A/N: Since this fic takes place over ten months, I decided to sort of "skim" through the day-to-day tours and sight-seeing. Part of it was because of length, part because I was too lazy to do the amount of research it would take to do a European tour justice (I spent more time researching Lesbos than I actually spent writing the previous fifteen chapters.) At any rate, I hope you enjoy this (mostly) filler chapter.
It ended up much longer than planned because of the non-filler stuff.
I probably took quite a few artistic liberties with some of their touristy stuff.
TW: Attempted kidnapping/assault, drug use
Xoxoxoxoxo
Chapter 16 – The European Tour, Brussels
They spent five days in Athens; they visited the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon, the Temple of Hephaestus, and the Ancient Agora of Athens. They booked a day tour of Athens and spent a day just relaxing at the hotel pool.
Then it was off to Mount Parnassus to spend two days exploring the Oracle at Delphi.
From there, they flew to Italy and spent two weeks sight-seeing in Florence, Venice, and Milan.
In Florence, Brittany insisted they go to the Museo Galileo to see all the "cool science-y stuff". Of course, Santana agreed. They took a two hour guided bike tour and viewed Michelangelo's David. They spent two days at the Boboli Gardens. They took a Chianti wineries tour that included food and wine tasting and ended up buying several bottles of wine to ship home. They took a tour through the Leonardo Interactive Museum (which Brittany totally loved; building things and "playing" with Leonardo's machines).
In Venice, they took a boat tour and saw a glass-blowing demonstration. They booked a gondola ride on the Grand Canal and visited the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica.
In Milan, they booked a guided walking tour which got them in to see DaVinci's "The Last Supper" without waiting in line and took them to the most interesting sights of the city. Brittany discovered a Vintage and Fashion tour that she and Santana thoroughly enjoyed (and spent way too much money at). They took several cooking classes; pizza, gelato, tiramisu, risotto, and pasta as well as an Italian cooking class with food and wine. They were able to, at Santana's insistence, see La boheme at the La Scala Opera House.
Their favorite part of Milan was the dinner show at Maison Milano; air and fire performers, singers, and dancers entertained them throughout the evening.
From Italy they traveled through Germany by train for a week; then spent three days in Amsterdam.
After Amsterdam, they had planned to spend four days in Brussels. Planned to.
Xoxoxoxoxo
They'd been enjoying their time; touring museums and old world cathedrals and castles. Discovering different foods and wines; experiencing different cultures. For Brittany, it also included learning more languages. She was now fluent in English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Greek, Italian, and Dutch. Santana couldn't stop marveling at her girl's genius.
They'd been in Brussels two days and had decided to check out to a local nightclub.
"You look amazing in that dress, Britt." Santana couldn't help staring.
Brittany was in a deep blue, sleeveless halter-neck dress that clung to her curves and stopped at mid-thigh.
Brittany blushed. "You're looking pretty hot yourself."
Santana grinned. She was in a deep red, strapless mini-dress that hugged everything.
"Let's go get our dance on."
The club was jumping; literally. The bass was thumping so loud that the walls were vibrating. Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and led them onto the dance floor. They spent two hours dancing and grinding and winding each other up before Santana indicated she needed a break. Brittany pointed to an open table and Santana pointed to the bar.
Santana got two bottles of water and headed toward the table Brittany was sitting at. As she approached, she saw Brittany being pulled up from the table and practically dragged out of the club by some guy. She hurriedly pushed her way through the crowd and reached the exit just in time to see the guy hailing a cab.
Brittany was trying to pull away from the guy and go back to the club.
"No, I gotta wait for S'nana," her voice was slurred and she looked unsteady on her feet.
Santana didn't think about it; she threw a bottle of water at him and hit him in the back. He lost his grip on Brittany and she slumped to the ground. Santana ran at them and jumped on the guy's back; legs around his waist, one arm around his neck choking him, the other hand clawing at his face. She was screaming and cursing at him in Spanish and he was yelling in either Dutch or German; Santana wasn't sure which.
The bouncers from the club saw the altercation and came running up, pulling Santana off the guy even as she tried to get to him again.
"San? I …"
Santana stopped fighting the bouncers and shrugged free, moving quickly to Brittany's side.
"I was trying to take my girlfriend home and this lunatic attacked me." Brittany slurred the translation but Santana understood what she was saying.
She turned to the bouncers. "He's lying. She's not his girlfriend." She glared at him. "What did you give her?"
"I don't know what she's talking about. That is my girlfriend."
"What's her name?" One of the bouncers asked.
"Bethany."
