A/N: Just wanted to say again that I'm not going by any official police procedures and just writing the action to move the story along. ;) Thanks for reading!
Santana was surprised to find Puck at the controls.
"Hey," Santana said, "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but I thought Stevenson was working with me."
"I could say the same about you," Puck said, "I thought Tina was on tonight."
"Change of plans all around I guess," Santana said as she put her bag on the table next to the security monitors.
"I read your briefing," Puck said, "I'm surprised you didn't punch Artie in the balls when you saw him."
"Believe me, it was hard," Santana said taking seat next to Puck at the controls.
"Fucking asshole," Puck said, his voice angry, "He's making Quinn's life a fucking nightmare and he almost hurt Brittany."
Santana took a deep breath trying to calm herself at remembering how Brittany had almost gotten hurt.
"I know," was all Santana said.
"So you really think he might strike tonight?" Puck asked.
"I hope so," Santana said, "You should have seen him. He looked and sounded so smug when I told him we had no leads. I'm positive he backed off because of the mistake his minion made with Brittany."
"I hope so," Puck said, "I'm ready to kick his ass.
"So, why did you switch with Stevenson?" Santana asked.
"We're seeing if the reason Artie hasn't tried anything is because all three of us have been home."
"So it's just Brittany and Quinn tonight?" Santana asked sounding a bit worried.
"We'll be closely watching them," Puck said, "Don't worry."
Santana sat at her station and concentrated on the monitors. There were cameras in the penthouse, the hallway, the elevators and all entrances to the building. Santana was sure they'd spot Artie and his gang if they tried to break in.
Santana saw that Brittany had come back from the laundry room and had gone to the kitchen for a snack. She opened the refrigerator and slowly bent down to get something.
Santana smiled. Brittany knew she was watching and was putting on a show.
"Like what you see?" Puck teased.
"What?" Santana asked trying to hide the embarrassment at being caught.
Puck laughed, "She really likes you," he said, "I haven't seen her this crazy over someone since I've met her."
"Well, I'm crazy about her too," Santana said with a smile.
"I can tell," Puck said, "But just so we're clear. If you hurt her, I'm coming after you."
"Don't worry," Santana said, "That's the last thing I want."
"Good."
###
Brittany and Quinn went on with their quiet night. Quinn was in the living room reading a book, while Brittany channel surfed the big screen TV.
"Is this bothering you?" Brittany asked Quinn.
"Hmm?" Quinn asked looking up, "Oh no, honey. It's fine."
"OK, good. Let me know if it does," Brittany said.
"To tell you the truth," Quinn said putting the book on the coffee table in front of her, "I've read the same paragraph three times already. Just can't concentrate."
"You OK?"
"Just frustrated," Quinn said, "I don't know how much longer I can live like this."
"I know, I know," Brittany said sympathetically, "Just hang in there."
"I am. I really do hope Santana is right and he tries something tonight."
"Speaking of Santana," Brittany began, "Here's some news that might amuse you. She's is in the surveillance room."
"She is?" asked with raised eyebrows.
"Took a shift," Brittany said, unable to not smile, "So we're in good hands."
Quinn smiled, "Sweetie, something tells me that she took this shift more for you than for me."
"Maybe," Brittany said.
Brittany was glad that Santana couldn't hear their conversation. The cameras were set up for visual only and the officers in charge were only authorized to turn on sound recording when the intruders entreated the penthouse.
"I take it things are good between you two?" Quinn asked.
"Very good."
"I'm glad," Quinn said, "You deserve happiness."
Brittany just smiled.
###
Santana got up from the monitors to go to the kitchen for something to drink. The more she saw Brittany through the monitors the more she wanted to go to the penthouse and be with her.
She looked at her watch. It was already 10:45 and knew Brittany would be going to sleep soon.
"Hey Santana," Puck yelled from his desk, "Looks like Quinn and Brittany are off to sleep."
"So," Santana said walking back, water in had, "This is when the real surveillance begins."
"Let's hope these fuckers do show up tonight," Puck said, "I hate waiting."
Santana went back to sit down and saw that Brittany was walking to her bedroom.
Brittany looked up at the camera at the entrance of her bedroom door and smiled. Santana watched Brittany disappear into her room and silently wished her a good night.
She and Puck spent the rest of the night watching the whole building through the cameras.
By 2:30 am Santana was getting fidgety.
"You OK?" Puck asked.
"I was never very good at surveillance," Santana said, yawning.
"I know what you mean."
