So I'm back again with another chapter, the longest so far. I thank you all for your reviews and encourage those of you who haven't reviewed, I don't ask for an essay just a few words are good enough to give me the boost I need to keep writing for you guys! I hope you like the chapter!
The next morning Santana woke the first, with the blonde holding onto her like she was a safe jacket keeping her from drowning. A few minutes later Brittany started to stir, waking up shortly after.
"Hey sleepy head, how did you sleep?" whispered Santana not wanting to break the silent morning.
"Like never before, I actually slept a whole night, it's kind of impressive" muttered Brittany rubbing her eyes.
"Well you know where to find me anytime you need a good night sleep" said the brunette smiling genuinely.
"Thank you Santana, really, and I promise I will tell you sometime about the nightmares."
"No hurries, I'm here anytime you want to talk, about anything, now that I know for sure I have a real friend I want to make it right."
"Well you're doing pretty good if you ask me."
Santana just looked at Brittany in the eyes for a few seconds and then smiled and got out of bed.
"You want breakfast?" asked the Latina over her shoulder opening her room's door.
"Yes please, right now I would eat anything."
"Pancakes? With maple syrup over them?" suggested Santana wiggling her eyebrows.
"You had me at pancakes" said the blonde following her to the kitchen.
"Well you better prepare because you're about to be trying my recipe."
Santana started to cook and Brittany watched as she moved expertly thru the kitchen, grabbing plates, a pan, the ingredients and everything she needed. When she was done with the first one she put it on a plate and pushed it to the blonde.
"Careful, it's still hot" warned the Latina.
When Brittany thought it had neared a good temperature to not burn herself she cut a piece and ate it.
"Wow, what's the secret ingredient? Heaven powder?" asked the blonde while eating the rest of it.
"No, just love" said Santana smiling, then the smile started to flatter "my... My mother used to tell me to cook with love and whatever it may be that I was cooking would be great... It's being working quite nicely and I keep doing it even if she's not here to try it anymore..."
"I'm so sorry Santana" said Brittany.
"She and my dad died a few years ago in a car accident... It was hard but I'm getting better."
"Well if you need someone there, to talk or anything at all you have me okay?"
"I know and I really thank you for that, I've had little people to rely on in my life"
"I'm really asking myself why" said Brittany "I mean, you're a cool person and you have never treated me bad or anything, you're annoying sometimes but not so much so I really don't understand it"
"I don't let people in easily" explained Santana "it's a way to protect myself from bad things that have already happened to me."
"You are letting me in" said the blonde.
"Yeah, I don't know you're different" mumbled the Latina.
"Different how?" asked Brittany.
"You don't really care about money; I remember you told me that once"
"That's true; I care more about the personality in a person"
"That's the good thing about you, there's not many people that think that way anymore, they all move for the money"
"Well you can trust me; I'm not that kind of person"
"And that's why I'm letting you in" declared Santana with a smile.
Then Santana heard her earpiece go off, it was Chloe's beep, "crap" she thought.
"Shit, I just remembered that I have to be at the studio this morning, I'm sorry that I have to kick you out but..." the Latina made up.
"No problem, I'll show myself out, breakfast was awesome, I hope you have a nice day, I'll see you when I'll see you, bye" said Brittany getting up and going to the elevator, calling it.
Santana then pushed the earpiece button letting Chloe talk.
"What took you so long? I was starting to think I had to send Clark there" Chloe stated.
"I had someone here, sorry"
"Really? Who was this someone? You never told me you're going out with someone"
"That's because I'm not going out with her, it was Brittany, she spent the night, she's my friend now" answered Santana, she had talked about Brittany some time or other with Chloe, Claudia and Myka.
"Oh it was Brittany, and you're friends now... And look there's rainbows in the sky and unicorns are raining!" teased the short blonde.
"Stop with that, woman! What's the matter? Whose ass I have to kick apart from yours?" asked Santana.
"Nobody's, you're a very violent person you know?" Chloe joked.
"Then why did you call? I had to kick Brittany out you know?"
"I'm gonna send you something's that Claudia told me to check with Clark as weapons, they seem to work okay but you'll have to ask her, she might call you by the way" explained Chloe.
"Okay then, I'll check them and call the redhead if I need to, thanks" added Santana pushing the button to end the call.
She went to the room where she had the device that Claudia gave them to send and receive things and waited until things started to appear there.
