Santana hurried to get ready, changing into her fitted blazer and slim black trousers, and then scraping her hair back into a neat bun. She surveyed herself in the mirror, wiping away the small smudges of lipstick that had smeared around her mouth earlier. She touched her lip lightly and smiled, remembering the way Brittany's lips had felt against hers, so soft, so warm. But she didn't have time to reminisce; right now, she had to get to Blaine, give him back the damn diamonds, and then tell him she was done with him, with all of this. She didn't want to pursue this lifestyle anymore; the only thing she wanted to do now was to be with Brittany, and that was it.
She faced herself in the mirror one last time, giving herself a satisfied nod as she deemed herself acceptable for her meeting with Blaine. She grabbed her bag, stuffing her gun into the bottom of it along with the diamonds, meaning to give both back to Blaine and then get the hell out of there.
Santana then exited her apartment, making her way down the stairs briskly. As she once again walked through the taco shop that she lived above, for the second time that day, the owner looked at her quizzically.
"You're very busy today, Miss Lopez." he stated, his accent curious but friendly.
"Yes, Mr Martinez! So much to do, so little time." she replied warmly, flashing him a brief smile as she continued towards the door, shuffling out and hailing the first taxi she saw. She didn't give the driver the exact address of Blaine's office – she would certainly be in trouble if anyone found out the location – but instead directed him to a road a few blocks away. They arrived there twenty minutes later, and Santana hurriedly handed the driver some money, checking her watch anxiously.
"Phew." she muttered to herself, "Still got fifteen minutes."
She smoothed down her blazer, and then made her way up to the intimidating building that towered above her menacingly. She gulped slightly, but shook her head, determined not to let a big fancy building shake her.
She walked up to the large glass doors, which were tinted black so you could only see out of them. She pressed the buzzer to her left, and a voice came through the speaker:
"State your name and your business here."
Santana recognised the voice of Sugar, the receptionist that Blaine had hired a while ago. She cleared her throat, before replying,
"Santana Lopez, First in Command. I have a meeting scheduled with Mr Anderson."
"Oh, hi Santana!" Sugar squeaked. "Okay, come on in."
Santana couldn't help but to grin a little at the excited tone in the girl's voice; she had always had a soft spot for Sugar, she wasn't sure why; they just connected on the girl's first day and now she was one of theonly people Santana actually considered to be her friend.
She pushed open the heavy door, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the foyer. She had only been into Headquarters a few times in the past, and although she hated to admit it, the majestic building took her breath away every time.
She took a minute to marvel at its grandeur, swivelling her head around to take it all in. The floor was swathed in white marble, sprinkled with dashes of black. The walls were also white, although they were pure white, with occasional red lines interrupting the block of colour and adding a splash of decadence. In each corner of the room stood a large white marble pillar, ensconced in red velvet ribbon.
She then brought herself out of her reverie, silently cursing Blaine for having such impressive artistic talent, then made her way over to the desk that was occupied by Sugar.
The girl was petite, with a striking, pretty face, framed with brown hair that was teased into light curls. She was known for her kooky yet stylish fashion sense, and right now was wearing purple trousers and black knee-high boots, with a fitted white top and a purple feather boa around her neck. She heard the sound of approaching footsteps and glanced up, grinning when she saw Santana walking towards her.
"Santana!" she exclaimed happily, jumping up out of her chair and scurrying around her desk to hug Santana warmly. The Latina hugged her back tightly, smiling as she pulled back, softly tapping Sugar's nose with her finger and murmuring "Boop!", something that always made the younger girl giggle.
Sugar laughed delightedly, before composing herself and returning to her seat calmly, remembering that she had to act professionally.
"So, Santana, you said you've got a meeting with Blaine today?"
Santana nodded as she waited for Sugar to tell her where to go, while the young woman checked her computer for instructions on where to send Santana.
"Okay, here we go. Blaine is in his office, so just go right on up. Top floor, room 17."
