Fallout
AN/: hi… everyone ;)
Chapter 11: The Backlash… Welcome to Rivet City
"Wait, where's Santana?" Brittany asks. She was freaking out.
"She's not in the remaining cells." Rachel yells from further inside the room. "There's no one else here." Rachel lowers her weapon as she rejoins the group.
"Sugar, where did they take Santana?" Mercedes asks shaking the stunned girl lightly. The girl was covered in blood, most of it was dried. She was also caked in mud, thanks to being dragged through the wastelands.
"There was so much blood..." Sugar murmurs. The girl was definitely in shock.
"Sugar focus... where is she. Where did they take Santana?" Mercedes shakes her again trying to get the frighten girl to snap out of it.
"They um … drug her away... she was out cold, so they drug her out of the cell. I begged them to stop but they took her out of the room." The girl starts crying hysterically while grabbing onto Mercedes.
"Sugar!" Mercedes slaps her friend in an attempt to snap her out of her hysteria. It seems to help.
"They... um said something about the basement... I don't... I... she was alive, but then I don't know. They um, they took her in that direction" Sugar points to the bloody trail leading out of the old jail room.
"We need to go... Now!" Brittany yells. She doesn't wait to see if the others follow her as she takes off, following the blood that stained the tiled floor. Brittany rushes down the poorly lit hallway, the only light she had was coming from her pipboy. Everything was happening so fast, yet at the same time it was all a blur. The only thing that she could think of was Santana... she needed to find her and fast. They follow the bloody drag marks down the stairs of the police station. It was eerie seeing the human hand prints left behind, almost as if Santana, or another victim of these creatures were trying to avoid being drug down the stairs. What was most unsettling was the bag of body parts they practically trip over as they rounded the corner of the stairway.
"Gross." Rachel covers her nose as she passes the gore bag filled with mutilated body parts. Quinn quickly pulls her along. As they reach the basement door, Brittany practically rips it off its hinges in order to get through it. Entering the poorly lit basement, the three girls move quietly. There was a doorway right away to the right of them as they entered. Quinn taps Brittany's shoulder to make sure the girl sees it. She looks around the corner hopping to see Santana, but instead is met with the eerie silence of an empty room. Quinn and Rachel flank in right after her. Quinn notices the ammo boxes, medical kit on the nearby table and immediately scavenges through them grabbing anything useful. This being a police station, they find rather useful supplies, including a few extra pistols in the nearby gun cabinet. Brittany is the first to notice the bodies hanging from the ceiling further in the room. It looked like a torture chamber by a vast amount of dead bodies hanging from the ceiling. The three of them were horrified by the sight.
"What is this place?" Rachel asks as she notices more gore bags hanging from the ceiling just past the barrier infornt of them.
"This must be the police stations shooting range." Quinn mutters lowly, not wanting to be too loud. She walks closer to the partition in front of them. "Looks like the muties are using it for something else." Brittany jumps the barrier, and runs towards the several hanging bodies in the room. They were unrecognizable considering they all were missing their heads and arms. Behind her she hears Rachel gagging up the last remnants in her stomach. This has to be hell on earth. Brittany jumps when she feels someone's hands on her. Instinctively she throws a punch... luckily Quinn blocks her from lading a blow to her face.
"Quinn... I'm sorry… it's just… do you think?" Brittany can't even finish her thought it was just to horrible.
"No... Brittany, none of these are Santana... they look like they've been here a while. Come on lets keep looking." Quinn pulls her back towards to entrance of the room. They clear and scavenge a nearby closet before heading back the same way they came from. The next room they enter was very open but just like the last room it was empty... there were three open doorways in this room.
"We should split up." Rachel says in a hushed tone. She could have sworn she heard a rad roach coming from the rooms in front of her.
"No... it's too dangerous. We need to stick together." Quinn argues.
"Well then which way should we go?" Rachel asks as she wanders further into the room.
"That way." Brittany says as she points the room to the left of them.
"How do you know?" Rachel asks. Brittany just points at the fresh blood trail leading in that direction. Before Quinn or Rachel could protest Brittany takes off towards the open doorway. The hallway is dark, but she can see a light at the end of the tunnel. She shoulders Santana's shotgun as she runs down the hallway. She can vaguely hear her friends call to her to slow down, but she doesn't. Time wasn't on their side. The light at the end of the tunnel opens up to a large room. Brittany doesn't take the time to clear it. Her eyes landed on a giant yellow monster directly in front of her. It must be a pantry off the room... but Brittany doesn't even register this. All she sees is the creature, and directly behind it, Santana. Brittany screams as she pulls the trigger while aiming at the mutant's head. She didn't realize how close she was until the bullet impacts the skull of the creature, and is sprayed the creature's blood. She shoots two more rounds into its chest before before the creature flails it's nailed board at her launches her into the wall nearby.
As her body hits the wall, Brittany's eyes open. "Santana!" She gasps out.
"Whoa Brittany... its okay. You're okay." it takes her a moment to realize that she just woke up from a dream. A really really bad dream, but a dream none the less. Suffice to say this recurring nightmare was pretty accurate to what really happened in the Germantown police station. Everything but the ending. You see when Brittany didn't wake up at that moment she hit the wall she usually sees Quinn and Rachel finishing off the creature just like it had actually happened. However the worst part in her dream was that Santana was dead in the pantry room, she always gets there too late to save her. It was heart wrenching seeing Santana's lifeless body every night. It was nights like these when she woke up before standing over Santana's lifeless body that she felt a little relieved since she usually woke up in tears if she didn't. Quinn places her arms around Brittany who was practically hyperventilating now. "Hey... shh its okay B. We're all safe, including Santana." Brittany nods in the blonde's embrace while trying to catch her breath.
"I really hate that dream." She feels Quinn nod. She couldn't count how many times she had to comfort the tall blonde after waking up from the nightmare, the truth was they were all affected by that night. Brittany however was still suffering, she seems stuck in this never ending cycle, and Quinn didn't know how to break it. She just hopes Santana will be able to, now that she was awake.
"I know B... but its just a dream... and Santana is safe in real life, right."
Brittany pulls away from her friend in order to check on Santana, who was still sleeping soundly thanks to the boatloads of drugs the doctors gave her that morning. "She's going to be okay." Brittany says as she wipes her eyes. She hadn't left the girl's side since she had woken up hours ago. The doctors had pretty much confirmed that the inflammation of the brain had gone down, and from their initial observation Santana didn't seem to be showing signs of brain damage. She was confused, of course who wouldn't be after being in a coma for 125 days. After being pumped full of MED-x, stimpax and any other pain reliever they had in stock, Santana had fallen to sleep and Brittany waited patiently by her side.
"How long has she been asleep?" Quinn asks as she makes her way around the medical bed in order to hold Santana's other hand while she slept. Brittany has yet to release Santana's other hand since she had woken up. She found herself squeezing it ever so often just to see Santana flinch.
