to be touched, except by Brittany, but she was too distraught to fight the embrace.

She watched as the nurse and detective scraped under Rachel's nails. She gasped as she saw lurid bruises on her daughter's breast and hipbones. Santana tried to stop the vision of every rape she had ever seen on film from playing in her head. Officer Rhodes and the nurse finished documenting every scrape, scratch, and bruise. They wrote notes on a chart and bagged her clothes and personal belongings. Santana moved back to stand by Rachel's head. She watched helplessly as the doctor gently moved Rachel's feet into the stirrups at the foot of the bed.

Rachel groaned out loud and thrashed a little, "No, don't touch me, please, don't hurt me." She cried and sobbed. The teen was fighting hard. She obviously didn't realize where she was.

Both Santana, Officer Rhodes, the nurse, and the doctor started speaking at once. Rachel looked over at her mother and sobbed, "mommy, make them stop, please mommy, make it stop."

Tears rolled from dark, nearly black eyes, "Is this really necessary?" Santana cried along with her daughter.

The doctor peered at the mother over the sheet draping Rachel's lower half, "Unfortunately, we don't really know what did or didn't happen. I need to look, check for bruising, scratching, or tearing. I need to take swabs for semen and other fluids. I know this is hard, but we are almost finished. Just hang on a little longer."

Santana looked at the woman desperately, "We'll be able to find out if she was, you know, if he…." She broke off, saying the word rape made it all too real.

"I'll be able to tell if there was trauma to the tissue. I'll be able to test the swabs for fluids. We'll know something soon. The toxicology results will take a little longer, but we are going to treat her for ingesting rohypnol. It's most likely what is causing her confusion and prohibiting her from remembering what happened. Are you ready ma'am?"

Santana nodded and the doctor proceeded with the physical exam.

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Brittany walked back out into the waiting room. They were taking Quinn for a CAT scan of her head, and she couldn't accompany her. She looked down the hall and wondered fretfully what was happening with Rachel.

She was shocked to see Puck and Mack sitting in the waiting room. It was clear both had been crying from their red, swollen eyes. Both teens stood up immediately on seeing their friend's mom enter the waiting room.

Brittany walked over and gathered both upset teenagers in her arms. She shushed them gently and hugged them both close to her. The blonde instinctively knew what they needed right now.

Puck pulled away, "I let him trick me, and I left Rachel alone at the dance. I'm so sorry Mrs. LP." He was beside himself with guilt and worry.

The tall blonde cupped the tall teen's face with her soft, warm hands, "This is nobody's fault but Finn Hudson's. We would have never found Rachel tonight without you Noah. Don't you dare apologize to me, you've done nothing wrong. You may have helped save my baby girl tonight. I'm so grateful to you, Noah Puckerman." She pulled the boy close to her and held him tightly. Letting go of his pain and guilt, he sobbed on her shoulder like a little boy.

Hearing her tall, strong friend crying upset Mack more than she could bear. Sitting helplessly in the waiting room for the last 45 minutes, all she could think was what if? What if I had gone to Brittany and Santana about Quinn? What if I had gone to the dance with Puck like Quinn wanted? What if I had gone to the police and reported Finn for what happened at the park? What if I had told Quinn what happened at the park? Jesus, she was going crazy with worry for both Rachel and Quinn. She turned suddenly and punched the wall as hard as she could.

"Lauren!" Brittany scolded, rushing over to her and taking her hand in her own gentle hands, "That won't help anything, and I don't want you to hurt yourself sweetie." She turned and looked at Puck, "Noah, can you go get some ice for Lauren's hand?"

Both teens were momentarily amused by the warm woman's refusal to use their nicknames. Brittany Lopez-Pierce was the mom everyone wished they had. Even if she could be scary strict and seemed to see into your very soul, and root out every ounce of guilt with her omniscient, crystal blue eyes. The woman just radiated love and acceptance; both teens loved her dearly, and never doubted her love for them.

