A/N: Alright kids, it's looking like this fic will indeed end at Ch. 25. Don't want it to drag out and get boring. ;) Been working on writing/editing another fic though. Stay tuned.

The station wasn't as packed with officers in the middle of the night as it was during the day. It was easy to bring in Artie Abrams and one of his accomplice without much fanfare. The department wanted to keep this out of the papers as long as possible.

Artie and his accomplice had been taken straight to booking where they were photographed and finger printed. They had them on a barrage of charges which was sure to keep them locked up for a long time.

While Artie was being processed, Santana, Quinn and Puck were giving their own accounts on what happened. Santana had to give up her weapon because she had used it and shot a suspect.

This was the third person Santana had shot in the line of duty and she knew that the paperwork was going to be insane.

The man Santana had shot was still in surgery but Santana was told by the officers assigned to him that he would make a full recovery. He'd go to jail a healthy man.

Santana got a text from Brittany telling she was fine and her stitches looked gross but kinda of bad ass. Santana had laughed and told her she couldn't wait to nurse her back to health.

Santana was sitting in one of the conference rooms with Quinn and Puck waiting for Jerry.

"Brittany got her stitches," Santana said as she put her phone away.

"Thank God," Quinn said, "That looked pretty bad."

"It really did," Santana said.

"We have to make sure to buy her favorite ice cream," Puck said, "For her recovery."

Santana was going to ask Brittany to stay with her for a couple of days. Have her recover at her place. She was sure Brittany would agree to that, but she didn't mention this to Quinn or Puck. All this had surely guaranteed them a few days off.

She made a mental note to buy sherbet ice cream.

The sun was almost coming up on a new day but they were still not done.

The mayor had yet to arrive at the station. Quinn had called her right after the bust but told her not to come to the station until someone came to get her.

"She's safe now Quinn," Puck assured, "She's always been safe. With the protective detail and your brothers staying with her, she always had a watchful eye on her.

"I know, but if Artie isn't lying and it's really not over..."

"We'll know more when we question him," Santana said, "Your whole family is safe Quinn. Your mom, brothers and dad and your step-dad."

"Ugh fuck my step-dad!" Quinn said, anger in her voice, "My mom's been going through hell all this time and he's can't even bother to cancel all his business trips? Asshole."

"But he's back right?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, he got back two days ago," Quinn said, "I never understood why my mom married that guy."

Santana gave Quinn a weak smile. She and Jerry had kept a close eye on every member of Quinn's immediate family in case Artie had chosen to go after them. Quinn's brothers and father had been assigned a protective detail. Judy's current husband, John Bronson, had been gone on business for a while.

"He doesn't matter," Quinn continued, "He was supposed to be back from Rome the day before mom's last dinner but I guess business was more important than his wife."

"Sorry," was all Santana said.

"How about I go pick her up?" Puck suddenly suggested.

"There you go," Santana said, glad for he change of topic, "Puck will look after her."

"Yeah, OK," Quinn said, letting out a breath, "Thanks Puck."

They followed Puck out and watched him walk toward the exit. After he was gone Santana and Quinn noticed Artie being taken down the main hall.

"Take Abrams to room 5," Jerry Fox told the officers who were in charge of watching the criminal, "I'll be right in."

Santana and Quinn caught up to Jerry as Artie was being taken away.

"I want in on the questioning," Quinn said.

"No way, Officer Fabray," Jerry said, "May I remind you that you were the target in this crime. I can't have you involved anymore. You're too close to this."

"I can handle this!" Quinn almost shouted.

"Quinn," Santana said gently, "He's right. Your part is done, let him take it from here. You know you can't be involved anymore."

Quinn took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'll let you watch the interrogation through the two way mirror, but that's it," Jerry said sternly.

"Great," Santana said.

Jerry nodded and walked away.

"I need to call Sam," Santana said.

"I'm sure he knows," Quinn said, "My mother tells him everything. I bet you he shows up with her."

Santana's phone rang.

"It's Sugar," Santana said, surprised, "The hell does she want at this hour."