"Um... " Brittany looks at her pipboy. "13 hrs give or take."
"Damn... you would think she wouldn't be able to sleep after you know... the coma." Quinn whispers the last part.
"The doctors gave her a lot of drugs for the pain... it pretty much put her to sleep instantly."
"But she is going to be okay... what did the doctors say?"
Brittany shrugs. "They say her chances are good... a miracle actually. They expect her to recover in a couple days. Her ribs have pretty much healed while she was ... asleep. Her shoulder will take some time though... most of the ligaments were torn, they said they were going to inject a couple stimpacks directly on the joint and muscle in order to restrengthen it. There could be a chance it never fully recovers. Her eye is still bandaged up but the doctor says she can take it off as soon as she's fully awake. They gave me an eye patch... they want to make sure it's covered."
"An eye patch? Nice. She'll look like a sexy pirate." Quinn tries to joke but Brittany doesn't smile. It was a touchy subject altogether.
"So where are you going... work?" Brittany asks after a long moment. Quinn nods. She was currently dressed in the security armor of Rivet City. Which surprisingly looked good on the shorter blonde, Quinn hated the helmet she had to wear though. It gave her a wicked case of helmet hair.
"Yeah Sam is covering for me right now... he said he was going to come down later with some food for you. You've lost a lot of weight... but then again... so has San."
"Thank you Quinn... I really appreciate it." They had all gotten jobs since arriving at Rivet City. Quinn was offered a position on the security force after helping take down a pickpocketer. Brittany had gotten a job working at a small cafe in the marketplace. It didn't pay much, but she got by. The majority of their savings went towards Santana's medical care.
"So... um has Rachel been by yet?" Quinn asked casually. Brittany nods. Rachel visited Santana earlier. "How... how did she look?"
"Better... she looked clean." Brittany says. Shortly after arriving in Rivet City Rachel relapsed. The ship was a haven for addicts. They even had a shop in the Marketplace that sold to anyone with the caps. Rachel didn't stand a chance of staying clean here... and Quinn pretty much lost it after she found her in Paulie Cantelli's room strung out on psycho. The two of them fought, which resulted in Rachel disappearing into the vast underbelly of Rivet City. This was another reason Quinn joined the security team... in hopes to find Rachel and apologize, but for now she would have to get her updates form Brittany, who Rachel seemed to visit at least once a week. Brittany couldn't help but notice the sadness flash across Quinn's face. Everything had changed since Santana got hurt, she just prayed now that Santana was awake things would get better... for everyone.
"Did she ask about me?" Quinn couldn't even look at Brittany as she asked.
"She said she was doing better... she got a job at the Muddy Rudder in the lower decks... she said she misses you, but um I don't think she wants to see you yet." Brittany watches her friend start to pace around the room
"Really?" Brittany nods. "But she looked good." Brittany nods again.
"Really good actually. Like she did before all that crap that happened in Megaton." Quinn smiles at that.
"Good... good. I-I should um... I need to get going. Um, if Santana wakes back up send a guard to come and find me." Quinn backs up towards the clinic door.
"Okay... I will."
"I'm really happy she's okay Britt."
"Me too." Quinn waves goodbye before leaving for her shift. Brittany lays her head back down on the cot, looking up towards Santana's sleeping face. "I love you San." she mutters as she closes her eyes again.
Brittany was woken by a gentle shake. "San?" her eyes open up as she looks towards Santana hoping to see her beautiful brown eyes looking back at her, however the girl's eyes were still closed. She looks next to her and sees a familiar face standing next to her. "Sam? What are you doing here?" she asks.
"Didn't Quinn say I was stopping by? I brought you some food from the marketplace I hope noodles and beef broth is okay." the man holds out the bowl. "Angela Staley said she would cover your shift until Santana is fully awake." The man says.
"Oh, yeah, thanks Sam." Brittany yawns as she stretches out. The noodles in her lap were semi warm, but they did look pretty good.
"So how the patient?"
"She still is sleeping... however she was mumbling some stuff earlier, I thought she might open her eyes, but she must have been dreaming." Brittany sets the bowl of noodles down next to her. She was hungry but for some reason she couldn't find the power to eat.
"Hey, you should at least try to eat some of that..." Sam points to the discarded meal. "You need to keep your strength up."
"I'll eat it." Sam looks at her sternly. "I promise okay." Sam was always looking after her. He was nice even for a guard.
Santana gasps awake. The pain was back, and it hurt like a bitch. Her body starts to convulse slightly. The overall action startles Brittany causing her to knock the bowl of noodles next to her onto the floor.
"Doctor! She's awake!" Brittany yells for Dr. Preston who immediately enters the room. Brittany tries her best to restrain Santana's movements. "What's wrong with her..."
"Its not a seizure." the doctor shines a light into Santana's eyes. "It could be from the pain. I'll go get her some-"
"NO!" Santana grits out between clenched teeth. "No more drugs."
"San baby... your in pain you should take something-"
Santana rolls her head towards Brittany and smiles. "I'm fine... really." It didn't sound very convincing as she shudders at the pain rolling through her.
"As your doctor, I strongly advised you to take something-" Santana's body finally relaxes as she gains some control over it. She lets out a shaky breath as she forces herself to ignore the pain coursing through her.
"Really I'm fine. Okay." Brittany doesn't seem convinced. "Though, I am a little thirsty."
"I can go grab some water for you." Brittany says.
"No Brittany... I'll go, you should stay here." Sam says as he quickly leaves the room.
Santana lets out another gasp as another wave a pain flashes through her. "Fuck." Dr. Preston goes about checking her vitals. He checks her heart rate which seems slightly sporadic, but considering the circumstances it isn't unusual. "Santana... can you tell me what day it is." Santana scoffs .
"No doctor... I can't." 'Who the fuck remembers the date.' She thinks.
"How about this girl next to you... do you remember her name." he points to Brittany.
"Yes... that beautiful girl is Brittany." This makes Brittany blush.
"And do you remember where you are?"
"Rivet City."
"Good... usually a patient experiences some short term memory loss after coming out of a coma. You seem to be healing quite quickly." The doctor writes down something on his chart before turning his attention to the monitors in the room. "I'll get you another saline bag."
Sam reenters the small clinic with a bottle of water. "Here..." he hands it to Brittany. "I should be getting back to work... Quinn is in the lower decks looking for Rachel so I think I go and tell her that Santana's finally awake, she's been talking about it all day. If that's okay with you." he asks Brittany.
"Yeah, thanks Sam... I'm sure Quinn would like to know." Sam leaves the clinic.
"Now that guy... I don't remember?" Santana says as she watches the two interactions. She didn't like it.
