"Three simple rules in life: If you do not go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you do not ask, the answer will always be no. If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place." – Anonymous

As the agents pile onto the jet and settle around the round table, Brittany sighs in contentment when Santana hands her a hot beverage in a paper cup. As she eagerly accepts the White Chocolate Mocha and deeply inhales the aroma, she momentarily forgets where she is as she tastes the first notes of the espresso dancing along her tongue.

"Mmmmm."

"Damn Pierce... do you two need a minute?" Puck playfully chides as he watches his co-worker enjoy her morning beverage just a little too much.

Before the blonde profiler responds, she takes another delicious sip of her drink and sighs again. "I just might," Brittany says with a wink.

As Brittany takes a seat across from Santana and Noah, she notices the Latina's plump lips sucked in tightly as she's trying her best to suppress her amusement over the situation. The blonde shrugs her shoulders and takes another sip of her expresso. Will casually chooses to ignore the playful banter amongst his younger colleagues and takes his seat towards the center of the table.

Once everyone else is settled in, the door of the jet closes and the pilot announces over the intercom that they are ready for their departure. As the wheels of the aircraft begin to taxi along the tarmac, moments later the jet is fully suspended into the air and climbing upwards. After a few minutes pass by, the jet levels out and the pilot announces that it is now safe to move around the cabin.

Once given the clearance, Schuester pulls out his tablet and sets it onto the table where everyone can view it. After quickly starting up the video conference with Fabray, he addresses his team.

"Okay guys... if we're working off the theory that this is in fact the same UnSub from 7 months ago, then why the hiatus?" Schue implores. "If it wasn't due to incarceration, then why resurface now?"

"Why indeed..." Dr. Abrams ponders. "Why risk the exposure if you've seemingly gotten away with 3 murders already? Why put yourself back in the spotlight after the case has gone cold?"

"If it is the same UnSub, why is he escalating now? Was there another possible trigger that made him come out of hiding and move his time table up between kills?" Noah questions.

"What about Pierce's theory about the killer being a copycat?" Hudson poses.

"I was thinking more about that," Brittany cuts in. "In order for that theory to even be viable, the killer would have to have an inside source. Outside of being someone who is directly related to this investigation, how else could the killer mimic the COD from the first three vics?"

"Brittany's got a point," Puckerman says. "The cause of death and the amount of multiple stab wounds found on each vic were never released to the public."

"I agree. Fabray... I need you to run background checks on everyone involved in the Sandy Ridge murders. Police, news media, the families... the whole nine," Schuester orders. "Run cross-checks to see if any of them have a connection with any of the victims."

"Got it boss."

"Alright, does anyone else have anything?"

"I might..." Santana says as she looks up from the hard copies of the case files she was flipping through. "What if both theories are right?"

"How so?"

"This might be a hunch, but what if our two latest victims were killed by two different people: the original Sandy Ridge Killer and a copycat?" Santana begins.

"Go on."

"What if Wilde was killed by the copycat? I mean, it would definitely explain why she doesn't match the victimology of the other 4 women," the Latina further explains. "What if Wilde's murder forced the real Sandy Ridge Killer to come out of hiding?"

"I think my partner's right," Noah adds in. "The evidence we have right now might be circumstantial at best until we can get an actual set of eyes on the latest vics, but it's definitely worth investigating further."

"Hey Q..." Brittany speaks up, "can you run a search on the local jails and prisons around the Metro-Atlanta area?"

"Sure gorgeous. What are the parameters?"

"We're looking for anyone that would've been released within the past week or two; someone who would've been incarcerated right around the time after the third victim was discovered."

As the agents watch the tech goddess furiously type against her keyboard, Santana looks deeper into the files in front of her.

"You can also rule out anyone that was arrested for pretty theft, a property crime, or any type of sexually-based offense," Santana adds in. "The one thing that all of these murders do have in common is the UnSub's ability to show their power over each victim. There were no reported signs of sexual trauma and the additional - and completely unnecessary - knife wounds shows a certain level of anger... rage even."

"You can also mark off anyone that doesn't fall within the age range of our vics, excluding Wilde," Finn states.

"Okay kiddies, I've got the list down to 56," Quinn replies. "What else?"

"Try narrowing down the search to men only," Artie supplies. "Also, rule out any minorities. These crimes don't feel racially motivated."

"Alrighty my lovelies... that leaves us with 17."

"Exclude anyone with blonde hair and blue eyes," Santana says after a beat. "The UnSub is way too vain to kill someone with features similar to their own."

After a few more clicks on the keyboard, Fabray gives a hopeful nod. "Okay, that narrowed the list to 6."