"You don't think," Quinn began, "You don't think she knows we made an arrest, do you?"

"That's crazy," Santana said, "It happen like 3 hours ago. She couldn't know that fast."

The phone continued to ring.

Santana answered, "Why aren't you asleep?"

"You arrested Artie!" Sugar said, her voice dripping with excitement.

"The actual fuck?" Santana almost yelled, "How the fuck did you know that already."

"Holy shit," Quinn said, an amused smile on her face.

"They tried to kidnap Quinn? Were there any shots fired? Is Quinn OK? Are…"

"Whoa, whoa," Santana interrupted, "Slow down Lois Lane."

"Don't you fucking dare give any exclusives to anyone else," Sugar said, "I'm coming down to the station right now!"

"Sugar! Sug…"

The line was dead.

"Well," Santana said, putting her phone away, "Sugar is on her way."

"How did she know so fast?" Quinn asked.

"Her mysterious source," Santana said, "Who the hell is it?"

"It has to be someone at the scene," Quinn said, "Or someone in the mayor's office, or someone from booking."

"Maybe it's your mom," Santana told Quinn, "How funny would that be?"

"It's not my mom," Quinn said, "Maybe it's Sam."

"No way," Santana said, "He's been trying to keep info about this out of the press for months. No way it's him."

Santana and Quinn were interrupted when they noticed Brittany practically running down the hall towards them.

"What'd I miss?" Brittany asked, a bit out of breath.

"Brittany!" both Santana and Quinn called out in surprise.

Brittany had been itching to get back to the station as soon as possible. She was feeling a lot better. The searing pain in her arm was now a dull ache. Mainly thanks to the painkillers. As soon as the doctor stitched her up, she had asked to be released. Once the wound had been cleaned, she noticed it wasn't as bad as she initially thought.

She did have a large white bandage around her upper arm and the doctor had put it in a sling so she wouldn't move it around so much. Once she had gotten the OK to leave, she hopped in a cab and headed straight for the station. When she had texted Santana she was already on her way but didn't say anything because she knew Santana would try to stop her.

"You should be in the hospital," Santana chastised.

Santana was a upset that Brittany had left the hospital but she'd be lying if she didn't admit she was glad to see her.

Santana went over and carefully pulled Brittany in for a hug. She didn't want to bother her injured arm.

"I'm fine," Brittany said, hugging her back with her good arm, "Good as new."

Santana let Brittany go and moved back to inspect her sling.

"You idiot," Quinn said, "Go back to the hospital."

Brittany watched as Quinn came close and pulled her into a hug.

"The doctor said I could go," Brittany said, "I mean sure, he did say that I should go home and rest but he didn't say I had to do it right away."

Quinn let out a small laugh. Santana didn't.

"I'm fine," Brittany said again, mainly for Santana's benefit. She did love that Santana cared about her as much as she did, but she needed to know what was going on, "Fill me in."

Quinn went on to fill in Brittany on everything that had happened. Including Sugar and her mysterious source.

Truth be told, Brittany had forgotten all about the three of them trying to solve who Sugar's source was. Sugar had gotten information for months and it never once derailed the investigation.

No harm, no foul she thought.

But she knew there was foul. If this source was leaking information to a reporter, then who's to say they wouldn't leak other information to criminals or others who'd have more sinister things to gain.

"We've come to the conclusion," Quinn said, "That it's not Sam or my mom."

"Oh my God!" Brittany said, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

"What?" Santana asked.

"I..I think it's Rachel," Brittany said.

Both Quinn and Santana stared at Brittany.

"But she's so..," Santana began, "She was practically peeing her pants when they questioned her. I just can't picture her going all Deep Throat."

"It makes sense," Quinn said, "She'd have access to information my mother got, and my mom made sure she was updated on every detail about these robberies."

"Wait," Brittany said, waving her hand, "No, I'm wrong. It can't be her. She's too afraid of her own shadow."

"When Sugar gets here," Santana said, "We'll ask."

