Santana blinked slowly, her eyes squinting as they adjusted to the bright light around her. She could hear birds chirping, and as she sat up, she saw that she was sitting in a beautiful meadow, surrounded by soft green grass and flowers that were every colour imaginable. She glanced over to her right, distracted by the soft sound of trickling water. Amidst the low, hanging tendrils of a willow tree, she saw a babbling brook, the crystal clear water running smoothly over the pebbles, chattering away, almost as if it were having a conversation with the surrounding wildlife. Gorgeous music then began to play from within a dense thicket off to her left, soft notes tinkering out and caressing her ears, then she stood up and began to follow it, intent on finding the source of this wonderful melody that conveyed such joy and delight.
As she pushed her way through the hanging branches, which were adorned with blossoming flowers and ornate chirping insects, she found herself in a small clearing in the centre of the copse that she had entered. She gasped, lost for words. But it wasn't the woodland forest that took her breath away. It was what was waiting for her within the confines of the trees that left her stunned.
For there, standing beneath a tumbling waterfall, the crystalline water droplets running slowly down her naked body, was Brittany. Head thrown back, blonde hair cascading down, she opened her eyes and smiled lazily at Santana, as she hummed the most beautiful tune Santana had ever heard.
The Latina could do nothing but stare, completely transfixed by the flawless woman she saw before her. Her heart raced as she watched Brittany sway sensually, her eyes fluttering shut as the cool water caressed her bare skin, dripping off her succulent breasts tantalisingly.
Santana could feel her arousal growing as she began to walk towards Brittany, taking tentative steps until she was mere metres away from the blonde. Brittany locked eyes with Santana, beckoning her forward with her finger, smiling alluringly.
"Santana." Brittany sung, her voice light and irresistible.
Santana found herself walking towards Brittany before she had even made the conscious decision to do so, but looking at Brittany's exposed form, she couldn't say she had a problem with it. As Santana reached up to take off her own clothes, she glanced down in shock to see that they had somehow already been removed. She frowned, thinking this was a tad unusual, but shrugged and brushed it off, not wanting to question anything for fear that it might take her away from Brittany.
She smiled shyly as Brittany gazed at her, drinking in Santana's beauty. Santana's tan skin flushed as Brittany's eyes raked over her luscious bosoms, the blonde licking her lips hungrily as her eyes blazed with desire.
Brittany then extended her arms, taking Santana's hands in her own, which were soft and gentle. Santana closed the gap between them, pressing their bodies close together, revelling in the feel of Brittany's satin skin on hers. But she couldn't help but feel as though something was tugging at her, trying to pull her away from this magical world.
She tried to ignore it, to stay in this fantasy land with the woman she loved, but it became more and more persistent, almost as if there was a rope around her waist with someone yanking on the other end. She felt herself being pulled, pulled away from Brittany and her gentle, loving touch.
Santana struggled against the unrelenting pull, trying to stay with her lover under this perfect canopy of trees with sunlight filtering softly through the branches. Alas, she wasn't powerful enough, and she cried out as she was suddenly ripped away from Brittany, pain slicing through her heart.
She landed roughly on the ground, and when she opened her eyes, the landscape had changed completely. She was in a deserted, empty wasteland, surrounded by nothing but dirt that stretched endlessly into the distance.
Suddenly, the ground below her began to shake, the tremors resonating violently through her body.
She attempted to stand up, but was knocked to the ground, where she felt a sharp pain in her left cheek as she impacted with the ground...
"I said, wake up!"
Santana was awoken from her dream-like state by another slap to the face by Blaine, as she felt him shaking her aggressively by the shoulders.
The greasy-haired little man stood over Santana, who was slumped over on the gravel, and cackled manically.
"You really thought you could get away with this?" he crowed, as Brittany cowered away from him in fear as she crouched next to Santana's semi-conscious form.
He then raised the butt of the gun and swung, striking Santana across her cheek. Brittany cried out, flinging herself onto Santana, but was quickly dragged away by another of Blaine's cronies, who had accompanied Blaine down to the warehouse.
"Stupid bitch." He muttered viciously, snarling as he glared at Santana, who had begun to blink slowly, wincing as she registered the pain shooting up and down her body. "After all I've don't for you, this is how you repay me? By betraying me? And all for this... this... whore?"