"Fabray... cross-check that list against our victims; see if there's any overlaps," Schuester sternly says. He then turns and looks at the newest profiler on their team. "Pierce... do you think there's a good chance that our killer is one of those 6 men?"

"Honestly... no," Brittany confirms what her boss had already suspected. "However, we need to be able to eliminate the 'previously incarcerated' factor in order to proceed with the two working theories we have."

"I concur," Schue states. "If there is any possibility that there is a connection between someone in this investigation and our UnSub, then we need to be very careful with how we proceed."

"We need to tread very lightly while working alongside the local PD," Santana adds in. "One of them - or someone who works very closely with them - could very well be our killer."

"For the time being, we'll focus on Henry County's belief that these two murders are the work of the same UnSub from 7 months ago," Will decides. "In the meantime, hopefully Fabray will be able to find something tangible that we can work with to find our copycat. Until then, this stays between us."

"Yes, sir." The team says in unison.

"Alright, Boss Man... I'll let you know when I've got something," Quinn replies enthusiastically.

"Hey Q, one last thing," the Latina cuts in before the tech analyst disappears.

"What's up, Sugar Plum?"

"I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but whenever you get a free moment, cross-check any major companies that have contracted work in this area during the time span of the murders," Santana gently commands. "Once you get that list, cross-reference it with flight and bus schedules around that time as well and see if any names overlap. We need to be able to eliminate any transients."

"Psshh… I could do that in my sleep; no worries."

Right as the Oracle of All Knowledge is about to sign off, their fearless leader holds up his hand and tells her to hold on for just a second.

"This is going to be a challenging case. Not only are we possibly looking for more than one UnSub, but with the similarities between our victims and Brittany... things could get ugly," Will reminds his team as his voice turns more sincere. "But I have faith that we will be triumphant. This is the best damn team in the FBI for a reason and I am damn proud to work alongside each and every one of you every single day."

Each member of the team takes to heart their usually very reserved leader's candid words. Although Will Schuester was a very private man and rarely showed any deep-rooted emotion, he cared about each member of his team and considered them to be family.

"With that being said... let's catch these sons of bitches so that we can go home and properly celebrate our newest profiler, Brittany Pierce," Schue finishes with a rare smile.

"Amen to that," Quinn says in response. "You guys be safe."

With those last words, the screen blacks out.

Once the team lands at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, they split into their separate groups, get into their Suburbans, and head towards their previously discussed destinations.

As Schue and Brittany arrive at the newest crime scene, they are met by a patrol officer, whom leads them under the crime scene tape and towards the latest victim.

"Sarge... the FBI agents are here."

Upon hearing the heads up from the patrolman, a light-skinned woman with dark hair turns and looks up at the two new faces. Giving the officer a nod in thanks, she stands from her squatted position and walks over towards the agents, signaling for another detective to join them.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly," she says as she carefully removes the black latex gloves that were covering her hands. The sergeant then extends her hand to greet them. "I'm Kyler Freeman and this is my partner, Pete Shannon."

As the other detective shakes the agents' hands, they introduce themselves as well.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Supervisory Special Agent Will Schuester and this is SSA Brittany Pierce."

"Sorry that we're having to meet under these conditions, but we're a little out of our depth here," Sgt. Freeman states. "We thought this bastard was dead or locked up for some other unrelated crime; guess we were wrong."

"In cases like this, those are often valid reasons why an UnSub is stagnant for a period of time," Schue replies.

"But why now?" Detective Shannon inquires. "The guy has already gotten away with 3 murders since there was very little to no evidence that we could use to track him before. Why come out of hiding and risk killing someone else?"

As Will is about to respond to the detective's questions, Brittany cuts in.

"Usually an UnSub has a stressor: some type of catastrophic event that sends them into a tailspin where all of their anger and deepest emotions get pushed to the forefront of their mind and makes them 'snap', for lack of a better term," the blonde agent explains. As Brittany looks over at Schue for silent confirmation, he gives her a head nod of approval. "The stressor could be anything, but whatever it is, it fuels the UnSub to kill. Sometimes the victims are random or just an opportunity that the UnSub stumbles upon. Other times, the victims are very specific; they become surrogates for the actual person that the UnSub feels has wronged them in some way."

"So… are you saying that this UnSub may have experienced two stressors?" Sgt. Freeman implores.

"It's very likely," Schue replies. "When a serial killer goes dormant for an extended period of time, if it's not because of their death or being incarcerated, it's usually because they have killed their intended target."

"Given the accelerated cooling off period between our latest victims, it's highly likely that our UnSub made a mistake," Pierce adds in.

