A/N: You all are great for reading and taking the time to comment.
Brittany sat at the station booking room typing up her report on the arrest. Across from her, Santana did the same. Everything had happened so fast that there was no time for thinking, only reacting. She felt exhilarated. This is what she had always wanted to do; catch and put criminals away.
"You did good," Santana said, without looking up from her paper.
"Thanks," Brittany said quietly, glad that Santana had been impressed.
"I could have broken down that door, you know," Santana said.
"What?"
Santana put her pen down and looked up, "When you told me to step aside?"
"Oh," Brittany said, looking up, "Umm, yeah. I'm sure you could."
"You sound doubtful," Santana said, a both offended and amused.
"No, no," Brittany said wondering what all this was about, "I'm sure you could have."
"Don't do it again. I'm the lead officer," Santana said, "I go in first."
"Yes, ma'am," Brittany said, her tone even, "Won't happen again."
Brittany returned to finishing up her paperwork. She had thought the door was just about a bruised ego, a playful jab, but apparently she had broken some sort of rule.
Santana went back to her paperwork. She had meant the door comment to be light hearted, but soon realized that it should be a teaching moment. Since the locker room, Santana had found herself enjoying teasing Brittany and knew that had to stop. If they were going to do their job right, Santana had to be less Santana and more Officer Lopez.
"Good," Santana said.
###
Brittany was surprised that the arrest, booking, and additional paperwork had taken about three hours. It was now midnight.
She followed Santana back to the car for more patrolling.
"You hungry?" Santana asked.
"Umm, sure," Brittany said, "I could use some food."
"Me too," Santana said as they reached the car, "OK, so at this hour we're looking at taco stands or diners. Take your pick."
"Diner," Brittany said. She was desperate for a cup of coffee. She had tried to sleep during the day, but her internal clock knew what time it really was.
They got in the car and Santana drove to a 24-hour diner on Santa Monica and La Brea.
Brittany noticed that Santana's demeanor had changed since the arrest. She was not making any jabs at her expense. It was almost as if the Santana from the locker room had totally disappeared. Brittany figured it was because they were on the job. What she found most surprising was that she sort of missed the teasing.
"Have you been keeping your training log up to date?" Santana asked as she drove down the boulevard.
"Yes," Brittany said, taking her log book out, "Well, it will be up to date as soon as I log in this last incident."
"It's very important you keep your log accurate and current," Santana said, "That book will go along way in your final evaluation."
"I know," Brittany said and began to write.
Santana took a breath. There seemed to be a sort of arrogance in Brittany's response.
"You may think you know everything" Santana said, "But you still have a lot to learn. There's a big difference in what you read in a book than what you actually experience on the streets."
Brittany stopped herself from telling Santana she didn't need a lecture. She knew all of this already. "Fine," was all she said.
Santana drove into the diner's parking lot and found a spot up front.
"The burgers here are great," Santana said as she got out of the car.
As Brittany got out and closed the car door, her phone rang, "Go ahead," she told Santana, "I'll be right there."
Santana just nodded and went inside. As soon as she did the waitress lead her to a booth near a window, where she had a clear view of Brittany. The rookie was smiling while talking on the phone. Probably a boyfriend, Santana thought. She opened the menu and focused her attention on the food.
Outside, Brittany was talking to Jim.
"Yeah," she said, "We busted in there and caught that asshole. It was great."
"Fantastic!" Jim said, "Congrats on your first in progress bust."
"Thanks," Brittany said smiling.
"So I take it you and Officer Lopez are getting along? She treating you right?" Jim asked.
"She's...great," Brittany said.
"You don't sound convincing," Jim said.
"She is," Brittany repeated, "She can be a little moody sometimes, but she's a great officer."
"That's what I hear," Jim said.
"It'll be fine," Brittany said, "Thanks for checking up on me. How's the case?"
"Case is progressing," Jim said, "Still haven't caught the perp. But I'm hopeful."
"Good."
"Alright," Jim said, "I'll let you go have your midnight lunch. I gotta get back to some paperwork."
Brittany hung up the phone and headed inside the dinner. She spotted Santana at a booth and went to join her.
"You really shouldn't take personal calls on duty," Santana said, her eyes never leaving her menu, "It's unprofessional."
"But we're on break," Brittany said sitting down and picking up her menu.
"Still," Santana said, "Your head needs to be on the job at all times."
"What if it's an emergency?" Brittany asked, now a bit annoyed, "I can't ever answer a call?"
Santana put her menu down and looked at Brittany, "Sure, if it's a family emergency, I understand. But you shouldn't receive calls from you boyfriend or friends to just talk."
"Is that what you think that call was?" Brittany asked, hating that Santana was talking to her like some schoolgirl.
Santana wasn't sure where this hostility was coming from. But Brittany needed to know that whatever person she's seeing can't just call while she was working.
"I don't know what that was," Santana said.
"It was Jim Wilder," Brittany said, "My partner. He was checking up to see how I was doing."
Santana hated that she somehow felt a sense of relief that it was Brittany's partner who had called, "Oh. How is he?"
"How is he?" Brittany asked, confused, "First you're almost biting my head off about the call, now your asking how he is?"
"That's right," Santana said.
"You are one confusing woman, Officer Lopez," Brittany said.
The waitress came to their table and took their order.
Their midnight lunch conversation had consisted of all work talk. Procedures, training, and other department issues. After their break, Officers Lopez and Pierce were kept pretty busy with calls.
