Title: Just A Girl (9/11?)
Author: Race122VE (Coll)
Pairing: Santana/Brittany
Rating: R (mostly language, then violence and some semi sexiness as the fic goes on)
Summary: "But…you're just a girl." Glee AU fic.
Word Count: A little over 4k.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Author's Note: WOW! I am so, so, so sorry for not updating this. Life and lack of inspiration got in the way, but now my goal is to have this finished by the weekend. This and the now Chapter 10 were supposed to be one big part, but since LJ hates me I would have had to split it anyway so I another chapter. Also, the end is just about written so once I get 10 done it should be fairly easy to finish. Thanks for your patience and for sticking with me and your comments. Also, the last few parts will be unbeta'd.

Chapter 9

Aside from the obvious pain left over from taking a boot to the face, Santana can feel her lungs filling up with liquid as she slowly tries to blink into consciousness. Instinctually, she jerks upwards eyes now wide thanks to the breath she tried to inhale but couldn't. Her coughs echo off the walls of the room she's in as she tilts her head to the side and spits up the excess liquid.

Blood.

Lots of it and her hand reaches up to gently run across her upper lip, right under her nose. When she pulls back its bright red and fresh and the smell makes her stomach turn over as she tries to even out her breathing and calm down.

How the fuck is she supposed to calm down though?

She figured Matt would knock her out and take her somewhere, but she didn't think she'd wake up in…what looks like an oversized storage closet or something, wounds on her face healing incorrectly and blood still oozing out of her fairly fresh injuries.

Enough so to nearly drown in it, anyway.

No, what she expected (and hoped for in a sick way) was to wake up and get all of her answers before ensuring Brittany and Rachel's safety and then dying.

Probably.

Now she has to wait more. Or try to figure a way out of this, like…was this group of vampires a special kind of stupid? Giving her time to think, leaving her in a room like a closet where she can find everyday things and improvise a weapon…none of it made any sense and it was giving her a different kind of headache than the one already throbbing between her temples and all she really wants is to just see Brittany.

Right now, all Santana has is Matt's word that she's fine. That's not even close to being good enough. For all she knows, Brittany could be dead right now and…

Santana lets the thought trail off as her eyes well up and her bottom lip starts to tremble. She takes in a shaky breath and shakes her head clear of those thoughts and lets the Slayer take over. It's her only chance of surviving, to completely give into primal instinct.

She slides her feet under her body and carefully pushes herself upright, rolling her head around on her neck and groaning at the satisfying series of cracks that follow the motions. She stretches her arms above her head as she lets her eyes adjust to the darkness before scanning the room.

It's a storage closet alright.

A few shelves of unmarked boxes, some cleaning supplies, a hell of a lot of dust, and a pair of legs in the back.

The body that the legs are attached to is obscured by one of the shelves so she's not sure exactly who it is, just who she wants it to be. They're not nearly as long as Brittany's and a little darker then the blonde's fair skin, but Santana's heart leaps forward in her chest and her body propels itself forward. She drops down to her knees, sliding on the floor a little until she is leaning over…

Rachel. Rachel fucking Berry.

"Damn," she breathes out, but while frustrated and slightly disheartened at not being met with the sight she had hoped for, she's relieved none the less.

Despite her extreme dislike for Rachel, it's good to see her alive and breathing. It's also a small reassurance that Brittany is in this same state, somewhere.

Santana shakes her head again, trying to get herself to focus, and she reaches out a hand and taps at Rachel's cheeks. "Rachel," she says, not too loudly cause she's still not sure what's on the other side of that door. "Berry…get up."

Nothing.

It's no secret that she's wanted to smack Rachel across the face on more than one occasion, but when she does it this time she takes no pleasure in it. Santana needs Rachel awake, she needs to talk to her and get as much information as possible.

She doesn't even have time to chuckle at the irony cause she never thought she'd see the day where she wants Rachel Berry to talk.