"That's Sam... he's Quinn's partner. Here..." Brittany uncaps the purified water bottle.
"Not too much of that Brittany, and make sure you sit her up a little. We wouldn't want her to choke." The doctor says as he leaves the room, giving the girls some privacy. Brittany does what she's told and sits Santana up as best as possible cradling her in her arms as she tips the purified water into Santana's awaiting dry mouth. Santana coughs slightly as she tries to drink the water. It was just what she needed... her mouth had felt as dry as the Mohave.
"More..." she gasps when Brittany pulls the bottle away. Brittany shakes her head no as she lowers Santana back onto the bed.
"You heard the doctor... you can't have a lot." Brittany pours a little bit of water on her fingers and then lightly runs her fingers across Santana's chapped lips. "How does that feel?"
"Good... thank you" Santana strains to try to sit up but Brittany stops her. "How long was I asleep for?"
"15 hours." Brittany says as she runs her fingers over Santana's lips again.
"You haven't left my side have you?" Brittany shakes her head no.
"I slept down here with you... just in case you woke back up. I didn't want you to be surrounded by un familiar faces."
Quinn rushes into the room a few minutes later. "Oh my god S... you're awake." this was the most emotion Brittany has seen from the blonde guard since they arrived. Everyone copes differently, Quinn pretty much shut down all of her emotions, blocking out the people closest to her... including Rachel. The shorter blonde hugs Santana lightly, making sure not to cause any more pain.
"Hey Q. It's good to see you." Santana smiles. "Looking good in that uniform... what are you a guard?"
"A security officer to be exact. Sam told me you were awake... so I came right here."
"So where's the midget, I thought for sure she would be attached to your side coming in here." Santana doesn't miss Quinn flinch at the mention of Rachel's name.
"Rachel was here earlier. She said she would stop by after work to check to see if you were up." Brittany explains. The room goes quiet after that.
"How come I feel like I'm missing something... what's going on?" Santana looks from Brittany to Quinn for her answers. The two of them were acting weird... or weirder than normal.
"Things have changed since Big Town..." Brittany tries to explain.
"Rachel won't come to see you if I'm here." Quinn interrupted.
"What? Why?"
"It's complicated." Brittany tries to end the conversation there. She knew it was something Quinn hated to talk about, and usually result in some harsh words being thrown followed by Quinn completely shutting down and leaving angry.
"I fucked up... while you were... asleep or in a coma... I fucked up and Rachel pretty much hates me now." Quinn says as she burst into tears. For some reason talking to Santana was a lot easier than then talking to Brittany. This was the first time she had seen Quinn break down.
Santana really didn't know what to do. It was weird hearing about the things that had happened while she was wandering through the endless maze of her mind. It felt like just hours ago the four of them were laughing in a Big Town as they goofed around in their shack.
Rachel did in fact come to see her later that night. Santana found herself unable to sleep. She sent Brittany back to her room to shower, change, and get something to eat since her noodles where spilt across the floor hours before. Rachel looked different than the last time she saw her. 'Thinner... tired maybe?' from what she gathered Quinn had shut her out after arriving in Rivet City, which forced Rachel to feel 'abandoned' as she put it which resulted in a relapse. Rachel however is currently sober once again.
The next couple of day's seems to drag on as Santana lay in her medical bed. The doctor wouldn't let her leave. Which was weird because she felt fine. The majority of her wounds was healed, sure she was sore, but the overwhelming pain had subsided. Even her shoulder was doing better, the doctors had pumped it full of stimpacts, so it was no longer in a sling. Sure it wasn't completely healed... the doctors actually explained that her shoulder may not be as strong as it use to be, but it wasn't crippled, and she could still move it. Brittany spent the nights with her, sleeping next to her in her medical bed. That was the best part having her actually here with her.
Brittany was helping her rotate her shoulder before she had to leave for work. Physical therapy was something she had to do three times a day, which included taking short walks around the hallways, but the doctor didn't let her go far. Santana was growing restless being cooped up in the dingy clinic, she wanted to get up and explore this new place, but Brittany kept insisting she take it easy until she was back to her full strength.
"I just don't see why I can't come with you to work..." Santana grunts as Brittany slowly rotates her shoulder.
"You heard the doctor... you can't over exert yourself." Brittany explains for the hundrenth time. Santana tries her best pout, hoping Brittany will reconsider and talk to the doctor.
"Brittany I'm fine... really. I feel as good as new... look I'm even wearing this god awful pirate patch. Please, I promise I'll just sit at a table the whole time." Santana pleads. She really did hate the pirate patch, but it was better than seeing the damaged eye underneath. The doctors had taken off the bandages yesterday, and said it looked good. Truthfully this was the one thing that was making Santana so anxious... and well a little mad. She was blind, and that made the incident much more real. You see she couldn't remember what had happened to her. All she knew was what had happened before she was hurt, but seeing the damage they left made her furious. Brittany could tell that Santana was just trying to be useful... but a part of her wanted her to stay in bed until she was able to stand on her own for more than a minute.
In the end she crumbles. "Fine... I'll ask the doctor, but if you start feeling light headed its right back into bed for you." Santana smiles, and pulls her legs to the edge of the bed. Brittany hops off the medical bed as well, and walks around to the other side to help Santana to her feet. "I washed your clothes for you so you don't have to walk around in the paper sheet." Brittany hands her the clothes. "Do you think you can manage while I go talk to the doctor." Santana rolls her eyes.
"Yes... I can manage just fine." Santana unties the paper sheet and lets it fall to the floor. Brittany can't help but pause, taking in Santana's body. It was leaner than she remembered but what can you expect to be in a coma for so long. However, even with the weight loss Santana looked flawless... she had a few scars on her body but nothing too noticeable. "You like what you see?" Santana jokes.
Brittany smiles shyly looking away from Santana. "You're so beautiful San..." she whispers before making eye contact with the brunette. Santana motions Brittany to come closer. Even though she had been awake for a few days now the two hadn't been very touchy feely.
"Hey... what's wrong." Santana hugs Brittany pulling her close into her body. Brittany lets out her shaky breath. It felt so good to be in Santana's arms, she didn't want to leave.
"Nothing... its just. I'm so happy you're okay... I thought I would never get hold you like this again."
"Naked?" Santana says smugly.
"Sssaaannn..."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it." Brittany tilts Santana's chin up and captured Santana's lips ever so lightly. It was the first time since she woke up that they kissed, and it was perfect. For Santana it felt like a dream, as though Brittany were going to disappear at any moment. Santana holds Brittany closer. For Brittany it was heaven, it had been so long since she felt alive. And that's what Santana made her feel like... alive. Without her she felt like a shell of her former self, but now with her awake and for the most part healed she felt like her world was slowly coming back together. When they pull apart to catch their breath Brittany is no longer crying. Santana wipes away any remaining tears from Brittany face and kisses her one more time.