Santana turned her head to the side, eyes half-shut, and stared straight at Blaine.
"Don't... you... d-dare call Brittany a w-whore."
Even in her dazed state, her voice was dangerous and sincere. Brittany couldn't help but to smile a tiny bit as she struggled in the arms of her captor. Blaine, however, seemed to become more enraged by Santana's refusal to give up. He growled angrily, before swinging his boot and connecting it forcefully with Santana's stomach.
"After ALL I have done for you! Where were you before you met me, huh? You were a homeless girl, who had been kicked out by your parents, had no money, no job, nothing. AND I TOOK YOU ON. I taught you everything! I gave you a job, found you that apartment... I even appointed you to the head of the ranks! Do you know how much any of the others would kill to have that position? Huh? Rachel, Artie, even Finn? ANY of them would feel lucky even being in the same room as me, but YOU, you have the audacity to not only take advantage of that privilege, but then you go and throw it back in my face! You ungrateful bitch!"
He lunged at Santana once again, but this time Brittany was ready for him. She gave her attacker a swift kick in between the legs, causing him to moan in pain and sink to the ground, cradling his crotch. She then ran at Blaine, barrelling into him and tackling him forcefully, until she was pinning him down, her knees weighing down heavily on his shoulders, rendering him unable to move.
"Well, l-looks like someone's still got some e-energy left." Blaine panted, as he struggled to throw Brittany off him.
The blonde snarled ferociously, before clasping her hands together and bringing them down on Blaine's chest in one swift motion. He gasped loudly, struggling to draw air into his lungs, as Brittany grinned maliciously.
"Doesn't feel so good being the helpless one in this situation, does it Mr Anderson?" Brittany cooed, her voice dripping with venom. But she winced suddenly as pain shot up her side, and Blaine leered up at her triumphantly.
"Still in pain, Brittany my dear? I see Sebastian did a good job beating the crap out of you." he drawled arrogantly.
"Not as good a job as I'm going to do with you." she muttered, before punching Blaine repeatedly, blow after blow raining down on him, his face, his chest, his stomach. He wheezed feebly, while Brittany attacked him without mercy.
However, Brittany was so caught up in her attack on Blaine that she failed to notice the presence of the formerly-injured guard, who was now sneaking up on her from behind. He lunged forward and grabbed the startled blonde, locking his arms around her waist, pinning her arms to her side and rendering her unable to move.
"Nice work Wes." Blaine mumbled, standing up slowly and brushing the dust off his black suit, using the back of his hand to wipe away the blood that had begin to trickle down his chin.
He then straightened up, glaring at Brittany with a look in his eyes that could only be described as pure loathing.
"You're going to regret that." Blaine threatened, his voice low and dangerous. "But, before I get to you, how about we deal with your precious Santana first?"
Brittany flailed and shook her head vehemently, but seeing her panic only amused Blaine, who watched with a grin on his face as Wes kept his hand clamped firmly over Brittany's mouth.
"Oh, you don't like that idea? All the more reason for me to do it." He snarled, the smile on his face morphing into a cruel sneer.
Santana, meanwhile, had begun to regain more awareness, and was currently struggling to sit up, despite the agonising throbbing coursing through her abdomen.
"Oh, how sublime! Miss Lopez has arisen, and just in time for her to face her demise!" Blaine cackled, a crazy look in his eyes.
"Sir, don't you think we ought to speed things up a bit? I mean, we don't know if they brought anyone with them, someone could have called the police-"
"Silence Wes!" Blaine commanded harshly. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time now, and I'm not going to let anyone spoil it. Now, bring the lovely Brittany here, so she can watch her beloved die at her feet. I don't want her to miss a thing."
Wes nodded, dragging the helpless Brittany over to Santana, who was crouched on all fours, retching due to the crippling ache that was reverberating around her frail form.
"My my, poor Santana." Blaine slurred sarcastically. "Look how the mighty have fallen."
Brittany strained against Wes with all her might, trying to reach Santana, tears streaming down her face.
"B-Blaine. Please d-don't do this." Santana begged, her lip trembling with fear.
Blaine simply laughed once, before raising his gun and placing it directly in between Santana's red, pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry Santana. You could've been something really special. But instead, you chose to throw that away. And look where that got you."
He cocked the gun, placing his finger on the trigger.
