As much as I would like to own them, all the characters of Glee belong to Fox – I own nothing. All the characters of The Fast and the Furious belong to Universal Studios, I'm just borrowing some of them. All writing belongs to me.
Thank you to everybody for the amazing messages of love and encouragement. I really appreciate it, it helps me carry on with this story as a whole. Anyway, enjoy this next update and the many more to come in the near future!
Thanks to everybody still adding to faves and whatnot, I'm happy you all like it so much!
"Brittany"
1 Hour earlier...
Santana yelped as she was tackled from behind. She had just finished buying some essentials that her grandmother needed, as well as some snacks for her and Brittany, when she was assaulted out of nowhere. She groaned as her face came into contact with the concrete of the sidewalk and before she knew it a well placed kick met her stomach. As she clutched at the new injury she heard whispers from above her.
"Hey, the boss says we need her alive and untouched!"
"Yeah, but one hit won't kill her. He'll never know!"
"Whatever, get her in the van and bag her. We need to get back before we're killed along with her"
When Santana felt the van stop she was violently pulled out and cried out as her knees came into contact with the rough ground of what seemed to be a yard. She was then pulled to her feet by the two people who had taken her and dragged into a rather large building. It was then that her bag mask was pulled off and she was knelt in front of Puck in a garage surrounded by various cars in different stages of upgrading. However that didn't matter because as she looked around she was not only faced by Puck but the entirety of his crew and they didn't look happy to see her in the least.
"Ah, Lopez. How nice to see you here"
The woman in question turned her gaze back to the man stood in front of her. "If I had my way I wouldn't be here. Why are you doing this?" She asked, although she knew she had a pretty good idea why.
Puck laughed as he circled her. "I thought you'd say that. You gave me no other option"
"How did you find me?"
"Is it so hard to believe that we simply followed you? I told you I'd get you back for what you did Santana, I was just waiting for my perfect opportunity to strike. Now, I'm sure you have plenty of other questions but right now but I'm done talking. It's about time you paid for killing my brother. Chain her up"
Before she could realize what was happening she was being chained up to the roof by Sam and Mike. Now in the perfect position she was open to any attack and she couldn't defend herself. That was when Puck took his first strike. She groaned as her already stinging stomach was hit again but she knew this time her crew wouldn't be there to save her. She just hoped they didn't end up really killing her, she had so much left unsaid.
"This is for choosing that bitch Ortiz over me!" Another hit. "This is for thinking you're better than everybody else!" Another hit. "This is for you not being the one to be killed in that explosion along with that precious cereal box car of yours!" Another hit. "And this is for killing my brother!"
The final hit was much more painful than the rest, the power hitting deep as his fist connected with her eyebrow. She wanted to much to yell out in pain but if there was one thing she had learnt from fighting her way through growing up, it was that she should never show her opponent that she's feeling the pain he's inflicting. So, reverting back to that personality she saved only for people who truly deserved it, she let a smile cross her face in spite of the pain. Snixx was back.
"What are you smiling at?" Puck spat, watching as Santana started laughing.
"You know where I'm from puta? Lima Heights Adjacent. You think you can break me down and make me beg for forgiveness for killing your brother? Sure, go ahead and try but know this, I will never admit to doing something I never had any part in!"
"You did! You were there and you let him die!" He lurched forward and connected a powerful hit with her lip, busting it open.
Smiling and gritting her teeth through the pain she spat out the blood onto the cold concrete floor and looked up at him. "Nothing I ever say will make up for you losing your brother"
"You're damn right!"
She resisted the urge to cry out loud as he punched her in the right eye, the Latina sure there would be a deep dark bruise forming there very soon.
"But why take it out on me?"
Puck never answered, just continuously punched her until he was out of breath. When he pulled back he surveyed his bloody knuckles, not caring that they would most probably be bruised the next day. Surveying the damage done he was temporarily satisfied so he looked over at Rory.
"She's all yours"
Santana watched as the man in question walked eagerly towards her and she felt her body tense up in anticipation for the attack that she knew was surely coming. She wasn't disappointed when she felt a firm kick to her abdomen knocking the wind out of her.
"This is for taking Brittany away from me!"
The Irish man threw a few more punches and kicks to her before pulling back whilst panting heavily. Santana grinned, ignoring the fact that she had probably just gained a broken rib from his foot.
"What's the matter? Are you so small you don't have the energy to keep up with Puck?" She taunted, knowing that it would rile him up. She was not quite sure why she was doing it, but in some form or another she was enjoying taunting the man over the fact that she had something he wanted and could never have.