"No, it's not, asshole, it's Brittany." Santana stood up and the bouncers misjudged her agility and speed; before they could stop her she had launched a kick at the guy's groin and he went down, clutching at himself. "You've got another nut for me to crack, asshole." She grabbed his hair and was in his face; the bouncers were trying to pull her off him but she had too tight a grip on his hair. "What did you give her?"
He screamed; as the bouncers pulled Santana, Santana yanked his hair.
"Ketamine! I injected her with ketamine!" The bouncers' eyes went wide and they let go of Santana and one of them grabbed the guy while the other went over to Brittany. There were sirens sounding in the distance and it was less than a minute when the police showed up.
Santana looked around the ground and grabbed the bottle of water before moving back to Brittany.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?"
Santana rolled her eyes as she opened the bottle. "Here, baby, drink this."
"San … owie …" Brittany moved her hand to her neck and Santana saw a pinprick of blood. She pointed it out to the cop who had come over to speak with them.
"Baby, I need you to take a drink, okay?" Brittany took a small sip.
"Miss? How much has she had to drink tonight?"
Santana shook her head. "Nothing. We'd been dancing. I went to get some water while she sat down at a table. When I was on my way back I saw he'd grabbed her. He said he injected her with ketamine. Can we get her to a doctor, please?" Santana was shaking; the adrenaline had worn off and now she was scared.
"Miss," the cop crouched down to talk to Brittany, "do you know this woman?"
Brittany's smile was goofy. "Tha's my S'nana," she reached up and slapped Santana's face in an attempt to caress it.
"I'm her girlfriend, Santana." Santana reached into her dress and pulled out her phone, unlocking it, and showing the officer pictures of them. "Her name is Brittany."
The cop nodded and motioned to another officer. Sirens sounded again in the distance and, moments later, an ambulance pulled up to the curb. The paramedics got Brittany onto a stretcher and started an iv of a saline solution. "To help with her dehydration," he explained in halting English.
"San … I don't feel so good," Brittany's speech was slow and slurred.
"I know, baby, we're gonna get you some help." She quickly reached for a vomit receptacle when she recognized the signs that Britt was getting ready to throw up.
She held it under Brittany's chin with one hand, and held her hair back with the other, as Brittany threw up what seemed like everything she'd eaten in the past three days.
When they go to the emergency room they were taken directly to a room.
A nurse came in and started speaking in German (or Dutch?).
"Um … I'm sorry, I don't speak German?"
"She asked my name, San."
The nurse looked at Brittany.
"Yeah, she speaks several languages fluently, including German."
"Ah. I see. Well, she is right. I did ask for her name." The woman switched to English. It was accented but it was perfectly clear.
"Brittany. Her name is Brittany Pierce."
"American?"
Santana nodded.
"Has she been drinking?"
Santana shook her head and told the nurse what happened. The nurse, momentarily, looked horrified before schooling her features into a professional mask.
She then took Britt's vitals, cleaned the puncture wound, changed the iv bag, and told Santana the doctor would be in shortly. She dimmed the lights before she left.
Santana pulled out her phone and began googling effects and treatment of ketamine. The treatment was simple: a calm, quiet environment. Santana nodded as she realized that's probably why the nurse dimmed the lights. The iv was to combat the dehydration which can enhance the ketamine's effects. Brittany didn't seem to be suffering from an overdose; silver lining and all that, Santana thought. She wasn't being aggressive or paranoid. She was drowsy and nauseated. So, a normal dose?
Just then the doctor came in.
"Hello. I am Doctor Bogaert. I understand the young lady had a bit of a misadventure?"
Santana snorted and recounted the tale to the doctor. He nodded and moved to examine Brittany.
"You say she was injected?"
"Yeah. There's a mark on her neck."
The doctor examined it. "Forgive my indelicacy … but was the needle clean?"
Santana's stomach dropped. "I … don't know. The police … they have the guy." Santana swallowed. She knew what the doctor was saying. There was no way to know what else could have been on, or in, the needle.
He nodded. "They are waiting outside; I will talk to them. In the meantime, I will order some blood tests to make sure there was only ketamine. We'll keep her here for a couple of hours to make sure she's re-hydrated and not still suffering any ill effects. A nurse will be in to draw blood in a moment."
"San?"
"I'm here, baby," Santana moved to the bed and took Brittany's hand.
"I'm sleepy."
"Close your eyes, baby, I'll be here when you wake up."
Brittany nodded and let her eyes slip closed.
The same nurse came back in and she smiled sympathetically at Santana. "I heard the doctor talking to the police. The man still had the syringe on him; the police brought it here to be tested so we won't need a blood draw from her."