"So we have the whole building covered? All the exits?" Santana asked.
"Yup and everything on this floor."
"Wait," Santana said remembering, "The laundry room."
"What about it?"
"There are no cameras in there."
"No, not inside." Puck said, "There's the camera in the hallway that covers the door to the laundry room. There's no need to have one in there. "
"Hmmm."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Santana switched the screen to look outside at all the entrances to the building. Maybe it was the late night. Maybe it was the fact she was frustrated. She just had a feeling.
After a while Santana spoke, "Nothing. Everything seems….wait, was that van always there?"
Santana pointed to the screen at what the camera placed in the back alley was showing. To the far left, almost off screen was the tail end of a van.
"Umm," Puck said, looking at his notes. He had logged in everything since his shift, "No… I have no record of a van arriving."
Santana switched the cameras and looked at the hallway of the penthouse floor.
Nothing.
But Santana had a strange feeling. Something was off.
"Let's check the lobby, elevators, everything inside the ground floor," Santana said, "And the garage."
"You think that van is them?"
"I don't know, but better safe than sorry," Santana said.
Suddenly the lights went out.
"What the fuck?" Santana heard Puck say in the dark.
"What's going on?" Santana asked a bit panicked.
Santana reached for her cell phone turned on the backlight to see better, "What happened to the power?"
"Not sure," Puck said, getting up.
She saw Puck go to the far left of the room. Even without the cell phone, Santana could see Puck as the full moon provided a good amount of light. Being on the 15th floor allowed the moonlight to easily spread across the room.
Puck quickly returned with a two flashlights.
"Here," Puck said turning on the flashlight.
Santana took the light and began to try to work on getting the surveillance system back on.
"Isn't a generator supposed to kick in or something?" Santana asked, pushing buttons.
"Yeah it's sup…"
With a slight flicker, the monitors turned on.
"There we go," Puck said.
They checked all the camera's to the penthouse and saw nothing suspicious.
"I don't like this," Santana said, getting up with her gun in her hand, "Come on, we need to go check on Brittany and Quinn."
"I'm right behind you," Puck said.
###
Brittany thought she heard voices. She was half asleep and wasn't sure if she was dreaming or awake. She opened her eyes and scanned the dark room. The full moon provided enough light for her to see clearly.
Brittany heard a soft crash. She was instantly awake.
She got out of bed and went to her bedroom door and slightly opened it. She saw beams from flashlights in the living room and voices. Men's voices.
Shit, Brittany thought, this is it.
She went to her dresser and got her gun. She then got her phone and sent a text to Quinn, Santana and Puck.
She quickly put on her shoes and went back to the door. She had been sleeping in sweats and fitted T-shirts instead of her usual shorts and tank top. She didn't want to feel too exposed when this finally went down.
Puck and Santana would have seen the men enter but they hadn't alerted Brittany.
Where are they, Brittany wondered. She then started to panic thinking that Santana and Puck had been hurt. Maybe unconscious at their stations. Or worse.
Brittany felt her heart start beating so fast she thought it would jump out of her chest.
She took a deep breath.
Her phone vibrated alerting her of a text. It was Quinn and she had heard the crash and was alert and ready.
Brittany heard Artie.
"Her room is down there," he whispered, "She's mine."
"What are you going to do?" another man ask.
"None of our fucking business," Artie snapped back, "You take care of the other one."
Brittany only heard two men in the penthouse. Artie and an unidentified man.
Brittany heard the unidentified man start to walk to her room. She stood back to the side, pointed her gun at the door and waited for the man to open the door.
###
Santana opened the front door of the surveillance headquarters slowly, weapon in hand. She waited and listened. She heard nothing.
She saw that the building's hallway illuminated by the emergency lights. She wondered if it was just the penthouse floor that had lost power or the whole building.
This could be just a regular blackout, but she wasn't risking anything. Los Angeles usually had rolling blackouts in the summer to save electricity. But it was still Spring.
She motioned for Puck to follow. Santana pointed her flashlight the long length of the corridor.
All clear.
They carefully made their way down the hall and after what seemed like an eternity, reached their destination.
Santana noticed that the front door was ajar.
Shit, she thought.
She motioned Puck to look at the door and they both knew that this was the night.
Artie and his men were inside.
Santana heard Puck behind her, quietly calling for backup.
###
Brittany saw the door knob of her bedroom door turn. The door opened slowly.
Come on you piece of shit, Brittany thought as he aimed her gun at the door.
