Author's Note: Thank you all, as always, for your reviews. Seems like every chapter, I open up new questions, and make things even more confusing, so I totally appreciate your continued efforts to figure out what's happening! Enjoy this one!
Even with Sara's seal of approval, it too a lot of convincing on Santana's part (and Mercedes' as well) to get Maribel Lopez to agree to allow her only child to go camping in the woods for an entire weekend, so soon after she'd managed to injure herself doing something significantly less dangerous. In an effort to add to the proof that she was okay, Santana had managed to coerce Terri Delmonico to write a note on her behalf (conveniently leaving out the part about not being an actual nurse) an effort that took more onion dip and bridal magazines than anyone should suffer through in eighty minutes, but she needed all of the ammunition she could get. Eve by late Thursday night, as Santana packed up her duffel bag and Brittany sat on the bed, watching, her repeated offers to help brushed off, it still seemed pretty up in the air whether she'd actually be able to get on the bus on the next day without a scene, but Santana didn't care, she was going with them, one way or another.
"She said yes, though." Brittany gave a gentle reminder, midway through Santana's third rant about her mother in the less than forty-five minutes since the alien girl had climbed through the window.
"I know she said yes, but that's the thing with my mother, she'll change her mind in a second. It wouldn't surprise me if she chased the bus down in the parking lot tomorrow morning, screaming mi bebé! Mi bebé! Se duele!" Santana brought the back of her hand to her forehead, mimicking her mother as she dropped another sweatshirt into her bag, and Brittany laughed. "I'm not even kidding. Sometimes she thinks she's in a telenovela."
"What about your dad?" Brittany picked at her cuticles, already having learned that it was usually a sensitive subject, mentioning Santana's father.
"I could probably be missing a limb, but if it looked good for college, he'd be all about me going."
"I'm sorry, that must be hard."
"It's whatever." Santana shrugged, putting an end to that topic of conversation before it even began. "How are you doing?"
"Not getting my hopes up this time. If this guy is the fourth alien, great, if not, we still have one more to go." Brittany sighed, and sensing that her girlfriend had her hopes higher than she would admit to, Santana stopped what she was doing to give her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. "I'm excited about camping though, my parents take us a lot, but this is even better, because you'll be there."
"I'm excited too, like really excited, especially if you can manage to get Quinn to switch with me and share a tent with Mercedes."
"Well I may have only packed one blow up mattress, and since Quinn doesn't really do sharing a bed or sleeping on the ground, I think she may not have a choice."
"Pretty and sneaky." Santana laughed. "How lucky am I?"
"Pretty lucky."
Catching Santana's lips fully with her own, Brittany smiled as the packing lay forgotten on the edge of the bed, and Santana kneeled over her, straddling her lap and deepening the kiss. Like she'd taken to doing whenever they made out, Brittany slipped her hand up Santana's shirt, covering the bruise with it, hoping that even without using her healing abilities, she could keep the pain from flaring up, keep Santana from getting too carried away and then yelping in pain, like she tended to do. Murmuring some type of appreciation, the human threaded her fingers through blonde locks and nibbled at Brittany's lower lip, sighing into her mouth as she felt visions on that far off planet creep into her periphery. In the days since their visit to Ruidoso, Santana had actually gotten better at preventing the flashes from fully consuming her, from all but entirely physically removing her from Brittany, and she was glad that she was able to enjoy the other girl on both the human and the alien level. She still got warm afterwards, she still got a glowing tingle below her skin, but it was not longer a cause for panic, since she wasn't burning up the way she had at first, and Santana was glad that she could kiss her girlfriend without feeling like she was made of glass.
"I was thinking." Brittany murmured later, when they were both lying on their sides, foreheads pressed together. "I know that maybe I'm being paranoid, and it's probably totally fine, and nothing's going to happen, and maybe this is crazy and stupid that I even think this way to begin with-"
"It's okay, you can tell me." Santana cut off her rambling with a soft smile and a squeeze of the hand.
"Part of the reason that I feel so safe with the stuff here, especially the necklace, is because you're here. And I know you aren't in your room all of the time, because of school and work, and whatever, and I also know it's behind the bricks, and it's safe, but...I don't know."
"You don't want to leave it for the weekend."
"I don't." She shook her head. "I know-"
"Hey, stop. It's not crazy, or stupid, or any of that. Britt, it's the only thing you have from the place you came from, and it's obviously really important, whatever it is. You're right, we should bring it with us. And at least Kurt wouldn't be caught dead camping, his words, not mine, so we don't have to worry about him somehow seeing it or something. We could probably pin it closed, and since the chain is long, you wear it and it would hide under your clothes."
"Do you...never mind." Brittany shook her head quickly, and Santana squinted her eyes before kissing her encouragingly.
"What?"
"Do you want to?"
"You want me to wearit?" Santana asked, her heart squeezing that Brittany would truly offer something like that to her. She'd said it, kind of in passing, that first night, that she'd want her to, if she could, but there was something different, something so different about her actually asking.
"Only if you wanted to, I mean-"
"Of course I want to wear it, it's just, you trusting me with that, wow."
"I trust you with my life, Santana, and I've felt so safe with you having it in your wall, of course I trust you to wear it." Brittany gave Santana an adoring smile. "It obviously says something about how I feel for you, since you can touch it and no one else can."
"Yeah, I guess it does." Santana smiled back, words at the tip of her tongue again, words she pushed back down, because despite Sara's words, she wasn't completely sure she was ready to say them yet. "I-I have safety pins in my desk drawer, I'll get them."
"Stay." Brittany shook her head, pushing herself up from the bed. "You really need to keep resting your ribs, I don't want any reason why you can't come with me tomorrow. I'll get them, and I'll get the necklace out."
Santana watched as Brittany moved about her room, following directions as to where she kept the pins, setting them down on the bed as she moved over to the space in the wall where everything was stored. She pushed the papers deeper inside, and with the yellow pendant cradled in both hands, she sat back down on the bed. When Santana sat up, full of anticipation and nerves, Brittany swept her long dark hair to the side, making the girl shiver when a soft kiss was pressed to the back of her neck. There was no hesitation in the motions Brittany made, no second guessing herself as she draped the chain around the neck of the girl she loved, letting the yellow stone slip down her shirt and into the valley of her breasts. She had to bite her lip, and remind herself to breathe, taken by the idea of something so important to her resting close to the heart of someone infinitely more valuable.
Pinning the broken metal together, Brittany watched as the stone began to glow again, softer than the first time Santana touched it, but glowing, nonetheless. Not sure what to do, feeling a contentment that she couldn't begin to place, Santana searched blindly for Brittany's hand, tangling fingers together and pulling them to the place the jewel rested, leaning back into her alien and tilting her chin up to receive a kiss.
