A/N – It's time for Santana to come face-to-face with the cheerios…some Santana/Quinn friendship here and then a whole bunch of PezBerry in the next few chapters! Enjoy

Zonex – I'm glad your enjoy the story, it's a lot of fun to write Santana's character as vulnerable instead of the normal HBIC so I'm happy I've pulled you in : D

Chapter Twenty

It turned out that those stolen twenty minutes alone with Rachel in the choir room had been undoubtedly been the highlight of Santana's day, of course even on a great day they would probably still be the highlight but today had defiantly not been a great day. In fact Santana would go as far as to say today had been pretty much the worst day of her life. If the cheerio had thought spending the day hiding when the blogs first came out was bad then having to spend the day suffering through the looks and whispers was hell.

At first it hadn't been so bad, most of the student body were still petrified of the cheerleader regardless of rumours, after all Santana hadn't been lying to Jew-Fro earlier, she didn't need social power to be damn right intimidating. But it was the jocks and cheerios who were causing the most trouble. Santana had managed to stay clear of most of them for the first part of the day but Coach Sylvester had arranged for an extra cheerio's practice during lunch so it looked as though the Latina was going to have to face her fears sooner rather than later.

'Hey San' Quinn shouted as she walked down the hallways towards her friends locker 'You ready for practice?'

'That's a loaded question' the brunette responded as she dragged her things from her locker. Santana had seriously debated feigning injury and spending her lunch period in the nurse's office but she decided that she had spent enough time hiding away. She was sick of letting people get to her, so she was going to put on her head bitch façade and face down the squad. Coach Sylvester was an entirely different issue, one which Santana was hoping she could ignore until it magically went away.

'It'll be okay' Quinn offered as the two fell into step as they headed for the cheerio's locker room

'Right' the Latina said sarcastically 'You know I can't decide who I'm more excited to face, Coach or the mass of cheerio's out for my blood'

Quinn's response was cut off as Brittany bounced up alongside them 'Hey guys'

The two cheerleaders smiled and after a few pleasantries they found themselves outside the locker room. Santana hesitated as she watched a few girls pass her, they made no sign that anything was wrong and the brunette relaxed a little as the three made their way inside.

The locker room was as it always was, loud and full of energy and Santana wondered for a moment if Quinn had somehow managed to pull rank and get the rest of the cheerios to fall in-line. After all most of the other cheerleaders looked up to Quinn, Santana and Brittany they were the best girls on the squad and it wouldn't take much to pressure the others into silence.

The three friends got ready quickly, changing their shoes and throwing their belongings into their lockers. When the two blondes were ready they both looked up expectantly, Santana was slower today her hesitancy and nerves getting the better of her that and she was constantly looking over her shoulder in anticipation of a sneak attack from one Sue Sylvester.

'You want us to wait?' Quinn asked casually, even as her eyes flickered around the room trying to detect any potential threat.

Santana shrugged, she didn't want to seem weak but on the other hand she also didn't want to risk causing a scene. Battling with her thoughts the Latina sighed 'Nah, you go on ahead I'll be fine'

'You sure?' Quinn pushed,

'Positive. Go' Forcing a smile the brunette watched her friends reluctantly head out to the field, Santana wanted to call out to them but her pride made her stop. She didn't need protection, she was Santana Lopez and she could handle any trouble. That was her mantra at least, though her racing heart said otherwise.

Quickly tying her shoe Santana took a calming breath. She might be worried about the rest of the team but it was Coach Sylvester who was weighting more heavily on her mind and she was so distracted by thoughts of the older woman she didn't notice the girls approaching her.

'Lopez!'

Santana twisted around and found herself face-to-face with three members of the squad, she vaguely remembered their names and was pretty sure they had some classes together but they had never really spoken before.

'Is it true?' Casey sneered as the girls surrounded Santana.

'Is what true? The Latina replied breezily in an attempt to sound nonchalant.

A second girl drew Santana's attention as she stepped forward menacingly 'You know what we're talking about, the blogs might have mysteriously disappeared but the whole school saw them. So is it true, you're gay?'

Santana gritted her teeth and standing her ground she snapped back 'Look, I don't know who you think you are or what you think you know but right now, I'm not gonna waste my time on some wannabe bitches so move. Now'

Santana wished she felt as confident as she sounded, but on the inside she knew she could be pushing her luck, after all she was outnumbered.

'You don't deny it then, huh?'

Glaring Santana rolled her eyes in disgust hoping the three girls would simply drop the subject. She didn't want to deny the rumours, after having to force Jacob to delete his blogs the cheerio already felt as though she was pretending to be someone she wasn't, but right now all Santana could think to do was stay quiet and try and out bitch the girls.

