"There is danger in reckless change, but greater danger in blind conservatism." – Henry George

The following day…

After the team raided Karofsky's house, they found no signs of him on the property. However, they did find the van that he had been using to transport the victims to the dump sites in. The van reeked of bleach and had bundles of high quality plastic located inside of it. The van was then turned over to CSU for further processing. Karofsky's laptop was also recovered on scene and a copy of the hard drive was sent to Fabray. If anything, hopefully she would be able to uncover some type of clue to the fugitive's current whereabouts.

"Where are you, Dave?" Santana says aloud to herself.

After the search of Karofsky's house – and the search of the schools – did not produce the results that the team was hoping for, the agents decided to call it a night and start fresh in the morning. For the Latina, however, that was a task that was easier said than done. Santana couldn't sleep… not until David Karofsky was either dead or in custody. Not knowing whether or not there was another innocent boy on his hit list nearly drove her insane.

"Why are you doing this? What did these kids do to you?" The profiler questioned, still mumbling to herself.

Santana had been at it for hours, going over every single detail of Karofsky's and the victims' files, trying to find an answer that just wasn't there. But… she was determined.

Instead of trying to reason with the Latina, which would've been pointless, the team left her alone in one of the interviewing rooms where she could dig through all of the files in peace. Little did she know, she had a single audience member watching her every move.

"She's still going at it, huh?" Puck says as he walks up to Brittany, who had been standing outside of the room for several minutes.

"Yep… I wanna go in there in help her, but I don't want to get in her way," the blonde replies.

"Yeah… that's probably for the best."

As Puckerman turns to walk away, the liaison grabs his attention again. "Hey Noah… could I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure… what's on your mind, Britt?"

"What's with that stunt you tried to pull yesterday?" Brittany questions.

"Could you be a little more specific?" Puck says back, playing dumb. He knew exactly what the blonde was talking about and was very curious to hear what she had to say on the matter.

"You know… the whole bartender giving San her number thing?"

"Oh, that… what about it?" Noah replies nonchalantly.

"You don't think that it was a little inappropriate to bring that up while we're trying to catch this nut bag?" Brittany responds. "I mean, seriously… did it help our case at all besides wasting time talking about it."

"It didn't waste any more time than we are right now, still talking about it," Noah retorts in a smart ass tone. This does not sit well with the blonde. "Why do you care so much, huh? Were you jealous or something?"

Brittany starts to feel her blood boiling. "Have I done something to you cuz you're being a real douche right now," the liaison says back, completely ignoring the question.

"And you're deflecting," Puck states knowingly. "Just answer the question, Britt."

Brittany takes a second to read the profiler's facial expression, trying to figure out what his angle is, knowing that there must be a reason why one of her closest friends is giving her such a hard time. Finally, she concedes. "Yes… I was jealous. Happy now?"

"A little… that's what I was hoping for," Noah casually responds.

"I don't get it."

"Look, Britt…" Puck starts to say as he leads the blonde to an empty room so that they can have more privacy. "I'm sorry for giving you a hard time, but I needed to know if you were serious about this thing with Santana."

"How does my relationship with Santana concern you?" Brittany challenges.

"Because… Santana is like my sister; if you hurt her, then you and I are gonna have some problems," Noah states in a more serious tone.

"What makes you think that I would ever hurt her?" Brittany questions, feeling slightly befuddled by the direction this conversation is taking.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Puck asks. Once he receives a reluctant nod from the blonde, he continues. "I've known for years how crazy Santana is about you. In fact, I was really surprised that she even told you. As much as Quinn and I are rooting for you guys to be together, I know that it's not a guarantee. And if that's the case… I just wanna make sure that Santana will be okay."

"I'm still not following."

"If you have no intention of pursuing a relationship with Santana, then let her know now," Noah says bluntly. "Santana will wait for you; even if it slowly starts to kill her inside… she'll wait just to have a chance with you. So I'm asking… please don't string her along and give her hope that something will eventually happen when you know that it won't."

"Is that what you think I've been doing?" Brittany replies, feeling somewhat offended. "Is that what she thinks?"

