A/N: This one is a long one to make up for the fact that I don't think I'll have one for tomorrow. Finals are killing me. Any who, I made this for you and I hope you all enjoy it.
Day 5 : AU
Rating: M (There happens to be violence and language in here.)
Summary: Detective Santana Lopez is put undercover to investigate the criminal boss Quinn Fabray. The blonde doesn't make this an easy job for Santana, and weirdly she doesn't mind the trouble at all.
XXXX
Quinn ironed her yellow sun dress with her hands before leaning against the black Sedan behind her. It was an extremely windy day and a dress technically never truly agrees with the wind. So for the hundredth time today, she huffed and patted the fabric down before it rose too high.
She sighed as a strand of blonde hair fell out-of-place and looked over to the guy next to her playing on his phone.
"Time?" She asked, immediately catching his attention. He angled his screen towards her to where she got a glimpse of 2:45 PM. She rolled her eyes, "What's taking him so long?"
"Who knows," the guy shrugged before typing away at his phone, "I told you not to put that asshole on the job. He's not good for anything."
"Language, Noah," she waited for him to mutter a sorry before continuing, "I know you don't like him but he's got connections and that's what we need for this. We have to get through the boring part before we get to the fun."
Puck huffed and folded his arms and Quinn smiled at his immaturity. It wasn't long before they saw what they called "the sign" and Puck nudged her with his shoulder, "You want to sit this one out, Princess?"
"Do I ever?" She picked up her gun from off the dirt and cocked it like she was taught ages to do.
"Let's do it!" Puck pulled his gun out of his waistband before doing the same. He jogged over to the warehouse in front of them, Quinn not too far behind, and kicked the door opened so that they could enter.
The warehouse was old and abandoned with rotting wood on the walls and cracks splitting down the floors. Puck lead them carelessly through the halls and Quinn was thankful that Mike had given them a walk-thru before coming here.
Without stopping, Puck pointed his gun and let out two shots before laughing, "Only two guys? Seriously?"
They walked over the two fresh bodies before continuing their trudge.
They were well within the warehouse once they reached their destination. Puck didn't waste any time as he pushed the door open with his shoulder, letting Quinn in first.
Quinn furrowed her brow once she saw their new guy, Sebastian, holding a man down on the ground.
Sebastian looked up and smiled, "Here's the guy I promised you."
Quinn looked around in case there was someone else, but nope there was just Sebastian and this guy, "Who is this?"
"The guy I promised you," Sebastian repeated like it was quite obvious.
"You didn't promise me a guy, Sebastian," she looked down at the man who was shaking and gagging on the floor, "Does this guy even know where she is?"
"Technically," he scrunched up his face, "no. But this guy has connections like you can't believe. Forget about her, and just take this. This is a better option for sure. I'm making you a business deal-"
"Puck!" She called and he walked in, confusion on his face as he saw the two guys in front of her, "Could you take care of this guy, I've got to talk to Sebastian really quick."
Puck shook his head as he dragged the man out the room.
Quinn walked over to Sebastian and folded her arms, "Seriously?"
"I just thought-" Sebastian started to say.
"You just thought I wanted to take over a pigsty like this? You just thought you'd waste my time with trash? What did you just think, Sebastian?!" He cowered in fear and she bit her lip in thought. She wasn't as pissed as she thought she would be, but she was disappointed, "You should have just told me what you were doing. Then I could have told you no and we wouldn't have wasted so much time."
Sebastian nodded his head vigorously. He knew better than to make Quinn mad, he should have thought this through.
"I can't just let you do that, you know?" She asked before pointing her gun at his knee cap and pulling the trigger. The thunderous noise from her gun had no comparison to his scream as he fell to the floor. He held his kneecap and whimpered while Quinn looked away, "That was strike one. Keep messing up and I'll shoot higher."
He nodded his head but she didn't see it as she began to walk out the room.
XXX
Santana spun her chair in circles waiting for the time to pass. She stopped her chair and stared at the desk adjacent to her own. It was Sam's, and to say that she wasn't jealous that he was on vacation instead of her would have been a lie. Of course she wouldn't say it aloud.
"Santana!" The most annoying voice in the world sing-songed next to her.
Santana turned her chair slowly to face Rachel, an nasally over talkative short person who Santana could barely stand, "Hobbit?"
"Looks like the Captain wants to talk to you," Rachel smiled, "Maybe she's finally going to fire you."
"Maybe you're finally going to get taller," Santana smiled back as she stood up from her chair. Rachel rolled her eyes as she walked around her.
Santana made her way into the Captain's office, closing the door and jumping into the seat in front of the desk, "You want to see me?"
"Sure did, Sandbags," Sue frowned at Santana's posture in the chair before sighing, "I want you to go undercover again."
"Do I have to?" Santana whined. She had been put on three undercovers in the past six months and don't let anybody tell you that that's not a lot.