Her palm leaves behind a mark and a smacking sound that cause Santana to wince for the girl. There is a twitch in her eyes and Santana waits a moment, breath hitched in her throat and her mind willing Rachel to wake up. Another moment ticks by and she repeats the action, harder this time and saying, a little louder than before, "Damn it Rachel, wake the fuck up."

A few more seconds go by, but Rachel is now squirming under her, head moving back and forth and low noises are being muttered from her mouth. It's not happening fast enough though and Santana looks back to the door, cocks her ear in that direction and listens for anything beyond that. She focuses on all the instincts that she has and, thankfully, they tell her she's safe and she looks back down at Rachel who has brought her hand up to rub at her eyes.

"San…Santana?"

She's not really sure what to say, so she just smirks and nods her head, "Sup, Berry?"

Rachel moves her hand off her eyes and runs it over her forehead and through her hair, blinking up at Santana. "You've been kidnapped too?"

"Yeah," she replies, helping to pull Rachel into a sitting position as she folds her own legs underneath her. "I'm the one they wanted in the first place."

Rachel tilts her head to the side. "What? I don't…understand-"

"That's not important now," she says dismissively. "I know that there's a lot going on and I just smacked you hard across the face…twice, but I need you to tell me everything you remember."

After a beat, she adds, "Preferably as fast as possible."

She wants to argue with Santana, her mouth opens and she just knows that Rachel is going to try to be stubborn so she glares back at her and Rachel cowers at the look. "You want to know everything?"

Santana nods, "Go as far back as you can remember. Like…why were you in the auditorium? How did you get there?"

"I, um…" her brow furrows and her eyes look down as she tries to remember what had happened. "I had left behind some notes and sheet music. Songs that featured me as the lead for Regionals." They may be in a life or death situation right now, but Santana has to take a moment to roll her eyes. "I ran into Brittany when I entered through the front doors. She was…there was something off. Something was bothering her…"

Her eyes close against the thought, against the image of Brittany's body so close to her own, her mouth wafting just above hers, and then the look on the Brittany's face when Santana doesn't meet her the rest of the way.

It kills her to snap her fingers at Rachel, signaling her to move on with the details (the relevant ones, anyway) but she has no idea how much time she has and she should be trying to figure a way out but she feels like knowing what's going on, who's behind this, is just as important.

"I told her I had to pick up some things from the auditorium," Rachel goes on. "And she said she would come with me, that…that you said it was dangerous to be walking alone. Noah was leaving the locker room and Brittany convinced him to join us as well. It was a little weird how readily he was to just agree-"

"Berry."

"Sorry," Rachel mumbles before continuing. "We got into the auditorium…and…it happened so fast," Rachel's barely even speaking above a whisper at this point and Santana can practically see the girl reliving the events in her mind. "There were three of them. Two jumped Noah immediately, beating him to the ground and then one…bit him. Oh my gosh…Noah-"

"Puck's fine," Santana tells Rachel. "They got him to the hospital. He's fine."

Rachel looks back and there's relief in her face but Santana must not look convincing enough cause she can see Rachel's eyes filling with tears. There's no guarantee that Puck's fine, he could have very well bled out at the hospital or something. She thinks about all the blood left over on the stage, what got soaked up in her clothes and stuck to her body.

Then she thinks that Rachel had to watch it. Brittany too.

Santana's been fortunate enough never to have to witness something like that. She can't imagine what it would be like seeing that…

But she's losing focus. She can't dwell on Puck or how broken Rachel suddenly looks, she needs this information. "Come on," she urges Rachel, shaking her shoulder a little. "Keep going. What happened next? What do you remember?"

Rachel blinks and looks back at Santana. "That's it. That's all I remember," she says. "I screamed and they…they must have knocked us out. I feel fine though…"

As she says it, she starts to sway and fall forward. Santana holds on to her shoulder, steadying Rachel as Santana's free hand runs through her to check for bumps or injuries. She feels the bump on the back of Rachel's head and the way her hair feels stiff and crunchy from the dried blood. One glance to the small pool of red on the floor confirms that Rachel was hit from behind and then dumped here.