"I suppose I'm doing you a favour by shooting you. Now you won't have to go through life thinking about how you failed. How you failed me, how you failed your darling Brittany, and how you failed yourself. You should be thanking me, really."
"I'd rather cut off my own arm than thank you. You're a monster." Santana said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"That may be. But at least I'm alive."
Blaine then tightened his finger, preparing to pull the trigger once and for all. But he was stopped by the sound of a loud clunk coming from behind him. He turned in confusion, just in time to see Rachel racing at him, wielding a lead pipe in her hand. She brought it down heavily on Blaine's head, causing him to slump to the ground heavily, where he joined Wes, who Rachel had knocked unconscious with one blow to the head.
Blaine's eyes fluttered as he attempted to remain conscious. A fuzzy image of Rachel swam before him, as he tried to focus his eyes on one point. When he could see clearly again, he saw Rachel above him, now holding a sharp, serrated knife with a jagged edge.
"Does this look familiar?" Rachel teased. "I bet it does. But I wonder why that could be?" She tapped her chin, pretending to think about it. "Oh yes, that's right. It's yours, isn't it Blaine? Wow, killed by your own knife. That'll be a good message for your obituary."
"But... wait, I..."
"Blah, blah, blah. I really don't have time for this right now, sir." She sneered. "I do, however, have one more thing to say to you. Goodnight Mr Anderson. And remember... it gets pretty hot down there in Hell, so I'd take lots of sunscreen."
And with that, she plunged the knife deep into his heart, as he gurgled once then sagged down, the light leaving his eyes for good.
Rachel stood up quickly, racing over to Brittany.
"Britt!"
"I-I'm fine! Get Santana! S-she needs more help than I do!" Brittany gasped, her head reeling from the scene that had just unfolded in front of her eyes.
Rachel nodded swiftly, before running over to Santana, who was trembling and attempting to stop the flow of blood from the gun wound on her thigh.
"Here, let me do that." Rachel said softly, before taking off her bandana from around her head and using it as a tourniquet.
Santana hissed as the material squeezed her leg, but sighed slightly in relief when she saw the blood flow decrease noticeably.
"Rachel. If it weren't for you, Britt and I would be dead right now. I can't thank you enough." Santana spoke solemnly, looking deep into Rachel's eyes.
"It's no big deal. We're partners, right? Well, that's what partners do. They look out for each other. And their partner's partners." Rachel smiled, gesturing over to Brittany with a tilt of her head.
Santana let out a tiny giggle, before her face fell as she took in Brittany's appearance properly.
"Oh my god, Britt! What did they do to you? Are you okay? Brittany, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault! I swore I would never allow anything bad to happen to you, and now-"
Brittany limped over to Santana as quickly as she could, sitting next to the Latina and scooping her into her arms.
"Shh, shh. Santana, honey, it's okay. None of this was your fault. I still love you. I'm just so grateful you guys came to rescue me."
"R-really?" Santana choked out, eyes still red-rimmed and teary.
"Really." Brittany smiled, holding Santana tightly to her chest, before planting a kiss on her forehead.
Rachel observed the two women and couldn't help but to smile, the love and tenderness between them warming her heart. Then, she found her thoughts wandering to Quinn, and jumped up abruptly, startling Santana and Brittany.
"Oh my, Quinn! She's been in the van this entire time, who knows if anything's happened to her!"
"Rach, calm down." Brittany soothed. "She'll be fine, don't worry."
Rachel nodded, breathing deeply in an attempt to regulate her breathing, which had become rather panicky and uneven.
"Okay, well we need to get moving." Rachel said, some of her old determination returning to her voice. "Who knows if there are more of Blaine's men around here? And if there are, I sure as hell don't want to be here when they show up. How about you two?"
Santana and Brittany both shook their heads fervently, and Rachel nodded once.
"I didn't think so. Okay, here's what we're going to do. Britt, do you think you can make it to the van on your own?"
Brittany stood back up shakily, testing her legs. She nodded to Rachel, confident that she could walk considering most of the damage had been inflicted on her upper body.
"Okay, good. Now, Santana, this may hurt, but I want you to put your arms around my neck. Okay?"
Santana nodded, albeit slightly reluctantly, before reaching up and placing her arms around Rachel's neck, clasping her hands together at the back.
"Okay. On my count. One, two, three!"