"Yes you have to," Sue threw a file at Santana, "Plus it's not a regular one. It's for that big time criminal Quinn Fabray."
"Quinn Fabray?" Santana perked up and looked through the file. She had heard about Quinn Fabray many times in the six years that she had worked at the department. She was one of those infamous criminals that had yet to be captured or even yet to be photographed. Santana eyed the only picture that they had of her which was taken when she was much younger and sported a horrible pink haircut and a even worse attire.
To Santana she looked like a regular punk with no future according to the picture, but from the massive reports of robberies and murders, she was a mastermind of some sort. And Santana was supposed to go undercover to find her or something? Holy shit.
"You heard me right, Boobs McGhee," Sue stood up from her chair and leaned on her desk, "I've got even better news for yah. A guy who worked with her walked in this morning wanting to help us catch her. We got him in custody, so you should go interrogate him right now."
"Seriously?" Santana's eyes widened.
"Yes, seriously," Sue rolled her eyes and pointed towards the door, "Now get out of my office and go do your job. Grab Porcelain if you see him on your way there."
Santana stretched to her feet and turned out of the room. Luckily on her way to the interrogation room, Kurt was in her path. She grabbed him and shoved him into the room where a pale looking guy sat at a steel table.
"Hi, I'm Detective Lopez and this is Detective Hummel," Santana said as she and Kurt sat at the table, "You're Sebastian Smythe, correct?"
"Yeah," he folded his hands on the table, "Are you the ones who are going to help me?"
"Help you with what exactly?" Kurt asked carefully.
"To put Quinn Fabray in prison," Sebastian said almost too dramatically.
"Qu-Quinn Fabray," Kurt's eyes were wide and Santana almost laughed at his expression.
"What can you tell us to help us help you," Santana said coolly.
"Um, she uh," he leaned into them both, "She's looking for somebody. So she's got a soft spot for new people who are willing to help her."
"Who's she looking for?"
He whispered, "Shelby."
"Shelby who?"
"I'm not sure, but," he begun whispering, "She wanted me to help her find her and I didn't deliver but she seems pretty desperate for her."
"Okay," Santana drew out as she leaned back against her chair. She looked over to Kurt whom looked more confused than her.
"Let's say you actually worked with the notorious Quinn Fabray," Kurt said, "Why do you want to put her behind bars?"
"Because she," Sebastian sniffed, almost like he was going to start crying, "She shot my in the knee."
"That sucks," Santana faked concern as she started to get back up, "We'll be right back."
She dragged Kurt out of the room, whom looked like he was still in disbelief, "That guy must be nuts to be coming here like this."
"Yeah, he's going to get himself killed."
"But then again he might be great help," Kurt smiled deviously and if you didn't know that he was a cop, then you'd probably assume that he was about to commit a crime, "What if he could get you on the inside? You know since he said that Quinn has a soft spot for new people or something. You get in there, gather up all the evidence, call back up, and then arrest the greatest criminal of our generation! We'll be legends, Santana! Legends!"
"There's so many flaws in that plan," Santana folded her arms.
"Let's just try it," Kurt patted her on the arm, "What do we have to lose?"
"I don't know? Like my life!"
"Come on," Kurt whined but realize who he was dealing with and changed his tactic, "We'll just try it out for a little while. If it gets too dangerous, we'll pull you out. It'll be fine."
Santana sighed, "Fine, whatever. But I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this because it's my job. And I was going to do it whether or not you asked."
"Great! You're going undercover to investigate the infamous Quinn Fabray. Exciting," He begun to push her back towards the interrogation room, "Now let's go get in cahoots with that criminal in here so that we can do our jobs."
The weird thing about trying to get in "cahoots" with criminals was that it was actually really easy. They concocted a plan where Santana would pose as a contact who was good at finding people (which Santana did have the resources to do so) while they offered protection to Sebastian. Of course there was no promise of his safety, because they were still dealing with a mastermind criminal.
It took three months for Santana to even talk to Quinn Fabray. Three months of going to Sebastian for messages and random things that the woman wanted her to do. First it was to find where a certain person was and give the location to Sebastian to give to her. Then it was to find extra someones to give the location to Sebastian so that he could give the location to Quinn Fabray. It sucked and it was repetitive and though ethically it wasn't okay for Santana to use her police power to give up people to a criminal, it was really none of her business. Which helped her sleep better at night.
Santana stood nervously with her hands in her pockets. Meeting a infamous criminal in a deserted parking lot actually seemed like a great idea until Santana had actually arrived. It was Kurt's idea after all, which reminded her that she should probably punish him in some way for that.
"Don't look so nervous," Sebastian said next to her. He set up this whole arrangement, "Haven't you done this before?"
"Not with crime bosses," Santana took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. This was really no different from the other undercovers that she's been on. Stay chill, catch the bad guy, go home. It was suppose to be easy.
