"Santana…" Rachel put her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder and gently pulled her away.
She could feel the rage surging through her but it didn't stop the shock she felt when Santana cracked her former friend's skull off the wall. She could feel the force of it reverberating up her arm and into her own hand and pulled away quickly.
"If she speaks again, kill her." Rachel heard her say but she barely recognised her voice. She had never heard her sound so…
Santana span on her heel and marched back over to the door leaving Rachel with no choice but to follow her. She spared once last glance at the redhead on the floor before exchanging a concerned look with Mercedes and taking her position behind her girlfriend. Blaine pushed the door open and in they went, the doors swinging shut behind them.
The room was in total darkness and for a few moments they stayed where they were, shallow breaths reverberating through the black. Rachel felt a wave of fear wash over her as she prayed for her eyes to adjust. There was a bad feeling in this space, like something awful had happened, or was about to happen, and all she wanted to do was grab Santana and run away, far away, where no one would find them and they could just live and be happy. The feeling was so intense that she had to take a breath to calm her nerves and try and force it down. She sensed movement in front of her and felt Santana's hand brush against hers before grabbing hold of it properly and squeezing gently.
Suddenly a dull spotlight flicked on and illuminated the stage.
"Puck," Santana breathed, letting go of her hand and starting slowly towards him.
"Santana, wait!" Rachel hissed, reaching out to stop her. This was so obviously a trap, they couldn't just walk into it. Puck was centre stage at the front to the room, arms tied by a rope to the lighting rig above him. His head hung down and though the light was only on his head it was obvious he had been stripped.
Santana moved back towards her and cupped her face, kissing her gently. "We have to finish this, Rachel." She smiled, her eyes shrouded in sadness. "Whatever happens next, we have to finish it." She kissed her again and pushed her hair carefully behind her ear, sweeping her thumb down her jawline softly on her return. "I love you."
And then she moved quickly down the stairs towards the stage, Blaine following with his gun raised as he searched the darkness for signs of life. Rachel quickly pulled herself together and followed suit, her heart racing with fear and adrenaline. Santana reached the stage and tucked her gun into her belt, pulling out the knife in it's place, before speaking gently to Puck and placing her hand on his side. Her stomach roiled as he lifted his head slowly to reveal his broken and bloody face.
"Santana," he slurred, the corner of his mouth attempting to raise in a smile. "'Bout time. You bring my beer?"
"Sorry, Puck, got a little tied up." Santana replied quietly, tears evident in her voice. "I'll buy you one when we get out of here, okay?"
As she moved to the side to cut through his restraints Rachel clapped her hand over her mouth and choked back the cry of anguish that was threatening to spill out. She was close enough now to see that Puck was indeed naked and the dark pool gathered beneath him was blood running freely down his legs from the gaping void at the top of them. She turned away quickly as a wave of bile started up her throat and her eyes widened in alarm as a fist shot out of the darkness and connected with her face.
"Rachel!" She heard Santana cry out as she dropped to her knees, her hands flying to her face as her gun clattered to the ground. A single shot was fired and something heavy fell into her, knocking her sideways and smacking her own hands into her already broken nose making her almost pass out.
"Any more of that and I will slit her throat!" A voice boomed from the stage. Rachel was yanked to her feet and dragged forwards before a large hand slammed the side of her face into a podium, making her stomach clench and her head spin. She forced herself to open her eyes and saw Russell Fabray holding Santana in front of him like a shield with a knife to her throat. He yanked down hard on her ponytail and twisted his face into a smile as he talked. "Your little friend isn't having a great night. Let's finish it for him, shall we?"
Rachel struggled to take in what was going on. It seemed as though Santana was pushed into Puck and then yanked back and there was an awful, wet splash and…
"No!" She yelled, desperately trying to push herself up and get free. She had to help him. She had to stop what was pouring out of him. This couldn't be real. This was impossible.
There was a loud crash from the back of the room and light spilled down the stairs. She twisted and turned to try and see what was going on, to escape, to do something, anything, but the hand held her down. There was a dull thud followed by a huff of pain and another guard stepped out from behind Puck, his gun pointed at the ground. He fired but then immediately took a step back, as though unsure of what to do. None of this was making sense, Rachel felt like her head was in a bubble that was floating away from her body and all she could do was watch.
"Please," She murmured.
"Find her." Fabray barked out, pulling Santana in front of himself again and smirking over her shoulder at Rachel. Santana's eyes were closed and her hands loose at her sides. She looked like she was sleeping. Her face was a mess of cuts and bruises, her white shirt was stained and torn, there wasn't a single part of her that Rachel could see that wasn't injured in some way, and yet she was the most perfect, beautiful thing that Rachel had ever laid eyes on. Bent over a podium, her head jammed against the hard, wooden surface, her nose painfully broken and blood running down her face and down her throat, choking her and making her gag, she looked at her girlfriend and felt herself relax. The monster leering at her from the shadows didn't scare her, just made her see that they were right. Whatever happened to them now they were right to come here. They were right to try and stop him.