"You should probably go and talk to the doctor... I still need to change so." Santana says as she pulls away. Brittany nods before disappearing out of the room to talk to the doctor. In the end he agrees to allow Santana to go with her providing that she did stand for more than 10 minutes, and returned to bed if she experiences any discomfort. When Brittany walks back in the room Santana was fully clothed. Well almost. She still needed to put on her beater, but was having trouble with it.
"Do you need some help?" Brittany asks.
Santana reluctantly nods... 'stupid beater.' Brittany helps ease her arms over her head as she pulls on the stained shirt. "What happened to the leather armor I was wearing?"
"Well... when we found you, it was pretty much torn to shreds. Red, she had to cut most of it off you."
"Oh... it's still hard to believe that all happened." Santana says as she adjusts her top. Brittany nods. It wasn't hard to believe for her, in fact she was haunted by her memories of that day almost endlessly. "What about my shotgun.?"
"You won't need it, trust me."
Santana felt naked without her weapon, but she trusted Brittany, "are you ready to show me around the ship?" Santana pulls Brittany from her thoughts.
"Sure... but we are only going to the market place... I need to work." Brittany helps guild the shaky Latina up the stairs towards the market place.
"This place is huge." Satana mutters as Brittany leads her through the maze like hallways of the boat. In some ways it kind felt like the vault, except darker and with more people. "How do you know where you're going?"
"Um... over each doorway you'll see a number that corresponds with the deck you're on and what side of the boat. It was really confusing at first, but I know my way to a few places on the ship. The Marketplace being one of them... between there, and the clinic I really haven't had time to venture around much. I know you can get to the top deck of the boat if you go all the way up the stairs. Quinn says it's really pretty up there just before dark. I also have a room at the Weatherly Hotel up on one of the upper floors. I haven't slept there very often, but it's nicer than the places we've stayed in before."
"Well maybe we can talk the doctor in letting me sleep there tonight since you're renting it... I wouldn't want it to go to waste. What about Quinn?"
"She spends most of her day either working or up in the guards quarters, and the last I heard Rachel moved into the common room on one of the lower decks."
"I still can't believe Quinn and Rachel are fighting."
"They just need some time to talk it out between them, but I have a feeling they'll work everything out."
"I hope so." Brittany opens the metal door to the marketplace and leads Santana through the raised thresh hold. The marketplace was huge, and filled with vendors and random people. "Wow." This was a lot of people in enclosed space.
"Come on... I'll show you where I work" Brittany leads Santana through the crowd of people. A few of the local venders say hi to her as they past their makeshift store huts. "That place on the left is Flak 'n Shrpnel's shop. They sell weapons mostly... and that place right across from it is the Potomac Attire, the shop owner is named Brandon... and he is one of the city's council members. He seems nice, but Quinn has mentioned he has a power fetish... he sells armor, and casual clothes. A Quick Fix is right next to it... I try to avoid that place altogether. They sell chems... Cindy is usually the one selling, which is ok according to the law in Rivet City, but it's illegal to make them on board. Most of the drug raids are on small Chem labs trying to turn a profit on the boat. Cindy husband is an addict, but you won't see him up here very often, Rachel talked about him once... while she was using. Evidently that's where she got her drugs from when she relapsed. You won't see Rachel up here any more though, she says it's too tempting when they sell it out in public. They sell booze too." Brittany describes the shops as they pass them. "Then there is the Rivet City Supply. I don't like that place, the guy who runs it is a creep, and this is where I work." Brittany stops at the final place. "This is Gary's galley... they sell food. Gary Stanley is a nice guy, Sam got him to give me a job, his daughter works here too. That's Angela." Brittany points to the blonde sweeping the floor. "She really nice too... there are rumors going around though, that she sleeping around with Diego... who I haven't met, but works in the chapel I think." Brittany has to catch her breath for a moment.
"This place... reminds me of the vault... you know, but with more people."
"Yeah I thought that too when we first got here... its more crowded though. The vault seemed to be quieter... this place is insane."
"Brittany, I need you to start taking orders." Gary the tall blonde store owner yells at her from behind the counter.
" I'm coming... okay I have to get to work... here, sit here and I'll get you something to eat."
"Don't worry about me... I'll be fine you just get to work." Santana says as she sits down at the counter top. Brittany quickly gets to work with the morning rush. The Galley was packed like always even though the food wasn't the greatest. Santana kept herself entertained by people watching. This place was busy, and from what she could tell most of the people here were from the wasteland looking to trade some of their scavenged goods for a few caps.
Brittany stoped to talk to her every time there was a break in customers. She refills Santana's water numerous times, and even brought her a pre-war book for her to read. She was feeling rather good today. That was until a rude boy came up to her and asked her about her eye patch. This made her uncomfortable. Most of the time she wasn't even aware she was wearing the damn patch... but the longer she sat there the more she felt the eyes of a passing stranger on her as they walked by.
"Fucking assholes." she mutters under her breath as she tries to hide herself from the onlookers. She felt as though the room was whispering about her. Evidently she was big news on the boat. A survivor of sorts.
"Look at all of these people looking at you " a familiar voice rings in her ears. Santana looks next to her and sees Snix taking a seat next to her. The doppelganger didn't have a patch on her eye. "Don't look at me like that." Snix smirks as she spins around on her bar stool for fun.
"Why the fuck are you here?"
"I am always here... and I will always be here. I'm just not in control at the moment." Snix says nonchalantly.
"Fuck you, go away." Santana murmurs a little too loudly drawing the attention of a passer by. "What are you looking at!" she snaps at the random lady who quickly scoffs and moves away. 'Fucking right lady… come back here and look at me like I'm crazy, I will go all types of Vault 101 on your ass.'
"You can't blame them... look at you. You look like an abused slave that escaped some derange torture room." Snix spins In her chair again.
"Shut up," Santana practically growls.
"All they see is weakness... that's what you are a weak helpless child, they pity you. Look at them… 'oh that poor child' that's what they're all thinking."
"I am not weak!" Santana yells drawing the attention from the crowd. A few stop to see what was wrong.
"Yes you are." Snix smirks.
"Babe... are you okay? What's wrong?" Brittany heard the outburst and quickly made her way towards the brunette. Santana looked so angry.
"I am not weak." She says again.
"Babe... I don't understand." Brittany sets down a tray of food to try to help Santana calm down.
"God she is so beautiful... you should let me out so I can play with her."Snix stands, and starts circling Brittany.
"Go away!" Santana yells at her double who was standing right behind Brittany lightly touching her shoulder. Brittany takes a step back at the outburst she didn't know what she did wrong.
"San... what's wrong? Do you want me to take you back to the room?"
"No.. I'm fine okay. Stop treating me like I'm made out of glass. I'm not helpless." Santana stands up from her stool knocking it down in the process
"No one is saying you are."
