Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: This just kinda happened, I'm not sure where this came from, maybe it's because I wished we had snow where I live… it's STILL WEDNESDAY! (barely...)

MY COMPUTER HAS BROKEN! I AM WRITING EVERYTHING BY HAND NOW, I HOPE TO GET A REPLACEMENT SOON. The updates will be suspended until my computer arrives or until I manage to finish the next chapter and then find a computer to post it on...

Thank you to:

wkgreen - for your review.

getslushied - you'll see what happens... now.

Honeyfigsanddarkchocolate - thank you for your offer... I will probably take you up on that later, I know where the story is going now, it's just a matter of finding the right words.

Chapter 11MIA

Brittany was fretting, Angel wasn't back yet. Three times the alarm went off; three times she pushed the button. Maybe Angel really did abandon her in this empty house, even after all the other had said. Maybe this was her lot in life; to be left alone. No don't think like that. Angel promised. She hadn't broken one to her yet, she should doubt, although she knew that Angel wouldn't do something like that, it had happened before. The watch went off a fourth time, Brittany silenced it. She must have been held up, maybe. What if? No, no, don't think that. Don't think with worry; she opened the door leading to the outside. A gust of wind caused her to shut it quickly. She resumed pacing. The alarm went off again.

She shivered, something wasn't right; something was knew, just like when she knew exactly when Angel was going to come and visit her. She would get this warm feeling just before she heard the other girl's footsteps come down the hall. Somehow she knew, her friend was in trouble. Angel had always come back before, and would never be this late unless something had happened. She stood and grasped frantically around the area, usually houses held some kind of closet near the door; she just had to find it. Her hand touched metal. Opening it quickly she grasped around for a warm jacket, if it fit that would be nice. All she needed was just something warm enough to help her brave the weather outside. Putting on the only jacket that would work, she quickly went out the door, ignoring the biting cold against her cheeks, she made her way through the howling wind and snow.

Retracing the way back to the driveway, she continued down until she felt the street and backtracked three steps. She turned to the direction Angel said she was going to come from, the wind and the snow forcefully hit her back and she stumbled forward. Regaining her balance, she slowly followed the sidewalk calling Angel's name, even as her voice was lost in the storm.

Santana had walked about sixteen blocks before the blizzard truly hit full force. She had been tempted to turn back to Puck's house, but the thought had been only entertained for a moment before she gritted her teeth and reminded herself that she had to get home. She had promised, keeping that in mind she forced herself forward. Besides, it was only twenty-six more blocks to go, she could make it, she was Santana, damn it. The minutes ticked by as she met the blizzard head on, twenty-five, twenty-four, twenty-two. Each completed block brought her a new burst of energy, but as she neared fifteen, she started to get worried, her stamina was giving out. She was resting more often and for longer, how much would her body be able to take before it gave out was anyone's guess. She had stumbled twice on that last block. But she had to get back; she couldn't leave Brittany by herself in that house. She couldn't. Nature could throw whatever it wanted at her and she'd take it. No force of nature would ever make her bend to its will, she was Santana, no, she was Satan, she took what came at her and gave it back twice fold.

She found that thinking about the Brittany helped, it made her more determined to get there, and drawing what she could from her willpower she moved her feet another few steps to the next shelter. The tree she was currently taking shelter under bent from the strong wind. Only six more blocks to go. Now if only she could get her feet to move.

Getting up, 'When did she sit down?', she took a couple steps in a directions she thought was forward, the blizzard had caused a white out. There was a noise it the distance, it sounded like a person. What crazy person would be out in this weather? The last thing she saw before she stumbled and fell from exhaustion was the faint outline of a figure, just feet away, maybe just a few minutes of rest and she'd be able to get back up.

This was one of the few timesBrittanywished she could see, she believed that would help her find her Angel. There was no way she could have known it wouldn't have done any good. Even if she could see, the storm would have blinded everything that was more than a couple inches in front of her. She tripped over something, feeling frantically around taking her hands outside of her jacket. It was a person.

"Angel?" she yelled over the storm's wind. "Angel?" There was no response; there was only one way to find out. Reaching out with her hand she found the person's face and felt it, it was warm, hot even.

"Brittany?" the figure asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you," Brittany told her, recognizing the voice. "Can you stand?" Santana tried to get up and stood for a second before falling to the ground 't need to be told, she wrapped Santana's arm around her neck and helped the girl up. The cold bit at her fingers as she forced the other girl to stand, she supported Angel's weight as they moved slowly forward. She heard her friend breathe more heavily after every step, only two-hundred and sixty-three more to go.

Even Brittany's dancer body ached in protest by the time they neared the house, she turned the handle and a gust of wind blew the door and them in. The house was warm and reinvigorated the taller of the two, Santana though was spent. Santana had pushed herself far beyond her natural ability, all she wanted to do was lie there and sleep. Her internal heater gave out as soon as she had entered the house, as if it knew that she was safe. She forced herself up and leaned against the wall, she didn't want to worry her friend.

During this time, Brittany had taken off all of her outer layers, Angel commented on the redness of her hands and told her to go run them under warm water in the to leave then paused but she was worried about Angel. Angel assured her she was fine and told her to go warm her hands before she got frostbite. Reluctantly, Brittany followed the instructions on how to get to the bathroom.

