Santana was on a mission. She scanned the hallway, looking for her prey. Finally spotting her target she moved in for the kill.

"Allison," she said smoothly, sliding alongside the girl and gripping her upper arm so she couldn't dash away. "A word please?" Not giving the girl time to respond Santana dragged her off to the bathroom. She pushed the girl through the door and leaned back against it to block the other girl's escape.

The nervous girl backed up against the sink, her wary gaze locked on the Latina. Santana smirked; Quinn was going about this entirely the wrong way. If you wanted results, you had to isolate the weak from the safety of the herd. Santana let the silence drag on, watching as the other girl began to squirm in discomfort.

"So...you..um..you wanted to talk to me?" Allison finally asked, not being able to stand the awkward silence any longer.

"What happened Friday night?" Santana cut straight to the chase, not wanting to waste time getting to the point.

Allison swallowed nervously. "What do you mean?"

"With Rachel," the Latina clarified. "What caused her to bolt and run?" When Allison opened her mouth to reply Santana held up a hand to silence her. "And please don't tell me the same bullshit story that you sold Quinn. Being lied to pisses me off and trust me when I say you don't want me pissed off."

If anyone had told Santana that she would find herself practically defending Rachel Berry a week ago she would have laughed in their face. But whatever had happened to Berry was now affecting her and that wasn't acceptable.

Quinn was pissed at her, vacillating between ignoring her and giving her death glares. She could deal with Quinn; she was used to her mercurial relationship with the blonde. But now Brittany was giving her the silent treatment, and that shit was not cool. Since they were both pissed about the treatment of one annoying brunette it only made sense to get to the bottom of this situation once and for all.

Allison look confused. "You really don't know?"

"Why the fuck would I know? I was inside when it happened." Santana answered crossly.

"Well, Stacy and Sarah said you guys were in on it, I just thought you would have been aware of the details," Allison replied.

Santana frowned. "In on what?" the Latina questioned impatiently. "I really don't want to stand here all day playing twenty questions, just spit it the fuck out already."

Allison shifted her feet nervously and dropped her gaze. "They said that all of the girls on the squad had to pass an initiation...prove they were loyal to the squad. They um...they said that Quinn was just dating Rachel to string her along. That it was all just a set up."

"A set up?"

"Yeah, so that we could prank her." Allison looked up to meet the Latina's gaze. "I didn't want to do it, but they said that all the girls had too."

"Do what Allison?" Santana questioned, a little more calmly. It was clear the girl was petrified; Santana screaming at her was more likely to end in her passing out then giving her the answers she needed.

"The plan was to get her to trust us, to let down her guard so that she would go skinny dipping."

Santana was getting impatient again. "But she didn't, she left instead."

"Um...not exactly."

Santana smirked and arched a single eyebrow. "Berry actually stripped down?" Allison nodded. "I don't know if I should be impressed or afraid. Okay so what? They got her to strip down and then made fun of her?" Another nod from Allison. "Well I mean that's not that bad. Berry gets made fun of more than anyone I know, the naked bit is new, but hardly worthy of her four day seclusion stunt."

"They also threw their drinks on her," Allison continued.

Santana laughed, shaking her head. "You guys are seriously going to regret fucking with Berry. Quinn is going to have you on the bottom of the pyramid and running laps until you either graduate or die"

Allison paled at the Latina's pronouncement. "There's more," she squeaked out.

"More?" Santana questioned in surprise.

"They had me take her picture," Allison finally blurted out.

Santana pinched the bridge of her nose. Okay this wasn't good. "So...what? They took a picture and threatened to blackmail her with it?"

Allison shook her head. "There was no threat. The plan was just to take the picture and then send it to the whole school."

"What!" The Latina sprung away from the door and stalked toward the now cowering girl.

Allison flinched and drew back from the advancing brunette. "I didn't do it! She was so nice to me; and the look on her face..." Allison shook her head at the memory. "I couldn't do it."

Santana halted her advance. "So if you didn't send the picture what's the big deal? I mean granted I can see why she's pissed, but given the circumstances I would expect her to send Quinn after your asses instead of ignoring her."

"She doesn't know," Allison replied quietly.

"Doesn't know what?"

"She doesn't know that the picture wasn't sent. It was the only way I could ensure that they would let her leave. I lied and told them all that it had been sent out."

Santana closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Well that would certainly explain it. She didn't think she would want to come to school under those circumstances either. For the first time she actually felt a pang of sympathy for the small singer.

"She also thinks Quinn was in on it." Santana's eyes popped open at the announcement.

"And why would she think a crazy thing like that? Those two have been disgustingly love-sick since they started dating."

"Stacy and Sarah told her that it was all part of a plan to embarrass her."

Santana started to stalk back and forth in the small space, her mind racing. Even at the height of their Berry torment, she and Quinn would never have devised something this humiliating. And sure, she still threw the occasional insult the other girl's way, but that was mostly for show and out of habit then dislike. The reason for the brunette's silence was now painfully obvious. She stopped in her pacing and turned to face Allison.

