She stumbles in out of the storm, her body practically falling through the window an act that sends her tumbling across the hardwood floor where she lays for a moment. The night has taken its toll on her body though it's nothing a good night's sleep won't cure but therein lays the problem. It's partially that by the time she gets in these days it's almost daybreak but mostly that sleep won't come anymore. Part of her misses the constant nightmares at least she could fall asleep then but now like everything else in her life it's gone and fucked itself up.
She undresses leaving the suit strewn across the apartment and hauls her body into the shower to warm up. The water burns against her freezing skin though she can hardly bring herself to flinch, it's too much effort and her body has gone far past the point of exhaustion. Her mind won't shut down though and the more she tries to calm it down the more overwhelming her thoughts become. She's trying to find some solace beneath the hot water but she can't turn the thoughts off. Bad guys, good guys, Brittany, work, Brittany and a whole lot more of Brittany. It feels like such a high school problem to be so damn stuck on a girl but there it is.
The sensor installed in the window suddenly beeps and Santana can hear heavy boots thud on the floor and she knows who it is. Unfortunately for him she's in no mood to play nice, her hand flails blindly at the tap until the shower head dies off but she makes no hurry to get out. She's deliberately slow at grabbing the towel and wrapping it around her torso and takes extra time digging around in the medicine cabinet. She emerges moments later and eyes the irritating ginger sitting on her couch wearing the pretentious scowl of derision.
"You have five minutes before I throw you out the window" Santana mutters glowering at him as she walks slowly over to the dresser and carefully slides the middle drawer out staring absently into it.
"Pleasant evening to you as well Miss Lopez, the council would like you to look into a matter" his voice is smooth and authoritative, he's all business but it only serves as further irritation to Santana who isn't looking to be told what to do at three in the morning.
She doesn't answer but merely drops her towel without warning and begins dressing in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt almost looking content as she pretends he isn't there. His face goes scarlet as he looks away and tries to clear his throat but again she continues her routine unbothered by his presence. Her fingers wrestle with the pill bottle until she gets the top off and she stares dully inside at the remaining sleeping pills. It's the only way she gets any rest these days but even that sleep doesn't leave her feeling all that rested.
"Large number of deaths…" He flips absently through a file folder seemingly disinterested in the content, he drones on like it's an everyday occurrence.
"Sounds like a job for the cops, people get murdered all the time, they just fall sometimes out of really high windows, or are pushed because they can't take a hint. It happens. What does it have to do with me?" Santana finally engages the conversation before popping sleeping pill into her mouth swallowing it with a slight grimace.
"They appear to be sacrificial cult killings. Victims all show significant blood loss and have been branded…oh and they all happen to be women with blonde hair and blue eyes do I have your god damn attention yet Miss Lopez?" His voice raises as he throws the folder down on the table, "you're a hero, act like it for once" she can't speak he's already gone storming out the window and towards the ground.
The sleep was dreamless and the pills only seemed to work for a few hours and she spends the entire day trying to sleep in various places around the apartment but nothing seems to work. She goes to the gym to try and exhaust her body further but returns home even more agitated than before.
Night falls blanketing the city in darkness and Santana leaves Motta Towers as the Veiled Fairy, however distracted and exhausted she might be she remembers what was said to her and her priorities fall into place. She walks Brittany home though the blonde doesn't know it, Brittany is walking on the sidewalk or at least partially walking, she's half dancing to the music playing from headphones carelessly placed in her ears. She's oblivious to danger it's somehow just as endearing as it is irritating to Santana.
Santana walks across the tops of buildings her eyes constantly moving and looking for anyone else in the shadows. She lingers briefly after Brittany enters into the small home she shares with Mark, he's sitting on the couch watching something on the television and she walks in and flops down next to him, Santana has no interest in seeing what happens next. She's home safe and that's enough for now or at least it used to be.
Something churns in her stomach and she can't get them out of her head, girls like Brittany probably go missing all the time but this time feels different. She knows the council isn't the biggest fan of hers, she's supposed to want to protect everyone but in truth it's hard to make her care about the rest of the world. She's as selfish as she has always been; getting a great amount of power hasn't changed the fact that she's driven by her own needs and desires. She just wants to make sure a certain girl stays safe and oblivious to the danger, or at least that's how it used to be. Now she wants to wrap her hands around the neck of a certain guy named Mark and squeeze until his eyes roll back into his head. Not sleeping is making her irritable and it brings out her darker qualities, jealousy being a very dominant one.