"Thanks Sugar." Santana smiled gratefully, before making her way over to the elevator and pressing the Call button. It arrived within seconds, opening with a loud ping, as Santana walked in and pressed the button right at the top, labelled '10th Floor'. Santana couldn't help but to scoff at how pretentious Blaine was in his private top-floor office, always thinking that he was superior to others, looking down on them and treating them like crap.
"Well, not today." she muttered defiantly.
The elevator suddenly came to a halt, the doors sliding open smoothly. Santana stepped out, albeit slightly timidly, but then straightened up and walked purposefully down the hallway until she came to a door labelled '17', under which a gold plaque read, 'Blaine Anderson'. Santana rolled her eyes at the ostentatious display, but then took a deep breath, knowing she couldn't let Blaine's obnoxiousness get to her and ruin what she was about to do. She knocked firmly, rapping out an even tune, and waited a few seconds, before she heard a stern "Come in" float through the thick mahogany door.
She twisted the handle and pushed, and had to compose herself for a split second as she saw Blaine's office for the first time. The carpet was covered in a plush red carpet, which looked more comfortable than her bed. The centre of the room was dominated by a large, black desk, which was adorned with all kinds of gadgets and trinkets, and looked like it had just escaped from a modern sci-fi movie. And the view. The whole right side of the office was made of glass, which meant Blaine had a view of the whole city from up here. Santana let out a tiny gasp as she took in the scene before her; she never thought Ohio could look so beautiful.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" drawled Blaine, from his seat behind his desk.
Santana cleared her throat daintily and nodded, trying to appear nonchalant about the whole thing while turning to face her boss.
"Yeah, I designed it myself." he bragged, and Santana had to fight the urge not to beat him to death with his very expensive-looking desk lamp.
"So, Lopez. Enlighten me. Tell me what you want. And make it quick. I am not a very patient man."
Santana was about to speak, when Blaine held up his hand pompously to stop her, which made the brunette's blood boil.
"But, before we get into that, I believe you have something that belongs to me?"
Santana nodded briefly once again, delving into her bag and retrieving the crumpled bag of diamonds, deciding to keep her gun until her requests were granted. She handed the diamonds over to Blaine, who counted them before nodding happily.
"Yep, they're all here. Okay Lopez, what was so important that you needed to come to my office and talk to me about it?"
Santana swallowed nervously, before looking Blaine straight in the eye and speaking in a calm, firm voice.
"I quit."
It took a second for the words to register in Blaine's mind, but when they eventually did, his reaction was completely unexpected; he began laughing, his head thrown back as he chortled in amusement.
"I'm sorry Sir, I seem to have missed the joke." Santana said, some acidity leaking into her voice.
Blaine took a second to calm down before his demeanour suddenly changed, his expression becoming serious and rather threatening.
"You honestly think you can just quit?" he spat, his voice venomous and cold.
Santana was genuinely confused, unsure as to why Blaine was reacting like this. But his next words made everything a lot clearer.
"Look, Lopez. In allowing you to work here, I have had to tell you things that no one else can know. You know where our safe houses are situated, where we hide stolen goods while we're waiting for the heat to die down, where Headquarters is. And now, you also know that I was behind one of the biggest diamond heists in America. So if you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here and never look back, well, you're sorely mistaken."
His tone was dangerous, and Santana knew he meant every word.
"But Sir, I would never tell anyone about any of that! I just want to start a new life, that's al-"
"You think it's that easy? That you just walk away and pretend like none of this happened? You may think that's possible Lopez, but believe me, it isn't. And anyway, how do I know I can trust you? You already let me down on this case, so how can I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?"
His mouth was twisted into a cruel sneer, and Santana had to once again restrain herself from lunging at Blaine and strangling him with his tie, which was no doubt from some expensive upper-class department store.
"Sir, you can trust me! Look, I brought the diamonds back, didn't I? I could've just run off with them and kept them for myself, but..."
Santana trailed off, realising that she had just made a huge mistake.
"Oh, you could've run off with them, could you?" Blaine said, his voice terrifyingly low. "See, Santana, that's where you're wrong. I mean, yes, you could've run off with them... but you would not have gotten very far, not on my watch."
Santana tried to backpedal, attempting to erase her careless words.