"Thank you." Brittany breathed, her eyes brimming with unplaceable tears. "For wearing it...for keeping it safe."
In the early morning hours, after getting a little bit of sleep, Brittany slipped back out through Santana's bedroom window, leaving the still unconscious girl with the softest of kisses on her lips, and the ghosting of fingers over the necklace. Just before the sun came up, she made it home, and found Sam in the garage, pulling the tents down from the rafters, and tinkering around with some of the lamps, deciding which they should bring with them (not that it actually mattered which ones worked, but Sam liked the kind of things that he and their father usually did before a family trip together). By 8:15, confident with what they had packed, the Pierce siblings loaded up their car and headed over to Quinn's, eager to be on their way to the school.
When Quinn came out, wearing a pair of Brittany's old hiking boots (though she'd scoffed at the hand-me-downs, she'd eventually conceded, figuring her own shoes wouldn't suit her for running through underbrush, and going to the Reservation required all kinds of practicality), and a camping pack slung over her back. She didn't say anything when she got in the car, but even without her words, both Brittany and Sam were well aware of her thinly veiled excitement for their search, and maybe, though she'd never admit it, for the opportunity to be included in a camping trip with Brittany and Sam. The drive to the school was quick, and when they arrived, Sam grabbed the bigger tent from the trunk, leaving Quinn and Brittany to wrangle the remainder of their stuff.
"Hey, Quinn?" Brittany's voice lilted upward in question, and Quinn took her eyes off of the map that she was studying quickly, before shoving it in her pocket. "I need to ask you a favor."
"What?"
"Well, I mean, I know you don't love the idea of Santana being my girlfriend, but she is, obviously, and I spend most nights at her house, but it's like, we're always sneaking, and now we'll be in the woods, and since this is a wilderness survival trip, we're kind of on our own." Brittany rambled, rubbing her palms on her jeans, thinking how ridiculous it was that she was that nervous about asking Quinn to switch tents with Santana, especially because it was kind of her tent anyway. "So I was just hoping, you know, that-"
"Are you telling me that you're going to pin a sock to the tent so you and Lopez can take a new step in human-alien relations?"
"What? No, no, it's not like that." Brittany blushed furiously, and pressed her palms to her cheeks.
"Look, whatever, I don't care about what you do with her, all I care about is the end result, and if you find out more about our home planet. You probably should be sleeping with her, if she's seeing planets just from you kissing her, imagine what we could learn if you took it to the next level."
"We've been over this, Quinn. I'm not using her like that. When we do sleep together, it's going to be because we both want to for us, not for a quest, I'm not building a relationship on making her my human telescope."
"Whatever, I don't care, I'll bunk with the other one, but think about it. Really think about it, you've got a whole world right at your fingertips." Brittany screwed up her face at Quinn's choice of words, really not okay with her talking about Santana like a sex object, or a tool. "You're always talking about human desires, and all of that, she obviously wants to sleep with you, every time we pass her in the hallway, she's making sex eyes at you."
"She's not making sex eyes at me. She's just…happy to see me."
"Sure that's what it is. It's pretty obvious that you both want it. If I were in your shoes, you know what I'd be doing."
"You are in my shoes."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do. But if I were going by what you would do, Santana would probably be dead right now, so..."
Feeling pretty miffed by her conversation with Quinn, Brittany grabbed her own duffle bag, and the smaller tent that Sam would used, and stalked over to where the bus waited. She was distracted as she loaded her things under the bus, half looking for Sam, half looking for Santana, and trying to push away what Quinn had said to her. She couldn't, she wouldn't, sleep with Santana just for information, she'd made that vow to herself from the very first time that they kissed. Maybe it was cheesy, but she wanted it to be special, whenever they finally did it, and while their physical relationship seemed to be progressing each night, their make out sessions getting just a little more handsy, their kisses on skin lingering just a little longer, she wasn't planning on divulging any of that to Quinn, no matter what the end result was.
Boarding the bus, Brittany found Sam already seated in the second row, and she slid in beside him, barely listening as he talked about the movie he'd gone to see with their father the night before as she searched around for Santana, hoping Mrs. Lopez didn't throw a wrench in their plans. Finally, finally, after Brittany ignored Quinn when she'd taken a seat behind her, and had almost taken out her phone to send a text to her girlfriend (just checking, if she wasn't able to go, it would be okay, as much as she wanted her there), Mercedes climbed the steps, followed close behind by her best friend. Brittany couldn't help but smile, seeing Santana look so outdoorsy, though she clearly wasn't that type, tight laced hiking boots coming to mid calf, tight jeans (okay maybe they weren't outdoorsy, but they were so sexy), and a red plaid shirt, tied up and exposing just a sliver of that perfect skin below her navel.
When Santana caught Brittany unabashedly checking her out, she quirked a teasing eyebrow, and pulled her glossy bottom lip between her teeth, knowing just how crazy it drove Brittany when she did that. In return, Brittany ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and when Santana walked past her, she grazed tan fingers with her own, knowing the sparks it would send through the human girl's body.
"I'll just sit back and wait for the inevitable to happen." Brittany heard Quinn say, and blue eyes widened, hoping that Santana hadn't heard that. Seemingly unaffected, Santana let her pinky graze the inside of Brittany's wrist, and Brittany noticed where her girlfriend's other hand was, resting protectively over where the pendant fell below her shirt.
"She's getting creepier about this by the day." Sam murmured, after Santana had passed, referring to Quinn, and Brittany just nodded, shifting in her seat, a more than a little uncomfortable about how turned on she was from such slight contact.
The first several hours of her camping trip were those group activities that Quinn had been so dreading, learning about poisonous plants, about how to check bedding for scorpions and tarantulas, and an overly detailed course in first aid (during which, Santana, seated on a rock directly across from Brittany, discretely waggled her fingers, intending to demonstrate why she didn't need to worry about it, but instead, causing Brittany's mind to plummet deep into the gutter). Sam was really into all of the lessons, and Brittany had basically tuned out Quinn's complaining in favor of trading secret hand signals with Santana. For her, the time flew, and when they were finally able to split off on their own to find a place to camp, she was just about jumping with excitement.
"Do you need some help with that, Lopez?" Quinn sidled up to Santana, once they were mostly out of the line of vision of anyone who might think it strange that the five of them were headed off in the same direction.
"Um. Why are you being nice to me?" Santana eyed Quinn warily, and Brittany's eyes shot daggers at the other girl, expecting an ulterior motive to be revealed.
"Just thought I'd help, since Brittany's got her hands full, and you've still got busted ribs, right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine though."
"Don't be an idiot, just give me your bag before you hurt yourself more."