It's as she starts to walk away from the house that she sees something that sets off an alarm inside of her head. A guy, he probably looks like any other normal person, he's waiting at a bus stop tapping his foot to music blasting from headphones. It's where he's looking that's part of the problem which is right at Brittany's house and it's the look in his eyes that seals his fate. She knows that look, it's the look a man lost in a desert gives an oasis. He's found the jackpot, or so he thinks.
Santana is on him before he has a chance to react she grabs him from behind pulling him into the shadows. She doesn't intend on asking him any questions she's hear to send a message. Her arm has slipped under his throat and she's got him in a fairly snug choke hold. "If you scream, I'll snap your neck. If I ever see you near that girl again I'll torture you until you wish I'd just snapped your neck" the threats are idle she's not supposed to kill people and this boy is a small fish in a pond of piranhas. She lets him go shoving him forward and she disappears into the warm hug of the shadows.
The boy stares wide eyed at the space where he thought she was supposed to be, he spins around once or twice. He doesn't know that she's staring right back at him, all he sees are shadows so he does what any scared little boy does, he runs home.
Santana follows close enough to keep an eye on him but not so close that he notices she's there though she suspects this one is thick enough in the skull that she could walk behind him and she'd still lead her to the hideout. He's doing what every good little minion does he's reporting home to the bosses to tell them something is wrong.
He runs deep into suburbia to an upper middleclass neighborhood and to an idealistic looking house, white picket fence and all. She watches from afar as he circles around back and goes in through the cellar door.
The lack of sleep is making Santana reckless or at least impatient as she follows in after him without even taking a second to secure the cellar door open. Sugar is howling concern in her ear but it's silenced as Santana shuts off radio communication. She creeps down the stairs after him her body easily hiding in the shadows.
The basement of the house is dimly lit but Santana can see a group of about ten men, not one of them over the age of thirty standing around a very tall and very blonde woman. She's beautiful to be certain but there's something about her that doesn't sit well in Santana's stomach. The boy she threatened is whispering to her frantically and her icy eyes move about the room suspiciously. As her eyes settle on the spot where Santana hides her lips curl up in a gnarled smile. The illusion of beauty is shattered at the sight of sharp, jagged and twisted teeth attached to jet black gums.
The Veiled Fairy knows when she has been seen and so she bolts from her hiding spot a crackling ball of red energy building in the palm. With a quick hit the first of the goons is writhing on the ground holding the spot on his chest where she hit him. She turns on a group of four and sucks in a gasp of air before sending it back out as an ear piercing banshee shriek. It comes as a wall of energy and soon they too are incapacitated on the ground but they're not her concern.
The exhaustion has made her sloppy and she's turned her back to the blonde amazon woman and it is a mistake she instantly regrets. She can hear one of the men in the background shouting, 'rip her heart out Arachne' shortly before the demon woman tackled her from behind.
Santana lands on the ground with a thud but before she can turn over Arachne is on her digging sharp fingers into her arms and it begins to feel cold. Her skin feels like it's freezing under the woman's touch and before she can move the woman's gnarled teeth are biting into the space where her neck meets shoulder. The scream that comes out of Santana's mouth is primal and uncontrolled she writhes painfully beneath Arachne.
The scream is enough however as Arachne grabs her ears covering them in agony and Santana seizes the moment scrambling out from under her hands. She flips onto her back and while back pedaling sends her foot upward catching her assailant under the chin sending her reeling backwards. Getting to her feet Santana brings her hands together forming the familiar red energy between her palms. Her hands stretch apart molding the crackling crimson into a blade.
The door to the cellar flies open and Santana can already hear the Silver Arrow and his group of merry minions skipping down the steps. She doesn't care, this woman ripped her skin open and did god knows what to her insides with an icy touch, she stands over Arachne ready to strike. The blade comes down but never meets its target as the Silver Arrow has her by the arm holding her inches from putting the woman's head on a pretty red spike.