"Come on sweetie, sit here next to me. Let me look at your hand." She fussed over her oldest daughter's best friend, tsking at the bruises appearing on her knuckles.

She smiled beatifically up at Puck as he handed her an ice pack he had gotten from the receptionist behind the front desk, "thank you honey."

Mack looked up with stormy eyes at the calm, blonde mom, "Is that bastard here?"

"Language Lauren," She said automatically, "I don't think so. If he is, I haven't seen him."

Puck stood up and paced angrily, "I'm going to kill him. If I find out Adams was part of this, I'm going to kill him as well."

Mack pulled her hand from Brittany's and stood up to Puck, "Not if I find him first. He needs a baseball bat to the head, fucking bastard."

Brittany stood up quickly, "That's enough out of both of you," She said sternly, "There has been enough violence tonight. Don't you think I want him to suffer? What will that do? Will it help Quinn with her pain, or Rachel with hers?" She pointed strictly at the chairs, "Now, sit back down and stop all this talk of revenge. Don't you know an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind?"

The two rebellious teens glared at the blonde mom stubbornly, but Brittany was having none of it.

She took two steps and got right up in their faces and whispered harshly, "Sit your butts down now; I'm not going to say it again!"

Both teens swallowed and obeyed instantly. They didn't want to push the usually gentle blonde, especially when her eyes were flashing fire.

Brittany sat in between them and wrapped her arms around them both, "Thank you, now, let's all relax. Quinn and Rachel are going to be fine. Santana and I are going to be fine. You two are not going to kill anyone, and are going to be fine. We are going to let the police handle this." She said as much to reassure herself as the teens gathered under her maternal arms.

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Quinn's doctor came out to find Brittany. He reassured her that Quinn was going to be fine. She had a concussion, and needed stitches but she would be fine. They wanted to keep her overnight and monitor her.

Brittany started to panic, but Puck spoke up, "Mrs. LP, they always keep people with concussions overnight, right dude?" He turned to the doctor for confirmation.

"It's true; we do like to keep an eye on anyone with head trauma." He answered professionally quelling his amusement at being called dude.

Mack looked at Puck with an eyebrow raised, "How do you know that Puckerman?"

"Dude, I watch Grey's Anatomy." He scoffed.

"You watch Grey's Anatomy?" Everyone asked.

He blushed a bright red, "Lots of hot chicks on that show."

Santana walked out into the waiting room and flung herself into a startled Brittany's arms.

"Baby, San, what is it?" She said panicking as her usually indomitable wife broke down crying.

Brittany could feel her heart thudding in her chest with fear. Can you die from being drugged? "Of course you can!" She scolded herself mentally.

"Santana! Just say it!" She begged.

The Latina felt her legs giving out, as Brittany helped her to a chair. The blonde knelt down in front of her wife and put both her hands on her jeans clad knees.

Santana looked up into the bright, blue orbs that held her heart, "She wasn't raped. Brittany, he didn't rape her. We got to her in time."

Everyone in the room gasped and shouted at the same time. Officer Rhodes and Detective Sanchez stood back from the family and watched from afar. They were glad that today had a different outcome than most of the cases they investigated.

The two mothers just held each other and cried. Puck and Mack had jumped into each other's arms, and then jumped away from each other as if they had been scalded.

It took a few minutes until everyone got their emotions under control. Santana looked at her soulmate, "Quinn?"

"She has a concussion and they are going to have to stitch up the cut on the back of her head. They want to keep her overnight, but she is alright."

Santana nodded solemnly, noticing the teenagers for the first time. She stood up and walked over to Mack and took her in her arms, "Quinn is lucky to have a friend like you. Thank you for being here. She is going to need you now more than ever." She held the girl tightly, "I don't want you to feel guilty. You didn't want to betray your best friend. I understand that."

Mack pulled away in shock, her mouth hanging open, her arms dropped from the Latina's waist and stayed at her side.

"She did tell you, didn't she?" the brunette said softly.

Mack nodded mutely, pain obvious on her face and in her eyes.

"You're a good friend Mack. She loves you and so do we. Stick with her, ok?"

