So there are not enough words in the English language to express how sorry I am that it has been almost 10 months since I updated. So I offer this 20 page chapter as a proverbial olive branch. If anyone is still out there please let me know what you think. I promise I will finish this story, I just get frequent, and long fights with writers block.

Once again SORRY!

Happy Reading, RM

DISCLAIMER: I do not own BUFFY or GLEE

Chapter 11

Santana was pissed and hurt, there was no question about that. Alex had been lying to her since they first met. Brittany and Quinn had lied and covered for her, even though they were supposed to be Santana's friends first. She didn't even want to see Sue Sylvester right now. The idea that her own watcher would hide this from her made her question what the point of being the slayer was in the first place. She honestly couldn't tell who she felt betrayed by the most, but she felt that Brittany keeping the truth from her was the biggest wound. However, instead of taking her anger out on everyone else, she aimed all of it towards Alex, the now unwanted second Slayer in Lima. The others she decided just ignore.

Brittany and Quinn had attempted to come and talk to her, obviously trying to apologize, but Santana ignored them and walked away. The kicked puppy look that flashed across Brittany's face every time she avoided them began to feel like a stab in the gut by the fourth time she had done this. She was too angry to turn around and give Brittany the hug that she needed. Consoling Britt was Quinn's job for now, and it would be until Santana could forgive them. Coach Sylvester attempted to reach out to her, summoning her to slayer training everyday, but Santana refused to go. The only people she would talk to were Puck and Mr. Schuester because they seemed to be the only ones that truly had her back (that's what her anger had led her to believe) or at least the only ones who had been in the dark as much as she was.

And then there was the person responsible for all of this anger. Santana expected Alex to spend the week after the big reveal constantly bombarding her for forgiveness. Santana had walked into school Monday prepared for confrontation, prepared to go all Lima Heights on Alex. But the girl hadn't even bothered to approach her. In fact Santana watched as Alex actively tried to give her space. The other slayer seemed content to give everyone in the situation the space that they needed to let the tension blow over. Alex pretty much kept to herself the whole week. She didn't talk to any of Santana's friends, she sat away from them in any of the classes they shared, and disappeared for lunch and after school.

Alex even stopped coming to Glee. Santana guessed that she could understood Alex's reasoning. The fact that it would bring the girl face to face with everyone she was avoiding, as well as force her to see the Slayer, Watcher, and friend that she had completely left in the dark for a month was probably an uncomfortable prospect to stomach. But the downside was everyone else in the club instantly realized that something major had happened over the weekend, especially when Mr. Schuester didn't even bother to ask where Alex was. Mr. Schuester always noticed and asked about students when they were missing, so when he obviously overlooked the missing student, Alex's disappearance became the Glee Club's leading piece of gossip.

Santana watched throughout the week as Glee Club members cornered Alex to try to figure out what was going on. It was very prying of them to stick their nose in, but watching Alex squirm as she tried to get away gave Santana a warped sense of satisfaction. Alex was pretty much able to dodge everyone for the whole week. Only those who had been there Saturday knew what was really going on. The many theories that were being thrown around but the Gleeks were beginning to get ridiculous and it wasn't until Thursday when Alex actually broke her silence.

And not surprisingly to Santana, it was Lindsay who finally got Alex to talk. Santana was heading to Glee and turned down the hallway to see Lindsay had cornered Alex to prevent her from getting away. Santana stood there, eavesdropping due to her inherent need to know what Alex was going to say.

"Hey stop trying to walk away from me. Alex what the hell is going on between you and Santana? What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something is wrong? Maybe I just needed space." Alex was floundering, and Santana could feel the frustration radiating off both girls from down the hall.

"Look, after Puck's party I pretty much assumed we were friends, but then you just ran off and disappeared. Then Monday you exile yourself from everyone and stop going to Glee. Santana has stopped talking to Brittany and Quinn, two of her best friends, and you aren't talking to anyone. What the hell happened?"

