A/N: Again, thank you so much for reading. I'm glad you're liking this story. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions or comments. I am currently working on editing an Angsty Brittana fic (AU also) and hope to post the first chapter posted soon. Again thank you.
Santana woke up ready to start her second day of training Brittany. It was the middle of the afternoon and her body was not yet used to the night shift hours.
She got up and got ready. As she showered and dressed, she thought about her shift last night. Wondering if she had been to hard on Brittany. Santana wasn't really sure how to train an officer, she herself was still learning.
"Maybe I tried too hard," Santana said to herself as she finished dressing. She opted for jeans, T-shirt and sandals. Simple. After all, she would have to change in a couple of hours anyway.
The phone rang.
Santana looked at the caller I.D.
"Hey Tina," Santana said.
"Hey, I didn't wake you did I?" Tina asked.
"I'm up and dressed," Santana said, going to the kitchen to get something to eat.
"Good," Tina said, "Hey listen, when are your night shifts over?"
"Next week," Santana said, "I can't wait, this schedule sucks."
"The schedule or Brittany S. Pierce?" Tina asked, her voice with a teasing tone.
"The schedule," Santana said, "Brittany's fine. Wait, how did you know I got partnered with Brittany?"
"Kurt told me."
"Of course he did. Look, working with Brittany is fine."
"Brittany, huh?" Tina asked.
"That is her name," Santana said, as she opened the refrigerator and taking out the carton of orange juice.
"Just thought you would have referred to her as Officer Pierce and not Brittany. So I take it the shift went well?" Tina asked.
"What is that tone?" Santana asked.
"She's very pretty," Tina said.
"Stop it," Santana warned, "She's my partner. Sort of. All business."
Santana grabbed a glass and poured the last of the orange juice.
"Mmm hmm."
"What do you want Tina?" Santana asked, dismissing Tina's insinuation.
"Just wanted to know when we all could hang out again," Tina said, "The club the other night was fun."
"It was."
"Brittany looked gorgeous," Tina said.
Santana let out a breath, "You are the least subtle person ever."
"Santana," Tina said, "It's been a while since The Witch broke your heart..."
"She has a name you know?"
"Not to me," Tina said, "Anyway, you need to get out there."
"And you think the rookie I'm training is who I should go after."
"Why not?"
"First of all, like I said, I'm training her. I'm her commanding officer," Santana said, rapidly thinking up excuses, "Second, she mentioned an ex-boyfriend..."
"So?" Tina interrupted, "Oh, don't you know? Brittany's bisexual."
Santana felt her pule accelerate and immediately thought back to Brittany's story last night, "Is she really? I mean, her girlfriend in college could have just been a phase. Experimenting like kids tend to do."
Santana felt her mouth go dry. She took a sip of juice.
"Oh," Tina said, her tone playful, "So you guys talked about past relationships."
"No," Santana said, a bit too loudly, "She was telling me..never mind. How do you know?"
"Quinn," Tina said, "We started talking about the club the other day. I asked about everyone's situation and she told me about Brittany."
"Oh," was all Santana said. For some reason, she didn't want the news about Brittany to be true.
"Brittany isn't a 'one time in college' girl," Tina said, "Quinn says Brittany is attracted to men and women. It's the person, not the gender."
"It's great to hear that my friend is just gossiping about everyone's sexuality like some tabloid reporter," Santana chastised.
"It's not like it's a big secret," Tina said defensively, "No one's in the closet or anything."
"Whatever," Santana said, trying to ignore the fact she had had the same conversation with Brittany, "It's still wrong."
"So no thoughts on Brittany being Bi?"
"Great for her, I guess," Santana said. She needed to stop talking about this, "Listen, I have to go. Let's get together once I'm off nights."
"Fine," Tina said, "But just for the record, I saw the way you looked at her at the club."
"Whoa!" Santana said, "I did not look at anyone in anyway. When did you become so meddlesome? You've been hanging out with Sugar too much."
Tina laughed, "I'm sorry Santana. But I'm just picking up some vibes from..."