A dark silhouette of a man appeared.
"Oh shit!" he said, startled when he saw Brittany.
"Get you hand up!" Brittany demanded, her voice not to loud so Artie wouldn't be warned.
The man lifted his hands and Brittany saw there were empty. No weapon.
"Get in here and close the door, slowly," Brittany ordered, "If you warn your partner, I'm shooting you."
The man did as instructed. Brittany was able to see clearly thanks to light of the full moon coming through the large windows. The man was wearing a mask. Brittany instructed him to get on his knees with his hands over his head.
"Fuck," the man said, "I told that fucker this would happen. Breaking in to a place full of cops…"
"Shut it," Brittany interrupted. She slowly went to the drawer by her bed and picked up one of handcuffs she had been keeping by her bed for just this occasion.
Brittany went over to the man and handcuffed him then took off his mask.
"It's you," Brittany whispered.
She recognized the man. He was the one who had tried to run her off the road.
"Nice to see you again," the man said.
Brittany proceeded to search him. She found a large bowie knife sheathed around his ankles.
She shoved him to the floor near the bed.
"Stay down," Brittany said.
Once she was sure he was secure, Brittany went over to her other dresser and got out another pair of handcuffs. She didn't want him going anywhere so she hooked one handcuff to the chain of the cuffs he was wearing and the other through loops of her iron cast bed frame.
"Keep quiet," Brittany warned him.
"I'm not going down for this," the man whispered, "It's all him."
"Shut up!" Brittany whispered harshly.
Brittany opened the door and tried to listen to determine where Artie was or if Quinn had gotten him.
Silence.
She scanned the room and saw movement at the front door. She aimed and waited as the a person entered. The moonlight hit the person.
"Santana!" Brittany said, quickly aiming the gun away.
"Britt? Are you OK?" Santana whispered, lowering the flashlight beam from Brittany's face.
"Yes. Artie is in Quinn's room," Brittany said.
Santana was relieved that Brittany was OK. There had been a fear in the back of her mind that something had happened to her. But she was fine.
"OK," Puck said, "I'll do a sweep of the rest of the place, you guys go to Quinn's room."
Santana and Brittany nodded.
Both women made eye contact expressing their relief to see the other.
Brittany had been so scared something had happened to Santana and Puck. But they were fine. They were fine.
Brittany turned around and walked over to Quinn's room and stood just on the right side of the closed door. Santana moved to cover the other side. She turned off the flashlight and placed it on the floor. There was enough light coming into the living room for her to see clearly. Brittany nodded at Santana. Santana nodded back.
They heard a crash and what sounded like a struggle.
Brittany kicked the door open.
She saw Quinn behind Artie, her arms around his neck trying to tackle him to the ground.
"STOP!" Brittany yelled at Artie, pointing her gun.
Santana trained her gun on Artie, ready to shoot if needed. Her and Brittany's entrance had startled him enough that he dropped his guard allowing Quinn to flip him over to the floor.
"DON'T FUCKING MOVE!" Quinn yelled, her knee coming down hard on Artie's stomach.
"UMPH!" Artie groaned, "You fucking bitch!"
Santana and Brittany moved closer, their guns never wavering from their target.
"It's over Abrams!" Santana said, "You fucking move and we shoot."
"FUCK!" Artie yelled.
Quinn carefully reached behind her where her handcuffs had fallen on the ground and flipped Artie on his stomach.
"You think this is over?" Artie asked in his regular accent, his face kissing the floor, "You're whole fucking family is going down."
"Shut up!" Quinn said, cuffing Artie.
"Nice British accent there," Santana said.
"You guys OK?" Quinn asked, her knee now digging into Artie's back.
"All good," Brittany said, "Got the other guy handcuffed to my bed. Game over."
Artie laughed.
"Wait, where's Puck?" Santana asked, "He should have reported back already."
"Go!" Quinn said, "Check on Puck. I got him"
Santana was the first out the door. She scanned the living room and saw nothing. She kept her gun aimed in front of her and slowly stepped forward.
Brittany followed Santana out of the room. She motioned to Santana she would be heading right. Santana headed left.
There was no sign of Puck.
Brittany was about to head in the direction of the kitchen when she saw a figure run into the living room pointing a gun.
Santana also saw the figure run into the living room. With the careless way the person entered, she knew it wasn't Puck.
"STOP!" Santana shouted, "DROP THE GUN!"
The man stopped but didn't drop the gun. Instead he fired a shot. A shot to his right. A shot in Brittany's direction.