"Everyone's thinking it!"
"Is everything okay here?" during her outburst Santana had successfully drawn a crowd, including a few security personal, one of which was Sam.
"Where fine Sam... Santana is just a little upset." Sam makes his way towards Brittany, the blonde boy only made Santana angrier. Brittany had talked about the guard on a few occasions over the past few days, and no matter how nice she made him sound Santana could shake this feeling growing inside her.
"Look at Trouty Mouth... he is all over our girl" Snix whispers into Santana's ear. "I wonder how many times this guy has touched Brittany... its obvious he wants to. He's like a little lost puppy dog following her around. So what do you think, should we let him walk away alive? I guess you should've brought your shotgun, although that butter knife in front of you will work just as well." Santana hates that Snix was making the situation worst. "We should just kill him now, before he steals Brittany away from us altogether. At least then these fuckers would fear you... just like they should. You could do Santana... it would be so easy... do it." Snix mutters sweetly into her ear as she watches Sam and Brittany talk to each other. "You know I'm right, just listen to aunty Snix... she always knows best."
"You know what, fuck this, I'm going back to the room." Santana interrupts whatever Brittany and Sam were discussing. "It's getting way too crowded in here." she brushes by Sam and makes her way towards the stairwell.
"Santana wait... I can walk you back. Angela... can you-"
"No Britt I appreciate you looking after me, but I am a grown ass woman ... and I can walk back to the room myself." with that Santana turn and leaves.
"What was that all about" Sam asks as they watch Santana make her way towards the stairwell.
Brittany was already taking off her apron in order to follow. "She's just overwhelmed, I think. I mean she was fine a minute ago... then the next." Brittany shakes her head as she tries to understand Santana's sudden mood swing. "I think she was upset with some of the people. You know how this place is... everyone is in everyone's business. Santana seems to be on the tongue of everyone here."
"Well of course she is, you all are. I mean its a surreal story."
"You haven't even heard it."
"No... but you've told me things... and Quinn has too."
"It's a lot more complicated than what I've told you... look I should go, she might get lost." Brittany tosses her apron on the counter as she waves towards Angela.
"Wait Brittany... I actually needed to talk to you about something that's why I came here, I knew you were going back at work today."
"Yeah... of course Sam, what's up?" she tries her best not to sound impatient.
"Well you know that question you asked me a while back."
"Yeah."
"Well I think I found the doctor you looking for, and he lives here in Rivet city."
"Really... who is it. I mean I talked to every doctor on this boat and they all said the same thing, that it's impossible, or too dangerous."
"Not according to my source."
"Well tell me what he said."
"The doctor is a man named Pinkerton... evidently he was one of the founding fathers of Rivet City... and he is even rumored to have done advanced surgery on the runaway android everyone is talking about."
"Do you think he's still here?"
"I don't know... I'll ask around maybe some of the council members know. Either way he could be the answer you were looking for." Sam says in a harsh tone.
"Yeah thanks... keep your ears open for me. I haven't even had time to talk to Santana about this... we haven't really had time to talk about anything. Thanks Sam... you've been a really nice friend throughout this, if you hear anything else I would greatly appreciate it. But I really should go... Santana might need me."
"Wait Britt I had one more thing to ask you... I know you've been under a lot of stress lately but now that Santana's awake I thought that maybe we could I don't know have dinner one night... as friends." Sam adds.
"Um yeah... sure why not. I'll talk to you later okay." Brittany waves as she jogs after Santana, she just hoped the Latina hadn't taken a wrong turn on her way back to the clinic room.
This place was like a maze.
"Stupid pretty boy Sam... how dare he. I mean did you see him he was all over Brittany back there." Santana stagers around the hallway followed closely by Snix. She had no idea where she was at this point but her building anger had clouded her form thinking rationally. Now she was lost somewhere in the belly of Rivet City. "Just great... now I'm lost... Snix for the love of god tell me you know where we are."
"Your kidding right... I ain't no GPS babe... if you're lost that means I am too..."
"This is just fucking fantastic... you are the worst double ever."
"God I love it when you're all angry like this... its got to be better than sex."
"Shut up." Santana rounds the corner and notices a sign above the next door. 'The Muddy Rudder'
"Isn't that where Rachel works?" Santana says to herself... and Snix which was technically herself... whatever. Frustrated and tired Santana opens the door, sure enough it was a very grungy rundown bar. Entering the Muddy Rudder she notices she above the actual bar, the stairs to her right lead her down to the bar stools... most of which were bare. There was only a single lady here, besides the two bartenders one of which was Rachel.
Rachel drops the empty beer bottles she had been cleaning up from the makeshift bar when she notices Santana coming down the stairs.
"Santana... what a-are you doing here?"
"I'm thirsty what do you think." Rachel rolls her eyes.
"Ooh I like this girl." the old lady sitting at the bar says. "Why don't you come on over here and buy me a drink."
"Shut up Tammy please, she doesn't want to buy you a damn drink, in fact I'm cutting you off... So please finish that then leave." The older lady scowls before slamming the rest of her drink. She tosses some caps on the counter top and leaves without another word. "Does Brittany know where you are?" Santana sits down at the bar and shrugs.
"Brittany was busy talking to someone... I don't think she knows I even left."
"San... I'm assuming you're talking about Samuel, who I know for a fact is only a friend. Whatever you're thinking... you know it isn't-"
"Whatever Rach... now what's good here to drink." Santana interrupts.
"We got everything you need... beer, scotch, whisky wine, you name it we've got it." the other barmaid says.
"Belle please stay out of this."
"I'll take the strongest thing you have."
"Good choice misses."
"Yeah whatever, just pour me the drink and leave the bottle." Santana looks back to Rachel, and notices the glare the girl was giving her. "What Rachel... I've been in a coma for months, I think I deserve a drink." Belle places a tall glass of scotch in front of her.
"Whatever is going on in that head of yours Santana needs to stop... alcohol is the last thing you should be drinking." Santana scoffs.
"Says the drug addict." Santana regret saying that almost immediately, so much so that she couldn't turn to see the pain register on her friend's face.
"You know what, I am an addict.. Santana I know what I am, so the fact that you're trying to hurt me by saying shit like that just proves my point that you shouldn't be drinking. Whatever your feeling, whatever is going through that head of yours isn't worth getting drunk over. And that's what makes me stronger than you... I know my weaknesses, and that was what my relapse was, weakness." Santana finishes off her glass and pours herself another, she really didn't want to hear Rachel call her weak, and the fact that it was true made it worse. Snix laughs next to her. "Do you want to know who made me weak..." Santana brings the glass to her lips, "you did... you made me weak." Rachel point to her.
Santana slams her glass back onto the bar spilling most of it. "You know what Rachel, fuck you... are you really blaming me for using, really? That is completely fucked up and you know it."
