This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Still Our Girl.


"Those Are Wooden Wings"

12. Done & Done

They had been seen soon enough once Santana had explained the situation to the nurse. Brittany wouldn't let her out of her sight at any time. Once Aimee and Tessa had arrived, Santana could see this was still the case, though slightly less so, which told Santana the truth of it: Brittany was scared to be alone, or without someone she knew at least in the vicinity. She tried not to let it turn up her guilt again.

When they had taken her to get an x-ray of her wrist, Brittany just sat quietly and followed directions. She wanted to get back to the three girls waiting outside. They had to wait for the doctor to come back, and as much as the two girls wanted to know what had happened to their roommate, she wasn't in a talking state now, so they had left it alone. It would come down to a hairline fracture, which would find her wrist put in a cast.

They'd been met by an officer who, once Santana got the blonde talking, listened as Brittany retold her encounter with Maurizio at his office, her whole history with the recruiter. As predicted, she was asked to come down to the station. James Maurizio would be found and, when he was brought in, the girls would have been sitting at the station for some time already.

Brittany had been forced to retell her story once again, which she grew more apprehensive about doing every time she did. As they sat waiting, she'd looked so traumatized. With all that had gone down, and with each return to events past, she couldn't help but think about what Santana had told her, about being lucky to have gotten away when she had, about other girls. She thought about what could have happened to her… She could still feel how tight he had gripped her wrist, how hard she'd had to pull to free herself. What if she hadn't, and… She shivered and turned to Santana, who instinctively put her arm around her shoulders.

"What if they don't get him? Or they let him go? What if he comes after me?" she asked.

"They won't. He's not going to hurt you, I swear. You'll be safe," Santana promised, rubbing at her back.

"Guys…" Aimee spoke, and when they looked up they could see a pair of officers bringing him in. Brittany sat bolt upright, keeping hold of Santana's arm. Santana for her part was posted firmly there – he wasn't getting anywhere near her. He hadn't seen her as they took him in to interrogation.

"Stay here," Tessa had gotten up.

"Where are you…" Aimee had blinked, as the other two looked up as well.

"I'll be right back, just stay here," Tessa insisted. They watched her walk off, approach the officer who'd spoken with Brittany once they'd arrived. Tessa spoke to the man for a moment, finally returning. Seeing the curious looks on the other girls' faces, she shared what she'd gone to learn. Though Maurizio had made a run for it when they'd gone looking for him, they had caught up to him, so they had managed to bring him in. As to whether he had any shot of coming after Brittany, while he wouldn't be able to go into detail, he had told Tessa that, from what they knew from Brittany, from the headmaster, and from even a quick look into him, she didn't have to worry. No matter what, she would be kept safe.

Still as they were getting ready to leave the station and go home, they had seen him being escorted down from interrogation, and this time he did see her. She'd flinched. Their paths would cross just for a moment but it would be enough. As he went by, he looked to her with a shake of the head.

"You're done, you hear me? You won't get anywhere without me, you have my word on that."

"Keep walking before…" Santana was about ready to leap at him, but Aimee and Tessa stopped her. Brittany for her part just watched him go.

He had opened all these doors for her, so she thought, only now… she couldn't tell what to make of what it all meant, that he'd had this whole agenda in bringing her here, which was now just… Her life was falling apart today, and now this, these words…

"What did he mean?" Brittany had asked slowly as they rode back to the dorms in a cab, her and Santana and Aimee in the back, Tessa in the passenger seat. She would spend the night at Santana's, but she'd begged to go back to her room to get a few things first.

"Nothing," Santana promised her.

"He was just trying to freak you out," Aimee agreed.

"But what if he wasn't? He knows people, and…"

"It'll get easier," Tessa told her from the front.

"I keep thinking that, but… it's always only ever gotten worse so far… Got kicked out, got hurt, got…"

"You'll get some sleep, we all will," Santana held her hand. "And tomorrow we can start figuring things out. It'll get better, okay?" she looked her in the eye.

"Okay," Brittany repeated, hardly convincing anyone.

When they arrived back at school, it felt like ages ago that they had been in class with their choreographer guest. Even with all that had happened afterward, it was like they hadn't been there in so long. It was late by now, most people off sleeping. They went down quiet halls, which made it easier to notice, the closer they got… one room wasn't quiet… and that wasn't right, because it was their room… and they weren't in it.

"What the hell…" Santana went ahead, grabbing the key Tessa had just pulled from her pocket.

"Hey!" the girl blinked, but the key was already in the door, and when it swung open, she froze.

"What is it? Who's there?" Brittany asked, moving up to see.

Who was there was her family… all of them. Her mother, her father and her stepmother, both her sisters, and her grandfather.

She hadn't seen them, physically seen them, in weeks, and after the day she'd had, seeing them was like a warm burst of something good, especially as her sisters rushed up and she got to hug them. If she had any expectations not to cry, she'd be deceived. Feeling their arms around her, she'd burst into tears, not her first time that day.

"You're here…" she breathed, looking to them, to the rest of her family.

The looks on their faces, the tired concern on them, it brought her back to reality. As much as she could try and tell herself they were just here to check up on her, deep down she knew exactly why they were there. Instinctively, she looked back to Santana. She was looking at them, too… Brittany wasn't the only one who knew why they had rushed up from Lima to Boston.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)