"Stop!" Santana said, "There are no vibes, nothing. I'm hanging up now. I'll talk to you later."
"One last thing," Tina said.
"What?"
"In your excuses not to date Brittany you never once mentioned you weren't attracted to her," Tina said.
"I'm hanging up," Santana said.
"Vibes!" Tina said and hung up.
Santana shook her head and finished the last of her juice.
###
Brittany sat at a table at a cafe near her apartment, eating a sandwich. She was waiting for Quinn.
She wondered what this second shift with Officer Lopez would bring. Brittany hoped Santana was in a better mood this time around.
"Hey!" Quinn said, suddenly appearing and taking a seat, "Sorry, I'm late."
"It's fine," Brittany said, "How was work?"
"Good," Quinn said, "Arrested three today. Lots of crazies in the mornings apparently."
"Nice."
"So, is this your breakfast?" Quinn asked, pointing to Brittany's sandwich and french fries.
"Yup," Brittany said, "Want some?"
"No thanks," Quinn said, "I'll just have some tea. I'm not hungry. So how was your first night shift? Kurt told me Santana Lopez is your partner."
"It was good," Brittany answered, "I even broke down a door."
"No way?" Quinn asked, her voice excited, "So you made an arrest?"
Brittany went on to tell Quinn about her night including how she got along with her new partner.
"She asked about you," Brittany said, eating a fry.
"Me? Why?" Quinn asked, surprised. While Brittany had been talking the waitress had brought Quinn her tea.
"Wanted to know why you became a cop."
"Again...why?"
"I thought she was interested in you," Brittany said.
"Oh God, really?" Quinn asked, chuckling.
"Would you be interested in her?" Brittany teased.
"Well," Quinn began, "She is hot, that's for sure."
Brittany just stared at Quinn.
"I'm kidding," Quinn said laughing, "Wait, are you serious? I thought we were doing that running joke of you teasing me about liking women."
"Umm, yeah." Brittany feeling a bit uncomfortable, "Joking."
"You OK?," Quinn asked
"Fine," Brittany assured, "I'm just tired. This night shift is messing with me."
"OK," Quinn said, looking unconvinced, "Anyway, if I was into women, I'd never be with someone like Santana."
"Why?" Brittany asked, curious.
"She's way too uptight," Quinn said.
Brittany let out a laugh, "She's not."
"Yeah, she is."
"Hmm."
"Wait, are you interested in her?" Quinn asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.
"What? Me?" Brittany asked, a bit flustered, "No. No, of course not."
"Maybe Puck is right," Quinn teased, "Maybe you do have a small crush on Santana."
"I don't," Brittany protested.
"Fine," Quinn said, smiling, "You don't."
"I don't," Brittany repeated.
###
Santana had shown up at the station a bit earlier than usual. She didn't want to run into Brittany in the locker room. The idea of getting dressed with her only a few feet away suddenly made her a bit uneasy.
After dressing Santana went to the meeting room and entered as a rundown meeting was taking place.
There still wasn't any new information on the robberies nor had they found any solid suspects in the triple homicide from a few days ago. They did have a person of interest, but nothing concrete.
Santana slipped out before the meeting ended and as she neared the command desk, she ran into Brittany.
"Hi," Brittany said, worried, "Am I late? Was I supposed to be here earlier?"
"No, you're fine," Santana assured, "I just got here a little early and sat in on the rundown."
"Oh good," Brittany said, relived, "I'd hate to mess up like that."
"Don't worry," Santana said smiling, "You're doing fine."
Brittany was struck by how much she liked seeing Santana smile. It was as if she turned into a totally different person.
"Uh, thanks," Brittany said, shaking those thought from her mind, "Should we go?"
Santana noticed that Brittany had gotten a little flustered and found herself thinking how adorable she looked.
"Umm yea," Santana said, wanting to erase her thoughts, "Let's go."
This is all Tina's fault, Santana thought. She was the one who had put these ideas in my head.
Brittany followed Santana to the car and couldn't help but admire the way she walked. She commanded authority and confidence. Maybe Puck was right, maybe she did have a crush on her temporary partner. A tiny one.
