*Chapter 4*: Pt. 3 - A Way In
Credit
Original Writer: YoungTruthLP (Tumblr: Shinodafan94)
Co-Author: Mechawolfx
Glee is owned by Fox
The Fast and the Furious Franchise is owned by Universal Studios
Full Story edit: Me
This story full rights belong to the credited people above, I just wanted to put a few edits (points of view, change some time stamps) to this story so I myself and maybe others could enjoy it a bit differently with a better understanding of what is happening. If you want the original story, please check out YoungTruthLP's version.
Like I said before and will continue saying THIS IS NOT MY STORY, JUST MY EDITED VERSION OF IT.
June 3rd, 2019
9:12 pm
Unknown location
Santana pulled up at the location of the first race that very same night somewhere in the industrial district. She was extremely lucky she had finished all of her part installations, or else she would have had to cancel, and this race was too important. As she parked and exited her car, she found Letty and Puck already arguing, their crews trying, but failing to stop them.
"She has the right to choose!"
"And what makes you think you have the right to more or less draft her into your crew already Ortiz?!"
"Shut up Puck! I'm not drafting her!"
"Like hell you are!"
"She has the right to choose what crew she becomes a part of, but now I hope she sees your true, ugly, ass and does choose me just to spite you!"
Santana watched as a white Jaguar XKR-S GT pull up just as Puck was about to lunge at Letty, Holly, stepping out of her car, stepped in between them.
"Hey, cut the crap you guys! For God sakes, let Santana choose for herself!" She growled, looking over at Santana when she mentioned her. "Now, are we both cool?"
Letty nodded and took a step back, Puck doing the same. "Good, now let's get this race under way. Blaine?"
The man in question joined Holly's side. "Yes, Santana tonight you're facing Rory." He said, looking up from his clipboard as Rory walked up to Santana.
The Latina knew the drill and pulled out her pink slip from her back pocket, handing it over to the race leader. She then led Quinn over to her car, who placed the camera on her dashboard.
"Rules are simple, there aren't any. The first race is a drag race and following that will be a completely different style of race. Me and Kurt will be at the finish line to see who wins, so good luck. Let's start this, tonight's prize will be 25k due to how important the stakes are."
Santana glanced over at Rory who was letting Quinn install a camera before turning back to her own car. As she slid in, she gulped as hard as she could to try and rid the newly formed lump in her throat. Taking a moment to breathe, she let her head fall back against her seat. She had easily won drag races before but as this wasn't her best car, not compared to her Nissan that had been confiscated until further notice, she knew against a muscle car like Rory's she wasn't going to win. Despite having upgraded her car it wasn't good enough to win a race like this just yet. That much was clear to her before she'd even pulled up to the start line.
Trying to ignore the nervousness that was slowly making itself known in the form of shaky hands she strapped herself in and waited to be called to the start line. After what felt like minutes, when it was only mere moments, Mia called the two racers over. Santana pulled up in front of the small brunette, Rory to her right.
"Ok guys, just hold on until we've marked out the start line and then we can get this thing going."
The two just nodded and Santana took these few moments to try and prepare herself. Trying to occupy her mind, she reached over and pressed her GPS screen a few times, a heavy Angel Haze song from her connected iPod started pumping through the speakers. She then reached behind her and unscrewed the nozzle of the Nos bottle that sat between the two front seats.
Now that her system was ready to go, she reached over to her glove compartment and grabbed the blue and orange energy drink bottle, smiling at the Nos logo and unscrewing the lid that looked much like the one she had just unscrewed. Taking a few sips, she wiped her mouth and re-sealing the cap before sliding it back into where she had got it from.
When she looked up, she saw Rory looking over at her from inside his money green Mustang. Even though the car looked bulky and slow, Santana knew that wasn't the case. That engine packed a hell of a lot more than hers and she knew that if she didn't win the next race to tie, she was screwed. There was so much riding on tonight's events.