Boxes started appearing from nowhere and Santana piled them away from the device picking the first one to appear which was the tinniest of them all until now. She opened it and it was some kind of weird, shiny, thing with leather straps, she put it back in its box and decided to call Claudia.
"Sup?" answered the girl.
"Hey, Chloe just sent me some things and told me to call you if needed, well it was, what the fuck is this?" asked Santana.
"Some are weapons, get the small box"
"It's the only thing I have seen, what is it?"
"It's a device that goes on the back of your neck, like a necklace, a weird one... As I was saying it's a device that generates razorblades, you have said many times that you have razorblades hidden in your hair to try and scare some of us, failing may I add, now you really do have them, try it on if you want to, just put it on the back of your neck and it will adjust by itself, without killing you I hope."
Santana put it on the back of her neck and the straps came to life hugging her neck delicately, without hurting but with a firm hold.
"It's good, doesn't hurt, what do I do?"
"Just grab with both of your hands, or just one at one of the sides of the device, you will feel the metal, pull it out, it should come out easily."
Santana did as she was told and just as Claudia said the blade came out without putting any fight, the brunette looked at it and turned it around a couple of times.
"Wow, it works kind of awesome."
"Throw it at something, it's a good metal, it should go thru anything like it's butter so careful."
Santana threw it at one of her weights and it went just thru it just like Claudia said.
"It just cut thru a steel weight, like paper" said the brunette.
"Told ya, jeez I'm so awesome" bragged the redhead proudly.
"Yeah yeah, cut the self adoring; tell me about the rest" demanded Santana rolling her eyes.
"Grab a box with the number 1392 on it"
"Got it, I'm opening it" said Santana.
"It's a bag, it's kind of bottomless, I haven't tried a lot of things but I think Pete told me he put Jinks in it, don't worry he's not inside"
"Jinks?" asked Santana.
"Oh he's the new guy remember? I refer to him as poopy pants or jinksy but his name is Steve Jinks."
"Duly noted..."
"Well the bag, it's leather too, black to go right with your costume, it's very light no matter what you put in it so... It's kind of a good thing, what else... Right! I put a Farnsworth watch somewhere in it, you will be able to communicate with anyone from the warehouse and also see us, if you find it we can try it..."
Santana started searching for the watch and she found it in one of the little front pockets.
"Found it, what do I do?"
"Well it has six marked buttons, four are actually in use for one of the farnsworth that we have, the first one is mine, second Artie's, the next one is Pete and Myka's and the last one is Steve's, click the first.
Santana put the watch on and clicked the first button, the screen went from black to an image in movement, it was Claudia.
"Hey! I can see you! In black and white... Is something wrong with this?" said Santana tapping the screen lightly.
"No, unfortunately the farns work in b&w only, I'm working on it though"
"Cool, well tell me more, there's a lot of boxes here" said the brunette looking around.
"There's a mini tesla somewhere there, it shoots jolts of electricity that leave the person unconscious and with a slight memory loss, made it myself. Uh, search for a tube, it's a sword; a katana to be exact, it's made of the same metal of the razor blades so it's good, it has a button in the handle that makes it turn really tiny so you can put it anywhere and the mechanism works as a pen in the little form just click it and hold it by the handle, oh, one of the bigger boxes is a pack of cameras, you can install them in your place and they will act like chameleons and turn the color and all that of the place where they are, there's also a lot of little things in the other big box, some are innocent but useful duplicates of artifacts, each one has a note with what is it and what it does. Other things either Myka, Steve or Chloe said it would be good you had around your place just in case, also each has a note, the last box is the one numbered 546 right?"
"Yup"
"Open it carefully, it may want to come out" said Claudia.
Santana opened the box not knowing what to expect, when she looked inside there was a puppy.
"A puppy? That's dangerous to someone because..." Santana dragged out graving the little dog in her arms and petting it.
"So it's alive! Awesome! I sent it to you to try if animals or therefor persons could travel with the machine and yes! So I'm going there right now" said Claudia ending both calls.
Santana waited until the machine started to make a sound, sing that something was coming.
"Claud?" called Santana when she started to see a figure.
Then Claudia became solid and fell to the floor the second she touched it.
"Claudia! Oh god, you idiot teen..." growled Santana grabbing her before she hit the ground. She carried her to her bed and put her on it, she was not hurt apparently so it was waiting for now. Half an hour later Claudia started to stir and woke up.
"Thank god you're okay, if you had died on me I would have brought you back and killed you myself, don't ever do that again! You hear me?" scolded Santana.
