"Come on, Britt. You can wake up anytime now." I mutter as I stroke up and down Brittany's arm. I'm sitting at the side of her bed, with Quinn sitting in a chair at the foot.

We arrived back at The Shadow League headquarters about half an hour ago, and Artie was quick to help us get Brittany into the medical ward. One of the staff changed her into a comfortable gown and let her rest in one of the rooms.

I've been sitting by her side since then, never taking my eyes off her. Her face looks so relaxed, but I know she's probably anything but. Brittany's usually a happy-go-lucky person, so to see how much stress this could cause almost breaks my heart.

The doctor hasn't been in to see her yet. He's on his way, though.

I'm concerned about the bruise on her neck and where it came from. There's no telling what Rory did to her.

"Santana, let her rest." I hear Quinn from across the room. "The doctor's on his way, so just try to stay calm until then."

Her tone isn't snarky or irritated like it's been most of the night. I think the weight of the situation's hit her, and she knows how much agony I'm in. As much as I appreciate her giving me space, though, I don't want her pity.

I brush a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and sigh. I want her to wake up so bad. But there's another part of me that's worried about what's going to happen when she does wake up. Will she be in pain?

My thoughts are cut off by the door to the room swinging open rather harshly.

"What the hell happened, Santana?" I hear Mike question, sounding flustered.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before standing to face him. I cross my arms over my chest and narrow my eyes.

"Rory took action, Mike. Something I told you we needed to be concerned about. But no, you didn't listen." I can feel my blood pressure rise with my anger. "And after doing some thinking, don't I recall you telling me a few months ago that we needed to be careful? What changed, huh?"

I want to take a step closer to intimidate him, but I don't dare leave Brittany's side.

"T-the threats went away, Santana. We stopped receiving news of demolition from across the world. We figured everything was safe to move on." He sounds apologetic; I'll give him that.

"But what about when I came to you a few weeks ago? When I first started getting suspicious?"

"There were no threats to back it up, nor were there any activity signals coming through." He shrugs.

"What about when we found Sebastian studying Brittany's building? Whatever happened to that notebook, by the way?" I challenge, having no intention of backing down.

"The notebook was just filled with different sketches of different prominent buildings around the city. We had no reason to think Sebastian had ulterior motives."

"Are you a fucking idiot?!" I yell. "Of course he had ulterior motives! There's not a thing that that dickbag does that doesn't have an ulterior motive, Mike!" I throw my arms out to the side. "You said he didn't have anything important going on with Blaine, but guess who we found at the compound? The gelhead himself! How ignorant do you have to be to ignore all this, Mike?"

He looks down at the ground in shame and rubs his foot back and forth on the floor.

It stays silent for a moment as I wait for a response. He eventually looks up with confusion written on his face and looks at me again.

"Wait, why were you in Rory's compound?" He questions.

I step to the side to let him get a full view of Brittany. "Rory decided it'd be a good idea to kidnap her, so I had to rescue her. Quinn and I snuck in to get her."

His eyes go wide, and he takes a small step forward. "Wait, he actually took her?" He looks back and forth between Britt and me in shock.

Why's he acting like he can't believe Rory went through with it? He took me and Quinn at one point, so it shouldn't come as this big of a shock.

"Yeah," I say, looking him up and down. "With no help from you. This could've all been avoided had you listened."

"I'm sorry, Santana. I really am. I know how much this probably worried you, and I never meant for any of this to happen or go this far-"

"Save it." I raise my hand up to interrupt him. "You can apologize to Britt once she's conscious, but I have nothing more to say to you."

He looks over to Quinn, silently asking for her help, but she just shrugs her shoulders at him.

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda, Mike. It sucks, but that's the way it is." Quinn says, even-toned.

He takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair.

"I take it you're waiting for the doctor?" He asks quietly. I nod my head. "Alright, well I'll leave you to it."

He turns to walk towards the door, stopping in his tracks once he has a hand on the handle. "I don't know how long you'll be, so I'll just tell Tina where you are so she doesn't get worried, okay?" He tries to reassure.

My eyes narrow in confusion. He told me Tina could never know…that no one could ever know. I look at Quinn and see that she has the same look on her face. She glances over at me and nods, telling me to go along with it.

"Okay, thanks." Is all I say before turning around to sit next to Brittany again.

Quinn and I sit silently for a while, going over our thoughts.

"Something's going on." She speaks suddenly with a nod. "There's no way Mike would say that."

"I mean, I thought it was odd, too, but do you think maybe he's just out of it or something?" I look at Quinn to see she's glaring at the door.

