AN: Another story that was just finished a while ago. I'm going to say this once, pay attention to the coupling on this. Do not complain about what this is, it is what it is.

Summary: Accused of terrorism, Santana Lopez somehow gets forced into being the pet of twin vampire reagents who make her question everything she knows about vampires and shifters, and reinforces what she already knew. [Charlie/Santana/Quinn]

Song: Death to My Hometown Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

The sudden gust of wind caused her to pull her jacket closer to her body, trying and failing miserably to prevent the chill of the cold December air from getting deep into her bones. She glanced around cautiously, feeling the bustle of the streets as people hurried to get out of the cold and get to where they were going. It almost looked—normal. It felt normal, just another busy day in a city where people went to work and went about their business.

But it was all just pretend. An illusion of freedom, of normalcy. Upon closer inspection she could see it, the rot. Yet she knew people who would defend it, ignore the fact that they were no longer free. They would laugh or shrug and claim that it wasn't as bad as down south. The badlands where the rule of law had broken down, where people were hunted down like dogs and children were feasted upon by the monsters that went bump in the night. It wasn't as if she didn't believe the stories that came out from the badlands, every few years more refugees would come, but this place, this city and the surrounding areas weren't a paradise that people made it out to be.

Her grandmother, her abuela, had told her stories of the good old days. The days when humanity was in charge, when they were truly free. Where the first amendment meant something, and you could say what you want without the fear of persecution. Of course there were consequences from other people, and perhaps you might have been fired from your job, but you didn't just disappear in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. That wasn't freedom, and it wasn't safe, having to watch every word you said in case the wrong ears were listening. It didn't foster a sense of community, neighbors turning on neighbors. It just wasn't right.

She slowly comes to a stop, and once again scans the area, trying to be as discreet as possible, she needed to make sure that no one was watching her. What she was doing was stupid, it was dangerous and if her abuela were alive today, then she would have gotten her ass beaten and not in the fun way that she liked on occasion. But her abuela had told her to be strong, and if she saw something wrong then she needed to stand up and fix it. Which was exactly what she was trying to do.

She waits for a moment and bends down to tie her shoelace, using the moment to make sure that she hadn't drawn any unwanted attention to herself. She waits and gets up before ducking down a small alley that's almost unnoticed by the bustle of people. No one turns to look at her as she ducks just around the corner, out of sight. She was paranoid, but that paranoia had served her well as she once again studies the street from where she was hiding. No one had followed her. She couldn't be careless. She didn't want to disappear too.

Thankfully, there are no footsteps that approach her hiding spot. No one cares about the strange person ducking into an alley. She exhales and moves towards the back entrance of an old abandoned run down bar. Certain business wasn't what it used to be, and there were many of these abandoned and boarded up buildings in the downtown area. She knocks on the door in a carefully learned beat that changed every week, it was hard to remember and she hoped that this was the right one. She had been in a rush to leave last week.

She waits a full minute before the door swings open and she quickly steps inside, ducking out of the way as the metal door gets slammed shut behind her. She'd done this a hundred times by now and she understands the drill. Enough to keep her mouth shut instead of bitching about the fact that she nearly got hit for the umpteenth time. With any luck it would soon be time to find a new meeting spot, and she hoped that the next place had heating. She grabs an empty wooden crate to use as a chair and flicks her eyes around the room.

Her gaze stops on the new faces. New people meant more people she would have to learn to trust. It didn't matter that being in this room at this time was a death sentence. They had lost people. Good people, sometimes stupid people, and she had learned not to get to cautious. She never even gave out her real name to anyone new.

"Fucking fangers, stealing our blood."

Her eyes dart over to the man who had complained and she relaxes, it was just Artie complaining again. She knew the feeling; she'd just donated blood last week. Though donation wasn't the correct term, every human above the age of sixteen was required to give blood. They, the vampire apologists, claimed that it wasn't just for the vampires, that all hospitals were well equipped but she didn't believe anything she heard on any of the mainstream media outlets, they were all just a part of the propaganda machine.

"I'll get you something to drink, you need to keep your strength up."

Artie flashes her a smile, "I'm fine. I am, promise—I just fucking hate needles. Pretty sure that the nurse didn't know what the fuck he was doing. I think he was new, jabbed me a few times before it worked. Some new world order huh?" Artie complained rubbing his arm.

"I know that feeling. A woman that I work with, has the worst experience because they can never find the vein because of her dark skin. She cries every time, but they don't care. It's traumatic," she agrees.

