With her eyes closed, there was nothing Santana could do but brace herself for the imminent doom. And waits. She's not sure how long it takes, but it feels like far too long. She's going to die and no one will ever know that she wasn't involved in some terror plot. Her entire family would probably be persecuted and tormented, rounded up like rebels and made an example of.

What had she done?

She spins through all of these thoughts as her life flashes before her eyes. There is no delaying the inevitable, but this has to be torture. A cool band slips on her head just behind her ears and she feels a firm hand pat her on top of her head before pulling away.

"Really Charlie?"

Santana opens her eyes and stares at the Regent in front of her that still had vampire blood stuck to her hands, but the Regent at least the one that had been identified was no longer truly paying attention to her, well that's what she assumed, even though Charlie was currently pointing at her. There was hushed whispers from vampires in attendance, and she swallows a part of her wondering why she was still very much alive.

She flinches when Charlie stops pointing and her hands begin to move quickly and she makes a few shoulder gestures. It doesn't look like any sign language she's seen before and she glances up at Sam who was watching the events unfold, but even he didn't quite seem to know what Charlie was waving her hands about.

"Use your words Charlie—" The still unnamed regent watches her twin for a moment causing her to sigh and rub her temple as if she's fighting off a headache. "Alright fine. This human is absolved of all crimes with which she has been charged. She is now under the protection of the Regents. I trust no harm will come to her within these walls."

Santana's jaw dropped, "What?" She glances up at Charlie who once again reaches for her head and she immediately ducks her head away. She notes the disappointed look on Charlie's face at this action. "I don't—"

"You do remember that owning a pet is difficult Charlie. It took us several years to get Sam housebroken."

"Quinn—" Sam huffs and Santana's surprised at how much it sounded like a whine. He glances over at the others and coughs. "I mean, Your Eminence."

Quinn narrowed her eyes at Sam for a moment before shrugging it off and crossing her legs. "You peed in my shoes, don't whine Samuel, it's undignified coming from a member of the police force."

"It was a dare." He grumbles under his breath, shooting a glare at Charlie who doesn't look the slightest bit apologetic. He sighs, not quite sure how to tell Charlie that what she was being incredibly offensive by putting the cat ears on Santana. No one would dare say anything to her face but he knew off a few officers who would complain about it.

"Pet?" Santana snaps looking up at Quinn, outraged horror on her face as she pushes herself to her feet smacking away Charlie's hand from attempting to pet her again. This only seems to amuse the vampire who reaches for her again. "I'm not a—I'm nobody's pet!"

"You're theirs now." Sam observes. Charlie nods and pats Santana's shoulder emphatically.

Quinn shakes her head. "Sam, take our human and get her cleaned up. She smells like she hasn't bathed in days and no matter what Charlie may try and convince you to do, I'm not letting that into our living quarters until she doesn't have any sort of resemblance toward your pups." Quinn stands up and motions for her twin to follow her. "This trial is over, go back to your business."

Stunned, Santana stumbles as Sam pushes her carefully and forcefully out of the room.

What the hell had just happened?

"Don't say anything," Sam whispered into her ear quietly, when he notices that she's about to start protesting. She had managed to get out of this with her life in tact and more importantly, she had gotten what she wanted in a perhaps demeaning way.

"Like hell—" Santana began struggling against Sam who immediately placed his hand over her mouth and dragged her into a small room off the main hallway, shoving her inside. She stumbles forward and immediately turns to look at him, trying to keep her anger contained. Sam hadn't been horrible to her, sure he had violated her civil liberties, but he had given her food and water and had probably kept Hunter from actually torturing her, but that didn't make him one of the good guys.

Sam narrows his eyes at the twins' newest play-thing. "Look, I know it seems bad but what else could you have really hoped for? This is the best thing that could have happened to you." He understood how it felt, he'd been their pet at one time. It hadn't really been a terrible experience, as humiliating as it was now looking back at it, his life could have been worse, far worse than being put in silly costumes and getting fed and pet.

"I'm not going to be some sex toy for their amusement."

"And what other choice do you have?" Sam snaps. Yes, the twins treated everyone like they were far beneath them, but he was still unsure if it was a personality quirk, or if they truly were above everyone else. "And who said anything about sex?" Sam questions his irritation building quickly, she had no idea who they were and here she was passing judgement.

"They did when they said I was going to be their pet." Santana snaps at him, shuddering at the thought. "I'm not going to be a blood whore—"

Sam rolled his eyes, "This isn't some kinky BDSM thing, you're a pet. It's a title more than anything and it's demeaning. Having that title means that very few people are going to take you seriously, unless you have their ear. As for the title, why do people normally have pets?"

Santana's jaw drops. "You have to be joking. I'm a human not an animal."

"I'm not. They view you as something to take care of to give them amusement. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to play fetch with you." He shakes his head. "Your life as you know it is over. I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. Get used to it, because there are hundreds of people who would kill to be in your position."