It didn't feel easy as a black Sedan pulled up in front if them. Santana watched from the corner of her eye as Sebastian stood up into full posture as the car door popped open. Out walked a muscular man with a atrocious Mohawk and an almost all leather attire. Santana's eyebrow shot up as the man uncomfortably shuffled the back of his leather trousers before going for the passenger door of the car. Maybe that picture of Quinn Fabray wasn't that long ago. She was probably was still the same pink haired punk girl and for some unknown reason that made Santana feel more relaxed.
The door opened and Santana laughed at herself as the woman appeared in her sight. There of course was no way that the picture was going to be in any way accurate and there was the proof walking out of the car with her blue sun dress and blonde hair. She looked like an everyday girl next door, but the way her face was indifferent to her surroundings made it feel like the lack of empathy was seeping off of her.
As the infamous Quinn Fabray walked towards her, Santana actually felt a chill. Like a legit chill and she wasn't sure if it was from the icy stare or the way the woman flexed her legs under her dress.
Santana laughed at herself again, this time over the fact that she thought that Quinn was really hot. Extremely hot. Like jeez, but that was unprofessional on her part. Though that don't seem to stop her eyes from roaming.
"Is something funny?" Quinn Fabray asked and Santana smirked. She bet five months of paychecks that not one person in her department had even heard anything close to the soft rasp of Quinn Fabray's voice. She could basically hear Kurt freaking the hell out telepathically.
"Not especially," Santana said and then remembered that she had to leave an impression, "I just expected more."
Quinn's head tilted to the side while the other two guys moved like they were going jump Santana. Quinn motioned for them to calm down before saying, "You're kind of funny."
Santana shrugged because anything with the words "kind of" in it wasn't a compliment or anything.
"We actually have one more challenge for you," Quinn said, deciding not to explain anymore and turned to the Mohawk guy. He smiled and yanked a man out of the car. Santana didn't recognized the man but she did recognize the gun that Quinn was handing to her, "I want you to shoot this guy for me."
Santana looked at the man and tried to cover up her sympathy. He looked afraid and kept his arm up as a way to block them from him. She couldn't even place his face and it worried her that maybe Quinn Fabray was now grabbing innocents from off the street and shooting them for no good reasons, "What did he do?"
Quinn smiled, "Does it matter?"
"I guess not," Santana reached for the gun but but brought her hand back without it, "But I don't like shooting guns."
"You don't?" Quinn looked genuinely surprised and a bit offended.
"Nope," Santana knew that her excuse was more than lame, but she couldn't think of another way out of this. She used to be so good at this, "That's why I don't carry them around."
Quinn blinked her eyes. She turned to Mohawk guy again and he shrugged his shoulders.
Quinn turned back, "That's cool. I'm okay with that."
Without looking, Quinn fired the gun behind her, hitting the man directly three times in the chest. He spazzed before letting out a cough as he sunk lifelessly into the dirt. Santana tried not to react as her ears quickly adjusted to the prickly sounds of the automatic.
Quinn watched her carefully and kept a smile on her face. She dropped the gun to the dirt before motioning to the car, "Do you like back seats?"
Santana nodded her head and swallowed, "They're not so bad."
"Good," Quinn's grin disappeared, "Get in."
Quinn walked over to the car and Santana chanced a glance over to Sebastian, whom was paler than before.
They all got into the car and Santana's nerves almost got the best of her as they pulled away from the scene as someone in the front seat turned on a Jason Mraz album.
XXX
It was a month and a half later after that car ride and Santana's job had gotten nothing but more difficult. She had been asked to find countless of people for Quinn and had yet to gather any evidence of the girl doing any crimes. She had witnessed a lot of course; robbery, drugs, arson. But there was no proper evidence even though she and Sebastian had seen it all. So they couldn't take her down yet. There wasn't even a body left in that parking lot, and as the saying goes at her job: "No body, no crime."
She was stuck.
She sat on the huge white couch in the middle of one of Quinn's huge white rooms in her huge white mansion. Santana combed her fingers through her hair and tried not to worry. She would find something. Sooner or later, she'll be able to go home.
"Something the matter?" Quinn's head popped in the doorway.
Santana pretended that the blonde was actually interested, "No I'm fine."
Quinn stared at her before walking into the room, "I need a favor. And confidentiality."
"I don't promise either, Fabray," Santana joked. Both the privileges of being able to joke and call Quinn by her last name came from one late evening where Santana was too tired to remember where she was. She panicked but Quinn found it refreshing, so now it's a thing.
Quinn sat on the couch next to Santana and smoothed out her dress, "You should tell me a secret first and then I'll tell you."
Santana squinted her eyes. Was this a test? "I don't have any secrets."
"Everyone has secrets," Quinn huffed, "Just tell me one so that I feel comfortable enough to tell you what I need to tell you."
Santana thought about this. Should she confide in anything with this woman?
She shrugged, "I had a boob job when I was in high school."
Quinn's eyes went large before looking down at Santana's chest before back to her eyes, "Really? Why?"