Brittany waited for it to come, some mention of getting more information, or some biting comment directed at Santana, but strangely, it didn't, and Brittany furrowed her brow in confusion. Sam and Mercedes made eye contact, equally confused about the random kindness of Quinn, but Santana, with an aching side, gave up protesting and allowed Quinn to take the bag from her. Purposefully, they walked far out into the woods, and set their tents up far from each other, just in case someone came to check on them (though their chaperones claimed that as long as they checked in at the required times, they'd be mostly left to their own devices), it would appear that they weren't clustered together and conspiring.
While she put together their tent, Brittany refused to let Santana help, instead, directing her to sit on the wide tree stump across from her and drink some water after their short walk. Santana was reluctant to comply, hating feeling useless, but at the same time, she knew she needed to save her strength, knew that the next night, they had a long trek to make, and she'd be damned if she was stuck at camp because she'd been stubborn and insisted on helping to build a tent. Of course, Santana was also grateful for the added perk, watching Brittany push up her sleeves and work, the toned muscles of the lithe blonde's body tightening as she bent and lifted, snapping rods together with ease. Much as Brittany had on the bus earlier, Santana felt an ache between her thighs, and fidgeted, imagining those muscular arms throwing her down on the ground and a gorgeous blonde extraterrestrial having her way with her.
"Enjoying the view?" Brittany teased, taking a swig out of her water bottle and winking at Santana.
"Yeah, totally, I mean, the sun's starting to set, and it's pretty gorgeous." She laughed, never taking her eyes off of Brittany.
"Just the sunset?"
"Totally, there isn't a crazy attractive blonde who kind of looks like she's glowing in it right now or anything."
"Santana." Brittany blushed, dropping what she was doing and striding over to plant a kiss on Santana's lips. "If I keep having to stop and kiss you, I'll never get this together before dark and we'll have to sleep outside."
"I'd love to sleep under the stars with you."
"You are being such a cheese ball, stop." Brittany whined, grinning widely and kissing Santana again. "Be all sweet and cheesy when I'm done."
"But you look so cute building a tent, I just can't help myself."
"Is this the same girl who used to walk down the hall and make gagging noises if someone so much as called their significant other babe?" Mercedes appeared in the clearing, sucking her teeth at Santana's unabashed display of affection.
"Whatever, 'Ce, they're usually totally lame. My girl is building a tent for me, that deserves all the praise in the world."
"Okay, Allie Hamilton, then I better get on praising Quinn, since she wouldn't even let me touch my own tent, because she said she wasn't staying in some busted half-ass human building job."
"Maybe she has a crush on you." Santana shrugged, laughing. "She's being really weird nice today. I guess she's just really excited about Howard Bamboo."
"Yeah." Brittany figured she wouldn't mention her discussion earlier in the day, especially not in front of Mercedes. "I just don't really wanted to see the storm that comes if he's not who we're looking for. I'm pretty sure this place will look like it was hit by a meteor shower."
"Good luck with that." Santana nodded toward Mercedes.
"Oh no, if she goes into that mode, you two are putting your love fest on hold, and I'm bunking in your tent." Mercedes scoffed, and Santana immediately tensed up at the word love, trying to read a reaction to it on Brittany's straight face.
"Anyway." The flustered human glared at her friend. "What's up? Are Sam and Quinn coming to get this meeting out of the way before dinner?"
"That's what they said. Looks like Brittany could use some help finishing up anyway."
"Nope." Brittany touched the remaining poles, curving them into the proper shape without having to find the correct ones, and fastening the canvas. "All done."
"Well why didn't you do that the whole time?" Santana huffed a little, crossing her arms over her chest. "Here you had me on a sweet lady kiss time limit, when it was that simple."
"Trust me, if you saw your face watching me,you would have drawn it out too." Brittany smirked, and Santana flicked her shoulder when she leaned in for a kiss.
"Nope, none for you now."
"Hmph, mean."
"Anyone mind if I start gagging now?"
"I'll join you." Quinn, followed by Sam, stepped out, and she kicked some dirt off a rock before sitting on it. "I've gotta sleep on the shittiest air mattress I've ever seen in my life, the least you can do is quit shoving your tongues down each other's throats for an hour."
"Um, in all fairness, Quinn, I think the issue was that Santana wasn't kissing Britt." Sam pointed out, earning a scoff. "Also, you know you can fix the mattress, right? Mine feels like a real bed now."
"Whatever, not even the point. Why are we having this meeting right now, anyway?"
"Sit." Brittany directed, finding her own spot on a low rock, and inviting Santana to sit on her lap, one she readily accepted, despite the teasing about not kissing her only a few moments earlier. Sam and Mercedes found their own place on a hollowed out log, and Brittany couldn't resist sending sly wink in her brother's direction. "I want all of us to be on the same page about tomorrow night. This is a totally different game than Santana and I showing up to crazy drunk April Rhodes' house at 4:30 in the afternoon. All five of us suddenly stumbling onto this Reservation together looks way too suspicious, especially because Bamboo is the night guard. We need to split up."
"Oh, let me guess how this is going to go. You and Santana, Sam and Mercedes, and then me, shoved in with one of you."
"No." Brittany shook her head, causing Santana to tilt her head to look at her, eyes wide. "I'm going to go in first, pretend that I'm lost, get Bamboo's attention but-" Brittany held up her hand, cutting off Quinn, before she could make another complaint. "I want you guys to be maybe five minutes behind me. I'm not doing this alone, okay? I'm just going to act really confused and disoriented, and then by the time he starts asking questions, you'll be there."
"Britt." Santana began to protest, but Brittany squeezed her hand, a silent promise that it was going to be fine.
"Sam, you're with Mercedes, Quinn, you're with Santana. Look at the map, there are two entrances, both of you come in a different one, because you had split up to look for me."
"I'm with Santana?" Quinn raised an eyebrow skeptically, sure that Brittany had been mistaken, sure that she'd have wanted her precious Santana with Sam, not her.
"Yes." Brittany didn't elaborate her reasoning, just simply nodded. "Everyone got it?"
"How will we know though, if he's the one?" Sam asked.
"Quinn, this one is all you. If we don't know right away, you're going to stumble and catch his arm."
"Well we are the ragtag group of idiots." Quinn rolled her eyes, masking her pleasure at being the one who got to make the connection with him. "You get lost in the woods, I can't walk properly, Santana falls off pyramids, I can't wait to see what's in store for you two on the next mission."
"The more put together we are, the less believable it is. Just go with it, just act like you're a normal seventeen year old who just spent hours searching for your lost friend in the woods."
"And if he's the alien?" Mercedes asked, catching the way Santana ceased her rubbing of Brittany's arm, almost pausing in panic, at the question.