She briefly considered the fact that she was already telling herself she wouldn't win. Knowing it was wrong, but her racer mind knew her car couldn't handle this type of race in its current state, not until she put better mods in it. Even with the Nos in her car she knew she wouldn't win.
Rory smirked at her again causing her to roll her eyes before he lent out of his window and looked over to where Brittany was stood with the rest of Letty's crew.
"Hey, Brittany!"
The blonde rolled her eyes and walked over to him with her arms crossed firmly over her chest. "Yes, Rory?"
"How's about a kiss for good luck?" He grinned, glancing over at Sam and Mercedes who were smiling at him encouragingly before looking back at Brittany.
The blonde sighed. "Why should I kiss you Rory?"
"Because we both know I'm gonna win this race."
"Hmm, that's funny because you just asked for one for good luck. I don't like somebody who changes their mind all the time. Plus, you just got cocky when I gave you no signs at all that I was even going to give you what you wanted. Instead, I think I might just go and do the opposite of what you asked."
"But Britta-"
She cut him off with a shake of her head before moving around Santana's Supra to the driver's side where the Latina was watching her intently. Before Santana could react, the blonde had lent in through her open window and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Don't worry, I know."
Santana blushed deep red as the tall blonde whispered huskily in her ear before walking back over to Letty's crew. The others watched as the Latina continued to sit in complete shock before rolling up her window. Santana could barely think, not knowing how to interpret what the beautiful blonde had just said. 'Did she know she was undercover? No, that didn't make sense. Did she know she was into girls? Did that race girl tell her after she rejected her at the first race? No, that really wasn't a good excuse. Did she know she had sort of a crush on her? Maybe, but let's not think about that. I have to race.'
Brittany grinned at Santana over her shoulder one last time before looking back at the people in front of her, not even caring to look at the shocked Irish boy who was sitting in his Mustang with a serious case of lockjaw.
"Why'd you do that?" Mia asked.
Brittany shrugged. "I think she deserved it more than Rory. Plus, he was being cocky"
"So, you cock-blocked him to kiss the new girl on the cheek and make him jealous.?" Dani asked as she lent up against the hood of her Ford GT.
The other blonde frowned, Rachel jumping in. "I think it was sweet. I mean, Santana blushed tomato red! She's definitely into you."
Brittany smiled and stuck her tongue out at Dani who shot the action right back at her, Rachel shaking her head as Mia decided it was time to start.
"Come on, we've tortured her enough." She smiled. "Let's start this before Rory gets any cockier." She was just about to move to start the race when Brittany placed her hand on her arm.
"Can I do it?"
"Really?" The shorter woman asked.
Brittany nodded in response. "Yeah. I think after what just happened..."
Mia smiled, handing her the flag and her radio. "Go ahead"
"Yay!"
The rest of the crew watched as the blonde hurriedly walked back where she had been a few moments ago, this time with the flag in her hand. The small crowd (only the two crews and their leaders plus Holly, Shelby, Blaine and Kurt) picked up in noise as they cheered for the two racers and when Blaine radioed to tell Brittany he was ready at the finish line, the blonde focused on the two cars in front of her.
She looked over to Rory and nodded, the Irish boy revving his powerful engine in acknowledgement that he was ready. He smirked over at Santana who just shook her head and looked forward, Brittany looked over to her for confirmation. The Latina nodded and revved her own engine, a small flame rushing out the back of her exhaust pipe as her engine processed her Nos. Brittany nodded back and winked before smiling as she held up the flag, both cars revving.
A few moments later and the blonde grinned as she dropped to the floor, spinning on her heels as she watched the two cars take off down the road. A shiver ran through her body as she felt the rush of cold air mixed with engine fumes and the slightly sweet tint of Nos, the smell setting her nerves alight as she watched the two racers get further and further away.
Everybody watched through the dashboard cams as Santana's car slowly pulled behind Rory's Mustang, Letty's crew knowing that her car wasn't as powerful as it should be to beat a muscle at this kind of race. The race was over as fast as it began when Santana crossed the line, her head falling back in her seat as she closed her eyes in defeat.