It's frustration she's screaming with now and she turns swinging a clenched fist into the chiselled jaw of her supposed mentor. He stumbles a few steps backwards and vaults forward grabbing her by the shoulder his fingers squeezing over the spot the woman touched her. The sensitive skin erupts in pain that pulses up her arm making Santana grind her teeth tightly together. He shoves her away and towards the door and in frustration she slams the still ready blade into wall letting it slice cleanly through the concrete before disappearing leaving a scorched hole.
She's been pacing outside of Brittany's house for about ten minutes now the irritation of being treated like a child somehow dulled by the throbbing pain in her neck and shoulder. Combined with the fact that no matter what she does her body won't warm itself back up and it still feels like the icy hands are wrapped around her biceps.
"Are you going to come inside?" a voice finally breaks the silence and Santana looks up to see Brittany leaning in the doorway to the house. She's dressed in her pajamas leaning against the door with her arms folded over her chest. "He isn't here... he left about an hour ago" Brittany finally admits when Santana doesn't move from the street.
Santana finally moves towards the house her feet carrying her quietly across the threshold brushing past Brittany as she enters the quiet house. She doesn't get far before Brittany grabs her hand squeezing it securely and then she's being led into the living room and the lights are flicked on. Santana winces at the sudden light but is distracted as Brittany reaches up and takes the mask off her face.
Santana doesn't move or react her eyes are steady on Brittany's watching her as she studies the new wounds on Santana's body. This is nothing new she is injured all the time but it's the intense look on Brittany's face that has her attention.
Brittany's hand gently presses to Santana's temple tilting her head to one side exposing the wound more but it's difficult to see. Her hand flattens against the deep teeth marks all of her attention focusing on one hole after another until the skin feels warm and soft beneath her palm.
"Take it off" Brittany demands suddenly nodding at Santana not seeming the least bit aware of what she has just asked.
Santana chokes suddenly on the air and a quick smile grows on her lips and dies quickly as she narrows her gaze onto Brittany's completely serious blue eyes that stare impatiently back at her, "excuse me?" is all she can manage to spit out.
"You lied last time, your skin is freezing cold so I know something is wrong so just stop being difficult and take it off" She demands folding her arms defensively over her chest.
Santana shifts in discomfort for a moment not feeling exactly in control of her emotions at the moment, frustration is already biting at her heels and Brittany is only standing there in her pajamas. Brilliant, less clothes would certainly help her cause.
Slowly Santana reaches and unlocks the zipper and slides it down her arms letting the top half fall back against her legs. She has a bra on but somehow feels like she's wearing nothing at all more so due to the suddenly less than innocent look swimming in Brittany's eyes.
She watches the blonde open her mouth to speak but say nothing instead Brittany edges forward suddenly far less confident about her decision. Her hands are trembling gently as she brings them up to the dark blue looking bruises on Santana's arms. Upon touching them though her hands jump back at the sensation of how cold her skin is.
"It's like ice" Brittany notes dragging a finger gently down the mark and sending a violent shiver down Santana's spine that causes every muscle in her body to go rigid. She doesn't stop her hands smooth back over the bruises her bright blue eyes staring intensely as she works.
Santana's mind has gone into overdrive now, the little pieces of her that hold her impulses at bay are crumbling. Finally it happens and her mind stops going a mile a minute and everything just shuts off for a second. She leans in and catches Brittany off guard pressing her lips smoothly against her mouth. She doesn't stop there, she steps into the space that was between them and draws her hands up against Britt's hips tracing her thumbs along the tops of her hip bones.
Brittany's lips part smoothly a soft moan escaping before she pushes forward letting their lips collide again and her arms wrap around Santana's neck. Her chest heaves eagerly in anticipation every muscle twitching towards Santana.
It becomes messy and chaotic as Santana's hands slide down to the back of Brittany's thighs before quickly picking her up and the blonde doesn't miss a beat wrapping those longer dancer legs around Santana's waist.
The journey is quick to the couch but even for a physically worn down version of her body it's easy to carry Brittany and lay her down. She buries her lips deep down in the crook of Brittany's neck leaving a trail of kisses and nips exploring the once all too familiar canvas.
Brittany's chest arches upwards a ragged groan of need falling shamelessly from her lips while her hands scramble down desperately undoing the Veiled Fairy's utility belt. As it comes loose Santana reaches and grabs it tossing it onto the floor where it lands with a heavy thud.
