Brittany really didn't want to get out of bed.

She looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was only seven in the morning and she could still sleep for a few more hours before work. She groaned and got up anyway.

This was the only time she could see Jenny during the week and she wasn't going to miss it, even if she had only been asleep for five hours. As soon as she stepped out of her room, her sister fussed over her.

"What time did you get home?"

"Early," Brittany said. She smiled at Jenny and then headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. At first glance, you couldn't tell Jenny was her sister. For one, Jenny had black hair and green eyes, just like their father. Brittany on the other hand was blond and blue eyed, just like their mother. They did have the same smile and if you really studied them, they looked more alike than not.

"I made you pancakes," Jenny said as Brittany came out of the bathroom. Every morning Jenny made them breakfast and tried to make the most of out of their short time together. "I found some chocolate chips left over from when we made those cookies. So, you get chocolate chip pancakes."

Brittany went over to Jenny and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks." She sat down and reached for the maple syrup. Jenny was a great cook and Brittany thought she could make a great chef if she wanted. "How did your test go?"

Jenny sat down and picked up her fork. "Aced it."

"Of course you did," Brittany said proudly. She looked over at her sister and saw that the girl looked like she wanted to say something. "What's wrong?"

"Britt," Jenny began, "I…I went to the mall after school and one of the stores had a sign, and they're looking for a sales clerk…"

Brittany put her own fork down. "No, Jenny. You have too much schoolwork and you have to keep your grades up for that scholarship."

"It's just a part time job, Brittany," Jenny pleaded, "I hate that you're working so much because of me. All you do is work and never have time for yourself. I mean, when was the last time you went out with your friends? Had a date?"

Brittany tried to remember the last time she did anything other than work and couldn't. "I'll have fun when you're in college. It's just a few more months."

"But I can make some money and buy back your…."

"No!" Brittany took a drink of her orange juice. "It's my job to take care of you, not the other way around."

"You're not my mom Brittany, you're my sister," Jenny said, now upset, "We're supposed to take care of each other."

"No, I'm not mom." Thinking about their mother always made Brittany sad. "But before she died she told me to take care of you. So that's what I'm doing."

"Britt…"

Brittany picked up her fork again and cut off a pice of her pancake. "Let's eat, OK? We only have an hour before you have to go to school."

Jenny slumped her shoulder and nodded, giving in. "OK."

###

Santana spent the better part of the morning getting to know the inner workings of the hotel and meeting as many employees as possible. She wanted to make her presence known and to get a better vibe from everyone. A person's file could only tell you so much.

She entered the surveillance room where she spotted Artie going over the notes from the previous shift. "Oh hey. Just the man I wanted to see."

"I haven't been making any calls," Artie blurted out.

"Good to hear, but that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"I was reviewing the files you sent me and they're not complete," Santana said, "Where are the files for the taxi drivers assigned to the hotel? I found all the other drivers on staff but not the taxi drivers."

"Well, they're not officially Dalton employees," Artie explained, "Officially, they work for Blue Diamond Taxi. They don't have access to the hotel like other employees. I mean, they rarely step foot in here."

"I see." Santana had figured as much and wasn't too thrilled about this news. "Well, we need to fix that. If they're using this hotel as their home base, we should have the files of these drivers. How many are there?"

"Just 7 so far. It's still a pretty new program. I'll see about getting you their files." Artie said.

"Good." Santana just wanted all her files to be in order but somewhere in the back of her mind, she had this nagging curiosity to see one driver without her sunglasses on. Her job consisted of observing and identifying people, and that's all this was. "Send them to me as soon as possible. Now, let's talk about some changes I want to make around here. The security has been very lax and I won't have that."

After meeting with Artie and his team, she spent most of the day going around the hotel meeting as many employees as possible. Considering how many were on staff, it could take her weeks to meet everyone, but she was determined to do just that. She also hoped to meet a few people she could see herself hanging out with one day.

Santana wasn't one to make friends easily but she recognized she needed to meet some people now that she lived in a new city. She was alone. She'd never admit it to anyone, but Santana hated feeling alone. Back in New Jersey she had her small group of friends she could call up and hang out or when she needed help with something. Here, she had no one.

After a few hours she headed back to the surveillance room. Her office was just in the back of he main room with all the monitors. She entered the surveillance room without acknowledging anyone and headed to the back where her office was located. Her office looked out into the whole control room and she loved being able to see everything. Her door and wall facing the control room were all plexiglass. She didn't have much privacy and all anyone had to do was look back and they'd see straight into her office, but she didn't care. Her employees needed to know they were being watched.