"No." She shakes her head. "No way. I've been here the whole time Mike has, and there's no way he'd say that. He values this place more than his own life. He's adamant about keeping it secret."

"But he brought Brittany on board, just like that. Couldn't he do the same with Tina?"

"He didn't want to tell Brittany, Santana. They were going to memory wipe her, but he decided not to for your sake."

I look back at the sleeping blonde and grab her hand. I'm glad that Mike decided to tell her. I don't know what I'd do if she had no memory of me…if I had to live the rest of my life without her.

"What do you think's going on, then?" I question after a few moments.

"I have no clue…but we're gonna get to the bottom of it." She nods determinedly.

/

I'm in the bathroom, running cold water over my face, when Quinn bangs on the door. I'd been awake for the better part of 24 hours now, and it was really starting to affect my energy level.

"Santana! She's awake!" I hear in between pounds. "She's asking for you."

Those words were all I needed to jolt back to life and sprint out of the bathroom. I push past Quinn, nearly knocking her back on her ass, and run down the hall.

I push open the door to her room rather abruptly, successfully getting Brittany's attention. She extends her arms towards me with tears in her eyes. I don't hesitate to move towards her bedside and wrap my arms around her.

"Britt," I choke into her hair, feeling fresh tears drip down my cheeks.

We stay wrapped tightly around each other for awhile, neither of us breaking the silence. I'm so happy she's awake and okay. I can't even think about what alternative could've happened.

"I'm sorry," I hear her whisper, breaking the emotional silence in the room. "I'm so sorry." Her voice cracks on the last word, shattering my heart.

"No, no, don't say that." I pull back and cup her cheeks, still holding her close. I swipe my thumbs across her cheeks to wipe away the tear tracks. "You don't have anything to apologize for."

She looks down and closes her eyes, allowing more tears to fall down pale cheeks. She shakes her head and fiddles with her hands in her lap. "Yes, I do. I was totally out of line, and then I just left when I knew that all you were trying to do was-"

I cut her off by raising her chin slightly and giving her a quick peck on the lips. It's soft and sweet, trying to show all the love and care I have for her.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Britt," I say, looking deep into her eyes. "I was controlling and not putting any trust in you - so I should be the one to apologize."

"But you were right, though." She says quietly. "I didn't listen, left, and look where that got us…" She trails off, saying the last part almost inaudibly.

"It doesn't matter. We're here now, and everything's fine…that's all that matters." I brush a strand of hair behind her ear and stroke my thumb across her jaw.

She nods but still doesn't look like she completely believes me. "I love you," She says, leaning her forehead against mine.

"I love you too, Britt." I lean in and kiss her deeply.

If I could stay in this moment forever, I most definitely would. Brittany's lips pressed firmly against mine, our bodies so close, and so, so in love with each other.

When we break apart, our foreheads stay connected, and our eyes stay closed. I take a deep breath, trying to savor everything about this moment.

Brittany's back in my arms, safe, and that's all that matters anymore.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, suddenly remembering that we're sitting in a hospital room.

"I'm okay." She nods. "My neck kinda hurts, though."

I lean back and move her hair out of the way, observing the large bruise still present on her neck. It looks like the swelling's gone down, but there's a tiny puncture wound barely visible in the center of it.

I furrow my brows, wondering what caused the wound.

"Is everything okay?" She asks, and I can hear the panic in her voice.

I snap my gaze back to her eyes and nod my head quickly, reassuring her that everything's fine. "Yeah, yeah…it's just a bruise, Britt. You'll heal up good as new." I smile.

She deflates in relief before wrapping her arms tightly around my neck and leaning back in her bed, pulling me with her. I slide my arms around her waist and hold her close, somewhat laying on top of her now.

We stay in that position with a content silence, but were rudely interrupted by someone clearing their throat a few minutes later.

"Ahem," Quinn coughs from the door.

I turn to glare at her, which she doesn't return for once, and she points behind her into the hallway.

"Santana, the doctor said he's ready to see her…so whenever you're ready." She says timidly.

I look back down at Brittany and give her a quick kiss on the nose before sitting up. "I'm gonna go down to the cafeteria and get some pudding cups while he's here. You want anything?" I ask sweetly, grabbing her hand and rubbing the backs of her knuckles.

"I'm good…thank you." She smiles and sits up, allowing me to stand from the bed as the doctor walks in. "I love you." She says again, but sounds a little nervous this time.

"I love you, too." I lean down to press a chaste kiss against her lips. "It'll be okay…I'll be back soon, I promise," I whisper, reassuring her.

