Since putting on a mask, Santana's life has changed completely. Looking back on how things happened, it was funny to think that such a decision was made overnight just over a year ago. It all started on a drunken night. Mercedes and Santana were in a pub celebrating the birthday of a classmate, who was also a resident of the Stevenson building. Santana wasn't interested in looking for a hot body that night, and Mercedes, as her best friend used to say, had a vocation to be a nun. The two left the pub to return to the Stevenson, having decided that they had enjoyed the party enough.

"We shouldn't leave the pub so late and on foot." Mercedes joked with her friend. "Ladies like us are in danger when we don't behave."

"I don't see the ladies." Santana laughed, feeling loose from the alcohol.

"I see one: myself. At least my best friend is strong enough to protect me from all harm."

"I should be paid for that escort."

"No, you have the spirit of a hero."

"You know what?" Santana said. "I should test your theory. Let's find someone in trouble and save them."

"But with a clean face? Heroes can't be recognized, because there's all this stuff about protecting those close to you and everything."

"You're right." Santana took the scarf and tied it around his face. Then he picked up Mercedes' hat. "How do I look?"

"You look like poor Zorro who went to war." Mercedes laughed. "Let's see if you can find a cat on top of a tree."

There are things for which the universe conspires. In the next block, a car accident happened right in front of Santana and Mercedes. The driver who caused the accident even got out of his car to check the damage, but instead of calling for help, he tried to run away from the scene. Before he had a chance to restart the car, Santana took action and prevented him from fleeing by getting the guy behind the wheel. In the meantime, Mercedes called the emergency services to help the real victims. Santana punched the guy and trapped him in his own car using the belt he was wearing.

Mercedes and Santana ran to a more discreet spot on the street and watched from afar as the rescuers arrived five minutes later. Unfortunately, one of the people in the car, a child, died in hospital. The news showed the action of the citizen who prevented the criminal driver from fleeing. As Santana was wearing a hat, it was not possible to identify the good Samaritan, as the press called her, from the security camera at the intersection.

Things happened very quickly for Santana after this half altruistic, half drunken act. This led Grant to confront his protégé about what had happened and the risks.

"With great powers come great responsibilities." Santana argued during the discussion.

"Don't quote comic books to me, Lopez. Have you thought about the risks your altruism could cause for all of us?"

"Grant, what's the point of me being able to lift a car if I'm not going to do anything with it? Doesn't Mike use his powers on the little kids in the hospital? What's the difference? For the first time in my life, I felt good about this thing I have, this power that has always caused me problems. What I do know is that this city has problems, our police only serve the powerful, and that I can make a difference. I'm not asking for your permission to do this. I'm just letting you know that I will help people whenever I can."

"Wearing the Mercedes' hat?"

"I can get one of those ninja masks, if it'll make you sleep better."

Santana spent two months acting as a lone wolf, intervening in small things. Until the day Grant decided to help with infrastructure and also as a duo. He showed Santana the ways in which the two of them could dismantle major crimes, gangs and anything else that the police wouldn't get involved in unless ordered to do so by higher-ups. Mercedes agreed to help by assisting in investigations, because she said it would be great for honing her skills as an investigative journalist. Thus, was born the vigilantes made up of Grant and Santana, with Mercedes acting as support.

...

"On Monday morning, the police released the sketch of the alleged serial killer who victimized four women. The only surviving witness to the case told police that the attack came from a white man, approximately 1.80m tall, slim build, short hair, approximately 30 years old. If you have any information about this man, please call..."

Finn watched the newscast intently. The announcement took up no more than two minutes of the grid, which was frustrating.

"They only released the sketch now, because they couldn't catch the guy."

"I don't want to worry about that right now." Rachel picked up her plate of cereal and milk and looked out of the window. "I'm tired of it." She said quietly, but loud enough to still be heard.

"We can't let our guard down. That man is after you. If it hadn't been for a group of people passing through the park that day..."

"I know the story, Finn." Rachel said angrily. "I lived that story. I don't need you to obsess over it."

For Finn, Rachel was saved by a group of people passing through the park when the serial killer attacked her once again. It was the vital substitution she made to avoid revealing the vigilante's presence. Or rather, Santana Lopez. Rachel was still perplexed by the revelation, even more so than the possibility that she had some kind of special power. Even after the cross-talk she had with Santana, Rachel wasn't satisfied, as many questions still needed to be answered. Her mood reflected her frustration.

"I need to go to work." Finn walked over to Rachel and kissed her on the head. "Do you want me to bring you lunch?"