"Could you not yell at the hurt girl? What happened?" asked the redhead.
"You used the machine to come here and you made it but fainted when you got here, you scared me so much... I lost all my family I can't lose you too..."
"Wow woman you're tearing up, come here, I'm okay see? I'm hard to kill so you're gonna have to put up with me for a while more" joked Claudia hugging the Latina.
"Still, don't do that ever again; there's so many what ifs that I don't wanna go thru..." mumbled Santana against the redhead shoulder.
"I'm sure I can get used to it and do it without fainting" affirmed Claudia.
"Well I suggest you to practice with Chloe, cause if you do that again and faint on me? I'll kill you" said Santana.
"Good idea, I'll do it and when I'm well trained visit again, well now that I'm here I can help you with some of the things I sent you" accepted Claudia moving some boxes.
They went over everything and then Claudia went to the machine to go back to the warehouse.
"Wait! Shouldn't you give someone a heads up? What if you faint again and no one is there?"
"Okay okay, you know you are acting like a mother, it's not cool, you're like... Two years older than me"
"Just call, Claudia" insisted Santana turning even more serious.
Claudia called Myka that happened to be just in the office right then and told her what might happen when she goes back, then closed her Farnsworth and went to say goodbye to Santana.
"Well, I'll see you when I see you, we'll be talking and all that" said the redhead.
"Yeah yeah, come here techie." beckoned Santana hugging her "You better call when you are there to let me know you're okay."
Claudia went back to the warehouse and Santana was left alone again, she decided to send Brittany a text to say sorry so she did and then went to her living room to play some videogames.
A couple of hour later she got one of her vibes and went to put on her suit, then as always jumped from building to building until she reached her destination, a robber had a girl against a wall at gunpoint and was rummaging thru her bag.
"Hey now, why don't you stop pointing the gun at the lady and give it to me and then surrender, that way you don't get hurt and I don't have to kick your ass, it's win win" suggested Santana coming out of the shadows.
"And why would I do that?" asked the guy not changing his position.
"Because it's not nice" responded Santana approaching him and then hitting the back of his head "Don't talk back, a lesson you should have learned" then she looked at the girl "Hey it's okay now, he won't hurt you"
The girl turned around and Santana gasped, it was Brittany.
"Thank you veiled, though I probably would have being fine, I don't know what would have happened if you wouldn't have showed up."
"Probably not so much" Santana said picking the gun from the ground not minding the comment "there's no ammunition in here."
"Well yah, thanks anyway."
"That's my work here, protect the city and its citizens" Santana said frowning, she let it pass because she couldn't stand being this close to the woman without doing or saying something to uncover herself so she knew she had to go right now.
So that's what she did, she said a fast goodbye and went back to the rooftops and to her place, falling into her bed without even taking her suit off.
"There's no going back, I'm already burned and I can only go on, I'm going to have to do something" said Santana to herself, then her phone started to ring, it was the blonde.
"Oh my god San, I'm so scared" wailed the blonde with a shaky voice.
"What's wrong Britt?" asked Santana sitting up on the bed.
"First someone tries to mug me, don't worry the veiled fairy helped me, and then someone is watching me, I've received a text saying 'look out the window' so I did, and there was a man, he had a hoodie so I don't know who he is, and then he sent another text saying 'I know who you are, and where you live, also your name, Brittany' I'm scared San"
"Well where are you right now?" asked Santana concerned.
"I'm at my friend's place, she's my neighbor, but I'm still scared" answered Brittany.
"Well can your friend drop you here? Or can I go get you? I'll feel better if I know you're okay" asked Santana, then she slapped her forehead, what was she gonna do? What if there was an emergency or something? What was she gonna say? 'Oh Brittany I have to go for a while, don't go into my closet'.
"I don't want to intrude..."
"Please, intrude? In my life? It's not like I have anyone here or some possible person to come randomly, so just tell me what to do cause I want you out of that building right now, go to your apartment and get some things, I'll go get you there, no discussions" demanded Santana hanging up without letting Brittany say something.
She got out of her suit and placed it in its mannequin until next use, then she put on some jeans and a tank top and grabbed the keys of her car and was peeling off the road the minute she got in it, reaching the blondes street in a few minutes and running upstairs, she already knew the blondes floor and apartment number so she went directly to it, ringing the bell and knocking on the door at the same time until a brunette answered.
"You must be Quinn, is Brittany ready?" asked Santana between ragged breaths.