"Nothing happened Lindsay." Alex looked up at that moment and Santana felt a shock when she realized Alex had seen her standing there. It was the first time they had made eye contact since Saturday. Santana could see the apology being sent her way but her anger stopped her from offering the proverbial olive branch. Instead she just crossed her arms and leaned against the nearest lockers waiting to see how this confrontation ended. Lindsay picked up on the fact that Alex's eyes were no longer focused on her and looked over her shoulder to see Santana's posture. Lindsay kept looking between Santana and Alex, waiting for one of them to give her an answer, not the obvious lies that Alex had tried to feed her. Santana, for her part, was not going to lose, so she just shot Alex a very threatening raised eyebrow that Lindsay instantly saw and which forced Alex to speak up.

After a loud exhale, Alex looked at her feet, fixed her grip on her messenger bag and quietly spoke up. "Santana has a right to be mad at me. Just leave it at that. And for Christ's sake Lindsay stop trying to figure out what happened and just leave me alone. I deserve this. You can pass that on to the rest of Glee."

Santana watched as Alex shot her a definite 'There, are you happy yet?' look and then tried to walk around Lindsay to leave. And despite the fact that she was still royally pissed, when Santana saw Lindsay grab Alex by the arm and whisper, "If you need someone to talk to please don't hesitate to call me ok?" she couldn't help the small one second smile that flashed across her face. Santana had seen them getting to know each other at the party before all hell broke loose; she knew they had bonded over auditioning for Glee together and the slushies at the beginning of the year. It was kind of cute watching the two new girls start a friendship. Reminded her of her best friend. Without waiting the hear what Lindsay had to say to her, Santana turned to head to the Glee Club, and she allowed herself the second long smile until she looked up and saw Brittany and Quinn waiting by the door, Britt's eyes shining with hope. Santana erased the smile as quickly as it had come.

That had pretty much been Santana's week. At school she avoided everyone who had hurt her. She was a constant vortex of hurt and anger, and watched as her former friends waited for it to die down. With no outlet for her to take out her frustration during the day, there was no chance that she would calm down enough during school for her to attempt to talk to any of them. The only time she seemed to find the time to vent and calm down was while she was patrolling at night. Yes she had been avoiding her training, (and with her emotions in complete disarray she was in no position or mindset to successfully take down vampires) but the idea of punching the crap out of something, of physically getting to release her anger, won over her logic every night. This inherent need lead her to sneaking out every night to patrol.

Considering that at the moment she was facing a 300lb vampire she probably should have listened to the logic part of her brain tonight. She knew she shouldn't have attempted to get into with this vamp. When she saw him bumbling his way through the cemetery, easily weighing three times her weight, she felt her body's initial instinct was to hide until she could get back-up. Then she saw where the fight had happened last week, where Matt had taken her, and her rage won over any survival instinct she should have listened to.

Fifteen minutes, sore ribs, and a cut on her face later she was seriously questioning her decision to fight this guy. She could out maneuver him no problem. The vampire was as slow as molasses and clumsy as hell. But she didn't count on the fact that when he actually made contact his fists would feel like a freakin' ton of bricks. She also had no way of knowing that he would have so much skin, fat and bones protecting him that when she did get a chance to stake him it wouldn't get anywhere near his heart. She had sweat dripping down her face, mixing with blood, and this vamp seemed to not want to go down anytime soon.

She saw the first punch from a mile away. The vamp had swung for her head, and she ducked quickly so she could avoid the concussion. What she didn't see was the uppercut the vamp threw right after. Her dodge had just brought her closer to his other fist, and the punch crashed into her chin with the force of a wrecking ball. Santana felt her head get completely thrown back, the reaction so quick she swore her spine should have been severed. Even worse her feet were literally lifted off the ground from the hit. She felt her body leave the ground and when she finally came back down Santana fell head first into a tombstone. All she could see were stars as she felt the vampire straddle her and two beefy hands make their way around her throat. When she felt the hands start to squeeze around her windpipe, Santana wondered if this was really how she was going die. She knew that slayers had an expiration date, but she never thought her death would be this pathetic.