Santana was so caught up in her conflicting thoughts that she didn't see the shove coming, stumbling back the brunette felt her back connect swiftly with the metal locker behind her sending a wave of shock rushing through her body.

'What the hell-'

'Shut up' Shannon shouted as the trio advanced 'Ever since that stupid blog came out we've been getting nothing but shit, you know what the other squads are calling us? The Queerios. And that's your fault!'

'It's not my fault they're ignorant douchebags' Santana shouted, standing tall as she squared up against the group.

'You turned us into a joke!' another girl continued, ignoring Santana 'But it's better than trying to turn us into one of you I guess'

'Fu-' Santana tried to argue back but her voice was quickly drowned out by the others.

'It's disgusting that you're even allowed in here, do you get off on watching us all change? I can't believe Coach hasn't kicked you off the squad yet…'

'You think any of us what you around? Coping a feel every time there's a lift in the routine?'

Santana's head was swarming with the insults as her eyes flicked from one girl to the next, each spewing more pathetic insults and gesturing angrily. Taking a step back the brunette found she had no more room and realised the three blondes had managed to back her into a corner. She didn't even see the first fist come flying at her but she did feel the pain shooting through her mouth as her lip split open.

There was a flurry of movement as Santana tried to remain upright, she didn't stand much of a chance though as the group came at her at once, overwhelmed by the mass of fists and feet flying at her Santana managed to get a few shots of her own in before she succumbed to the pain and was forced to the floor. The Latina winced, crying out when a particularly hard kick caught her solidly in the chest knocking the wind from her. It felt like an eternity, though in reality was a matter of minutes, before the sound of a girl's voice make them stop.

Gathering what remained of her strength Santana lifted her head hoping to see who had stormed into the locker room but she could only make out a small blur. Blinking sharply she finally managed to focus on the figure, her stomach dropped as she watched the girl stalk through the group coming to a stop and putting herself between Santana and the group.

'I seriously suggest you get the hell out of here right now'

Struggling to her feet Santana stood next to Quinn momentarily forgetting about the pain as her fear for her friend out weighted her own. She saw it coming this time but was to slow to stop it as Casey slapped Quinn hard, the sound snapped Santana out of her haze and leaping forward she stopped the second strike. Unfortunately the wounded cheerio could do little else and with a hard shove she found herself reeling back, it was chaos after that with Quinn desperately trying to protect Santana. The room span as the brunette heard move voices coming from outside.

The fighting stopped quickly but a face next to hers make Santana wince 'You tell anyone about this I swear to god we will come back and beat you down again, both of you'

Staring defiantly Santana remained silent as the trio quickly fled the room, the door slamming shut as people piled in from the other side of the room a fraction of a second too late.

'What the hell happened in here?'

Santana winced as Coach Sylvester's voice boomed through the locker room, echoing off the tiles and reverberating in her head. She tried to stand but found new aches and pains shot through her as she moved and soon found herself slumped back on the floor, all too aware of the blood now splattered across the floor.

'Oh my god' Quinn whispered rushing to the fallen girls side. The blonde reached out grasping one of Santana's less battered hands with her own 'Are…are you okay? Is anything broken?'

The brunette shook her head slowly regretting the action instantly when her head began to pound 'No…I…Can you help me up?'

Quinn opened her mouth to protest but seeing the determined glare sent her way she swallowed her words and wrapped an arm around the Latina's waist. Brittany appeared on Santana's other side, her eyes wide with fear, and working together they hoisted the brunette to her feet. Santana chose to ignore the curious eyes of the rest of the squad as they observed the scene; she didn't know how many of them had been aware of what was going on. For all she knew the whole squad had planned the attack.

Coach Sylvester approached the three cautiously, Santana wanted to appear strong and locking eyes with the older woman she held that mask in place for as long as she could. It wasn't very convincing she knew, after all she was relatively sure there was blood running down her face in more than one place and if either of her friends let go she would be sent tumbling back to the floor. But still, she needed she claw back some kind of dignity, especially in front of Sue.

'Take her to the nurse' Coach Sylvester ordered, spinning on her heal to glare at the rest of the squad 'And what are you all gawping out, back on that field now before you all find yourselves running suicides for the rest of the year'

With that she stormed from the locker room, terrified cheerios hurrying after her as they shot each other questioning glances.

Santana shook as her senses roared back to life, 'Jesus, Quinn I-'

'You can thank me later' Quinn interrupted with a sympathetic smile 'For now, let's just focus on getting you to the nurse'