"No, no Sir, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that I brought them back to you, all of them, and no one found out about them, and so that means you should trust me."
Blaine observed Santana uninterestedly for a second, but then his eyes widened and his expression changed to one of realisation.
"Oh."
Santana felt herself becoming more nervous, not liking the excited tone in Blaine's voice.
"Oh my. It's her, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry Sir, but I don't know who you're talking about."
Blaine smiled, as he nodded triumphantly.
"It's that Brittany girl."
Santana felt her blood run cold as Blaine said Brittany's name.
"What about her?" Santana asked, her eyes narrowing as she felt her heart rate speed up.
"She's the reason you want to quit." Blaine said.
"No, no, she's got nothing to do with this!" Santana said adamantly, but no avail.
"Oh, this is delicious." He stated victoriously, sneering at Santana pitifully. "You've come to care for the little pawn in our game. Well, doesn't this make for an interesting turn of events?"
Santana took a few deep breaths, in an attempt to calm down, but it didn't work. Instead she just felt herself becoming more and more worked up, her fear for Brittany's safety overtaking her own.
"You'd better not touch her." Santana said, her voice low and threatening.
Blaine looked taken aback at Santana's hostility for a split second, before adopting his usual arrogant attitude.
"Or what, Lopez? What are you going to do?"
"Well, I could go to the police and tell them everything I know about you."
She regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth.
Blaine leapt up from his chair and circled his desk in a heartbeat, grabbing Santana and pinning her violently to the wall. Her breathing became laboured as he pushed her firmly, her chest constricted as she writhed uncomfortably against the hard wall. She squirmed and whimpered in pain as Blaine twisted her right arm up behind her back and used his other hand to pull her jaw, bringing her ear next to his lips.
"Now, you listen to me Lopez, and you listen good. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's being threatened. And then you come in here, preaching to me about how you're gonna turn me in to the cops. What, you feel brave because you stole a few diamonds from a bank? I've done things that would make your skin crawl, trust me. So, before you go around making threats, think about who you're threatening, and what they could do to you."
Blaine let go suddenly, and Santana collapsed to the floor, gasping for air and cradling her arm, which was throbbing as splices of pain shot up it every few seconds.
"So, let's clear everything up once and for all. You stay and work for me, and nothing bad is going to happen. But if you decide to leave, well, you may never see your precious Brittany again."
Santana took a large breath, before she used her uninjured arm to reach into her bag and pull out her gun. She pointed the weapon at Blaine, who took a tentative step back and lost some of his bravado as he saw the gun.
"Now, Lopez, don't do anything stupid." he reasoned.
But Santana had had enough of being reasonable.
"Now I think it's your turn to listen, Anderson. I'm going to walk out of here, and I'm never going to return. You are going to let me leave, or I will shoot you, make no mistake."
Santana stood up shakily, wincing slightly as a twinge of pain tore up her arm once again. However, she managed to pull herself together, staring at Blaine, her eyes blazing with anger, as she held the gun out steadily in front of her.
"Goodbye Blaine. I hope I never see you again."
And with that, Santana backed away, opening the door and going to step out into the safety of the corridor. However, just before she could turn and leave, Blaine spoke once more.
"You think you've won, don't you? Ah, you poor girl. You have no idea what you have just done. Not only have you put your own life in danger, you have now endangered your beloved Brittany."
Santana suddenly pulled the trigger, shooting the lamp that was a few metres to Blaine's right, which exploded into smithereens, making Blaine jump and leap back in shock.
"That was a warning. Do not touch her. Or you will regret it. Asshole."
And with that, Santana turned and walked briskly down the corridor, planning on leaving this place and never looking back.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts as she approached the elevator that she failed to notice someone walking hurriedly towards her.
"Santana!"
The Latina jumped and froze, her heart thumping wildly, before she turned and recognised the short brunette behind her, who usually accompanied Santana when they had to execute a mission that needed a team to do it.