"If he's the alien, then we reveal ourselves, and we let him do the rest of the talking."
Santana was quiet through most of the group dinner back at the campfire, buried deep within her own thoughts. Mostly involuntarily, she kept her palm pressed to her chest, and she tried to take an interest in the mundane gossip happening around her. By the time she'd eaten half of a hamburger, she was full, and she pushed the food aside, choosing instead to make the long trek over to the camp showers, wanting to immerse herself in the lukewarm water and try to clear out her mind. When she'd finished, drying her skin and tenderly wiping droplets of water from the necklace, it was entirely dark, the last residual daylight long faded, and stepping out of the building, pulling her jacket tight around her body, the temperature having dropped significantly, she was surprised to find Brittany off in the shadows, hair damp, and waiting for her.
"Hey." Brittany whispered. "I didn't want you to have to walk back to our tent alone, so..."
"Thank you." Santana sought out Brittany's hand with her own, tangling their fingers together and sidling closer to her girlfriend.
"Are you okay? You didn't look like yourself at dinner, are your ribs bothering you?"
"No, they're not so bad, don't worry." She pressed a kiss to the underside of Brittany's jaw. "I just wasn't really in the mood for everyone. I'm glad now that it's just us."
"Me too."
They walked in silence back to their tent, hands clasped, and their steps falling into sync. When they made it into the tent, and Santana sat down on the bed to unlace her boots, she bounced up and down a few times, genuinely surprised at how right Sam was, how whatever it was that Brittany had done to the air mattress truly made it feel like a real bed. Knowing exactly what Santana was thinking, Brittany just shrugged, as if to say what are alien girlfriends for anyway? before flopping back onto the pillows. When Santana crawled up beside her, Brittany rolled over, lying on her side, looking into dark eyes and brushing noses, before pecking soft lips several times, inviting Santana to be the one to take things further.
It didn't take long before Santana's tongue slid into the space between Brittany's lips, and gentle fingers wound their way into loose blonde hair. They kissed like that for a while, sweet, tender, even as Brittany felt her body temperature rising, and she was sure by the hazy look in Santana's eyes that she'd been in and out of visions. Santana's left hand found her way up under Brittany's sweatshirt, fingertips dancing across tight strung abdominal muscles, ghosting over ribs, inching higher and higher until they skimmed the underside of Brittany's breast, causing a contented sigh to hum between them.
"Can I touch you?" Santana brought her lips to Brittany's ear, sending a shiver down her spine and making her throat go dry. Slowly, she nodded her head, shuddering and sucking on Santana's pulse point as the human girl slowly pushed up the separating garment, hearing the hitch of her breath as the new expanse of creamy skin was revealed. "You are beautiful."
"Santana." Brittany exhaled sharply, hissing as thumbs brushed over peaked nipples. "Santana."
"Can I...?" Her unfinished question was met with a nod, and Santana brought herself up on her knees, with Brittany quickly following suit, raising her arms as Santana pulled the shirt up entirely over her head.
Santana could hear nothing but her blood rushing in her ears, more nervous than she'd ever been in seeing a girl topless before her. Seeing the way Brittany's cheeks colored, shy at her exposure, she pressed a kiss to her mouth, then to the hollow of her throat, letting her lips rest there, almost tasting her heartbeat. When she slowly pulled away, she lifted her eyes to burning blue, and as nervous fingers twitched at the hem of her thick sweater, Santana brought her hands to meet Brittany's, guiding them along as they removed the garment. Once it was removed, Santana brought Brittany's hands to her breasts, releasing a shuddering moan as Brittany, emboldened, gently squeezed.
At the first touch to her girlfriend's perfect breasts, Brittany felt like she couldn't breathe, the feeling of being so close to the girl she had been in love with for as long as she could remember proving more to take than she could have imagined. Santana's eyes were soft, reassuring, and with their faces bathed in the warm golden light the necklace was emitting again, Brittany felt her heart in her throat. She cupped Santana's cheek, kissing her with a new kind of urgency, thick with a stronger desire than she'd ever felt. Santana's hand trailed across Brittany's lower stomach, tracing the waistband of her pajama pants, wanting to see more, to go further. and Brittany's muscles jumped, wanting so, so badly for that hand to dip below, but also hesitant, so conflicted about taking that leap.
"Santana." Brittany grabbed both of Santana's hands, breathing hard, blinking fast, trying to stop the throbbing ache between her thighs, a pretty fruitless effort, considering she still held Santana's breast with one hand, and they were so close that their nipples were brushing, driving her kind of insane. "I-I just need a minute."
"Brittany." Her voice was raspier than normal, the sound Brittany had grown accustomed to in the nights they'd spent together, and she kissed below her earlobe, kissed her neck, kissed her way back up to her lips. "I'm not rushing you, I'm sorry, I'm not rushing you at all. I know you've never...and we don't have to..."
"No, no. It's not about that, it's not about that at all." She expressed all the sincerity she could with her eyes, and her thumb stroked the apple of Santana's cheek, soothing her concern. She'd said it to Santana before, told her so many times that she would never use her, and though she didn't say it again specifically, not wanting to spoil the moment, Brittany wanted her to understand how loved she was, even without speaking those three words out loud. "I want to, I want you, more than I've ever wanted anything. You're beautiful, you're so beautiful, and just...you're you. I need you to know that, before we do anything, I need you to know that you mean so much to me, that I care about you so much."
"I know. I know you do. I feel it every time you look at me, every time you touch me, every time your lips press so softly to mine, like you cherish every kiss." Santana smiled, her heart thumping harder still, her eyes crinkling softly. "And you are the most gorgeous being I've ever seen, I'd never thought I'd want to be with someone the way I want you. I want everything with you to be special, because you are special, and you make me feel that way too. If you're not ready to do this, if you want to wait, we can stop right now, we can just kiss some more, or we can put our shirts back on and go to sleep."
"Santana, I want to do this more than I've ever wanted to do anything in my life." Brittany closed the gap between the two of them again, cradling the back of Santana's head and drawing her in for a heated kiss.
"Okay." Dark eyelashes batted, and small hands ran up and down Brittany's sides, rubbing away the goosebumps caused by the chill of the night. "Stop me though, if you change your mind. Can I...?"
"Please." Brittany whispered, hands finding breasts again, sort of surpassing her own imagination about how good they felt in her hands. As Santana worked the tie on her pants, the alien girl couldn't focus her eyes, shifting them between eager digits, gorgeous mounds of flesh, and wanting eyes. Santana, for her part, eased Brittany back into a lying position, once the knot was tugged free, and still kneeling between her girlfriend's legs, she slowly (painfully, Brittany thought, as she ached to bridge the distance that had grown between them, ached to run her tongue over the wide expanse of smooth skin above her) slid the flannel down her legs, letting her fingers tease over the outside of her thighs, the back of her kneels, the dips of her ankles, the very bottoms of her feet.