"I don't know, Brittany… that's why I'm voicing my concerns now," Puck states. "I know that you guys have always had a flirty relationship, but this is for real now. I know that there are reasons and possible concerns that might be holding you back, but the clock is ticking."

"We're supposed to talk when we get back home," Brittany quietly says, taking in everything that the profiler has just told her.

"That's good… but if you're still feeling confused, ask yourself one question…" Noah states. "You don't have to tell me your answer, but… do you want Santana?" He pauses. "Because… she wants you. Just think about it."

And with that, Noah exits the room, hoping that his "protective older brother" speech helps the liaison to finally make a decision.

Brittany continues to sit in the room for a few minutes, mulling over everything. Santana said that she would give her time so the blonde never thought that she might be inadvertently hurting the Latina by still not having an answer. Santana never showed any signs to suggest otherwise, but then again, she was always the best at compartmentalizing things. That's the only logical way Brittany can explain how she never picked up on her best friend's deeper feelings for her after all these years. She won't have to wait much longer, the blonde thinks to herself.

After Brittany finally calms down and is able to get her focus back on the case, she goes to the break room area and makes two cups of coffee. She then finds herself outside of the room where Santana is, still rustling through papers, trying her best to find something concrete that will give her team a lead. Quietly, Brittany slips into the room and sets down the cup of coffee.

"I didn't want to disturb you, but I thought you might need this," Brittany says as the Latina picks up the cup and takes a big gulp. Santana then closes her eyes as the hot liquid travels down her throat. She releases a sigh of content as the blonde watches on. "I guess I should leave you two alone."

The sound of Brittany's voice snaps Santana out of her momentary high of caffeinated bliss. Once she opens her eyes, they immediately lock onto the sparkling blue ones staring back at her. "Sorry… you know how I feel about my caffeine," she chuckles out. Brittany laughs along. "Thanks for this, by the way."

"No problem."

"Why don't you take a seat," Santana suggests. The blonde happily accepts, sitting down next to the Latina. "I know there's gotta be something in here."

"What are you thinking?" Brittany questions. "Let's talk it out."

"I'm trying to get inside this guy's head," the profiler responds. "I know that Lima doesn't have a huge gay population, but… he could've picked anyone from that bar. Why did he specifically pick these 4 guys? Guys that all knew each… guys that all went to the same school… guys that could've easily identified him if they had escaped. There's something we're missing here."

"What about what you were saying earlier about the first victim," the liaison begins. "He's the only one that was dumped outside of the 5 mile parameter; that must've been for a reason."

"I agree… that's why I've been trying to find a link," Santana replies. "Did they ever find a match to where Hummel was drowned at?"

"Hold on… let me check," Brittany says as she flips through multiple pages of the crime scene analysis. "Here it is…" she says while pointing at the document, "it says the diatoms found in Hummel's system match the sample CSU took from Lake Cody. That kind of makes sense since his body was found not too far from there at the Cairo Recreational Department."

"Yeah… but there's gotta be more to it than that," the Latina adds in. "Lake Cody… it means something to Karofsky. But what?"

As Santana racks her brain, she starts going through all of the photographs that were taken at Karofsky's house. It's at this point that she comes across a picture of a younger David and his parents, standing in front of a house with a lake behind it.

"This house… where is it?" Santana thinks out loud while pointing at the picture. "Britt… get Q on the phone."

Brittany does as she's told and within a few seconds, the tech analyst is on the other line. "Hey Quinn… you're on speaker with me and San."

"Ooh… how are my 2 favorite ladies doing?"

"We'd be a lot better if we caught this fucker already," Santana charmingly replies. Brittany giggles in the background. "Anyways… can you check through the property records and see if the Karofsky's owned any other land, specifically near Lake Cody?"

"Sure thing, hon… just give me a minute," Quinn replies as she works her magic. After a short wait, the other blonde informs them that she's got goose egg.

"Damn… I thought for sure that was gonna be a good lead," Brittany says, feeling deflated.

"Yeah… me too," Santana replies back. As she studies the picture more closely, another idea pops into her head. "Q… can you check if there's any property listed under David's mother's maiden name…" she inquires as she searches through the files once more, "… Dana Campbell?"