"You can touch me, Finn." Rachel said suddenly and visibly annoyed.

"What?"

"I'm not some fragile knick-knack. You can touch me, you can kiss me." Rachel said, trying to contain her anger.

Finn was disconcerted. Rachel asked for space immediately after the attack, which her boyfriend understood perfectly and respected, keeping a respectful distance, physically speaking. Then, over time, Kurt advised Finn not to do anything that wouldn't be characterized as pressuring Rachel into sex. That's exactly what he did, no matter how much he wanted to give vent to his own desires. Finn then approached Rachel again and kissed her on the lips. He waited to see how far she would go. It was Rachel who took the initiative in an open, weak kiss, when she brushed the tip of her tongue against her boyfriend's lips. Finn took the bowl from his girlfriend's hands so that their bodies fit together. So not only did the kiss deepen, but Finn was freer to feel his girlfriend's body and vice versa.

"Finn." Rachel broke off the kiss. "Let's go to my room."

"Are you sure? Because…"

"Finn, let's go to my room before I change my idea."

Finn forgot when to go to work. Not that it was going to make much difference apart from delaying a few pending errands. Finn picked Rachel up, bridal style, and carried her into her bedroom. He carefully laid her on the bed and the kissing and caressing began again. Finn was on the edge between trying to go slowly to give Rachel time to readjust to intimate contact, and letting himself be carried away by the need for sex, which he had been abstinent from for over a month. When Rachel was once again naked in front of him, lying on the bed, waiting for him to fit, Finn removed his pants and underwear in one movement, revealing his erect and ready member. He stimulated his girlfriend to the point where moisture and natural lubrication were flowing, inserting a finger to make sure he wouldn't hurt her. Rachel didn't say a word. She was completely silent during the whole exchange of caresses, which was odd. She liked to talk right up until the point of penetration, when she usually kept quiet.

"Are you sure?" Finn asked again with his finger still inserted in his girlfriend's vagina. All Rachel did was nod.

Finn withdrew his finger and, seconds later, Rachel felt the head of her boyfriend's penis at the entrance to her vagina. Penetration was quick and painless. This was the part where Finn forgot about his girlfriend and concentrated on the movement of his own hips. One minute, two minutes, three minutes of thrusts in progressive acceleration until ejaculation. Finn gave a few more slow thrusts until the cum flowed. The mechanic had a certain fetish for seeing his own semen leaking out of his girlfriend's vagina, as if the whitish liquid was proof that the female was well marked and fucked. Rachel closed her legs and Finn rolled over to lie beside her, catching his breath from the unexpected fuck.

"Are you okay?" It was the usual question, but at that moment Finn really wanted an honest answer.

"I am." Rachel said, already covering herself.

"Did you... did you come?" At that moment, Rachel started to cry and Finn became worried, devastated that he might have hurt her in some way. "Rachel? Please tell me what's going on?"

"I just need some time." She tried to dry the tears that kept coming.

"We shouldn't have had sex. You weren't ready." Finn was annoyed. It was obvious that Rachel wouldn't be ready overnight. He should have gone slowly, but when the other head took over, it was hard to think things through.

"I'll be fine. We'll be fine. That was important to break the ice... to get us back to where we were. I can still... do it." Rachel tried to take a deep breath and gradually dried her tears.

Finn got out of bed and started to get dressed again. His body was relaxed, but his mind was still in turmoil. Would the tedious and longed-for relationship between him and Rachel ever return to normal? It was what he wanted most in the world: to see his waitress girlfriend and occasional singer in her quiet life and her megalomaniac dreams, him guaranteeing their future in the mechanic's shop, the theater to distract them, their friends to interact with.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"No." She replied.

"Do you need anything?"

"No."

"I'll be back in a little while."

"I'm not leaving home today. There's no need to rush."

"All right."

Rachel watched her boyfriend leave the room and paid attention until she heard the apartment door close, since Finn also had the keys. Just as Rachel also had the keys to the flat he lived in. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, still wrapped in the covers. She was still trying to process the results of her impulsive action. Rachel had wanted to have sex with Finn so that she could understand a few things about her own body and mind in relation to having normal sex again.

The man who attacked her twice was brutal. It was only the second time that she understood why no one heard her screams: somehow, the man had silenced Rachel's voice. What kind of bizarre power was that? Stealing people's voices? Rachel rushed things with Finn because she also wanted to change the image that came into her mind as soon as she closed her eyes: of that man wearing a mask, raping her with exquisite sadism. Finn had never been a guy who cared about his partner's pleasure, which made orgasm something Rachel usually experienced in her solo work. But Finn never caused Rachel pain for his own pleasure.

