Mike glanced into Santana's living room where Charlie was sitting on the couch engrossed with something on the television. Which meant that she wouldn't be listening to anything that needed to be said. With that in mind he heads back into the kitchen and crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at Santana who was sitting down sipping a beer. "Look, I know Brittany's the one that generally lectures you on your life choices but Sebastian?"
"We didn't fuck if that's what you're implying. He likes men now, or he always liked men, I don't know don't care. But he's in a position to give me information on the Templars and trust me dealing with Sebastian for a few moments, is worth the information that he gave me. I don't even think he realizes how valuable it was."
"Is it information on the Templars doing illegal activities that we can maybe leak to the press?"
"No, he's a good information broker, but he's not that good. The people in power have actually bought into the whole Templar-thing, the lower ranking Templars don't have information about top-secret projects."
"So, the price for this information is us breaking into a Templar facility?" Mike asked with a sigh. "Is this why you invited me over knowing that Brittany would be working late? You know she'll be disappointed with you, if she even allows you to go through with it."
"Forgiveness not permission," Santana said with a wave of her hand. "Mike, you've said it yourself if someone like Charlie was actually able of tracking magic, she would be practically unstoppable. I have zero idea why we're sitting on our hands doing nothing and hoping that these things change while the Templars get stronger."
"Because breaking into a Templar facility is an idiotic plan," Mike said plainly. "It's a death sentence."
"So is sitting around and doing nothing," Santana argued.
"Antagonizing the Templars doesn't just put you in danger, it puts everyone in danger." Mike groaned when Santana seemed to shrug it off. If they were going to do this, they needed the perfect plan. "How do you plan on getting into any of their buildings?"
Santana hesitated, the simplest way to make it happen was to simply get Charlie to retrieve the information. Quinn Fabray was a Templar, who seemed to be high up and they shared the same face. All she would need was a haircut, but Charlie wasn't ready for anything of the sort, and she could think of a million things that could go wrong. "You can teleport, can't you?"
"I'm not doing anything with you if your entire plan is for me to teleport in with you, and hope for the best," Mike said crossing his arms over his chest.
"That wasn't my plan at all, I mean it was part of the plan, but it wasn't the entire plan." When Mike waits patiently, she makes a face, "I don't have a complete plan yet."
"Which means popping in and then out was your entire plan," Mike sighed, pausing when Charlie teleported in and began to open the cupboards looking for the bag of chips.
Santana glances at Charlie, "Mike should never have taught you how to teleport," she said with a sigh causing Charlie to look at her. "Did the Templars teach you anything about infiltration?"
Charlie pauses after finding the back of chips and opening them, she stares at Santana for a moment before shaking her head. "Where do you want to infiltrate?"
Santana exchanged a look with Mike who looked slightly uneasy. Charlie's mood on the Templars shifted though lately it had been a bit more neutral, that didn't mean she'd approve of them messing with the Templars. "I don't think you were the only magic-touched that was locked in a cage and turned into a weapon Charlie, there may be other children, other people stuck in cages like you were, and I want to rescue them," Santana said. "But for that I need proof, I was hoping to get into the Templar systems and get that information and then give it to the News."
"Santana—" Mike began.
"No point in lying to her," Santana said. If Charlie didn't tell any lies, then she needed to be straight with her too. Charlie needed to trust her completely.
"I never saw anyone else," Charlie said quietly. "Just the guards, and the few teachers that I had, but no one else like me."
"So, you don't think it's possible? You think you were the only one?" Mike asked.
Charlie shrugged her shoulders, "There were other facilities, I was being transported to one because I broke a facility and they got super mad at me. There could be others in those facilities. I don't know."
Santana nodded, Charlie was important, but that was only because of who her family was. It was quite possible that they insisted on keeping her away from the rabble, and other magic-touched users. It was a giant waste of resources but there was more on that later. "Are you okay with us going to try and get more information? To see if there are others like you? So, we can rescue them."
"Are they going to live here?" Charlie asks.
Santana snorted, "No, the government will handle it, and more importantly public opinion will turn sharply towards magic-touched, hopefully meaning that we'll have more protections and we can finally start breaking the Templar hold on the media." She gives Charlie a sharp look studying her. "It's a dangerous—"
"I want to help."
Mike hesitated, Charlie's moods varied wildly when the Templars were discussed and he couldn't place this particular mood. "That's good but Charlie we'll be going against the Templars aren't you—"
"I want to help, you said I could use my powers to help people and if they were like me, they've never had food like in the bar," Charlie insists.