"I hope so," Sgt. Freeman says solemnly. "I don't wanna have to tell another family that their loved one is dead because we couldn't catch this sick son of a bitch."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Will states. "What do we know about the victim?"

As Sgt. Freeman leads the agents over to the victim's body, she hands them some latex gloves to put on. Detective Shannon follows behind them, pulling out his steno book to retrieve the notes he had on the case so far.

"Megan Grisby… worked as a paralegal in Clayton County, which is our neighboring county to the North," Detective Shannon begins. "She has two kids, a boy and a girl, who attend Ola Middle School. She's been happily married to her high school sweetheart for the last 20 years…"

"When she didn't come after work Wednesday night, her husband got worried and called a few of her friends. When that led to a dead end, he called us," Sgt. Freeman adds in. "Some patrol officers found her vehicle at the park off of Lake Dow early the next day, but there were no signs to indicate a struggle. However, her phone was found inside of her vehicle, along with her purse. The last message she received was a 'good morning and have a great day' text from her husband."

"We eventually learned that Mrs. Grisby never made it into work that morning," Detective Shannon picks back up. "Her last known whereabouts was at the Dunkin' Donuts across the street from the park. We were able to get footage of her purchasing coffee, but after she leaves the store, there's no trace of her."

"We canvased the surrounding businesses in that area, but no one remembers seeing her after she got her coffee."

"Where's her vehicle now?" Brittany wonders.

"It's at our Central precinct," Sgt. Freeman answers. "Our Crime Scene Tech has already processed it, but we figured you guys would want to take a look at it as well."

"We will," Schue simply replies. "I'll get one of my agents at the precinct to handle that."

As Schuester excuses himself to make the call, Brittany takes a closer look at the body.

"What do you see, Agent?"

"Something just feels off about this victim."

"How do you mean?" Sgt. Freeman inquires.

"There's definitely more rage, judging by the abundance of stab wounds on her compared to the other victims," Brittany explains. "And if you look here, she has slight bruising around her wrists and ankles, but they're not nearly as pronounced as the ones found on the others."

"Meaning she wasn't restrained for as long?"

"Either that or she didn't fight back as hard or as much."

As the blonde examines the body more precisely, she makes another discovery.

"Alright… Hudson is on his way to inspect Mrs. Grisby's vehicle and Fabray is checking all of the victim's financials to see if there are any common links," Schuester announces as he returns to the group. "Find anything here?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Brittany states as she briefly reiterates on the lack of bruising she had found. "And then, there's this…" she says as she points to the multiple wounds on the victim's body. "I'll need to double check with the M.E. to confirm it, but all of these lacerations appear to be post-mortem."

"What's the significance of that?" Detective Shannon ponders.

"It means that she was dead before the other wounds were inflicted. Although there were more knife wounds to indicate the UnSub's level of rage, it seems to be more controlled," Brittany responds. "She didn't suffer like the others did; he showed mercy, which probably explains the lack of bruising." As the blonde briefly pauses, she stands upright and observes the scene in front of her. "He also covered her with a blanket, something he didn't do with any of the others."

"Isn't that a good thing… if you can find anything good about this?"

"Potentially… if the UnSub is showing remorse, then it's possible that Mrs. Grisby was not meant to be a target; she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So the chances of him making a mistake increase, right?" Sgt. Freeman inquires.

"Yes… but it also could mean that he's escalating," the blonde replies. "And if that's the case, his comeback tour has just begun."

After spending hours in the field conducting interviews and examining evidence, the team gathers back at the precinct to disseminate the information they had collected.

"Fabray, are you there?" Schuester questions before the team started their debriefing.

"You know it Boss Man," Quinn eagerly replies.

"What did we find out from the newest victims' families?" Schue asks, looking towards Noah and Santana.

"Nothing much from the Grisby family," Puckerman starts off. "From what we observed in the house during our interview and from the background checks that Q ran, this family exudes the definition of All-American. No outstanding debt, no enemies, no signs of infidelity…"

"Wilde's parents weren't really helpful either. The relationship between them was more financial than compassionate," Lopez tags in. "Apparently Kitty was a 'wild child', no pun intended, so her parents used their wealth to keep her at bay."

"They paid for everything; in return, all Kitty had to do was keep up her grades and not do anything stupid to get kicked out of school," Puck added in.

"So basically Wilde was a spoiled rich girl whose parents didn't pay much attention to?" Hudson states more than questions.

"Essentially. The last communication they had with her was about a month ago when she needed money to purchase some books for the new semester," Santana concludes.

"Sounds like a dead end," Finn says.

"Maybe not," the Latina quickly interjects. "When we talked to Wilde's roommate, she had some pretty interesting things to say."