"Okay, here is how this is going to work. You are going to avoid Quinn at all costs. Do. Not. Speak. To. Her. Run if necessary." Santana knew that if the blonde found out exactly what had happened to her girlfriend she was going to go fucking postal. She would do the same thing if it had happened to Brittany. "I am going to convince Berry to talk to Quinn, because this shit needs to be cleared up. Do you think you can manage that?"

Allison nodded her understanding. "I'm glad that Quinn wasn't a part of this, Rachel seems really sweet."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Christ, it is just a Berry love fest around here lately." Santana walked to the door and paused before exiting to turn back and address Allison one more time. "The picture?"

"I deleted it," Allison assured her.

Santana smiled. "Good girl. That might be the one thing that keeps you alive when Quinn finds out."

Rachel was once again curled up on her bed, facing the door instead of the window, because she needed a change of scenery. She was debating going down to the kitchen to grab something to eat while her father was out at the store picking up something for dinner, but she still didn't have much of an appetite.

In deference to her fathers' return she had substituted blasting her radio for her IPod. Currently the ever so apropos I Dreamed a Dream. Closing her eyes she let herself get lost in the music, trying desperately to block out everything else.

Rachel frowned, she was pretty sure that Ms. Lupone had missed a note.

Lost in her critique of the music she acted on pure instinct when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder from behind. Reaching up she grabbed the wrist of her would be attacker and tugged hard while rolling over on the bed, sending the person flying over the bed to crash onto the floor. Yanking her ear phones out she scrambled upright until her back was against her headboard.

"What the fuck?" cried a disgruntled voice.

"Santana?" Rachel questioned in disbelief, peering over the side of her bad.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" the Cheerio asked grumpily, rubbing the back of her head where it had made contact with the floor.

"I didn't know who it was. You could have been a rapist," Rachel defended.

Getting to her feet the Latina straightened her clothes. "I can assure you I am not here to steal your virtue Berry," Santana said with a smirk.

Rachel crossed her arms across her chest, the sudden appearance of another person in her room momentarily distracting her. "And just why are you here? Was Brittany sent by you and Quinn after all? Come to gloat?" Rachel fired the questions in rapid succession, her tone acidic. "You know what? I don't care, just get out." Rachel extended her arm and pointed towards the door. The still closed door. "How did you get in here?"

Santana sat down at the foot of the bed. "I climbed up onto the roof of your porch. You have a great set up for sneaking out of the house."

"I can assure you I have no need to sneak out of the house. My parents trust me implicitly," Rachel huffed indignantly. She was grateful that her irritation with the brunette was keeping her urge to cry at bay. "Please leave."

"No."

"No?" Rachel questioned in disbelief.

"No. We have to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you," Rachel insisted.

"Great. Maybe that means I will actually be able to get a word in edge wise."

Rachel glared at the cheerleader. "Did you only come up here to insult me? Was this weekend's escapade really not enough?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually. Brittany came to see me after lunch and she said you were upset and that you weren't coming back to school." Santana settled more comfortably onto the bed, figuring she might be here a while.

"I'm not."

"I didn't peg you for the drop out type," Santana taunted, calling the smaller girls bluff. There was no way Rachel Berry was going to end up a high school dropout.

''I am not going to dropout," Rachel replied icily. "I am going to transfer."

"Transfer?" Santana asked, sitting up straighter.

"Yes, to a high school for musically gifted teens. I considered it before freshman year but I didn't want to be away from my fathers. Given recent developments however, I have reconsidered my position, and while I will be a bit behind I am confident that I will be able to catch up."

"Berry you can't transfer," Santana insisted, concerned that the brunette seemed completely serious.

"I can and I have. I leave at the end of the week, my fathers' pulled in some favors and got my application expedited." Rachel paused to glare at the Latina. "I'm sure you and the rest of the squad won't have any trouble finding a new loser to harass." Rachel couldn't bring herself to actually say Quinn's name, afraid her voice would break.

"So you are just going to run away? Without even talking to Quinn?" Santana questioned.

"Why on earth would I want to talk to Quinn?" Rachel bit out.

"Because for reasons totally unknown to me she likes you, and has been walking around like a bi-polar she-demon since Friday."

Rachel snorted. "She has a funny way of showing it."

Santana looked at the singer in concern. They had done a lot of shit to her over the years, but she had always let it roll off her back and continued on, apparently unfazed. The girl sitting before her seemed brittle and broken.

"Quinn had no idea what was going to happen that night." Rachel snapped her attention to the Latina, searching her eyes for the truth behind the statement. She wanted to believe that what she said was true, but after the disastrous results the last time she had trusted her instincts, she was afraid to believe.

"Sure she didn't. It's just so much more plausible that she suddenly realized that she's been crazy about me all this time," Rachel sneered. She wasn't going to fall into this trap again.

"She didn't. Furthermore Allison never sent that picture." Rachel's eyes widened in surprise. "Seems she fell for your weird Berry charms and she actually likes you. She deleted the picture instead of sending it."

"But she said..." Rachel trailed off, torn between hope and fear. "How do I know this isn't all just a ploy to get me to come back to school? I'm sure that must have been the coup de grace for the plan, it must be frustrating that I've ruined the finale."

