The sound of cutlery fills the silence and Santana stares at her plate, it had been awhile since she'd had her mother's home-cooked meals. Then again she hadn't seen or heard from her parents since she'd joined Charlie in exile to the hell dimension and she wasn't sure what she had expected from them, but being happy that she was alive was probably a decent place to start. "Her Imperial Majesty, sends her greetings," she says after a moment still looking at her food. At least it was delicious, it had been her favorite meal as a child.
"You don't need to pretend," Miguel said, taking a bite of his food, and chewing quietly.
"Pretend? I am the head of Her Imperial Majesty's Fury's. I am the head of her security and I spent her exile fighting by her side, I am allowed to call her by her name in private, and she considers me her right hand." Santana said, listing off her accomplishments. "We have a working relationship and when I asked for a vacation and told her I was going to visit you she said to give you her regards."
Maribel glanced at her daughter, not believing a word of this. "Next you'll tell us you're instrumental in her Empress usurping the throne."
Santana sank down in her chair, she wasn't sure why they never believed her. But they had been disappointed that she hadn't made it into Frannie or Quinn's guard. "No Charlie—" when her parents stop and stare at her she clears her throat, "Her Imperial Majesty, dealt with her family members, but I helped clear the former Empress's Honor Guard."
"So you committed treason?" Miguel questioned, slightly aghast.
"It's only considered treason if her majesty lost, and she did not. Her Imperial Majesty was sent to the Hell Dimension. She chose to view the Hell Dimension as an extreme training camp, every one of the Fury's that went with her and survived, are far stronger and far better with their abilities. That includes myself. Still, I couldn't hold a candle to her power."
"Of course not mija, there are those with power and there are those without power in the world. We had hoped that you would join the previous Empress's Honor Guard, we were so excited when you were chosen to train under Granny Goodness. We bragged about you to all our friends, but instead of going into the Honor Guard, you were given to the current Empress by the former one instead. Even if you hadn't made the Honor Guard, there was still a place for you. But you were given to the Princess with no power, and a reputation of excessive behavior, and excessive violence. She was called the Mad Dog. She was exiled and instead of thinking of your future and abandoning her and joining with another member of that family, you went with her. Exiled, we couldn't show our faces for the longest time."
"You weren't given to her as a member of her guard, you weren't assigned like everyone else the Empress took a personal interest in you. And I was there when you were given there, I saw how the princess was looking at you. Santana, even if you managed to get close to her Majesty—none of it matters. Our family has neither a name or a presence, we are not rich, and we are not part of politics. We pinned our hopes on you elevating this family, but if you think that she will name you as her Queen, that you will be anything other than the help—then you have been lying to yourself."
Santana swallowed, Charlie did need her, she had said as much it was why she hadn't been given a longer time off, "I am not her whore," Santana said immediately and defensively. "And I'm aware of my place."
"Are you?" Maribel questions.
Before Santana can answer her father jumps in hoping to head off an argument, "So where do you plan to go for your vacation?"
"I've got a plane ticket to California, I've got a month booked at a Hot Springs," Santana replies after a moment, it was as much information that she planned to give her parents. She really didn't want to admit that she was going to try and find a new partner. If Kara could date Lena, then perhaps finding someone in the lifestyle would be her best choice.
"Oh perhaps your father and I could—"
"Mami, I want a vacation away from all responsibilities and any mention of my job," Santana interrupted immediately. She couldn't bring her parents to a sex club. She hoped that by meeting people, she'd finally scratch the itch that she'd had since the last time she'd had sex with Charlie. Every smile, every touch that Charlie did, brought her back to that night. She needed to clear her things of all things Charlie, and then she could go back to work and make sure that she kept her job for a long time.
~ O ~
It was exactly 72 hours after Santana had gone on vacation before things went to shit. It was the only way that Tina could describe it. It wasn't as if there was a switch, but she had watched Charlie growing more and more agitated as the seconds ticked into minutes and minutes turned into hours. Her frustration born from the boredom that she hadn't managed to alleviate.