Wherever here is.

It's been a couple of hours or so since the attack, or at least it was before Matt kicked her in the face. Putting aside the possible fractures in her face, Santana would not have been out that long.

Where the fuck could they have taken her in that time?

And where the hell was Brittany?

Brittany who, more than likely not, had a similar injury to Rachel's. The thought twists in her chest and she feels the ache spread all over her body. Santana finds it hard to breath all of a sudden and everything shuts off at the thought.

"Santana?"

Her name being uttered by Rachel shakes her out of her horrified trance and she realizes she's cradling Rachel's head in her hand, very softly and carefully. It's like she was using Rachel as some sort of Brittany catalyst and she can't help the sneer that flashes across her face. She has to resist her initial reaction, to shove the smaller girl away, and, instead, rises to her feet and holds out a hand for Rachel.

Rachel eyes the hand, frustrating Santana. She shakes it impatiently. "Come on, Berry. I don't have all fucking night here."

"Did they get you at school too?" Rachel asks as Santana easily yanks her to her feet.

"What?"

"At school," Rachel repeats before explaining. "Brittany said you were around as well, they must have grabbed you along with us at school. Whoever they are."

Shit.

Now she has to explain that vampires are real and that she's the Slayer and blah blah blah…it's all shit she doesn't have time for. She needs to find a way out of this room. She needs to find Brittany. She needs to save Brittany.

Ignoring Rachel, Santana goes to move around the dark room, but Rachel latches on to her wrist and tugs.

Of course, Rachel weighs like, a hundred pounds or something so Santana just drags her along. "Santana! Answer me!"

"Shut it, Rachel," Santana hisses, rounding on the short brunette. "I don't have time for your questions. I'm awake, they're not here, and that means I have time to plan…something."

"I hope you're not seriously thinking about fighting back," Rachel gasps. "Santana, you didn't see what they did to Noah-"

"I saw, Rachel," she cuts in. "I fucking saw. I was covered in his blood-"

"Then you know how dangerous these people are-"

"They're not people!"

"Not people?" Rachel scoffs. "Well, what on earth could they be?"

"Vampires."

Santana almost forgot the kind of stages a person goes through as soon as they hear the word. It's a long process, it was for her anyway. She may have believed it when she left Coach's office that one day so long ago, it seems, but it took her a lot longer to really accept the idea. Quinn took a whole night, apparently. With the aid of alcohol, but Santana can't imagine that really helped any.

Rachel experiences all of them in about ten seconds.

First she tries, but fails, to hide her grin that turns into some kind of childlike giggle before the laughter dies down and she's wiping at her eyes. Then, finally, her brow knots together in thought and her eyes start shifting back and forth in realization that, yes, vampires are real.

Any other time, she'd be fascinated how someone could just believe her, believe the idea, the reality. Because Rachel does believe it. Santana can see the terror in her eyes where there was just worry and confusion. Maybe one day she will. Probably not, but who knows?

Santana takes advantage of Rachel's shocked state and yanks her arm free and walks over to the door, twisting the knob that she knows is locked but, hey, it was worth a shot.

"That doesn't change anything," Rachel says in a low voice. "Actually, it makes me feel more like I'm actually going to die but…you can't fight them back, Santana. You're just-"

"A girl!" Santana shouts back as she turns to face Rachel.

Santana sees her jump, but doesn't stop, doesn't remember that she's supposed to be quiet and planning a way to get through this cause she's so fucking sick of people saying that she's 'just a girl.'

"I am so sick of people telling me that like I don't know. I know. I fucking know that I'm just a girl," she goes on. "But I'm the one. I'm the only one that can stop them, that can save you. I was chosen because vampires exist and that means a vampire Slayer exists, and that's me. Everything falls on me. You were kidnapped because of me. Puck's almost dead because of me. We're probably not going to make it out of here alive because of me. Brittany's…"

Again, just saying Brittany's name throws Santana off. She trips over a few words before closing her mouth and taking in a deep breath through her nose. "I know you have questions…I know," Santana says, trying to come off sympathetic cause she gets that this isn't easy to accept in such a short amount of time. "But, please…for once in your life will you just shut up and listen to me and let me try to save your damn life?"