Yelling Rory lurched forward and wrapped his hands around her neck, steadily choking her and cutting off her air supply. He was forced back by Puck.
"Chill! I think we're done here for tonight. Load her up in the van and get her back. No doubt Ortiz is already missing her puppy. Oh, and here. Take this burn phone and call that girlfriend of hers, taunt her a little bit" He smirked, throwing the phone in Brody's direction. Laughing he made his way back into his office. Maybe now they'd get the message to stop fucking with him.
Brittany's blood ran cold at the sound of Santana's voice on the end of the line. Then the panic set in.
"Santana? Santana, answer me!"
She huffed and ran over to the dresser where Santana had left her phone. She was just about to pick it up and call Letty when she saw something in the street. Without wasting time she pulled on her Nike's and was already downstairs and outside in under a minute.
"Santana!"
She ran towards the woman she knew as her girlfriend and fell to her knees beside her. She immediately pulled the Latina's head into her lap and cradled her bloody face in her hands. Despite the fact that she now had tears running down her own face she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled Letty's number.
"Hello?"
"Letty"
"Britt, what's wrong?"
"It's Santana"
"What about her?"
"She's hurt really bad. Please just get here"
"Ok, we're on our way"
It wasn't long before Letty arrived with some of the others in tow, Brittany not moving from her place in the middle of the road for a whole ten minutes. Her Plymouth slid to an abrupt stop and she jumped out followed by Mia and ran towards her friend.
"Britt!"
"We need to get her to a hospital" Mia said, already taking in Santana's injuries.
"Agreed. Britt, how did this happen?"
The blonde shook her head as tears rolled down her face. "I don't know. She called me and when I looked outside I saw her laying the middle of the road. I got to her and called you"
The older Latina nodded and thought for a few moments. "I think I know who did this but we need to get her to the hospital. Come on, let's get her into my Plymouth and into the back seat. Q, help me get her up"
Quinn did as she was told and moved into position, Letty instructing her to lift on three. As soon as they lifted her up though the injured Latina groaned out in agony.
"Make it stop!"
Despite the fact that there were hot tears running down Brittany's face at the sight of Santana in so much pain she took initiative and stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on her cheek to make her focus on her.
"It's ok San. I know it hurts, just hold on and we'll get you to the hospital"
Just as Quinn and Letty had made it over to Letty's car Santana's grandmother came rushing out of her house and towards them. She didn't recognize anybody else other than Brittany but that wasn't what worried her, it was the sight of her nearly unconscious granddaughter that made her panic. Brittany saw her coming and made her way over to her, holding her back.
"Brittany? What's going on?"
"Santana's hurt, we need to get her to the hospital"
"Who are these people?" The old woman asked, looking over Brittany's shoulder at the other people surrounding their fallen crew member.
"This is the rest of our crew. We all drive together and I called them when I didn't know what else to do. I know this is all new to you but we really need to go"
"It's true. We really need to get her to the hospital, she's hurt badly." When Letty saw the way she was looking at her she realized she hadn't introduced herself so she held out a hand. "Oh, sorry. I'm Letty Ortiz, crew leader. Sorry I couldn't meet you under better circumstances but as Santana's kind of my responsibility and I'd really like to go now before she dies on me"
Taking a few moments to study the Latina's face Alma then turned to Brittany who was doing nothing but desperately pleading with just her eyes. "Ok, go. Can I come with you?"
Letty nodded. "Of course. Marley should have a free back-seat for you in her Camaro. The orange car"
Once Alma was in Marley's car, Brittany jumped into her crew leaders car and even though the back-seat was cramped she somehow managed to pull Santana back into her lap. Santana, even on the verge of blacking out from the pain, managed to keep herself awake to take in the warmth that Brittany was offering. Right now it didn't matter that she was undercover, these people were helping her and saving her from dying. That meant more to her than anything ever could. It showed just how much they trusted her as one of their own. As for Brittany it meant even more to the injured woman. Feeling her kiss the top of her head whilst tracing the side of her face with a single finger made her feel more comfortable than she could have ever imagined.
Even though the pain from her beating was slowly winning Brittany's comfort was enough to keep her relaxed and comfortable until they reached the hospital. Brittany breathed out a sigh of relief as the building came into view and Letty pulled up in the emergency bay, somebody already approaching them. They placed Santana on a stretcher and wheeled her inside, everybody following her in once they had parked their cars accordingly. As she was tended to all they had to do was wait.
