Is it a Crime?
3.2 Criminal
"Blondie One. I don't know what to say." Sue leaned back in her chair. "I've had attendance problems in my squad only once before. Turns out, I forgot that I-" She held up her fingers and made bunny ears to emphasize that she didn't agree with her next word. "-accidently shot that idiot Finn in the leg during one of our training exercises."
Brittany didn't know whether to look horrified or ecstatic that her captain had shot Finn because her superior's expression was a mix between utter elation and anger. So the blonde looked down at the buttons on her uniform and readjusted a pin that she had been "straightening" since Sue had called Britt into her office.
"I told them all to be ready because you never know when someone is playing with live rounds in a training exercise with no live ammunition."
Britt opened her mouth and was about to inform her captain that was not how training exercises worked. But she thought better of her plan.
Sue continued. "What kind of idiot runs away screaming like a girl when someone pulls a gun on them? He didn't even zig-zag." That sadistic smile had returned to her face. It reminded Brittany of her favorite Christmas movie character – the Grinch. "Anyway, I forgot about shooting him and then there was a whole hullaballoo cause I couldn't find him. Thought the lazy ass was skipping work so I docked him for every day he was absent to run one mile on the academy track. Little bastard thought he could sass me by taking up his complaint to HR and Internal Affairs. I had them all running with him – all twenty miles around the track. The fat one from HR fell down around mile number 4. I was riding him so close with my megaphone, that I had no choice but to drive my cart right over his body. It was glorious."
Brittany remained silent as Captain Sylvester continued to reminisce of the "glory days".
"I don't tolerate tomfoolery." Sue raised a brow waiting for a response or some sign of life from her young deputy.
Unsure exactly what Captain Sylvester was talking about, Britt nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Of course not, Captain, I don't like Tom much either."
Sue's eyes narrowed at Brittany's comment, but decided she had better things to rant about. Besides, she would find this "Tom" later and find out why he was dislikable. It normally meant she would have a reason to like him.
"Blondie One, I expect better from you. I don't care that you almost died the other night because frankly, with your failure to obtain any sort of useful information, it would have been better if you did." Sue took a chug of her protein, grass, green, and "healthy" shake before continuing. "At least then we could have tried to get Puckerman on murder. Your body would have contributed to our case, even if your police work couldn't."
"So I shouldn't be late to work anymore?" Brittany asked and hoped that she had gotten the gist of the lecture. It was hard to follow at times.
Sue rolled her eyes with exasperation and sighed. "Or get killed by a drug and arms dealer in an incriminating way that's useful! Haven't you been paying attention? Get out of here! I've got nothing more to say to you! Waste of space!"
Brittany stood up and quickly placed the officer's cap back on her head and saluted the captain. It seemed safer to get out of the office as quickly as possible before Sue treated her like Finn or that Tom Foolery guy.
Almost at the door, Britt thought she was safe, but Sue's voice barked. "Blondie One."
"Yes, ma'am?" Slowly, the traffic cop turned and placed her fingers to the brim of her cap again.
"I want you to see some real police work."
"Ma'am?"
"You almost died the other night, but you somehow cleared the danger and recovered Blondie Two. I think it might be time to show you how real detectives take down an alibi from the inside to break a case. Besides, it's never too early to start planning for Lieutenant Schuester's retirement slash funeral."
"The lieutenant's dying?"
"One can only hope." Sue muttered and stood up from her desk.
"I'm sorry?" It was becoming harder and harder to follow the captain's conversation.
"Took you long enough, Blondie One. Now straighten that hat and follow me. I'm going to put you in the observation room with Blondie Two."
"Like for an interrogation?" Britt could hardly believe her luck.
"Don't get too excited. It's just a preliminary questioning to determine the state of alibis and what we can glean. We start thinking about who we can crack and who we will have to break."
"Thank you, captain." Britt said excitedly. She couldn't believe that the captain was going to let her in on a case. She only worked traffic duty and didn't expect to move up in rank, not after the Ark fiasco.
"If you would have been to work on time, Blondie, then you would have seen a much higher profile come in for questioning, but now you'll just get the glam status. This one has all show and no substance. She's been in here quite a few times so you'll see a bit of cat and mouse at play too. I want you to pay particular attention to the lawyer because it'll be one of the best cat and mouse games you'll ever see. This particular lawyer, which isn't uncommon, represents this chick and the scum we want to bag."