"According to her, Wilde was a 'stuck up bitch' and apparently really slutty," Noah states, receiving a questioning look from his boss. "Roommate's words; not mine."

"Over the past few months though, the roommate said that Wilde started seeing someone; someone much older than she was," Santana steps in.

"Although she never met him, she said Kitty gushed over him constantly and always bragged about the exotic places he would take her," Puck informs. "The roommate believed that the boyfriend was married though."

"How come?"

"She said it was just a feeling she had, based on how secretive he was," the brunette advised. "Whenever Kitty would show her pictures of the places the boyfriend would take her, he was either never in them or he angled his face away from the camera so that there was no clear shot."

"Does this boyfriend have a name?"

"The roommate said she only ever heard Kitty refer to him as 'Howie'. She wasn't sure if it was a nickname or something," Santana responds. "Q, can you…"

"Cross-check everyone is Miss Wilde's life to see if there are any potential Howards?" Fabray swiftly cuts in.

"You are amazing."

"Tell me something I don't know," Quinn says back, flirtatiously.

"Fabray…" Schuester warns.

"Sorry boss… sometimes I get easily distracted by that sultry voice," the tech analyst quickly apologizes, causing the other agents in the room to hold back their smirks. Brittany subtly looks over at Santana with a playful expression while the Latina just covers her face and shakes her head at their eccentric friend. "Anyways… Wilde was very active on social media so once I scrub through her life, I'm sure something will come up."

"Okay… Hudson and Abrams?"

"I checked over Mrs. Grisby's car; nothing unusual about it," Finn comments on his part of the investigation. "I sent Quinn the info from her phone to see if she could find any type of connection between her and the other victims."

"So far, nothing sticks out; sorry guys," Fabray sadly replies. "I was able to rule out any transients and recently released inmates though."

"Good," Schue simply says, knowing that there were still too many possible suspects to eliminate. "What about the first 3 victims' families?"

"Nothing new to add from the initial interviews Henry County conducted," Finn answers.

"Taking into account all of the victim's residences – excluding Miss Wilde – and the areas where their bodies were found, I was able to narrow down a 10 mile radius in which the UnSub either works and/or lives," Dr. Abrams takes over, pointing to the red areas on the map that he had marked earlier. "This area is more commonly known as 'Ola' or 'Cow Country' by most of the locals. The two biggest intersections around that particular area are State Route 81 and Keys Ferry Road."

"Judging by the map, those roads are easily accessible," Santana states while taking a step closer to the map and more squarely examining the areas that Artie had marked off to create the geographical profile. "The UnSub could've easily dumped the bodies, hopped onto SR 81, and been in Newton County in a manner of minutes."

"I've already checked with all of the surrounding agencies and counties," Quinn speaks up. "None of them have had any homicides matching our guy's M.O. or anything remotely similar to it."

"The medical examiner is still in the process of finishing up her final reports on Miss Wilde and Mrs. Grisby, but from the preliminary exams, she's pretty confident that the injuries on both women are consistent with our first 3 victims," Schue says.

Reviewing the information again, something is just not sitting right with the blonde agent. "I'm not convinced."

"Care to elaborate?" Puck poses.

"I think Santana's hunch was right; these two women were killed by two different people," Brittany shares with the rest of the team. "Not trying to discredit the M.E., but… look at these two bodies. While both have a lack of bruising from being restrained, the knife work from one body to the next is inconsistent."

"The Sandy Ridge Killer was more precise and meticulous with each of his kills. The fact that he waited an entire month before abducting and killing a new victim shows his level of patience," Dr. Abrams cuts in. "I think the ladies are correct in their assessment."

Santana and Brittany give the young doctor an appreciative smile.

"I think once we get the final autopsy reports, we'll be able to say conclusively whether or not we're looking for one or two UnSubs," Artie explains.

"That probably won't be until tomorrow morning," Schuester announces.

"So… what do we do in the meantime?" Puck questions. "Should we tell local PD yet about our alternate theory?"

"I'm not sure yet," Will honestly replies. "We still need to vet everyone to make sure we're not tipping off one of the potential killers."

"So far, nothing suspicious has come back on any of the background checks I ran on the police or news media involved with this case," Fabray adds in.

"Schue… you and Brittany spent a good part of the day with the two lead detectives on the case," Santana points out. "What was your take on them?"

"Shannon seems to be pretty by-the-book; a lot of officers respect him," Schue advises.

"Freeman is a little more soft-spoken, but you can see the passion and determination in her eyes," Brittany recounts. "I get the vibe that she probably gets a lot of flak for being so young and holding the position that she does, but she's definitely earned it."