72 hours, fourteen minutes and 23 seconds, before Charlie had pulled out a bottle of blood wine and poured herself a glass. It had gone to hell after that, it wasn't as if Charlie had immediately gotten black out drunk, she had managed to keep herself buzzed for days, which had caused her behavior to devolve. Sure her work was getting done, but she had yet to plan a course of action on what to do about Wakanda and the other traitors. At least she hadn't informed Dani of her plan. "Has Santana responded to either one of your attempts to reach her?" Tina questioned. "I mean I already know what she'll say, take her Blood Wine away."
"I did!" Dani responds, defensively. "She just opened a portal and stared at me as she poured another glass. Kara, she needs to sober up can't you—"
"Why the fuck would I take her wine away? She's been fun!" Kara said with a laugh. "Not to mention she's super easy to guard if she doesn't go anywhere, and just makes her way through her concubines."
"She made her way through her concubines yesterday, that's when she started playing the piano," Tina said, frowning slightly. Santana would never allow it to get to this point. She knew what everyone whispered about Santana, but no one managed Charlie better than Santana. "Have either of you reached out to Santana yet?"
"I can handle this." Dani insisted. She'd waited for years to get a chance, and she wasn't about to blow this. "If Santana can do this then any of us can do this."
Tina frowned, her entire plan to get through this would be to ask herself what Santana would do, and try and make it work despite the fact that Santana wasn't here. Throwing out Santana's playbook when it came to dealing with the many moods of the new Empress was something only an idiot would do. Which was why she was surprised that Santana had left both Kara and Dani in charge of the asylum. Kara at least knew how to tell Charlie off, but Dani didn't have that relationship with Charlie and couldn't tell her off. "You know what, Santana dumped a bunch of work that I need to get done before she gets back. You really should find a way to separate her from the blood wine, it's only going to get worse, and you really do not want her to get blackout drunk."
Dani groans as Tina disappears and she glances at Kara who looks utterly amused. "Can you please do something about the Blood Wine? If she just gives me a chance to prove to her that I can do this—" Dani grumbles.
Kara rolled her eyes, "If you want her to respect you Dani, you need to figure out what she needs before she even says it. Look I don't particularly like or respect Santana either, but she is very good at knowing what Charlie needs and making sure she has it." Kara admits making a face. "Whatever, I'll try and get all of her blood wine, but you owe me."
"Be careful, she's got a few Cerberus's in her room, and they are territorial."
"I think I can handle a three-headed mutt," Kara scoffed.
~ O ~
Santana bit the inside of her cheek, as she gently lifted the arm that was placed over her waist, trying her hardest not to wake the occupants of the bed. She had quickly found that one Domme wasn't nearly enough so she had looked into couples, and still it hadn't been enough. She frowns at the bruises on her wrists and glances at the discarded ropes and gadgets, a look of disappointment crossing her face. Charlie didn't really need ropes, she certainly didn't need floggers, or any other usual tool that was meant to cause pain. She simply knew how much pain to give her, without leaving any marks or damage.
It wasn't just that they had needed to use tools that she had found disappointing. They had been too kind, and had treated her like she would break apart with a gentle breeze. She had needed to fake an orgasm, which only left her feeling more desperate. She glances around and finds her clothes folded neatly on the couch, and quickly begins to get dressed, before slipping out of the room.
This wasn't working, she'd been with several people already, auditioning them and she couldn't help but compare them to Charlie. This couldn't be her life, auditioning Dommes and Dom's because she needed at least second best, someone who could scratch the itch that she craved. Crawling back to Charlie would be a disaster, she doubted very much that Charlie would take her little experiment well. There was a high chance that it would end in disaster. Not that she personally gave a shit, if they weren't able to do the bare minimum which was to get them off, they were useless.
She makes her way back to the room and flops onto her bed, and grunts. This vacation was turning out to be a bust, and she was tempted to simply pack her shit and head back. But she could already see Charlie grinning at her and stating the obvious that she couldn't live without her. It was dramatic and foolish and she wasn't some dumb love-struck teenager. "Why is this so fucking difficult," she mutters. Charlie wasn't some savant in fucking bed.
Charlie was a fucking selfish asshole most of the time. She was unrelenting, when she wanted a certain response, and she was wonderfully cruel. Santana shudders and bites her lip feeling the wetness begin to form between her thighs. She closes her eyes for a moment before sliding her hands down so she could touch herself.