Then the vampire flew off of her, his hands ripped away from her throat, and she desperately sucked in breath. After a few seconds her vision started clearing back up and she realized there was a new body hovering over her, more importantly the body was a non-vampire. As much as she hated Alex at the moment, Santana was grateful that she had shown up and body checked the vampire off of her. Alex watched as the vampire slowly tried to roll himself over and back on his feet, giving Santana the time she needed to recover. If she hadn't just almost died she might have found it amusing that this vamp who had almost choked the life out of her twenty seconds ago now looked like an awkward turtle trying to get off of his shell and back on his feet.

Santana started to sit up so she could get herself off the ground when Alex reached a hand behind her to help her. She stared at the offered help sensing Alex was watching for her reaction but instead of accepting it, Santana slapped her hand away and continued lifting herself off the ground.

"There's no rush Santana, take it easy." It was the first time they had spoken directly in a week, and the calm in her voice just made Santana's anger come back.

"I'm fine. I got this."

The vampire was beginning to get up off the ground. Santana realized that they had both missed a prime opportunity to attempt to stake him again, but Alex had been focused on giving Santana a chance to recover, and Santana still wanted to fight more. She charged at the vampire and began punching and kicking him again, ducking the few punches he threw her way. And to her relief Alex just stood back and let her do what she wanted. Of course that didn't mean she was going to shut up as she watched.

"Santana are you sure you don't want me to help you?"

They were circling each other now, both trying to regain some energy with Alex just watching from the sidelines. Santana let out a frustrated growl and without losing focus yelled back at her. "No, I don't want your help. I thought I made that very clear on Saturday. Go away Alex!"

Santana charged the vampire again, getting her frustration and anger out while trying to figure out a way to end him. The vampire used her distraction to get another lucky punch in. Her head snapped back and she saw red and then stars, but before he could get the upper hand Santana watched with blurry eyes as Alex somehow knocked this huge vampire over and away from her to buy some time for her to recover again. That was twice in one night that this girl had saved her, and the only thing it was doing was pissing her off.

Alex offered her hand once again. "You realize you are just wasting your energy right?"

The hand was once again slapped away, but Santana could feel her muscles straining as she lifted herself up off the ground again. She knew if she didn't end this soon she would be out of energy. And the last thing her pride needed was for Alex to intervene again. "Yes I am aware Alex. I have you to blame for that."

"What the hell did I do?"

"I am not going into this with you now. Go away Alex. I don't want your help and I don't need you here."

Alex shook her head in frustration and as Santana charged back in she heard Alex chime, "Sure you don't need my help. And what were you and Tubby doing when I showed up? Wrestling?"

Santana landed a hard kick to the vamps face and as he tumbled down she picked the argument back up. "Oh just shut the fuck up Alex. I was doing just fine before you showed up, and I can do fine without your help."

"Oh really, you were doing fine? Is that why you and Mr. Schuester were panicking in Spanish the first day I showed up?"

Santana completely forgot what she was doing and turned back to Alex. "Wha-? You weren't supposed to understand that!"

"That doesn't matter, the point is you need to accept the fact that I could help you. Look out!"

It took Santana a second to register the warning, and then she dropped to the ground as the vampire who had attempted to tackle her tripped past her and instead went headfirst into another gravestone. As Santana jumped back up, she ran at Alex and got into her face. "Damnit! Stop helping me! God you are so fucking frustrating."

"And you are so fucking stubborn that you won't let yourself realize that maybe having someone to help you is what you need right now. Independence is not always the answer Santana. You don't have to protect everyone on your own."

That was when the vampire chose to attack Santana again. The constant beating and avoiding that Santana had been doing had infuriated the vamp to no end. He was tired of the cat and mouse game. The only warning both girls had was a loud guttural howl, and then Alex was shoved backwards as Santana was body checked to the ground. Santana struggled to keep the vamps teeth away from her as the vampire grabbed her chest and arm while pinning her to the floor with his body. He no longer wanted to kill her, he wanted to hurt her. So when his next action was to grab her body and twist her arm back she couldn't stop him or fight him back without some sort of help.

And as she looked at Alex, the other Slayer, the girl she had spent the whole week hating, and denying any sort of help from, Santana realized that if she wanted to get out of this situation she was going to have to swallow her pride. Something she was not ready to do yet.

"I don't need anyone Alex. I can do this on my own." The vampire continued to slowly pull her arm back, and despite her struggling he was winning and the pain was slowly increasing.