Rachel nods and sits down next to Santana, she grabs a glass and pours herself a drink. "Yeah, I know it's messed up... this whole thing is messed up..." Rachel takes a drink. "But that doesn't make it any less true." the two girls go silent, finding the bottom of their glasses more interesting than what was happening around them. "Look I didn't know how much Brittany has told you about... the police station, but you should talk to her, because I know for a fact that what was affecting me is still affecting her. The only difference is I gave into that pain, and tried to release it by being destructive, and eventually I dealt with that pain... Brittany hasn't. She's still in pain, and no matter how happy she may seem no matter how much she smiles, that pain is eating her away, and you are the only one who can help her release it." Rachel finishes off her glass and pours another. Santana was feeling slightly light headed. She was never much of a drinker, and because of that her tolerance level was very low. The scotch was already making her feel a little fuzzy.
The two girls sat in silence for what seemed like forever before. Santana decides to break the silence. "We haven't talked... not really. I mean I know what happened... the doctors explained everything to me, but it's like it didn't happen, and as much as I want to talk to Brittany about it i... i-m afraid. Afraid of hearing about how much you guys went through all because of me."
"It's okay to be afraid... we all are at some point, but Brittany needs you, and think about how afraid she is. The thought of losing you was so unbearable that she risked her life to save you. You need to let her talk about it, encourage her , because she isn't hurting so badly San... and you are the only one she'll talk to."
"You're right." Santana takes another swig, the alcohol no longer burned going down her throat, in fact it tasted rather pleasant. "Shit... I think that last one was one too many. At least Snix has stopped talking my ear off." Santana mumbles. Rachel gives her a strange look before finishing off her drink as well.
"Yeah... so, do you want me to walk you back to the room. I'm sure Brittany is worried about you, since her shift ended twenty minutes ago."
"Fuck Rachel I am so lost... I don't even know how I got down here..." Santana slurs a little. Maybe medication and alcohol didn't mix very well, because she was definitely feeling the scotch.
"Well I can help you back to your room, come on." Rachel throws some caps on the bar, then helps Santana to her feet, giving her some support.
Meanwhile across the ship Brittany was frantically searching for Santana. She had checked the clinic, but Santana had been nowhere in sight. The guards on this level weren't very helpful either, since none of them seem to have seen Santana wandering the halls. "Oh my god... no she lost..." Brittany mutters to herself as she searches for Santana. "I knew I should've gone with her." she practically runs Quinn over as she rounds the next corridor.
"Damn Britt where's the fire."
"She's lost Quinn... I lost her, and now I can't find her, and no one has seen her. I don't know what to do-" Brittany says frantically.
"Whoa, Brittany calm down... who did you lose?"
"Santana... she came with me to work but left. I swear I only talked to Sam for like a minute, but when I went to catch up with her... I think she might be lost on the ship somewhere. You know how easy it is to get turned around on here."
"Yeah of course I do Britt, we'll find her okay. No where have you looked?"
"I think I looked for her on this whole half of the ship, she didn't go back to the clinic, and she isn't in any of the labs, and the guards I talked to on the floor say they haven't seen her."
"Okay that's good... she could be on the upper deck... have you looked to see if she's went to your hotel room?"
"No... no I haven't. I didn't even think of that."
"Okay, well I want you to go up there and check around while I take the floor beneath this one. We'll find her... I promise." Brittany nods as she heads towards the stairwell that would lead her to the upper deck. "Hey if she's not up there staying in your room okay!" Quinn yells after her.
Quinn makes her way to the lower deck. This is where the majority of the lower class wastelanders lived. It was dirty, hot, and all together darker than the other more maintained floors of the aircraft carrier. Security found themselves down here more than they liked, dealing with issues, if Santana was down here it could take some time to locate her. As she rounds the corner of the poorly lit hallways she notices the Muddy Rudder bar sign over the doorway. Quinn stops once she sees it, ever since talking to Brittany earlier in the week, she knew Rachel had gotten a job in the rundown bar. It takes all of Quinn will power to respect Rachel's boundaries. She knew if Rachel wanted to see her she would have found her long ago, Rachel was so good at avoiding her, if she had wanted to talk to her she wouldn't have been so hard to locate. Knowing Rachel was avoiding her hurt, but Quinn wanted to respect Rachel's boundaries, and just as she was about to leave, the bar hatch opens, and out comes Rachel and Santana. Rachel sees Quinn as soon as the door shuts behind her, but only falters for a second before composing herself.
"You found her." Quinn's voice squeaks as the two girls get closer to her, she moves out of their way so they can pass.
"Yeah... she stumbled into the bar a little while ago, and Belle thought it would be okay to actually serve her."
"Brittany is worried sick about you, she tried to find you after you left the marketplace." Quinn follows behind the two, as soon as they get to the stairwell Quinn helps Rachel with Santana. "I told her to wait in her room... so we should probably take her to the upper deck." Quinn explains. The tension between Rachel and Quinn wasn't unnoticeable, and a few drinks didn't stop Santana from seeing that.
"I fine, really guys. I just got a little turned around." Santana slurs over her words.
"How much did she have to drink" Quinn asks as she stumbles holding Santana up as they stumble up the stairs.
"Two glasses of scotch."
"Dammit Santana you know Brittany has been freaking, and now you're drunk."
"I am not drunk... I'm just a little tipsy... and tired Quinn."
"She's fine, okay Quinn... she just... stressed." the three of them go quiet as they lead Santana to the upper deck. Santana hasn't been on this floor yet... it looked nice, well nicer than where she just was. A lot of the familiar faces were the same ones she saw in the marketplace.
"Here we are." Quinn knocks on the giant metal door just past the hotel's main lobby. The door swings open revealing a tearful Brittany.
"Oh my god... San, you found her."
"She stumbled into the muddy rudder... I'm sorry Britt I didn't know you were looking for her otherwise I would have brought her up here sooner." Rachel says as she helps Santana into the room.
"I'm sorry Britt... I just got so mad. I just needed to cool off. I didn't mean to make you worry." Santana hugs Brittany.
"She may have drank a little scotch in the bar, hence all the clinginess." Santana buries herself further into Brittany's neck.
"That's okay... I'm just happy you found her."
"Well... I should go. I'll talk to you guys later." Rachel says as she waves goodbye to Brittany, and backs out of the room. Quinn who has been quiet, silently says good bye to Santana and Brittany before running after Rachel.
"Rachel... wait." Quinn catches her before she disappears on her again. She stops Rachel by grabbing her hand only to have Rachel pull away from her completely. "Please Rachel just stop for a moment."
"Why Quinn... what could you possibly have to say to me." Rachel goes to leave but Quinn stops her again.