Rachel closed her eyes, still under the impact of sex with Finn, and cried as she realized that the experience hadn't made that horrendous mental image of a masked man on top of her disappear, cumming inside her while squeezing her neck, after beating her and tearing her clothes off. Then leaving her for dead on the filthy ground next to a rubbish dump. Rachel really thought she had died, until she woke up in hospital, and saw that the environment was too mundane to be the afterlife.

Frustrated, she got out of bed and went to the bathroom she shared with Kurt. She was naked, but she didn't bother to cover herself because she knew she was alone in the small apartment. She took a hot shower and washed her private parts. She still found it hard to face the scar on her abdomen that the doctors had made to stop the internal bleeding. It was yet another horrible memory left by the masked rapist. She went back to her room, put on casual clothes and looked out of the living room window. She should move out of that apartment, because she couldn't stop looking towards the alleyway where she had been dragged and attacked.

Rachel was trying to get her life back together. Only she knew how hard she was trying to get back to work, back to school. She was seriously considering get back to the play at the theater, in William Schuester's amateur company. Perhaps it would be good for her to get together try with her friends to do what she loved best: acting and singing on stage. Who was the cast again? Oh yes: Sam Evans, Matt Rutherford, Rory Flanagan, Tina Cohen-Chang, Kurt Hummel, Finn Hudson, Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez and, starring, Rachel Berry. Rachel herself wrote the script together with Will Schuester and Sergio Bassist: the musician that made all the songs. It was a script about theatrical auditions, in which Rachel played the novice actress vying for the role with the diabolical Mercedes Jones. The young lady receives the support of the theater's janitor, Finn Hudson, in her struggle to win the favor of the cynical director Kurt Hummel, and the buffoonish male lead Sam Evans. The rest of the cast had supporting roles.

Rachel wasn't interested in the news. She had avoided even looking at the television for days. She picked up the new cell phone that Leroy had given her: it was a more technological model than the one that had been lost in the park. She looked at her saved contacts and saw Santana Lopez's name. She decided to leave a message.

...

Quinn smiled as he poured an espresso for a popular professor at the community college. The professor in question lived in the company of some students, especially women. He was tall, not very handsome, with long hair and a casual style of dress that gave him the aura of a tormented intellectual. Quinn had never spoken to this professor, but she bet he was a progressive, played sensitive and secretly slept with a lot of students, using the excuse that they were all over 18. Her phone buzzed with a message alert. It was Mike, who had sent her a video teaching breathing control, and recommended that she start practicing before the meeting at the ranch. By coincidence, she saw a face that had become familiar to her a few days ago enter the building.

Santana Lopez didn't see her right away. Quinn didn't wave to her either, wondering what the State University engineering student was doing there. She saw Santana fiddling with her cell phone and, in less than five minutes, she ran into none other than Rachel Berry. Quinn was confused. Where did the two of them know each other from? Rachel headed towards the cafeteria and didn't even notice Santana's surprised look when she saw Quinn Fabray there.

"Hi, Quinn. Could you make me a cappuccino to go?"

"Sure." Quinn stared at Santana. "Would you like one too?"

"No, thanks."

Quinn exchanged glances with Santana before turning her back on them to prepare the coffee. In the meantime, Joe arrived and helped with a new customer.

"Here you go." Quinn handed the coffee into Rachel's hands. "Did school end early?" She asked, trying to sound casual.

"No. My friend and I have an appointment." Rachel nodded politely and left the counter of the express café.

Quinn followed them out of the building. She didn't want to show it, but she was very curious about this relationship. Perhaps she felt a twinge of jealousy? She had never imagined that Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez would meet. What kind of small world was that?

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, Santana unlocked her car, allowing Rachel to get into the vehicle.

"Where are we going?" Rachel was curious.

"Do you know the nature reserve?"

"Yes... but why are you taking me so far?"

"Because it's a weekday and there won't be many people around."

"Didn't you say it was just yoga?"

"Yes, but you're unpredictable and out of control. If your powers manifest, we'll hardly have any witnesses. That's why it will be safer to practice yoga in the reserve."

"Good thinking. Although I've never felt that again. It's been days and so far nothing. Not even when Finn and I argue."

"Really? By the way, how is that big guy dealing with all this?"

"Which part?"

"That there's a serial killer after you?"

"He's worried." Rachel didn't want to give any more details about the discussions she was having with her boyfriend.