Brittany saw the man move to point the gun at her and heard as shot. But she wasn't the one to shoot. It was the intruder.
Brittany felt a searing pain run through her arm as she fell back and hit the wall.
Brittany heard another shot. Then another.
Santana had expected the figure to aim at her, but instead he aimed at Brittany. Santana was about to yell at the figure again when she heard the shot.
Her reflexes kicking in, Santana fired two shots at the intruder. He dropped his gun and fell to the floor.
"Brittany?" Santana called out, her voice panicked.
Santana kept her gun at the intruder and slowly walked to him. She needed to make sure he wasn't a threat anymore.
"BRITTANY!" Quinn yelled, coming out of her room.
Santana checked the man she had shot and saw that he was out cold. Not dead, just unconscious. Santana had shot him once on either shoulder. She saw blood on his temple. He had hit his head on a table as he fell.
Santana took out her handcuffs and cuffed the unconcious man.
She ran over to Brittany.
"Britt!" Santana said as the gripping fear she had felt that day of the car chase took over.
Brittany felt like her left arm was on fire and her eyes started to water. She saw Quinn at her side and tried to concentrate on what she was saying.
"Britt, look at me," Quinn said.
Santana reached Brittany and inspected her wound. She saw Brittany's upper arm covered in blood. On closer inspection she saw that the bullet had just grazed Brittany's arm and had hit the wall behind her.
"Brittany, honey, you're OK," Santana assured, trying to keep her voice calm, "It's just a graze. The bullet hit the wall."
Brittany slowly sat up and looked at her arm, "Son of a bitch! That fucking hurts!"
Santana surprised herself when she let out a small laugh. Glad knowing Brittany wasn't seriously hurt.
"Puck!" Brittany said, panicked, "Where's Puck?"
Santana's happiness was short lived.
"Stay here," Santana said as she got up and went looking for Puck.
Brittany watched as Santana left her side.
"Go with her," she told Quinn, "I'm fine."
Brittany brought her right hand and covered her wound trying to stop the blood. The bullet may have grazed her, but it had done some good damage. She looked at her wound and guessed the open gash was an inch wide. Maybe more.
"Hope Santana likes scars," Brittany said to herself.
She got up and clumsily walked over to Quinn's room. She saw Artie still on the ground, handcuffed. Quinn had done as Brittany had to the other intruder. She had handcuffed Artie then handcuffed him to her bed.
He looked at her and smiled. Brittany glared.
She hoped Santana and Quinn found Puck safe and sound.
On the other side of the penthouse, Santana and Quinn did a search of the place and found Puck, unconscious by the open front door.
"Puck!" Quinn said, rushing to his side.
"Is he breathing?" Santana asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Quinn said, "He has a nasty bump on the head though, but he's alive."
"Good," Santana said letting out a breath.
Santana heard the ping of the elevator and she she raised her gun, aiming at the outside hallway. Quinn did the same.
The elevator doors opened and six LAPD uniform officers stepped out.
"DROP IT!" one of the officers yelled as all of them raised their guns.
Santana and Quinn identified themselves, each putting their guns away.
Quinn cradled Puck's head in her lap. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Did you get them?" Puck asked, his voice groggy.
"We did," Quinn said with a smile, "We had to do all the work since you decided to take a nap."
Puck let out a weak laugh, "I was tired."
Santana smiled watching the two. Her smile faltered though when her thoughts turned to a wounded Brittany.
"Call a bus!" Santana told the newly arrived officers, "We have two officers in need of medical attention. And one suspect."
Santana saw one of the uniform officers call for an ambulance. She turned and headed straight for Brittany.
Santana saw Brittany sitting on the floor between the door frame to Quinn's room.
"Santana!" Brittany called out, relief flooding her body at seeing Santana was unhurt, "Did you find Puck?"
"He's fine. Got knocked out, but he's OK," Santana said reaching Brittany and kneeling next to her, "The guy who shot you must have knocked him out. Back up is here and an ambulance is on the way."
Brittany was relieved to hear Puck was fine, "Good cause I need some drugs," Brittany joked, "This really, really hurts."
"Let me see," Santana said.
Brittany removed her hand and Santana was able to see the big gash on her girlfriend's arm. Blood still spilling out.
"I hope you like scars," Brittany said, putting her hand back on her wound, "Cause this one is going to be a doozy."
"I love scars," Santana said softly. She was about to kiss Brittany when she was interrupted.
