Santana woke up on the floor, feeling like there were rocks waging war against each other in her head, with her face pressed into a cold, stone floor. She let out a loud groan and wiped at her face with her hand, crying out in pain as her middle finger came into contact with it. She pushed herself up slowly with her other hand, bleary eyes trying to focus on her surroundings and work out what was going on.
"Lopez." A voice croaked from somewhere behind her. "What the hell happened?"
Gritting her teeth against the pain reverberating throughout her body she turned around slowly. She was in a small cell, brick wall at the back and thick black bars on the other three sides. In an identical cell to her own, joined by the left bank of bars, sat a dazed looking Puck.
"Well, let's see." Santana began slowly, assessing the damage to her body. "You were born, then twenty years later you dragged me into a booby trapped tunnel where you were electrocuted and knocked unconscious, one of our friends burned alive in a pool of stagnant water and I was beaten to a bloody pulp by seven of Sue's henchmen."
She ran her good hand over her swollen lip and was unsurprised when her fingers came back bloody. She could barely see through her left eye and her ribs hurt like hell every time she took a breath. Her legs were bruised but nothing seemed to be broken so all in all, things could be worse.
"Shit." Puck muttered.
"Yeah." She barked out a laugh.
"Jesse?"
Santana looked up at him. The stench of Jesse's body still clung to her and the memory of dragging him out of the water shot back into her head, making her stomach turn. "Yeah." She replied quietly.
"Shit."
"Yeah."
They sat in silence for a few moments, each battling their own demons, before Puck jumped up with a growl and started throwing himself at the door, at the bars, punching at the walls, howling out his rage and frustration as he whirled around the cell. Santana stood up slowly and looked around her cell for anything of use. Finding it to be just as empty as it appeared at first glance she sat down carefully at the rear of the cell, her back against the wall, and waited for Puck to calm down.
"Feel better?" She asked as he finally came to a stop.
"No." He panted. "Plus, I think I broke my fucking hand."
"Good." She spat. "Sit down."
Puck sighed heavily and walked over to sit beside her on the opposite side of the bars.
"Santana, I…"
"Don't." She interrupted. "Just..don't, alright? It's done, and I get it. We just need to figure out what to do now."
Puck looked around as if thorough investigation of the dank, dark space they were currently imprisoned in would somehow offer up a hidden doorway to freedom. Santana rolled her eyes and looked over at him.
"Find the answer, Sherlock?" She scoffed.
"No." He shot back. "Can't you just pick the lock or something?"
"Sure." She shrugged. "I'll just ask Rachel to bring me a few lockpicks hidden in a cake during the next visiting hours."
He laughed slightly. "Get her to bring me a grape slushie too, would you?"
"Genius." She laughed back. "I bet they'd never see that coming."
"Damn right. When they come for us you toss a slushie in their face and I'll kick em in the nuts. We steal their guns and shoot our way out of here, Matrix style."
"A solid plan, Puckerman. It's right up there with 'hit them with a frying pan' and 'duck and cover'."
He looked over at her and the two of them started to laugh uncontrollably, only stopping when the pain in Santana's ribs became too much to bear. As the laughter died away she glanced up at him and saw him looking back sadly.
"I'm really sorry I got you into this, San." He said softly.
"We each got ourselves into this, Puck." She replied, sliding over to the bars and taking his hand with a sigh. "We've both been acting like total assholes for too long to not have this be the outcome. And I gotta say, for my whole life, whenever I pictured myself in a prison cell you were always right there with me."
He laughed again and wiped away a tear with the back of his hand. "You know, you have a point there."
"Just promise me," Santana said quietly after a few moments. "When they come for me, if you get your chance you'll take it and get the hell out of here."
"Fuck no, Lopez," He answered angrily. "I'm not fucking leaving you here."