"This is big. Thank you, captain." Brittany nodded and held the door open for her superior to walk through.
"Less talking, Blondie One, and more groveling. These idiots won't run scared if they see you walking side by side. Step back and head down."
"Yes, captain." Britt fell back to allow Sue the space she needed. The captain had a particular way of walking through the precinct with a scowl on her face. She would look for anything to bark about and she was merciless. It was best to take that extra step back. "Accidents" had happened in the office before. Britt kept her head down, but continued to glance up, just to make sure the captain hadn't changed her mind or was planning some devious punishment for coming in late. Everything seemed legit, but she had heard horror stories and Captain Sue Sylvester was not to be trusted.
They were rounding the corner when Brittany made a choking noise and the toe of her boot stubbed on the floor.
Sue turned around.
"Hair ball, Blondie One? Don't yak it up on me. Keep it moving."
"I-um-" Brittany's eyes locked with the one person she thought she wasn't going to see ever again. In fact, after Santana kicked her to the curb, Brittany had been upset, but she forced herself to get dressed and roll into work. Santana had been so quick to shove her out of the limo and out of her life that it seemed unreal that only an hour later they would be making eye contact across the police department.
Eye contact.
The kind that sizzled and heated the air between two people.
Santana hadn't expected to see Brittany either. Held by the arm, she lingered for a second as if the sight of the blonde officer riveted her motionless. Whatever that lieutenant's name was – Shoekisser or whatever - gave her arm another tug. But Santana remained still. Her eyes ran up Brittany's pressed uniform slacks. They were meant to conform the body so it was hard to sexualize individual officers. Yet Santana's eyes raked up the officer's pants and ran along the seams and then the inseams between thighs that had been wrapped around her head. Unable to control the path of her thoughts, Santana's eyes flicked up to the officer's belt around Brittany's waist and Santana's mind instantly returned to the previous night.
Her thighs instinctively clenched at the memory.
That strap she had hooked her hand into would have been for carrying a firearm, like the one Santana could visibly see on Brittany's hip. Her tongue ran along her bottom lip as she remembered eating the officer out as she had been handcuffed to the bed.
Her eyes touched each and every button. Easily, Santana recalled the curves of her body and the strength of her muscles until her gaze reached the name tag pinned on her breast.
PIERCE
Pierce. The name echoed in her head. Brittany Pierce.
And she remembered.
Shit.
Her eyes quickly met with the clear blue ones and Santana hated what she saw. It wasn't the flashing grin or the knowing glance or even smoldering desire. It was pain.
Santana knew she had fucked up, but it had been the right decision especially considering where she was now and what was about to go down. The more distance between them meant the less likely Brittany would be hurt and that Santana's deal with Puckerman would be broken. He wouldn't give her any freedom with her album or music. It had hurt to talk like that to Brittany, but it was the right decision. It was the right decision – she kept saying to herself after the limo had pulled away.
But now, standing in the middle of the police station and meeting those clear eyes, Santana knew her words could no longer keep her pounding heart from the truth.
"Come on, Ms. Lopez. The interrogation room is this way and your lawyer is waiting for you already."
"Thanks…" Santana wanted to call out or say sorry or something, but the word lawyer starkly reminded her of her contract with Puckerman.
No one could know she had slept with Brittany when she was supposed to have been sleeping with Noah.
Fuck.
Brittany was walking toward the other door which read: OBSERVATION ROOM.
Shoe-kisser pulled at her once more and forced Santana to finally turn away. He ushered her into the interrogation room.
"Blondie One! What is wrong with you?" Sue snapped and Brittany had to quickly look back to her superior. "Let's go."
"Yes, Captain, but-" Britt knew it was dangerous to test the captain's patience, but she needed to know why Santana was here. "-isn't that Santana Lopez? Wasn't she the one I was supposed to get answers from at the Ark?"
"Operative word is 'supposed' and you didn't, so we had to handle things different." Sue opened the door to the observation room. "We have an eye witness saying they saw him in near a shooting last night. He claims he was with his girl, Ms. Lopez. We're just going to push on the alibi a little and see where it gets us."
"Right." Brittany fiddled with her name tag for a second and then stopped. She realized the only reason she was touching the piece of metal was because Santana had been staring so intently at her engraved name.