"Of course it is. I hear that they don't even need all that blood, that they sell it to the other regions. I think it's bullshit, considering that they were the ones that started this whole fucking mess. I was on the net, and I saw it, they're immune to every fucking disease, and all the sickness. Scientists think that they were carriers of all sorts of diseases from a long time ago. Diseases that we thought we'd wiped out. It mutated in their bodies or something like that. It was probably some sort of coordinated attack, or something. Can you believe that shit Santana?"

She did believe that shit, there wasn't much she didn't believe anymore when it came to the fangers. But she wasn't about to say anything that might get her arrested or worse. She hasn't navigated this long without being cautious. She narrows her eyes at him and tosses him a water bottle, "No names, numb nuts." Tilting her head towards the newbies who are standing around. Some of them were new, she could tell from how scared they looked, though the man who was leaning against the corner didn't seem to be that worried, in fact he felt rather sure of himself. It was enough to put her on edge. People like that, ended up dead and quickly. Fear was good, paranoia was good. It kept you alive.

"Come on Tana, we're all friends here," Artie rolls his eyes as he opens the water bottle, the water was mostly frozen but he takes as much as he can. "It doesn't matter if they're not all human."

Santana's eyes narrow and she pushes herself to her feet turning to look at the newcomers, they looked human, one had even smiled at her and she hadn't seen any fangs. "What the d you mean they're not all human?" It was times like these that she wished she had a gun, but there was no more second amendment. Guns were tightly regulated. She turns back to Artie as more people start entering the room. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Artie held up his hands in a placating manner. "Relax. They're clean, and more importantly they aren't fangers. I'm not stupid Santana." He rolls his eyes like he has taken offense to being criticized, not like he hadn't done something incredibly stupid. "You know that we're not the only marginalized group in this new world order. I know they don't have it as bad as we do but they believe in social justice. Equality for all. Besides if we can turn more of them onto our sides we can finally do more against the fangers."

Of course humans weren't the only marginalized group, but they were certainly the only group that was being fed on and used like livestock. It's not as if the fangers couldn't drink from the other groups, but from what she understood they considered it to be revolting and beneath them. "They still have it better than we do. I mean most of them work with the—"

"Shit, you don't know anything do you?"

Santana wheels around to look at the man who is leaning against the wall, he's one of the new faces and she could already tell that she wouldn't get along with him. "I have no fucking clue what you're talking about."

"You know, I thought that this was one more of the reasonably educated groups. Where we'd talk about change, and how to make this city better. I thought that it was different from all the fucking hate groups. But it's all the fucking same isn't it?" He sneers and runs a hand through his hair before shaking his head. "It's just the fucking circle of life, humanity merely brushed against an extinction level event. The world's population was decimated because of poor prescribing habits and creating super bacterial infections that you didn't have a response too. As for the fucking vampires, why in the world would they want their entire food supply gone? They only feed on humans, and even then they were content to remain in their stupid little factions and play their stupid little political games. We were fine with you wiping yourselves out, but unfortunately what killed you humans only gave us the fucking sniffles. We were resistant."

Santana scowled taking a step forward, "The vampires may not have started this, but they sure as hell finished it. Sure, you can blame the humans and whatever else you want to, but that doesn't change the fact that we're their source of food. That we're nothing more than cattle for them."

Sebastian shook his head, "Which means that they keep you well-fed and moderately happy."

"Please, we've all read that brochure. Moderately happy? I don't know why you're even here, we're committing treason by just being here. Heaven forbid we criticize or complain because we may never be seen again." Santana eyed the man carefully. "You sound like a fanger sympathizer."

"Sebastian—"

Sebastian shrugs off the arm on his shoulder, "Shut up Trent, you fucking gerbil. I can't believe you thought that the humans could help us. You know what they did to my fucking grandfather when the reveal happened? They thought he was a demon, the people who he had worked with, that knew him—they thought he was a fucking demon or that he was possessed so they took him down and tied him up." Sebastian swallows and continues angrily. "They tied him up dumped gasoline all over him and they lit a match and burnt him alive. He was a good man, and the humans fucking killed him. Not the vampires, not another shifter, it was the fucking humans. Maybe if the vampires had intervened earlier then this wouldn't have happened. Maybe if the vamps had intervened before we were put in the zone then my mom would still be alive. Maybe my brother—maybe my father wouldn't have ended up a miserable drunk. You want to work with these people? It's just another fucking hate group."