Rory had beaten her before they'd even left the start line, she knew it was a losing battle, but it still hurt when she lost for the first time since she's been back. Taking in a deep breath she knew that losing the next race wasn't an option. She watched on as Puck's crew surrounded Rory's car and celebrated his win. Shaking her head, she turned away and waited for the next race.
Quinn walked over to her car, knocking on the window until she wound it down. "Hey, I think we all knew how unfair that race was with Rory's type of car, but each leader picked one of the two races. I think you can guess who picked this one." She asked as she held herself up with a hand on the Latina's roof.
Santana scoffed. "Puck?"
"Exactly. Look, the next race is picked by Letty and if I know her, she talked to Mia and they came up with a track suited for you and your car, not his." She said, her nose wrinkling up in disgust as she looked over to Rory who had a smirk on his face.
"Thanks, what happens if we tie?"
Quinn shrugged. "That's between Letty and Puck so I don't actually know. It surprised me that they actually set this up considering just how much they hate each other. Can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah, go ahead"
"You do know you get to choose which crew you want to be on right?"
"Yeah, I know. They're not forcing me into anything but I kind of already know" She smiled.
"You do?"
"Is it really that hard?"
"Oh..." Quinn smiled, knowing exactly what she meant.
"Yeah, I kind of have my mind made up. I don't like racing with cocky racers."
"Gotcha. Here's the location of the next race. Put it in and I'll meet you there."
"Cool, thanks" Santana replied, taking the small piece of paper with the directions on it to the next race start.
"No problem. I supposed I'd better go and give those coordinates to the 'race winner'. Good luck Santana"
"Thanks"
She had just typed in the directions to her GPS when she heard a commotion. She looked up to see Rory harassing Brittany. Not really knowing what came over her, Santana's blood seemed to boil at the sight of the boy trying to force himself on to the blonde.
She unbuckled her harness in record time and jumped out of her car, rushing over to where Brittany was trying to fight off the Irish boy. She jumped in and before Rory could reach out and even touch the blonde, she had punched Rory in the face. He winced as he reached his hands up to his nose, blood covering his fingers.
"Don't you dare touch her!"
The sight of his own blood enraged him, and he lunged forward, gripping Santana's shirt and throwing her up against his car as the rest of his crew jumped backwards. Some even cheering for them to keep going.
"She's not yours!" He yelled, his hands moving up to wrap around her neck.
Luckily, she ducked at just the right time and he missed, giving her the upper hand. She surged forward and football tackled him into another car with a sickening thump.
"She's not yours either!" When Santana righted herself, she gripped hold of his shirt and punched him multiple times before he kneed her in the stomach.
As Rory pushed her down to the ground, Brittany caught sight of a large scar that extended from Santana's wrist to her elbow on her left arm. She didn't have time to ponder it as Letty and Holly stepped in, Holly grabbing hold of Rory and tore him off the Latina beneath him.
Letty helped Santana up before looking over to Rory who was still being held back by Holly. "Both of you, quit the fucking crap! We have races to finish and we don't need people going to the hospital instead. Rory cool your shit, Santana come with me."
Santana followed the older Latina over to where her crews' cars were parked, and looked over to Mia, who Letty was ordering to help clean herself up.
"Hey, lean up against this." Before she could protest Mia had gently pushed her up against the hood of Quinn's car. "This is gonna hurt."
Seconds later the brunette held up an antiseptic wipe to her eyebrow, the Latina wincing at the sudden pain before it disappeared, along with the blood coating her face.
"It looks like it won't need stitches, so you should be fine. Just put some ice on it later and the swelling should go down in no time. In the meantime, I'll put a band-aid over it so you can race."
"How are you so good at this?" She winced as the smaller woman started placing the band-aid over the cut.
"I was training to be a nurse before I joined Letty's crew. I gave it up when I was offered a job at the garage Kurt's dad owns. It's also where we work on all of our cars."
"that's cool and thanks."
"No problem. You're lucky you're on Letty's good side, or else you'd be like Rory and not get treated at all. Good luck Santana."