Squirming under Santana's touch, Brittany arched up, wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist, pulling her down on top of her so their bare chests were touching again. Left in only her panties, Brittany felt like Santana was entirely too clothed, and without hesitation, used her shaking hands to liberate the human girl of her pants, trying to mimic the sensual touches that she'd just about melted under. Hearing the small whimpers that escaped Santana's throat, especially when her fingers grazed teasingly over a lace covered center, Brittany believed that she'd accomplished what she'd been going for, and lied back, bringing Santana down with her. Skin pressed to skin, the beat of their hearts almost resonating through the otherworldly stone trapped between their chests, Brittany tilted her chin, taking Santana's lips again.
"Are you okay?" Santana asked, after kissing, touching Brittany for a long time, so cautious with her beautiful alien girl, even as her own skin burned, even as the wetness between her legs grew, even as she wanted nothing more than to continue her exploration of Brittany's picturesque body.
"I'm supposed to be asking you that." Brittany panted, eyelids heavy, lips swollen, as she brushed two fingers over Santana's injured side.
"Doesn't hurt when I'm with you." She reminded her, kissing the curve of her jaw, her chin, the strung tendons in her neck, and meeting blue eyes, she silently asking permission for her mouth to continue it's southward journey.
With no light but that which came from around Santana's neck, Brittany's fair skin, cast in that ethereal glow, was more tantalizing to Santana than she believed possible. Maintaining eye contact, Santana worked her way over each inch of it, stopping to pay special attention to the constellation spattering of freckles just under the right side of Brittany's clavicle, tracing the marks with her tongue, and then peppering them with soft kisses. Despite the increasingly desperate little noises that passed through Brittany's lips, noises that Santana was sure she didn't even know she was making, Santana didn't increase the speed of her actions, she wanted to ensure that Brittany's first time was an out of this world experience (a worthy cause, considering), she wanted Brittany to throb, to burn, to keen, to feel the same amazing tingling that she felt every time the unearthly being was in her presence. With the soft weight of Brittany's hands resting on her upper back, holding onto her, not wanting to let her go for an instant, Santana brought a pink nipple to her lips. She smiled into skin as a hiss rang in her ear, making her shiver with want, the noises Brittany was capable of dialing up her desire exponentially.
Brittany's entire body trembled, Santana's lips on her skin made it impossible for her to even complete a coherent thought. Occasionally, Santana would lift her mouth from where it worked, and give the softest, most comforting smile, one that made the words Brittany had been keeping down rise higher and higher in her throat, until she had to bite her lip to keep from crying them out, not wanting to speak them for the first time in the throes of passion. When Santana reached the very top of Brittany's panties, after kissing strong stomach muscles, she paused, and Brittany was sure she could no longer breathe, sure that the sight of Santana between her legs, asking without words if she could bare her completely would be the actual death of her (forget fourth aliens and prying law enforcement agents, one seemingly innocuous human girl was so much more powerful when it came to one Brittany Susan Pierce). Not trusting herself to speak, sure that declarations of eternal love would slip uninvited through her lips, Brittany simply brought her palm to Santana's cheek, cradling it affectionately and lifting her lower half up.
"Wow." Santana breathed, pushing Brittany's knees further apart, then felt her cheeks burn hot, and she blinked her eyes closed, embarrassed by her unabashed appreciation of her exposed girlfriend. "Sorry, I just...you're beautiful everywhere."
Brittany giggled, a nervous giggle, an affectionate giggle, because there was just something about Santana, something about the way she sometimes embarrassed herself for no apparent reason that almost made Brittany want to pull her back up and kiss her senseless. Before that thought could fully take root though, Brittany watched Santana's head dip, felt the soft nip on teeth on her inner thigh, and she wove her fingers into dark strands, sucking in as much air as she possibly could.
"Santana." She uttered, and swimming brown eyes gazed up, boring into Brittany's soul as eager lips hovered just above wet heat. "Santana."
"Brittany." The left side of Santana's mouth quirked, and she exhaled, making Brittany's whole body shudder as the stream of warm air hit her.
Assured that Brittany was ready for her to continue, Santana placed light, teasing kisses on Brittany's hipbones, over the outside of her sex. Eager fingers pressed against Brittany's entrance, and Santana's pulse pounded, desperate to make Brittany feel good, desperate to touch, to taste, to experience everything. Even as she brought her mouth down, licking straight through her, dipping just the very tip of her tongue inside, Santana couldn't tear her eyes from Brittany's face, needing to see the contortion of her features, the way her eyes flickered myriad colors, each and every one expressing an undying devotion that nearly made her cry. While her lips wrapped around sensitive nerves, alternating pressure, Santana slowly slipped a finger inside of Brittany, moaning herself, at the tight heat that engulfed it (the moan against her most sensitive place making Brittany's hips cant). Giving Brittany time to adjust to the new sensation, she curled just the slightest bit, searching within her, before withdrawing and sliding a second digit in.
Brittany could hardly stand it, the unbearable twisting of that coil in her stomach, exacerbated by that look of pure, animalistic need in Santana's eyes as she did indescribable things with her mouth, with her fingers, looking at her like she was the most incredible thing she'd ever seen, the most incredible thing she'd ever tasted. It was beyond Brittany's wildest fantasies, far surpassing anything she'd ever been capable of with her own hands, and as nearly black hair fanned out over her things, hair that she couldn't help but grip tighter at each well-timed thrust of skilled fingers, Brittany felt herself slipping, felt herself free-falling into another reality. At first, she was sure it was her climax approaching (she couldn't even bring herself to feel embarrassed at it happening so fast, it was Santana between her legs, after all, it was all she'd ever hoped for come true), but when she felt her eyes force themselves closed, felt a familiar buzz behind them, she was overcome by something infinitely stronger.
It was all there, everything Santana had described, the onyx sands, the goldenrod skies, the stars, in colors Brittany had never imagined existed. Something was happening off in the distance, beyond the gelatinous stream that somehow gurgled passed, something happening that created melodious sounds that tickled her ears, the beauty of them comparable to nothing on earth. She couldn't get closer, she was frozen in this, this illusion of her mind, but she wanted to know what was happening, wanted to know who was creating that noise, wanted to know why they were creating it, but instead, she just let it wrap around her, let herself be rocked by the intensity of the emotion that came over her.
