A/N: Thanks for reading! And thanks again for the reviews and PMs. Very sweet.
Brittany walked into the women's locker room at the station to get ready for her first night shift. She was looking forward to experience the city in the late hours, but had reservations because she still didn't know who she would be partnered with tonight.
Brittany began to undress when she heard someone greet Santana.
"Shit," Brittany said under her breath. She continued dressing, hoping Santana wouldn't see her.
"Well look who it is," Santana said walking into the aisle and encountering Brittany who had only managed to take off her shirt and stood there wearing a white camisole.
"Hi Santana," Brittany said, feeling a little self-conscious suddenly, "I guess we had to run into each other at work sooner or later."
Santana tried to keep her smile from taking over and from staring at Brittany's toned arms. It seemed that Brittany still had not found out who her new partner was, "I guess so."
Brittany looked at Santana and wondered what that smirk on her face was all about.
"You disappeared," Brittany said.
Santana, who was carrying her duffle bag, shifted it from one hand to the other, "When?"
"At the bar," Brittany said, "We all meet up after, but you, Puck and Kurt were gone."
Santana found it odd that she liked that Brittany had noticed, "I ran into a friend."
"A friend huh?" Brittany asked, knowing exactly what she meant and not wanting to know any details.
"Yup," Santana said, "How about you? You meet any friends?"
"A couple," Brittany said, "But not any I was interesting in getting to know better."
"Of course not," Santana said, "You probably wouldn't find anyone in that place that you'd like."
There was that arrogance again, Brittany thought, she thinks she knows me.
"Well, I don't want to keep you," Brittany said, "I'm sure you have to get ready."
"You're right," Santana said, smiling, "I'll see you soon."
"Sure," Brittany simply said.
Santana walked to the other end of the aisle. She had figured out that the blond she had seen talking to Quinn was indeed Brittany and found it amusing that they shared the same aisle.
Brittany continued dressing, but through her peripheral vision she saw Santana walk to the end the the aisle and stop.
Her locker is in my aisle, Brittany thought, fucking great.
Santana looked over and saw Brittany began to unbutton her jeans. She looked away. She focused her attention on getting dressed herself, though it was difficult telling herself to not take a glance. But she didn't so much as take a peek.
Brittany in turn wanted to glance at Officer Lopez but didn't. She dressed in record time and left the locker room without saying another word to Santana.
After Brittany had gotten her gear, she still had 15 minutes before the start of her shift and she decided to check out the vending machine around the corner from the command desk.
She stood looking at the selections and could not decide between a chocolate bar or a bag of chips.
After a moment, Brittany heard a voice behind her.
"You can never go wrong with chocolate."
"I was actually thinking of getting Skittles," Brittany told Santana without turning around.
"Skittles? Really?" Santana asked, "Over chocolate?"
Santana had finished up getting ready with a smile on her face. She found it immensely amusing that Brittany did not know who her new partner was. She couldn't wait to see Brittany's face when she found out.
Brittany had been on the verge of choosing a chocolate bar. She opted for chips.
"What happened to the Skittles?" Santana asked.
"Changed my mind," Brittany said, taking her chips and turning around, "You following me? Trying to annoy me before my shift."
"You're pretty full of yourself," Santana joked, "Thinking I'm at the vending machine just to see you."
Brittany took a breath. God this woman annoys me, she thought.
Brittany put on her best smile, "Enjoy your chocolate and your shift," she said and walked away.
Santana smiled and got her candy bar. She waited until Brittany was a bit ahead of her before following.
Brittany headed straight to the command desk, taking a few chips and eating them.
"Hi Pratt," Brittany greeted the night shift command desk officer, "I'm supposed to have a new partner for a bit."
"Hey Pierce," Pratt said, "Yup, it's all set. You got a good one. She's one of the best officers around here."
Brittany was was pleased to hear she would be working with a woman. The majority of the force was male and Brittany was excited to hear she would be working with a police woman.
"Great," Brittany said with a smile, "Who is she?"
"Turn around," Pratt said.
Brittany turned to see Santana. She was taking a bite out of a candy bar.
Santana smiled as she began to chew.
Brittany felt like her face was turning red. She closed her hand on the bag of chips a little to hard. She wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. Probably both.
Santana waved.
"You?" Brittany asked, still a bit in shock, "You're my..."
"Partner," Santana said, as she popped in the last bit of chocolate in her mouth,"Your new commanding officer."
Brittany let out a nervous sigh, "Are you kidding? Did you set this up?"
"See, there you go again," Santana said, "Thinking everything is about you."
Brittany bit her lip to keep from snapping back, "Alright," She said calmly, "Well, I'm ready to go."
"Great," Santana said, trying not to smile at the expression on Brittany's face, "My car is this way."
Santana began to walk out to the car port and heard Brittany start walking behind her.
