Good lord has it been a while! Ack! So busy lately I can't even begin to describe but the break was needed to recharge my batteries so to speak. How I've done this with all the drama going on I do not know but here I am! Reread some of the earlier stuff and wasn't exactly happy with my work so hopefully things get a bit better from here with some perspective. You guys are great and I always love your feedback so any questions, suggestions, criticism etc you have please lay it on me!

…

"Remind me again why we are doing this?" Santana asks as she balances the toddler on her knees, watching Harley's tiny feet try to find stability.

Brittany leans over her shoulder giving her cheek a quick peck before responding, "Because we love Daniel and his mom is very sick."

Santana scrunches her nose in response and maneuvers the child into a sitting position, "I don't love him, he is a pain in the a…but" she corrects herself feeling a sharp look from Brittany burning in the back of her skull.

"I'm just saying Sugar would probably be better at this, they have more in common. I mean Sugar loves playing peek-a-boo" Santana jokes as Brittany weaves around furniture tidying up the mess Harley had created.

"You look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to do this for Daniel," Brittany challenges now standing in front of where Santana lounges on the couch.

"Fine, she is cute and I do kind of owe Daniel for keeping the council from lynching me," Santana mumbles quietly under her breath.

The room grows quiet as Harley flops back against Santana's chest arching her head back to look up at her. The smile it brings to Santana's face is mirrored in both the toddler and Brittany but the serene moment was not meant to last.

The door flies open and in storms Sugar barreling in barely managing to close the door behind her as she makes a B-line for the girl.

"Yes! Peek-a-boo! Mister B-ryce is on his way up so hand me the entertainment!" She chimes in extending her hands towards Santana.

The look she is given from Santana is unimpressed but when the smile does not waiver from Sugar's face Santana is forced to hand Harley over to a happy Sugar.

Daniel Bryce wanders in looking like he hasn't slept or showered in about a week and shaving seems like it went out of season a few months ago. He barely manages to acknowledge Santana or Brittany as he makes his way to kiss Harley on the head before she is too distracted in playing with Sugar on the floor.

"Hey, Silver if you want me and Britt can just look over the folders, I mean if you're not up to it-" Santana begins but is cut off by a look she doesn't quite understand but it is enough to silence her.

Daniel looks lost as he finds his way to the kitchen table taking his seat with great unease as though the idea of sitting puts him on edge. He wants desperately to exude the idea that everything is 'fine' when absolutely nothing is.

Brittany nods towards the table and takes Santana gently by the arm guiding her towards it. It isn't that she thinks Santana won't sit, she simply needs the moment of reassuring contact and knows she isn't the only one.

Santana's body language as a whole relaxes slightly as Brittany's hands wrap around her bicep and they walk in slow unison to the table.

They separate but are not sitting far from one another as they've pulled their chairs to the corner of their side of the table without really meaning to do it. The silence turns quickly into tension and neither of them seems willing to break it before Daniel is ready to begin.

"Jack of Diamonds is on town," he admits with bitter exhaustion showing no signs that he cares about the subject, "He's a pretty big crime boss and it looks like he is looking to expand his business into our city. The league would like to know what he is doing before you try and take him down" he rambles on tossing the folder unceremoniously across the table to the girls.

Brittany takes it in one hand and with the other covers Santana's forearm feeling the muscles tighten beneath her grasp. Her thumb rubs gently against the skin in an unspoken attempt to remind Santana not to take his mood personally.

"Umm, this guy can cover his entire body with a diamond coating how exactly are we supposed to fight him…we don't really have lasers" Brittany points out tapping the page lightly.

"You'll figure it out I'm sure," Daniel responds pointedly and then brings his hands up rubbing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, we deal with Diamond boy whatever; do we know where the psycho is who literally tried to bite me head off?" Santana asks drumming her fingers angrily on the table.

"Bodies, we've found bodies" Daniel answers dropping his hands to the table.

"And once more, why the hell aren't WE out there trying to find her?"

"Jurisdiction Santana, how many god damn times do we have to go over this? You cannot just run into another Heroes city and start breaking ear drums trying to find someone simply because they hurt you!" His hands slam down on the table startling both Sugar and Harley on the floor but the pair only pause long enough to look in confusion before returning to their game.

"Hurt me? You've seen her teeth! She is killing people and she magically escapes from captivity and nobody seems that interested in finding her except me! Fine then, you know what? I hope it's Chaos who finds her" Santana exclaims completely forgetting she is supposed to be taking things easy on Daniel this evening. The lack of League activity has her on edge as of late and the fact that they seem content to criticize her every move and patronize her isn't making things better.