Santana could feel what was happening to Brittany, she knew by the blissed out look on her face, knew by the beautiful sounds that bubbled forth from parted lips, that her girlfriend wasn't entirely in this world, and she slowed her motions in favor of watching. When Brittany's eyes snapped back open, when the serene look on her face made Santana's heart swell with a greater love than even before, Santana pushed her fingers back inside, curling them in just the right spot, releasing her own moan as she felt Brittany's walls tighten around her, and an intense orgasm crash over the beautiful blonde. Lifting her head up, leaving her hand in place as aftershocks jittered through Brittany's body, Santana slid upwards, lying over her, kissing drooping eyelids, warm cheeks, and finally, parted lips.
"My pretty girl." Santana hummed, taken by Brittany's disheveled state and slowly withdrawing from inside of her, bringing both hands to cradle her face.
"You're amazing." Brittany's breathing sped up, tasting herself in Santana's mouth, and another jolt of arousal shot through her. She wanted more of Santana, she needed to make her feel as good as she felt. Her hands dragged over the swell of Santana's ass, and she pulled her closer, avoiding putting too much weight on the bruised flesh when she rolled them over. Immediately, she ravished Santana's neck, relishing the taste of salty skin on her lips as the girl below her tilted her head back, offering herself entirely to Brittany.
Santana squirmed and writhed beneath her, and as much as Brittany wanted to tease her, she was too desperate to touch her for the first time. Running her hands over burning flesh, Brittany fused their lips, simultaneously sliding her tongue into Santana's mouth and her hand between her legs. At Santana's needy whine, Brittany stroked her, not fully entering her, but building her up, letting her thumb press against her clit, and her fingers stroke hesitantly through.
"Oh, god." Santana bit down on Brittany's lower lip, knowing she'd never touched another woman in that way, and wanting to encourage the actions that made her whole being spark.
Growing bolder, and smiling into Santana's mouth, Brittany continued her explorations, finally slipping two fingers inside of her girlfriend and swallowing the groan that ripped forth. As Brittany moved, Santana wrapped her arms around her neck, holding fast, wanting her as close as she could get. It surprised them both that Santana never drifted into Brittany's former world, that she remained entirely in the present, even as she crashed over the edge, crying out her lover's name as she did.
"You saw it." Santana whispered, after her breathing slowed, and Brittany had pulled the heavy blanket roll over both of them, and they lie back on their sides again, Santana's face tucked into Brittany's neck, and limbs all tangled together.
"I did. I don't know how, but I saw, and it's as beautiful as you said. I can't believe that's where I come from, that that's a real place out there. I don't know how you did it, but thank you for showing me."
Brittany fell asleep almost immediately after that, her words and eyes growing sleepier, exhausted from the intensity of the entire experience, but Santana didn't follow behind. She lie there, wide awake, realizing that never before in her life had she felt so fulfilled, yet so hollow all at once, the wonderment she'd seen in Brittany's eyes about her home almost haunting her. Watching Brittany, mouth curved upward, even in sleep, her chest ached, and though she wanted to stay cocooned in her girl's embrace forever, she was fairly certain that if she didn't get up, if she didn't breathe in fresh air, she would either spontaneously combust, or start to cry, she wasn't sure which. Slowly slipping free of Brittany's grasp, so careful not to wake the sleeping beauty, Santana kissed her lips and tucked the blanket around her. Even in the warmth of the tent, a chill from the night air ran through her body, and she quickly pulled back on her pajamas, donning Brittany's discarded sweatshirt for extra warmth.
Stepping outside, Santana took a deep breath, looking up at the star speckled sky and trying to compose herself. She wasn't supposed to be upset about Brittany seeing the beauty of her home planet, a few days earlier, she'd wanted so badly to share what she'd seen with her. The problem was, that flicker of fear over losing Brittany had grown, stoked by every kiss, every touch (and maybe doused in propane the moment their clothes came off), and though they hadn't been in each other's lives very long at all, her affections for her were so overpowering that she wasn't sure how she could handle the pain that would come if Brittany suddenly left, not even just her, but Earth entirely. Sitting down on the same tree stump she'd been on earlier, happily watching Brittany construct their tent, she pulled the pendant free from beneath her clothing, and turned it in her hands. It still glowed, stronger, perhaps, than it had been earlier, and somehow, it felt like a genuine extension of the woman who's arms Santana should have been sleeping in, a thought that finally forced the first tears from her eyes.
"Santana?" Brittany called a while later, after Santana had mostly cried it out, reaching the point where she just felt incredibly selfish for her thoughts. When she saw her favorite human seated across the way, Brittany stepped out, forgoing shoes, and padding over in her thick wool socks.
"Hey." She tried to play it cool Brittany sat down beside her, curling an arm around her waist and watching the way she cradled the foreign stone in her hands.
"What's wrong? Santana, were you crying? Are you alright?"
"I'm okay, I'm fine, don't worry."
"Did I...did I do something wrong?" Brittany's voice was small and her eyes were fearful, not understanding why her girlfriend could possibly have needed to run away and cry after the first time they'd made love, especially because Brittany was positive it was the most beautiful thing that she herself had experienced.
"No, no, Brittany, of course you didn't, it was perfect, you were perfect, you are perfect." Santana turned to look in her eyes, making her see the sincerity there. "I'm just...Britt." She took a deep breath, really unsure of what was going to come out if her mouth in her vulnerable state. "I...I've been with girls before."
"I know?" Her voice lilted upward in question, not really understanding what Santana was trying to say. "Is it…was I not as good as they were? Because-"
"Oh God, no! That's not it at all, I'm sorry, I suck at making this point, the point is no one else ever made me feel anything, not in my soul. But with you, it was just amazing, you light me up, or something. You just kiss me and it's better than anything else I've ever felt. That's the thing, I've never done feelings before, and now that I am, I just didn't know they were going to scare me this much."
"Your feelings for me scare you?"
"The idea of ever losing you scares me, and I'm sorry, I sound so selfish right now, because I want you to do whatever it is you were destined to do, but I just..." Santana sniffled a little, tears falling again. "Brittany, I know that we're really new, and it's confusing for me, but I'm not confused about the fact that I'm in love with you. I'm so in love with you, and I'm terrified of feeling this way. You don't have to say anything back, I know that-"
"Oh, honey." Brittany let the new endearment slip from her lips, cutting the rambling woman off. "Please don't be scared, please. I can't believe that I haven't revealed every single thing I feel for you with every kiss, even with every look. I think that I've loved you since the first time I saw you, but that day I kissed you in the rain, I knew it wasn't just some unrequited crush. I'm so in love with you too."
"I'm don't want you to go." She confessed breathily, clasping Brittany's hands and looking up to the sky. "I just got you, and I know, I know it's so selfish, and I want you to find out everything, and I want you to fulfill whatever plan there was for you when you came here, but the thought of you not being here, I hate it, and I hate that I hate it, because knowing who you are is so important."