"Confidence boost," Santana folded her legs, "Your turn."
"I've, uh," Quinn looked down, "I don't like carrying guns so I either have Puck carry them for me or I just leave them on the ground."
Santana nodded her head, not really sure if she believed her, "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"Yep," Quinn took a deep breath, "I need you to find someone for me. Shelby Corcoran. You think you can find her?"
"Sure," Santana said, immediately hating herself for helping Quinn probably kill an innocent woman, "Are you going to tell me why?"
"No," Quinn snapped and looked back to Santana.
"Fine, whatever," Santana rolled her eyes. She was so done with this whole undercover thing. She could literally leave right now.
"Do you have any respect?"
Santana had a million answers to that question but couldn't think of one that justified for Quinn, "For you?"
Quinn bit her lip before nodding her head and standing up. She left the room and Santana let out a big sigh.
It only took Santana two days to find out where this Shelby person was. The problem was that there was just as much records on the woman as there was for Quinn. Shelby was a criminal, Santana was relieved at that, and her criminal record was longer than the blonde's. Except she had never been charged because no one had ever brought her in. There was no picture, but just her address and her warrants and Santana worried about how much power this woman had. She hadn't even heard of her, but just looking at her file... There should be at least 40 documentaries on her by now.
If she was to be honest with herself, Santana was also worried about Quinn. She was positive that she was worried that the blonde would get herself killed before Santana could bust her, but another part of her was worried that Quinn was plainly just going to get herself killed. Quinn was a nice girl, when she wasn't shooting people down or orchestrating a robbery, and Santana was sure that she would do some sort of mourning if the girl ever...
Santana always had a soft spot for blondes and this just proved it.
She decided to tell her, though. Because of the way Quinn would indirectly ask her every other day. She was sure it was way too important to keep to herself.
So, Santana moved through the crowded people in Quinn's house. They all were enjoying Puckerman's monthly party and it never stopped amazing Santana on how many people came. She was sure there was noise complaints that probably meant that half of the department had probably already seen the infamous Quinn Fabray face to face just to tell her to turn down the music.
Santana scouted the room until she spotted Quinn, standing to the side of the room with a wine glass in her hand and a scowl on her face. The changing lights from the special effects system that Puck had set up lightened only portions of her face.
Santana made sure that the blonde didn't see her, before walking up behind her to whisper, "Isn't this your party, Fabray?"
Quinn jumped, a reaction Santana was delighted to see, but smiled once she saw Santana's face, "Honestly, I'm not sure."
Santana nodded before pausing for dramatics, "I found Shelby."
Quinn's smile disappeared as she grabbed one of Santana's wrists and yanked the girl into a nearby room. She shut the door behind them and almost stuttered, "You did?"
Santana nodded, proud of herself all of a sudden, "Yep. It didn't take much at all really."
"Thank you so much. I-" Quinn's face changed between emotions before going cold, "What do you want in return?"
Santana swallowed, taken aback from the change in the air, "I don't want anything-"
"Is it money?" Quinn walked over to a dresser in the corner if the room, "Would a thousand suffice?"
Santana looked around, now realizing they were in a bedroom, "I don't want your money, Quinn."
"Then what do you want?"
Santana wanted many things from her but settled on something easy, "I want you to tell me why. Whose Shelby? Does she owe money to you or something?"
"Two thousand?" Quinn offered but Santana didn't budge. She sighed and sat on the bed, "Shelby was something like a friend of mine. And she has something of mine that I need to get back."
Santana took a risk and sat next to her, "Money? Drugs?"
Quinn let out a small laugh, "Have you ever done something that you regret? Like something that hurt someone that you didn't want to get hurt?"
Santana took a moment to ponder, "Yeah, when I was younger."
Quinn turned her body to give her full attention, so Santana continue on, "When I was a teenager I was in with the wrong crowd. Not saying that I'm not right crowd now, but compared to those guys you all are a walk in a park.
"I remember selling anything I could for them, guns, drugs, or whatever. And I would hide them under a box under my bed. It wasn't the smartest thing to do but I wasn't thinking about anything but myself and the attention I was getting from the people. It was intoxicating.
"Then, in the fall of my sophomore year, my baby brother had found my box," she paused, waiting for the wound to stop stinging as she probed at it, "He'd play with anything, really. Including the gun."
"Oh God," Quinn looked down, guessing the rest of the story, "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine," Santana said though technically it wasn't. She took a deep breath to put any emotions at bay. It was always hard to bring up that memory.
"How did you live on?" Quinn asked, eyes still glued to the floor, "How could you?"
"Well, I mean I had to," Santana thought back to those hard years of trying to go back to being her after the death of her brother. It was almost impossible, "It took awhile before my parents forgave me but it took longer to forgive myself."
Quinn looked up, her eyes tearing up and a lump in her throat, "How did you forgive yourself?"
