CH 26

PROTECTIVE BROTHER OR MORE?

"Uh- excuse me? Do I know you?" Max asked confused as Marylin walked up to her and Santana. She took both of Max's hands in hers. Santana raised an eyebrow. Max shifted uncomfortably, waiting for her answer, while Marylin stared hard at her face.

She opened her mouth to repeat the question when Marylin cut her off, "I hope to be seeing you soon again." With that she released Max and started down the sidewalk.

"What the hell?" Max whispered to herself. She wasn't about to let a random lady who knew her full name go but she was in desperate need of caffeine. She turned to Santana, "Let's go. If I don't get my coffee and I axe murder someone I blame you."

He grinned at her and helped her onto the bike, not minding in the least the feel of her body pressed against his.

"What happened after you went for coffee, James?"

Santana moved his gaze from his folded hands in his lap to Alexander Freemen's face then to Max's.

Her eyes were also cast down and her long hair was draped over part of her face.

Santana fixed his eyes back on Alexander.

"We got back to the Station. Megan and Scott had news for us."

"Guys! Took you long enough. Come here." Scott called to them from the front of the Station. They quickly walked over to the same small desk cluttered by boxes.

"We've been looking over the dads' and who were their serving officers, who they fought with, their army buddies, Veterans they even met after the war. But came up empty." Megan said still pilfering through files and papers.

"The only people they had in common with were male." Scott added.

"Okay well maybe the killer isn't female then?" Max suggested.

Santana shook his head. Her shoulders sank a bit.

"Hey did you get my coffee?" Scott asked. Santana rolled his eyes and handed it to him.

"You guys really should have a break room with coffee and crap." Max mumbled.

"We do." They all said in sync.

She stepped back a little. "Then why don't you use it?"

"Coffee taste like crap." Megan answered.

"Donuts are stale." Santana added.

"Vending Machine is broken." Scott sighed.

"Oh..."

"Okay maybe we're looking at this from the wrong angle." Santana said leaning over the desk where Megan was sitting and ruffling papers.

"I want to go back to the crime scenes." Max declared. They stared at her.

"You know the bodies are long since gone...right?" Santana was the first to recover.

"Yeah but the evidence isn't. I want to see where they were dumped. I want to be in the killers head. What she was thinking. To do that I need to be able to look at the crime scenes."

"Alright." Santana agreed.

"The first girl killed- Melony Sanders- here's her address." Megan handed him the addresses and they were out the door once again.

"Why do the Field Agents get all the fun?" Scott muttered.

Megan grinned at him. "They just do the heavy lifting. We sit a find out the information that brings justice." She answered.

"I wanna be a Field Agent." He gave a fake pout.

She rolled her eyes. "Me too buddy."

They found the clearing in the forest where Melony's body was once laid. Santana looked mournfully down while Max masked her emotions. "Okay. The killer would never risk dumping the body in broad daylight." Max spoke to herself. "It would be a night where no one would dare go into the woods." She closed her eyes and pictured what her surroundings would look like at night.

"Trees block the moonlight. It would be pitch black. She'd need some source of light." Santana added. She nodded and kept her eyes closed. He studied her.

"I'd need light. If I was on foot, carrying the body, and a...flashlight? It would be difficult. Both hands are needed to carry a body-"

"How do you know that?" He conquered.

She popped her eyes open and glared lightly at him.

"A young girl can't way that much." He shrugged.

"Add the dead weight. Sure it might be doable for a guy."

He grinned at that.

"You said the B.A.U profiled her?"

He nodded.

"How old do they think she is?"

"Late twenties to early forties." He answered.

"Okay. So a woman in her early forties carrying a dead little girl in her arms plus some source of light. She can't be that strong."

"She needs a partner." He realized what she was getting at.

She nodded slowly. They both looked back to the ground where the leaves were still cleared away. Some candles and roses were laid around it along with the young girl's photo.

Usually they leave that around the place where the person died no where their bodies were found... Santana wondered aimlessly then quickly to turned Max.