"You want to be just like Maxie? They changed her status you know. They don't want her captured if possible anymore; they want her killed on sight. She broke into a meta facility and broke out vigilantes like herself and killed three guards in the process. She is not some saint Santana, she is dangerous and if you associate with her they will consider you and Brittany just as dangerous" His tone is severe as he speaks to her.

"What happened to her then? why did she get kicked out? You tell me not to follow in her footsteps but you won't even tell me what those are!"

"She killed someone"

"I killed Mark" Santana argues back casting a sideways almost apologetic look to Brittany who's eyes cast down in shame at the table. Santana's hand slips down into Brittany's holding it tightly in her own knowing very well the wounds she is currently salting.

"That's…" Daniel pauses rubbing the back of his head, "not the same, it's different" he tries to argue

"How is it different? He's dead!" Santana pushes the subject as something feels decidedly not right with the way Daniel is responding.

"Stop! Please just stop!" Brittany suddenly yells as though on cue to save Daniel from himself. Before Santana can stop her she is standing up, pulling away and turning from the table trying desperately to collect her emotions.

"Britt…I'm" Santana begins but Brittany waves her off gently

"Look I know you're mad that she got away San, but Silver's right we're not judge, jury and executioner. We are supposed to be the good guys and how are we any better than the monsters if we just go around killing people?" She asks looking firmly down at Santana.

"Okay, I promise Britt" She agrees slipping her pinkie to hook against Brittany's and nods gently to her, "I'll let it go for now."

Daniel stares across the table at them his mouth slightly parted as though ready to speak, there are secrets playing at his lips but he knows better than to speak them out loud. They could unravel everything and break the crumbling foundation currently holding Santana above an ocean of mistakes. Costly mistakes that he know will kill her, so he closes his lips and forces a bitter smile across the table at the pair.

"I should really get Harley home; if you need anything on patrol tonight just get Sugar to call me. My neighbor has agreed to watch Harley in case of emergency" He concludes gently and nods towards the file folder, "be careful and consider putting a tracker on him before his defenses go up."

Santana sits silently her hand still connected to Brittany despite the fact that Britt is pulling away to wrap her free arm around Silver's shoulders. The gesture is returned warmly much to Santana's chagrin and it causes her hand to slip more securely into Brittany's.

…

Santana closes the front door having finally gotten everyone out of the apartment and now finds herself staring down the deep blue eyes she adores so much. It takes a bit of effort to avoid them as she turns around to flop back against the door but inevitably they draw her back in.

"You said you wouldn't pick fights today," Brittany reminds Santana.

"I know…" Santana admits guiltily trying desperately to look anywhere but the penetrating gaze of one Brittany S Pierce but it is near impossible to avoid

"You promised me"

"I know." Santana's voice finds a bit of an edge now, "he is hiding something"

"San, he isn't the enemy he is our friend"

Santana stares blankly at her for a moment.

"He is! He is always looking out for us, so if he is keeping secrets it's probably for a good reason" Brittany argues

"The way he acted when I brought up Mark…" Santana presses the subject as she steps away from the door and towards Britt.

Brittany recoils away from the name as though she has just been struck, "San…Mark is dead can we just…" she mumbles insecurely.

"I know, I…just…we don't even know what happened to the body and with everything that has been going on" Santana tries to explain.

"Santana please just stop!" Brittany's voice gains a gravelly edge as she storms away from Santana towards the bathroom.

That's the problem with living in such an open apartment there's really only two rooms to the whole place so it becomes impossible to find somewhere to storm off to. Santana watches her with wide eyes and cringes noticeably when the door slams shut.

"Fuck," She mutters uselessly rubbing the back of her neck in raw irritation as she tries not to make a bad situation even worse. Deep down she knows she shouldn't have said anything about Mark in the first place but it's been on her mind a lot recently. Everything the council has done so far has been shady and she simply cannot take their word on anything anymore.

Brittany is the only one she has to talk to these things about and she is usually the only person who will hear her out without getting angry or patronizing her. She doesn't want to be pacified like a fussy baby every time she raises a concern about the ongoings of her city. She isn't sitting at the kids table anymore but she seems to be the only person who remembers this most of the time.

"Anyone else I can piss off today?" Santana finally mumbles in bitter defeat as she shuffles towards the wardrobe to begin getting ready. The nagging voice in the back of her head wants to remind Brittany they're due out on the streets in an hour but the rest of her doesn't want to antagonize her further.

