"I don't understand how I ever liked dick." Quinn mumbles reading a Cosmo magazine she stole from Dom's check up at the doctor's the other day.
"Me either." Santana says disgusted.
Their banter is cut short when the roar of an engine is heard outside the apartment and both girls look at one another with a grin before jetting off outside.
They see Brittany in all her army glory with new patches including the ever-present combat patch she dons now and tackle her as soon as she gets off the bike.
Santana kisses her cheeks and face in general and Quinn just hugs her body for dear life.
Brittany smiles at the affection from her friends. She missed just the simple warmth of a hug or a smile.
"Whoa guys it's only been 3 months."
"We just missed you." Quinn mumbles into Brittany's fatigues.
Santana continues pecking kisses on her girlfriend's neck, glad to have her home. "What she said."
The three eventually get up and Brittany pulls a blunt from her army boot and hands it to Q.
"My Dad gave it to me. He says Santana opened his eyes to blunts." Brittany says chuckling at the image of her girlfriend showing her father how to roll.
The girls enter the house and smoke on the couch with Brittany in the middle. The tallest blonde clonks her boots onto the coffee table and Santana notices the dust of embedded sand float off of them and a drop of blood that must've not washed out.
She winces and excuses herself to the bathroom.
Quinn and Brittany pass the blunt for a while in silence before Quinn speaks up. "Are you ok?"
"Yea, I'm high as shit." Brittany says exhaling.
Quinn gives her a stern look. "No B, I mean are you ok?"
Brittany puts her head down and looks into the red ember of the blunt and shakes her head as a single tear rolls down her cheek.
She puts the blunt out and wipes her face. "I'm gonna go see if San has clothes I can change into."
Quinn nods with a tight smile and Brittany takes the stairs two at a time before coming behind Santana where she stands at the bathroom sink and wrapping her long arms around the Latina's small waist.
Santana smiles at her glad to have her home and Britt inhales the scent she loves so much.
"I missed you so much baby." Brittany whispers before kissing Santana's ear.
"Mm. I missed you too. I can't wait to get you out of that uniform."
Brittany yanks Santana into the Latina's bedroom and puts a finger over San's lips.
"I wanna shower and change first." Brittany states before slapping Santana on the ass. "Go smoke the rest of the blunt with Q if she hasn't relit it already."
For some reason Santana's bewildered enough by this commanding side of Brittany that she listens.
Santana plops to the couch with a huff and Quinn passes her the blunt she relit as soon as Britt left.
"Does something seem off about her to you?" San questions.
"Nope." Quinn lies.
She doesn't want to worry the other girl. Quinn got the detailed versions of the letters from the tall blonde and wonders how her friend is going to fair time and time again in the desert.
Brittany comes down the stairs in a pair of Santana's sweats and the tan t-shirt with the iron burn on it. She pushes both of them to the side on the couch and plucks the blunt from Q right before the girl was about to hit it and sits down in the middle with a smirk.
The two girls immediately snuggle into Brittany's sides and the blonde kisses both of their heads as they continue to smoke.
"Nice job on the bike Q."
Quinn shrugs. "I needed something to do."
Brittany nods and smiles at how cute Quinn looks tucked into her side. "San what did you do while I was gone?"
"Worry."
Brittany lowers her head at San's answer and imagines what could have been if one of those three dead soldiers were her.
Quinn thinks of the same thing but the only one on the couch oblivious to the three deaths in Brittany's battalion is Santana.
Dom comes in holding Jake's hand and jumps on Brittany.
She freezes at first and her eyes glaze over but she wraps her arms around Dom and squeezes tight.
Santana notices this and again excuses herself upstairs. She whips open her bedroom door and collapses on her bed. Before the first sob rings out she buries her face into a pillow and soaks the surface with her tears. Britt's fine right?
xxxx
Brittany sits on a tree stump recounting all the things she saw to Quinn as she cries into the smaller blonde's shoulder.
"I didn't want to hurt them Q, I didn't."
"I know Britt. I know. But what if you didn't? You would've been the one in the body bag."
Brittany nods and wipes her tears away and closes up yet again.
"I just… You know when people say that wish they could take pictures with their eyes? Well mine did and I can't delete the memory card."
Quinn pats her on the shoulder. "You will one day. Your dad did." She stands. "Now let's build this so I can go fuck my girlfriend."
Brittany snorts. "You mean so she can fuck you. You're a total bottom, just like San."
Quinn shoves her. "Fuck you I know you like to be bent over from time to time too."
"Who doesn't?"
Both of them look up into the sky and Quinn smiles. "This is gonna be awesome."
Britt puts her arm around Q's shoulder. "You know what Q? You're like my life partner."
"Isn't that San's job?"
"No she's like my awesome, sexy, strong, girlfriend and I love her but you're my life partner. My partner in life or like my amiga or some shit."
Quinn shrugs. "Life partner. I'll take it."