"Santana doesn't have a plan yet, and no one is helping anyone until she has a plan." Mike stated firmly looking at her.
"Plan? Charlie can summon Templar uniforms, we create a large enough distraction outside so we can go inside the building, find the server and teleport out of there. I know you don't do long jumps but all we need to do is find a blind spot around their compound and we can work with that." Santana said with a shrug.
"That's not a plan, it's an idea," Mike pointed out.
Charlie looked back and forth between Santana and Mike for a moment before the sound of her show caused to her head back to the living room.
"At the very least we're going to need someone to case the building for us, we won't have much time and why isn't Sebastian able to do this from a remote location like most hacking?" Mike grumbled.
"Do I look like a hacking savant?" Santana asked. "I assume if it could have been done offline, Sebastian wouldn't be asking me to do this. I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I didn't think it was important." Santana gets up to make sure that Charlie is back to watching her television show.
Mike frowns but sighs, "Fine but we're going to be smart about this."
"At least it's you this time," Rachel huffed looking up at Brittany.
Brittany hesitated as she grabbed the chair, "Who else would it be?"
"Santana. It was Santana last time. She stole your phone and tricked me." Rachel insists crossing her arms. "This is why we broke up, she has zero respect for anyone else's feelings, and she had the audacity to judge me, for dating a—" Rachel's mouth snapped shut, and she looked away a guilty expression on her features.
"Dating a—?" Brittany prompted. She pokes Rachel in the cheek when she shakes her head, "I can't scold Santana if you don't give me all the information."
"Quinn's a templar," Rachel whispered watching as Brittany flinched.
"So that's why we haven't met," Brittany said shaking her head, and forcing a smile onto her lips. "And Santana found out?"
"I don't know why she was looking into Quinn. But she found out and I think she has something planned for Quinn," Rachel sighed. "Which is why I said this was an emergency, I don't want you to get caught up in whatever Santana is planning."
"Whatever Santana is planning?" Brittany echoed.
"Don't play dumb with me—you're her best friend and the only person who can stop her."
Brittany rolled her eyes, Santana did whatever it is that she wanted and while she was a tempering influence the idea that she could stop Santana whenever she got a crazy idea in her head was laughable, and untrue. "So, what exactly did she want? Information?"
"She wanted to see a picture of Quinn, like it seemed to be her life mission, and I don't know why." Rachel said picking up her phone and flipping through her photos till she finds the one that Santana had probably seen and she turns the phone around so she can show Brittany.
Brittany stared at the photo of Quinn Fabray for a moment and then immediately stood up. "Santana's been hiding things from me again," she says bluntly.
Rachel turns the phone over and looks at Quinn for a moment before looking back at Brittany, "What's going on?" She knew something, just clearly not what Santana was planning. "Quinn's been all over the country lately, and she's injured so I know she hasn't been harassing the bar—"
"Rachel, I'm sorry but this doesn't concern you. But I'll handle it," Brittany interrupted. When she brought in strays it didn't bring the entire Templar organization down on them, at most it caused Mike's allergies to flare up for a bit.
"Brittany, I believe—"
"You're dating a Templar, and you're not one of us, this doesn't concern you. And trust me, I have no intention of bringing the Templars down on our heads. So please Rachel, let me go have a long discussion with Santana about secrets."
Rachel hesitated, Brittany seemed sufficiently irritated, and at least it was directed at Santana this time than her. She nods after swallowing, "Alright, I just thought you should know."
Brittany flicked her eyes to Rachel for a moment and forced a smile onto her face, "Thanks, for letting me know. This could have gone badly for everyone involved."
Rachel nods and relaxes, letting Brittany know was the right choice. Now all she needed to do was figure out a way to break up with Quinn, and she could finally get her life back on track.
"Please tell me we're not watching cartoons again," Santana said as she flopped on the couch beside Charlie. They watched a movie once a week, and Charlie had seemed to like the cartoons better, it was something she blamed Brittany for. Though from what she knew of Charlie's viewing habits, she liked shows about families. If she was forced to watch The Incredibles once again—
Charlie shakes her head, and puts the Blu-Ray on the coffee table, "Mike said this was your favorite movie."