"Really? What about Brittany?"

"That's completely different Alex and you know it." The vampire continued pulling her right arm backwards and considering she hadn't figured out how to beat him, once her arm was out of commission she would have no chance without Alex's help. She looked up, made eye contact, and realized that she was going to lose. But not to the vampire. She held her breath and tried to struggle against the pain slowly building in her arm, knowing that once it popped she would have no choice but to accept the help. Alex was going to win and she hated the feeling. She would help Santana whether she wanted it or not.

"Santana me coming here can be a good thing. I'm so sorry I lied, but my only intent coming to Lima was being able to help. Help you. It was never my intention to have you feel betrayed by your friends, especially by Brittany. Please just let me help."

The loud unnatural pop that followed sounded throughout the whole cemetery. It caused Alex to cringe, Santana to scream, and the vampire to smile in victory. He then attempted to start on the other arm that had momentarily stopped clawing at him, while the slayer below him dealt with the pain. When Santana felt her shoulder pop out of the socket, her stubbornness burned out and she was more desperate to get out of this fight then hold on to her anger. She felt the vampire get another grip and her decision was made for her. "Shit, fuckin' hell. Fine! Ouch, fuck. You win Alex, get me out of this. Jesus Christ!"

She had expected Alex to tackle the vampire off of her again, or do something physical to help her. Instead she heard, "Go for his knee caps." She lifted her head in absolute disbelief, looking at Alex waiting for her to move and hoping that advice was a joke. But Alex just stood there with her arms folded across her chest, grinning because in essence she had just won. Santana groaned in disbelief and frustration, but taking the advice she braced her body tucked her feet in and with as much force as possible, kicked both feet forward directly against the vamps kneecaps. She heard a sickening pop, felt the vampire's leg bend the wrong way and as he collapsed like a house of cards to the ground, howling in pain Santana squirmed out from under him and shuffled towards Alex to get away. Santana braced her dislocated shoulder and looked at her squirming opponent, not believing that kicking his knee had worked so well.

Both girls watched as the once deadly vampire rolled around in the dirt in pain, and laughed as he desperately got up, looked at both of them in terror, and hobbled a pathetic attempt to get away from them. Alex looked over at Santana, eybrow raised in confusion. "Aren't you going to stake him?"

Santana continued holding her shoulder and shook her head. "No he's too fat. It doesn't go through." She was too physically drained anyways.

"Oh, well let's try this then." Alex moved away and, grinning, reached into a bag that Santana had no idea was there before. She pulled out a collapsible crossbow, patiently set it up, then in one swift practiced motion aimed, and shot the arrow at the retreating vampire. Santana watched as she hit the vampire perfectly, and Tubby dusted into thin air.

They just stood there in silence, as Alex lowered the crossbow down. They were waiting for the other to break the silence, although Santana's occasional grimacing, accompanied by loud hisses of pain ruined the natural ambiance. When the silence got too much, Santana asked the first question that came to mind. "So, do you always carry around a crossbow?"

"Naw, it's too quick for me. I barely use it. I like the feel of ending the vampires with my own hands."

"Me too. Other weapons are too impersonal."

Alex just nodded as she slowly collapsed the crossbow back up and tossed into her weapons bag. "Coach Sylvester definitely doesn't agree with us. She tried to kill me with one when she found me in the Cheerios locker room."

As she stood up straight and threw the bag over her shoulder they finally made eye contact, and within seconds neither girl could keep themselves from laughing out loud at their situation. They both realized that despite anger and grudges, they might actually be able to help each other. Help each other in more ways then one, especially since no one knew what was coming their way.

Within 30 minutes Santana found herself sneaking back into McKinley with Alex. Why they were heading there instead of one of their houses she had no clue but when Alex started heading up to the second floor and the library she began to get the hint.

"Are you sure you have only been here a month? You're breaking in skills are superb."

"Haha. Very funny. No I moved here in July. I was training in here for a full month before school even started."

Santana followed Alex into the library, still bracing her dislocated shoulder. "Wait you have been in Lima since July. Britt and Quinn had Cheerios practice all summer here and I was training. How did we not notice you?"