Before she could respond, Quinn walked over. "Hey, nice fight, not that I'm condoning it or anything. It's just that no one has ever fought on Brittany's behalf before."
"Why?" She asked, watching as Rachel hugged her in the distance.
"Because most people think she's not as bright as everybody else."
"They think she's stupid?"
"Yeah."
"How's that? She seems pretty smart to me."
"Other people don't see her that way sadly."
"Do you guys stand up for her?"
"Of course. She's not an official member of the crew but she's still close to us. Plus no one's ever started a fight over Rory harassing her before now. So, we've never had to physically protect her. Anyway, you ok to continue racing?"
"Yeah, I have faced worse before. Let's go." She said, standing up and heading back over to her car.
Quinn watched on as Santana sped away, shaking her head she slid into her own car and proceeded to follow her.
15 Minutes later and Santana had arrived at Copper Ridge, the location of the next race. Sitting patiently for everybody else to arrive she didn't even have time to think about what had happened with Rory before Cassandra was calling her. Retrieving her phone from her jean pocket she slid it open to answer.
"Hello?"
"Santana?"
"Yeah?"
"I saw the race. You lost?"
"Yeah, but I have another one where I can tie it. If that happens, I guess it goes to another race where if I win, I'm two up and I've won completely." She then hesitated to tell her the rest but decided it was better if she told her handler everything, even if it was bad.
"Santana?"
"I got into a fight"
"With who?"
"Rory Flanagan."
"Why?"
"Because he was harassing Brittany."
"Santana, may I remind you what we're here to do? You can't get attached to people, especially non-essential people like Brittany. Just don't let it happen again. Are you hurt?"
"I'm good to race."
"Good, just make sure that you win, or our operation may be over before it even begins."
Before Santana could respond the blonde had already hung up. Sighing, she slid her phone back into her pocket and grabbed her drink out of her glove compartment. She took a deep gulp of the energy drink as she rested her head in her hand. Her face was slightly in pain and her stomach hurt from Rory kneeing her but she was ok to race. She had to be. Taking the few minutes she had to herself while she waited for everybody else, she thought about what had happened.
Maybe she overreacted and jumped in when she shouldn't have. Brittany wasn't anybody's to claim but something inside her made her want to defend her, especially from a person like Rory who couldn't take no for an answer. What didn't help was that he had just beaten her in the first race and was acting cockier than was necessary. Despite what Cassandra wanted her to do, these were real people with real feelings, and she wasn't about to go and disregard that. If anything, it helped her build Letty's crew's trust. To anybody else it would have seemed fake, but she was genuinely concerned for Brittany and she wasn't about to stand back and watch a beautiful woman like that get disrespected by a man.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard Quinn's Skyline pull up, Rory trailing not far behind. As Quinn drove past her, she jerked her head in an action that told her to follow her. Assuming that she was leading them to the start line, Santana screwed the lid back onto her drink and tossed it into her passenger seat before pulling out and following both up the road.
When Rachel parked up her car at the finish line Brittany had hoped the Latina who had defended her honor would be there, so she could say thank you, but she was nowhere in sight. Knowing that Quinn had probably led the two racers up the canyon to the start line she sighed as she rested up against the hood of her best friend's car and crossed her arms.
"You ok Britt?" Rachel asked, placing a comforting hand on the blonde's bicep.
"Yeah. I just wanted to say thank you to Santana, but I guess she already followed Quinn up the canyon."
"Don't worry Britt, you can say thank you when she gets back down here."
"Yeah, I hope so."
A way up the canyon and Quinn had stopped. She marked out a line with a can of red spray paint and then signaled for the two racers to turn around and drive up to it. Then she stood in the middle of them she clutched a radio tightly within her hand. "Ok, so this is a canyon race. The first person to make it down to the bottom wins. There are no rules, just make it down alive. This is an all-out race and you can do whatever it takes to win. Good luck." She then brought the radio up to her mouth. "Blaine, we're ready up here."
"Ok, give me a minute."