"Let me run that real quick," Fabray responds. "You, my love, are a genius!"

"What… did you find something?" Brittany excitedly asks.

"I sure did! Karofsky's mother owned a house off of Ottawa Road, which boarders Lake Cody," Quinn happily replies.

"That's it! He's gotta be there…" Santana says as she gets up from the table, ready to take off to tell the rest of the team. "Thanks Q!"

"Santana, wait!" The tech analyst yells out, hoping to catch the Latina before the line disconnected.

"What is it?"

"I just got done with my analyst of Karofsky's computer," Quinn begins. "This kid had a lot of self-hate. His browser history shows multiple websites and searches on how to "de-gay" yourself."

"So, Santana was right… Karofsky is a gay man who is trapped in the closest," Brittany states. "His father's death must've sent him over the edge.

"We need to update the team now," the profiler speaks up. "Circumstances have changed…"

"I've sent the address to all of your phones. Please be careful," Fabray says as she hangs up.

Brittany and Santana then exit the interviewing room and re-join the rest of their team and Detective Holliday.

"Alright guys, listen up…" Santana says loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "We have lead on Karofsky's location."

"His mother owned a house off of Lake Cody, where the first victim was killed," Brittany picks up.

"Okay troops, what are we waiting for?" Holly states rhetorically while she attempts to rally up her officers.

"Hold on just a second, Holly," the liaison interrupts. "In light of new evidence, we should all take extra precaution on this subject."

"Karofsky is a very troubled gay man who's probably suppressed this feeling since he was a teenager," the Latina explains. "Being a star athlete and probably having super religious parents made him bottle all of these feelings up inside and they continued to fester until his father's death. Then… he snapped," she continues. "He should be considered armed and dangerous. More than likely… this will end 1 of 2 ways: he will either kill himself – if he hasn't done so already – or… he'll get one of you to do his dirty work for him."

"What do you mean," an officer amongst the crowd questions.

"It's called suicide by cop," Schue replies.

"Essentially, it's a method in which an individual with suicidal tendencies deliberately acts in a threatening way in hopes of provoking a lethal response from law enforcement."

"So, basically…"

"It's a coward's way out," Puck responds coldly.

"I agree…" Santana steps in before her partner can say anything further. "That's why we all have to be on our A game today."

"So, what… are we just supposed to wait to let him attack us first before we can do anything?" Another officer snidely asks.

Before Santana has a chance to respond, Brittany steps in. "That's not what she's saying, Officer…" the blonde says, emphasizing the man's rank. "If there is a threat, then you utilize the most practical option to neutralize it and to make sure that you go home to your family at the end of the day."

Santana looks over at Brittany, impressed on how the liaison not only stuck up for her, but also handled herself quite nicely towards an arrogant prick.

"We want Karofsky alive," Santana says sternly, addressing the group. "But make no mistake… I will not hesitate to put a bullet in his brain, if it comes down to that."

"Alright everyone… let's go!" Detective Holliday exclaims.

Once the team arrives at the lake house, they split up and surround the property. However, before everyone is able to get into position, a loud ruckus is heard from the back side of the house.

As Agent Puckerman rounds the corner, he sees a man in a flannel shirt and jeans running out of the back door towards the lake.

"Karofsky, stop where you are... FBI!" Puck yells out as the man gets further away. "He's running towards the lake," he says into his radio as he continues his pursuit.

"Let's get a few uniforms to check the house to make sure there aren't any more victims in there," Schue says as he makes his way towards the lake as well. "Everyone else, get to the lake and set up a perimeter."

Once Karofsky gets to the end of the dock, he realizes that there is nowhere left for him to run. As he looks out onto the lake, he feels his body start to shiver.

"Karofsky... look around man," Noah says once he catches up to him, maintaining a safe distance while aiming his Glock at his back. "Let's just stop this before you try and do something stupid."

"Listen to him, man... there's nowhere else to go," Hudson states as he and the rest of the team surround the suspect. "Let's just end this now."

Karofsky still has his back facing away from the multiple agents and officers with their weapons trained on him. Suddenly, he brandishes his own gun and holds the barrel against his temple.