Alex just walked back behind the checkout desk, exactly like a week ago, and through the door marked REFERENCE, as Santana hobbled after her. "I think the only reason you noticed me when you did was because your girlfriend plowed me down first day of school. I am really good at blending in when I want to. Probably would have avoided the whole slushie incident if I hadn't joined Glee."

Alex had already tilted the book and the door to the dojo was sliding open. "Yeah but you have to admit if you hadn't joined Glee you wouldn't have met Lindsay." Even in the dark Santana could see the blush spreading across her cheeks. "HA HA! I was right. So there is something there."

"No there is nothing there Santana. Get your mind out of the gutter." Alex was laughing as she was setting up a chair and first aid kit in the middle of the room. She tapped the back of the chair motioning to Santana that was where she needed to sit.

"Fine there is nothing going on but you wish there was right?" Santana sat in the chair as Alex walked to another cupboard. She watched her back as she paused, took a breath and the reached in to grab clinking glass.

"Just because that might be true, I've learned that romance and my life don't mix well." Alex turned around and despite the fact that she was trying to make it sound like a joke Santana saw the dark, sad glimmer that passed through her eyes.

"Wow, you look almost as jaded as me there for a second." Alex smiled briefly. "Sounds like you have been damaged from this fight too. You want to talk about it?" It was the first genuine extension of friendship that she had offered.

"We are not drunk enough for that conversation. But we will save this for later." That was when Santana noticed that the clinking glass she had heard earlier was a bottle of tequila. "For now we are going to fix that shoulder of yours."

"Wait, you are going to fix my shoulder?"

"What did you think the first aid kit was for?"

"My dad's a doctor. I could just go home and have him fix it."

Santana's response from Alex was a hard stare. "Really S? And how are you going to explain your dislocated shoulder to him when he fixes it?"

Santana paused at that. "Fine. Point taken, but are you sure you know what you are doing?"

"I have been training since I was twelve. A dislocated shoulder is an easy fix." Santana eyes popped open, and she opened her mouth to ask more questions, but Alex shushed her. "Save the questions for alcohol. For now can you just start to trust me?"

The slight nod from Santana was all Alex needed to start examining her shoulder and Santana relaxed and tried to ignore the pain as Alex started moving her arm around very carefully.

"So where exactly did you learn how to re-attach shoulders?"

She felt Alex pause, in her breathing and her movements before she answered. "When I was recruited we not only took classes and training but we had to take first aid. So we can fix ourselves or help our partners out in the field."

"Recruited?"

Alex poked Santana in the shoulder causing Santana to wince. "Ok Curious George, how about while I'm putting your shoulder in place I get to ask the questions?"

"Fine. Just don't poke me again."

"Ok. So tell me about Brittany?"

"How about we start with something easier?"

Alex stopped in her movements for just a second before she started the next question. "When did you get activated?"

"That's easier?" When all she felt was a shrug from her apparent doctor, Santana realized this was the easiest question she could have been asked. "I was activated a year ago."

"Wow, you really are a baby."

"Hey! I am not a baby, and I could," in the middle of her rant Alex had grabbed her arm and yanked it upwards popping it back in, "Oh fucking hell! Jesus! Damnit Alex!"

"Sorry S, but it hurts less when you don't see it coming." Alex patted Santana's shoulder and then bent down into the First Aid kit.

"Ow… Did you seriously just Grey's Anatomy me?"

Sheepishly Alex pulled a sling out from the kit and held it out for Santana to put her arm through. "Yeah I totally did, but it's true." Alex knelt back down into the First Aid kit and pulled out a small jar, some Neosporin, and bandages. "Ok so first of all, I need you to take this jar and slather that ointment on your neck because I can see your bruises from across the room. Second can you take care of your own face because I think Brittany will punch me if I get that close to you."

Santana grabbed the jar and the bandage stuff from her hands. "I can do it. And please stop bringing up Brittany. I am too sober for that conversation right now."

"Fine, as soon as you are done we can actually start this recovery party."

"Recovery party, seriously?"

"After the week we've been having, yes a recovery party. I'm starting without you, so fix yourself up and then come drink with me."