It doesn't take much to picture Charlie's sharp eyes focused on her, whispering rather humiliating words of encouragement to her, urging her to go faster, before leaving her on the edge of a dangerous precipice. Charlie wouldn't even help her get off, she'd urge her to go faster, and she moves her hands imaging Charlie's voice, picturing Charlie growing frustrated and grabbing her and doing it herself, at a blistering pace.
"Fuck," She groans the sound of her wetness filling the room as she gets closer and closer, but just before she gets there her orgasm fizzles out and she lets out a frustrated groan as tears fill her eyes. It wasn't fair, her body knew what it was craving, and it felt like Charlie was still controlling her orgasms even though she was thousands of miles away.
"Fuck—god fucking—" There's a knock on her door and closes her eyes and counts backwards from three before she rolls off her bed and checks the peephole and groans even louder as she opens the door. "Do the Wakandans just get off by following me around and hoping to figure out what Charlie's grand plan is? I'm on vacation Okoye, why are you here? I'm not in the mood to kill anyone at this moment."
"This is sad even for you. Her Majesty has yet to announce her plans for her tour, and she has missed three Assembly meetings. There are rumors of— disorganization in the Imperial Household, to find her head of security and right hand at a swingers hotel—I'm guessing that there is trouble in Paradise?"
Santana's hair explodes into flames, causing Okoye to shift her hand on her spear, "I really fucking hate repeating myself, what the fuck do you want?"
"The General Assembly meeting is to start discussing the prospect of an heir, in other words it is to discuss who will be Queen. The nominations have started, but of course we both know that she's going to reject all of those. It is the Queen Mother's—suggestion, that we nominate you."
Santana stared at Okoye for a moment before she snorted derisively, "If the Queen Mother wishes for her son to survive this mess, she needs to tell him to go and beg for forgiveness. We are aware of your clandestine meetings with the Amazons and the Atlanteans. In other words her Imperial Majesty knows, the fact that she hasn't done anything yet just means that she's giving you a chance to repent, you saw what she did to Namor. The Queen Mother is wise, and more importantly her Majesty respects her. If you do not wish for her majesty to unleash her Fury's upon Wakanda—and I assure you that we will win, then tell T'Challa to retire or step down."
"We both want the same things—"
"I want whatever her majesty wants. Peace just means less paperwork. The only thing holding her back from ordering the attack is she doesn't want to appear racist. Her Majesty cares about how she's perceived, but I assure you that won't last long."
"You know as well as I do that it isn't just T'Challa who believes that she produce an heir—"
"Her Imperial Majesty isn't fond of children, which is fine because children aren't fond of her. She doesn't want children and she's stated numerous times that she doesn't particularly want a Queen. That said, her majesty could change her mind—but nothing I say will make her change her mind on the topic."
"The Amazons have selected Yara Flor, she has been seen quite frequently—" Okoye pauses when she can feel the heat in her spear. That shouldn't be possible, but she grips it despite the sizzle as her flesh burns.
"You've used up your time for today Okoye, try again tomorrow," Satnana scowled.
"Will I find you in this room or in the room of one of these—degenerates?" Okoye, smirks as Santana slams the door in her face, which allows her to let go of her spear, looking at the damage that was done. They would need to rethink their strategy, Santana had barely done anything and she was already on the backfoot.
~ O ~
"You're only here as backup Illyana." Dani said with a frown. "I haven't managed to contact Tina, and it's been nearly three weeks, she still hasn't given me any information on her tour. I have calls from a million people looking for the details of her itinerary. Decisions need to be made, and people have been questioning me as to when Santana will return."
"Do you think she's going to respond well to barging into her room?"
"Santana does it all the time." Dani scowls as she feels Illyana's stare, "I'm aware. But we need to do something, I'm losing control of the Fury's." Santana would never allow for sloppiness, and even if she wasn't exactly the most popular of leaders given how most Fury's believed she earned her position. But they followed her if only because of who she was sleeping with. But without Santana and Kara to help keep order, she was quickly overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of what Santana did to keep order.