"Can we please talk. I mean you have been avoiding me like the plague, I just want to talk to you. I miss you so much and being away from you... it hurts so please just... don't... run away from me." Quinn pleads.
"Fine... but can we go somewhere more private, the last thing I want is the ship to start gossiping about us."
"Yeah sure. I know the perfect place."
Meanwhile in Brittany's hotel room, Brittany helps Santana into her large bed. Brittany busies herself by helping Santana take off her shoes.
"I sorry about earlier..." Santana says when she realizes Brittany wasn't going to be the one to start talking about what happened back in the marketplace. "I didn't mean to yell, or cause a scene. It just... ever one there was starting at me... and it just I felt like some sort of freak."
"Santana we don't need to talk about this now... we should wait unit morning."
" I want you to know you can talk to me, I feel like there is this distance between us right now… and I don't like it." Brittany tucks Santana into bed before crawling in behind her and wrapping her arms around her. "Britt there is something I need to talk to you about."
"Yeah?"
"This Sam guy... you don't like him like him do you?"
"What... no, Sam is just a friend that's all. Is that why you were so angry before?"
Santana shurgs in Brittany's arms, "It was part of the reason. I mean I feel like I came back and everything has changed. I just wanted to make sure we were good."
"I promise you San... Sam is just a friend. Now go to sleep, we can talk more in the morning." the room goes quiet.
"Britt?"
"Hmm?"
"You're not mad at me, are you?"
"No sweetie... I'm not mad. I was really scared when I couldn't find you today, it brought back some unpleasant memories."
Quinn had led Rachel to the flight deck so they could talk. It was strung with Christmas lights and littered with broken down airplanes from before the apocalypse, but it I the best place to get some privacy since in order to get up there you need to go through the city's security quarters, which isn't open to the public.
"It's nice up here." Rachel sits down on the edge of the boat so her legs are hanging over.
"It's the best place in Rivet City." they sit there for a while before Quinn musters up the courage to speak but before she can Rachel interrupts her.
"Quinn it just me okay, so just tell me what you need to say." Rachel tries her best not to show what she was really feeling.
"You... you look good." Quinn stutteres out.
"That's it?" Rachel jokes.
"No I mean, Brittany told me you looked good, I guess she was right. How long have you been?"
"A few weeks..." Rachel kicks her legs back and forth.
"Good... and your withdrawals haven't..."
"They haven't been very bad... I've been keeping myself busy with work, and talking to the priest at the church. They actually have a support group that meets every other day. It helps, there are a lot of people here that are recovering addicts as well, it's nice to sit there and hear their stories."
"That's good, I'm glad. That's your doing better that is"
"Quinn will you please stop beating about the bush, and say what you need to say." Quinn nods.
"Okay... I'm sorry. I let you down. I let everyone down, but you the most. I got so caught up in my head I didn't even realize I was pushing you away until it was too late."
"Quinn as hard as it might seem to believe I don't blame you... I did at first, to justify my actions and giving in to my weaknesses, but I know those were just excuses. We were all affected by Santana getting hurt, your weakness was shutting down and shutting us out. Mine was turning back to my old ways… its just how we choose to deal with our emotions."
"I didn't mean to, it's just seeing Santana there on the floor broken, It hurt, and I don't know I just couldn't stop myself from thinking that if I could have been there she would have been fine. If I could have been at her side she would have walked away from the fight like she should have, but she didn't. And I really didn't know how to deal with those emotions. They ate me up, consumed me…" They go quiet for a moment the only noise they could hear was coming from the decks below them and the slight creaking of the grounded ship. "I've never felt more out of control in my life, but the worst part of was losing you... I'll never forgive myself for turning my back on you where you were hurting so much…"
"Quinn please stop beating yourself up over this, I'm just as guilty as you, okay. I should have said something, or asked for help when I started drowning in my mess, but I didn't." Rachel wraps an arm around Quinn, trying her best to soothe the blonde who was one the verge of tears.
"Do you think we will ever be the same, now that Santana is awake?" Quinn wipes her eyes.
"I think so... to tell you the truth I've been avoiding you." Rachel nudges her shoulder playfully.
"Yeah, I noticed."
"I didn't want to see you... I thought you would hate me for using again. And the last time we spoke we both said some hurtful things… I didn't think you wanted to see me."
"Of course I don't hate you, that day... sucked. But I didn't hate you, I was just surprised. I mean it was my first day being a guard and the first thing I walk in on is you using in that room. I felt like I let you down. I was suppose to be there and I wasn't."
"You're here now... I know its cliché... but I miss you too... and I don't want to avoid you anymore." Quinn smiles before leaning in and capturing Rachel's lips.
Brittany screams as she wakes up from yet another nightmare. "Britt babe... what's wrong?" Santana sits up to soothe the panting blonde.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you... it was just a dream." Santana doesn't buy Brittany's brush off, the girl was drenched in sweat.
"You had a nightmare... was it about-"
"No I haven't even thought of that since Big Town." Brittany interrupts the last thing she needed was to have that image intertwining with her current dreams.
"They what was it about." Brittany shrugs. "Baby you need to talk to me." Santana was no longer fazed by the booze, and it was technically morning according to her pipboy.
"It was about the Germantown police station... I've been having these recurring dreams about the night we were in the police station." Santana waits for her to continue. "After Mercedes told us you and Sugar were taken..."
"Sugar was taken too?" this was news to Santana.
"Yeah... Mercedes was hurt, but managed to make it back to Big Town."
"Is Sugar... did you save her too." Brittany smiles and nods.
"She's fine... we actually found her first. She wasn't hurt very bad, just a few scrapes, and bruises. She was more in shock than anything though. She was the one that told us where you were taken. We found you in the basement... it's weird because I can remember everything about that moment... probably because it replays so much in my dreams. We followed these blood stains in order to find you. I've never felt so helpless in my life, and the moment I saw you. You were just lying there and that creature was standing over top of you. Everything just clicked, the dread of losing you was just too much. I finally realized how fragile we are out here, outside the vault, how dangerous the world is. I understood how you felt shooting Abrams, and helping Rachel with Moriatry, and didn't flinch when I went into that school. I got off a few shots before the monster even realized I was there, and I don't know, I must have been too close, because he swung at me and lunched me across the room. I didn't even realize I was hurt until Rachel pointed it out after Quinn finished off the creature." Brittany lifts her shirt just enough for Santana to see several white scars lining the left side of her body. Out of instinct she gasps and reaches out to touch Brittany healed wounds. "Evidently the thing had nails in the end of the board he hit me with." Brittany lets her shirt fall back into place. "That's the dream I have over and over... only instead of saving you, I always seem to be too late. I usually wake up before that though." Brittany takes a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. "To tell you the truth I can't really recall how long it took us to get you back to Big Town. Quinn had bandaged you up pretty good. Red was the one that told us to come here. Evidently, she didn't have the right medical equipment to help you there, and Megaton was out of the question. So we decided to try for Rivet City. We left that night, Larry pulled you on this makeshift litter. We followed the river for the most part... Lord Tubbington for the most part was able to sense any trouble before it is saw us. He killed a few rad scorpions and even took out a few bands of Raiders. We didn't stop to rest until the following evening. I didn't want to stop... but Rachel was struggling to keep up and Quinn... was so distant I don't think she even noticed. The next day we um...