On 'three', Rachel pulled Santana up, her arms wrapped firmly around the Latina's waist. Santana pushed herself up on her legs and managed to stand, but was gasping and leaning heavily on Rachel for support as the pain in her leg grew much worse.
"Alright, let's get moving." Rachel commanded.
They then began to make their way back to the shrouded area where they left Quinn in the van a few hours ago. Brittany let out a sigh of relief when she caught sight of the dark blue vehicle with the familiar blonde sitting anxiously in the front seat.
Quinn tapped her fingers impatiently, growing more nervous as the seconds ticked by. She glanced up, and her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her: Brittany, cradling her side, limping slowly alongside Rachel, who was supporting most of Santana's body weight as the Latina practically dragged herself along. Quinn threw open the door of the van and leapt out, running to the trio, who looked more than a little worse for wear.
"Oh my god, what happened? Britt, are you okay? Oh, Santana, you've been shot! Rachel, what..."
Quinn's sentence trailed off as she stood silently, mouth agape, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Just a few hours ago, Santana and Rachel were healthy, full of life, and now, Rachel looked rather battered while Santana looked as though she had just fought in a war.
"Quinn, I need you open up the back of the van so we can lie Santana down." Rachel stated.
Quinn nodded briefly, before racing round and flinging open the back doors of the van, pushing the spare equipment to the side to make room for Santana. Rachel led Santana over to the van, helping her in delicately before lying her down. Brittany climbed in beside her, lying Santana's head in her lap. She smiled at Rachel and nodded, letting her know that Santana would be fine with her there.
Rachel smiled back at Brittany, before climbing out of the back and shutting the doors securely.
She then made her way round to the passenger's side and climbed in, smiling a little at Quinn as the blonde also clambered in, somewhat shakily. They sat in silence for short while, before Quinn turned to Rachel. She gazed at the brunette for a few seconds, then, much to Rachel's surprise, Quinn leaned forward and kissed her. Quinn was even more surprised to feel Rachel kissing back, but soon relaxed into it, placing her hands on Rachel's cheeks and pulling her in closer.
After a minute or so, Quinn pulled back, panting breathlessly.
"Now, as much as I would love to do this all day, I think we have to get you all to the hospital, don't you think?"
Rachel grinned wryly, before replying with a reluctant "Yes ma'am", which amused Quinn greatly.
Quinn then turned the key in the ignition, the engine coming to life with a loud roar, as she sped off down the road, Rachel's hand resting on her thigh.
Meanwhile, in the back of the van, Brittany was sobbing quietly as she cradled Santana in her arms.
"I'm so sorry Sanny. I'm so sorry you got hurt. This wouldn't have happened if you didn't have to come and save me."
"Shh, Britt." Santana mumbled, her voice barely audible above the rumble of the engine. "None of this was your fault, do you hear me? None! And believe me, if I had to do it all over again, I would, if it meant I could have you back in my arms. Well, right now I'm in your arms, but you know what I mean."
Brittany giggled a little at Santana's bad attempt at a joke, but this sound alone was enough to lift Santana's spirits.
"See Britt, we're going to be fine. We just need to get patched up at the hospital, then we can start again, a new life together. How does that sound?"
The hopeful tone in Santana's voice was so endearing and heartbreaking; Brittany was rendered speechless for a second. But then, the blonde smiled, leaning down to plant a light kiss on Santana's lips. She then sat up, stroking the Latina's cheek tenderly, before answering her question with one simple, honest sentence.
"I think that sounds absolutely perfect."
OH MY GOODNESS. Okay, before I say ANYTHING, I owe you guys a MASSIVE apology. I am SO sorry I took so long to write this, I've just suddenly become incredibly busy over the past few weeks so I didn't have any time to write! :( I feel so terrible about making you all wait, especially after leaving the last chapter on a cliff-hanger. But, I hope this chapter made up for the wait, I mean, we finally got the Brittana reunion, and you got some Faberry in there too! But yeah, once again, I'm terribly sorry for the long wait.
I also have to thank you guys, especially the readers who have stuck around since the beginning. You have no idea how happy it makes me when I get a new follower or a review, it literally makes my day. So thank you all, so much!
So yeah, I hope you're all enjoying the fic so far! Next update should be along soon (it should be a lot quicker than this one) and until then, stay awesome everyone! :D