"Don't come any closer!" Karofsky yells out, his hand shaking as he presses the barrel of the gun more firmly against his head. "I swear to God I'll kill myself!"

"Whoa, whoa... let's just calm down for a second," Santana says as she steps closer to unstable man. "Everybody stand down," she orders, but once she sees that no one has made any movement to back up, she repeats herself with more authority in her voice. "I said stand down!"

This time, all of her fellow agents and officers take a few steps back, giving her and the suspect some space. Santana then takes a few tentative steps towards Karofsky until she appears in his line of view.

"Dave… can I call you Dave?" Santana questions, but doesn't receive a response. "Can you look at me for a second?" The Latina softly asks, not wanting to alarm the man. Karofsky slightly turns his head until he can see the woman's profile. "My name's Santana... do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

"There's nothing to talk about... I know how this is gonna end," Dave replies.

"Okay then… if you don't wanna talk, maybe you could just listen?" Santana suggests. Once she sees the man shrug his shoulders, she continues. "I'm not gonna stand here and pretend like I know your life or any of the hardships you've been through. However, I think I can relate to at least one aspect of your life."

"What are you talking about?" Karofsky questions.

"I know what it's like, being a gay kid in a small town… it sucks," Santana starts off, trying to appeal to the man.

"Bullshit," Dave replies, not believing one word the agent is saying.

"No bullshit here… it actually made headline news several years ago," the profiler explains. "My mother is Maribel Lopez. She's a U.S. Ambassador."

Karofsky loosens his grip on his gun and slightly lowers it. "I remember that story. It was all over the news when I was in middle school."

"I was so terrified when I first realized that I was gay," Santana continues. "At the time, I was just a teenager and my mom and I were living oversees in a country that shunned homosexuals. I was so afraid what would happen if someone found out."

As Dave listens to Santana's story, he begins to feel a little more comfortable. Brittany, on the other hand is intrigued to hear more personal details about the Latina's life before she met her. She's also a little bit scared that the Karofsky subject could snap at any moment and hurt her best friend.

"Not saying that this happened to you, but I can only imagine being a star athlete on the football team my senior year of high school; you must've felt like you were on top of the world, especially with colleges looking at you," Santana picks back up, trying to read any facial expressions Karofsky might offer. "But then… Kurt, this out and proud freshman, comes along and maybe stirs the pot? Maybe he could sense that deep dark secret you've been trying so hard to hide over the years?

Santana studies Karofsky's face, watching as his jaw clenches from her previous statement and how he tightened his grip on the gun again. This is all the proof she needs to know that she was definitely on the right track.

"You wish you could've been that open and free, but you just couldn't. You couldn't let him destroy all of the walls you built up to protect yourself? What would the guys on the team think? Or worse… your Dad?" Santana poses, really starting to crack the barrier that the former football player had up. "And so… you bullied Kurt. You bullied him until he couldn't take it anymore and transferred schools."

After a long pause, Karofsky finally speaks again. "I'm not proud of how I treated Kurt back then. He didn't deserve that."

"I think it's working," Puck whispers to his team. "He's opening up."

"I know you didn't… you just didn't know what else to do at the time," the Latina says sympathetically. "After Kurt was gone, you went on with your life. But, once you hit college, you probably found yourself in the same predicament; having to hide who you truly are to appease others."

"I didn't want the guys on the team to treat me differently," Dave softly says. "I just wanted to play football and maybe once I was more comfortable about my sexuality, maybe I could've met someone."

"But then you got hurt and winded up at Dalton," Santana fills in the blanks. "That's where you ran into Kurt again."

"I ran into him on my first day. He seemed really surprised to see me, but didn't say anything," Dave continues. "I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable so I just kept my distance. It wasn't until the beginning of this year that I actually built up the courage to speak to him and apologize for my poor behavior back then."

"How did that go… if you don't mind me asking?"

"H-he…" Karofsky struggles to get out. "He f-forgave me. We actually became friends after that."

"That must've been nice, finally having someone to talk to."

"It was…" Dave says solemnly. Santana feels that there's more that the man wants to say, but she doesn't want to push her luck. "Blaine didn't deserve him."

"Why do you say that? Is it because he cheated on him?" Santana questions.