Two weeks later...
Santana breathed the warm breeze in deeply, wincing in pain a little as her wounds were still healing. She had barely made it to the hospital and that night had been one of the worst in her life. If it wasn't for the crew she doesn't think she would have made it. She probably would have died and Puck would have got his way, a life for a life. Instead she had survived and she was slowly recovering from the wounds Puck and Rory had both inflicted on her.
She had various bruises covering her torso, her scar on her arm ached nearly every day from the stress, she had one hell of a black eye that was nearly gone and a cut marring her eyebrow that had required stitches. The worst damage had been done to her chest. She had two fractured ribs that had caused the most pain and despite the fact that she had had all of the other injuries before these were the things that were putting her healing ability to the test. She'd never had such debilitating injuries in her entire life and it was annoying her because she couldn't drive at all. Instead Brittany had been driving her everywhere since she had got out of the hospital, not that she had minded though. That's what had made it bearable.
Now, as she lent up against the side of her car with her arms resting at her sides, clad in a black t-shirt, a black pair of chino's, her converses and a pair of aviator sunglasses, she waited for her girlfriend to exit the Supra she had let her drive. If she wasn't going to be able to drive it herself at least let her girlfriend drive her around in it.
Brittany pulled herself out of the driver's seat of her girlfriend's car and made her way towards the hood, Santana joining her. Once the Latina was sat back on the hood she let herself rest in between her legs, feeling her arms wrap around her waist whilst her head rested on her shoulder.
"Is this ok for you? It's not painful?"
Santana grinned, Brittany always asking her if what she was doing was painful. She had been especially careful since the moment she had gotten out of the hospital and where most other people may have gotten annoyed at the close and constant attention Santana was enjoying every second of it, never having had someone who cared so much for her in her entire life.
"Yeah, it's not painful babe."
"Good"
Brittany pressed a kiss to the other woman's lips as another car pulled up in front of them. Letty stepped out clad in a black wifebeater, a black pair of skinny jeans and black boots with a similar pair of aviators to Santana's nestled snugly on her face. Mia got out of the passenger side and was clad in all-black as well, continuing the theme. It wasn't long before the rest of the crew arrived, Tina and Marley in Tina's 350z, Dani and Kitty in Dani's Ford, Quinn and Rachel in Quinn's Skyline, Shelby and Holly in Shelby's Camaro, and Kurt and Blaine in Blaine's Porsche. They were all in black too, the continuous theme now obvious.
Once everybody was surrounding Letty they watched on from a distance as the service began down in the cemetery. They were perched up on a sort of hill with a dirt road and they had gathered to watch Jake's funeral from afar. They had all agreed to attend, even if it was from a distance. Santana hadn't done anything but she was there in his last moments and when Letty had asked her if she wanted to join them she had agreed.
So, here they were. Down where the service was taking place they could see Puck and the entirety of his crew plus all of their cars lined up by the small road not too far from them.
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life a young man who was taken away from us too soon..."
"I know he was an asshole to me but maybe now he can finally rest in peace" Marley said from her place in Tina's arms.
Her girlfriend nodded. "Hmm, maybe now he can."
"Do you think there's a body in the coffin?" Blaine asked from his place beside Kurt.
Santana shook her head. "Probably not but they can't just bury nothing. The car exploded, there was no way his body could have survived that"
"Whatever's in there they're burying it" Mia added, placing a comforting hand on Santana's shoulder and squeezing. The Latina looked up and smiled in appreciation which was met by another acknowledging squeeze.
Everybody fell silent once more as they continued watching. The ceremony drew to a close as Puck and the rest of his crew threw handfuls of soil over the lowered coffin before it was fully covered. It was then that Letty turned to her entire crew, extras included.
"Let's get back to the house. We have some important decisions that need to be made"
When they all arrived back at the house they made their way inside and once they were settled and changed out of their black clothes they situated themselves in the back yard.
"So, what did you wanna talk about Let?" Quinn asked from her place sat at the picnic table with Rachel.
"We need a plan of action. After everything that's happened we need to get back on track and keep getting ready for Race Wars."
"I agree. What happened with Jake was unfortunate but I think that we need to move past that. Any ideas?" Shelby asked, agreeing with Letty's idea.
It wasn't long before Santana held up her hand from her place sat between Brittany's legs up against the large tree in the corner of the yard. "I think we need to set up some races and get back into the habit, at least for me that is, and just focus on nothing but driving"
Quinn nodded. "I agree with S. We need to prove that Puck hasn't beaten us, no pun intended Santana"
"It's ok"
"Anyway, we need to prove that we're still in the running despite what he did to Santana in retaliation"
"What about another warm up day?" Rachel asked.