She sat at her desk and turned on all her monitors. There were monitors to her left and right and her main one in the center. She stayed in her office for the next few hours catching up on her notes before heading out for dinner.

###

By the afternoon, Brittany checked in at her taxi company and headed to The Dalton to begin another hot day of driving people around. Growing up in Vegas had made her used to the heat and she had actually grown to love it a little. By 6 o'clock, she had made $50 in tips and was starving. She parked her cab in the break area and instead of walking over the The Oasis, she made her way to the front of the casino and the valet station. She didn't feel like eating alone.

The valet station was buzzing with activity. Brittany spotted her friend Mike giving orders to his valets and giving out tickets. "Hey Mike!"

Mike turned around and smile. "What's up Britt?"

"Did you have dinner yet?"

"Actually, no." Mike handed the stack of valet tickets he was holding off to one of his staff and told him to take over. "What do you feel like eating?"

"Food," Brittany joked.

"Let's hit the buffet," Mike suggested, "On me. I have some vouchers left. "

Brittany looked past Mike to the entrance to the casino and swallowed. She had been inside The Dalton twice and that was twice too many. She hated casinos. Hated the slot machines. Hated the people throwing their money away on the tiny chance they would hit it big. Seeing all of that always brought back unwanted memories. "Umm…"

"We can go in through the back," Mike said, sympathetically.

Brittany nodded and followed Mike to the back entrance.

The Dalton's buffet was impressive and had some of the finest chefs cooking for its guests. Mike showed the cashier his employee card and gave her the vouchers before they went in and headed straight to the food.

"Wow," Brittany said grabbing a plate, "This makes me wish I was an official Dalton employee."

"You should be," Mike said, "The benefits alone are a payoff, not to mention the money." They grabbed their food and walked over to a table. "I could use another valet."

"The food isn't that great," Brittany said softly, "You know I can't work for a casino."

"Won't, not can't," Mike corrected.

"Fine, won't." Brittany hated that there was now a tense air around them. Mike knew Brittany's history and was glad for it but sometimes she wanted to forget. They finished their first round and went for seconds. This time, Brittany headed to the meat station and asked for a cut of roast beef. She was so concentrated on watching the cook cut the meat she didn't really pay attention when someone slid their trey close to hers and spoke. "That looks good."

Brittany turned to her right and moved away a bit when she saw who it was. "Miss Lopez! Hi!" She knew she may have said that a bit too loud but she wasn't expecting to ever see the security director again.

Santana had heard The Dalton had the best buffet on the strip so when her stomach demanded food, she immediately thought of the buffet for dinner. Her plan was to just grab her food and have it packed to go but the thought of eating alone in her office or room was just too depressing. So when she came down and saw the place wasn't too crowded, she decided to eat alone in a public place. She was glad she did because she had spotted her taxi driver and was finally able to see her without those damn glasses.

"You look familiar. Did I meet you today?" Santana hoped she wasn't too obvious that she was lying. She had recognized this woman immediately, even without those glasses. She tried not to dwell too much on just how beautiful the taxi driver was.

Brittany suddenly felt nervous, which was weird because the only time she ever really got nervous was talking in front of a group of people. But this woman made her nervous. She was the security director after all and could easily put her in jail or something, which was a silly thought because she hadn't done anything wrong. "Uh…no. Not today. Yesterday you did. I picked you up….at the airport? I'm Brittany, the taxi driver."

"Oh, right," Santana said with a soft laugh, "I didn't recognize you without your sunglasses and hat."

"I had to take my glasses off when I came in cause it's too dark," Brittany said, "Plus, I didn't want to look like an asshole wearing sunglasses indoors, like I'm trying too hard to be cool."

Santana laughed at the unexpected answer. "It is pretty asshole-ish to wear sunglasses indoors."

The cook placed Brittany's plate on the counter. "There you go."

Brittany took the plate and turned back to Santana suddenly unsure of what to do. The security director was once again wearing a pantsuit, but this time grey one and her hair and makeup were flawless. She looked more like a model than head of security for casino. The longer Brittany looked at Santana Lopez the more self-conscious she became at being dressed in capri jeans, black sneakers and her black and white stripped shirt with a small unicorn near the shoulder. "Well, nice to see you again," she said and began to slide her trey down to the next section.

Santana watched Brittany move away and felt the need to stop her. Brittany could be friend material. "Wait. Umm..I'm…I'm not sure what to get. Is the roast beef good?" Santana tried not to groan at how lame she sounded.

"I don't know." Brittany bit her lip. "I've never had it before."

"Well, what do you recommend from The Dalton buffet?" Santana asked.