"That's part of it…" Karofsky replies. "Honestly, I don't think he ever really took the time to see how amazing Kurt really was, especially if he let an asshole like Sebastian make him stray. Everyone at that school knows that he's the biggest whore. He didn't even like Blaine like that… he just wanted to see if he could get into his pants. It was just a big fucking game to him."

"You seem to know a lot about the students personal lives," the Latina comments.

"Well… when you spend 40 hours a week traveling up and down those hallways, you're bound to hear some gossip," Dave informs. "I just hate that Kurt got caught in the middle of it."

Taking into account everything that Karofsky has been so candid about and all of the victims and their relationship to each other, everything suddenly becomes clear to Santana.

Dave was in love with Kurt.

"He was so humiliated and heart broken when Sebastian told him that he had been with his boyfriend," Dave continues. "He blamed himself for Blaine's infidelity, like it was his fault that his former boyfriend was a douche."

As Santana continues to listen, she notices how unsteady Dave's hand had become and was afraid that the anger building up inside of him might cause him to do something rash.

"I get it… that's why you killed them," Santana cautiously states. "They didn't deserve to be free to walk around, especially not after what they put Kurt through."

"You're damn right!"

"But… what about Elliott? How does he fit into all of this?" The profiler ponders.

"I didn't like the way he looked at Kurt, especially after he broke up with Blaine," Dave explains. "He was supposed to be his teacher – someone in a position of authority – yet I saw the lingering looks he gave Kurt.

Santana can feel the finish line in sight, but she knows that she has to be extremely careful with how she asks her next question.

"Dave… David, look at me," Santana politely asks. The man hesitates at first, but then obliges. "You loved Kurt, didn't you? That's why you did all of this."

Karofsky's eyes then begin to water, although he still has the gun pointed at his head. He reluctantly nods his head, confirming the profiler's suspicions.

"So… what happened here Dave?"

Dave doesn't answer at first. Instead, he covers his face with his left hand as he starts to tap the barrel of the gun against his head with his right hand. "I d-didn't mean to h-hurt him…" Karofsky says as he begins openly sobbing. "It was an accident."

"Tell me about it."

After Dave spends a few minutes releasing all of the emotions that he's been locking up inside of his body for so long, his breathing finally regulates and his tears have stopped falling.

"After my dad died, I was at the bar one night, getting pretty wasted," Dave starts out, mumbling his words. "Kurt saw me there and knew that I was too drunk to drive, so he offered to take me home. But I didn't want to go home. Instead, I asked him to bring me here."

"What happened next?"

"Kurt didn't want to leave me by myself, so he offered to stay with me and… I don't know; I guess I had some liquid courage because the next thing I know, I kissed him," Karofsky says as he re-lives that magical moment. "I thought that he would push me off, but he didn't. He kissed me back and then… we ended up having sex."

"How did that make you feel?"

"It was amazing while it was happening… but the next morning, I kinda freaked out," Dave continues. "I just kept thinking about how disappointed my father would be if he knew that his only son was a queer. And then I started thinking about my old teammates and what they would say… I couldn't handle it."

"What did you do, Dave?" Santana pushes. She feels for the man because if he didn't hate himself so much, maybe none of this would've happened.

"I came out here to think. And then… I felt someone touch my shoulder; that's when I lost it," Karofsky barely gets out as his whole body starts to shake. "That one touch ignited all of the hate that I've been fighting inside. I tackled Kurt into the water and held his head down until he stopped moving."

Karofsky then begins to hyperventilate, gasping for air, but never releasing the gun in his hand.

"Dave… I need you to calm down and take some deep breaths," Santana instructs, hoping that her demeanor would keep the man going off the deep end. "Just put the gun down so that we can get you the help that you need."

"N-no one can h-help me," Dave says in between jagged breaths. "Like I said before… I know how this ends."

"Oh yeah... how's that?" Santana asks, challenging him.

"I'm either gonna leave here in a body bag or with silver bracelets..." Karofsky states knowingly, "and let's just say... I don't think I'll fare too well in prison."

"But at least you'll be alive..." Santana argues, trying to reason with the man.