Santana blinked, they only really had time to watch one movie a week, and this was a surprise. "Charlie I've seen this movie a lot, like far more than I'm comfortable admitting. We can watch something you want to watch you don't need to—"
"Want to," Charlie informs Santana simply as she puts the Blu-Ray in the player and hops back onto the couch.
It's only a moment till Santana feels a warm body pressing up against her and she rolls her eyes, "Trying to steal my body heat, again aren't you?" She's met with a small smile from Charlie who focuses on the television, and she can't help but rub the top of Charlie's head as she relaxes. "You didn't have to do this for me."
"You didn't have to let me stay," Charlie responds simply. "Now shush, I want to watch the movie."
Santana plays with the remote for a moment, and pats Charlie gently again before starting the movie. Santana swallowed the guilt that she felt, it hadn't been out of the goodness of her own heart that she had allowed Charlie to stay. Sure, she may have felt some sympathy for the girl, but knowing that the Templars were looking for her? Feeling Charlie's tremendous magical power—there was a part of her that wanted to simply use Charlie as a tool just like the Templar's had done. "Charlie?"
Charlie turned to Santana looking slightly scandalized now that the movie had started playing. "Yeah?"
"You don't have to help me and Mike—we can figure it out on our own. I'm not sure I feel—"
"I want to help. So, I'm going to help," Charlie said, "Now shush."
Santana rolled her eyes, "Fine." That was the last time she would ever try and have a moment with Charlie. "But if you have any questions, we'll pause the movie and I'll answer them." She was worried it was slightly more complicated than the animated things that Charlie watched. With that she sits back and watches the movie. It's not twenty minutes into the movie that the sound of her front door opening causes her to shift her attention slightly. Mike never knocked, and Brittany was the only one that had the extra key. She blinks as Brittany storms into the living room. She immediately pauses the movie and pulls away from Charlie who flops onto the seat and looks up.
Brittany's eyes fall onto Charlie and she goes rigid, something had never felt right about her, she had kept her mouth shut but she couldn't place it. She was dangerous and she didn't approve of all the time that Mike had spent teaching her—making her more dangerous. "I knew you were lying."
"Brittany—" Santana begins only to be pushed away by Brittany, she'd never seen her so angry and Charlie immediately gets to her feet.
"What else are you lying about?" Brittany said, she just needed to get a good read on Charlie, a perfect touch and using her ability of psychometry she would be able to see Charlie's past. "She's a Templar."
"Britt—"
Charlie frowned and stumbled backwards when Brittany touched her. "Stop it, don't touch me."
Santana frowned when she felt Charlie's spiking magic, it was growing rapidly and while she seemed to have the control for now. "Brittany, we'll talk in the kitchen, leave her alone." Santana snapped.
"She's undercover Santana, Rachel—"
Santana gripped Brittany's arm and hauled her away from Charlie, before Charlie could bring down the building around them. She was not losing her home and her bar because Brittany didn't have all the facts. "Brittany, I don't know what that little hobbit told you but I'm telling you that Charlie isn't a spy."
"Rachel is dating a Templar and that Templar is sitting on the couch Santana, I know you saw it, and you're in there getting—"
Santana grabbed her tablet that was charging and opened the file that she had gotten from Sebastian, "I didn't jump to conclusions, and it's not like you to do it either. None of what Charlie has said to us is a lie. Everything she's said has been honest, because she really doesn't know how to lie." Santana shoved the tablet into Brittany's hands. "Read it, understand it and then go talk to Mike about the plan, because I'm doing this because I doubt, she was the only one."
With that Santana turned on her heel and marched back into the living room, and looked at Charlie, the magic had dissipated but Charlie was looking at her curiously. "Trust but verify," Santana explained. "I had to make sure that you were who you said you were and I found some things out about your family about you if you want to—"
"No," Charlie said with a frown.
Santana hesitated, "You really don't want to know?"
"They're alive right? That's why you brought it up the last time," Charlie asked keeping her eyes focused on the frozen scene on the television.
Santana hesitated for a moment, Charlie hadn't taken it well but she had clearly figured out why she was asking questions. "Yes."
"Then no, I don't want to know." Charlie frowns.
"Look it's okay if—" Santana began.
"This is my home, and you can be my family, right?"
Santana blinked, there was a hopeful look in Charlie's eye and she nods, "Damn right I can," she says flopping on the couch and letting Charlie flop back onto her, she grunts at this. Santana frowns and glances at her kitchen as the sound of her door slamming shut echoes through her apartment. She'd deal with that mess later.