"Good now get off your ass and help me finish this."
"Fuck you. Hand me a hammer."
xxxx
Quinn and Santana both lose their fights and no one wants to go near them including Shay and Britt.
"A fucking choke hold really?" Santana grumbles to herself.
She had to tap out before she passed out when her opponent got her in a chokehold in the last minute of the last round.
"Yea, well at least you didn't get knocked the fuck out." Quinn seethes as she paces the locker room and Britt and Shay look on at the two not daring to say a word.
Quinn got knocked out in the second round when she had the girl on the ground against the cage and the bitch threw a rogue upkick to Quinn's jaw and knocked her out cold.
"Fuck!" They both yell at the same time and silently agree to go sit in an ice bath and cool off in more ways than one.
The two fighters sit in silence as they soak in the freezing water and think about what they could have done differently.
To their surprise Sue comes in and pays no mind to the amount of flesh being shown by her fighters.
"What the fuck you two?" She looks at Quinn. "Did you not get your fix of fairy dust Tinker Bitch?"
Quinn goes to talk but Santana's eyes widen at her and she shakes her head.
"Good to know you didn't lose anymore brain cells while you were being suffocated Selena."
"What the fuck?" Quinn whispers.
"Anyway, losers, if you don't win the next three fights neither of you will be eligible for the championship so I suggest you beef up on churros or small creatures, when Quinn's considered, and get your shit together."
Both girls are left dumbfounded as Sue turns and walks away.
Brittany and Shay snicker at the look on the two fighter's faces and are thrown a sharp look from the both of them.
"Wait so if we both make it to the…" Santana ponders.
"We have to fight each other." Quinn fills in and the wave of realization crashes over both of them at once.
Only one of them can win.
xxxx
After going on a long ride on the Harley, Brittany stops to get Santana a pack of cigarettes at the local convenience store.
Brittany of course gives all the change in her pocket to the bum outside and Santana smiles and shakes her head at the same time.
After ordering their things at the counter from Finn, the tall zombie like kid from high school, the two go to leave but Finn recognizes Brittany.
"Hey didn't you just get back from deployment?"
Brittany nods.
"Did you kill anyone?"
Brittany grits her teeth and looks off to the side and in an instant Santana is on Finn like water to a hot pan.
"Did they harvest your blubber to supply the U.S. with oil yet? You piece of shit."
Finn puts his hands up in defense and backs away. Santana grabs all the shit they were buying and turns back to him as she leaves. "This is on you right?"
Finn gulps and nods before Santana grabs Britt's hand and leads her back to the motorcycle.
"Can you drive?" Brittany chokes out.
Santana nods and gets on the bike and Britt gets on behind her and cries into the brunettes back the whole way home while gripping her tight to settle the anguish in her soul.
When they get back to the apartment Britt sits silently and drinks bad whisky out of a plastic cup on the couch.
Santana and Quinn stare from the kitchen, they've never seen the blonde like this.
"Is this what watching us was like?" San asks.
"I guess so."
Quinn walks over to Brittany and sits next to her after subtly moving the cup to the side.
Brittany not so subtly chuckles at her effort and chugs from the bottle instead.
"Let's go do something." Quinn offers.
Brittany doesn't respond.
Santana shakes her head and yanks the blonde off the couch before pulling her into her bedroom.
Santana slaps her own chest and holds her arms out. "Go ahead. Take it out on me."
Britt grinds her teeth and turns Santana around pressing the smaller girls front to the door of the bedroom.
She reaches down the back of Santana's loose shorts and shoves her fingers into her hard.
Santana yelps from the sudden intrusion and it actually hurts a little. But pain isn't a foreign concept to her.
Brittany fucks her until her pussy responds and actually starts to like it. Once Santana comes Brittany collapses to the floor in sobs.
Santana sits on the ground and places her head into her lap and runs her fingers through blonde hair.
"You're not allowed to change. That's against the rules." Santana whispers, her voice cracking with emotion.
"I'm sorry. I just…"
"Shh. Not now. Just let me hold you."
And she does. She holds her on the floor way past sunset and into the morning just as the frost on the grass gives way to the sunlight of the day.
xxxx
"Wake up bitches." Quinn bellows as she bursts through the door to Santana's room the next morning.
"Come on you lazy fucks we're going running."
Brittany smiles at that and kisses Santana before jumping up to get cleaned up and changed.
Quinn knows this clears her head it does the same for her and Santana so it might help a bit now.
It does help. Brittany feels free while she's running. Especially with her two favorite people.
They run for miles in silence with smiles on their faces, each in their own head.
As they stop for water Britt shakes her head at herself. "I love you guys. I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for babe." Santana answers rubbing her back.
"She's right." Quinn agrees.
Santana sits down and a smile overcomes her face. "I want to start my own training company."
"Where and how?" Quinn questions.
"At Mo's. And with both of your help."
Brittany smiles. "What are you gonna call it?"
"I got a few ideas."