"Is this how you start all your friendships?"

"No, this is a first. Now hurry your ass up so we can get drunk."

An hour later, both girls had gotten through most of the tequila bottle and were sufficiently drunk enough for the discussion to finally turn to those topics that they were too guarded to talk about when they were sober at the beginning of the night. Santana just heard a mumbled, "Tell me about your first fight?" and she looked up from the floor to her right to see Alex slumped against the wall just staring blankly at the bricks opposite. Santana hadn't expected that to be the first question.

"Ummmm… my first fight was terrifying. I had only found out about being the slayer a month before, and Brittany was mad at me cause I wasn't telling her what was wrong. I was so emotionally confused, and mentally I wasn't all there. And despite Sue preparing me and yelling at me for a month, I still didn't feel ready." A small nod from Alex was the only reassurance that she was following the story. "I wasn't ready at all, and thank God I got a lucky shot in, or I probably would have been the lamest Slayer of all time."

"Hmmm… at least you won your first fight."

"What happened with you? When were you activated?"

Alex was quite for a few minutes, her brow furrowed, organizing her thoughts. "I was activated during the Sunnydale fight. So I was five when I was first activated."

Santana sat up off the ground. "You were five! You weren't kidding when you said you had been doing this for a long time."

"Hey! Hey! You are making me sound like an old lady. I didn't start training 'til I was twelve you ass." Alex pushed Santana back onto the ground and they both started laughing. Alex put the tequila bottle to her lips and took a long swig before she started talking again. "Growing up was confusing. I was being bullied by this boy at my school and then the next thing I knew I was punching him in the stomach and he was flying. I had all this power and I had no idea what was wrong with me or how to deal with it."

Santana turned her head to look at this other girl. In all her anger she had completely dismissed that Alex becoming a Slayer made her go through many of the same feelings and experiences that she had dealt with in the past year. "I felt like a freak, and I had no idea how to stop, and I couldn't tell anyone because I didn't even know how to describe what was happening. So I tried to keep this strength in, got held back in first grade cause I had attitude problems. People avoided me, I had no friends. It was a pretty lonely childhood."

"You weren't kidding when you said you weren't used to having friends huh?" She only got a head shake. "What does this have to do with your first fight?"

"I was twelve, my parents didn't know what to do about me, they were fighting again. So I walked out of the house. And about a block away I ran into a vampire, got one lucky shot in which pissed him off, and he choked me to death. The only thing that saved me was the Scoobies were coming to collect me and happened upon the fight and got him off me before he could deliver the final blow. So at least you won your first fight."

"What were the 'Scoobies' collecting you for?" The idea that Alex had been involved in this war for a few years now was hard for Santana to wrap her head around. It was starting to make sense why Alex was so good.

"St. Genesius is a front. It's actually a training center for slayers. So along with your actual academic classes, you have fight training, medical training, lessons in the supernatural, creatures, magic. The works. It's like military school but for slayers. I didn't start actual fighting, like patrolling, until I was fifteen. So I have really only been at this for a year longer then you."

"But you have four years of training on me?"

"Yeah. So enough about me for now. How did Brittany find out about you?"

Santana let out a huge breath and put her hand out towards Alex. "Give me the bottle." Once the tequila was set in her hand, she took a huge drink, much like Alex had done a few minutes earlier. "It was May, so it was 8 months after I had been activated. I… after my first fight I realized just how dangerous all this was going to be, and because I was told I couldn't tell anyone my only response was pushing everyone away from me."

"I think that's the automatic reaction for every Slayer when we realize what we are dealing with every day."

Santana took another drink from the bottle and then handed it back to Alex. "Yeah, well I literally cut everyone off. I stopped talking to Brittany and the Glee kids entirely. I stayed in Glee Club and Cheerios, but to keep people away I was a bitch. I made sure no one could get near me. And it worked, until Rachel found out."

The spray of tequila from Alex's mouth confirmed to Santana that she had heard her correctly. "Rachel fucking knows about all this shit? How the hell did that happen?"