"I'm not." Brittany reached over and cupped Santana's cheek, forcing her to look in her eyes. "Santana, I'm not going anywhere."
"Brittany, there's a whole universe out there."
"I know there is. Listen-" Brittany shifted closer to Santana, snuggling into her warmth, realizing how cold it was without the sweatshirt that had been pilfered from her. "This planet, Roswell has been the only home I've ever known. I've always wondered, from that first night out in the desert, where I came from, but as time passed, I stopped seeing that as a place I was going to return to, and as just a part of my past. Sam and I have talked about this…I should have told you what I was thinking about finding the fourth alien, I just, I assumed you knew, I guess, we won't leave our home. I want to know, I need to know where I came from, so I can understand who I am, and why I have the abilities that I do, but every single day, I feel more and more human, and every single day, I'm more and more sure that there was a reason more important than my home planet why I came to Earth."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I really don't. It's just, I feel like all of this is bigger than we think. This pull between us, the fact that I was in the diner that day when you were shot, you being able to wear the necklace, when Quinn and Sam can't even get near it, the way you can see the things I can't remember. You're special to me, because I love you, but the more that happens between us, the more I believe it's more even than just that."
"How?"
"Santana, I have absolutely no idea. Maybe I totally wrong, and this is just what happens when my kind fall in love. More questions for the fourth alien, I just hope we find them soon, because things seem like they get more bizarre every day."
"Maybe tomorrow is the day."
"I hope. I hope so much." Brittany leaned into Santana, who had dropped one hand in favor of rubbing up the arm of her thermal shirt to keep her warm. "Don't worry, okay? You're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere, I-"
"Don't promise." Santana barely squeaked, as hard as those words were for her to get out, pressing two fingers to Brittany's lips. "I don't want to lose you, but I also don't want you to be bound by a promise if you need to go. Okay?"
"Okay." Brittany brushed the lingering tears from Santana's lashes, and kissed her again, before staring up at the stars, brighter than normal on the moonless night. "But I will promise that if I have to go, I will always find you again. You'll draw me back to you, even if I were sixty-billion light years away."
"I'll hold you to that one." Her laugh was light, and they sat for a long while, wrapped in each other, staring up at the dark night sky, both thinking of that far off black planet, of the alien that held all of the answers they sought. "Britt, can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Earlier, when you paired me with Quinn for tomorrow, instead of Sam, she was really surprised, and I kind of was too. I mean, I trust your judgement, a thousand percent, but I'm just curious why?"
"I love my brother." Brittany looked down, feeling shameful that did was even speaking this out loud. "But he doesn't use his abilities as much as Quinn does, and I don't think his reaction time is as quick, but he's like me, and he thinks with his heart, and Mercedes is safer with him because of whatever his budding feelings for her are, it'll make him react faster. I know we probably don't need to worry about anything, but if I'm not the one who's with you, I want to know that you're with the one who's brash and reactionary, Quinn doesn't care who it is she's protecting, if it's what she has to do, she'll do it with the same dedication. We might not get along these days, but if anything happens in the woods, she will protect you."
"Thank you for keeping me safe." Santana smiled, pressing her lips to Brittany's temple. "Please be careful out there too. You're going to be with him first, all by yourself..."
"I know. I'll be fine, don't worry." She brought Santana's fingers to her lips and held them there, making another silent promise. "It's late, and it's really getting cold out here. Come back to bed with me now?"
"Definitely. I won't sneak out again."
"Well I'm kind of glad you did the first time. You told me you love me."
"I did." Santana's lips tugged into another smile. "And you told me you love me back."
Contented, Santana and Brittany fell asleep in each other's arms, trading soft kisses and fluttering eyelashes. Both were a little sore when they woke up the next morning, stretching and groaning as they attempted to go about their day. Santana, not wanting to take any chances about being unprepared for the night, ended up staying back at camp while the other's went on the group nature hike. Though Mercedes had offered to stay behind with her, Santana waved off the offer, wanting some time to herself to think, and figuring at the very least, she could stare some more at the empty notebook she was supposed to be starting her college essay in. By late in the afternoon, she was bored out of her mind, having spent most of the day fantasizing about the previous night's activities, another good portion filling pages and pages of her notebook with hearts and various combinations of her and Brittany's name (she was still only seventeen, after all, even if her relationship with Brittany felt so entirely adult), and the rest stressing over what was going to happen that night.
Brittany, for her part, thought about mostly the same things, all the while avoiding more of Quinn's prying questions (she knew something big had happened, but Brittany's lips were sealed), and occasionally teasing Sam about the way he couldn't keep his eyes, possessive, almost, off of Mercedes, as she chatted innocently with the exchange student from Ireland who's name escaped all of them. The hike was beautiful, Brittany couldn't deny that, especially because she loved hitting the trails, but she was distracted by the thoughts of something more beautiful, distracted by images of Santana Lopez, hair fanned out on a pillow, writhing beneath her as she brought her to ecstasy. It was hard for her to believe it wasn't a fantasy anymore, hard for her to believe that she had actually witnessed that open, wanting look in deep brown eyes, and the more she recalled it, the more she was desperate to see her love that way again. Truth be told, it was the only thing that kept her from going insane thinking about the world of possibilities (or, entire lack thereof) that might come from their nighttime journey into the woods.
When the hikers returned to camp, sun setting, Brittany couldn't keep her smile to herself at Santana, standing beside Mrs. Rose, the lunch lady who'd agreed to come cook for them all, at the fire, helping to dish out baked beans and hot dogs. Standing in line with the others, Brittany shifted impatiently, wanting just to be closer to Santana, feeling, admittedly, needy for her affection after their monumental night, and then their day apart. Finally reaching the front, their fingers brushed as a plate was pressed into pale hands, and Brittany shivered at the sparks, before meeting Santana's eyes for a quick glance, the simple exchange of energy taking her breath away. After dinner, the five members of the alien alliance slowly trickled back to their tents with Santana beating Brittany back. The moment Brittany unzipped the tent and found Santana preparing their warmer clothing for the night, she pulled her in for a heated kiss, holding the smaller girl up when her knees buckled. As much as Brittany craved pushing Santana down on the mattress though, as much as she craved burying her face between quivering, tanned thighs, she knew she couldn't get carried away, not yet, at least, and reluctantly, she pulled back, pecking plump lips a few more times, before they both dressed in silence (intentionally avoiding looking at each other in states of undress) and went to the clearing to meet the others.
"Quinn." Brittany approached her, eyes serious.
"I know, Brittany, don't let her die, don't kill her, don't lose her somewhere in the woods. Check, check, check. I just want to get to this guy and hope he's the one. I'm not going to do anything stupid."
"Yeah, I know you're not. I just wanted to thank you, in advance."