Santana nodded. "How long," she cleared her throat, "how long before we know if it's clean or not?"
"Before she's ready to be discharged, we'll have the answers. It may not be much comfort but the police said the man was rather talkative and claimed the needle hadn't been used before. He usually just drops them after he uses them but, apparently, he didn't give your girlfriend the full dose and he 'didn't want to waste the product'." The nurse rolled her eyes. "But, you didn't hear any of that from me," she smiled slyly, "because I didn't eavesdrop while the doctor was talking to the police." She winked at Santana and then left the room.
Santana sighed softly. Okay. It's going to be okay.
"San?"
"I thought you were sleeping?"
"Can't. Lie down with me? Please?"
Santana slipped into the bed next to Brittany and wrapped her arms around her blonde. "Rest, baby. Everything is going to be okay."
When the nurse came back in to check on Brittany's iv, she found the two exhausted girls wrapped up together, sleeping peacefully. She quickly changed out the iv bag and slipped quietly from the room.
Xoxoxoxoxo
Santana woke slowly. She was a little disoriented; she opened her eyes and saw Brittany lying in her arms still sleeping soundly. She looked around and remembered what had happened. She quietly and carefully slipped from the bed and walked to the doorway, in search of a bathroom.
After tending to her needs, Santana headed to the nurse's station.
The nurse from last night was still on duty. "Can I help you?" She smiled kindly at Santana.
"I was just wondering if … um … there was any news? About the needle and its contents?"
The nurse stood up and came around the desk to talk to Santana. She looked around as if to make sure they weren't overheard.
"Usually the police lab would have taken care of this but they are really backed up and we have one of the top labs in the country so they brought it here." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "The needle was clean and the only thing in the syringe was ketamine." She raised her voice to a normal volume. "The doctor will have all the lab results for you. He'll be in to talk to you and Miss Pierce shortly." The nurse winked and went back to the desk.
Santana smiled slightly. "Thank you."
The nurse nodded and Santana turned to go back into the room then stopped and turned back.
"Does the hospital have a pharmacy? Is it open now?"
The nurse nodded and gave Santana directions to get there.
"If Brittany wakes up, will you please let her know I'll be right back?"
"Of course." The nurse smiled kindly.
Xoxoxoxoxo
Twenty minutes later she had purchased what she was looking for, and something she wasn't, and was walking back into the room.
Brittany was still sleeping but was beginning to stir. "San?"
"I'm right here, baby." Santana moved to Brittany's bedside and took her hand. "I had to go to the bathroom. How are you feeling?"
"Headache. My stomach and ribs hurt. Did I fall? My butt hurts, too. Little thirsty. Little hungry. Mostly okay, though, I think. What happened? I remember sitting at the table to wait for you and some guy came over to talk to me … after that, it's kind of a blank. A few flashes of you kicking some guy and yelling in Spanish, an ambulance ride, police, a doctor? Or a nurse?" Her eyes finally fluttered open but she winced at the light.
"Oh, Britt. The important thing is you're okay. Alright? Remember that."
Brittany nodded.
"Your ribs and stomach probably hurt because of all the vomiting. And, yeah, you did fall …" Santana went on to tell Brittany what had happened.
Brittany lifted her hand to her neck and winced.
"Yeah, there's a bit of a bruise that I didn't put there."
The comment got the desired effect of Brittany giving her a small smile.
"Thank you, Santana. I … if you hadn't …"
"But I did." Santana squeezed her hand. "I was there and you're okay."
Just then, the door opened and the doctor came in.
"Ah, Miss Pierce, I'm Doctor Bogaert. I'm not sure if you remember meeting me last night. How are you feeling?" He came over and shook Brittany's hand.
"Been better but I mostly feel okay. Tired."
The doctor nodded. "The side effects of the drug. The good news is; the needle was clean and the only thing in the syringe was ketamine so you should have no lasting effects. A day or two of rest and you should be good as new."
"Thank you, doctor. When can I get out of here?"
The doctor smiled. "In a hurry?" He chuckled slightly. "I don't blame you. As long as you're not still feeling the effects of the ketamine, we can release you."
"Good. I think …" she looked at Santana, "I'm ready to move on to Paris now."
Santana smiled slightly and nodded; she was too.
"The police would like you to stop by the station to give them your statements." He handed them a card. "I recommend you take it easy for a couple of days and give the drug a chance to completely clear your system." He shook both their hands. "The nurse will come back in with discharge papers. I am sorry that our city has left you with such a bad impression." He looked at them sympathetically. "It really is a wonderful and beautiful city; perhaps someday you'll return and give us another chance, hm?" With that, he left the room.