"Alive for what?! To live with my guilt? To have the constant reminder of what I did and how I hurt the person I love the most?!" Dave snaps as he points the gun at Santana. This immediately draws the attention of all of the law enforcement personnel behind her. "I'd rather be dead... at least I won't have to feel this pain anymore."

"Lopez… you've done all that you can," Puck yells out, trying to gain her attention. "I think it's time to let this one go."

"You don't have to do this," Santana softly says to Dave, ignoring her partner. She then holds up her right hand towards her team, signaling them to stop from shooting the man currently pointing a gun at her chest. "Dave... you might be in a lot of pain, but I don't think you wanna die."

"Don't tell me how I fucking feel!" Karofsky shouts back as he shakily aims his gun higher on the Latina.

"I'm not trying to tell you how you feel; I just think that if you really wanted to be dead right now... you would be," the profiler replies back, trying her best to keep how frightened she is inside a secret. "Once my team arrived in town, you had to know that it was only a matter of time before you got caught. You could've easily offed yourself already, but you didn't. Instead, you waited for us to find you."

Santana pauses to see if the man wanted to interject. When she's met with nothing but silence and heaving breathing, she continues, but not before she slowly lowers her weapon and holsters it. She then proceeds to put her hands up.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Brittany says out loud, wondering what must be going through the Latina's mind right now.

"And now... you're pointing a gun at an unarmed Federal Agent, hoping that my guys will do your dirty work for you," Santana says boldly as she takes a step towards Dave. "Honestly, the only thing that's keeping my buddies back there from putting a bullet in your brain is me."

Upon hearing the Latina's words, Karofsky uses his peripheral vision to quickly scan his surroundings. Seeing the 15 or so guns all pointed at him from every possible angle imaginable, his hand begins to tremble even more.

"Tell your men to back off!" Karofsky demands. "I'll shoot her!" The man yells towards the other officers.

"Dave… if you really wanted to hurt me, you would've done it already," Santana says as she takes another step towards the unstable man.

"Don't come any closer," Dave chokes out as his eyes begin to water again. Slowly, his will is breaking down.

"It's your call, Dave… how do you want to proceed?" Santana inquires, taking yet another step until she is only a few feet away from him. "You wanna put the gun down and finally own up to what you did? Or... do you want to be a coward and force my guys to light you up like the 4th of July?"

Karofsky takes an aggressive step forward, pointing his gun directly against Santana's vest. The more his hand shakes, the more anxious the Latina becomes. Dave then looks directly into Santana's eyes.

"You don't have to do this, Dave…" the profiler whispers out.

As the tears are now streaming down his face, Dave slowly lowers his gun just enough for Santana to take it. Once she has the gun in her possession, she signals the rest of her team to move in. Within the blink of an eye, Puck appears behind Karofsky and handcuffs him without further incident. As Noah searches his person, Dave looks back at Santana.

"I didn't mean to hurt him…" Dave sobs out.

Santana takes a step forward and places a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "I know you didn't, Dave… I know you didn't."

As those last words leave her mouth, Karofsky is escorted away from the lake where it all began.

Later on that evening, the team arrives back in Virginia. The plane ride had been mostly silent with everyone just trying to sort through the very unorthodox, yet emotional capture of David Karofsky.

"Everyone… that was impeccable work you did out there. Go home and get some rest… you can finish up your reports tomorrow," Schue says as the team walks towards their respective vehicles. "Santana… that was a hell of a risk you took today. Puh-lease don't ever scare me like that again."

"Yes, sir…" Santana responds as she shoots her boss a grateful smile. "Goodnight Will."

"You almost gave me a freaking heart attack today," Noah adds in, sharing the same sentiment as their leader. "I mean, literally… I almost peed my pants."

"I'm sorry I scared you… I just went with my gut feeling," the Latina sincerely states.

"I know… I'm familiar with your craziness," Puck replies with a smile. "I think you might owe an apology to someone else though," he says as he subtly nods his head over to where Brittany is leaning up against her blue Volkswagen Tiguan.

"How pissed is she?" Santana inquires, trying to prepare herself for her best friend's wrath.

"Well… I'll put it to you like this," Noah starts to say, "she didn't say a word on the plane."

