"The most important thing is this: to sacrifice what you are now for what you can become tomorrow." ― Shannon L. Alder
"Sorry to cut the celebration short, but McDonough, Georgia is in desperate need of our help," Fabray starts off. "Over the past 7 months, there have been a total of 5 women found dead along Sandy Ridge Road in Henry County."
As the Oracle of All Knowledge clicks a button on the remote in her hand, the faces of several women appear on the projection screen.
"The bodies of Terri Schiber (40), Cassandra July (36), April Rhodes (43), Kitty Wilde (21), and Megan Grisby (39) were all found within 48 hours of each woman being reported missing."
"Multiple lacerations were scattered among each of the victims' bodies, but the cause of death was actually a fatal blow to the femoral artery," Dr. Abrams remarks as he quickly scans through the M.E.'s report on his tablet.
"So the other knife wounds were made post-mortem?" Puckerman questions.
"It doesn't appear so," Artie replies. "More than likely, the fatal stab wound was delivered first. As the victims started to bleed out, the UnSub just added more fuel to the fire by cutting them while they laid there… defenseless."
"All of these women looked to be in pretty decent shape; how was the UnSub able to subdue them?" Brittany inquires.
"Based on the bruising found on each of the victims' bodies around their wrists and ankles, it appears that the UnSub had them restrained," Schuester adds in. "Photos from the autopsy showed marks in various locations on their bodies, approximately two inches apart."
"Okay… so those marks were probably caused by some type of stun gun or taser-like instrument," Santana adds in. "Just about anyone can purchase that in any tactical supply store or over the internet."
Everyone nods their heads in agreement.
"The last sightings of each of the victims before they went missing were all in public places," Quinn picks back up. "The local grocery store, the mall, the park…"
"So the UnSub doesn't have any trouble blending in," Santana says as an afterthought. "Somehow he managed to get close enough to each of the victims so he could deploy his weapon of choice and temporarily subdue them until he was able to get back to a more secure location."
"So this guy doesn't appear threatening," Hudson adds in. "What do we know about the victims?"
"Each of these women were real go-getters. Very independent and highly successful in their lines of work," Quinn responds. "All of them either lived or worked in the McDonough area; all except for Miss Wilde, victim #4."
As each of the team members look through the particulars of each of the victims on their tablets, something strikes itself as odd to Santana.
"All of the victims were business-type professionals except for Wilde; she was just a student," the Latina states as she voices her thoughts aloud. "Aside from Wilde, the rest of the victims were happily married; some with children. Also, Wilde is the only one that falls outside of the age range of mid-30s to early 40s. Honestly, the only thing that really ties her into this group of women is…"
"The fact that they all look like me?" Brittany politely cuts in. Although everyone in the room could clearly see the similarities between the victims and their newly promoted liaison turned profiler, no one had come remotely close to saying as much out loud until Santana's previous statement. "C'mon guys… Caucasian female, blonde hair, blue eyes… that's me. I fit the UnSub's type. You guys aren't doing me any favors by trying to down play that fact."
"Pierce is right. Now that we've been called in to help, we have to stay vigilant and factor in the possibility that she could become a possible target," Schue states firmly.
As Brittany's eyes slowly flicker towards the Latina sitting next to her, it's clear that Santana has no intention of looking back at her right now. Her face is stoic as ever, but the blonde can tell that Will's words have affected Santana, based on how tightly her jaw is clenched. To anyone else on the team, they would probably assume that the Latina was just remaining focused and taking in all of the facts as usual, but Brittany knew better. Brittany had always been the one person that Santana made an attempt to lower her walls for. Because of that – and all of the additional time the two had been spending together lately – Brittany was privileged to know Santana on a level that no one else did.
Subtly, Brittany places her right hand on the Latina's thigh and lightly squeezes it. The move catches Santana off guard but she hides it extremely well. Her face remains unphased, but her jaw loosens up a bit. In one fluid motion, Santana drops her left hand down underneath the table and finds itself on top of the blonde's. After stroking her thumb lightly over Brittany's hand for a few seconds, Santana gives it a light squeeze before bringing her own hand back to its previous position, resting on top of the table. The brief contact is enough to appease Brittany for now. Just as inconspicuously, she removes her hand from the Latina's thigh and places it back into her own lap without being seen… or at least she thought as much.