"Well, so you know when this goes tits up, I'm throwing you under the bus." Illyana informs her, right as Dani barges into the Empress's quarters. She follows and stops when she spots Kara's naked ass and it takes her a split second to realize what she walked in. She doesn't even stop and stare, instead, immediately abandoning the sinking ship. If Dani wanted to deal with this nonsense then she was on her own.
"Your Majesty!" Dani squeaks immediately turning around her cheeks a bright red as she attempts to give Charlie the semblance of privacy. "I didn't mean to intrude."
Charlie exhales a puff of smoke from the cigar that was now gently bouncing between her thumb and forefinger, "Kara has super hearing, and I knew when you stepped off the elevator. I know you intended to intrude. You shouldn't lie to me Dani, it annoys me." Charlie adjusts her robe slightly and lets out a low groan as she glances down at Lena Luthor who was currently licking her created shaft. She had given Kara one in return for sharing her girlfriend, and Kara had resworn her allegiance the moment she had buried her dick into Lena's very tight cunt. "What do you want?"
"Y-your Majesty—" Dani stutters.
"Holy fuck, you're ruining the moment." Kara says as her hips come to a stop and she turns to look at Dani.
"You can't smell the arousal from here?" Charlie questioned, blowing out another puff of smoke. "I think she wants to be in Lena's place."
Kara sniffed the air, "Holy shit you're right."
Dani clenched her palm, her cheeks burning a bright red. "I—"
"I consider it a breach of etiquette to have your back turned to me while you speak Dani."
Dani swallows in humiliation, but turns around and struggles to find a place to look, finally deciding on the painting on the mantle. "Your Imperial Majesty—" she begins again. "I—"
"You really are ruining the mood Dani," Lena huffs, before blinking and looking up as Charlie snorts. "Your Imperial Majesty."
"I like her." Charlie announces.
Kara hesitates for a moment, that could mean a hundred things when it came to Charlie especially when she was in a mood.
"Oh relax Kara, I approve of your union."
"You do?" Kara grinned.
Charlie takes a sip of wine and another puff of her cigar, "I can see why you hesitated in sharing her with me. But she is yours, so long as we can still enjoy these times together."
"As long as you keep providing this thing," Kara said, pulling out and pointing to her dick.
"Of course." Charlie said before turning her attention back to Dani. "Dani, Kara and Lena were politely telling you to get the fuck out and leave us alone. And since we're civilized beings, I am the standard bearer for etiquette. Get the fuck out, and wait outside till we're done and then you can prattle on about how the Assembly is upset that I'm making them wait." Charlie lets out a groan as her dick is enveloped by Lena's mouth as she goes back to worshiping it. "They answer to me, on my whims. I care not for their time, they will wait until my head of security is back. I have too many enemies and you are simply not up to the task." Charlie tilts her head back and just lets out a low groan. Santana would have simply said what she needed to and ignored any jibe that she could throw at her.
Dani turns, humiliated and leaves, closing the doors behind her. She spots Illyana waiting for her down the hall and meets her gaze.
"I told you so." Illyana points out with a shake of her head. They needed to get Santana back as soon as possible.
~ O ~
"Thank you," Santana said as she was handed the ridiculously expensive and sweet cocktail that she had ordered. She takes a sip and leans back just trying to enjoy the sun.
"We have a problem."
She jumps, spilling half of her cocktail on the ground. "For fucks sake Tina, what have I said about surprising me? This was 65 credits."
For the first time Tina doesn't apologize, "Do you know how long it took me to find you? We have more pressing concerns than your grossly overpriced drink. You need to come back."
"I have three more weeks of vacation, Dani wanted this responsibility and I assume that her Imperial Majesty is making it impossible for Dani to do anything."
"Santana, it took three days before she remembered that she could get Blood Wine from the Hell Dimension, she then proceeded to go through her harem as if it were nothing, I slipped in the mess."
"I'm sorry but I have three more weeks, and I'm not going to allow her Imperial Highness to throw a tantrum whenever I take a vacation, just to force me to rush back and fix things."
"I slipped on bodily fluids."