###

Brittany, Quinn and Santana watched Jerry interrogate Artie from the safety of the observation room. He had yet to admit to anything or ask for his lawyer.

"So Mr. Abrams, looks like we caught you red handed," Jerry said as he sat down across from Artie.

"I'm innocent," Artie said, in his normal British accent, "And I'd appreciate you uncuffing me from this table."

"Now see," Jerry began, "I thought you were from Indiana? What's with that accent?"

"I watch a lot of BBC."

"Sure you do," Jerry said with a smirk, "Give it up Abrams, you're buddy are in the other room is giving you up. And once the other one is out of surgery, he'll talk too. No one is protecting you. You're going down for this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Artie said, smugly, "I was merely visiting my employers daughter to make sure she was OK. There has been a crime wave in this city."

"A crime wave you started," Jerry accused.

"According to you," Artie said, "Listen, I'm not sure why I'm here when there are bigger and more local fish you should be interested in."

"Like who?"

"I'm done talking," Artie said, "If I remember my Law & Order reruns accurately, the second I ask for my lawyer you can't talk to me anymore."

Jerry said nothing.

"I want my lawyer," Artie demanded.

In the observation room, Quinn let out a grunt in frustration.

"He's crazy if he thinks he's getting away with this," Quinn said.

"He's not, Quinn," Brittany said, "There's too much evidence against him."

"Yeah," Santana added, "Plus his team is turning on him. He's not going anywhere.

"What the hell did he mean by bigger fish?" Quinn asked.

Before anyone could say anything, the door to the room suddenly opened and a uniformed officer stuck his head in the room.

"Which one of you is Lopez?" he asked.

"I am. Who wants to know?" Santana said.

"There's a Sugar Motta out front looking for you."

"Oh, thanks," Santana said, "I'll be right there."

When the officer left, Brittany spoke.

"Are we confronting her about Rachel?"

"Should we?" Santana asked, "I mean, sure, it's driving me insane not knowing who is giving Sugar all this info but she didn't hurt anyone. We solved the case."

"Look," Quinn began, "Nothing is going to happen to Sugar. Rachel on the other hand..."

"Wait," Brittany interrupted, "I'm sure I'm wrong. I was just guessing. I don't think Rachel would do that. She loves working for the mayor and really needs the job. I doubt she'd risk getting fired."

"Britt," Quinn said, "I know she's your friend but if she is leaking information to the press, information that is not supposed to be released, she's going to get fired."

Brittany felt panic start to rise up inside her. The last thing she wanted was her friend to get fired.

"We have no proof," Brittany said firmly, "It's just a stupid guess. I know you don't like Rachel but can you at least wait to see if it's true first."

"I like Rachel," Quinn said, "I do. She's super annoying, but not a bad person. But if she broke the rules, she should be punished."

Quinn's phone suddenly alerted her to a text.

"Puck's back with my mom," Quinn said, "She's in conference room 11. I'm going to go see her."

"We'll go talk to Sugar," Santana said.

Quinn left without another word.

"I really don't think it's Rachel," Brittany said, worry in her voice.

Santana stepped forward and brought Brittany in for a hug.

"I know honey," Santana said softly into the crook of Brittany's neck.

Brittany squeezed her good arm a little tighter around her girlfriend, "I just don't want her to lose her job. At least not until she sells one of her musicals."

Santana stepped back a bit to look at Brittany. She smiled.

"We don't even know it's her," Santana said, her arms resting on Brittany's hips, "We don't have to look into this. The mayor doesn't seem too worried about having a leak in her office. If Mayor Fabray hasn't deemed this important enough to launch and investigation, then let's not start one."

"I don't want us to interfere with this investigation," Brittany said.

"There is no investigation," Santana assured as she moved her hand to caress Brittany's cheek, "This was just us trying to figure this out for our own curiosity."

"If you're sure," Brittany said.

"I'm sure," Santana said stepping back, "Come on, let's go talk to Sugar.

"OK."

They headed towards the door, but before Brittany had a chance to open it, Santana stopped her.