"To be their plaything?"

"No, to have their ear. You're the one that wants to make things better for humans, and now you're going to have a certain amount of influence over them if you play your cards right, so if I were you I'd suck it up." Sam snaps at her. "Look, you can complain to them if you want, you were caught with a terrorist group, one that admitted to being behind the death of a few dozen people. You can have your day in court, you'd lose, and then what? You spend the rest of your life in prison? Or have them kill you?"

Santana falls silent at the thought. What was she going to do? She closes her eyes and nods. "I want to see my parents first."

Sam shrugs. "That can be arranged. But you'll need to get cleaned up first." He gestures to the door on their left. He already knows it's full of soaps and shampoos that Charlie and Quinn will approve of and there's not anything in there that she can use as a weapon.

"I'm not showering only to put back on filthy clothes—"

"I am sure they will have something for you to wear, I suggest wearing it without much fuss. They once put me in a cow costume, with a pink tutu while I was shifted. Why? Because they thought it was adorable. It was humiliating. Start thinking that it could be much worse." He points to the room again. "Look, I'm sure you think that there has to be options, that you can run away. My advice is don't, they will track you no matter where you hide they will find you. You may think that killing yourself is an option, again you're in a building filled with vampires coming and going. Someone might attempt to save you, and then you'll become one of them. This might not be a permanent thing, they get bored really quickly, you could be free in a month maybe two. The last pet only lasted half a day." Sam pauses for a moment and tilts his head. "Get clean, I've been summoned." He frowns ever so slightly he had a very good idea what this was going to be about. He turns around, the twin's never liked to be kept waiting and heads out of the small room. He pauses for a moment and glances back at Santana who still seemed to be in a state of shock. "It's going to be okay." It's not much but it's all he has.

~O~

She tugs down on the fabric of the cotton t-shirt that the Regents had provided for her as her convoy pulls up in front of her parents' house. Sam had brought it back for her with a pair of brand new underwear and jeans and socks. She was surprised, sure it was a little tight, but it wasn't something humiliating. She'd even been given a coat by Sam to keep warm. It wasn't kindness, that much she was sure off. She had no idea how this meeting with her parents would go. As far as she was concerned her parents shouldn't even be here. The resistance was supposed to have taken care of them—

"The resistance is dead, or at the very least it took a massive blow. William Schuester talked, in fact he wouldn't shut up. We barely had to interrogate him, all we did was promise that he wouldn't meet the same fate as Sebastian. He gave us names, locations, everything passwords, codes. Also, he informed us where several illegal weapon stashes were." Sam spoke up, noting the looking on her face. "He cooperated—if you could call it that."

Her heart sinks at the thought. Had he really betrayed them so completely? She didn't know why she expected anything better of him, or any of them, especially after blaming her for an act she hadn't even been aware of. "Of course, he did."

Sam hummed in response as he marched towards the house, "You put your faith in cowards and murderers. This was bound to happen," Sam points out and nods toward her parents' house. "You have the Regents' word that no harm will come to them. Any investigation into them has been closed."

She takes a small comfort in that. Although her parents may be safe from the vampires and shifters, but it offered little in protection from the different human factions. If anything, they would now be targets. She never really thought she would be on this side of it—of fearing her own kind more than the tyrannical leadership she had spent years trying to fight. "Forgive me if I'm not exactly trusting of people offering promises."

"Fair enough."

She leads the way up her parent's drive and reaches for her pocket only to remember that she no longer has her keys, they'd gotten taken from her and she needs to tell her parents to change the locks. Instead she knocks on the front door and waits. It only takes a moment for her mother to swing open the door.

A look of relief and hope flood onto Maribel's face as she sees her only child standing on the doorstep, she doesn't notice anyone else as she immediately pulls Santana into a tight hug. "Dios, ¿dónde has estado?"

Santana blinked back tears as she slowly hugs her mother tightly. She hadn't even thought of what she was going to say to her mother, to her parents to explain where she had been. "I'm sorry," she finally manages, her voice breaking as she says it. "I'm so sorry."

Sam watched the reunion wordlessly, flicking his eyes past Maribel to the man who was quickly approaching. Probably her father, he wasn't going to be the one to break it to them that Santana was now a pet of sorts, nor was he going to explain that she had been caught in a terrorist cell. It was completely up to her how she decided to handle it. He was stuck on babysitting duty until further notice for not informing them about the Hunter problem. There would be consequences for Charlie's actions that would probably fall upon the city. But it probably wouldn't be as bad as the reign of terror that was Hunter Clarington.

The instant her mom releases her she's swept into another tight hug from her dad. "Oh mija, we were so worried."

She gulps and tries to find the right words. "I screwed up Papi."

"At least you're alive." He breathes into her hair.

How could she have done this? How could she have thought they had any chance against the fangers and their absolute control? How could she have put her parents in this position?

"Whatever it is, we can fix it." Her Mami promises.