"I don't know," Santana placed a hand on Quinn's thigh in a form of comfort, "I just tried to do right by my brother. And like, do right by myself, too."
Quinn's eyebrows rose before she nodded her head. Doing right made sense. No wonder she had yet to forgive herself.
They were interrupted by Puck opening the door without knocking, "Quinn. You've gotta come out here."
Quinn nodded at him and stood up to follow him. They walked through the crowd until they stopped in front of a familiar Asian girl lying on the floor crying.
"Tina?" Quinn asked as she bent down to address the girl.
Tina looked up at Quinn, eyes blood shot and shakes throughout her body, and smiled, "Q! I'm so glad to see you!"
Quinn helped Tina to sit up, "Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all," Tina rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.
Quinn scrunched up her eyebrows and shook the girl by her shoulders, "God dammit, Tina! Are you strung out?"
Tina shook her head but began to cry, "Nobody listens to me! I just don't understand. I'm important, too!"
Quinn really didn't need this and she especially didn't need Mike to see his ex-girlfriend like this either. She looked in back of her for Puck and instead got a confused Santana, "Could you help me help her to that bedroom?"
Santana nodded and helped Quinn get the girl to her feet. Tina continued to cry as they dragged her into the room and laid her on the bed.
Santana gave her a look, so Quinn gave her something to do, "Could you go to the bathroom and get a wet towel, the small trash can, and whatever you think might be helpful for someone who's high on something she hasn't been on in a while?"
Santana nodded her head before leaving and Quinn turned back to the girl sitting on the bed, "What were you thinking?"
"I'm depressed, okay?" Tina said as she scooped her hair into a ponytail.
"But I thought you quit," Quinn whined. Tina was the only person who Quinn admired after seeing her shake her drug addiction, but now she was just disappointed.
"I don't want to talk about me anymore," Tina snapped and Quinn raised an eyebrow at her, "Who was the girl?"
"Who?"
"The girl, Quinn," Tina rolled her eyes as Quinn continued to play dumb, "She's cute."
Quinn scrunched up her face, "You think she's cute?"
"Do you?"
Quinn scoffed. Of course she didn't think Santana was cute.
She thought Santana was incredibly attractive and alluring and had the confidence to talk down Quinn anytime that she felt the need and that was absolutely a turn on for the blonde.
"Do you like her?" Tina continued while Quinn folded her arms, "You do, don't you!"
"You're so lucky that I even talk to you," Quinn tried.
"Whatever," Tina kicked off her shoes, "Have you slept with her yet?"
"Tina!" Quinn gasped, "Not to say that I would, but I haven't even known her for that long so please keep your fantasies to yourself."
"What are you so worried about?"
"I'm not worried about anything, I just don't know her," Quinn shrugged, "She could be an axe murder for all I know."
"That's fresh coming from you," Tina jumped up with an idea, "She could be a cop!"
Quinn guffawed at the idea, "Yeah right."
"She could! She could be undercover or something!"
"Coke makes you paranoid about cops, Tina," Quinn guessed. She motioned for the girl to sit back on the bed.
Three doors down from the room, Santana had made a wrong turn and stared at her big bust. A whole entire room full of narcotics in plastic bags, stacked up on chairs and tables, next to stacks of money. It was the most illegal storage room that she had ever seen. This was it. This was how she was going to take in Quinn Fabray. Sure, it wasn't murder but it was a gateway to put the blonde in prison for the many crimes that she committed.
She fished her phone out of her pocket but paused before dialing anything. Did she really want to put Quinn in prison? Sure, she was a cop first but she cared for the blonde. Santana didn't realize how much she cared until her finger hovered over the call button on her phone. Could she really do this to Quinn?
XXX
Quinn, Puck, and Santana stood in front of an apartment door waiting in silence. Puck was leaned against the wall in back of them while Santana watched as Quinn reached over to knock on the door but change her mind every time.
Santana had led them to Shelby's apartment and Quinn had seemed nervous on the whole way there. No encouraging words could make her shake the feeling of this being a bad idea.
"Are you going to knock or what?" Puck finally said and Quinn glared at him.
"I will, I'm just," Quinn turned to walk away, "Never mind. Let's just leave."
Santana stopped her, "Come on, Quinn. We're already here. I don't know what's behind that door, but whatever it is, you're ready for."
Quinn gave her a small smile before turning back to the door as knocking on it courageously. She almost felt like running away once it began to open.
"Quinn?" A brunette woman, who must have been Shelby, answered the door and Santana tried to rack her mind around how this woman was the same woman with the rap sheet as thick as her ass. The woman gazed over to Puck in the corner, "Noah?"
"Shelby, hey," Puck said with a smile. He pushed off from the wall and gave the woman a hug.
Once they separated, the woman looked back at Quinn, "You look nice, Quinn."
"I'm here to see her," Quinn folded her hands in back of her, "Not you, just her."