Getting dressed becomes almost violent as Santana begins angrily tearing off her own clothes (for once). She reaches behind her head to grab the back of her shirt and quickly pulls it off tossing it onto the floor. Her jeans are quick to follow and she kicks them sending them into the nearest wall and then stands in her underwear for a while staring at the costume as it hangs in the closet.

There's something about it that always feels like home when she slips it on and even just looking at It gives her goose bumps. If love affairs with inanimate objects or more specifically articles of clothing were possible she would be having one with her mask. Nothing sexual of course but sliding it on over her eyes, the sense of power it provides makes her fall in love with it.

She loves the way the sides come up in slight wings like the helmet of a Valkyrie over her ears and the way the eyes seem to draw in the darkness. She slides it over her face and she isn't Santana anymore she is the Veiled Fairy. All insecurities about her abilities or the world melt away because with that mask on she believes she can do anything.

The rest of the suit hugs like a glove, it feels protective without being restrictive and just like every other time she puts it on she feels instantly at ease. History has proven that it cannot protect her from all danger but she still feels safe somehow.

She could spend hours playing the waiting game with Brittany and confront her when she finally comes out of the bathroom but that isn't going to get them anywhere. She knows she was wrong, she knows she should just apologize through the door but somehow she can't.

Santana finishes dressing and approaches the door softly laying her hand against it trying to find her voice. She stands for a moment knowing Brittany is sitting on the floor on the other side doing her very best to sort out whatever it is that she is feeling.

Her voice is emotionless when it finally comes to her, "I'll be on the roof of the theatre when you're ready," she calls through the door and leaves before Brittany has a chance to respond.

…

"Come on Britt," Santana groans rubbing her arms furiously against the bitter cold though it seems utterly futile.

She regrets leaving the house without Brittany knowing full well the girl could just leave her out waiting all night. Her pride won't let her slink back to check on Brittany so she's stuck standing on the roof of a theatre freezing her ass off.

"You know it's rude to sneak up on people," Santana announces suddenly and turns around to find Chaos landing softly on the roof top about twenty feet away.

Maxie stands up brushing the dirt and debris off of her legs seeming unbothered that she had been caught trying to make a covert entrance. She rolls her shoulders back in slight discomfort and Santana notices the wings aren't there.

"You know it's rude to stare sweetheart," Maxie fires back without missing a beat, "and here comes the pretty bird now."

As though on cue Brittany grapples up onto the roof landing with a natural grace that is as soundless as it is beautiful. She strides easily up to Santana appraising her with a critical eye for a long moment, completely oblivious to the silent tension.

As her mouth opens to speak Santana shakes her head slowly, "No, I understand and I'm sorry" she expresses quietly. It isn't the first argument that has dissolved without really discussing anything at all and it won't be the last either.

Brittany nods slowly and hooks her arm around Santana's holding it tightly as she returns her attention to a patiently waiting Chaos.

Maxine stretches catching her hands lazily behind her head, "Right, glad Brittana is here to stay it's really quite sweet" she jokes with an indulgent laugh.

Brittany recoils looking a bit stunned but the look on Santana's face is anything but, "detective Maxie uncovers the secret identity of the Songbird? Congratulations" she shoots back sarcastically.

"I figured it was only fair seeing as you both know who I am…but that isn't why I'm here." She drops her hands and rummages through her belt until she finds what she is looking for, "this is" she mentions tossing something across to them.

Santana catches it and turns it over in her hands, "And why are you giving me a tracking device?" she asks feeling immediately suspicious.

"I want you to track Jack of Diamonds and to see what he is doing," Maxie explains slowly.

"A meta human who has murdered probably dozens of people" Santana says

"At least"

"Exactly, he is the perfect candidate for your death row so why on earth do you want to hand him over to the League?"

"I didn't say I was handing him to the League, I said I wanted you to see what he was doing"

"Why do we need a tracker, Santana can hide from anyone in the darkness it can't be that hard to follow him?" Brittany points out feeling a bit reluctant now to accept Maxine's help. There's something Maxine isn't saying and it's written all over her face but while Santana can't see it, Brittany can.

Maxie can barely contain the smile that tugs mercilessly at the corners of her mouth, "Danny will stop you…I can't really tell you why but you'll see" she explains backing towards the edge of the building.

Santana's brow furrows, "why don't you just tell me what I'll see? You obviously know" she argues and this time Brittany nods in agreement with her.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I did tell you. You're bleeding in the shark's tank and nobody has the decency to tell you, so I'm going to show you" Maxie says finally before turning and dropping into the darkness.

Santana sighs and tilts her face skyward her eyes closing for a bit longer than a standard blink as she tries to make a decision. "Sugar, little eavesdropper…can you get a signal from this tracking device?" she breathes.