Sue opened the door. Sam immediately leapt to his feet and placed his hand to his head in a salute. "Captain! I was just sitting because – and – wasn't ready-oh hi, Brittany! I mean- Officer Pierce!"
"I haven't been greeted with such fear since I ran the academy myself. Sit down, Blondie Two. I'm going to join the real police and you two just stay right here and take notes."
Sam's brow was dripping beads of sweat and he didn't breathe until Captain Sylvester walked out the door. Instantly, his chest un-puffed and his hand came down. "Oh my god, she is so scary! I have an a conspiracy theory about how she got to be captain, but I don't know if I should bring it up to Chief Figgins because he seems just as frightened of her as I am."
"You might wanna change your pants if you're actually going to do that." Brittany suggested with a smirk.
"Hey! I only did that once and it was because she scared me in the men's bathroom right as I was about to pee. It was a matter of circumstances!" Sam rubbed at the back of his neck with a frown. "I didn't know women could just go wherever they pleased."
"We can't, but the captain can." Brittany wanted to smile, but her attention was on the one-sided mirror. Lieutenant Schuester was seating the singer and taking his place with Chang on the other side. But they weren't the only people there. Brittany pointed to the very serious, short-haired blonde sitting next to Santana. "Who's that?"
"Oh, that's right, you haven't been here all day." Sam glanced to the woman. "That's Puckerman's lawyer, Quinn Fabray."
She was blonde, beautiful, and, Brittany imagined, fierce. This Quinn had eyes like the captain. Britt observed with care the way Quinn's eyes shifted to meet Santana. As the singer sat down, Quinn's hand slipped beneath the table and either touched the brunette's thigh or passed something to her. Britt's eyes narrowed, but she remained still. A second later, Quinn leaned over and whispered something in Santana's ear. Whatever it was, Santana nodded and finally gave her attention back to the Lieutenant.
"Lieutenant Shoe-less, how can I help you?"
"It's Lieutenant Schuester."
"Whatever." Santana brushed off his name and half-glanced to Quinn. The lawyer's eyes were unreadable, but Britt noticed the way the muscles in her left arm tensed. Whatever communication they were exchanging was happening silently and physically beneath the table. "What's this about? I know you boys didn't bring me in here for some autographs."
Finn, who was stationed at the door, started to open his mouth to ask for an autograph, but the look Chang gave him, shot down his request.
"Ms. Lopez, we've done this a few times regarding your boyfriend and we were hoping if you would sing us a different tune this time." Mike elegantly suggested.
"You're good." Santana said with a smirk and glanced dismissively to Will. "He's not."
"Regardless, Ms. Lopez, we were hoping you could go over some details that will help us with an open case."
Santana's eyes remained on Mike, but once again, Britt noticed her hands underneath the table. Fabray nodded once and flicked her left finger forward like giving Santana permission to speak.
"I would love to talk about my boyfriend." Santana stated with a faux smile.
Brittany internally cringed. This was not the Santana she had spent the night with or the Santana she had touched and caressed in the back of the limo. Dark eyes turned from the table and shifted behind Will's head. Britt flushed at the attention. Santana was no longer looking at the detectives, but to the one-sided mirror. Brittany knew that the singer couldn't see her, but that didn't stop her heart from beating faster.
Off-handedly and distracted, Santana prompted Schue once more. "Shoot, Shoe-steer."
"Schuester." The lieutenant repeated, but Santana pretended not to hear. "Let's start with a quick inventory of your whereabouts last night."
"Let's actually start with an inventory of everyone watching this interview." Santana's eyes were on the mirror, specifically, on Brittany.
"Unimportant." Quinn said before Schue could say almost the exact same thing. "Santana." This time the communication was very verbal. Quinn's voice cut right into whatever Santana had been thinking and drew the singer's attention back to her. "That's not important right now, Santana. You need to tell the detectives where you were last night and with whom."
Santana's eyes started to drift back to the mirror, but they slid over Quinn's cold and demanding gaze. Now was not the time. She couldn't think about Brittany behind that mirror. But Santana knew the blonde was watching and it killed her to think about the blonde listening to her. Besides, how could see lie when the one person who could break Puckerman's alibi was the cop behind the glass?
Brittany.