"To be honest, this is my first time eating here," Brittany admitted.

"Really?" Santana was very surprised. "I would have thought the employees here would take advantage and eat here all the time."

"I don't technically work for The Dalton," Brittany said. She was starting to get a little uncomfortable, like she was being questioned. Maybe she wasn't supposed to eat here and Mike was in trouble. "My friend Mike works here and he invited me. He had some vouchers for a free dinner but if he wasn't supposed to use them on someone who doesn't work here, I'll totally pay for my dinner. Just don't don't arrest us."

"Whoa, Brittany slow down." Santana slid her trey closer. "I'm not arresting anyone. Those vouchers are for employees to use on whomever they want. I was just looking for food suggestions. That's it." She made sure to make her voice sound as nice as possible. She wasn't sure why Brittany was so flustered but she was enjoying the flush in the driver's cheeks.

Brittany's racing heart calmed and embarrassment set in. "Sorry." She picked up a small piece of her roast beef and ate it. "The roast beef is good."

Santana smiled and ordered the cook to cut her a couple of pieces. When the cook gave her back her plate she followed Brittany down the line trying to make small talk. She hated small talk. "There's so much to choose from and I want everything."

"Me too." When they reached the next section, Brittany added mashed potatoes and gravy to her plate. She saw Santana add corn and string beans to her own plate. When they reached the end, Brittany picked up her plate. "I hope you like everything."

"Thanks for the recommendation," Santana said, picking up her own trey. She was at a loss at what to do next. "I guess I'll go find a table. Nice to see you again, Brittany."

Brittany watched the director begin to walk away and hated that it sounded like she'd be eating by herself. "Wait. Miss Lopez."

Santana turned around. "Yes?"

"If, umm, if you're not eating with anyone, Mike and I are eating at the booths if you want to join us."

"I don't want to intrude or anything," Santana said.

"You're not. Plus it's a good way to get to know one of your co-workers." Brittany gave Santana a small smile. "And now that I know you won't be arresting us, it'll be fun."

Santana let out a relived breath. "OK, but I do have one condition."

"Sure."

"Don't call me Miss Lopez, OK? I hate that. My name is Santana."

Brittany felt her body warm at Santana's request. "Santana. That's a very pretty name." She smiled when it looked like Santana was blushing.

"Thanks." Santana suddenly felt a bit shy. "Lead the way."

Brittany walked back to the booth were Mike was already eating his second serving. He looked up as Brittany and Santana approached and his eyes went wide.

Santana tried not to laugh at Mike's scared look. She had met him earlier today and he seemed nice. "Hello Mike."

"H..Hi." Mike swallowed his last bite. "Will you be joining us?"

"If that's OK?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Mike assured.

Brittany slid into the booth next to Mike, forcing him to scoot further in and Santana sat across them. "So, you already know Mike?"

"We met earlier," Santana said, "I went around the casino trying to meet everyone."

"Everyone? Aren't there like, five thousand employees here?"

"2,687 and counting." Santana sounded a bit overwhelmed. "But I want to meet everyone at some point even if just for a minute."

"That's kinda cool," Brittany said, "You'll have so many friends soon, you won't know what to do."

Santana almost felt like Brittany had read her mind. "I doubt any of them want to be my friend. I mean, my job is to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not stealing. Suspicion is not a great way to start a friendship."

Brittany shrugged, "You're just doing your job."

"My record's clean," Mike suddenly said.

Brittany had forgotten her friend was sitting next to her because she was so into what Santana was saying.

Santana turned to Mike. "I know. It's nothing personal. It's just something I have to do."

"I get it. I'm glad you're here," Mike said, "I like Will but he's just not very observant. There's been so much crap going on and he's done nothing."

"What crap?" Santana had read all the previous incident reports but there had been nothing major.

Brittany had an idea what Mike was talking about but had been out of the loop for a few weeks. "The missing money?"

"What missing money?" Santana pushed her plate to the side and leaned closer. "When?"

Mike leaned back. "When the casino first opened there were rumors that money went missing from the main safe."

"What?" Santana was shocked. "There were no reports filed for any missing money. When did this happen?"

Mike suddenly looked scared, like he had said too much. "Umm, I guess the first week we opened. Grayson Smythe didn't want negative publicity so it wasn't really announced. At least that's what I heard."

Santana racked her brain trying to remember if she had seen any paperwork on this, but couldn't. She had made sure to study all the incident reports since the casino opened and there were no reports of any missing money from the safes. "Are you sure?"

Mike shrugged his shoulder. "I mean, it's just rumors so who knows."