As the entire encounter was taking place, Quinn's eyes had been fixated on her two lovely co-workers. She had been wondering if anything else had happened between her two very close friends, but she felt it wasn't her place to ask… yet. Instead, Quinn let her imagination run wild and had the video of Brittany and Santana sucking face in the parking garage on a loop. But now, seeing the secret exchange between the two, Quinn thought the least she could do was check in and make sure that her two favorite ladies were doing okay.
"Speaking of which, why are we just being called in now?" Noah wonders. "These murders have been going on for the last 7 months, yet we're just being informed about them now? It doesn't make sense."
"The first 3 victims seemed to have followed a pattern, each killed about a month a part," Finn answers. "But after the third vic, the murders stopped and the case went cold. Local police assumed that the UnSub had killed his intended victim or was perhaps incarcerated for another crime."
"That is until Miss Wilde's body was discovered a few days ago," their fearless takes over. "At first they assumed that her death was an isolated incident, but once Mrs. Grisby's body was found earlier this morning, they decided to take another look at the cold case."
"Are we absolutely sure that this is the same guy?" Santana raises the question. "The Sandy Ridge killer has never claimed another victim so quickly before. Is he making up for lost time after being silent for the past 4 months?"
"Or are we looking at two possible killers; maybe a copycat?" Brittany suggests.
"These are all good questions. Hopefully we'll be able to provide Henry County with some answers by the time we land," Schuester says as he gets up from his seat. "Once we arrive, we're going to hit the ground running. Abrams and Hudson, you'll go to the Henry County PD's Central precinct and set up our command post. Once that is completed, Abrams, start working on a geographical profile; Hudson, start working on a preliminary profile. Once you guys are done with that, bring in the family members of the first three victims and re-interview them."
Once receiving nods in affirmation from the senior profiler and the boy genius, Will turns his attention to Santana and Noah.
"Lopez and Puckerman… I want you guys to go to the residences of the most recent victims and re-interview their families there. Pierce and I will go to the most recent crime scene and meet up with local PD. Any questions?" Schuester asks. When he receives several heads shaking 'no' in response, he continues on. "Okay then… wheels up in 30."
As the rest of the team gathers their belongings and file out of the conference room to fetch their go-bags, Brittany hangs back a few steps. Even though she wasn't particularly thrilled about being directly supervised by Will on her very first case as an official profiler, she was more concerned about her brunette counterpart. Once Brittany was sure that the room was cleared from prying eyes, she delicately runs her hand down the length of Santana's arm.
"You good?"
"Yeah, of course…" The Latina easily replies back as she lightly brushes her thumb against Brittany's cheek. Although she was very concerned that Brittany matched the victimology of their latest UnSub, Santana knew that she had to remain level-headed and treat this like any another case. "I should be asking you that question."
"I'll be fine, especially since Schue will probably be watching me like a hawk and/or babysitting me for the duration of this case," the blonde replies back nonchalantly, giggling lightly to herself.
Santana giggles back as well before her face goes back to serious mode. "Just so you know… it will be a cold day in Hell before I let anyone lay a finger on you."
The sound of Santana's cool, protective, and very sultry voice makes Brittany's knees slightly buckle. Although she suppresses the moan that is just dying to jump out, she thinks better of it and tries to maintain some type of professionalism.
"Dear Baby Jesus… I wish we weren't at work right now," the blonde mumbles out.
Upon hearing this, the Latina's signature smirk finds its way onto her face. "You know what I find incredibly sexy about you?" Santana whispers out as she takes a step closer. Brittany shakes her head no. "Absolutely everything…"
A bashful smile makes its way onto Brittany's face as she hears the sincerity in her counterpart's tone. The blonde is stuck between being totally turned on and being in total awe of the woman standing in front of her.
"I'm gonna go grab us a couple of coffees to-go," Santana says softly as she brushes her thumb against the blonde's cheek again. "I'll see you on the jet, beautiful…"
With those last words, Santana disappears from the room, leaving a very flustered Brittany behind. "Mailman, mailman, mailman…" she says repeatedly to herself as she closes her eyes and takes deep, soothing breaths.
"Damn… that Lopez is one smooth operator," Quinn says knowingly as she waltzes back into the conference room.
"Holy shit, Q! Were you eavesdropping on us?"
"Of course not," Fabray says at first before receiving a pointed look from the blonde. "Okay… maybe a little bit. Don't think I didn't see that little hand move you pulled during the briefing to check on your woman."