"Hey Britt," Santana said softly.

"Did you change your mind?"

"No, it's not that," Santana said, taking a breath, "I wanted to ask…with your arm shot up like that…you'll get a few days off to recover and …

Santana wasn't sure why she was rambling. All she wanted was to ask Brittany to stay at her place so she could take care of her.

"I'd love to stay at your place," Brittany interrupted, "I know we had sort of talked about me spending some days over at your house, but I wasn't sure if you were serious or just joking around."

Santana laughed out of pure relief, "Brittany, I was totally serious. I just wanted to ask you in case you'd rather rest at home while your arm gets better."

"Hmm, well," Brittany said closing the gap between her and Santana and bringing her in for a hug with her good arm, "I'm going to need lots of attention."

"Is that right?" Santana asked, smiling and putting her hands around Brittany's waist, "I can do that."

"You shouldn't worry so much," Brittany said softly, "This is the job."

Santana closed her eyes and sighed.

"I know, I know," Santana said opening her eyes and looking at Brittany, "My brain understands that. It does. I just, I worry about the people I care about. I can't help it."

Brittany returned Santana's smile and leaned in and placed a tender kiss on Santana's lips.

"I care about you too," Brittany said, "So much."

Santana kissed Brittany again.

Santana wondered if it was too soon to tell Brittany she loved her. Because she did. She wasn't sure when it happened but she knew she was in love with Brittany.

Fuck it, Santana thought, we could have died tonight.

"I more than care for you Brittany," Santana said seriously, "I love you."

Brittany felt her heart soar and an impossibly big smile form on her face.

"Maybe it's too soon," Santana began, "But I just..I.."

Santana was cut off when Brittany kissed her and hugged her incredibly tight again.

"Me too!" Brittany said pulling back, "I love you Santana."

"Yeah?" Santana asked with a big smile.

"Oh yeah," Brittany responded.

Santana was sure she had never felt happier, "I can't wait to nurse you back to health."

"You're going to regret it," Brittany said playfully.

"I very much doubt that," Santana said, "Now come on. Let's deal with Sugar."

"Her name is so weird," Brittany said as Santana let her go and went to open the door, "I gotta ask her if her parents were high when they named her."

Santana's chuckle slightly echoed as they headed out into the hallway.

###

Brittany and Santana made their way to the front of the station and saw Sugar pacing back and forth.

"Sugar!" Santana called out.

Sugar stopped pacing and practically ran to them.

"It's about fucking time!" Sugar said the excitement evident in her voice, "It's all true, right? Artie Abrams was going to kidnap or hurt Quinn? Holy shit Brittany, what happened to your arm?"

"Would you keep your voice down," Santana warned her, "Just…Shhh!"

"Maybe we should go into a room," Brittany suggested.

"Good idea," Santana said, "Come on Lois Lame, let's get you isolated."

Sugar gladly followed Brittany and Santana through the labyrinth of hallways of the West L.A. station.

"This is going to get me a Peabody award, I just know it!" Sugar said.

"Just calm down," Santana said as she opened the door to conference room 9, "Get in here."

Sugar stepped in and jumped up to sitt on the long table in the middle of the room.

Santana closed the door after Brittany entered.

"OK!" Sugar said, "First things first, why is your arm in a sling Brittany? Did you get hurt during the bust?"

"We know who your source is," Brittany said, ignoring the questions about her injury.

Santana was taken completely by surprise. She had thought Brittany hadn't wanted to look into Sugar's source.

"Britt," Santana said, "You don't have…"

"It's OK," Brittany said, "I want to make sure."

"You don't know anything," Sugar said, her voice wavering a bit.

"It's Rachel," Brittany stated.

Brittany had expected Sugar to look surprised or mad at hearing Rachel's name, but she wasn't. Instead Sugar had a look of utter confusion on her face.

"Rachel?" Sugar asked.

"Don't play dumb," Santana said, "Rachel Berry? The mayor's assistant. The one not sitting in a jail cell right now."