Impatience takes over as Santana is pulling at the bottom of Brittany's tank top pulling away for a second so it can be removed and the moment of pause gives clarity and her dark eyes meet warm blue pools of passion. She can't breathe let alone think about consequence and she can only give a small smile.
Brittany's hand slides into a tangle of raven locks pulling Santana back down to her taking her lower lip between her teeth biting it gently smiling at the small shiver of pleasure that runs down Santana's spine. Santana's mouth opens as she purrs out a sensual moan and Brittany seizes the opportunity letting her tongue flick out dancing innocently against Santana's.
Reality slides back into Santana's consciousness as she can distantly hear a rhythmic vibrating where her utility belt is on the floor. She pulls with reluctance from the kiss her eyes wide with a mix of confusion and deep horror which causes Brittany to posture up onto her elbows and stare in confusion at Santana.
"San?" She questions softly brushing long raven locks behind her ear, "What's wrong?" she coos gently watching as Santana stares in disbelief for a second.
"It's….don't move" she commands quickly stepping off of the couch and rushing over to the belt where she kneels down rapidly searching through it until she finds what she wants. She pulls the small ear piece up and her voice is shaking with the words, "Sugar?" she calls nervously into the radio.
The silence is piercing but not as bad as the sudden flood of sobs coming from the other end and a long string of "please help, please, Santana…" and then the radio crackles with dead waves and the blood freezes in her veins.
Santana is up pulling on the upper part of her suit, her eyes flash over to Brittany where the girl sits with her knees drawn to her chest her eyes wide and scared the way Santana's were when she heard the buzz. It wasn't any regular signal it was emergency, it was class five nothing good is happening emergency. "I…" she begins as she pulls the gloves back over her hands but is stopped as Brittany stands up and shakes her head quickly.
The blonde approaches grabbing the forgotten mask off the floor and leans in kissing Santana's lips quickly, "go…please I'll be right here when you get back…" her words are trembling as they fall from her lips and the tears are already tracking down her cheeks.
Santana is gone before the mask is even on her face she's struggling to fasten the belt with terrified fingers as she rushes down the street moving as fast as possible. She doesn't understand the fear that's settled in her chest, sure deep down she adores Sugar the girl is hyper and helpful but she never thought she cared all that much about her. Something in her brain came to life as the small helpless voice on the other end begged her though, something primal and instinctive.
Her body knows the way she doesn't have to think about it her muscles and skills carry her to Motta towers and she is flying in the entrance without fear of being discovered. Her lithe legs carry her to the private elevator where she tears the glove off and presses her palm to the sensor. The doors open and she darts inside her fingers jamming against the button for Sugar's secret lair repeatedly as she silently wills the doors to close faster.
Her body hums with tension as she paces nervously as the elevator moves down below ground level and as the system chimes and the doors open she's squeezing through before they're fully open. She stops dead in her tracks seeing Sugar sitting in front of the collection of monitors typing madly away at the console perfectly safe.
"Are you fucking kidding me!" she screams grabbing the nearest item which happens to be one of the many spinning computer chairs Sugar has broken over the years and launches it towards the screens. Sugar is barely turning in her chair before it's smashing into the highest screens sending glass and the chair itself tumbling down towards her.
Instinctively she kicks the chair backwards tumbling out of it rolling across the floor as Santana charges at her grabbing her roughly around the collar of her shirt. "Did you think that was funny?" she demands bringing her fist back the look of hatred pressed firmly against her features.
"No! What are you talking about I didn't do anything!" Sugar defends pulling her arms in front of her face.
"You sent S.O.S, major danger and screamed at me to come save you!" Santana yells her entire body shaking with anger.
"I didn't! I couldn't! The system has been fried since you went into that cellar! No camera, no microphone, no radio, no gps, nothing I swear I've been trying to fix it for an hour now!" She screeches throwing her hand towards the screen to ward Santana's rage someplace else.
Santana stalks over to the monitors dragging Sugar along with her and she pauses staring at the screens they're all black with white messages reading "No signal" or "error". She looks down at the laptop Sugar had been using and reads the screen, "rebooting system, time elapsed 01:16:05, time remaining: 05:20:55".
She feels flustered and lets Sugar go and begins checking her equipment, none of it seems to be damaged, in fact it all appears on and working. The feeling of ice in her veins returns and it's coupled with the sensation that she just might be suddenly and violently ill.
"Brittany…"