Fuck this was all kinds of complicated.
"Ms. Lopez, you seem nervous, you've never been nervous any other time you've been in here. Has something changed?" Mike asked with disguised innocence.
"I'm fine."
"She's fine." Quinn overpowered the singer's voice with confidence.
"Glad to know…" Mike stressed the words, but his eyes were calculating the exchange between the two females. "Let's continue."
"Sure."
"Can you state your whereabouts last night?"
"The whole night? Or just when I was in the dressing room naked?"
Quinn's hand again.
"Just the pertinent details, Ms. Lopez."
"I'd say as you know, but it's very hard to know if fine detectives, like yourselves, would be invited to the Cage, but I was in the Cage performing."
"And before that?"
"With my boyfriend, Noah Puckerman, we were in the VIP section of the Ark. Everyone in the club saw us."
"Let's get back to the Cage then."
"I'm sure you would." Santana smirked and glanced to Mike. "I think your partner might have a thing for hard kinks with his line of questioning."
"Stay on task, Ms. Lopez." Mike chided her.
Quinn's fingers squeezed the top of Santana's thigh and the singer smirked. "He might not be the only one for kinks. You're getting a little handsy, Q."
"Santana…"
"What? I'm cooperating." Santana sighed. "The Cage is the biggest event of the year, therefore a must attend for both Noah and I. It's his baby. He plans the Cage every season and pays a lot of money to make sure it's big and that I shine."
"Did Puckerman attend?"
"Did he attend? Shoe-ass, he was there the whole time. In fact, I even sang him a song. The place went nuts. You could see us on the big screen. The whole club saw us getting our mack on."
Britt pressed her face to the mirror. Sam was standing next to her.
"Hey, Britt, didn't you go to the club last night? Did you see this Cage thing? Cause it sounds really cool."
"I-um-"
"I mean you said you were going to the Ark to find Santana." Sam continued and didn't pick up on his partner's hesitation. "So did you find her?"
"Kinda…"
"Cause that would be a huge break in the case if you actually knew what she was doing all night." Sam continued. "Besides, if you found her there would be no way she'd be able to resist you. I saw the crazy chemistry you two had the other night. It was off the charts."
"It doesn't matter if I saw her or not, Sam, just drop it." Brittany uncharacteristically became defensive.
"Oh my Sue." Sam had swiftly converted to Sylvesterism after their near death experience at the captain's hands. Britt had tried to tell him that she thought Sylvesterism had a sort of ritualistic cannibalism that wasn't as nice as the wafers at the Catholic churches. Sam didn't heed her warning and every Thursday Britt would worry if Sam was going to make it back from church service. "Oh my Sue!"
He repeated and Britt stared harder into the glass hoping he would give it up. It was hard to hide the red in her cheeks. "Stop taking the captain's name in vain, Sam. She might hear you!"
"Yeah, but maybe she should because you slept with Puckerman's alibi!"
"Sam!" Brittany turned around and clamped her hand frantically to his big lips. "Shut your trap!"
"Mnfaahjanm!"
"You can't say that outloud!"
"Ahklfhankln?"
"I know, but you never know if they have bugs in here too." Britt's face was practically in his. She was fiercely whispering and glancing around the observation room.
Sam's eyes were wide. Brittany's sudden attack for his mouth had startled him. His muffled words were hard to get by her vice grip. "Hhagkljfakjncjh!"
"It's not important!" Britt responded.
"Pleahasn gaoign?"
"I'm not letting you go unless you promise you won't freak out."
"Ipormangah." Sam's eyes got wider and he nodded vigorously.
Brittany sighed and accepted his promise. As she pulled her hand away, her partner was shooting her glares. "Britt, if you go to the captain with this, you could get bumped up on the fast track to detective. Heck! You could take over for the lieutenant!"
"What?" Britt frantically looked from the mirror to Sam to the mirror again. Santana was sitting there with a smug smirk on her face and Quinn's guiding hand underneath the table coaching her answers. Obviously, everything coming from Santana's mouth was a lie, but Brittany was paying attention to her eyes. They were lying eyes – eyes that didn't enjoy sitting in interrogation and didn't appreciate Quinn's constant guidance. Britt remembered how quickly Santana had thrown open the door to the limo. But she also remembered how deep her eyes had been when they had been alone in the back seat. Those eyes hadn't been lying. "That's ridiculous. They'll find a break in the case some other way."