"Oh, hey Rachel. Look, I can't really talk right now, I'm kind of in a hurry-"
"You need to listen to me! I was passing by Blaine's office, and I heard him radio Sebastian and his team. Blaine has commanded them to kidnap Brittany, they're going to use her to force you to come back here and to keep your mouth shut!"
Santana's mouth ran dry as she lost all ability to speak. She felt her eyes fill with tears of panic as she imagined a bunch of men grabbing poor, innocent Brittany and taking her away somewhere.
"Santana, listen to me! We have to get to Brittany before they do, or you might lose her forever! Come on, let's go!"
Santana nodded mutely, following Rachel silently as they journeyed back down to the lobby.
Sugar's farewell fell on deaf ears, as Santana walked determinedly out into the parking lot, with Rachel right behind her.
"Oh crap, I don't have a car! How are we going to get to Brittany's?" Santana cried, her voice loud and panicked.
"Don't worry!" Rachel assured her. "I stole a set of keys from the cabinet when Blaine wasn't looking." she smirked devilishly.
Santana smiled in relief, as they clambered into the dark blue van that the keys matched.
"Okay Santana, direct me to Brittany's." Rachel commanded.
Santana nodded resolutely, as the smaller brunette turned the key in the ignition and they sped off, hearts racing, tyres screeching on the gravel beneath them.
Meanwhile, at Brittany's house...
"What are you so happy about?" quipped Quinn, smirking at the gooey-eyed look in Brittany's eyes.
"Nothing."
"Oh, so this has nothing to do with the fact that the extremely attractive girl you've been pining over declared her love for you just over an hour ago?"
"Hey! I was not pining over her." Brittany refuted stubbornly, much to Quinn's amusement.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever B." Quinn replied, as Brittany stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at her best friend.
"Anyway, where has lover girl gone now?" Quinn inquired curiously.
"Oh, she just had some stuff to sort out. Then she's coming back here." Brittany replied happily.
"Well, next time warn me when you two are going to get all... cosy and whatnot. Believe me, walking in on you two swallowing each other does nothing to dissolve the stark bleakness of my own love life."
"Aww, come on Q." Brittany wheedled, walking over to the shorted girl and wrapping her arms around her lovingly. "You'll find someone, don't you worry."
"You think so?"
"I know so! A catch like you. Anyone would be crazy to let you go."
"Well then, I must have dated a lot of psychopaths in the past." Quinn replied dryly, eliciting a giggle from Brittany.
"Right! Enough of this. While we're waiting for Santana to get back, how about we stick on movie, make some popcorn, and snuggle up on the sofa?" Brittany suggested brightly.
"Okay, yeah, sounds good. But I swear B, if we have to watch Harry Potter one more time, I'll have to go all Avada Kedavra on your ass!" Quinn answered playfully, nudging Brittany jauntily.
"Alright, the Hunger Games it is!" Brittany cheered, while Quinn chortled as she made her way to the kitchen to grab some popcorn.
Brittany and Quinn were just getting to the part where Peeta and Katniss kiss for the first time, when they heard a quiet thump coming from outside. Quinn's eyes widened slightly, but Brittany patted her arm and told her it was nothing, so they continued to watch the movie contentedly.
Suddenly, the front door burst open, almost flying off its hinges due to the colossal impact.
The girls bound off the sofa, Brittany grasping Quinn's hand in fear, as they both had their eyes glued to the now empty doorframe.
Everything then seemed to happen rapidly, as if someone was fast-forwarding through the scene as it unfolded.
A group of four men, dressed in black with ski masks on, burst into the house. Two of them grabbed Brittany, who began writhing and yelling, attempting to kick out at the men who had a firm hold on her arms. Quinn screamed, momentarily frozen with fear.
"Put this over her head." one of them growled, handing a sack to the man on Brittany's right.
Meanwhile, Quinn had come to her senses, and ran at one of the men, clawing at his face through the mask.
"LET HER GO!" she shrieked, but the man simply laughed and shoved her violently to the floor, kicking her in the stomach with his boot, and then she hit her head on the corner of the coffee table and blacked out.