"You ain't lying, honey," Quinn says as the sound of fast-paced typing can be heard through the speaker. "In her short 28 years of life, Freeman has accomplish more than most people will ever accomplish in a lifetime."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Noah inquires.

"Right out of high school, she joined the Air Force. Served for 4 years; 18 months of that time, she was deployed in Afghanistan," Fabray begins. "From there, she joined the police department and was promoted to Detective after working 3 years on the road. After spending 2 years in the Criminal Investigations Division, she was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and placed back on the road. And within the last 6 months, she transferred back to CID where she is now a Sergeant Detective."

"Damn… she has been busy."

"And to top it all off… while she was serving our country and protecting the mean streets of Henry County, she managed to find the time to acquire a Master's degree in Psychology," Quinn finishes her rant, sounding quite impressed.

"Someone who has spent their entire adult life defending this country and its citizens is definitely not gonna throw that away, for any reason," Santana informs, sounding very positive of that fact.

"But she probably would be the perfect person to help us narrow down the copycat we're looking for," Brittany advises.

"I agree," Schue says. "We'll need to get her away from the precinct and from her co-workers so that we can pick her brain."

"I can take care of that," Puckerman quickly volunteers.

"Down boy," his partner chuckles out.

"I think Sgt. Freeman will be more open and susceptible if Brittany and Santana were the ones who were asking the questions," Will states, letting the male agent down as gently as possible.

"Sorry Noah…" Brittany says condescendingly.

"No you're not," Puck replies back with a slight pout, causing the other agents to laugh a little.

"I think this is a good place to stop for the day," Schue declares. "Why don't we head to the hotel, get washed up, and enjoy a nice dinner before turning in for the night?"

"If there's food involved, then I'm game!" Finn exclaims.

"Of course you are," Santana says knowingly.

Once the agents arrived at the hotel, Schuester gave out the room assignments. Although everyone was able to have their own space, Will wanted to make sure that he kept a few of his agents close by Brittany's room due to the similarities she shared with the 5 victims. While the blonde's room was located in between Santana's and Puck's room, everyone else was scattered amongst the different floors of the hotel.

After the long day they've all had, Santana happily retires to her room after a satisfying meal. As soon as she enters, she immediately strips down and takes a much needed shower, washing away the events of the day. Once she's finally feeling refreshed again, the Latina brushes her teeth and combs her hair. She then hangs her towel up and throws on a pair of cotton sleep shorts and an old, faded blue Yale t-shirt.

As Santana gets herself situated on her temporary full size bed, she throws her hair up in a messy bun and puts on her black-framed reading glasses. As she sits Indian-style in the middle of the bed, the Latina rummages through the different case files of the Sandy Ridge Killer and the field notes she took earlier on in the day. She stays like this for about half an hour, inadvertently chewing on the cap of her pen, before her thoughts are interrupted by a light rapping of knuckles against her hotel room door.

Not expecting any company at this late hour, Santana grabs her iPhone and presses the 'Home' button, illuminating the screen. No missed calls. No unread text messages.

Weird.

Quickly, the Latina morphs from Santana to Agent Lopez as she grabs her gun from the nightstand, removes it from the holster, and slowly inches her way towards the door. Upon hearing the knocking again, the profiler plants her shoulder flush against the wall, raising her weapon to a high-ready position.

"San... it's me," a delicate voice says from the other side of the door.

"Britt?"

Santana cautiously stands on her tippy toes until she can see clearly through the peep hole. Once verifying that it is indeed Brittany on the other side of the door, she quickly places her gun on the desk behind her and quickly opens the door.

"Hey B, is everything okay?"

Hearing the concerned laced in the other woman's voice, Brittany shyly smiles to herself. "You worry too much."

Upon receiving such a response, the Latina laughs at herself for being slightly over-protective and decides to relax a little.

"So... can I come in?" Brittany asked after a beat.

"Yeah, of course," Santana quickly responds as she steps aside and swiftly ushers the blonde inside.

Once she's fully inside of the room, Santana closes the door as Brittany walks over to the bed, observing the scattered paperwork.

"Figured you'd be burning the midnight oil," Brittany giggles to herself.

Santana shyly looks away as she feels a slight blush starting to creep across her cheeks while she scratches the back of her neck. "Force of habit, I guess."

Again, the blonde lightly chuckles.

"Don't feel bad; I was doing the same thing."

Looking back over at Brittany, she notices that her best friend is still wearing her work attire, consisting of a baby blue blouse - that makes her eyes pop like nobody's business - and her black, form-fitting slacks. Knowing that she wasn't the only workaholic currently in the room, Santana allows herself to return the sentiment of brief laughter as she moves beside Brittany and picks up one of the files.