"There's no Quinn or Brittany here, but in the next apartment I think there's both" said the girl.
"What? I don't understand, this is Brittany's apartment" alleged Santana.
"I moved here like a week ago, the girl who lived here had to move for some reason the owner of the place didn't tell me, sorry, now could you go? I need to go back to sleep" barked the girl with an attitude and closing the door in Santana's face.
Santana went to the next apartment and pounded on the door. A blonde opened the door.
"I hope you are Quinn" stated Santana.
"Yes, please come in, Brittany is in her room getting some things" announced the blonde who had a slight nasal tone.
Santana entered the place just when Brittany was coming out of her room and her angry self took the reins.
"And tell me, why did I had to get from a stranger the news that you moved!" roared Santana.
"What? Are you mad? Why would you be mad?" asked Brittany.
"Cause I'm concerned about you. I come here, in the middle of the night, I go to your apartment and a brunette who is unknown to me answers the door and tells me she moved about a week ago and that the person who lived there had to move out, and surprisingly the owner of the place didn't tell her why which has to mean something don't you think? What happened and why am I getting this information now?"
"I got kicked out okay? I couldn't pay rent and I had to move in with Quinn, happy now?"
"No, not really, aren't you working? Shouldn't you get enough money to pay rent?" asked Santana still a bit angry but less than before.
"I didn't get my check in time and the owner said to get out, now if you want to go and leave me here scared and sad that's okay, but stop making me more sad please" pleaded Brittany.
Santana put her head down, she had made the blonde sad, just because she had got too emotional and let her impulsive side take control, she went to the blonde and wrapped her arms around her, engulfing the girl in a strong hug.
"I'm sorry, I'm really really sorry, please forgive me?" begged Santana letting go of the girl.
"Okay, I forgive you but don't assume things again please, and don't yell, you're kind of scary when you yell" murmured Brittany.
"Okay, now what about we go? Let me get your things, it's just this what your taking?" asked Santana in a sweet voice holding a couple of bags.
Brittany nodded and said goodbye to Quinn.
Santana and Brittany got to the brunette's car and drove to her place.
"Good night ladies" greeted Will.
"Hi Will, we're going up okay? Don't let anyone who's not from this building in, if they claim to know someone you make that person come down okay? And go with them to the floor they're going. Just stay alert" ordered Santana to the man.
"No problem Ms. Lopez" Will nodded.
The two girls went up to the Latina's floor and got out of the elevator when they reached it.
"You want some dinner? I'm sure I have something easy and fast to make" offered Santana putting the blonde's things beside the couch.
"I'm not really hungry, I just want to feel safe… thanks anyway" said the blonde still a little shaky.
"Well you can feel safe here, the elevator has its code for this floor, Will is full alert and I'm here, if it's necessary I won't sleep tonight"
"You need to sleep Santana, I'm not that scared anymore knowing all that, no need to worry so much"
"You're my priority right now okay? You're going to my bed and you're going to sleep and I am going to stay up, make some coffee, watch some movies, keep myself up and alert" proclaimed Santana not leaving place for any discussions.
"Okay… but promise me that if you feel sleepy or tired you will go to sleep" begged the blonde.
"Fine" muttered Santana curtly while rolling her eyes.
Brittany smiled and kissed the raven haired girl's cheek goodnight, making her blush, and then she went to the Latina's bedroom and got in the warm and cozy bed, giving herself to Morpheus after a few minutes.
Santana poured herself a coffee and went to her DVD player, putting on some movie she hadn't watched yet, trying not to be so loud so the scared girl in her room wouldn't wake up.
Just when the second movie started Santana heard movement in the other room, a few seconds later the door opened letting a teary faced blonde out, Santana got up of the couch and almost run to the girl, engulfing her in a hug the instant she reached her.
"What is it honey?" she cooed noting the pet name she had used and scolding herself silently.
"Nightmare" sobbed Brittany against the brunette's shoulder.
"What can I do?" asked Santana in a whisper.
"Can I stay here with you?" asked the tall girl lifting her head from the shorter girl's shoulder.
"Of course" answered the Latina "I'm starting to watch some movie if you want to stay up for a bit"
"I'll see, for now I'll just lay on the couch if you don't mind" said Brittany.
"No problem at all" replied Santana letting the now bold blonde put her head on her lap and brushing her hair after a while.
They both ended falling asleep that way halfway thru the movie, not caring about the car battle that was taking place in the TV.