"Wait, you think my source is Rachel? The aspiring playwright?" Sugar asked.

Brittany and Santana nodded.

Sugar laughed.

"What's so funny?" Santana asked, getting annoyed.

"Oh man..OK," Sugar said, trying to stop laughing, "I'm not telling you who my source is, but I will tell you it's definitely not Rachel Berry."

"It's not?" Brittany asked.

"No, it's not," Sugar said, smiling.

Brittany felt the relief wash over her at hearing the news. She wasn't going to say anything and just drop the whole thing. Like Santana said, if the mayor hadn't launched an investigation on the leak, then maybe it wasn't that important. But she needed to know if Rachel was the leak.

"So Berry isn't spoon feeding you info?" Santana asked.

"No, and I suggest you drop this," Sugar said, "It's not her and that's all you're getting from me on this. Ever again. Consider that little bit of info a favor."

"Thanks Sugar," Brittany said.

"Don't thank her," Santana said, "She's still sitting on information."

"Can we move on," Sugar said, now impatient, "What can you tell me on Abrams arrest?"

"Nothing," Santana said crossing her arms.

"Come on Santana," Sugar said, "I cleared Rachel Berry, the least you can do is give me something in return."

Santana let out a breath, "He's British."

"Knew that. Next?"

"His team is turning against him," Brittany added.

"Ohhhh!" Sugar said, now interested, "That I didn't know. Thanks rookie."

"And that's all you're getting," Brittany said.

"That's all I need," Sugar said, jumping off the table.

Brittany's phone rang. It was Quinn.

"Hey Quinn…yeah, uh huh….we're with Sugar now….Really? Umm, yeah OK… We'll be right there."

Brittany hung up.

"What did she want?" Santana asked.

"The mayor wants to talk to Sugar."

"Seriously?" Sugar said, excited.

"Yeah," Brittany said, "She wants you to be the reporter to break this news."

Sugar jumped up in the air like she had just won the lottery, "Peabody, Pulitzer..here I COME! Let's go."

Sugar was out the door before Brittany or Santana could stop her.

"This should be fun," Santana said.

Sugar was already a few feet in front of Santana and Brittany as hey headed to the room where the mayor waited.

"Damn it Sugar," Santana called out in from to her, "You don't even know where you're going!"

"Well hurry up!" Sugar said, stopping, "I don't want to keep the mayor waiting."

Santana and Brittany caught up to Sugar and lead her the rest of the way.

"In here," Santana said once they rounded the corner door.

When Santana opened the door she saw that inside Conference Room 11 was the mayor, Puck, Quinn, Sam, Rachel and Finn.

"Mayor Fabray," Sugar greeted, "I am honored that you have chosen me to break this story."

"Well," Judy began, "Considering you're always one step ahead of everyone, it seems only fitting."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sugar said, with a big smile.

Brittany recognized everyone in the room except for the tall, goofy looking guy next to Sam.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" she asked.

"Oh!" Sam chimed in, "Brittany this is my assistant Finn Hudson."

"Nice to meet you Finn," Brittany said, "I'm Brittany Pierce."

"Hi," Finn said a bit shyly, "Hi Santana, nice to see you again."

"You too Finn," Santana said.

"Now that everyone knows each other," Judy said, "Can we get down to business? Ms. Motta, let's have a chat shall we?"

"Yes ma'am," Sugar said.

Judy turned her attention to the rest of the people in the room, "Can the rest of you excuse us? I'll only require Sam in this meeting."

"Yeah, sure," Puck said.

Everyone else had quickly exited the room leaving Judy, Sam and Sugar alone.

"Is it you?" Quinn asked Rachel as soon as everyone was outside.

"Am I what?" Rachel asked confused.

"Why are you here?" Quinn asked, "It's the crack of dawn, shouldn't you be asleep."

"Judy..Mayor Fabray called me," Rachel said nervously, "She told me what happened and wanted my help."

"Quinn," Brittany warned.

"Then you called Sugar after talking to my mom," Quinn accused.