Santana frowned, she had been just a girl when the culling was happening. Religious leaders, politicians who were trying to find people to blame turned to the shapeshifting community, they had tried to lay the blame at their feet instead of their failed policies and the fact that they seemed to ignore scientists unless it suited them. "I'm sorry—about what happened to your parents. But it's happening to other people. They're dictators. Yeah they aren't dragging people out from their homes and burning them in the streets, but people are disappearing. People are afraid, they live in fear—"

"Then you shouldn't have come after my people," Sebastian spits. "We had no choice but to beg the vampires for help—"

"Which led to the fall of the fucking South."

"What happened in the South was a fucking tragedy which wouldn't have happened if the humans hadn't decided that we were demons. God, you people are so fucking stupid. What happens when you overthrow them huh? Have you given it a thought? Because I've been to the other territories, I've seen them, this place is fucking Nirvana compared to that. It's the devil you know."

Trent reached over and touched Sebastian's arm wincing when the taller boy shoved him off. "Sebastian. We all have stories like that, we all lost people that we cared about before the vampires took over. My dad was experimented on. They tortured him and he still wakes up screaming and I know. But we weren't innocent either—"

"We defended ourselves. There's a fucking difference we didn't attempt to commit genocide," Sebastian spits.

"I know, but I think about it and Santana's right. People are disappearing and the same thing that our parents felt that fear and paranoia—we need to end it. We need to start looking forward. I want to have kids someday, I do and I want them to not have to worry that something that they say or something that they believe in will get them killed or arrested. I don't want to have to worry about stuff like that."

Sebastian's fists tighten, "So you overthrow them and then what? How do you even plan on doing that?"

Will immediately stepped forward, "As Thomas Jefferson said, sometimes the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. I know someone who can get us some weapons. We need to protect ourselves and protect our future. We have an obligation to ourselves and the people of these territories to do whatever it takes to get our constitution back. To get our inalienable rights back. So yes we plan on taking down some tyrants, especially those that abuse their power. They live in decadence, and excess, and the rule of law doesn't fucking apply to them? The vampires are the fucking minority and yet they're the ones in power? It's bullshit."

Santana nods, it was bullshit for such a small number to have all the power, to make decisions for people they viewed as livestock. If they were allowed to protest, then maybe they could take the peaceful approach. But as Sebastian had just outright stated, the vampires rarely did anything unless it directly benefited or affected them.

"Except the revolution has already fucking begun." Santana turns to Artie who is smiling like he's proud of himself. "People are sick and tired of the vampire's reign, so we're finally fighting back. The fires last week that were all over the news?"

Her body went rigid, innocent people had been caught up in that fire. They had burned to death and the result hadn't been to their benefit. The police had been cracking down hard on groups like theirs. Terrorism didn't make them the heroes, it turned the people against them. "Artie, please tell me we had nothing to do with that. That it wasn't us?"

William Schuester frowned deeply, he had always questioned Santana's commitment to the cause. Collateral damage was simply the cost of doing business. Which was why they hadn't brought it to her attention. "We did it. Of course we're taking responsibility, we were trying to take out Hunter Clarington. There was reliable intel that the building was his nest. We struck when he was supposed to be sleeping and there weren't that many people but—" Will trails off and looks away. The intel had been a bust and the fire which was supposed to be contained had quickly gotten out of control.

Santana took a step back as if she'd been slapped hard across the face. Everyone knew that there were between fifty and a hundred vampires in these particular territories. Despite that everyone knew who Hunter was. Underneath that charming mask that he wore in public he was cruel and violent. She had witnessed his violence once, from afar.

Hunter had been making an example of a man who had probably said something offensive in his presence. At least that's what the story surrounding the incident was. She hadn't been close enough to hear the exchange but she had witnessed Hunter breaking every bone in the man's body before killing him. She could still hear the man's agonized screams. How he had begged for his life, yet no one had dared to help him.

There had been other vampires around, part of Hunter's group of thugs that tormented the populace, that had laughed at the man's pain at his agony. The police had simply turned a blind eye because there was nothing that they could do about it. It had been grotesque, watching Hunter play with the man 's corpse staging it to make a statement to everyone about their place in the world.