"There's just so many different angles to look at," the Latina says as she starts flipping through the pages. "I've been trying to figure out how the UnSub picks these specific women. All of the victims are high-risk targets; people who would be missed. Why would he pick them instead of a prostitute or a homeless person or some—"

Santana's rant is effectively interrupted by the placement of a milky-colored hand lightly clamped over her mouth while Brittany's other hand is delicately grasping the Latina's cheek.

"San... as much as I love our job and how much of an adorable nerd you become while working a case," Brittany softly says, "I don't wanna talk about work right now."

A muffled 'okay' is all that is heard in the otherwise quiet room.

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Brittany slowly removes her hand from her best friend's mouth. Now noticing their close proximity, the blonde can't help but stare at Santana's full lips, only inches away from her.

"So... what did you wanna do then?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Brittany coyly replies as she takes a rogue strand of the Latina's hair between her fingers. "Any suggestions?"

Santana likely chuckles to herself as she throws the file in her hand onto the ground and places both hands firmly on the blonde's waist. "I might have a few."

Not needing any further prompting, both women slowly lean their heads forward until the little space between them is removed. As their lips finally meet in a soft, sensual kiss, both women can't help but moan at the sensation. As the moment lingers on for a little while longer, Brittany can't help but sigh in contentment.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this," the blonde mumbles out in between kisses.

"If you're anything like me," Santana starts to reply as she lightly nibbles on Brittany's lower lip, "then I would probably guess... all day?"

As Brittany's eyes become hungrier with desire, she blindly sweeps away the remaining case files that laid forgotten on top of the bed, trying her best to limit the separation between them. Taking the hint, Santana sits down on the bed and scoots back towards the center of the mattress. Brittany cutely chases after her, lying her body flush against the profiler's. Not wanting to waste another second, Brittany re-attaches her lips to Santana's and swiftly slips her tongue inside the warm, awaiting cavity. The brunette groans in response as she reciprocates the contact. She then places her hands on Brittany's lower back underneath her blouse, lightly scratching the blonde's milky flesh.

"Mmmm..." Brittany purrs out.

Using her left arm, Brittany stabilizes her body above the Latina's while she takes her right hand and glides it across the other woman's taut stomach. Delicately tracing her finger tips along the smooth, caramel skin, Brittany moves her hand further up in hopes of reaching her final destination. However, before she's able to touch the soft flesh only mere centimeters away, Santana skillfully rolls them over so that their positions are swapped.

Feeling even more turned on by her counterpart's aggressive movement, Brittany again slides her hand up towards Santana's chest, only to be hindered once again.

"Playing hard to get?" The blonde inquires between kisses.

Santana chuckles at the suggestion. "Hardly."

"Then why won't you let me touch you... here?" Brittany ponders as she once again tries to move her hand further up the Latina's body.

This time, Santana intercepts with her own hand and tangles their fingers together to halt the blonde's movements.

"Because..." The brunette exaggerates in a playful tone, "we agreed last night that while we were away on cases, we would remain somewhat professional."

"What does that even mean?"

"Sadly, it means... no sex," Santana clarifies.

Brittany looks up at the Latina with squinted eyes, seemingly thinking very hard about the conversation they had last night.

"I'm pretty sure I never agreed to that," Brittany replies with the most serious expression.

"Well, you did," Santana reluctantly confirms. "So... that's why I can't let you touch me here," she explains while flickering her eyes down towards her chest, "because, if you touch me there... I'm gonna want to touch you everywhere."

Brittany audibly gulps as she takes in the sultry tone of the Latina's voice and the lust currently clouding her better judgment.

Slowly, Brittany lifts up her head and guides her tongue along the base of Santana's throat towards the area behind her ear.

"Rules are meant to be broken," the blonde whispers seductively as she begins to lightly suck on Santana's neck. "Besides, we're supposed to be celebrating my promotion."

"God Britt..." Santana mumbles out as the delightful tremors flow through her body. She closes her eyes to further enhance the touch of Brittany's lips against her skin. "That feels so good."

As Santana's resolve begins to crumble right before her, Brittany finds this as the perfect opportunity to take back her former control. Rolling on top of the brunette, Brittany continues to appreciate the delicate but firm skin before her. After gently scrapping her teeth across the Latina's collarbone, she proceeds down further, exposing Santana's midsection inch by inch.

Lifting her t-shirt up a little more, Santana's bare chest is fully presented, making the blonde's mouth water at the sight. Brittany ghosts her lips just above the erect nipple, ready to devour it with her mouth.