Shelby nodded her head and let them all into the house. Quinn scanned the apartment before her eyes landed on a little blonde head, playing in the middle of the floor. The little girl looked up at Quinn and gave a weird look before giving a mega watt smile.
The little girl was an exact replica of Quinn. From her hair to her eyes to her smile. She stood up, with great trouble, and limped over to Quinn before engulfing her with a hug. Quinn sobbed into the girl as she held her into her arms and Santana felt a tear escape from her eye.
"I don't think I know you," Shelby brought Santana's attention away from the two girls.
"You don't," Santana put out her hand, "I'm Santana."
"Shelby," the woman shook her hand tightly before retracting her hand, "Where does Quinn know you from."
"I, uh," Santana struggled, "helped Quinn find you."
"Oh," Shelby turned to the girls whom were now talking aimlessly as the young blonde wiped the tears from Quinn's eyes, "I'm glad she wanted to find her daughter."
"Her daughter," Santana repeated, the words bringing a smile to her face.
"You didn't know," Shelby continued on, "I guess you also don't know why that baby has a limp."
"I'm sure it's none of my business."
"Of course it is," Shelby laughed bitterly, "Did you know Quinn's in the crime business? Her daughter, Beth, didn't. She found out the hard way when Quinn's gun went off while holding her. Poor baby, didn't see it coming."
"That's enough, Shelby," Puck commanded.
"You brought her back into Beth's life," Shelby folded her arms, "Is it safer now? Is there an guarantee that that baby will be safe?"
Santana clenched her jaw. She didn't know if Beth would be safe around Quinn. Quinn was barely safe around Quinn.
By the time it was Beth's bed time and it was time to go, Santana felt antsy. In the parking lot, she pulled Quinn to the side and asked if she could talk to her.
Once Puck went to go warm up the car, she talked, "I don't trust you."
Quinn blinked her eyes, "What?"
"I don't trust you," Santana repeated, "To be in that little girl's life again."
Quinn folded her arms and shifted, "Why?"
"Shelby told me what happened to her."
"Oh."
"So, I can't let you be apart of her life."
"Santana," Quinn said, not so much to start a sentence but for just the feeling of saying her name, "I would change everything about myself to be with Beth. I mean I have, but I just didn't know how to face her. And then you came into my life and-"
She took a shaky breath, "You told me how to forgive myself and it was so easy. And now I would give up anything. I would give up everything to have Beth back."
"You're going to have to give up everything."
"I know. I am."
Quinn looked down and without a second thought, Santana pulled her in for a hug. Quinn stiffed at first, but returned it tighter than Santana expected. They stood there for a moment before breaking apart. The moment didn't feel over yet, so Quinn took the chance to brush her lips over Santana's. It was nothing but a quick peck, but it felt as though the world shook under Quinn's feet and as though Santana's heart thumped right through her chest.
"Sorry," Quinn said as she gave them both some space.
"It's fine," Santana reassured, though technically it wasn't.
XXX
Just the next morning, Quinn organized a meeting type thing in her dining room, inviting almost everyone. Santana was sitting next to the blonde as she looked around the room. There was many people that she didn't know and only a few familiar faces like Sebastian, Puck, and Mike whom she had only met twice. Everyone looked confused, especially since they had all been served pancakes.
"Everyone," Quinn called out as she stood up from the table, "I have an announcement."
"It better be good, Q. I'm not okay with the whole having a meeting at 7:30 in the morning," Mercedes Jones, another infamous criminal, said. Santana remembered reading files about her in the academy, and while Quinn's speciality was drugs, Mercedes was known for fraud.
"I promise, it is," Quinn clapped her hands, "I'm quitting the business!"
The whole table went quiet.
"What the fuck does that mean?" Puck asked.
"Language," Quinn folded her hands in front of her, "It means I won't be doing this type of thing anymore. I'm out. Done. Finished."
"What the actual fuck?!" Puck exclaimed.
"Quinn, this seems a bit rash," Mike said from his side of the table, "Maybe if we talk about it."
"There's nothing to talk about," Quinn folded her arms.
"Who am I suppose to get my coke shipped from?" Sugar Motta, a not so infamous criminal, voiced.
"You're fucking insane if you think I'm just going to let you do this," Puck stood from his chair and pointed at the blonde.
Quinn slammed her hand on the table, silencing everyone, "I'm quitting the business and that's it! No one's stopping me! It's over! The reason is mine and mine alone. There is nothing nobody can do about it. Now eat your damn pancakes."
No one had time to react as the front door flew open and a dozen cops ran in. Everyone froze as the cops commanded to do so in almost a million voices. After a few other commands, the people at the table threw their guns to the floor and raised their hands into the air.
Santana recognized all of the cops, some in uniform and some not. But only one acknowledged her.
Kurt, with his gun pointed at Puck, looked over to Santana giving her a smile and a wink thus shattering the cover she had worked so hard to get all over the floor and onto her face.