"Well don't. We don't do the mushy love thing. Save it for Santana. We've got a purpose, and she's part of that, that's all I'm concerned about." Quinn crossed her arms over her chest, acting her part, though Brittany couldn't help but think of the previous day, when Quinn had grabbed Santana's bag, not for a purpose.
"Right, well, be careful." She played along, not getting into the issue of whether or not Quinn had a heart, not while they had bigger issues at hand.
"Yeah. You too."
The five of them walked together for the first mile and a half, Santana's thumb rubbing the back of Brittany's hand as they kept their fingers entwined. At the halfway point, according to the map, and the strangely impeccable sense of direction that the three aliens possessed, it was time for them to split up, and with only a quick kiss on the lips and a world's worth of words exchanged with a single look, Santana stepped back beside Quinn, and watched as Brittany moved first through the thinning trees. When Mercedes and Sam went next, off to the right, Santana was surprised that Mercedes showed no fear, just linked her arm with Sam's, for safety, and maybe something more, and she swallowed her own anxiety, wanting to get there, wanting to get back to Brittany, wanting, more than anything, for Howard Bamboo (a strange name, for a Native American, she thought) to be the one they sought.
"She gave you the necklace." Quinn stated flatly, once they were on their own, and Santana's hand flew to where it lay, the anxiety that it was no longer hidden entirely unwarranted. "I saw you sitting with it last night."
"You were spying on me?"
"No, I wasn't spying on you, Lopez. I couldn't sleep, someone snored all night long, and I went for a walk, heard you blubbering and saw it in your hands."
"She didn't give it to me. I'm just...I'm just keeping it safe right now, so we didn't leave it back in Roswell."
"Whatever. It burned the hell out of me and Sam, and I thought it was broken, how are you even wearing it?"
"I doesn't burn me." She shrugged, and slipped her hand up to where the necklace had been pinned, checking the clasp, especially because they were somewhere it could easily be lost,eyes widening in alarm when she couldn't find the pins. She kept searching, trying to find where they'd repaired it, but she was met only with unbroken chain, something that seemed entirely impossible.
"What's your deal right now? What are you even doing?"
"Fuck. Quinn, the necklace isn't broken anymore."
"Well no shit, you're wearing it, aren't you?"
"We pinned it...we used safety pins...look at it, tell me you see pins." Santana, for the first time in the entirety of her experience with the aliens was entirely freaked out by the magically repaired necklace, the necklace that she was supposed to give back to Brittany, the necklace that she suddenly had no idea how to remove when they got back to Roswell. She tugged it free of her shirt, and Quinn looked, clenching her hands at her side and shaking her head.
"What the fuck? What the actual fuck? It repaired itself around your neck? Brittany didn't do this?"
"No, Brittany didn't do it!" Santana nearly shouted, then reminded herself that she couldn't be loud. "She couldn't fix it! She tried! What if it's trying to kill me? What if it tightens around my neck and cuts off my air passages and-"
"Whoa! Dial this back like five hundred notches. What kind of freaky horror movies do you watch? You're not afraid of the alien that may or may not have killed several people, you're not afraid of me, who raised my hand to you once, but you're afraid of a necklace? And this is why you humans are beyond weird."
"Well why did it fix itself? It sat in Hummel's office for who knows how long, all kinds of broken, and suddenly Brittany pins it to my neck and it's fine?"
"I don't know the answers? Don't you understand why we are even looking for this alien? None of us know the answers! Can you just calm down before you fuck up the plan?"
"Easy for you to say when you don't have a necklace that's going to strangle you around your neck." Santana muttered, and Quinn rolled her eyes.
"It's not going to strangle you, stop. You're being ridiculous."
"How do you know? You just said you don't know anything."
"Because I do know that Brittany didn't want me or Sam to touch it, and it burned us, Brittany gave it to you- and you can say that she didn't, but she put it around your neck, so that's basically the same- and it fixes itself. I didn't want to admit it, because I wanted something from our planet to be mine, but I think she must have some kind of subconscious control over it. And if I'm right, it's not going to kill you, since Brittany would sooner die than let you die, absurd as her fascination with you is. She'll probably touch it and magically get it off of you...kind of like your panties."
"What?" Santana found herself laughing, that strange kind of laugh, the kind when something isn't even necessarily funny, but you're not sure how else to even respond.
"You heard me." Quinn quirked an eyebrow. "Now as wonderful as our little chat has been, can you pull yourself together for five minutes so we can get to Brittany? Do you really want her there without my backup for longer than she needs to be?"
"No." Alarm shot through her system, and Santana pushed aside all thoughts of demonic jewelry, in favor of considering her girlfriend's safety, and took off running beside Quinn, one hand still clasped around the pendant as she did so.
"Brittany! Brittany!" Santana and Quinn screamed in unison as they approached the Reservation, hearing far off echoes of Sam and Mercedes calling her name as well. "Brittany!"
"She's here!" A male voice called back, and though they were out of breath, all four of them ran faster than they ever had, following the sound of the voice, until they met in the middle, finding Brittany playing the role of lost teenager to perfection, staring down at her boots, picking her cuticles nervously.
"Britt! There you are!" Sam threw his arm over his sister's shoulder, squeezing her close to him. "Thank you, thank you sir, for finding her! We've been searching for over an hour."
"I'm alright, Sam." She gave him a tentative smile, and it took everything in Santana to stay behind, not to immediately throw her arms around Brittany (it didn't matter that she hadn't been truly lost, it didn't matter at all), to let Quinn and Sam pretend to fawn over her, since officially, she and Mercedes had been recruited only to help. Having shoved her necklace back under her shirt before they'd made it to the reservation, Santana placed her hand over it, like touching the item that was somehow stuck around her neck could comfort her, and she clung to Mercedes, eyeing the man who looked about as much of a Navajo as his name indicated, something Santana found strange. "I tried to find the bathroom, and then I must have gone the wrong way. I saw lights, and I thought maybe it was there, but it turns out I got all turned around, and I was here."
"Are you hurt at all?" Quinn asked, surveying Brittany's clothing. "We're miles from camp."
"No, no, stop, guys." She brushed them off, and then looked over to the man in the security uniform. "I just met Mr. Bamboo a few minutes ago, he was going to drive me back, once he got clearance from his supervisor."
"You're sure that's okay?" Sam asked, but Howard didn't respond, he simply stared, seconds passing in silence.
"It's happening. It's you." Howard finally breathed, looking between the three blondes, a strange sort of awe struck recognition in his eyes, one that made Santana shiver, that made Mercedes cling more tightly to her friend, both unsure of whether it was a good or a bad thing. "The three of you, she told me you'd come. She told me that she didn't know how long it would take, but that eventually you'd get here. You came looking for her."