Santana bites her lip but she can't help the snort that escapes, "I'm sorry that happened to you Tina, but the answer is still no. I have to deal with her moods all the time, all the time."
"But you like dealing with her moods."
"No, I just learned how to deal with her moods. When she likes being an agent of chaos, the best thing to do is ignore her, until she gets bored. Dani is letting this get under her skin and she's noticing and choosing to continue because it fucks with her. Kara knows this, and should have mentioned it to Dani."
"I dipped after Dani had the bright idea to get Kara to stop Charlie from drinking blood wine. And if Kara is—goofing off with her majesty with her permission, Dani has probably lost respect of the other Fury's. I'd say that we're about a week out from people starting to fight and cliques forming, as the more ambitious members start to vie for control and they hope to gain her favor and attention."
"Well considering how Dani got her position, it would be sweet karma for her to get killed by some young upstart. I mean if she wants to know why she isn't favored or forgiven like Kara and Illyana, it's because she cheated and lied. None of this is exactly an unforgivable sin for her Majesty, fights aren't fair, they aren't honorable and all that matters is that you win, but she was fond of Shannon. If Dani had simply waited for her to retire, she wouldn't be in this predicament. She didn't have her Majesty's blessing for the challenge either. Her ambition got the better of her, and it showed her Majesty that Dani will put Dani first no matter who she has to fuck over. That would include her Majesty."
Tina blinked, that made sense she had still been young but she had attended the funeral. It had been her first interaction with Charlie. "Santana, this isn't going to end well and Dani's probably getting tired of being her Majesty's whipping post. You know how she gets."
"Dani lashing out isn't something that I'm worried about."
"You should be, it took some time but I did find you Santana, if she figures out where you are, and runs off to tell her Majesty?" Tina questions. "I am loyal to her Majesty because her Majesty scares me more than you do."
"I'd never hold it against you. Besides, I gave up on that. I've decided that I'm going to just stop trying so hard, and drink and go to the spa, and actually attempt to relax without the anxiety eating at me, because I have to worry about every little thing. You should head back, her Majesty is going to notice you missing even if she is currently on a binge."
"Just be careful, because if you think this won't earn her Majesty's wrath," Tina lets out a low whistle as she disappears. "She'll be on a warpath."
Santana shuddered, she didn't doubt that. But she wasn't Charlie's whore, she was her head of security and this was her vacation. She was allowed to do whatever she wanted, it wasn't as if Charlie wasn't attempting to sleep with her replacement.
~ O ~
Dani bit her lip as she entered Charlie's office after knocking and hearing Charlie actually invite her inside, at least this time she was fully clothed and looked relatively sober and alert. Plus Kara had finally gone back to doing her duties which hopefully meant that the Empress was finally settling down and willing to do the work that she hadn't done in weeks. "Your Majesty."
"Are you here for a reason?" Charlie questions without looking up as she skims a document and then affixes her signature to it, putting in the ever growing pile of things that she had completed.
Dani hesitates for a moment before nodding, "Yes, it's about Santana. I doubt it's anything, but given your orders we have been keeping an eye on the Wakandans and the movement of some of their people. General Okoye has approached Santana. They've had a few discussions, each of them seemed heated."
"Well, the general was interrupting Santana's vacation. Perhaps that is enough for Santana to agree with my plans for taking Wakanda," Charlie muses. She flicks her gaze to the folder that Dani has in her hand. "You took photos?"
"It's basic surveillance, I brought them here so you have everything you need, I only took a look at the first few pictures."
"Well put them in the pile," Charlie said pointing to the documents she still had to review. Once Dani does just that she glances at her, "Anything else? I have a sneaking suspicion that Santana will blame me and not you for the lack of work done."
"Whatever your reason for getting it done, I'm grateful." Dani admits honestly as she places the folder onto the top of the pile. "I'll take my leave."
Charlie grunted and as Dani turned to exit, "No matter your ambition, that position will never be yours even if you are the best candidate for the role. It's not personal, you aren't the right fit Dani. However if you seek a more prominent role, perhaps one can be found for you."
Dani bit her lip, "What does she have that I do not?"