Brittany found she wasn't in the mood for chips anymore. She threw the half empty bag in the wastebasket by the exit.
This is going to be a long night, Santana thought.
###
They had been patrolling for about an hour. With the exception of some work related conversations, the ride was mostly silent.
"I didn't know until yesterday," Santana said, as she waited to make a left turn.
"What?" Brittany asked.
"Us, being partners," Santana said, "I didn't know until yesterday."
"You could have told me in the locker room."
"True," Santana said, turning to the next street, "But this was more fun."
To her surprise, Brittany let out a chuckle.
"This was a total surprise," Santana continued, "I don't have some great big plan to make your training as miserable as possible. Besides, it's only for a week."
"Only for a week," Brittany repeated, "I don't want to make your job miserable either."
Santana knew that if they were going to survive the week, she and Brittany needed to put their feeling for each other aside.
"Listen," Santana began, her eyes on the road, "We got off on the wrong foot."
"And who's fault was that?" Brittany asked.
"Anyway," Santana said, dismissing the question, "Let's start over."
"I thought we erased the slate at the bar?" Brittany asked.
"True," Santana said, "But as we both know, that didn't last."
Brittany smiled, "You're right," she said, "The slate has been wiped cleaned. Again."
"Again," Santana repeated.
The sun had set about half an hour ago and the steet and building lights brought the city to life.
"So," Brittany said, "What should I expect on the night shift?"
"Drunk drivers, bar fights, car accidents, all around madness," Santana said.
"Sounds exciting," Brittany said, a small pat of her actually looking forward to the action.
"But for the most part, it's just us riding around," Santana said.
Brittany wasn't sure how to feel about riding all night with Santana. What would they talk about? Santana made her uncomfortable, but in a way that Brittany liked. Which confused her.
"So are we just going to drive around until we get a call?" Brittany asked.
"Actually, we're going to go do a drive by on a neighborhood...check on a house," Santana said.
"What's special about the house?"
"I answered a call there a few days ago," Santana explained, "Domestic violence. But when we got there, the woman changed her story and said everything was fine."
"Does that happen often?"
"Yes, unfortunately," Santana said, "I've been checking up on her since. I just know it's going to happen again...I just want to check."
"OK," Brittany said, impressed that Santana would take the time to check up on the woman.
Santana turned into the street the house was located. The street was dark, illuminated only by streetlights. She had driven by the house every shift since the call and there had been nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that would give her probable cause to interfere. She parked the police car across the street, one house down from her destination. She turned off the engine.
"Let's just sit here for about ten minutes," Santana said, "Don't worry, this isn't going to interfere with your training schedule."
"I wasn't worried about that," Brittany said. She looked at the house and saw that lights were on, but all seemed calm.
"Thanks," Santana said, glad that Brittany wasn't protesting.
They sat in silence for a bit, watching the house for any signs of trouble. After a while, Santana decided it was time to go.
"Alright, guess that's..."
Someone screamed.
Santana and Brittany immediately jumped out of the car and headed towards the house. Another scream, followed by a crashing noise.
Both officers reached the door in an instant, Brittany used the radio receiver near her shoulder to radio the station of their intended action.
Santana reached the door first and banged on the door, "LAPD!"
Another crashing sound.
"Stand back!" Brittany said. She walked past Santana and kicked the door. Once. Twice. The door flew open.
Both women, guns drawn, ran towards the noise in the living room. There, the man Santana had seen a few days ago, had the woman pinned to the floor.
"LAPD!" Santana yelled, "GET OFF OF HER!"
The man looked up, startled, "WHAT THE FUCK?"
"GET UP!" Brittany yelled, her gun pointed at him.
The man slowly got up as the woman's cries turned to sobbing.
"Put your hand above your head!" Santana ordered.
"You got this all wrong," the man protested.
Brittany kept her gun pointed at the man. Her heart was racing. All the training she had gone through in the academy flashing through her mind.
"Step back, slowly," Santana said, "Walk slowly towards me then get on your knees."
"She just fell," the man said, doing as Santana instructed.
"You got him?" Santana asked Brittany.
"Yeah," Brittany said, her gaze never leaving the man.
Santana holstered her weapon and took out her handcuffs. She slowly approached the kneeling man. She went behind him and placed the handcuff on one wrist, lowered his arms, the completed the task.
"On your stomach!" Santana said, pushing the man down.
The man lay face down, secured.
Brittany holstered her weapon and went to the crying woman on the floor.
"Are you OK?" Brittany asked as she knelt beside the woman. She was bleeding from the side of her head.
"He...I...," the woman tried to say.
"It's OK," Brittany reassured, "It's going to be OK."
Santana watched Brittany and couldn't help but admire how gentle and reassuring Brittany was being with the injured woman.
Brittany heard sirens approaching. Back up had arrived.
-TBC-