She nods and lets go of my hand as I step away, allowing the doctor to get a closer look. When I reach the door, I give Quinn a soft smile and look at Brittany one last time before exiting the room.

Quinn laces her arm with mine as we walk to the cafeteria, neither of us saying a word the whole way there.

/

Quinn and I are seated down the hall from Brittany's room, nursing a couple of pudding cups we got from the cafeteria. I want nothing more than to be in the room with Brittany, but we need to let the doctor have some time alone with her to make sure everything's alright.

Or that's what Quinn says, anyway.

I'm bouncing my leg up and down quickly, trying to fight the nerves that are creeping up the back of my spine. She's gonna be perfectly fine, right?

"Would you please stop that?" Quinn asks, sounding somewhat annoyed. "You're rocking the whole bench."

I shoot her a glare in response but stop my leg movements. Leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees, I let out a long sigh.

"How much longer does he need with her?" I ask, getting impatient.

"I'm not sure. I guess the longer he's in there, the more thorough he's being, so that's a good thing." She tries to reassure.

"Yeah - unless he's in there for so long because something is wrong. That's what I'm worried about."

"Santana, she's in good hands." Quinn leans forward so she can look at me fully. I notice how her eyes have a soft look to them…she's being genuine.

I nod and take a deep breath, trying to push the negative and irrational thoughts to the back of my mind. Britt seemed fine when she woke up, so Quinn's probably right. There's still an ounce of doubt in my gut, though - and I really don't like it.

I focus my attention on the tile of the floor, outlining the different patterns engraved into it - trying desperately to calm my racing mind.

A few minutes later, a pair of pristine white shoes come into my line of sight, and I snap my head up at the new body entering the room. Once I see the white lab coat, I jolt up from the seat and stand tall.

I feel Quinn beside me in an instant, along with her hand resting on my shoulder.

"She's fine, right?" I ask, sounding too hopeful for my own good.

The doctor gives us a small smile before slightly nodding his head. "All her vitals are normal, and I don't see anything out of the ordinary. I would like to keep her here overnight for supervision, though - just to be sure."

I visibly relax at his words and nod in understanding. "So, we can go back in?"

"Yes. However, be extra careful of the bruise on her neck. We're not sure what it's from, but it hasn't had any effect on her health, so it shouldn't be anything to worry about." He says before walking past us.

Something about that doesn't sit right with me. Maybe it's because the last time I heard the words nothing to worry about, everything came crashing down. But this is different, right? He isn't basing anything on the fact that he doesn't think anything's going to happen - like Mike - but can actually see that nothing's wrong.

Yeah, this is totally different. Why do I have to overthink everything?

"Santana," Quinn's voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Are you coming?"

She's already a few steps ahead of me in the direction of Brittany's room. I shake my head to clear the agonizing thoughts and jog to catch up with her.

/

It's nearing midnight now, and Brittany and I are cuddled up in her bed, watching an episode of Friends. It takes me back to around the first time we met when we talked about the show at Albert's. Thinking of the memory brings a smile to my face, and I snuggle closer to her.

Quinn went to her room about an hour ago but told us to call her if we needed anything. I guess it's convenient that we're all in the same building.

Over the span of an episode, I notice how Brittany's laughs are getting few and far between. When the end credits come on, just before another episode starts, I glance over to her.

Her head's tilted a little to the side, her eyes are closed, and her breathing is starting to become slow and even. She's not completely asleep yet, but it won't be long before she is.

Deciding it's late enough to go to bed anyway, I reach for the remote and turn off the TV. After the room's cloaked in darkness, I pull the covers over our torsos and lay back.

Brittany must sense the change because as soon as my back hits the mattress, she's rolling on her side to snuggle into my chest.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and hold her close, listening to the sound of her steady heartbeat. I close my eyes and revel in the feel of her body enwrapped with mine, and it doesn't take long before I slip away into sleep, too.

/

I'm broken out of my sleep by something hitting me square in the jaw.

"What the?" I mumble sleepily. My brain doesn't even comprehend that something hit me, so I turn back over, content with snuggling back into Brittany and drifting off.

But, when I turn over, I feel another swift hit to the side of my head. Getting hit in the head twice in the span of one minute is enough to wake me up completely.

"Britt," I mutter. "Britt," I say again, feeling for her body on the bed.

When I come into contact with her arm, though, I notice it's inhumanly warm. Now, on full alert, I jump up from the bed and rush to turn on the light.