Brittany looked across the table and saw Santana look like she was concentrating really hard on something. "You OK?"

Santana snapped out of her thoughts. "Fine. I'm sure it's just rumors but I'd hate to think Smythe would let money disappear without an investigation."

"It's just rumors," Mike repeated as his phone rang. He pulled it out and offered the women an apologetic smile. "Hey…I'm on break…already? She wasn't supposed to show up until tomorrow….fine, I'll be right there." Mike hung up and turned to his dinner companions. "Sorry, but a big whale will be here soon, Sue Sylvester. She always demands I be the one to park her precious Jag."

"Uh oh, scary lady is back," Brittany said with a slight giggle, "She's going to have the whole staff running around like chinchillas."

Santana couldn't help but chuckle at Brittany's words. "She's insane."

"You know her?" Mike asked surprised.

"Not personally," Santana explained, "I read her file last night. I knew she was coming in and I wanted to read up on The Dalton's favorite whale. She's quite a character."

Mike monitored Brittany to let him out. He gathered his still full plate and took it with him as he slid out of the booth. "Sorry to abandon you lovely ladies but duty calls. Gonna pack this up to go."

"Well, this sucks," Brittany pouted, "I haven't seen you ages. Hey, maybe we can do something on my day off."

"You have a day off?" Mike mocked.

"Sometimes." Brittany squeezed his shoulder before getting back in the booth.

Santana watched their interaction with in intense curiosity. Mike and Brittany seemed very friendly and it made her fidget a little in her seat. She reached for her plate again and began eating.

"You know, we could hang out more if you took up my offer," Mike said.

Brittany shook her head. "I'll see you later."

Mike turned to Santana and bid his farewell. "Nice to see you Santana."

"You too," Santana forced a small smile.

When Mike was gone, Brittany realized she was alone with new security director. "So…"

Santana swallowed the food in her mouth and put her fork down. "Sorry you got stuck with me."

"What? No…I mean, I'm not stuck. I'm…just…sorry, you kinda make me nervous."

Santana let out a small laugh. "I make you nervous? Why?"

"Well, like, I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing and you'll arrest me or something." Brittany leaned back to avoid Santana's eyes.

Santana saw the light blush on Brittany's cheeks and couldn't help but think the cab driver cute. "I'm not a cop Brittany. The most I can do is put you in the casino jail."

"There's a jail in here?" Brittany snapped her had up in surprise.

"Relax," Santana assured, "Let me ask you this. Have you cheated in the casino?"

Brittany shook her head. "I don't gamble. Ever."

Santana raised her eyebrow at that bit of news. "OK. Have you stolen any money form the casino?"

"Nope. I never go on the casino floor…I mean, this is like the first time in months I've been inside." Brittany reached for her water and took a drink.

Santana cocked her had to the side. "Really?"

"I hate casinos."

"Huh." Santana suddenly had so many questions, but she didn't want to seem like she was being nosy. Which was silly because her whole career was knowing the lives of people. "I guess you picked the wrong city to live in then."

Brittany looked down at her hands. "I grew up here, so it's not like I had a choice."

Santana saw the change in Brittany's whole demeanor and felt bad for causing the change. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"It's fine." Brittany took a breath and put on a smile. Santana didn't need to know her sob story.

Santana wanted to ask Brittany what was bothering her and not because she was curious but because she suddenly felt the intense need to help her somehow. But she bit her tongue. After all, they had only meet yesterday. "You don't have to be nervous around be Brittany, I'm harmless. Unless you cheat or steal from the casino. I won't put you in the casino jail. I promise."

Brittany's smile grew. Any nervousness or sadness she had felt was gone. "OK."

They continued eating with the conversation moving on to more safe topics. Brittany asked Santana how she liked her job so far, while Santana asked Brittany about what it's like to drive strangers around.

Brittany listened to Santana talk about her day and while it wasn't the most exciting story, she was hanging on every word. Maybe it was just the sound of Santana's voice, or the way her lips moved as she talked, but Brittany wanted to hear everything. "That sounds pretty cool. I wish I could spy on people. I bet that'd be the best TV show ever."

"It can get pretty boring," Santana said with a light laugh, "I mean, sure, you sometimes catch people doing interesting things, but for the most part it's kind of uneventful. But, I bet you get some interesting people in your cab, right?"

"Oh I do!" Brittany got excited because she had a million stories. "This one time I had to take two clowns to an Elvis convention and as soon as I dropped them off, these two Elvis guys punched them in the stomach."

Santana covered her mouth trying to keep from laughing too loudly. She listened as Brittany continued telling stories of her passengers and each story was more amusing than the last. Santana hadn't laughed this much in a long time. She had been in a bit of a slump for a long while and all she had was her job. It was nice to laugh.