She looked over to a still standing Quinn who was now looking at Santana, eyes wide and an array of emotions flowing through her.
In a quick second, Quinn bolted and Santana cursed as she ran after her but not before scooping a gun from off the floor.
To both of their surprises, a whole part of the house was not covered by the police and Quinn ran straight outside with Santana on her tracks.
Quinn's heart was beating in her ears and she had barely even begun to run. She was so pissed, she should have known Santana was a cop. It was too good to be true.
Santana panted as Quinn lead her into the city and almost bumped into a pedestrian. She didn't know if she was panicking at the fact that Quinn was getting away or that she found out that she wasn't who she said she was.
Quinn beelined into the alleyway in front of her, knowing that at this rate, Santana was going to catch up with her. It had been awhile since she had ran like this and she hadn't expected to be this out of shape.
Santana picked up her speed after Quinn, almost knocking over a trash can, "Quinn! Stop running or I'll have to shoot you!"
Quinn stopped in her tracks and turned to Santana who pointed her gun at Quinn. They were both out of breath and took some time to gather it.
"You're a cop?" Quinn finally said, a strain in her voice evident.
"Yeah," Santana nodded, "I'm sorry."
"You're not sorry," Quinn pointed to the gun, "You've got a gun on me."
"I have to," Santana took a deep breath, "I have to take you in."
"You can't," Quinn whined, "I just got Beth back."
"I know," Santana lowered the gun a bit, "I know. I'm sorry."
"You're not sorry," Quinn looked around for anything to help her but she was at a lost. She couldn't think of anything, so she panicked and kicked her leg out high enough to successfully knock the gun out of Santana's hands.
Santana's eyes went wide as she cradled her now throbbing hand, "Did you just karate kick that gun out of my hands?"
"Yeah."
"What the fuck, Fabray? You know karate?"
"No."
Santana walked forward, "I have to take you in, Quinn."
"Back off, Santana," Quinn backed up, "I'll fight you if I have to."
"I don't want to fight you, Quinn."
"Why? Are you afraid?"
Santana stopped moving, "Why would I be afraid of you?"
"If you list off some of the things you're arresting me for then you should know."
Santana laughed, "More like you should be afraid of me."
Quinn scoffed, "Why? Because you're a cop?"
"No, because I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent."
"Adjacent to what?" Quinn blinked her eyes, "Wait, did you say Lima. Like Lima, Ohio?"
"Um, yeah."
Quinn shook her head in disbelief, "I'm from Lima, too."
Santana scrunched up her face, "That's a weird coincidence."
"Yep, just another reason to let me go."
Santana shook her head at the girl and Quinn decided to make another break for it. This time, she didn't get far as Santana tackled her to the ground. Santana tried to hold her down but Quinn kicked her in the stomach, knocking the air out of her and into the ground. Santana coughed as she laid there for a moment before tripping Quinn before the girl could run. The movement cause Quinn to fly forward and smack her head in the sidewalk. She hissed but got back with one hand placed on her forehead.
Santana had finally gotten back up as Quinn was limping away and walked herself over to her, "I gots to bring you in, Fabray."
"No," Quinn picked up the closest thing to her, a long metal pipe and whipped it around the Latina, knocking her in the back. Santana fell to the floor and held her back in pain and Quinn watched in horror, "Oh my God, Santana! I am so sorry!"
Quinn looked around, if she wanted to get away this was her chance. Then she looked down at the girl on the ground, laying face down on the floor with her hands rubbing at her lower back and mumbling words to herself.
Quinn stomped her foot before squatting next to Santana and rubbing the spot that she hit her, "I'm sorry, Santana. I panicked."
"It's fine," Santana muttered and no it was not fine.
Quinn continued to rub Santana's back in silence and the Latina looked over to her in confusion, "You can still escape."
Quinn bit her lip, "I can't leave you here. Plus, you wouldn't want to be the loser who couldn't catch the infamous Quinn Fabray on foot."
Santana mumbled something as she turned away and Quinn continued to to rub.
Only a few moments passed before Quinn's ears perked at the sounds of sirens in the distance. They must be close, "Do you think you can sit up?"
Santana nodded her head as Quinn helped her into a sitting position. Quinn gave her a smile before laying herself face down on the pavement and putting her hands behind her back.
"What are you doing?" Santana questioned.
"You got me," Quinn turned her face to Santana, "You can take me in. I'm sure in prison I'll get more time to think about how I can make Beth's life better. And if I never get out, then that'll be fine too. As long as she's safe. Even if that means safe from me."
Santana gave a sad smile and placed her hand on Quinn's, "You're doing right for Beth."
"I'm trying to," Quinn smiled.
Santana smile back before leaning down to press her lips against Quinn's. Though the position was awkward and her back hurt like hell, when Quinn sucked in her bottom lip her heart did summersaults through her chest. She broke the kiss and gave Quinn another smile.
"Stop making eyes at me," Quinn muttered, "The cops will be here any minute."