"Shit…"

"Shit is right… good luck Lopez," Puck says as he turns to walk away. "See ya in the AM."

With everyone now gone, Santana slowly makes her way over to the awaiting blonde who's vehicle just so happens to be parked next to the Latina's.

"Hey Britt…" Santana carefully speaks, trying to feel the other woman out.

Brittany doesn't respond at first. She just continues to rub her temples with her fingers. The blonde is so angry and frustrated with the profiler that she doesn't know where to begin.

"What in the hell were you thinking?" Brittany says very slowly.

"Look, Britt… I know that you and the other guys were probably really worried about me, but I'm fine; everything worked out okay," Santana offers.

"Everything worked out okay?" The blonde slowly repeats the Latina's previous statement. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Whoa… why are you so upset?"

"That guy could've killed you!" Brittany yells back, slightly scaring Santana. "How can you act so casual when that lunatic had a gun pointed at your chest not even 3 hours ago.

"I can't really explain it, but I knew that he wasn't going to hurt me," Santana tries to explain.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" Brittany says incredulously. "You might be able to relate to the guy and empathize with him on some levels, but you do not know him and what else he might be capable of. And… he is certainly not worth putting your own life in danger to possibly save his."

"That guy belongs in prison so that he can pay for what he did and get the treatment that he desperately needs," the profiler retorts, feeling herself starting to get a little agitated. "Putting multiple bullets in him and burying him 6 feet under wasn't gonna accomplish that."

"Well… if you ask the families of the 4 men he killed, they might feel a little differently," the liaison shoots back, not backing down. "Why are you defending this guy?"

"Because!" Santana shouts back. "That could've very well been me. Maybe I never thought about killing anyone before, but I know what it's like to desperately want to be someone else than who you are. I was able to find a support system and learn how to just love and accept myself. But Dave… he never stood a chance."

"San… look at me," Brittany says in a softer tone while she grabs the Latina's hand to lace with hers. "You are nothing like him. I'll admit… he could use some psychological help, but when he killed Kurt… he made a choice. Killing those other 3 boys was just a way to justify what he did to Kurt."

Santana doesn't say anything because she knows that Brittany is right. Deep down, no matter how lost and apologetic the man had seemed, Dave made a choice to take the life of 4 young men. That's just something that he will have to live with for the rest of his life while he sits in prison.

"Santana… you gotta promise me that you won't ever do something like that again. I care about you entirely too much to watch you risk your life for someone who damn sure doesn't deserve it," the blonde says as her eyes begin to water.

"I promise, Brittany… I promise," Santana replies back as she lifts her free hand to wipe away the tears in her best friend's eyes.

"If something ever happened to you, I…" Brittany stops mid-sentence as her emotions begin to take over. "If we're gonna be together, you can't be doing stupid shit like this."

Santana momentarily freezes at the liaison's last set of words. "If we're gonna be together?" She slowly repeats, putting heavy emphasis on the word 'together'.

"Uh…" Brittany opens her mouth reply, but quickly closes it once she realizes what she had actually just let slip out.

Brittany thought about back-tracking her previous statement because she hadn't meant for Santana to hear those words just yet. Although they were supposed to finally discuss the future of their relationship once they arrived back at home, the blonde hadn't really gotten the chance to figure out exactly what she wanted to say, especially after her earlier talk with Noah and witnessing the Latina's reckless behavior. However, just looking back at Santana now and feeling the warmth of her hand against her cheek, Brittany finally decides to just stop thinking and do what she's been wanting to do ever since her best friend told her that she was interested in her.

Without another word, Brittany removes the space between them and crashes her lips against Santana's. The force is so great that it pushes the profiler backwards until her back is flush against Brittany's SUV. Santana is so surprised by the sudden action that all she can really do is grab ahold of the blonde's waist and hold on for dear life. The Latina is so caught up in her little world that it takes her brain a minute to comprehend what exactly is happening.

"Brittany's kissing me," the Latina thinks to herself. That sentence alone blows her mind as she feels the blonde lightly nibble on her bottom lip. Before things can go any further, Santana reluctantly pulls away, thus breaking their kiss. "Britt…" she says breathlessly, "w-what about… what about the rules?"