"Holy Sue!" Sam shook his head. "Britt, this is your big opportunity! Just go in there and bust open the interview. It would be so epic just like the movies!"
"It's not like that, Sam." Britt shook her head. "If I do that, she'll go down with Puckerman for giving false witness and might be charged with accessory."
"Yeah, but…is she worth it? Your career?"
"Ms. Lopez, where was Noah Puckerman last night?"
"We spent the rest of the night together."
"Doing what?" Will questioned.
Santana's smirk increased. "I knew you were kinky, but damn, Shoe-dress, you need to get laid."
"Back to the question."
"We spent the night together. Do you need me to be more explicit?"
"The entire night?" Mike took back the questioning.
"Yes, the entire night. Aren't you listening?" She was getting exasperated with the questions. Santana's tone of voice changed just slightly. Britt cocked her head. This was different. Santana's eyes had changed too. They were no longer concealed, but clouded as if she was reliving a memory. "I was very entertained all night."
Quinn's hand under the table was trying to stifle whatever Santana was about to say. The blonde lawyer must have sensed the swing in her client's attitude as well and it worried her.
"Did he leave at any time in the night?"
"Trust me." Santana's eyes focused and readjusted. Her tongue licked her bottom lip. "There was no reason to leave the bed except the one time we were on the floor and s-he was over top of me. Let me tell you, Shoe-perv, it was the best night of my life. I've never had anything like it before."
Now, Santana's eyes shifted to the mirror behind Schue's head. Brittany shivered. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin.
" -"
"I'm not finished!" Santana cut Schue off and Quinn's hand was frantically squeezing at her thigh. "All fucking night, boys. Seriously, have you ever gone all night with someone? Because we were charged. It never stopped. Whatever was pumping through our bodies was magical and I spent the entire night letting that magic go in and out of-"
"Santana." Quinn barked. "I think the detectives have enough to go on. I think we all have enough to go on."
Santana eyes snapped away from the mirror. She didn't notice that she was short of breath and her heart was beating faster. Suddenly, she remembered that she wasn't talking about Brittany, but about her employer and the man who owned her future. Her eyes instantly switched and her voice lost sincerity. "What? They asked for detail."
"Tha-thank you, Ms. Lopez, for elaborating." Schue was pulling at the collar of his shirt.
"Wow." Sam was pulling at his own collar. "That was hot."
Brittany didn't have anything to say. Sure it was hot to hear about, but she actually experienced it. "Yeah…" She responded, but her own thoughts were on Santana. It was unclear what Puck had on her or what their deal was. Yet, Britt couldn't shake the feeling that Santana wasn't happy. Those eyes…even in the short time they had spent together, Brittany could read her so easily and she knew something was wrong.
"Well, I think that will do for now. If you or detective Chang have anymore questions for Ms. Lopez, make sure you direct them to my firm first." Quinn stood up. "It's time to go now, Santana."
"Sure, but I want to know if my Noah is safe?" Santana was fully engaged in the alibi again.
"Your boyfriend is waiting for you." Chang held the door open for her.
Brittany turned and exited the observation room to follow them to Puckerman. Sam trailed. "What are you doing, Britt? Are you going to blow the case open? Where are you going? Was that you she was talking about? Cause damn."
"Shut up, Sam."
"It's just I don't understand what you're going to do."
Puck was waiting on a seat not that far away and the moment he saw Santana leaving with the detectives, he stood up and crossed the station. He held his hands out to welcome her to his arms. Brittany distinctively remembered the last time she had seen his hands. They had been wrapped around her throat. Santana smiled, but not the way she smiled at Brittany. It was reserved and calculated. It was meant to convey a very specific emotion.
"Noah, baby. What could these officers possibly think you were doing?" Santana cooed and tucked her body into his embrace.
"The fuckers are trying to pin shit on a legitimate business man instead of doing their fucking jobs." Puck was glaring at the detectives and awkwardly patting Santana on the back. He leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Santana nodded once and then broke away from his embrace. "Did they hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine."
Quinn moved into the space they shared.
"How'd she do?" Brittany heard Puck ask the lawyer.
"Quite a performance." Quinn sarcastically replied.