They stare at each other awkwardly for a little bit before Santana turns back to the door. She can still feel Rachel's eyes burning into her back as her palms flatten against the door and she brings her ear up to rest against the hard surface. She hasn't been able to hear anything or sense any approaching vampires, but she also hasn't been paying attention since Rachel woke up.

"So…you're strong, right?" Rachel asks hesitantly, and Santana has to stop herself from physically gagging Rachel and nods once instead. "Then…why don't you just break the door down."

"Because that would make noise," Santana replies slowly as she spins and leans back against the door so her eyes can scan the room. "And I don't have any weapons…and I've got your dwarf ass to worry about. So, I've got to improvise or something."

"Like using the vent?"

Santana's gaze immediately snaps back to Rachel. "What?"

Rachel points to her left. "The vent over there. You seem to make it a point of calling me a dwarf every opportunity you find and, ironically, you're not that much taller than me so I imagine we'd both fit in there fine."

Santana only hears the part about both of them being able to fit in the vent and she eyes it up carefully. She hates that its Rachel's idea, but her only other option is wait for someone to get them and try to surprise attack them. Problem with that is she still doesn't have a weapon. Knocking a vampire down is only effective if you have something wooden to plunge into their chest right after.

They both could fit through, but the part of her that is still socially required to hate Rachel Berry's existence isn't looking forward to staring at her ass for however long they're gonna be in the vent.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be another choice.

"Fine," she sighs.

Santana slides a box over so she can lift herself up and work on the vent. It's bolted shut, but she wasn't expecting this to be easy. "Go stand by the door," she tells Rachel as her fingers grip the edges. "Listen closely, let me know if you think you hear anything."

Rachel walks over to the door as Santana tests her strength against the metal vent. It's a little rusted and not the easiest, or quietest, thing she's had to pry open, but she manages to pull one corner off with a loud pop. She pauses, looking over at Rachel who's looking back at her with wide eyes, watching as Santana bends the metal back.

She points to the door and narrows her eyes at Rachel. "Listen."

It's a few more minutes before she's managed to rip the vent off its hinges. She steps down from the box and rests the vent against the wall and walks over to the door next to Rachel. She presses her ear against it and listens. "I have perfect hearing you know," Rachel whispers, rolling her eyes. "If I heard something, I would've told you considering we're in mortal danger."

"My hearing's better," Santana argues. "All my senses are heightened. So, again, shut up and let me listen."

Rachel opens her mouth to say something back, but Santana glares and it snaps shut in a huff. "OK," she says after a moment. "We're clear now, but that doesn't mean we move slow. You're going to go first, and you're going to move fast."

"Wait, why me?"

"Because if someone comes to get us, they're going to see the open vent and climb in after and then I'll have to deal with it," Santana tells her. "Remember the part where I told you to shut up and do what I fucking say?"

Rachel huffs and crosses her arms over her chest as she stomps over to the grate and reaches her hands up. Santana rolls her eyes and has a moment where she can laugh at Rachel's shortness cause she's really trying to grab the bottom of the vent without stepping on anything.

Without warning her, Santana squats down and lifts Rachel up by her feet. She yelps in surprise, but grabs the edges of the vent and climbs in. Once she crawls further in, Santana jumps up, grips the edges, and easily pulls herself into the vent.

However, Rachel hasn't gotten very far and Santana's head is more or less up Rachel's ass. "Did I mention that speed is important here?" Santana grumbles, reaching out and shoving Rachel forward. "We're kind of lucking out here and I may actually have a chance of saving you and Brittany without dying so…get to steppin."