Brittany knew exactly what the feeling of her hot breath against one of the brunette's most sensitive areas was doing to Santana. She recognized all the signs that the other woman was currently displaying: eyes tightly shut, labored breathing, and the slight arch of her back. She knew that the anticipation was practically unbearable - for both women - and she so desperately wanted to alleviate the situation.

And that's when it hits her.

The reason why she was still in her work clothes.

The reason why she had initially knocked on her best friend's hotel room door at a quarter past midnight.

The reason why she reluctantly stopped the pleasure she was currently giving Santana - and very much wanted to continue giving.

Although the hesitation was only brief, it was enough for the Latina to notice. As Santana opens her eyes, she observes Brittany staring blankly at her exposed chest. Gingerly, she brushes her hand against the blonde's cheek, snapping her out of the trance-like state she was in. Using her other hand, she slowly pulls her shirt down to gather Brittany's full attention.

"What's on your mind, B?"

Brittany leans her head into the brunette's touch and releases the breath she didn't know she was holding. Carefully, she removes Santana's cute glasses and places them safely out of reach. Brittany then focuses her attention back on the breathtaking woman lying beneath her. All the while, Santana watches her movements with precision.

"Do you know how amazingly beautiful you are?" Brittany says genuinely.

"I could say the same about you," Santana quickly responds, just as sincerely. "Now, stop trying to distract me with compliments," she says knowingly. "What's bothering you?"

The corners of Brittany's mouth turn upwards in a coy smile as she huffs out, as if to say 'fine, you got me'.

"So... I know that we said that we were just gonna see where our relationship goes, but I was talking to Quinn this morning and—"

"Am I gonna have to kick Q's ass when we get back home?" Santana politely interrupts.

Brittany smiles at the Latina's outburst, knowing how the other woman had a tendency to usually think the worst first.

"No, sweetie..." she replies quickly, easing Santana's mind. "But, she did make me think about a few things," she further states as she rises to a seated position.

"Such as?" Santana inquires as she sits up as well, not missing the cute term of endearment that the blonde had just used.

Needing to feel some type of connection with her best friend, Santana links their hands together. Lightly, she squeezes Brittany's hand, letting her know without words that she had her full attention and support.

"Well... like for instance, if I'm out and some random person hits on me and asks what my situation is, what do I tell them?" Brittany implores. "Do I tell them I'm single? Or that I'm seeing someone? Or that I'm romantically involved with someone, but not really sure if we're exclusive?" She continues to ramble on as the Latina tries her best to keep her signature smirk under wraps. "Or God forbid my parents come into town and my mom starts hounding me about finding a 'nice boy' to settle down with, to the point where offing myself may be my only option—"

"Is this your way of telling me that I should be preparing to meet your parents?" Santana cutely questions.

"San... you've met my parents," the blonde replies in a monotone voice, raising her brow knowingly at the other woman.

"I've met your parents as your friend and ridiculously charming co-worker," Santana casually states as Brittany playfully rolls her eyes, "but not as..."

The brunette briefly pauses, trying to find the right words to describe their newfound relationship.

"Well... I guess I'm not exactly sure what we are; what this is," the brunette says more specifically as she gestures between their bodies.

"You're right," Brittany agrees. "So, what is this?"

"Britt... we can be anything that we want to be," the Latina softly says as she gently runs her hand through blonde tresses. "The most important thing is that we're on the same page and that we communicate. Don't worry about what other people might think because they need to place a label on our relationship."

Brittany opens her mouth to say something, but pauses. Once she gathers her thoughts, she makes a second attempt.

"I just don't want you to think that I'm being casual or cavalier about our relationship. I don't want you to shy away from saying or doing something because you're trying too hard to please me," Brittany finally explains. "Even though we had amazing, earth-shattering sex the other night... I don't want you to think that that's all there is to our relationship. We're in this together."

Hearing the vulnerability in her voice, Santana slightly tilts Brittany's chin up and leans her head forward. As their lips meet in a soft, chaste kiss, Santana smiles.

"I already know that there is so much more depth to our relationship, even though we're still at the very beginning of it," the Latina assures. "You don't have to prove anything to me, Britt."

"I know... and that's one of the things about you that I absolutely adore; your belief in me," Brittany shyly says as she leans in and steals a slow, languid kiss from the brunette. "If I wasn't so damn terrified back then about how a romantic relationship between us might affect our personal and work life, then... I would've asked you out the night you told me how you felt."

Taking in those words, Santana's heart melts a little.

"So... how do you feel now?"

"I feel like… I want you to be my girlfriend," the blonde earnestly answers, without missing a beat. "We're not in our twenties anymore so I don't need to go out on a few dates with you to figure out what I already know."