Sugar squeaks on the other end and there's a long silence and then finally she answers, "most definitely and…it seems I'm the only one tracking it."

Brittany leans into Santana nudging her with her hip lightly, "What do you want to do? Do you think we can trust her?" she asks.

"No, but right now I don't think we can trust anyone and at least this might give us some answers" Santana whispers closing the tracking device in her hand.

"Hate to interrupt this pow-wow but I've got a visual on Diamonds, traffic cam has him parked outside a convenience store two blocks south…you may want to hurry" Sugar chimes in ruining any chance for further discussion.

…

Two blocks is nothing for the duo and they make quick work over the rooftops and descend upon the car without a real plan. Brittany lands hard on the hood of the vehicle and beams enigmatically at the man who sits in the back seat. Santana lands a bit more gracefully behind the car and absorbs the darkness into a veil allowing her to remain unseen.

The plan is simple, distract him and plant the bug before he armors up but beyond that the girls don't really know what they're doing. An exit plan was never discussed and neither was the plan for dealing with inevitable henchmen.

They paid no attention to the other cars parked around the Jack of Diamond's car or the ten men lingering outside the store. Brittany's bait is enough and the man opens the car door stepping outside of the vehicle. He's reaching for the gun inside his jacket as are all the other men when Santana slips out of hiding.

She strikes quickly planting the heel of her boot into the back of his knee and gets in one shot with her palm to his head. Her other hand strikes awkwardly downward her hand pushing the collar of his shirt down and appears like she missed trying to strike his neck or shoulder. In truth her hand is able to attach the tracker just below the back of his neck.

The bullets begin to reign as Brittany darts into the alleyway with one hand extended behind her with her fingers spread out. The only thing stopping the bullets from piercing her body is the telekinetic shield she is struggling to maintain.

Santana's next strike hits hard in all the wrong ways, she leans into it and finds her hand punching into a freshly formed diamond shell. Pain explodes across her knuckles sending reverberating shockwaves through her hand down to her wrist. She screams in partial protest and pain and it buys her a few seconds to get away.

Unlike Brittany she has no shields to defend herself so she bolts around the first corner she finds and kicks up into the air flying slow at first but fear kicks in as they spot her and she's off like a shot. She gets high enough to grapple onto a nearby building and collapses with her hands covering her chest as it heaves for oxygen.

Adrenaline is a wonderful thing and it momentarily dulls the pain that throbs consistently in her hand which appears to be by all accounts broken. She listens quietly as two sets of boots land on the opposite side of the roof. She can't see them from where she is laying but she doesn't need to see them to know who it is.

Brittany jogs easily across the roof to Santana's side and helps her off the ground before taking her one hand between both of her own. The look on her face says more than her words could and she is quick to begin healing it while keeping her back to the Silver Arrow.

He looks guilty as he stalks across the roof trying desperately now to find the right words to pacify the Veiled Fairy. He stays a good length away or as Santana would refer to it as out of punching distance.

"I need you to make me a promise" he says slowly and sounding entirely unsure of what he is asking.

"I'm not in the business of making promises I can't keep" Santana responds coolly knowing full well what he is about to ask her.

"I need you to promise me that you will go home right now and stay there" his voice is harsh low whisper.

Brittany looks sharply at Santana staring her down for a moment trying to convey a silent plan to her and it seems to work as Santana nods smoothly to her.

"Yeah sure thing Silver, Santana's hand is broken in a few places it will take some time for me to heal it anyways," Brittany lies as she gently holds Santana's nearly healed hand.

Santana mirrors the sentiment with a careless shrug of her shoulders and turns her attention towards the direction of home, "not like we know where the bastard went anyways."

"Just curious though," Brittany says narrowing her attention in on Daniel, "the League wanted to know what this guy was doing so why is the council calling us off?"

Daniel sits stunned for a moment staring back at Brittany desperately trying to form some sort of lie inside his head. He knows why and there's no way for him to paint the picture in such a light that won't destroy Santana and Brittany's trust in the council. In truth he isn't entirely sure he knows what to think of the truth.

"You're not going to like it but they're breaking jurisdiction to send in a team of specialists to handle this unique situation," he lies and isn't convincing anyone but the girls smile and nod at him anyways.

…

They go back to the apartment just long enough to convince Daniel they are staying before they are gone. Sugar has sent them the GPS coordinates to the tracker and they're racing across the rooftops not taking their chances with time. With their luck Daniel will have gone back to check on them only to find them conveniently missing.