"What? No…no, why would I?" Rachel asked.

"Quinn stop," Brittany said, "It's not her."

"What?"

"It's not her," Santana confirmed.

"What am I not?" Rachel asked, her face showing her confusion.

"Nothing Rachel," Brittany said, "It's nothing. Hey, listen, let's hang out this week. How about on Wednesday?"

"Umm, yeah," Rachel said, still confused, "Wednesday is fine. I'm still not sure what's happening though."

"Don't worry about it Andrew Lloyd Webber," Santana said.

"But how..," Quinn began.

"We'll tell you later," Santana said.

"Well," Puck finally spoke, "This code you are all talking in is fascinating but I'm super exhausted and I've been cleared to go home. I'm going to get some sleep."

Santana was about to bid Puck a good night when she noticed that Sam's assistant had gone sort of pale.

"You OK, Finn?"

"Huh? Oh, fi…fine," he stammered, "I'm fine."

Santana wondered, "Hey do you know Sugar?"

"Hmm? Me? No.. I mean, yeah I know who she is but..no I don't know…her." Finn managed to get out.

"Riiiight," was all Santana said.

Brittany watched the exchange and wondered what the weird vibe was that she was picking up.

"I'll walk with you Officer Puckerman," Finn said, "I could use some coffee."

Puck and Finn left leaving Brittany, Rachel, Santana and Quinn standing alone in the hallway.

"Wait," Quinn said, "You don't think…"

"It could be," Brittany said.

"I have a feeling he is," Santana said.

"That little punk," Quinn said, "I'm going to talk to my mother and have her start an official investigation."

"I'm sorry," Rachel interrupted, "What the the hell are you all talking about?"

"Don't worry about it," Santana said.

"Cops are so weird," Rachel said, "I'm going to go get some coffee."

And with that she was gone.

"What a fucking mess," Quinn said.

"At least we got Artie," Brittany said.

"True," Santana said, "But now we need to find out if he's working alone or not."

"You don't think he is," Brittany stated.

"I just have a feeling," Santana said.

Santana had some theories but she hadn't really shared them with anyone other than Jerry. There was a reason Jerry had assigned her to background checks. She was good at it. Really good. She had spent countless hours researching the Fabray family and found a lot of interesting things. Finding that had developed into theories.

She didn't mention any now because Quinn was present. These theories Santana had implicated Quinn's step-father.

John Bronson, the mayor's current husband had been out of the country for the majority of this case and had only gotten back recently. Santana remembered the mayor's dinner and the mayor saying her husband couldn't join them because he had been caught up on business in Europe. Santana didn't think about it much at the time. But she started to get suspicious when Mr. Bronson still didn't show up even after the threat against the mayor became a real danger.

You'd think his wife's life being in constant danger would warrant an immediate return, Santana thought.

When Santana had casually asked Quinn about her step-father one day, Quinn said he was a workaholic. It was nothing unusual. Quinn wasn't a fan of John Bronson.

"The only good thing that man has done that I've liked," Quinn had said, "Is him doing everything possible to avoid my brothers and me."

When Quinn's brothers had heard about the threat they had cut their business trip short and jumped on a plane from New York to be with their mother. Even Quinn's biological father, the mayor's ex husband, Russell Fabray, had made it a point to be constantly by his ex-wives side.

That one action, or non-action, by John Bronson had put him on Santana's watch list. She had checked his financial records and found that Quinn was next in line to inherit Judy's share of the Fabray fortune. But if something were to happen to Quinn, John was next in line. Quinn's brothers would split Russell Fabray's share.

It was slowly starting to come together. Now with Artie suggesting things weren't over and that there was someone else, her suspicions grew.

Santana had told Quinn that she thought she wasn't the real target. She was wrong. The more she thought about it, the more sure she was that the mayor's own husband was the one who wanted her and Quinn dead.

-tbc-

Note: Quinn's brothers were mentioned in Chapter 5 and the mayor's husband in Chapter 15. Just so you don't think I just made them up right here and now. ;-)