"It's a lame story, but let's just say it involved a vampire with a weird fetish for pantsuits. Anyways, when she found out she started trying to help me. Her way of helping was attempting to get me to talk to my friends again. And then she got Mr. Schue involved because he felt guilty for making me think I had to isolate myself. So because of their meddling I was put into a Glee group project with Brittany, Puck, and Quinn."

"Wow, how did that go?"

"It was crazy awkward," Santana snorted, "we were just sitting in the choir room actively not talking or looking at each other. And then vampires decided to ambush us, and just started streaming into the room. I was lucky that we all got out of there alive, and that Brittany was able to think quick on her feet and helped me. Puck even destroyed his guitar trying to stop a vamp from getting me. After that, everything was out in the open and they realized what had been going on with me. They were nice enough to forgive me, and Britt and I became friends again. But soon after that the fighting started escalating, so I quit Cheerios so I could spend more time training and patrolling."

Alex was quiet for a while absorbing the story, the when she finally looked back at Santana her face was serious. "Did you ever find out who sent those vamps after you?"

Santana took the tequila bottle back. "Nope"

"Do you even know who your 'Big Bad' is?"

"Nope." Santana took a long drink, while Alex just sat there leaning on the wall, gnawing her lip seemingly thinking of a thousand ideas, memories, and scenarios at once. "Obviously there has to be somebody calling the shots here," Santana watched Alex nod her head in agreement out of the corner of her eye, "but I have never been able to get close to them or use the other vamps I find to get a name to find out who it is."

Alex just hummed in acknowledgement and then both girls sat there letting the alcohol run through their bodies.

It had been about five minutes before Santana realized she had missed a very important clue that Alex had let slip. "Alex, did you know who your 'Big Bad' was in California?"

Alex didn't respond, and Santana had to look at her to make sure she was still awake. "L.A. had so many different attacks and plots happening there was never one enemy to focus on." Alex looked at the tequila bottle realizing she couldn't drink any more, and released a huge breath of air. "My own personal 'Big Bad' however was Marcus."

"Marcus? Was he a really tough vampire or something?"

"Werewolf. He was this impossible to beat werewolf. He haunted me for six months."

"Why did he 'haunt' you?"

"Because I was the only slayer to escape our first fight with him."

Santana shot up from the ground and looked over at Alex with an alarmed look. "What do you mean the only one to escape?"

Alex made eye contact with Santana for the first time since this drunk conversation began. "I was the only one he didn't kill because I ran away. There's something you need to know about me. I'm not a good slayer. I have had a lot of training to hone my skills but the only reason I have survived this long is because I'm lucky. I have so many near misses or lucky saves under my belt. That's the only reason I'm still here."

"How did that fight end?"

"He had been systematically attacking us for months, and it felt like Slayers were coming into the school and getting killed. It hit December and everyone was sick of it. We didn't want to just defeat him, we wanted revenge. So we found this knife, this dagger, that would trap his soul forever, and ten of us who had been there for the longest decided to go after him."

"How well did you know the Slayers that went with you?"

For the first time in the two months that they had known each other, Santana watched as Alex broke. She watched as tears slowly dripped down her face. "We had all been in school for at least two years together, so they were some of my closest friends. We were walking into a suicide mission and none of us realized it. And Kris insisted on coming with me because she had almost lost me to this monster multiple times, so she wanted us to end this together."

"Who's Kris?"

"Kristina. She was my… she was my Brittany."

Santana was so drunk she almost missed the past tense. "Was?"

"It was an absolute slaughter. He had the ability to change when it wasn't a full moon so we walked in on a fully transformed wolf. He went for me first and next thing I know I'm on the floor with my elbow completely shattered and bleeding." Santana looked at Alex's arms and saw a prominent scar on the inside of her left elbow that wrapped around to the underside of her arm. "He didn't want to bite me because he wanted to make me squirm, so I watched as my friends were killed, and ripped apart."

Santana reached out and put her arm on Alex's shoulder as she kept crying. "What happened with Kristina?"