"Have the police found any clues about the guy?"

"Nothing. Not even his name. Not even with the release of the sketch."

"That's strange. I haven't made any progress either. I thought I'd found the guy, but it was actually Blaine Anderson's boyfriend."

"Blaine Anderson, Kurt's ex?"

"Is there another famous ex-boyfriend of Hummel's with the same name?"

"Blaine is a persona non grata among us. I wouldn't be surprised if he's dating a rapist and bisexual serial killer."

Santana frowned. Despite her curiosity, she resisted asking what had happened between Kurt and Blaine. The traffic was quiet at that hour, a sign that the road to the park would also be quiet. The road to the nature reserve was basically the same as the one to the ranch, except that, at the interchange, the ranch was on the left of the road, while the nature reserve was on the right. Santana visited the place only a few times, but Rachel, as a native of the town, had many memories of the park, from her childhood involving her parents, especially as Rachel was a child who only made solid friendships when she entered high school.

The entrance to the park was basically the huge parking lot. Rachel and Santana took off their backpacks and walked towards the ticket office. Visitors paid for two types of tickets: the first and cheapest one limited them to the club created within the area. The second and more expensive type entitled them to the club and access to the trail to the summit of the highest mountain in the municipality. Santana and Rachel paid for the more expensive ticket, walked straight past the club premises and headed for the turnstiles that gave access to the trails. They had to go through a quick security check. No alcohol was allowed, no camping, hunting or fishing. Access to the trail on foot was not allowed after midday. they were given a folder with recommendations, rules and a small map of the 5.4km trail up the hill. The scenery made the hike through the rugged terrain worthwhile.

"We could stop at the gorge viewpoint." Santana suggested, pointing to the location on the small map inserted in the folder.

"I have no objections."

A kilometer and a half down the trail, they reached the point in question. It was a lookout point where you could see a crevice in the side of the small mountain. It was a good view before reaching the peak of Maryan, which used to take four hours round trip. The gorge viewpoint was also interesting because there was a small flat area beyond the viewpoint, which gave access to one of the support points with toilets and tables for meals. Santana drank some water before rolling out the mat on the ground. Rachel did the same. They did the Indian sitting position and Santana gave Rachel instructions on breathing.

"My power is physical. I'm stronger, I run faster and I heal faster than a regular human being." Santana explained, very reminiscent of what Mike and Grant passed on to her in their weekly training sessions. To illustrate, Santana took her penknife and cut off the tip of her finger, despite Rachel's protests. The cut only bled for half a minute. As soon as Santana pressed on the small wound and poured water on it to clean it, Rachel was amazed to see that the blood had stopped. "Don't worry. There won't even be a scar by the end of the day."

"Do you feel pain?"

"I do!"

"Are you immortal?"

"No. I just have accelerated healing. If I get shot in the heart or head, I'll die. Your power is possibly one of energy dispersion. This means that our powers have different natures, but what we have in common is the need for mental balance. At that point, breathing helps."

Santana corrected her posture, while giving Rachel instructions.

"Don't expect to feel anything now. Don't expect to go into alpha. Just concentrate on getting your mind to stop chattering."

Rachel tried, but her mind wouldn't stop. She felt like a hopeless case. She opened her eyes and standing next to her was a beautiful girl. It was hard to reconcile the image of Mercedes Jones' annoying and petty friend with that of the vigilante who was trying to help. The scenery was pleasant, the air seemed clean, but Rachel's mind couldn't stop thinking about Finn and her own attacker. She wanted to get over everything she'd been through, but it was difficult knowing that her attacker could try again. She needed to prepare herself and felt she had no time left. Everything was so suffocating that she screamed in agony.

Santana opened her eyes and saw the interesting scene of the girl she had always considered unbearable suddenly losing her temper. Rachel was screaming at the world, kicking the ground, trees and whatever she could. Santana let Rachel vent without interfering, but kept an eye out for other people who might pass by and, above all, for any kind of manifestation of power that Rachel might have. A ranger approached and threatened to interfere, but Santana was quick.

"Sir." She said, placing herself in front of the man. "My friend needs to scream. Let her scream. Please!"

The ranger saw the girl crying copiously and then sitting down on the beaten ground. He waved to Santana and walked away. Santana turned her full attention to her colleague. She knelt down in front of the little diva and held her trembling hands.

"Rachel, it's over. It's all over now. Don't hold on to the past or it'll blow you away."

Rachel nodded and opened her eyes, staring at Santana. The vigilante tried to remain calm and said nothing, but Rachel's eyes were completely red.