"Well I'm not saying just leave me if we both have a chance, you halfwit!" She said, punching him lightly on the arm. "I'm saying if there's a distraction after I'm gone you get the hell out. Then, obviously, you get your ass back here with the cavalry and help me take that bitch out."
"Santana…"
"Promise me, Puck. Don't do anything stupid. Anything else, at least."
He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the sound of the door clanking open as four enormous looking men with various bits of weaponry came sauntering in.
"Quick, hand me the slushie." Santana muttered.
"They're all out of grape. Guess we go to plan b." Puck muttered back as they both got to their feet.
"I don't think we finalised plan b."
"Dazzle them with our charm?"
Santana shot him a look of disdain and gripped his hand a little tighter.
The four guards walked across the room, right past Santana's door and stopped in front of Puck's.
"Contestant number two, glad you're finally awake." A guy with an enormous beard and questionable oral hygiene said cheerfully as he unlocked the door. "Time for your close up."
"Wait, why are you taking him?" Santana said quickly. "I'm the one she wants."
"Wait your turn, darling." A huge, sweaty guard chuckled, leering at her through the bars. "We'll be back for you. Just make yourself comfortable."
"Fuck you, Jabba." She spat back, anger and fear fighting for position in her brain.
"Sounds like an offer, huh boys?" He drawled, never taking her eyes off her. The other three laughed dirtily as Beardy unlocked Puck's cage. "You know, the noises you were making as I was kicking the shit out of you earlier really got my motor revving. Been hoping for a little alone time with you. Lucky me they asked for him first, huh?"
"Yeah, why don't squeeze your fat ass in here and I'll show you just how lucky?" She snarled back, barely feeling Puck's grip tightening on her arm.
"Ooh, bitch got some teeth." He leered. "I like it."
"Santana!" Puck hissed at her as he pulled her towards him. "Looks like you're going to have to do the rescuing so don't let your mouth get you into this shit, alright?" He wrapped his other arm around her through the bars and kissed the top of her head.
"Alright, asshole, don't make me come in there and get you." Beardy said in a bored tone. "It won't end well for you."
"We're getting out of this Puck." Santana said to him with as much certainty as she could muster. "We're getting out of here and we're going to burn this place to the fucking ground." She hugged him tightly and then he pulled away.
"Fuck yeah." Puck nodded at her, clenching his jaw. "They won't get anything out of me. I'll see you later, alright?"
"I'll bring you a beer." She tried to smile as tears formed in her eyes. "Don't start without me."
"Then don't leave me hanging." He smirked as he walked out of the cell. Beardy shut the door behind him as Puck stood impassively, waiting for the others to cuff him. He shot Santana a cocky glance as the fat guy walked over and then smirked as he kicked him with all his strength straight in the nuts. The guy let out a shrill grunt and dropped to the floor but Puck's victory was short lived as one of the other guards clocked him over the back of the head with a baton. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head as a volley of kicks was sent into his ribcage. Santana yelled out and ran over to the bars, banging at them uselessly with her battered hands as Puck curled into a ball and waited it out, letting out a hollow laugh as they finally stopped.
"I don't think you need to worry about that fat fuck any time soon, Lopez." He groaned out.
"So much for not doing anything stupid." She smiled at him, wiping her tears away as she dropped down level with him. "Asshole."
"You know it."
He grinned back at her as the fat guy got to his feet and kicked him in the face. Santana slammed her eyes shut and slid away from the bars. She took a deep breath and stood up, turning her glare on the fat guard as the other three picked up her now unconscious friend and carried him out, his head lolling at a disturbing angle.
"Hey, fat ass!" She yelled at the guard's retreating form. He turned back to her with a bored, slightly pained look. "I swear to God I am going to kill you for that."
He snickered at her and shuffled off.
"Why don't ask the last person I said that to if she thinks it's funny?" She hissed after him as she gripped the bars, knuckles turning white.
He stopped and glanced back at her. Santana held his gaze and let her arms drop to casually rest on the bars. The smile dropped from his lips and he turned to follow his friends out the door, a little quicker than before.