"So what happened in the meeting?" Brittany asked as they reached the car and got inside.
"They still haven't caught anyone for the robberies or homicide," Santana said starting the car, "They think that the robbers will strike again sometime this week."
"Really?"
"Yeah, seems that they are getting greedy," Santana explained as she drove the police car off the lot, "The time frame is shortening between each robbery by a day or so."
"That's what Sugar wrote in her article today," Brittany said.
"She did?" Santana asked, surprised, "I didn't read her article this morning. How does she know that? I'm starting to think she has the whole station bugged."
"That'd explain a lot. Well, maybe we'll get lucky and catch them in the act tonight," Brittany said.
"I hope so," Santana said, now driving down the busy street.
"And I'll let you break down the door this time," Brittany said, hoping to lighten the mood.
Santana smiled, "Thanks. Listen, I maybe have been a bit... tough on you yesterday."
"It's fine," Brittany said, "You are the boss."
"True," Santana said, "But I don't have to be such a grouch. I've never trained anyone before so maybe I'm over compensating."
"You're doing great," Brittany said, liking that she was Santana's first trainee.
"Thanks," Santana said, smiling. She felt a warm rush at hearing Brittany's praise.
"I don't think many cops would take the time to check up on a call they had days ago," Brittany went on, "You probably saved that woman's life."
"You were there too," Santana said, trying to deflect the credit.
"I just happen to be there," Brittany said, "You're the one who camped out in front of her house . That's...inspiring."
"Inspiring?" Santana asked, with a nervous chuckle. Santana had always hated being the center of praise, but actually liked hearing it from Brittany.
"Yeah," Brittany said, "It shows that you truly care about people. I mean, sure other cops care about people, but like I said, not many would take the time to check up."
"I just wanted to make sure she was OK," Santana simply said, "Hey do me a favor..."
"I didn't log in my training book that you'd been going to the house all week," Brittany interrupted.
"Thanks," Santana said, touched that Brittany knew what she was going to say.
"So," Brittany said, letting out a breath, "Any other houses to check out today?"
"No," Santana said, "No more houses. We'll patrol our designated area and wait for calls."
"OK," Brittany said.
They drove in silence for a while, but a comfortable one. The awkwardness between them seemed to be slowly fading.
"Why did you become a cop?" Brittany asked.
"My dad," Santana said, smiling, "He was a cop."
"Went into the family business, huh?" Brittany asked, also smiling.
"Yeah," Santana said, "He tried to get me to go into another field, but I knew that this is what I wanted to do."
"Is your father retired?" Brittany asked, liking this side of Santana.
"No," Santana said, her tone with a hint of sadness, "He died a few years ago."
"I'm sorry," Brittany said, sympathetically.
"Thanks. He served 30 years on the force without getting seriously hurt and it took cancer to kill him."
Brittany felt sad for Santana, "He must have been a great cop," Brittany said.
"He was," Santana said, sounding proud, "One of the best."
Before Brittany could ask more about Santana's father, they received a call about a disturbance at a nearby park.
###
The sun had set, but there was still a glimmer of the day left. Santana and Brittany arrived at the neighborhood park and immediately saw the problem.
"Great," Santana said, putting the car in park, "Fucking drunks."
Brittany called in what they saw and their course of action.
As they walked, Brittany saw a woman and two kids yelling at two men. The men were noticeably drunk and were holding cans wrapped in paper bags.
"OH! Thank God," the woman said when she saw Santana and Brittany, "These two kids are drunk out of their minds in public."
"Shup tup, lady," one the young men, wearing a black sweater, slurred.
"You are drunk," Santana said, approaching the men, her hand on the butt of her gun.
Brittany saw the woman attempt to get closer to the men, "Ma'am, step back please. We'll take it from here. Why don't you take your kids and wait for us over by that bench."
The woman nodded and took her kids.
"Oh man," the other man, wearing green, said, "They let two chicks be pat...ners?"
Both men started laughing.