Santana took those few moments to shove her drink back into the glove compartment and mentally prepare herself. Judging from what she had seen on the way up this race was full of violent twists and turns downhill to see who could really stand up to the true test of such an intricate choice of track. Smiling she knew Letty had picked this place purely for the fact that her car was better made for this kind of race and she was the better driver on this terrain. Santana knew she had the upper hand and she knew she would win this to tie and force them to go into a tiebreaker that would decide who won this completely.
"Ok Quinn, you're good to go." Blaine radioed.
Quinn raised her arms and both racers revved their engines. Seconds later she threw them down and they shot off the start line. It wasn't long before they came across the first turn. Rory had accelerated into the lead faster than the Latina, but she had better control as he struggled to make the turn. By then she had already passed him and taken first.
Her Supra handled the corners with what looked like complete ease as she used all of her precision driving skills to navigate the twisting terrain. The lights of the city twinkled in the distance as she zoomed around a wide turn, her car slightly drifting until she straightened it out. It was then that she was forced with the most difficult turn on the course and it took all the control she had to keep herself balanced at the speed she was going.
The crews watching through her dashboard cam saw her slam her handbrake as she kept her foot down on the accelerator resulting in a perfectly executed drift.
"Damn!" Tina grinned, watching as Santana pulled out of the turn and speed onto the next one.
Brittany smiled at the Latina's actions as she watched her tackle the next one which was very similar but a bit smaller.
As Santana sped into what seemed like a 90-degree turn Rory was only just coming out of the hardest turn. The crowd's murmurs grew as she sped around the next turn and into the widest and largest of the race. Easily keeping her speed and control, she shot around it and it wasn't long before she realized the next few turns were her last.
Even though Santana and everybody else knew she was going to win, her heart beat fast in her chest. She'd already lost once to Rory, she didn't want to do so again. Luckily for her, she saw the crowd in the distance and pressed her pedal right down to the floor as she saw Rory appear in the rear-view mirror. Everybody cheered as she shot across the finish line with Rory's green mustang following shortly after along with Quinn close behind him.
As she came to a stop, Letty's crew surrounded her car cheering and congratulating her. Brittany barely had time to even get to the Latina before Letty reached her and started talking.
"Now that things are tied, we're going to do a tiebreaker. Each of you will do this course again individually, but to decide the winner, it will be who reaches the bottom in the fastest time. The rules include no Nos and to make sure you're not using it, you're both gonna have a person in the car with you. Blaine you're with Rory. Quinn you're with Santana. Lopez, heads or tails?"
"Tails" She replied as she lent up against the side of her car. Letty flipped a quarter. "Tails it is. First or second?"
"Second."
"Flanagan looks like you're up first. Assigned second crew members join the racers and we'll see you at the finish line."
Blaine and Quinn nodded and joined the racers. "Hey" The blonde grinned. "I knew you would win"
Santana smiled but winced when her eyebrow stung. "Don't make me smile, it hurts. Thanks though."
"You got it. Let's go."
Santana looked up and glanced over at Brittany who was looking at her and then got into her car, Quinn following. She strapped herself into her harness and waited for Quinn to finish doing the same before following Rory back up the canyon behind Blaine's Porsche which was driven by Kurt who was starting the race in the place of his boyfriend.
Once they had made it up to the top Santana parked a little way back from the start line as Rory went first. Knowing that Blaine would be timing the first driver Kurt got out of his boyfriend's car and made his way a few feet away from the Mustang. He then let Rory rev his car before lowering his arms, the Irish boy shooting off the line.
When Santana pulled up at the start line ready for her turn, Quinn took the time they had to give her a pep talk.
"Santana?"
"Yeah?"
"The day you saw Letty, Dani, and Me at the 'Racers Edge', we had just gotten done with a crew meeting."
"Oh?"
"We talked about what we wanted to do with you, Letty asked us for our opinions. Some of us, me included, wanted to wait for you to prove yourself a little more after your reckless stunt with the highway patrol car. But the rest wanted you to join right away. In the end we decided to wait, but after seeing you tonight, losing, taking it so well, defending Brittany, and then decimating Rory up here in the canyon, I've changed my mind."