"There's no need to shove, Santana," Rachel responds, annoyed. "This vent is dirty and snug and I can't see where I'm going and I'd appreciate it if you didn't abuse me while we're in here, physically or verbally."

"There is a reason: vampires," Santana reminds her. "You can shower later and if I can move fast through this thing, you should be able to run with your arms outstretched."

"What about the part where I can't see where I'm going-"

"Just keep crawling."

So she does.

They crawl for about ten minutes, taking the turns when they come upon them and Rachel's squeaking instead of verbalizing her displeasure and Santana's rolling her eyes and biting her tongue when, finally, Rachel announces, "There's an opening up ahead."

When Rachel reaches the vent she pushes forward and nothing happens.

Of course nothing happens, though. Rachel weighs, like one hundred pounds or something and has no upper body strength. Santana groans and crawls forward, pushing past Rachel and pressing their bodies closely together as she makes her way to the vent.

"Think you could help me out by crawling back?" she sneers as she comes face to face with Rachel. "I'm not attracted to midgets."

Rachel grumbles something under her breath that Santana doesn't catch as she shimmies backwards. It takes a few shoves before the vent tumbles loudly to the floor, the clang echoing through the dark, empty room. Santana jumps down carefully, scanning the area and listening for a moment before deciding it's safe to help Rachel down.

After Santana helps Rachel down, the shorter girl stays rooted where Santana placed her while she lets her eyes adjust to the new surroundings. Her mouth falls open and forms an 'O' as her brow scrunches up in confusion.

"This is a classroom."

Rachel steps forward, a curious expression on her face as well. "We're…in a school?"

"Apparently," Santana responds as she looks to her right and sees a row of windows.

She walks over and peers out and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees they're on ground level. Santana opens the window, shivering as the cool air blows in and hits her skin. She also frowns when the window stops half way. Stupid safety precautions or whatever. Stepping back, though, Santana eyes the window and decides she'd be able to fit through.

And, if Santana can fit through Rachel Berry should have no problem.

"Here's the plan," she starts, turning to face Rachel. "You're going to climb out the window and figure out where the fuck we are, and then you're going to get to a safe place and find a phone. When you find a phone, you call Mr. Schuester, got it? Don't call the police or your dads or who the fuck ever, you call Schue and you tell him where you are and what's happened-"

"I'm not even sure what's happening, Santana…"

"That Matt kidnapped me-"

"Matt?" Rachel screeches. "Matt Rutherford? Matt's dead…?"

"Not the point," Santana holds her hand up and takes a deep breath. "He'll know what I mean. Now let's go." She turns back to the window, expecting Rachel to walk over but sighs when Rachel doesn't approach. She calls for Rachel again in a tone that suggests she's being as serious as she can possibly be.

Rachel's response, "No. I'm sorry."

"Berry," she warns, spinning where she stands and then glaring at the other brunette.

Surprisingly, Rachel doesn't flinch at Santana's stare. In fact, her whole body stiffens in defiance and her fists clench at her side as her jaw sets and she glares back at Santana. "I want to help."

"Great," Santana replies. "Climb out the fucking window, find out where we are, get safe, and call Mr. Schue."

"I can't leave you alone-"

"You can, actually," Santana cuts her off. "Rachel, I know it may not seem like it…but I'd be a little pissed if you die, especially when I had the chance to save you. I don't have time to yell at you anymore or make you understand how fucking serious everything is cause, frankly, you're useless. These are vampires, what the fuck can you do, really?"

Santana walks forward, grabs Rachel's wrist and tugs her to the window. "Go."

Rachel opens her mouth to say something, but she just ends up closing it again. The look on her face tells Santana everything. That Rachel hates feeling helpless, is still confused about everything, and scared. Through it all, Rachel climbs through the window and falls down to the ground. Santana leans against the window, hands gripping the edges of the sill so tightly her knuckles go white, and nods at Rachel.

"Be careful."

The words are so low Santana's not sure if she actually said them or thought them until Rachel responds, "You be careful."

Then, Rachel disappears into the night and Santana is left alone.