"What if this is where she died instead of was dumped?" He questioned.

She looked at him and shook her head. "No the parents said she was taken in the middle of the night." She corrected.

"What if they're lying? What if they were here at this park down the street when their daughter got kidnapped? What if-"

"No- Santana! You're getting way off track." She had to raise her voice over his, which was not easy. He clamped his jaw down. "They were taken from their homes in the dead of the night while the parents in the next room had no idea of what was going on." She said in a quieter tone.

"I'm just trying to look at every angle." He responded coolly.

"I know. But I think you're looking at too many angles. We need to stick with the strong facts we have and move on. Okay?" She asked gently.

He nodded.

"Okay. Let's hit the next address and see if we can figure out anything new." She said and started to make her out of the clearing.

He crouched down next to the burnt out candles and roses.

"What happened to you?"

"Mr. Spencer what happened to you while Max was away in Orleans trying to solve this case?"

Allen Ross, the man who was sent to investigate Maximum Ride and the death of Marylin White. Fang sat straight in the Witness Stand.

"I don't see how this has any relevance to the case." He said.

"Answer the question Mr. Spencer." Ross demanded.

Fang turned and looked questioningly at the Judge.

"Answer it." He grunted.

Fang sighed, "I wasn't fairly happy but I muddled through it. Iggy and Ella were getting ready to be parents. Angel and I were bonding." He shrugged and glanced at Max.

She looked pained. Her eyes were red, not from crying but from lack of sleep. Her usual sleek hair was ruffled slightly. Anger rose in him. How could they do this to her? After all she's been through!

Ross made a sort of tsking sound and slowly approached the stand. "David, did you know about Miss Ride and Mr. Santana's affair?" He asked wistfully.

Fang's mouth dropped open. Chairs scrapped across the floor as both Max and Alexander stood.

"Objection!" Alexsander yelled. The Judge looked at him. "There was no relationship between Maximum and Mr. Santana." He said angrily but also with a hint of reassurance for Fang.

Ross laughed. "Oh no. I simply meant their friendship was growing fast, yes?" He smirked.

"Mr. Ross state your definition of affair next time." The Judge said coldly.

"I apologize." Ross said not bothering to show fake sincerity.

"Get to your point." The Judge ordered.

Ross tucked his tie in. "Of course. David do you think the pressure of finding her sister's killer and being away from her family caused Miss Ride's judgment to waver?" He questioned Fang once again.

"Absolutely not." He answered.

"You answered that fairly quickly..."

"Mr. Ross-" He tried not to sneer his name "-I know Max probably better than she knows herself. She would never let her feelings toward a case effect her judgment. She is the best agent I know. She knows how to find the answer she is looking for-"

Ross cut off Fang, making Max's smile toward Fang fall. "No matter whats at stake?" He interjected.

Fang was about to stand up and throw the chair at Ross' head. "No..." he growled.

Ross suddenly turned, the fun of tormenting Fang gone. "I call Mr. Santana to the stand." Both Santana and Fang stood, taking a seat each other once sat. "Why don't you continue with what happened after you left Melony Sander's dump site?"

Santana didn't hold back his full-on glare at Ross as he continued.

Max and Santana filtered through each address, finding the same thing as the one before, until they reached the last address. Max sucked in a breath and she stood stiff as a board, staring at the front door of her old home. Santana placed a hang on her shoulder. She turned to him.

"You know you don't have to do this, Max. It's not going to bring closure."

Determination flashed through her eyes at his words. "I know. Catching the... jackass who did this will."

He grinned at her choice of words. "Come on."