People whispered about all the horrors that Hunter and his group of sycophants were guilty of. Rape. Torture. Murder. Assault. They filled every vice they could and they terrorized the populace without consequence. They were bullies. She understood why Will had chosen had Hunter, if she could get away with it she would kill him herself. But this wasn't a fucking movie. "A revolution where we terrorize innocent people makes us the bad guys. We're supposed to be the good guys; we're supposed to be fighting for everyone's freedom. We can't have collateral damage, because it makes them the good guys when they're the ones who have been terrorizing us."

Sebastian shakes his head a horrified look on his features. "You're already fucking terrorists. People are scared, people think that what's happening in the south is going to happen here. That there's going to be another vampire civil war. The vampires are on edge and because of you more might be coming into the fucking city, ones that don't believe what the regents believe. God why are humans so fucking stupid? I thought—fuck I thought I'd feel bad about this. You were a good fucking friend Trent but the reward it's far too good an opportunity to pass up. I might be able to get some real power, might be able to make some real fucking change."

"What the hell is that supposed to—"

Trent doesn't get a chance to finish his question when the doors burst open and a flashbang is thrown down the stairs into the room. The device goes off with a huge bang disorientating everyone in the room as the sound of men shouting and boots marching fill the small storeroom.

"Down. Everyone on their fucking knees."

Santana drops as quickly as possible, beating almost everyone in the room to the floor. She cursed herself for not leaving earlier. She should have left the moment she found out there were non-humans there. Will was an idiot and Artie wasn't any better. She was never going to see her parents again; would they wonder where she was? Would they try and find her? Or would they simply accept that she was one of the people who disappeared. She feels strong arms shoving her hard into the ground and she winces as she collides with the concrete and her arms get yanked back. She feels cold metals wrapped around her wrist as she gets cuffed.

She can't move her head, with the man putting all of his weight on her back, "That's all of them. Like I promised. Traitors—so when do I get to meet with the Regents?" She can practically hear the glee in Sebastian's voice, there's a tinge of sorrow but it's not much.

"A rat like you?"

The voice is familiar and Santana feels a cold chill run down her spine as the sound of heavy footsteps walking down the stairs is heard. Almost all sound in the room comes to a stop and even the cops have stopped moving and are looking up towards the stairs.

"You think that you deserve to meet the regents? You don't, I refuse to let them sully themselves by dealing with a rat—though you do look more like a weasel. No, I think I'll be taking your prize." Hunter informs Sebastian bluntly.

Santana craned her neck for a better look at Sebastian who had a look of disbelief on his features. "Are you fucking kidding me? I did what you asked and you promised—we had a fucking deal—"

She can't even track the movement; Hunter had been all the way across the room but he had just appeared in front of Sebastian. It takes her a moment to realize that Hunter has his fist buried deep in Sebastian's chest. There's a confused look on Sebastian's face, and the pleased smirk that was on his face just moments before was gone forever.

Hunter rips his hand free and drops the organ that is still pumping out blood onto the ground. "Disgusting," he sneers. "Nothing more than an animal." He wipes his hand on one of the police officer's uniforms and turns to look at the group of people that are still on the ground. "Well, what are you waiting for? They're terrorists. Kill them."

Santana closes her eyes, a bullet to the back of the head. It was very much deserved for being this foolish.

"Enough Hunter. You know that the Regents requested that we bring them in alive for questioning. Given the situation they need to reassure the Red Court that they have things under control."

Hunter turned to the man who spoke, a cruel smile still on his face. "Well, no one said that we needed all of them."

"I say we need all of them. We need to question them; we need to see what they know or if there are any more attacks imminent." The man responded, his voice even as he nodded towards his men. "You're not supposed to be here Hunter, not only because you were the one targeted and this sets a bad precedent but also because this is my investigation."

The smile on Hunter's face dropped, he had given up the pretense of attempting to act nice as he turns on the officer in charge, grabbing him and slamming him hard against the opposite wall as other officers jumped out of the way. "Watch your tone pup, because I have no qualms in taking care of you like I just did him."

If the man was terrified of Hunter, it wasn't heard in his voice, nor did it show in his face. If anything he looked at Hunter as if he was nothing more than a mere annoyance. "You wouldn't dare Hunter. What would you tell them? Because if you think for a moment that they can't see through your shit and your machinations then you're simply deluding yourself. Like I said you're not supposed to be here, so what are you going to do? Blame it on the humans? Even if they believed that I got hit, they would still punish you for letting it happen." The man shoves Hunter off him and lands on his feet, before dusting himself off. "Now as I said, take them in, keep them separate and interrogate them thoroughly. I want to know everything about them by nightfall. We need to make sure that there are no more attacks incoming."