"She ran to me as soon as I was taken out and was trying to help me up without Marcus noticing so we could get out of there. It was absolute chaos, and then Kristina was ripped out of my arms, and she dropped that dagger to the floor, so I grabbed it and I charged at Marcus to try and stop him but he just slapped me away from him. And when I was able to lift myself off the floor I had to watch him just…"

Santana hadn't lost anyone to this war yet. She was still green compared to what Alex had been through. She still had the love of her life, still had her friends, and her family. She couldn't imagine losing Brittany so violently. But she could empathize. Alex took and long breath in to try and continue her story, but Santana could tell that the sobbing was going to start soon. The pain radiating from Alex was palpable through the whole room.

"I was the only one left, and I realized that he was going to kill me next. And I accepted it. I accepted that I was going to die and I was so ready to be done with this fight and to be released from this utter agony that was beginning to claw at my chest because Kristina's broken body was just lying on the ground below him, her face looking at me with her terrified expression frozen there. Her grey eyes that used to light up when we were together were just dead.

"Marcus watched my reaction and when he fully realized the blow that he had dealt me he changed back into his human form, he grabbed that dagger that I had dropped and came towards me to finish me off and claim his victory." Alex just hung her head as she continued retelling the worst night of her life. "I shouldn't have escaped. I was ready to die, and just accept it, but then he came at me and my body just reacted. I was able to use my legs to keep him away and knock him down, and by the end of the tussle I was plunging that dagger into his chest. The search party found me an hour later just curled over Kristina's body still in shock."

Santana watched Alex for another second before scooting closer and pulling the girl into a hug. She let Alex sob into her shoulder while she wondered if anyone would be able to console her if she lost Brittany and her friends to this war too.

Alex had just finished cleaning her face off, as well as disposing of all the evidence that they had been hanging out in the dojo for the whole night drinking. Santana just stood leaning against the wall, thinking about everything that had been discussed and learned tonight. "We don't really know anything about what we could possibly be dealing with here."

Alex tossed the empty bottle into the trash can with a loud thump. "Nope." Alex then walked towards Santana and leaned on the wall next to her, "So, now that you know my baggage and I know yours, where do you want to go from here?"

Santana furrowed her brow in thought, remembering everything that she was pissed about when she was fighting Tubby earlier. But then she remembered there was a potential apocalypse coming, and she had a lot that she needed to protect. "So this means that now we are going to work together. Because I have a lot that I can learn from you and Liam. I need to be as ready as I possibly can for whatever comes our way, and I can't do that if I'm fighting the only person who truly understands what I'm going through and can help me. And you need me and my friends so you can learn how to not be haunted by your mistakes in the past and let people in again."

Alex smiled in response and looked at Santana. "So truce?"

"Truce," Santana nodded.

Alex just laughed, and then pushed herself off the wall to begin heading out the door. "Let's get home Lopez. We have hangovers we need to sleep off and bodies that need to heal. This is going to be interesting."

And with that both girls left the dojo, ready to face the apocalypse as partners, not enemies.

He was ready to get his revenge. He just needed to get a few more pieces in place before he could finally begin his plan. The slayer had been a nuisance for almost a year. He was over 700 years old and he had never met a human that was so hard to kill. But, he would see to it that this would be their last fight. A loud knock on the door shocked him out of his plotting, but when he realized it was his daughter, the harsh words he was about to let loose were swallowed back into his mouth.

"Lauren. Everything went fine I take it?"

"Yeah everything is all set dad. I start on Monday."

"Good. If we are going to break her, I need to be able to get at her from every angle. There will be no escaping for her, mentally or physically." Marcus looked back at his desk and reached out to touch the silver dagger that he had displayed there. The same dagger that Alex Heart had stabbed him with through the heart 10 months earlier. The fact that she had somehow escaped from him twice was unforgivable by his standards. The fact that she thought she had killed him was even worse. And Marcus wanted nothing more then to finally watch the life drain from her eyes. He looked up to see that Lauren was still in the room with him. "Yes, Lauren."

"Dad, are you sure that this Slayer is worth all this effort."

Marcus just got up from his desk and hugged his daughter. When he drew back he looked at her with golden eyes. "Yes, I'm very sure she is worth the effort. Now come on. We have an old friend we need to visit. And once I get what I need from him, I will finally be able to put Alex Heart in the ground." With that Marcus left the office with Lauren following closely behind him.