Santana dropped her head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. Her arms wrapped around her knees and pulled them tight into her chest but it didn't do anything to stop her shivering. Puck had been gone for what seemed like hours but in reality she had no idea how long it had been. She didn't even know how long she had been unconscious when they first brought her in. She felt helpless and stupid and scared.
Slowly but surely she could feel the panic setting in and although she was doing everything in her power to fight it she knew it wouldn't be long before it took over completely. She would give anything to even have the remotest idea of how to get out of this, she would sell her soul and anything else to anything or anyone that could offer her a clue because right now she was pretty sure she was going to die.
She wasn't afraid to die, not really. Sure, she was afraid of what would happen to her in the build up as she was fairly certain that it wasn't going to be quick and painless, but it was more the thought of what would happen to everyone else that was getting to her. The thought of not being able to finish what she had started and finally put an end to Sue Sylvester was terrible, but it was nothing compared to the fact that Rachel would be left to deal with that. The thought of her finding out that she was dead was almost too much to take. First her fathers, then Finn and Kurt, now Jesse and…
Where was Puck? Why hadn't they brought him back? How long had it been anyway? Her heart began to clench violently in her chest and she jumped up quickly, walking around the cell and shaking her hands out in an effort to calm down. She couldn't afford to think like this. She needed a plan. She needed to be ready.
Assuming Rachel and Cara had made it out, which of course they had, they had to have, they would have returned to Shelby and gathered reinforcements. They would be on their way here right now and they would get her out, they would get Puck and find Sue. This would all be over soon. They would win. They had to win. They were the good guys, right? They would find a way and all this would be over soon. She and Rachel would ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after in Mexico with her father, Puck, Cara, and all the rest of those idiots she couldn't wait to see again.
That she would never see again.
She stopped her pacing and sank down onto the floor. She couldn't believe this was it. All of the shit she had fought her way through just to die at Sue's hand after all. Why couldn't she just have stayed in Mexico and been happy? And when Rachel found out…
The sound of the door opening stopped her from losing it completely and she jumped to her feet, her position immediately defensive as she prepared for the return of the fat, sweaty guard. Instead the door clanged shut again and Karofsky approached her cell quickly, a finger raised to his lips.
"Where's Puck? What did they do to him?" She asked, rushing over to the door.
"Ssh! You need to stay quiet, they're coming for you and there's nothing I can do." Karofsky whispered, gesturing at her to stay silent. "You have to act like you don't know me."
"And why the fuck would I do anything to save your sorry ass?" She spat with a glare.
"Because," He whispered again, glancing nervously behind him. "I'm the contact so shut the fuck up and don't cause trouble."
Santana stood there gawping at him in disbelief, unable to utter another word if she had wanted to.
Karofsky backed away from the cell and leaned against the wall as the door clanged open again and two more guards walked in.
"Bout time you showed up." He said to them in a bored tone. "You know she'll be pissed if we make her wait."
"Whatever." A weasley looking guard with greasy hair answered. "Like it needs three of us to look after one little girl, especially after the beating she took."
"Yeah, well," Karofsky said over the other two laughing. "She took that beating and she's still standing. You took sick leave when you stubbed your toe so don't get cocky."
"Hey, I broke my toe, asshole." Weasel yelled at him as he moved to open the door.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with." He said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "Arms up."
Santana walked over to the now open door and held her arms out to be cuffed. Everything in her was screaming at her to try and fight her way out but just as suddenly all she could think about was Rachel. Rachel telling her not to do anything stupid, that she was injured, that even if she got past these three there would be more waiting for her. Rachel telling her to trust Karofsky.
And she did trust him, weirdly enough. She had trusted him before and he had not let her down. And really what option did she have?
As he put the cuffs on they exchanged a look, once again putting their faith in each other, only with much higher stakes this time. This was no longer about high school and reputations. They were playing for their lives this time.