Flashback
"Brittany we need to stop here for the night..." Quinn says. They had just entered the outskirts of the city.
"We should keep moving... there is still enough light to follow the river."
"It'll be safer following it in the morning, when we can see what the hell is in front of us." even though she knew Quinn was right she didn't want to stop now, but seeing Rachel practically fall into a heap she knew Quinn was right. Reluctantly she agrees. Quinn builds a small fire for the night while Brittany unties Larry from the makeshift cardboard wagon he had been pulling . Santana was currently tied into it to prevent her from slipping off. She was bundled in vast amounts of blankets. Brittany had to change her bandages according to Red, to prevent any infection. Rachel offered to help, but Brittany could tell the girl was practically falling to sleep.
"It's okay Rachel I got it... you get some sleep." Quinn took first watch. The last thing they wanted was to be ambushed by any passing raiders that might see their fire in the distance.
It was eerily quiet that night, and even though she knew she shouldn't, Brittany unbundled Santana to check to make sure she was still... well... alive. "How are you doing tonight babe..." she asks the unconscious girl. She remembers Santana saying that hurt people could hear them when you talk to them so she tried her best to sound normal. It was hard seeing her like this.
"Shh... Britt. Did you hear that?" Quinn was behind her looks into the darkness. It wasn't very dark tonight. The sky was clear so the stars lit up the wasteland... however the rundown buildings provided enough shadows for anything to sneak up on them.
It happened in a flash. The only warning they had was the growl from Lord Tubbington before he jumped into the darkness.
"Lord T!" Brittany grabs Santana's combat shotgun, she just hoped that what was ever out there Lord T could handle. They heard a sharp cry of a creature before everything when quiet again. "Lord T?" the next thing she saw was a giant horned creature coming out of the shadows covered in blood. The thing was twice as tall as Lord T even though it looked hunched over. It let out a low growl as it slunk closer to them.
"Fuck... Deathclaw... move Britt!" Quinn yells before yanking Rachel with her to put as much distance between them and the creature that looked like it just crawled out of the very pits of hell. Brittany didn't move though, she couldn't leave Santana behind. Instinctively she covers the Latina's body with her own. Gunfire erupted around her, Quinn must have started shooting. She didn't know for sure though. She looked up to see if the creature was still there and sure enough it was practically standing over her. She lets out a scream when she feels something swipe at her shoulders.
End flashback
Santana practically tears the shirt off of Brittany, and sure enough there were four claw marks starting at the base of her neck and running off her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
Brittany smirks "it seems so trivial now."
"You should have left me there." Santana's fingers lightly trace over the marks.
"I couldn't... that's just it. The thought being without you was unbearable... and you know you would have done the same thing if things where reverse." she had Santana there. "I didn't want to be alone... I know it's selfish, but I couldn't", she whispers.
"What happened after that?"
"Evidently the firing came from a Brotherhood of Steel patrol."
"Brotherhood of Steel?"
"They are like a private army of sorts all decked out in these 'power suits'... after the creature attacked me they drew its attention towards them... they lost one member before they killed the deathclaw. But you were safe... I don't know how it happened but shortly after the attack you started to convulse in my arms. I thought I had hurt you somehow... Quinn said it was a seizure..." Brittany has to take some time after that before she started talking again "after that they escorted us to their base... the Citadel... it's this big base completely closed off to the public."
"Was Lord T okay?"
"Yeah... the deathclaw got him pretty good but he was okay... I was worried though... the brotherhood tried to kill him. Luckily he managed to get away from the patrol before they killed him too. They really hate everyone who isn't a part of their group. They could only provide basic medical care and a place to stay for the night, they escorted us here the next day. I had to sell Larry in order to get us all citizenship to stay in Rivet City and work. Without it you can't get hired."
"I'm sorry Britt."
"Don't be... he went to a nice medical merchant... and you pretty much know the rest... I haven't been off the boat since you where emitted into Dr. Preston's care. I got a job to pay for the treatment and well... there you have it." Santana leans in and kisses Brittany.
"Thank you for sharing... I know it was hard."
"It felt good... to talk about it. I've been battling all of inside for so long I'm surprised I didn't break down sooner." Brittany says with a slight smile.
"You know the part where I had the seizer... that was probably one of the best days of my life." this definitely gets Brittany's attention. "Do you remember back in the vault, my dad always made me read those very dry medical books." Brittany nods. "It's weird because I remember reading all about head injuries... and I always wondered what a patient went through... I always imagined them being in their head reliving their favorite memories... and be able to be surrounded by images of the people they love. But for me it was hell, literally." Brittany looks confused. "I can remember every day I was trapped in my head... and it was like I was in this alternate universe. Everything was opposite, I mean I was in the vault. My dad was there, Amata, everyone... but the worst part was that you weren't there with me. I've never been so alone... I don't know why I was trapped like that. All I knew was that I needed to see you again, and every day I was there was torture. The night I had a seizure I got to hear your voice... and it was... amazing. Sometimes after that... when I was falling to sleep in that twisted world it was like I could feel you. Does any of this make sense, or do I sound like some crazy person?"
"Now I think I understand."
"It was like I knew I was trapped in my head you know... and you were the only thing that kept me for giving into the illusion happening around me."
"I think you owe some of that to me as well." Snix voice interrupts the moment. Sure enough the double was standing in the corner of the room with a smirk on her face. "Come to San... aren't you going to tell her about little ol' me." Snix jokes as she slowly makes her way towards the bed. Brittany notices Santana's gaze and turns to see what has gotten her attention.
"What are you looking at San?"
"Yeah San... what are you looking at."
"Nothing... it's nothing, I was just spacing." she draws her attention back to the blonde.
"I really like your hair like this." Brittany runs her hand through the buzzed hair.
"Really?"
"Yeah... I don't know why, it's just... looks good."
"Yeah... but the pirate patch kind of throws it off. I swear the moment anyone sees an eye patch they think your some sort of evil pirate there to rob them of their caps."
"It does look pretty bad ass... that was something I wanted to talk to you about too. There's this man... his name is Dr. Pinkerton... and according to some rumors floating around Rivet City, he can restore your eyesight."
End...
See Santana won't remain a sexy pirate forever...
What's going to happen next ... um... lots of stuff. Surgeries ... adventure... maybe sexy times... oh and more Snix.
Review if you want to... no pressure.