Brittany opens her mouth up to retort her friend's claims, but she knows that would just be pointless.
"Since neither one of you will give me any details about your Sapphic love affair, I have to find new and creative ways to get my information," Quinn continues on, not missing a beat. "And don't even try to refute the fact that you and Miss Lopez haven't been getting all hot-n-heavy because I've seen the surveillance video from the parking garage and I know she spent the night before last at your house since she answered your phone at the ass crack of dawn. Plus, you've had a non-stop glow on your face since yesterday."
Instead of arguing with the crafty blonde, Brittany admits defeat but not before trying to get some answers of her own. "If you know every damn thing then why are you hassling me?"
"Because it's fun. Plus, you're an easy target," Fabray replies like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Brittany does not look impressed. "In all seriousness though, I think Santana is a great fit for you. I love you guys as a couple."
Unbeknownst to her, Brittany had started biting her lower lip as Quinn referred to her relationship with Santana as being a 'couple'. Truthfully, although they had talked last night and decided that they were going to see where things went between them, Brittany and Santana had yet to place a label on what exactly their relationship really was.
"Have you guys even talked about it yet?" Quinn carefully asks.
"Yes and no," Brittany replies vaguely, which doesn't go over very well with the tech goddess. "Okay, okay… we decided to date and see where the relationship goes."
"What does that even mean? Like, are you guys exclusive? Girlfriends? Friends with benefits?"
"I don't know, Q!" Brittany says as she rubs her temples, feeling slightly frustrated by all of the questions. Although her relationship with Santana was none of Quinn's – or anyone else's – business, they were still legitimate questions that needed to be addressed. "We're dating… isn't that good enough?"
"If it were just some random person that we were talking about then I would say yeah, but we're not. This is Santana…" Fabray reminds. "She's been crazy about you since forever so I'm pretty sure she would probably agree to anything if it meant that she got to be with you."
Brittany takes a minute to think about Quinn's words and how deeply they resonate with her. Up until this point, anything romantic that had taken place between her and the Latina had been on the blonde's terms. Essentially, Santana was just along for the ride. That thought alone made Brittany feel horrible.
"Look B… I'm not trying to make you feel bad," Quinn amended. "All I'm saying is that it would be a nice gesture for Santana to know just how serious you are about her."
The blonde deeply sighs. "No, you're right Q. I don't want San to feel like I'm not as serious about her or us, even though I know she would never say anything to make me think otherwise."
"What are you gonna do?" Fabray curiously inquires.
"Probably something I should've done 2 months ago… when San first told me how she felt," Brittany vaguely replies, much to Quinn's dismay. "But right now, we have to find this sick bastard that's killing mini versions of me."
"Yeah… you should definitely do that first," the Oracle of Knowledge agrees. "You guys stay safe."
"Always," the newest profiler responds as she hugs the other blonde. As she makes her way towards the door, a wicked idea passes through her mind. Pausing briefly, Brittany looks back towards her friend. "Hey Q… you know what's ironic?"
"What?"
"I've spent years learning how to be an effective communicator; that's what makes me so good at my job," Brittany begins.
"Okay…" Quinn replies back, not understanding where her friend was going with this.
"But Santana…" the blonde picks back up, making a very sensual 'hmmm' sound as she closes her eyes. To Quinn, it appeared as if Brittany was re-living a very private moment. "She is the Queen of oral presentations… if y'know what I mean."
Shooting the tech wiz a flirty wink, Brittany swiftly exits the room, leaving Quinn to decipher her previous statement. After a few beats, it finally clicks and she can't help but gasp.
"Agent Pierce… you naughty, naughty girl!" Quinn giggles out to herself.
Author's Note:
I know they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but honestly… there aren't enough words that I could say to send out my deepest apologies for making you guys wait so long for another update. This year has gone by so fast and I just don't know where all of the time went. To all of my fans (hopefully there are still a few of you out there), I am truly sorry for the long delay. After updating some of my other stories, I got in a little bit of a funk and couldn't figure out where to go next. Plus, with my new job responsibilities, it has become harder and harder for me to find time to write. Although I can't make up for lost time, I promise to not let another 9 months go by before you have your next update. For those of you still reading this (or any of my other stories), I would love to hear from you. Thanks again for all of the support.
Hope everyone had a very Happy New Year!
- Kris ;)