Brittany has a pained crease in her brow, and her body is jerking at random moments. I kneel down next to her and put my hand on her forehead. She's burning up.

"Nurse!" I call out, hoping someone can hear me. I try not to sound too panicked since it could just be a night terror or something.

But when her body starts shaking and jerking violently, enough to where she looks like she's having a seizure on steroids, I start to really panic.

"NURSE!" I scream as loud as I can, trying to still Brittany's movements. I continue to call out for a few moments, but when no one comes, I run towards the door.

I roll my eyes and feel my stomach drop in worry when I see no one sitting at the desk. What was the fucking point of keeping her here if no one was going to be here if anything happened?

I run back into the room and grab my phone, dialing Quinn's number as quickly as I can.

"Hello?" She picks up after the line rings a few times, obviously awoken from sleep.

"Quinn, it's Brittany."

That's all I have to say before I hear shuffling on the other line, followed by an "I'm coming."

I throw the phone down on a nearby chair and move towards Brittany's side again. She's still jerking around, but noticeable tears are escaping her closed eyes now.

Her pained expression is still in place, and it breaks my heart to see her like this. At that moment, I wished more than anything that I could take it all away - that I could switch places. It's not fair to her.

I grab her hand to try and steady her, but it does no good.

"Britt," I choke out, trying to wake her up. "Britt, it's Santana. I'm here, okay…I'm here." I can feel the tears falling down my cheeks. "And I have no clue what's happening, but I'm so sorry, Britt. I'm so sorry."

"What's going on?" I hear Quinn in the doorway, but it doesn't aid in stopping my mental breakdown. "Santana."

I notice how worried she sounds, which is really rare for Quinn. I have no clue what to tell her, so I shrug and let her figure it out.

She's by my side in an instant, looking down at Brittany's still convulsing body. The muscles in her arms and legs are visible with every flinch, but neither of us knows what's causing this.

"Where's the fucking nurse?!" She panics. "Santana, where's the nurse?"

"Quinn, how would I fucking know?!" I scream. I'm at my breaking point with this, and she's not helping. "I woke up and she was like this, but when I went to get someone, the place was fucking empty!"

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" She yells.

"I have no fucking clue, Quinn! Brittany's right here, in pain, from God knows what, and there's nothing I can do!" I can feel the panic and anger sear through my veins, but there's no point in trying to contain it.

I'm not mad at Quinn, though. I'm mad at these damn nurses and clinic staff that aren't here for this. I'm mad at Rory, or whoever it was that did this to her. I'm mad at Mike for not listening to me about Sebastian. I'm too mad for my own good.

But I can't dwell on that right now. The only thing I can focus on is Brittany and how to help her out of this state.

"Should I call Mike?" Quinn suggests. Her eyes are wide and panicked, but it's really the only option we have.

I nod my head and turn back to Brittany, brushing her bangs out of her now sweaty forehead. When I slide my hands down the length of her hair, I notice something strange with the bruise on her neck.

The wound seems to be…glowing. It's glowing this weird blue-ish green color, and veins are sticking out from the edges of the bruise that match the color of the glow.

That has to be it.

"Quinn," I say softly.

"Mike's on his way." She says, sounding more put together than before.

"Quinn," I say again, swallowing the new lump in my throat. My stomach churns just looking at the glowing wound on her neck, but I can't seem to look away.

"What?" She asks, coming to stand beside me once again.

I don't respond, but point towards the spot on her neck. She doesn't say anything in response, but I hear a soft gasp and know she saw it.

It's quiet for the rest of the time until Mike gets there, but fortunately, Brittany's stopped convulsing as much.

The knot in my stomach loosens at seeing the worst of her pain over with now, but I'm still really worried about what caused it. Or if it'll happen again.

Her brows are still creased, and she still looks uncomfortable, but she's not awake. Maybe she's not actually feeling the pain if she's not conscious?

Or that's what I hope, at least.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mike asks as he walks into the room. His hair's sticking straight up, and he's still wearing his pajamas.

"You tell me," I say, glaring at him. I know it's probably unfair to blame him for all of this - but that's what I'm doing.

"Santana," Quinn can sense the anger in my tone, and she reaches an arm out to try and calm me.

It's not going to work this time, though.

"Woah, calm down," He says, putting his hands in front of him. "Would you just explain what's going on?"

"Well, I'd explain what's going on, Mike, if I had a fucking clue! All I know is that I woke up to Britt practically seizing next to me and that bruise on her neck glowing." I take small and slow steps towards him.

When my words register, his eyes widen in a look of nervousness, and he visibly swallows. "H-how long did she go for?" He asks.