"Really?"
The blonde nodded as she clutched the stopwatch Letty had gave her tightly in her hands. "Yeah. It was reckless what you did before, but you proved to me tonight that you can take losing, even if it wasn't to me." They both chuckled. "Anyway, I just want you to know you're good in my books and when you head off the line in a minute, I believe in you. And if you win, I think Letty might just recruit you as a part-time member. If that's what you want."
"You know, I told you earlier. I kind of have my mind made up and after tonight I'm definitely gonna take her up on the offer if she gives it to me. Thanks Quinn."
"No problem. Oh, and if you do become a part-time member you know you're going to have to seriously start upgrading this car, don't you?"
Santana laughed. "That I do."
"Good. When you want bodywork done come to me, I'm the best kit builder in the city."
"I will keep that in mind"
Quinn smiled and lent back in her seat as the Latina reached over into her glove compartment, pulling out the bottle of Nos energy drink she has been sipping on all night. Santana unscrewed the lid and took a large gulp before replacing the lid and sliding it back into her little storage space.
"You like that stuff?"
"Yeah, I needed it tonight. The hot weather earlier today really took it out of me."
"I love it too." The blonde added randomly before they fell into a comfortable silence.
A few minutes later and Kurt stood up straight and stepped forward holding up his hands. Santana and Quinn were alerted to this and the Latina started up her car, the twin turbo engine roaring to life. Quinn readied her stopwatch and it wasn't long before they were off the line.
At the bottom Rory had just arrived and Mia was already radioing Kurt to let Santana go. They all waited anxiously as Mia read out the results, writing them down on her clipboard.
"4:15"
All they had to do now was wait for Santana to make her way down.
Meanwhile as said Latina raced down as fast as she could Quinn was amazed at how well she kept control over her car whilst going over a hundred mph. It was like she had this insane focus that couldn't be broken. She briefly wondered if this was the look on her face when they had raced each other the night the cops arrived.
Breaking her gaze she focused on the road ahead and she felt her heart rate pick up as Santana drifted around the last corner at a speed that would have put any other racer into the wall, but as demonstrated before, she kept an almost perfect grip on the car as she straightened out and raced towards the end. As soon as she was across the line Quinn stopped the stopwatch and waited until the car came to a complete stop, smiling over at the driver.
"That was crazy! I never knew how intense it would to be in the car with you! That was awesome!"
Santana laughed as they both unbuckled their harnesses and got out of the car, Mia walking up to them.
"Hold on"
Santana nodded and watched as the blonde ran and met Mia halfway. She whispered into her ear and both crews waited anxiously as the brunette scribbled it down next to Rory's time. With a nod Quinn was given the go-ahead to announce the winner.
"4:05. Santana wins!"
Letty's crew surrounded her and cheered and clapped before Letty walked over to Shelby. "What do you think?"
"She certainly has skills. I like her."
Letty nodded at her adoptive mother and walked back over to where Santana and stood next to Puck, as much as she hated every second of it.
"So, whose side are you gonna choose?" Puck asked, smirking when he knew she could possibly be on his team.
Santana took a few moments to keep them in suspense, despite the fact she'd made her mind up quite some time ago. Even if she wasn't undercover, she would have picked the crew she was about to say. A smile broke onto her lips as she stood up straight. "Letty's crew."
Letty's crew congratulated her and pulled her in for endless hugs as Puck frowned. "Hey!" She looked back at him. "You made the wrong choice. You're going to regret that decision"
They just watched as he stormed off, his crew following. It wasn't long before he was peeling off in his Charger with his crew and a defeated Rory not far behind.
Santana just shrugged as she accepted the congratulations from the various members of Letty's crew, including Holly. Shelby kept her distance as the others seemed to beam at the information that they had finally found a good driver to add to their crew.
Holly whistled to get everybody's attention. "First round of drinks at Kitty's is on me!"