Brittany takes a split second to think about her answer before replying. "Fuck the rules."

And just like that, Santana and Brittany pick right back up where they left off. The Latina is still unsure of how or why the blonde spontaneously decided to attack her lips, but in the end… she could care less. The only thing that matters to her right now is the fact that the woman she'd never thought she have a chance with is kissing her right now and trying her hardest to slip her tongue into the profiler's mouth. Santana eagerly accepts her silent pleads and opens her mouth. Once their tongues finally meet, both women moan at the sensation. They carry on like this for several more minutes before finally detaching their lips and leaning their foreheads against each other.

"Does this mean that you're not mad at me anymore?" Santana ponders, testing the waters out.

"Oh, no… I'm still plenty mad at you; I just had to get that out of my system," Brittany replies through ragged breaths.

"Oh…" the Latina says back, not knowing exactly what the blonde means.

After a short pause, Brittany speaks again. "Come home with me…"

"A-are you sure?" Santana somehow manages to ask after being caught off-guard again.

"Yes… I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Brittany genuinely states.

This causes Santana's heart to flutter. Not wanting to waste another minute, the profiler leans in and places a chaste kiss to Brittany's lips. "I'll meet you there," she says as she detaches herself from the blonde and makes her way to her Audi. Brittany follows suit, hopping into her vehicle and driving off as her best friend follows behind her.

Although Brittany has no idea what to expect once she and Santana get to her house, she knows that she's not afraid to let whatever happen between them.

Author's Note:

FINALLY! I know you guys have all been waiting for some action between the ladies and now you have it! Again, I'm sorry I've been torturing you all with the progression of their relationship, but I think it was necessary and fit much better with the flow of the story in reference to the cases they've been working. I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger. And just so you know, from being a cop in real life... Karofsky would've been killed on the spot as soon as he pointed his gun away from his head and towards Santana. I only wrote it like that for dramatic effect cuz I've seen too many cop shows where they have these long stand-offs to build suspense. On another note, I'll be taking a short break from this story so that I can update 3rd & Lucky. I hope you guys didn't think I abandoned that story… I've just been so enthralled with this particular story that I kinda neglected my other story. Anyways, once I get an update out for 3rd, I'll be working on another one for this story. Thanks again to everyone that has read, reviewed, followed, or has added this story to their favorites list.

As always… stay classy!

-Kris

PS – I'm still looking for someone that can make some artwork covers for my stories. Let me know.

***ATTENTION***

For all of those guests that have made comments about the conversation between Puck and Brittany... please calm down. It's clear that the words Puck used have been wildly misinterpreted and has cause some of you readers to be upset and/or angry. Believe me... that was not my intention. When Puck told Brittany that there would be problems between them if she hurt Santana, he was NOT threatening her.

I repeat... PUCK WAS NOT THREATENING BRITTANY!

All that was meant by that comment is that if Brittany intentionally hurt Santana, the relationship between her (Brittany) and Puck would be altered and strained. Everyone on the team is very close to each other, especially Puck and Santana, since they are partners. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to be worried about Santana's well-being and voicing his concerns to Brittany, who is also a close friend of his. Again, Puck was not threatening Brittany in any way, shape, or form. I'm sorry that my message of him just trying to look out for Santana got misconstrued so badly. I don't condone violence against women and would never put it in one of my stories (unless it was one of the bad guys saying it, which Puck is not... in this story, at least).

As always, I appreciate everyone that reads my stories and seeing their feedback. However, please refrain from all of the negativity... especially when you're not reading the characters correctly. If you are unsure about what was meant or have a question about a particular character or scene, then feel free to PM me so that I can explain it to you the way that I was trying to have it perceived. In regards to this chapter, coincidentally enough... everyone that had a problem or made a comment about Puck 'threatening' Brittany is a Guest, whom I can't speak directly to through a PM. I have no problem with anyone expressing their opinion, but please... don't hide behind a Guest account.

At the end of the day, I write these stories so that I can share them with all of you. My stories are meant to be happy, funny, and entertaining... although there is some drama from time to time. All that I ask is that you don't muddle down my hard work and effort with your uninformed negativity.