"Does the force know you two are fucking?" Artie asked, "Cause I'm sure that's frowned upon."
"Fuck you," Santana said has she shot Artie a glare.
Artie just laughed.
"It's over," Brittany said, her hand back on her wound, "You're done."
"Am I?" Artie asked smugly, "We'll see."
Brittany looked at him wondering what Artie meant. Santana on the other hand had her suspicions.
###
About half an hour had passed since Artie and his men had broken into the building. There had been a total of three men, the two inside the penthouse and one in a unit two floors down. The third man had been the one to knock Puck out and shoot Brittany. He had come up to the penthouse when he hadn't heard from his accomplices.
The power had been restored and the penthouse was now filled with uniform officers, detectives and paramedics.
Artie and the man who had tired to attack Brittany had been taken to the station. The man Santana had shot was on his way to the hospital. He had regained consciousness and his first words had been him saying he'd gladly testify against Artie.
Artie's other accomplice had also been more than eager to point fingers at Artie and kept saying he would testify for a deal.
"How you holding up?" Santana asked Brittany.
"Good," Brittany said.
Brittany was sitting on a gurney, while the paramedic inspected and temporarily bandaged her wound.
"You're going to need stitches," the paramedic said, "We'll take you in and fix you up."
"Lay down please," the paramedic told Brittany.
Brittany did as she was told and suddenly felt exhausted.
"I'm going with you," Santana said, "To the hospital."
"You know you can't," Brittany said, "You have to stay here and finish this and go to the station."
Santana turned to the paramedic, "Can you give us a minute? Go check on Officer Puckerman or something?"
"Sure," the paramedic said and left.
The penthouse was packed with officers and detectives. Jerry had just arrived as was talking to Quinn.
"You did it again," Santana said, looking into Brittany's eyes.
"What?" asked looking up at Santana.
"You sacred me," Santana said.
"Oh," Brittany said, "Sorry."
"And," Santana said, "You kicked down another door."
Brittany let out a laugh, "I just keep breaking my promises, don't I?"
Santana reached down and placed a strand of Brittany's hair behind her ear.
"I -," Santana began, "I just.."
Santana felt like her chest was tightening. She had so much to say to Brittany but she couldn't. Not with half the police force around.
"I'm OK Santana," Brittany assured, knowing that's what Santana needed to hear, "This wound is nothing. And I'm OK because I know you didn't get hurt. You saved my life."
"I didn't," Santana said shaking her head.
"You did," Brittany insisted reaching and taking Santana's hand, "If you hadn't shot that guy he would have continued to shoot."
Santana thought back to that moment and thanked all the Gods, universes, and Mother Nature that the man had been such a lousy shot. The darkness of the apartment had been a blessing.
"I can't lose you Britt," Santana said softly, squeezing Brittany's hand, "Not when I just found you."
"I'm not going anywhere," Brittany said, her voice low. She felt like she wanted to cry.
Santana held back the tears that were threatening to spill. This was not the place.
"Thank you," Brittany said, trying to change the mood between them, "For being here. I knew we'd be OK with you watching us."
"I freaked out when they cut the lights," Santana said, "Can't believe they came in through the AC ducts in the laundry room."
"I know," Brittany said, "I still can't believe they broke into a unit two floors down and had been living there for a couple of weeks."
The two men who had been helping Artie had moved in to an empty unit two floors down and had been held up in that empty until waiting for Artie's order. Thanks to the undercover operation being to well planned, they had not even suspected the set up. Of course, it did help that the two men helping Artie weren't exactly geniuses.
"No wonder we didn't see them entering tonight," Santana said, brushing another strand of hair from Brittany's face, "But as soon as I saw that van, I knew something was wrong."
"You have great instincts," Brittany said, smiling, "One of the idiots had to go out and get food."
"Idiots."
"I'm so glad this is over," Brittany said, "Quinn is safe and we don't have to keep looking over our shoulders."
"At least for Artie," Santana said, "We need to find out if he has a boss."
"We will. But at least now we can spend more time together," Brittany said with a smile.
"Finally," Santana said, a big smile on her face.
Santana looked behind her and saw that the paramedic was on his way back to take Brittany to the hospital.
Puck had refused to go to the hospital, claiming he was fine. Quinn was ready to leave too.
"Time to go," the paramedic said.
"I'll go to the hospital as soon as I can," Santana told Brittany.
"You better," Brittany joked.
Santana watched as Brittany was wheeled away. She let out a long breath. Brittany was going to be just fine.
-tbc-