XXX
As Santana walked the halls of the police department, it almost felt like an entirely different life. She hadn't been gone that long but yet she couldn't fight the feeling. She sat at her desk and rolled the pen between her fingers. She looked at Sam's desk and smiled at the little new items that decorated it. She was glad he was back from vacation.
"Well, look who's back," Rachel's uncanny voice chirped in Santana's ear.
Santana turned her chair to face the woman, "Rachel."
"Everyone's pretty ecstatic for your return," Rachel then begun to whisper, "But to be honest, this place got along much smoother without you here."
"Only because it was so boring," Kurt pipped in as he walked over to the desk, "Everyone missed Santana. Including Captain."
"I beg to differ."
"And I beg you to shut your mouth," Kurt laughed to himself then turned to Santana, "Are you happy to be back, hotshot?"
"I guess," Santana placed the pen back on her desk.
"Come on, get a little excited," Kurt did a little shimmy, "You caught Quinn Fabray. You're a legend."
Santana tried not to ask, "Is she still in custody?"
"Yep, till the end of the day. Why?"
Santana tried to hold it back as she drummed her fingers on the arm rests but decided against it as she stood up from her chair, "Could you put her in the interrogation room?"
"Yeah sure, why?"
"I want to talk to her," she said as she walked away from her desk and the confused people standing by it.
It only took twenty minutes to get Quinn into an interrogation room, but it took forty just to convince Kurt to let Santana go in by herself. Once she walked into the room Quinn looked up and gave her a wide smile.
"How's it going, Fabray?" Santana asked as she sat in the chair in front of Quinn.
Quinn didn't look any less beautiful with the orange jumpsuit they put her in and with the optimistic look on her face. It was almost like she wasn't even locked up, "Pretty good. It's only been two weeks, though. Anything can happen."
"They're moving you tonight," Santana revealed though it wasn't asked, "Then your trial starts a few weeks after."
"Cool. Could you do me a favor, though?" Santana nodded her head and Quinn folded her hands on the table, "Could you make sure that Beth doesn't find out about this. I don't think any kid wants to know that they're mom's incarcerated."
"Deal."
"So you're not just a cop, you're a detective," Quinn motioned towards the badge resting on Santana's hip, "You didn't always want to be?"
"When José died," Santana traced the badge with her finger, "I wanted to avenge him in some way. He always wanted to be a cop. So this is my way of doing it right for him."
"I think you're doing great," Quinn smiled and Santana smirked back at her.
A loud siren flooded the room and their smiles disappeared. Quinn looked at Santana for an explanation while Santana's mouth twitched.
"Someone's holding up the department," Santana clicked her tongue before sighing.
"The entire police department?" Quinn's eyebrows rose, "People can do that?"
"Yep," Santana checked her phone, "You didn't contact anybody did you?"
"No way."
"Quinn."
"I'm serious!" Quinn shifted nervously, "What if people found out I'm here?"
"That's probably what happened," Santana tried to call Kurt but his phone went to voicemail, "They're probably coming to break you out."
"Or kill me," Quinn started to panic, "I have so many enemies out there, Santana. They could be coming here to shoot me down. It could be anyone like... Like..."
"Like Sebastian," Santana joked as he called Rachel, but no luck there either.
"Yes! Like Sebastian! Did you know that he tried to poison me twice?"
"And yet you kept him around."
"He made a mean filet mignon."
Santana rolled her eyes and grabbed both of Quinn's hands, "Don't fret, Fabray. Someone's just trying to break you out. No poisoning will be happening today."
"Promise?"
"How the fuck can I promise that?"
Before Quinn could answer, the door of the interrogation room was kicked open. Both Santana and Quinn jumped hard at the sound but only Quinn relaxed once she saw who was behind it, "Brittany?"
"Hey, Quinn!" Brittany greeted before pointed her gun at Santana.
Santana put up her hands and Quinn put up one of her's to stop the girl from shooting, "Stop, stop! Britt, it's okay. She's a good cop!"
Brittany laughed, "Aren't they all?"
"Put down the gun, please," Quinn asked sternly and Brittany let the gun down slowly, "Thanks, Britt."
"Let's go then!" Brittany tossed the blonde the gun and rushed out of the room.
Quinn and Santana stood up, and Quinn gave a shrug, "Should I leave?"
Santana nodded, "Yeah, sure. Go get your kid. Start a new life with her. Leave this all behind you."
Quinn stared at her, "Are you sure?"
"Not really."
They didn't say anything for a moment before Quinn took a step to her, bringing her free hand to cup Santana's cheek, and surged their lips together. They both groaned at the feeling and moved their lips against each other.
Quinn smiled and broke the kiss. She backed away towards the door, "Sorry."
"It's fine," and technically this time it was as the blonde dropped the gun to the floor and ran out of the door, leaving Santana there to think of a way to explain what happened here to her Captain and the rest of the department.