"We have to finish this." She murmured.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" The monster singsonged, dragging the blade back and forth across Santana's throat. "Tell you what, I'll give you till the count of three to show yourselves before I start carving bits off my beloved daughter's dyke friend here. Sound good?"
Rachel kept her eyes on her girlfriend's face, her breathing slow and even. Santana's eyes stayed closed, her face expressionless, the only sign she was alive the gentle ticking of a pulse in her throat. She felt a calmness spread through her body and her hands loosened their grip on the podium.
"Well, I think it's obvious which bits I should start with, huh slut?" The monster spat in her ear. "One!" He called out across the room, lowering the knife and dragging it under her left breast before angling the tip up to press into it. "I knew from the second she brought you home what a cheap, tacky little tramp you were. I could see it in the way you looked at me, flaunted yourself in front of me. Two!"
Santana's eyes opened slowly, locking onto Rachel's with a look she knew all too well. Rachel let her body go limp, her breathing slow.
"Those skimpy outfits the two of you used to wear, as if I would ever degrade myself to touch the likes of you."
"No," Santana said calmly. "You just fucked your daughter instead."
As if they were connected Rachel and Santana moved at the same time, Santana's fist swinging to connect with Fabray's face and Rachel's body dropping and spinning, using her guard's own weight to flip him over her shoulder, just like Santana had taught her. She turned his gun towards his face just as it went off and whipped her head away as the spray hit her. The quiet of the room was shattered with gunfire and she blindly reached to pull the weapon from the dead man's hand and rolled over, springing up into a stance and training the gun on Fabray as he sank the knife into her girlfriend's stomach. She pulled the trigger with a roar as the blade slid home for a second time and watched in horror as the two of them fell to their knees.
Time slowed to a crawl as she moved across the stage. The air was thick and her legs got caught up in it. She watched as Santana's hands stayed suspended in mid air, waiting for her stomach to move into them, catching the blood as if to push it back in. As she closed the gap her legs gave out and she slid the final few feet on her knees, the gun dropped and forgotten as her arms wrapped around Santana's body.
"No, no, no, no, no!" She cried as she caught her, cradling her in her arms as she looked down at her. "Santana? Look at me, baby, please."
She pressed one hand over her girlfriend's, putting pressure on the wounds as she stroked her other hand gently across her face, pushing damp strands of hair off it as Santana did as she asked, the look of shock slowly giving way to recognition.
"Rachel," She said, her teeth gritted in pain. "Is he dead?"
She turned to look at the man lying next to her, so small and pathetic now. She knew the answer already. The hours of target practice Santana had made her do had paid off. A precise shot to the head, moments too late.
"He's dead. Don't worry about him." Rachel soothed, dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Just hold on, I'm going to get you out of here." She looked blindly around the room, the gunfire having stopped at some point but sounds of a fight still drifting in from the corridor. She saw Blaine run up the stairs towards the door, yank it open and pull quickly back inside as a bullet split the wood. A blonde head bobbed up the stairs behind him firing cover shots as he darted out into the corridor and holding the position after he left.
"Rachel," She snapped her eyes back to see Santana smiling up at her gently, her eyelids drooping heavily. "We did it, Rachel."
"Yes we did." She smiled back. "Now we can go home."
"Home." Santana repeated, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips as her eyes closed. She lifted a hand and squeezed Rachel's gently before letting out a small sigh.
"Santana?" Rachel dropped her other hand quickly to push down on the wounds, alarm spreading through her at reduced speed of the blood. "Open your eyes, baby, stay with me."
She sensed movement beside her and snapped her head up, relief washing over her as she saw Cara pulling off her shirt and wadding it up.
"Keep her talking, I'll go get help." The girl said, pulling her hands away to press the fabric roughly against Santana's stomach causing her to scrunch up her face in pain. "You hear that, bitch? That's right, I'm talking to your girl. Look at me." She slapped her face gently and smiled slightly as her eyes opened lazily. "What you gonna do, huh?"
"Fuck you, Harris." Santana slurred, swatting at her hand.
"You wish, Lopez." She smirked, grabbing Rachel's hands and pressing them down over her shirt. "I'll be right back."
"Rachel." Santana looked up at her in confusion. "She hit me?"
"She did." Rachel nodded down at her gravely. "You cannot let that stand."
"That bitch slapped me." She shifted uncomfortably in Rachel's arms and looked away sadly. "But I think I deserved it."
"Hey, no you didn't!" Rachel replied softly, trying to move her into a more comfortable position. "Why would you say that?"
"I told them to kill her." She muttered, her hand moving slowly to cover Rachel's. "I'm sorry I'm such a bitch."
"Stop that! You are not a bitch."
"Of course I am." Santana snorted, pushing herself into a coughing fit. As it subsided she lay back down and smiled up at her. "But you love it."
"I do." Rachel said sadly, wiping the blood away from her girlfriend's mouth as her eyes started to close again. "I love you."
"I know." She squeezed her hand again gently and closed her eyes.