Instead of removing his hand he placed both of them on each of her shoulders and steered her into the house. She breathed out shakily as they reached the kitchen door. She glanced at Santana only to see him looking more nervous than her, gnawing at his bottom lip. She laughed at him and he rolled his eyes. Her smile was gone as soon as it came once she turned back to the door. She never went back into the kitchen after she found Ivy... heck, she never went back into the house. Santana opened his mouth in attempt to say something reassuring but she thankfully beat him to it by shoving open the door. She told herself not to be surprised at the sight she would see but she couldn't help stumbling back a little. It was just as she remembered. Blood everywhere. Smeared where she fell and where the paramedics came in and took Ivy's body away. Santana steadied her by the waist. She was so stuck in the memory she barely noticed the warm sensation on her skin where his hands were placed.

"T-t-the um..." She stuttered then cleared her voice and steadied herself. Santana dropped his hands. "The killer was more...violent... here. The other girls were strangled or poisoned..." She said quietly.

He nodded. "This isn't right... Somethings off here...It's a completely different scenery." He agreed.

"This can't be the same killer." She sighed. He nodded.

She found herself staring hard at all the blood. The clean up crew never even come by...just left it like this... Her knees gave out and she landed too fast on the floor for Santana to catch her. Her knees ached from where the collided with the tile.

"Max..."

Her lip trembled. "Why did this happen? She was just a little girl. It's not fair!" She re-framed from screaming.

"Max it's okay-"

"No it's not okay! It's not okay..."

Santana found himself picking Max up and practically dragging her out of the kitchen.

"No! Let me go! Ivy! Ivy!" She yelled, gripping the door frame. Sobs broke out.

He grabbed her by waist and under her legs, scooping her up bridal style. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and turned into it. He didn't even care that her nails were digging into his chest. All he cared about was getting her away from her fears and bad memories. And maybe that was a bad thing. Caring for her too much.

She was right, it wasn't fair. There were no tears shed. She'd cried so many for Ivy that there simply weren't any left. Santana carried her all the way back to the motorcycle, sitting down on it and still holding her in his lap.

No, there weren't any feelings of lust towards Max, he realized. More of a big brother protective feeling. He started the motorcycle with her still in his lap. Her hand dropped and she looked up at him with sad eyes. Apologetic eyes.

He smiled reassuringly at her and said, "Hold on."

She obeyed and grabbed onto his waist. He slipped on his helmet and didn't bother giving hers. Sure, it wasn't all that safe but he knew the fresh hair blowing past her face would be good for her. He knew she needed it. So he kicked up the kickstand and sped onto the road.

"What happened after you left?" Alexander asked gently. Santana looked from Max, who was avoiding his gaze, to Fang who was giving him a 'thanks-for-taking-care-of-my-girl-but-if-you-ever-do-it-again-I'll-kick-your-ass' look. He nodded understanding then turned back to Alexander.

"I dropped Max off at her hotel room and went home."

"No further questions." He said to the Judge who held his gavel in one hand.

"This court is adjourned and to meet back here at seven tomorrow morning." He declared and smacked his gavel down.

Everyone in the courtroom shuffled around as the Judge walked out. Fang rushed to Max as the standing by officer was standing her up.

"Max!" he said pulling her into a tight hug.

When he pulled away she did something that surprised him slightly. She pulled him down and kissed him. It was short but passionate. The officer tugged on her arm. She pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"Fang I'm sorry. Tell Angel-"

"-Alright come on Miss." The officer started to pull her away.

"Fang I lo-"

The officer had turned her around and was pushing her through the exit.

Author's Note:

Ta-da...? :D Ah, I know, it's been way too long. And I apologize for that^^

I know this chapter wasn't my best and the conflict between Max and Santana is confusing but trust me, it's that way for a reason ;)

I apologize in advance for the spelling or bad grammar that I've missed. It's five in the morning and I'm just a bit tired.

Soooo, what will happen to Max? What's going on between her and Santana? Brotherly love or more? :O And, what happened that made Max wind up in jail?

So many questions, only to be answered in the next chapter XD

HOLY CRUD! 105 REVIEWS! YOU! GUYS! ARE! FREAKING! AMAZING! Thank you so much^^

Thanks for reading, I hope you review and tell me about how annoyed you are/aren't with Max and Santana (:

~Jammy/Jenny~