Dani shook her head. "We've already done our annual one. I think we should keep moving forward and get back to racing on a regular basis. I'm itching to get behind the wheel again."
"Me too" Tina added. "I really wanna get racing again"
"Then I guess it's settled. Blaine, start organizing some races for us and we can finally get back to what we do best. As for now I think this meeting's over. Who's up for barbecue tonight?"
Marley instantly shot her hand up. "Me!"
"I'm in" Santana said, holding up a hand.
Quinn smiled and held her hand up as well. "Count me in too"
"I think it's pretty obvious. I'll go get the stuff for the sauce" Mia smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of Letty's head before heading into the kitchen through the back door.
"I love barbecue" Brittany smiled, kissing Santana on the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around her neck from behind.
The Latina sat between her legs smiled. "Me too"
Once they were all sat at the table, all the couples together Letty smiled from her place on the end with Mia in her lap. She held up a beer signalling for everybody else to do the same.
"To family"
"To family" Everybody replied, clicking their beer bottles together with wide smiles spread across all of their faces.
Even though they had witnessed a funeral that afternoon it truly felt like a new beginning. After Santana had been beaten and put into the hospital they were more determined than ever to get back to what they loved the most, driving and racing.
It wasn't until later that night that Santana was approached by Blaine.
"Hey Blaine"
"Hey S"
Blaine joined the brunette who was sat at the picnic table drinking beer whilst looking up at the night sky.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, just thinking"
"If you don't mind me asking, about what?"
"Nothing much. I was curious though"
"Something I can answer?"
"Probably. You're the best race organizer around here. I was just curious how you guys always manage to avoid the cops. Back before I left Lima the scene was pretty tight and we got chased nearly every time we raced. How come now the reigns seem to be much looser?"
Blaine smiled as he took a sip of beer before answering. "We have a guy in the police department who I work with. We knew each other back in high school so he looks out for us whenever we set up a race. Sure, we get chased sometimes but most of the time we can get in and out without the cops knowing. By the time they know and get there we're long gone. How else do you think I'm one of, if not, the best in the entire city?"
Santana laughed as she drunk from her bottle. "I have to admit, that's clever. So you call him up every time?"
The man shrugged. "Not every time. Just enough so that he doesn't get caught helping us. He comes to our races some times. I'll point him out the next time he's there. Anyway, Brittany sent me out here to check if you were ok. She told me to tell you Lord Tubbington's looking for you. And no, this isn't an excuse to get you inside so she can keep an eye on you, he really is looking for you. I can vouch for that"
Santana smiled as she stood up. "Then I guess I'd better get inside so he can see me. I swear that cat's obsessed with me"
Blaine laughed as he clapped a hand on her shoulder whilst they made their way towards the back door. "I think so too. Probably a little too much if you ask me"
It wasn't until three days later that Cassandra finally got involved. Or rather, Santana had brought it upon herself. She had been avoiding her whilst she had gotten better after her fatal beating from Puck. So, as she was driving through the down town area of Lima in her Supra after picking something up for Letty she saw an unmarked car pull up behind her. Not thinking much of it she continued on as normal until she heard the warning sound of a siren.
Slowing down she pulled over to the curb and waited to find out what was happening. "God damn it" She cursed, watching in the rearview mirror as two familiar women stepped out of the car.
"Show me your hands. Very good now open the door"
Santana did as Cassandra told her through the loudspeaker and stuck both hands out of her open window, reaching and opening the door as instructed.
"Put your hands on your head. Behind your head" She then instructed, Santana doing exactly as the her handler told her. "Face the front of the vehicle and walk backwards towards the rear"
Although it still hurt considering her injuries were slow healing Santana continued to obey Cassandra's commands, keeping her arms painfully above her head and taking a few steps backwards before stopping.
"Take two steps to your right, stop right there"
She then felt a presence at her back and the next thing she knew Police Chief Roz Washington was searching her.
"What I do?" She asked, her arms still held up behind her head.
"Shut up" Roz said, finishing her search. "She's clean Cassandra"
The blonde nodded and smiled at Santana. "Good. We're taking a ride Miss Lopez."