"She followed me to the ends of the Earth and back. Kara is my oldest friend, I merely trust them more than I trust anyone else, because they have proven their loyalty over and over again. I'm not against ambition, I'd be a hypocrite if I was, but I cannot trust someone that would put their own ambition above my needs and wants, and you have constantly. Illyana lacks your ambition, but her indifference means my faith in her is limited. This role is Santana's because she's the only one who can do it effectively."
"I hope that one day I can earn the same trust that you have in them," Dani says after a moment glancing back at the Empress who meets her gaze.
"Maybe one day," Charlie responds, it's the last thing she says effectively dismissing Dani as she goes back to doing the immense paperwork. Santana wouldn't have much time to come back and get reacclimated to her role, they would need to hit the ground running.
Charlie continues to work for a while before she grows bored and glances at the folder and lifts the cover, spotting that Santana was in a bikini and a grin crosses her face as she grabs the folder. She had never seen Santana in a bikini before and she was bored, so leering at her and then figuring out a way to get her in an even skimpier bikini immediately crosses her mind as she flicks through the pictures. Something that was barely—Charlie stops on one photo and she yanks it out of the group and stares at it for a moment.
The picture suddenly erupts into flames and she tosses it into the nearby trashcan and watches as it burns up, before spreading out the rest of the folder onto her desk, clearing it with a sweep of her hand. There near the end of the photos, is Santana practically naked in some man's lap, with some woman pawing at her. The lights in her office go dangerously bright, before Charlie inhales and takes a seat back down. "Kara."
Her voice is barely above a whisper, but it has a chilling effect and Tina can't help but shudder, she could hear the barely contained rage. There would be no protecting Santana now. The movement seems to attract Charlie's attention and she flinches when the Empress turns to her.
"Tina."
Tina appears just as Kara arrives, and she immediately drops to her knees, Charlie wasn't an idiot and while for the most part she was ignored, Charlie was always aware of where she was whenever she was in the room. "Your Majesty."
"Where was this taken?" Charlie questions tossing a photo at Tina as Kara glances down at the pictures.
"California, at a sex resort."
"A what?"
Kara snorted before immediately glancing away when Charlie slowly turned to her, she immediately held up her hands. "If I had known this was her plan I would have ratted her out to you in a heartbeat."
"It's a sex resort, swinging, sex clubs, live sex shows—" Tina trails off, she could feel Charlie's piercing's eyes on her. She was going to die.
"And you weren't going to mention this?"
Tina bit her lip , "No, I wasn't unless you asked a direct question. It isn't any of your business what Santana does in her spare time."
Charlie's response is swift, but Kara is a step ahead and grabs Charlie's wrist before she can execute Tina for the smartass response. "Charlie, Santana has never been an official concubine, whether or not you view her as one is irrelevant. She doesn't have the title of concubine, and she's not your girlfriend either. As much as you may not want to hear it, and as angry as this—degeneracy makes you. What the head of your security does on her vacation is not any of your business." Kara said firmly. "Besides, Tina is your best assassin, and if you're curious about her loyalties then test them."
Charlie yanks her hand free, her eyes glowing as she looks at Tina. "Fine, return to this sex resort, if she brings another person back to her room be it male or female, you are to inform me immediately."
"Yes, your Majesty," Tina said immediately. Well she had attempted to protect Santana and that backfired. She immediately withdraws, before Charlie can change her mind. She would need to buy Kara a drink later.
Charlie watches Tina leave before sitting back in her chair and turning her attention to Kara. "Go and take your most trusted Furies and go and monitor her, if she hesitates you kill her."
"Of course, but what are you going to do about Santana?" When Charlie looks at her, she realizes that she's entering dangerous waters. "Not my business. I'll grab a few Furies and keep an eye on them."
"You do that Patchy," Charlie responds as she inhales, trying to control the storm that she kept contained. "Kara if you betray me—"
"I know, you'll take my other eye after making me watch Lena die a horrible death, your threats are getting tired and old, you really should come up with something that I'll believe that you do," Kara retorts, waving Charlie off.
Charlie doesn't respond, instead she merely waits until she's sure that Kara is out of earshot before she lets out a frustrated shout and flips the table, sending hundreds of documents scattering. She grabs one of the pictures and lets it burn in her hands.