Santana swallows, and flicks her eyes to the whimpering that she hears coming from Trent, he was going to die too. They all were. Every last one of them were in the same boat, he might have wanted to make the world better but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hunter snarls before turning on the prisoners, it was obvious he didn't like being told no, but it only takes a moment for the smile to be back on his face. "So which one of you is going to talk first? The first one to talk won't end up losing their head." He starts to pace between the bodies and pulls up short, just to Santana's left. "What about you? I heard you talking big, with all your stupid conspiracy theories."

Her mind spins as she tries to remember who is beside her and not wanting to turn her neck in case she brings his wrath down upon her, but when glasses fall to the floor she realizes that it's Artie. She hopes, prays that he doesn't do anything stupid. They were still needed maybe they could figure out a way to get out of this together. Wishful thinking but at this point it was all she had. It's what her parents had told her be polite and keep your head down when the vampires were around and there was a good chance that they'd leave you alone.

"Fuck you fanger!" Artie says before hocking a loogie into Hunter's face.

Santana closed her eyes, and tried not to groan out loud. Sebastian may have made a valid point about the general intelligence of the room. Why the fuck would Artie decide that it was a brilliant idea to antagonize the most psychotic vampire in the area. "Artie shut—" There's a thud and she finally turns her neck so she could tell Artie to stop, but it was obvious he had been dropped face first into the ground. She glances up to see the rage etched on Hunter's face as he pulls out a handkerchief and wipes the spit and mucus off his face.

"Hunter don't—"

Artie moans in pain against the ground and Santana closes her eyes, she's positive that the repercussions weren't going to be pleasant for any of them.

Hunter didn't say anything as he walked calmly to Artie's side and placed his boot on Artie's lower back and began to apply pressure. It didn't take long for a scream of agony to escape Artie's lips, after the first crunch sound was heard.

"Hunter. That's enough."

Hunter smirked and kicked Artie over before spitting in his tear stained face, as he sobbed in agony, before turning to the man who had been a bane in his side all day. "You said not to kill him. I didn't kill him," he said defending his actions, in a cheery tone.

"You maimed him. Now we've got to get him medical care and he's useless now." The man snaps. He sighs and takes a look at the rest of the prisoners and turns back to his men. "Get them out of here. Take them straight to interrogation and get that one to a hospital. I want him under surveillance, though at this point I don't think he'll be going anywhere." The man turned and nearly slipped on Sebastian's blood that had coated the floor. "And will someone clean up this mess?"

Santana grunted as she was hauled to her feet, she couldn't even look at Artie who was still on the ground sobbing and muttering something about his legs. She immediately tucked her head down low, hoping that Hunter wasn't paying her any mind. He was clearly getting off on his actions towards Artie. At the very least Artie had stayed his execution.

She begins to walk, as she's shoved towards the stairs, when she hears something that makes her blood run cold. Will is talking, babbling even possibly scared out of his mind. This had been the biggest mistake of her life, they weren't going to change anything, her parents were going to never know what happened to her.

"I had nothing to do with it. I—she did it; she was the mastermind."

Her eyes widen and she turns to Will, betrayal written on her face. His words drawing the attention of everyone in the room. He was going to sell her out when she hadn't even been involved in the planning of any terrorist attack. "You piece of shit—" She's interrupted by their savior speaking up, he sounded unimpressed. Bored even by Will's betrayal, like he had expected it.

"If you think that lying is going to get you out of this then I feel so sorry for you. The Regents can always tell when a human is lying. They can smell it on them, the fear, they can hear your heart beating in your chest the slightest reaction and they'll see it. So if I were you, I'd confess, and perhaps they won't flay you alive."

Hunter turned to Santana finally paying her attention as he tilts his head and approaches her and grabs her by the chin forcing it up. He smiled at her, as if noting that she was a woman, and he gave her a lust filled look as he licked his lips. He had probably heard her rant. "I think I'm going to ask the Regents if I can break you, you're the one that wants to come after me. You think I'm the bad guy here? I'm your better and before I kill you I'm going to make sure that you know." He can see the defiance in her eyes, and waits for a moment for her to make a stupid mistake but she just meets his gaze unflinchingly.

"Enough Hunter. Take her away."

Santana lets out a shaky breath as she's pulled out of Hunter's grasp and dragged up the stairs. She had never been so fucking terrified in her life, and she didn't doubt his words. She was going to die, slowly, painfully and alone.