Brittany was still squirming, trying to escape from the men's vicelike grip, but to no avail. They dragged her out of her house and threw her into the back of the awaiting van. The two men who had grabbed Brittany jumped into the back with her, while the other two climbed into the front.
"Where to, Sebastian?" questioned the man in the driver's seat.
"The warehouse, on the lower east side of Lima." replied Sebastian, from his place in the passenger's seat.
Then they sped off, Brittany crying silently in the back as one of the men tied up her hands and legs, rendering her unable to escape. She closed her eyes beneath the sack and thought of Santana, trying to ease the misery and dread that was coursing through her body, and eventually she passed out and sunk into a restless sleep.
"Drive faster!" Santana commanded, much to Rachel's irritation.
"I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Well, it's not fast enough!"
Rachel huffed in annoyance as she sped up even more, as she followed Santana's directions to Brittany's house.
They soon pulled up outside of Brittany's house, and Rachel looked at it in awe for a second before Santana raced over to the driver's side and practically yanked Rachel out of her seat.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Rachel said, as she followed Santana up the path. "I don't know why you're so violent, I think you may need to see someone about tha-"
Her words died in her throat as both girls approached the door, which was hanging half off its frame, the lock busted open.
Santana rushed inside, with Rachel hot on her heels, and was appalled by the sight she saw.
The table was on its side, its contents scattered across the floor. A lamp was smashed to her right, and the TV had been knocked askew. Santana noticed her Freya ornament was unharmed, but her fleeting moment of happiness was ended when she heard a faint moan coming from the other side of the sofa.
She rushed to the noise, and let out a horrified gasp as she saw Quinn, curled up in a ball, tears leaking down her face as she cradled her bruised stomach.
"Quinn! Oh my gosh, what happened?"
Rachel had rushed over too, and was helping Quinn sit up, supporting the blonde's back and head with her own body. Although the blonde was clearly traumatised, her hair dishevelled and her eyes bright red, Rachel couldn't help to notice how pretty she was, with her defined cheekbones and her dainty pink lips, as she began recounting what had happened.
"W-we... we were watching a film, and... these m-men came in, they pushed me down, and kicked me... and... and... they took Brittany! They... they took her, and now, I d-don't know where she is, and..."
Quinn then broke down, fresh tears streaming from her eyes as she sobbed brokenly.
Santana sat frozen, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.
Rachel, meanwhile, was busy formulating a plan in her head.
"Well, Santana, you know what we have to do, don't you?" Rachel stated, while Santana shook her head in confusion and tried to stop herself from collapsing and crying too at the thought of those men hurting Brittany. "We have to go and rescue her!"
Santana stared at Rachel wide-eyed for a second, before nodding decisively and standing up, helping Quinn gently to her feet in the process.
The three girls then sat on the sofa, Santana rubbing Quinn's back soothingly while Rachel began plotting a way to get to Brittany.
"Well, before we do anything, we have to come up with a plan."
"Okay." Santana agreed, and Quinn sniffled her agreement next to her, smiling slightly at Rachel, who Quinn then noticed had a strikingly beautiful face. Rachel felt herself become flustered for a second, as Quinn fixed her hazel eyes upon her, but then shook herself internally, getting back to the matter at hand.
"Aright. First things first. We have to try and figure out where those assholes could have taken her..."
Oh my gosh, so much drama! ;D And I finally got to add in some Faberry there, I've wanted to do that for ages! Also, out of curiosity, did anyone notice the sly reference I made to a former Glee character? I know there are the obvious ones, like Sugar and Sebastian, but there was one more and I was wondering if anyone would notice. If you do realise who it is, drop a review saying the answer! I'd love to see how many of you notice it ^^
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I REALLY hope it was worth the wait, because I know I have taken a ridiculously long time to update, but that's because I've finished my exams so I've been enjoying my new-found freedom! But yeah, it felt really good to find some time to sit down and write this, I've been meaning to do it for ages!
Also, I won't be able to update at all next week, because I'm jetting off to New York as part of my 18th birthday present! :D But when I get back, I promise that the updates should be more regular, with a smaller gap between them :) In the meantime, leave a review letting me know what you thought of this chapter! :D