Santana pulls away from her dad. "I'm not so sure." She sighs. "I was—I trusted the wrong people. I thought we were making a difference, but they just—they betrayed everything we were trying to do."

"Santana—?"

"I came to tell you that I'm going to be working with the Regents for a while. They agreed to—" She tries to think of the right phrase. She's not about to tell her father that she's been adopted as a sex toy, but there aren't a whole lot of other explanations to be had., "—they're going to work with me. Maybe this time we can really make a difference without hurting innocent people." She glances at Sam, "It's not really negotiable but I think I'll still be able to come home and visit—"

"Under some supervision," Sam reminds her, noting how Santana's parents gape at this.

"Santana? What's going on? Who is he?" Maribel demands, trying to keep her tone respectful, he was afterall wearing a uniform. "Is this some job—I don't understand?"

Santana exhales slowly, she wasn't going to simply get out of this without giving her parents more information. She knew that. "Maybe—maybe we should talk inside? I need to pack a few of my things." She murmurs, at least with Sam here her parents probably wouldn't kill her for her stupidity.

~O~

"Due to the nature of the beings working in this building and their enhanced sense of smell, it is best if none of your shampoos, soaps and or deodorants have any scents in them. You might think that you smell fine but I assure you that you do not."

Santana eyed the man who had come to greet them and frowned slightly wondering who the hell he was when Sam finally speaks up. "Santana, this is Blaine. Blaine is the Regents' personal assistant. He will be helping you acclimate into your new position. I suggest listening to him and doing whatever he says, it'll keep you out of trouble and more importantly you won't irritate them." Sam informs her patting her shoulder and handing her one of the duffel bags again. He turns his attention to Blaine briefly, "I need to get back to my shift, she's all yours."

Santana turns, even though she wasn't Sam's biggest fan she knew that he probably wasn't going to hurt her. She had no idea who this person was, he certainly didn't smell like a vampire, though he wasn't outside and even if he was, the sun had gone down about an hour ago, "Are you—?"

Blaine nods, "Yes, I'm a vampire," Blaine interrupts. "Follow me please, I'll be showing you to your quarters. You'll be sleeping in the same wing as the Regents. Which is why you must keep your cleanliness up to standard. Personally, if I were you I would have another shower." Blaine turns and starts to walk up the regal looking staircase, he takes a few steps before turning to look at Santana who hadn't moved. "They don't like to be kept waiting you know."

Santana swallows and gathers the little courage she has. Today had been a whirlwind of emotions, and mostly she was tired. Far too tired to argue with him and begins to shuffle after him. "They don't seem to like a lot of things," she mutters under her breath, but she pauses when she notices a twitch on Blaine's face. She had offended him, but she certainly wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of apologizing.

"I'm not sure if they've ever had a normal human pet before, most of their pets have been shifters. So, I am not personally sure what they want from you, however I'm sure some of your duties would overlap with their former pets. I imagine that you will be joining them at dinners—"

Santana paled at the thought, "I never agreed to be used as food," she snaps quickly hoping that it puts an end to that train of thought. There were rumors of course, some people who suggested that a vampire feeding was addictingly orgasmic. She was not going to become a blood whore.

Blaine didn't even pause as he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Where I am sure they will feed you from their plates. I suggest that you learn to like vegetables, if you don't already. You'll be eating plenty of it. Also, it is in your best interest to learn to enjoy being petted."

"You have to be joking. That's demeaning."

Blaine doesn't even look at her instead opening the folder in his hands to check his own paperwork. He truly didn't have time for this babysitting, nor does he care about comforting Santana. She had been caught with a terrorist group. "You're a pet. I suggest you get used to the fact that your opinion no longer matters unless they say it does. You're not even aware of the damage you've caused for the entirety of these territories. I'm sure you have your reasons, but you know very little about the outside world—let alone how the Red Court operates. There will be consequences for what happened today, so if you want to survive, I suggest that you learn to behave quickly."

"They said—"

"I'm aware of what her eminence said, but if you don't learn your place and learn to bite your tongue what she said won't matter." Blaine stops in front of a room and pushes it open. "This is your room, there's an ensuite in the corner. I'll come fetch you when it's time for dinner. Feel free to ask me for anything that will make you feel comfortable."

Santana opened her mouth to argue and then thought better of it. What else was there to say? She looks in the room, it at least had a decent sized bed in it and windows, plus it was rather warm. It was certainly miles ahead of the room that she'd been in for the past week, and it was more than she expected.

"Good, you may explore the grounds as you see fit, though given what various vampires think of you I would suggest staying close to the Regents for now. They are at the end of the hall, though their room is off-limits unless they give you permission to be in there. I'll leave you to get settled." Blaine nods at her before walking off, leaving her alone.

Santana swallowed and turned to look down the hall, but it was empty. She sighs, maybe she'd get a break tonight and get to acclimatize but she had no reason to truly believe that this was going to go well.