Santana pulled out her phone and did a quick search; it would take them between two and three hours to get to Paris by train depending on which station they left from. She checked available times and booked two seats for the train leaving just after two pm. That one would take them almost three hours but it gave them the most time to check out of their hotel, check in at the police station, and make it in time for departure. She checked their hotel in Paris and was able to change their reservations to start this evening instead of two days from now. She did a slight upgrade in the reservation; she wanted to surprise Brittany.
It was about half an hour later when the nurse returned. "Alright, you're all set to go Miss Pierce. You may still experience some side effects for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours; headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and disorientation. Try to limit your stimulation. Listen to your body and rest when you need to. Keep hydrated. Paracetamol for the headache; don't use anything stronger," she warned as she handed a small sheaf of papers to Santana. "All the instructions are there."
"Thank you," Santana said to her.
"You're welcome," the nurse pulled a wheelchair over and Santana helped Brittany get into it.
Once outside, Brittany sat on a bench while Santana hailed a cab. Santana helped Brittany into the cab and directed the cabbie to the police station.
"How you holding up?"
Brittany smiled wanly. "Tired, mostly. What's Paracetamol?"
Santana smiled. "It's acetaminophen; Tylenol."
Brittany nodded slightly and leaned her head on Santana's shoulder.
They pulled up to the police station and Santana helped Brittany out before paying the cab driver. She took hold of Brittany's hand and led her into the station. They walked up to the front desk and spoke to the woman sitting there.
"My girlfriend was attacked last night and the police asked us to come by and give statements. Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez."
The woman nodded and typed a few words into her computer. She smiled at the two young women. "If you'll just wait over there," she indicated a few benches along the wall, "Chief Inspector Mertens will be right with you."
It was less than five minutes later when a man in his early forties, with thinning blond hair and gray eyes approached them. He was over six feet tall and looked to be in fairly good shape.
"Miss Pierce? Miss Lopez?" His voice was surprisingly gentle. He held out his hand. "I'm Chief Inspector Mertens, thank you for coming so quickly." He shook Santana's, and then Brittany's, hand. "If you'll come with me?"
They stood up and followed him through a door, down a hall, and into a small office.
"How are you feeling, Miss Pierce?" He looked at Brittany with concern.
"Better. Tired."
CI Mertens nodded sympathetically. "I have your statements from last night; I just need you to review them and make any corrections. They are in English."
"Um … I don't know how things work here but … if I sign this, I'm admitting I assaulted that guy; how much trouble am I looking at?" Santana asked nervously.
CI Mertens shook his head. "You were acting in defense of another person; there will be no consequences for that."
Santana nodded and read over her statement, making two small corrections in the order of events, then signed it.
Brittany was taking a little more time with hers.
"You okay, Britt?"
She nodded slightly. "Just making sure I'm reading it right. And remembering everything I can."
"Take your time, Miss Pierce."
A few moments, and several corrections, later Brittany signed hers as well.
"Do you know if we'll need to testify at a trial? I don't really know how your judicial system works." Brittany asked the CI.
CI Mertens looked at the two young women. "You would come back to testify?"
"Well, yeah, of course. I hate to think that something could happen to someone else because I didn't testify."
CI Mertens smiled brightly. "Ladies, you may have just made my year. One moment, please." He picked up that phone and dialed. He spoke rapidly in German (Dutch?) to whoever picked up on the other end.
"Britt?"
"Yeah?"
"I know they're probably nothing alike but … is he speaking German or Dutch?"
'Score!' Santana thought as that got a grin out of Brittany.
"He's speaking German and he's talking to the local magistrate … who I guess is like our prosecutor?"
Santana nodded.
CI Mertens hung up and smiled at the young women. "Ladies, I have a favor to ask of you. The man who tried to abduct Miss Pierce last night is part of a sex trafficking ring. He's a middle-man. If you can identify him in a line-up, we'd like to stage a conversation for him to 'overhear'. The magistrate is confident that, if he knows he could be sentenced for twenty years, he'll be willing to tell us what he knows about the rest of the operation in return for a reduced sentence. We've been chasing this group for over two years; this is the closest we've ever come to dealing such a significant blow."
Brittany paled and Santana slipped her arm around Brittany's shoulders.
"Sex … trafficking? So …" she swallowed hard.
CI Mertens looked at her sympathetically and nodded.
"We'll do whatever you need."
"Britt, are you sure? You're looking really pale." Santana voiced her concern.