"Amazingly, they do," Santana said sarcastically, "Alright, why don't you put the beer down."
"You think I'm gonna shoot you with it?" black sweater guy said, "Is jus' beer."
"Put it down," Santana repeated.
Brittany was at the ready, her hand on the butt of her gun just in case. These guys looked like they could go either way.
The man wearing green did as told and dropped his brown bag wrapped beer, spilling it all over the grass.
"There you go," Santana said, "Now why don't you sit down on the grass."
The man wearing green did as told.
"You pussy!" Black Sweater said, "It's just some chicks."
"Hey man," green said, "I…I'm on probation. I'm not going back."
Brittany felt like she needed to do something, "Why don't you do as your friend and drop your beer."
Black Sweater man smiled, "You're too pretty to be a pig," he said, "The both of you are…"
"I'm tired of asking!" Santana said, her voice authoritative.
"Fuck! You!" Black Sweater man said.
Brittany wasn't sure what happened. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man wearing green on the floor move and looked over to keep an eye on him. Then all of a sudden, she felt something hit her in the head. Black Sweater man had suddenly thrown his beer, a glass bottle, at Brittany.
Santana jumped into action. She closed the distance between herself and Black Sweater man and swiped his legs with her own which caused him to drop to his knees. He was so drunk, he didn't know what hit him.
Brittany felt disoriented for a few seconds. She looked over and saw Santana had the suspect already on his knees. She was already putting the handcuffs on him.
"Shit!" Brittany called out.
"You just assaulted a police officer," Santana said, tightening the handcuffs, "You get to go to jail tonight."
"Oh shit," Black Sweater man said, "I did what you said…I dropped my beer. You can't take me!"
"Shut up!" Santana said. She turned to Brittany, "Are you OK?"
"Yeah…yeah," Brittany said, her hand on there right temple. It felt wet. She lowered her hand and saw blood, "Oh great. I'm bleeding."
Santana roughly shoved Black Sweater man, "You made my partner bleed, asshole!"
Brittany grabbed for the radio receiver attached to her shoulder and called in the bust.
"Officer Pierce!" Santana said, "Is your head OK?"
"I'm good," Brittany said, her head still throbbing, "I'm fine."
Santana was filled with anger at this punk who had attacked Brittany, "Get up!"
He struggled to get up, but managed.
Brittany turned to the other man, "You're coming too."
"But, but I did what you said," he said, now seeming to be a bit more sober than before, "I didn't do anything."
Brittany neared the man, handcuffs in hand, "Come on. I'll make sure to tell them you weren't any trouble."
The man complied and Brittany cuffed him.
The woman came over from the bench, leaving her kids, "Do you need me to be a witness?"
"No ma'am," Santana said, "We've got it. Please just take your kids and go home."
Santana looked over and saw Brittany leading the other man to the car. A bit of blood dripped down her temple. Santana pushed the man in her custody toward the car.
"I'm going to make sure you pay for that," Santana told him.
They headed straight for the station.
###
After they had booked the two men, Santana and Brittany decided to get some coffee at the station's cafeteria.
"You should go get that checked," Santana told Brittany as they walked through the empty corridor.
"I'm fine," Brittany said. She had cleaned up the the wound with a tissue and alcohol.
"He hit you with a glass bottle," Santana said. She stopped walking.
"It's just a scratch," Brittany said, facing Santana.
Santana looked at Brittany and studied the wound. Except for some redness, it didn't look that bad. Without thinking, Santana got closer and raised a hand and gently touched the wound.
"Does it hurt?" Santana asked softly.
"Umm, no," Brittany said trying not to think about the warmth of Santana's fingers.
"Looks like it could bruise," Santana said, fully aware how close she was to Brittany. Her fingers still touching the wound.
"It…it should be fine," Brittany said, her eyes studying Santana's face.
Santana looked into Brittany's eyes and suddenly stepped back, "You should... at least put, umm, some ice on that."
Brittany seemed to snap out of a sort of trance, "Right. Right. Ice."
The two began walking again and headed to the cafeteria, each trying to understand what had just happened.
-TBC-