"Always Mrs. P, I swear it." She choked out emotionally.

Santana turned to Puck and pulled him towards her, "Thank you for looking out for Rachel tonight. I know you take care of Quinn as well." She took Mack's hand in her free hand, "Brittany and I love you like you were our own. Don't ever forget that. We owe you guys."

Brittany walked over and joined in the group hug, "We are going to stay here with the girls tonight. You both need to get home and get some rest."

Puck pulled out of the embrace first, "Are you sure, we can hang out in the waiting room?"

"No, you can listen to Brittany and go home and get some sleep. Detective Sanchez will give you lift home?" She looked over at the detective who nodded at her friend.

The mohawked boy paled instantly, "Yeah, that's ok, I have my truck. I don't do so well in the back of police cars." Mack nodded her agreement.

Santana growled at the pair, "Get over it, I don't need to worry about you two wrapped around a telephone pole tonight."

Brittany smiled at the teenagers, nobody argued with Santana when she used that tone.

Puck and Mack followed Detective Sanchez out of the hospital to her car.

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The hospital had admitted Quinn and Rachel for observation. The tiny diva was hooked up to an IV of fluid to counteract the date rape drugs. She had fallen asleep and stayed asleep.

Quinn had been given something for the pain, and had finally cried herself to sleep. She had been trying to stay quiet. Her guilt over what happened to Rachel was eating her alive.

Officer Rhodes had assured Santana that Finn Hudson was under arrest for assault and battery, felony kidnapping with attempt to do bodily harm, and more charges if the toxicology report showed Rachel was drugged. She also wanted to talk to Quinn about what Finn had done to her last year, but agreed to do it later. Anyone could see Quinn was in no shape to give a statement tonight.

Brittany had pushed Quinn's bed over next to Rachel's bed. She wanted her family surrounding her tonight. Santana climbed in the bed next to Rachel, careful of the IV in her bruised arm. She put her right arm up under her head and wrapped her left around Rachel's abdomen.

Brittany climbed in the bed next to Quinn and snuggled up behind her. She felt the pink-haired teen stiffen involuntarily but relax when her mother spoke softly in her ear. She mimicked her wife's position, only she reached over both her daughter's and took Santana's free hand.

They stayed silent and awake for a long time. Brittany finally fell into a deep, exhausted sleep, but Santana could not.

Now that she knew both girls were going to be fine, she felt a deep anger start to burn inside of her. She was furious that Quinn had known what kind of man Finn Hudson was. She had let her baby sister date a monster, while she stayed quiet about him. She was so torn, she felt like a bad mother for blaming her child, but she couldn't shake the feelings.

Rachel had gotten lucky tonight, no thanks to her sister. She glared at the sleeping blonde before she felt a tenderness for her oldest child temper her emotions. It seemed like only yesterday, she held the squalling, red infant as her blonde mother cried with happy exhaustion.

She had helped clean her first-born, and had cradled her close and sang her lullabies in Spanish. Santana had promised her the moon, and her love had never wavered. Even though she was Rachel's birth mother, she had never differentiated between the girls. They were both her daughters. She loved them equally. She weighed that in her mind, if that had anything to do with her anger towards her oldest daughter. Santana breathed a sigh of relief as she realized her love for Quinn had not changed in the slightest. She was just angry at the secrets. She and Brittany had always been there for their daughters. How could Quinn not share something this huge with them?

Quinn had kept a terrible secret, but it was irresponsible to have kept it from them when her sister was dating her rapist.

Santana lie awake all night long fighting her feelings of anger and guilt. Wondering how she was going to work past this. Quinn needed her now, as did Rachel. Still, she couldn't seem to push the anger away. It tormented her. Still holding Brittany's hand, she was grateful for her family and their safety. Santana Lopez-Pierce knew something had protected her family this day.

She finally fell into a fitful sleep as she prayed for guidance from whoever was listening, still gripping her wife's hand, and her face pressed into the back of her baby's head.

To be continued….