"Santana," she looked at the Latina, "we have to. What would have happened to me if you hadn't seen me? How many women don't have a feisty Latina to go all Lima Heights on their abductor? How many more women will … we have to."
Santana nodded her understanding and looked at CI Mertens. "What do you need us to do?"
xoxoxoxoxo
"We'll take Miss Lopez in first to identify him; then Miss Pierce. We can't have you both go in and influence each other. After you've identified him, we'll have him sitting, handcuffed, on a bench near the identification room. The three of us will have a short conversation; or should I say, Miss Pierce and I will have a short conversation in German within his hearing. I'll thank you both and tell you that we'll let you know when we need you to come back and testify. The magistrate and I are confident that he'll turn on his compatriots once he knows that, not only can you identify him, you are willing to return to testify. This group thrives because, if their victims escape, they either can't be identified due to the drug's effects or because the victims won't return to testify. Having both of you identify him and be willing to return will definitely rattle him."
"Britt, are you sure you can identify him? I mean, with the drug and all?" Santana asked her.
Brittany nodded. "I got a decent look at him before he drugged me. I don't think he expected me to turn around but I was looking for you so I saw him."
Santana nodded. "Okay. Then let's do this."
xoxoxoxoxo
They were standing in the hallway; Brittany and CI Mertens were having their conversation and Santana was surreptitiously watching the scumbag in her peripheral vision. His face paled and he started to sweat. Good. It took everything in Santana not to go over and finish what she'd started the night before. God, was it just last night?
CI Mertens turned to her and shook her hand. "Thank you, Santana. We'll be in touch with you and Brittany as soon as we have a trial date. We appreciate your help in this matter. Let me show you out." CI Mertens was careful not to use their surnames; they didn't want any of the man's associates knowing who the girls were.
With that he led them back to the front desk. "Ladies, I believe that was successful. Our suspect wasn't looking well." He grinned from ear to ear.
"Yeah. He was sweating bullets. I think you and your magistrate may have been right. He's definitely gonna roll over on his buddies." Santana said. "Now that that's done, though," she looked at Brittany, "I think we need to get going. We need to check out of our hotel and catch a train to Paris in three-and-a-half hours."
"Ladies, again, I thank you. Safe journey." CI Mertens waved goodbye as they walked out of the station.
Once outside, Santana hailed another cab and directed the driver to their hotel.
"Britt?"
"Yeah?"
"We've got enough time before check-out if you wanna shower and change." They were still in the dresses they wore out the night before.
"That actually sounds heavenly. Join me?"
Santana smiled. "Of course."
xoxoxoxoxo
An hour-and-a-half later, they were checked out and on their way to the train station. They arrived in plenty of time to grab sandwiches and drinks before boarding. Santana gave Brittany two Tylenol and calculated that she could have more around nine p.m. in Paris. They checked their rolling bags and carried their backpacks onto the train, placing them under their seats.
Brittany was looking peaked; she was really pale, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she was jittery.
As they sat down, Santana pulled a bag out of her backpack that she handed to Brittany.
"What's this?"
"Just a few things I got at the hospital. Hopefully you'll be able to sleep the whole way to Paris. When we get there, we'll check in, order room service, and relax in the room; call it an early night tonight. You're not looking so hot. I mean, you look hot just unwell." She stammered out.
Brittany laughed lightly. "I understood what you meant." She opened the bag and pulled out a purple satin sleep mask, a package of ear plugs, and a small stuffed unicorn. She looked softly at Santana. "San …"
Santana looked down shyly and bit her bottom lip. "They said a calm, quiet environment would help and you haven't exactly had that so far today so I thought the mask and the earplugs would dampen any sensory stuff. I got the unicorn for you to cuddle because I knew your tiger would be in your checked bag and I know how much you like unicorns and …" her rambling was cut off with a sweet kiss.
"Thank you. This was really thoughtful."
"I just want you to feel better."
"I do." Brittany smiled softly at Santana. "You're amazing."
Santana ducked her head and felt the heat in her cheeks. "I love you," she shrugged.
"I love you, too. Now I'm going to put in the ear plugs, put on the mask, recline back, and, hopefully, sleep my way out of this country and into the next." She tucked the unicorn into the crook of her right elbow (which was against the window; Santana thought she would get jostled less that way) after setting the earplugs and mask in place and reclining her seat. She reached her left hand out and Santana willingly entangled their fingers.
They rode like that the whole way to Paris.
Xoxoxoxoxo
A/N: I definitely took major liberties with the hospital & police procedures in Belgium (I'm American and have only a basic understanding of our judicial system; no amount of research could give me an adequate understanding of European law. Same for all of the ins and outs of healthcare.)