Ten minutes later Roz pulled up behind Santana's Supra which Cassandra had taken the liberty of driving whilst the Latina took a ride in the unmarked squad car. They were in one of the expensive houses not to far from where she raced Jake. Ironic. Santana made a mental note to check her car later for things like bugs as Cassandra had a habit of wanting to keep her tracked at all times, especially after she hadn't checked in in the past two weeks.
Roz pulled Santana out of the car. "Dude, will you take these things off? I mean shit, you them on so tight"
Cassandra laughed as she followed them, stopping as she watched Roz take off the handcuffs. The police chief laughed. "I like realism"
Santana rolled her eyes as Cassandra walked past them with a grin of her own on her face. "You never know who's watching Santana"
She led them inside and Santana realized that this must be the new base of operations. "You upgraded from the hotel room?"
The FBI agent nodded as she led them inside. There were pictures of the entire crew, as well as Puck's, plastered over one whole wall near the entrance and Cassandra's computers were set up on the far side. Once the blonde had sat down in one of the chairs in the middle of the room Roz and Santana did the same in their own and it wasn't long before Cassandra jumped right into business.
"Do you know why you're here Santana?"
"Unless it's to show me the new crib then I guess it's about something bad"
"Not bad per say. Just that we wanted to make sure you were okay. You haven't checked in for the past two weeks" Roz explained.
Cassandra noticed an immediate change in the Latina's demeanour. "Santana, what happened?"
"Did you not hear?"
"Hear what?"
"There was a car explosion two weeks ago"
"I heard about that. What relevance does it have to do with this though?" Roz asked.
Santana sighed. "I was there that night. I was racing that car. The guy in the car was Jake Puckerman"
"What happened?" The blonde asked, leaning forward in her chair.
"He flipped over after hitting something and the car blew up. I couldn't save him. It blew up quickly and with the leaking Nos he never had a chance. Puck blamed me for it and he kidnapped me and beat me up. I barely made it to the hospital and if it wasn't for Letty and the rest of the crew I don't think I would have made it. I felt like death. For the past two weeks I've been recovering from two fractured ribs and too many bruises to count. My eyebrow had to have five stitches."
"And that's why you haven't contacted us?" Roz asked, Santana nodding in reply. "Then I think we can lay off Miss Lopez Cassandra."
The blonde shook her head. "You should have contacted us the minute you were able to"
Santana stood up, feeling her anger rising. Right now the pain was getting to her and she really needed to get back or Letty would be wondering where she was and after what happened that night with Puck they had all been on high alert when it came to the Latina being away for extended amounts of time.
"Look, when I got roped into this I never thought I signed up to be blamed for someone's death. When I contact you I'll do it on my terms from now on. Right now I'm going to go and recover before I do anything else for you."
With that she exited the house and made her way outside as quickly as she could. Roz understood where she was coming from and was willing to wait but Cassandra on the other hand wasn't very happy at the Latina's outburst. In the entire time Santana had been working for them she had not complained once, at least not to their faces, and of there was one thing the police chief could see, it was that the stress was finally getting to her and they both needed to back off if she was going to pull through for them. Unfortunately Cassandra had other ideas.
By the time she made it outside Santana was already pulling out of the driveway and speeding off.
Santana took in a deep breath as she sped out onto the road. For the first time since she had been beaten up she felt a little bit like herself again. Shifting up a gear she smiled, feeling the freedom of driving seeping back into her bones and making her happy. For once she didn't care about her handlers or the pressures of lying to the crew. As she gripped both hands tightly on the steering wheel she felt like her again, Santana Lopez, the woman she knew she was deep inside that had been hidden the past few months due to various things getting in the way.
It had felt liberating to finally tell Cassandra what to do for once and although she still wasn't fully healed, she was willing to bare any pain in favour of being on the open road once more. Pulling onto the highway she rolled down all the windows and smelt the fresh breeze of air that hit her at full force and rustled through the long waves of her dark hair. She reached over and pressed play on her iPod and relaxed into her racing seat as a heavy rock song poured through the powerful speakers she had installed. Pulling on her sunglasses she finally let herself enjoy the roar of the engine and the sounds of the song, singing along to the chorus.
'And when I get there
It won't be far enough
I'm a renegade
It's in my blood
If ever I get there
It won't be fast enough
I'm a renegade
I always was'
As she got lost in the song she threw caution to the wind and let herself temporarily forget about everything else, including the night Jake died. She didn't care about anything that was getting to her, the stress dissolved away as she immersed herself in the one constant in her life, something that had been in her blood since birth: driving. All her worries could come back to her tomorrow but for right now she was free.
Song used: Paramore – Renegade
TBC