"Good." He noticed Brittany approaching and gave her a hard, hungry look up and down. Clearly he appreciated what he saw because he didn't call her a 'fucker' or glare. "What can I do for you, officer?"
It was difficult to ignore Santana's eyes bulging as she realized Brittany was standing only a foot away and talking directly to Puckerman. Britt's body hummed in such close proximity to the singer, but she kept her eyes on the crimelord, Puckerman. "I was told to offer Ms. Lopez a ride in my cruiser back to her apartment."
Puck didn't even glance to Santana. "My personal limo can take her. Maybe instead you could take me back to my place…"
He didn't even bother to hide his obvious flirtation. It was disgusting. Nothing between Puckerman and Santana was real. That was obvious.
"Sorry, but my orders are for Santana Lopez alone."
"Pity." Puck tsked as he handed her a business card. "Here's my card. If you ever get sick of police work. Come look me up at the Ark." He glanced to Santana and shrugged. Puck was already leaving with his entourage in tow. Santana's eyes flicked between the two. This wasn't good. Brittany was supposed to stay away so she wouldn't be involved in Puck's bullshit. "You can have her. Let's go. I've got appointments to make up because of this mess."
"Brittany…"
"Save it." Britt cut her off.
Santana fell silent. Her eyes shut closed. They walk out of the station together. Brittany held open the door to the back of her cruiser. Santana hesitated. She had driven in the back seat of the detectives' sedan on her way to the station. They hadn't treated her like she had done something wrong.
"Watch your head." Britt curtly said before she walked around to the front seat. She turned on her computer and entered Santana's information to the system to pull up an address. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised this isn't the address of the place we stayed at last night?"
"Please don't do this." Santana groaned. "I was trying to keep you out of this mess."
"By sleeping with me?" Britt wasn't sure what she was feeling, but she knew whatever Santana was involved in with Puckerman was bad.
"We only went to a bedroom after you fucked me in the Cage."
"And Puck?"
"What about him? You didn't seem to care about our relationship before. What's changed?"
"He's dangerous."
"Like I don't know that?" Santana rolled her eyes and leaned back in the seat. She hated that Brittany had thrown her into the back part of the cruiser. The meshed grate between them reminded her of the lying she had just committed for Puck. "Why are you treating me like a criminal?"
Britt ignored the question. "You deserve better than whatever deal you've got going with him."
"It's the best deal anyone's ever given me."
Blue eyes hit the right angle in the rear view mirror to catch Santana's attention. It was the truth, but it wasn't one Santana had wanted to share. Brittany didn't speak at first, but held Santana's gaze. The light was still red.
"I could give you a better one."
"Ha." Santana rolled her eyes. "You don't even know what he's giving me."
"Obviously, whatever it is doesn't make you happy."
Santana paused, but decided to ignore Brittany's poignant stab. "Is it easy for you? Is it easy to put on that uniform and do your job? Because I have a uniform and a job to do too. They just happen to be less honorable than yours."
"Let me offer you something better?"
"It doesn't work like that."
"So you don't want anything different?" Brittany earnestly asked as she pulled up to Santana's apartment.
"I didn't say that."
"Then what do you want?"
Santana didn't know how to answer. She had a contract and was about to make it big. All she needed was this last alibi to go through and then Puck would take his claws out from her throat and let her sing. Whatever Brittany felt or made her feel didn't matter. This was her dream. This was her one shot to be famous. Her eyes met the blue ones once more and her body rippled from the contact. All those words stuck in her throat because those wants seemed petty when a woman like Brittany was asking what she wanted.
When a woman like Brittany was offering her something different.
She'd be a fool to ignore that the prospect frightened her.
But she wouldn't be her stubborn self if she admitted that Brittany's proposal terrified her.
"I want to get out of this car."
Brittany nodded and opened her door. She walked to the side of the cop cruiser. "Your apartment, Ms. Lopez."
Santana hesitated even more to stand up next to Brittany. They had kept a considerable distance between them and Santana knew all it would take was a single spark for her to reconsider her choice.
"I'm sorry, Brittany, I really am."
Ugh angst. I know. I'm sorry. I said love child of Sirens and LT:P-EYE, so there had to be some. I promise it won't last long. :D Thanks again for all the reviews and messages! Hope you have a lovely week!
Two more chapters of IIAC left!