Brittany was grateful for a busy night. Not only was she learning a lot, but it put a limit into the amount of awkward silence between herself and Officer Lopez.
Brittany found Santana fascinating and frustrating. There was something about Santana that made Brittany want to know more about her, even with her moodiness. Puck had joked that it was possible Brittany had a small crush on Santana and that's why she found the senior officer so annoying.
"Ridiculous," Brittany had told Puck.
There was no doubt in Brittany's mind that Officer Lopez was gorgeous. Brittany wasn't denying that. But looks aside, there was something about Santana that intrigued Brittany.
"Only 40 minutes to go," Santana said as she drove back to the station, "Guess you picked a good night to start your shifts."
"Yeah," Brittany said, stifling a yawn, "It was quite a night."
"Tired?" Santana asked, with a small smile.
"Yes," Brittany said, "I feel drained."
"The job takes more out of you at night than in the day," Santana said.
"I just want to go home and go to sleep," Brittany said, closing her eyes.
"You won't wake up anyone?" Santana asked, before she knew what she was saying.
"What?" Brittany asked, now fully awake.
"I mean, you know like a roommate?" Santana asked.
"Oh, uh, no," Brittany said, "I live alone."
"Oh," Santana said.
"How about you?" Brittany asked, "Will you wake anyone?"
"I live alone too," Santana said.
"Oh," Brittany said.
They sat in silence for a moment. Santana didn't like the way this silence felt and asked a question.
"I wanted to ask," Santana began, "I was wondering about Quinn."
"Quinn?" Brittany asked, carefully, "What about her?"
"How's she doing? On the force?" Santana asked. What she was really curious about was why the young Fabray had become a cop when she could have easily lived off her trust fund for the rest of her life.
Brittany was taken aback by Santana's sudden interest in Quinn, "Oh, she's fine. She's doing great."
"Good," Santana said, "That's good."
What is this about, Brittany wondered.
"How long have you guys been friends?" Santana asked,
"Since the first day of the college," Brittany answered, "She's my best friend."
"Friends with the mayor's daughter must be nice," Santana said.
"I don't see her that way," Brittany said, "She's just Quinn to me. "
"Sounds like you two are very close," Santana said.
"Yes we are," Brittany said, "Why all the sudden interest in Quinn?"
"Just curious," Santana said, trying to sound casual, "Wondering what made her go into law enforcement."
Brittany was oddly bothered that Santana would ask why Quinn had become a cop before asking her that question. After all, they were partners. At least for now. Was Santana interested in Quinn, she wondered.
"Quinn," Brittany began, "She...maybe you should ask her."
"Is it some big secret?" Santana asked, pulling into the station's car port.
"No," Brittany said, "It's not. You know her family is beyond rich."
"I heard."
Brittany considered not telling Santana why Quinn became a cop, but it really was no secret. Quinn would get that question asked a lot and she was glad to tell. Brittany figured she might as well tell Santana.
"Her grandfather was killed while he was walking to his car after an opera concert in London," Brittany explained, "The two men just wanted his wallet. They recognized him from the paper and targeted him. It was all over the papers. She was very close to him. That's when she decided to be a cop."
"Oh wow," Santana said, arriving at her assigned parking spot. She parked the car and turned off the engine.
"Yeah," Brittany said, gathering her things, "Do you want me to set you guys up?"
"What?" Santana asked, not hiding her surprise.
"You and Quinn," Brittany said, her stuff in her hands, "A date? I mean, she's really not that into women but get her drunk enough..."
Santana was stunned. Where the hell did this come from, she wondered.
"What? Are you serious?" Santana asked turning her body to face Brittany in the passenger seat.
"You're not interested in her?" Brittany asked, not sure why she was feeling angry at the idea of Quinn and Santana.
"No," Santana said bluntly, "I mean she's beautiful, no doubt about that. But I'm not interested in her."
"Oh," Brittany said, feeling relieved, "Just figured."
"You figured wrong," Santana said, still trying to process what had just happened.
Brittany got out of the car with Santana following.
Santana was at a loss as to why Brittany would think she was interested in Quinn. She decided not to dwell on it any longer and caught up to Brittany.
"Why did you become a cop?" Santana asked, wanting to know.
Brittany stopped walking and turned to Santana, "I've been wanting to be a cop since I was 13. Maybe it was the TV cops or watching them in action when our local market got robbed...I just knew that I wanted to catch the bad guy and put him away."
"That's sort of cute," Santana said smiling.
"Anyway," Brittany continued, "When I got to college, I sort of got off path and never thought I'd actually be a cop...I was thinking of going into making movies or being a choreographer."
"Hollywood huh? That explains the Janet Jackson thing," Santana said, "I saw it by the way. You were really good."
"Thanks," Brittany said, feeling herself blush a bit, "I mostly did it for the money. And Janet."
"Of course," Santana said, "So, about being a cop…"
"Oh, right. Well, the girl I was dating in college, her father was a cop," Brittany went on, "And he took me on a ride along with his partner. I loved it. All the desire I had to be a cop when I was 13 returned. And here I am."
Santana said nothing. All she could focus on was "the girl I was dating" that Brittany had said.
"The girl you were dating?" Santana asked, wanting to clarify.
Brittany gave Santana a small smile and walked inside the station.
Santana had teased Brittany about making assumptions and yet Santana had made the biggest one of all.
"Girl?" Santana asked softly to herself as she followed Brittany into the station.
- TBC -