"Daniel was lying…" Brittany processes nervously as she leaps from one building to another her attention torn between Santana and trying not to fall to an untimely death. It is during these jumps she is jealous of Santana's ability to fly(however unpredictable) and Maxie's wings.

"I know but as much as I hate to admit this Daniel has always been on our side which means he's probably trying to protect us" Santana rationalizes for what seems like the first time in a long time.

"So," Brittany is cut off as she lands hard and tumbles to a stop, "do you think we should go back?" She asks taking a second to catch her breath as Santana checks the coordinates again.

"No, I'm tired of the secrets and being kept in the dark by the council it's our damn asses on the line out here we deserve to know what we're up against," She argues feeling comfortably as stubborn as ever.

Brittany finds it hard to disagree but cannot shake the feeling of uncertainty as they pick up the pace once again surging towards their target without a real plan.

They give pause outside of a large warehouse and Santana cannot help but roll her eyes at the cliché meeting spot. She is almost certain Brittany and her cleared the place out of gun runners not two weeks ago and probably some other unsavory characters before that.

Brittany is not the only one feeling uneasy as Santana cannot help but feel nervous as they get closer. She pulls a veil around them as they creep closer to the warehouse pausing just outside the south facing wall.

"Can you see inside?" Santana whispers nudging Brittany lightly to get her attention.

Brittany nods anxiously and tries to focus on the building to see inside but it's nearly impossible to think about anything other than the nervous knots collecting in her stomach.

"Umm it's maybe three people inside the room…pretty empty space just filled with crates and a couple cars," she tries and then shakes her head trying to clear her vision.

"Can you see who is in the building?" Santana encourages as she is clearly looking for more of a strategic advantage than the vague description she was just given.

"It doesn't work like that Santana, it's just shapes and I can tell which shapes are alive…it's not like I have a webcam in there." Brittany argues and then points above them, "There, there's a ledge near that window we can see from there".

They climb carefully onto the ledge of the busted out window and find themselves near the catwalks above the main floor. Santana begins to pull the shadows from the walls and ceiling wrapping Brittany and herself in the darkness as they creep quietly across the catwalk towards the sounds of voices.

The Jack of Diamonds is there looking just as greasy and annoyed as he was when they saw him earlier but he is not alone. The man he is talking to has his back to them but there's something about him that seems eerily familiar.

The unknown man turns suddenly as though someone has tapped him on the shoulder and he looks around in confusion, searching for something, someone in the darkness but he can see nothing.

Santana feels suddenly nauseated as she stares down at Mark, littered with scars about his face and looking quite sick but the resemblance is unmistakable. She can feel Brittany shake next to her and the intake of oxygen she is more than acquainted with.

Santana throws her body on top of Brittany's wrapping her hands tightly around her mouth holding back the noise the best she can. She buries her face down into Brittany's neck grinding her teeth tightly better trying to resist the exact same compulsion.

She can't focus and she needs to be able to control the darkness enough to hide them or Mark will surely sense them. The shadows naturally like her but they're not enough she needs to hide them completely and it's already slipping as her head begins to swim.

"B, we need to leave…I can't hide us" Santana gets out before the darkness lifts from them and her head begins to feel heavy in a sickeningly familiar way that causes her to nearly vomit. "Now" she chokes out a bit louder than she would like.

Scrambling off of the ground she goes to run and notices Brittany hasn't moved, she's still staring down at Mark. The Jack of Diamonds is shouting orders, none of which sound like a welcoming committee and their timeframe of escaping is growing narrow.

Santana reaches down grabbing Brittany by the shoulders and heaves her to her feet before dragging her to the window by the hand. She can hear the distant wail of sirens and then a squeal of wheels sliding across pavement as she grabs Brittany and leaps from the window. It's a long drop but she is able to slow them with a pitiful attempt at flying.

They land hard against the gravel and Brittany still seems unresponsive as Santana's head twists around like it's on a swivel as she tries to spy an exit. A car speeds towards them and brakes hard as it grows close sending rocks flying in every direction.

It's Daniel leaning out the driver's side window, "IN! Now!" he barks at them a terrified urgency to his voice.

Santana does not need to be told twice and she gets to her feet once again having to haul Brittany up with her and practically throws her in the backseat before jumping into the passenger side front seat. They're already speeding before she gets the door closed and bullets are ricocheting off the gravel around the car.

They're kilometers away before Santana can even think to exhale and when she does it's a string of incoherent profanity followed by her fist beating repeatedly into the glove box.

"I know, but I don't have answers yet. We will be getting them though" Daniel says sounding remarkably like he just might murder someone. This comes as more of a relief than anything to Santana though her rage towards him is nowhere near gone.