"About 15 minutes," I say, bitterness laced in my tone. "And the staff wanted to leave her overnight for supervision, but there's no one fucking here!" I yell.

He backs up towards the wall, looking fearful.

"S-Santana, you're eyes are glowing again." He points out.

I let out a bitter laugh and smile at his anxious state. "Good…that just shows how utterly pissed I am." I continue to walk towards him. "You roped my girlfriend into this just because you couldn't take a fucking hint. Really, all of this is your fault. You didn't listen to me; you thought it was nothing to worry about, so really - this is all your fault."

"Santana!" Quinn warns again, but she's long forgotten.

"How does that make you feel, Mike? Knowing how much pain you've put your supposed best friend through? How much you've betrayed me…I should've known it wouldn't stop after the deal with my parents, so that's on me."

"I swear I didn't do it on purpose. I never meant for anybody to get hurt." His voice is shaky…so unlike Mike.

"What do you mean?" This time, it's Quinn talking, not me.

"I never meant for anybody to get hurt, okay? This isn't my fault," He says.

"Oh, but it is…did you not just hear my spill?" I ask sarcastically.

My temper's long fizzled out now, so all I'm focused on is showing Mike the same amount of pain he's given me in the past week.

"Santana, watch it." I hear Quinn chastise yet again.

"Quinn, if you don't shut the fuck up, you're going to be next." I grit. I know I'm all bark and no bite with that threat, though…I wouldn't ever lay a hand on Quinn.

"Listen to her, Santana," Mike says.

"Oh, I'm done listening to what you say." I bite.

In one smooth motion, I jump forward and launch my fist into the corner of his jaw, making a loud thump echo across the room as his head bangs into the wall behind him.

He slides down the wall, gripping his face, but I grab his arm and hoist him back up.

I jerk my knee up to hit him in between the legs, eliciting a loud groan from his mouth, before I go back to landing blows on him.

"Santana!" I hear from behind me, but my brain doesn't register anything but the red blocking my vision.

Mike falls to the floor on a particularly hard punch and lays face down, cradling his head between his arms. I kick him once in the side, trying to roll him over, before bending down in a crouching position.

"Santana!" I hear again, and I feel strong arms trying to pull me backward by the shoulders. I shrug them off, though, and keep my attention focused on Mike.

I reach forward and push him by the shoulder, rolling him over. I expect to see Mike lying there, battered and bruised, but instead, I see an unfamiliar pair of brown eyes staring back at me.

Actually, there's a whole unfamiliar face staring back at me. I fall back onto my ass and scoot backward until I come in contact with a pair of legs.

I feel strong arms thread under my armpits before being hoisted onto my feet. I see Quinn move closer to the unknown man on the floor and crouch down to his eye level.

However, seeing Quinn in front of me means she's not the owner of the pair of arms wedged under my own, holding me in place. I turn around as quickly as I can to see Brittany staring back at me with a worried look on her face.

"Britt?" I ask before launching myself into her arms. It didn't cross my mind at first to be careful, given the position she was just in.

My brain snaps into gear a moment later, and I unwrap myself from her quickly, cradling her face in my hands. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" She looks equally as concerned as I am. Does she have any idea what just happened to her? "What was that?" She asks.

"I-I guess I lost my temper and went into full rage mode. He caused all this shit to happen to you, and I just snapped." I can feel the burn of tears in the back of my eyes, and for once, I don't try to hold them back.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" She asks, clearly confused.

"Y-you don't know what happened? You didn't feel anything?"

She shakes her head, her brows furrowing even deeper.

"Oh, thank God." I deflate with relief. Brittany didn't consciously feel any of that.

"Yes, she did." I hear an unfamiliar voice croak out behind me.

I whip my head around, feeling my blood pressure rise again, and glare back at the man standing next to Quinn.

"What did you say?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"She did feel it…she just doesn't remember it." He wipes his nose on the back of his hand, clearing the blood dripping from it.

"I'm sorry…who the fuck are you?" I grit. "I should probably beat the shit out of you even further for all this, but you need to do some explaining first."

I look over to Quinn and see that she has a soft look on her face but also looks expectantly at the man standing in the room.

The man we thought was Mike.

"My name's Nick…I work for Rory."

Hey, guys!

I know it's been a while, but a new update is finally here! There are only a few more chapters left of this story, but there'll be another story afterward. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten or abandoned this story...I've just been really busy. I'm definitely going to finish it, though!

As always, I love reading what you guys think about the story, so please review if you can!

Thank you all so much for reading! :)