"Your job is the best TV show," Santana said, "Well, more like the best play since you get to see it in person."

"True." Brittany looked down at her plate and saw she had finished her food without realizing. In fact, she wasn't sure what time it was so she checked her phone. "Crap."

"What's wrong?"

"My break. I'm only supposed to take an hour but it's been an hour and a half." Brittany began to gather her things to leave. She had to get on the road because the longer she was on break, the longer she'd have to stay to cover the lost time. She hadn't planned on working overtime tonight because she wanted to sleep, but now she had to stay 30 minutes more.

Santana gathered her own things and followed Brittany out of the booth. She also hadn't noticed how fast the time had gone. She had planned for a quick dinner before going back to work. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you."

"It's not your fault," Brittany assured with a smile, "I had a good time. You're a fun dinner date."

Santana wasn't sure why she got a bit fluttered at Brittany's words. "Thanks. You were fun too."

Brittany looked out at the casino floor and took a breath. She didn't want to have to walk through it to get outside but with Mike gone, she didn't have access to the backdoor.

Santana saw Brittany tense up. "You OK?"

"Umm, could you, umm, do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"I need to get back to my cab but I don't want to go through the casino." Brittany was feeling silly and just hoped Santana didn't think her weird. "Can you take me out the back? I promise I'm not scoping the place out."

Santana smiled. "Sure. Come on." She lead them out the back and used her keycard to open the door that lead to the exit. Something was going on with Brittany and casinos that it seemed like it had affected her so much that she couldn't walk through one.

When they were outside, Brittany turned to Santana. "Thanks. Don't worry, I probably won't step foot in there again for a long time."

"Well, don't say that," Santana teased, "Then I'd never get to see your through my spy cameras."

Brittany felt herself blush. "That's a little creepy."

"Yes, I guess it is," Santana admitted. She felt that nervousness again. "Listen, I…um, I still don't know anyone…I mean, I don't know the city and who knows Vegas better than a cab driver?"

"The mayor?" Brittany asked seriously.

Santana chuckled. "Yes, I"m sure she does. But, I'd like to get a tour and know the city I'll be living in. I mean, if you don't mind."

"You want to hire me as a tour guide?" The thought of driving Santana around excited her and and made her a little anxious too.

Santana hadn't meant to make that sound as a job offer. She had meant to be it an outing with a possible new friend. "Umm, yeah."

"I'd love to!" Brittany did a little jump. "I'll show you the real Vegas and not the one on the strip. When do you want to go out?"

"Uh…" Santana seemed to momentarily lose her train of thought at hearing Brittany phrase this outing like an actual date. "Oh uh, whenever you have time. You mentioned a day off to Mike…which, I just remembered you saying wanting to spend with him so…"

"Don't worry about that." Brittany figured she'd hang out with her friend later. "I have Sunday off for the first time in ages, so if you have time, I can take you out then."

Santana gripped the handle of the door she was still propping open. "I don't want to bother you if that's you only weekend off…you should spend it with your friends."

Brittany smiled at Santana. The more she looked at her, the less threatening she became. Her first instinct had been right. Santana was super nice. "Maybe I will be. I mean, who knows, we could be friends."

She wasn't sure if it was the warm air or Brittany calling her a possible friend that made her face warm up. "Maybe we will," she said with a grin.

Brittany felt her smile grow bigger. She felt her phone vibrate which shook her out of whatever trance she had been in. "Shit, sorry Santana. I gotta go. I should have been on the road half an hour ago."

Santana saw the sun was almost gone and the night looming over the city. "Right, you should go. What time do you get off?"

Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "I'll probably be on the road to like midnight."

"That late?" Santana didn't like the idea of Brittany working so late but this was Vegas. The night was when it really came to life, but she still didn't like it. She shook her head trying to make this feeling go away. It was silly, she had just met this woman and she was already feeling protective of her.

"That's when I make the most in tips," Brittany said as she slowly walked away, "Drunks don't know how much they are spending."

Santana chuckled. "Makes sense. Be careful, OK?"

Brittany stopped moving and looked at Santana, feeling goosebumps on her arms despite the heat. "I will."

Santana watched Brittany walk away and when she was more than halfway down the sidewalk, Brittany turned back and shouted.

"I'M SORRY I FLIPPED YOU OFF!"

Before Santana could figure Brittany was talking about yesterday and the incident with the camera, she was gone. Santana laughed again. Yeah, Brittany would be her first friend in Las Vegas.

-tbc-