At this point, Santana couldn't help the overwhelming emotions coursing through her body from the direction their conversation was heading. Grinning back in response, the Latina challenges the former liaison's words. "And what's that?"

"That I want you all to myself."

Santana gently bites her lower lip as she stares back at the blonde whose words are full of conviction.

"I'm yours, Britt... I've always been yours," Santana honestly states. "I was just waiting for you to finally see me."

Upon hearing those words, Brittany tangles her hands in the brunette's hair, topping her once again.

"I see you... I definitely see you."

As they embark into another heated lip-lock for several minutes, Brittany finds herself in the same predicament she was not too long ago: being entirely too aroused by the woman underneath her.

"I think I need to go take a cold shower," Brittany gasps out when they finally break a part for air.

Santana grunts out her displeasure at blonde's words, especially after the two agents had just made their relationship official.

"I think I might need one too," the Latina reluctantly says back as she tries to regulate her breathing. However, being the crafty agent that she was, she attempted another approach to see if the blonde would bite. "Y'know, statistically speaking... when two parties enter into an agreement, there's a mandatory 48 hour time period before said rule goes into effect."

Brittany looks down at her brunette counterpart, bewildered and astonished by the load of crap that the Latina just spoke. "Is that right?" She questions unimpressed, not believing a word of the previous statement.

"I dunno... probably?" Santana replies with a bright smile, showing off her pearly whites.

Brittany smiles back as she leans down and gently places a kiss to Santana's lips.

"What was that for?"

"No reason... I just wanted to kiss my girlfriend."

Santana is momentarily at a loss for words. Ever since the very beginning of their friendship, never in her wildest dreams did the Latina ever expect the blonde to feel anything romantic towards her. Even after Santana finally admitted her feelings to Brittany merely 2 months ago, still... she couldn't quite believe the drastic change their relationship had taken within the past few days.

Needless to say, she wasn't complaining.

As Santana softly brushes back the blonde tendrils that were currently creating a curtain around them, she stares back lovingly at the woman above her.

"What?" Brittany asks after a few beats.

"Nothing, I just..." Santana pauses, looking for the exact words to describe how she was feeling at this particular moment. Although she had been deeply enamored with Brittany over the last few years, Santana knew that it was much too early into their relationship to reveal her deepest feelings for the blonde. So instead, she settled. "I'm just really happy that you're here."

Looking back into the mocha eyes staring at her, Brittany whispers 'me too' before closing the gap between them once more, reveling in this awesome new feeling.

"So... what now?" Brittany asks after the two agents briefly separate to catch their breaths.

"Well... even though we can't have sex right now," Santana begins to say as she gently nibbles along the exposed skin of Brittany's neck and chest area, "there are still plenty of other things we could do..."

As Santana continues her exploration of the blonde's body, Brittany gladly accepts the motion of being rolled onto her back as deft fingers slowly start to unbutton her blouse.

"Besides… I wouldn't want to have sex here anyways," Santana says offhandedly as she brushes her lips across the soft flesh of Brittany's lace-covered chest.

"Oh yeah?" Brittany manages to moan out in response. "Why's that?"

"Sure, I could get you off without physically being inside of you," the Latina retorts as her arousal starts to build up again. Although her previous statement made her sound incredibly cocky and arrogant, it wasn't untrue. However, her intention was not to boast or build up her own ego. "But… I much rather wait till we get back home where I can make love to you all night long; uninterrupted," she whispers.

As Brittany's eyes begin to roll back into her skull, she tries her best to acknowledge her girlfriend's words. "Yeah... we absolutely shouldn't have sex tonight then," she whimpers out, imagining all of the wonderful things she had to look forward to as soon as this case was over. "Until then… we should definitely get a head start on those other things you mentioned."

"Oh yeah... definitely," Santana replies as she kisses the blonde again, smiling as their lips connected.

Author's Note:

Wow! I can't begin to apologize for my long absence. I've had a good chunk of this chapter written out for a while now, but then I just got stuck and really didn't know how to tie some things together to make it flow the way I wanted and to set up for the next chapter. On top of that, I've been going through some huge changes in my personal life which has sadly kept me away from all of you guys that are just amazing and continue to support and follow me. You guys are truly the reason why I still keep writing. I really do appreciate all of the comments, feedback, and PMs I get from you all. Although the updates to this story (and the other 3 active ones) won't be as quick as I would like them to be, I hope that you guys can bear with me and just know that I haven't forgotten about you and I haven't abandoned these stories. Thanks again for sticking with me.

-Kris

Also, I'd like to give a special shout-out to kp83 for giving me a little inspiration. She's an awesome writer and fellow Brittana fan, so you guys should definitely check out her stories (if you haven't already).