As Brittany left, Santana breathed a sigh of relief. She was exhausted, but she didn't want to worryBrittanyabout the little things. The short rest against the wall had recovered a little energy, barely enough to force her feet to move. She slowly staggered toward her room past the bathroom the blonde was currently occupying. As she sat on her bed, she stripped off the wet clothes, and replaced them with dry ones. Finally, she felt like she could breathe again. Sneezing she looked up thinking absently that she hoped that that wasn't a sign of a cold. At the sight of the other occupant, she nearly fell back in bed. How long hadBrittanybeen standing there? She was thankful the blonde couldn't see her changing, certain things would have been hard to explain and she didn't want to scare her. The other girl looked exhausted and Santana didn't think she looked much better. She should getBrittanyout of her clothes into something dry. Remembering the clothes Brittany had worn earlier, Santana knew that they hadn't looked very comfortable to sleep in. She carefully walked over, not wanting to topple to the floor, using her arms to support herself she made it to her dresser and looked through it.

Finding something that would fit the taller girl, she turned to Brittany, "Why don't you take your clothes off? I have something for you to change into for bed tonight." Shit. That hadn't come out right. It sounded like some really bad pick up line, one that Puck would say. Thankfully, it didn't seem to phase Brittany. "These clothes should fit you. I'll be right outside the door if you need anything." As Santana moved past the blonde to leave, her arm was caught by a hand.

"Stay?" Brittany requested. While she had been in the bathroom, she worried about what had happened earlier and now she wanted the other girl to be with her, at least for a while. Wordlessly, Santana turned and sat down on the bed, her body was happy with that decision. She purposefully distracted herself by doing some arm stretches to help ease parts of her aching body. This felt odd; she had no problem dressing or undressing in front of others, or watching others do so. But with Brittany it was different somehow. That was the second time she had thought that. Why was Brittany different?

"I'm done." Santana looked up, Brittany's voice cutting off her train of thought.

"I'll show you to the guest room," Santana said even her bones protested at the thought of got on the bed and began getting under the covers.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep."

"You do realize this is where I sleep?"

"Yup," Brittany felt around and cleared the covers beside her. "You're sleeping here too."

"I have a feeling... Listen Brit, this is a bad idea."

"No it's a wonderful, fantastical, uber-mystical idea." Brittany was tired and she just wanted to sleep with Angel, she wasn't even trying to regulate her brain words anymore. She threw the blankets over Santana and used her weight to force the other girl to lie down. If Santana wasn't exhausted and aching all over, she still had bruises on her ribs, it would have been difficult, but given the circumstances it was rather fast, and the other girl only loosened her grip when she felt Santana relent. Still keeping one arm around her Angel, Brittany fell asleep.

Santana felt the other girl's breathing even out, she squeezed Brittany's arm fondly. It was warm, but not uncomfortable. Santana didn't know why she liked Brittany so much; she didn't know why Brittany was somehow different from everyone else. Yawning, she decided it didn't matter now, they were both here safe and that's what mattered. She could think about these other things later.

Time Skip (Monday night to Wednesday afternoon), Hospital Parking Lot:
It was Wednesday, Brittany's father was ready to leave, but Brittany didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Angel. She was looking forward to seeing her sister back in the city. But she didn't want to see her mother. It wasn't that her mother didn't love her or at least it hadn't started that way; it was more that she didn't want to deal with Brittany's "disease", but lately Brittany had felt that there was something missing from their relationship. Her mother liked to call it a "unfortunate condition" in public. Her mom always tried to have her go somewhere else when relatives or company came over. Since it was Christmas, there would be a lot of "Brittany don't you have somewhere else to be?" and "Brittany will you please let the grown-ups talk". It hurt, because for several years it felt as though she was being singled out as someone to be ashamed of, it hadn't hurt that much when she was younger. She wanted to stay here, although it would mean she wouldn't get to see her sister. That was the problem, she loved her sister dearly, but she thought that one day, inevitably, her younger sister would see her the same way her mom did. She didn't want to be around when that happened.

Where was Angel? She hadn't come yesterday except to drop her off, due to exhaustion but she had promised to come today and say good-bye to had bought a Christmas present for her. Her father tapped his watch loudly to signal Brittany that it was time to leave. Just as they got into the car, the familiar sound of a motorcycle came up beside them. Her father pulled the window down and Angel's voice came through the side.

"Can you like to stay over at my place for Christmas? I know it's sudden but I could use the company." If Santana's face hadn't been covered by the motorcycle helmet, one would have seen her face slightly flushed with embarrassment. She hadn't planned on this.

Brittany turned to her father, "Can I?" There was a long pause as Brittany's father weighed the options. He knew that Brittany would be unhappy if they went home, Christmas is a time for happiness and family. And this girl was as good as family, at least, since she made Brittany happy.

"Just make sure you call your sister on Christmas, you know she misses you. I'll be back later that week to pick you up. You're coming home for New Year's at least." He turned to the other girl, "and you, protect her."

Santana gave him a look that was as solemn as a doctor about to deliver family news about a loved one's death, "I will."

Brittany hugged her father with a happy and sincere "thank you". She got out of the car and went to the back to grab her clothing, slipping her Angel's present in a back pocket of her bag. She got on the bike where Angel was waiting for her, ready to return to the house.

A/N: Just a reminder, Brittany doesn't remember that Santana's name is Santana… This is important. It should also be noted that (oddly) Brittany's dad doesn't remember Santana's real name either (because his daughter always refers to her as Angel). The hospital does not keep records of who she is as per agreement with Sue that it won't appear on her permanent record, this is due to the fact that Sue, let's just say she "pulled some strings" through some "distasteful" means.

The reason why Santana is hot when Brittany feels for her in the blizzard is because Santana has the internal heater from hell. Yup… apparently the nickname "Satan" is quite appropriate for her.

As always, I appreciate your comments, criticisms, concerns, and angst. Please review to tell me how I can improve.