"Berry, if I had wanted to humiliate you we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation. You wouldn't have even seen it coming. Do you really think that any plan I was involved in would have been allowed to be botched so badly?"

Rachel had to concede that Santana did have a point, but her suspicion won out. "I'm not going to fall for this Santana," Rachel insisted, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Okay, I can understand why you wouldn't take my word for it, but what about Quinn's?"

Rachel shook her head. "I already told you, I have nothing to say to her." Coming face to face with the blonde, and seeing the contempt in her eyes would crush her.

"Do you really think so little of her? After all the time you spent with her this summer, you really think she could do something like this?" Santana persisted.

Rachel glared at Santana coldly. "What's a few months compared to years of past behavior?" Rachel's heart clenched as she remembered those few wonderful months. She tightened her jaw, determined not to let her resolve be clouded by sentiment. Quinn had lied. It was all just a joke, none of it was real.

Santana looked at the brunette with disgust. "So you are just going to run off without listening to her side of the story?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes."

Santana glared at the diminutive brunette. "Yeah, that's not going to be happening."

"Excuse me?"

"I will tie you to your desk chair and gag you if I have to, but you are going to hear Quinn out. You owe her that much," Santana informed the now spluttering singer.

"I don't owe her anything!" Rachel cried, springing up from the bed. She stalked over to the cheerleader and poked her in the chest. "I have spent years, years, being the brunt of every joke and mean spirited prank the two of you devised. I am done being the same stupid, trusting, naïve Rachel!"

Santana held her ground, wincing slightly as the singer's finger dug into her chest. Between her kung-fu action Yoda moves and her surprising strength, Santana was beginning to reconsider constantly trying to get a rise out of the other girl. "Fine. You found us out. It was all an elaborate plot to humiliate you." Hearing the Cheerio finally admit the truth, Rachel paled and backed away. Santana just looked at her and shook her head. "The getting to know you, the spending time with you, dating you, kissing you, all of it was just to get you naked and to her house so she could snap a picture which would then be sent to the student body."

Rachel deflated even further and went back to collapse on her bed, hanging her head down and staring at her feet. She felt tears start to well, but fought them back, determined not to break down in front of Santana.

"Tell me Rachel, how hard would Quinn have had to work to get you to strip?" Santana asked mockingly. Rachel snapped her head up and glared at the Cheerio. "If the only thing Quinn wanted was a naked snap shot something tells me she could have gotten it done a hell of a lot sooner, and saved herself a hell of a lot of time. And if Quinn and I had been behind this plan you never would have seen it coming. The first hint of it would have been when you walked into school on Monday."

The small brunette was quiet for a few moments. "You called me Rachel," she finally said softly.

Santana blinked in surprise. "I did?" Rachel nodded. "Well, I was trying to make a point, don't get used to it Berry. I swear on B, Quinn had nothing to do with this, and Allison never sent that picture." Santana looked around the room. "Didn't you wonder why you haven't been getting inundated with texts? Do you really think that if a picture like that was out there you wouldn't have been flooded by now?"

Rachel clasped her hands in her lap, still refusing to look up. "I don't have my phone."

The Latina frowned in confusion. "Why not? Where is it?"

"When I left Quinn's they wouldn't let me grab my stuff. I assume it's still there."

Santana shook her head. "It's not there. When Quinn went to talk to you on Friday B and I cleaned up after the other three left, we didn't come across any phone. Plus Quinn sent like 200 text messages this weekend, she would have found if it were at her place."

Rachel finally lifted her head and looked at the Cheerio; she looked genuinely puzzled. "Well I don't have it. Hopefully it's with the rest of my stuff, I don't care so much about the clothes but I spent a lot of time decorating that phone case."

"They made you leave without your clothes?" Santana asked, her voice rising in outrage.

Rachel was confused. Santana was a passable dancer, but she had never shown any aptitude for acting and she seemed genuinely pissed. Rachel simply nodded in response, eliciting a whistle from the Latina.

"They are so fucking dead," Santana snickered. "Quinn is going to unleash Armageddon on their asses." Santana looked over to the now quiet diva. "Will you please just talk to her? I can bring her here that way if you want her to leave you can get your fathers to kick her out." Santana rubbed the back of her still sore head. "Of course you might not need your dads help with that."

"I'm very fit," Rachel replied absently. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, torn about what to do. She wanted to believe what Santana was telling her. So badly that it scared her. She had spent the entire weekend building up her defenses against the blonde's betrayal. If she lowered those walls, and allowed herself to trust, and it all turned out to be a lie she didn't know if she would survive it.

Looking deeply into the Latina's eyes, hoping to detect any trace of artifice, Rachel asked, "You swear on B's life? She didn't do this?"

Santana maintained eye contact unflinchingly and raised her hand. "May I be struck celibate if I'm lying."

Rachel let out the breath she had been holding. She had to know. Though she feared for her sanity, she believed the Latina. Now that doubt had crept in she knew that the possibility that Quinn was innocent of wrongdoing would torment her if she didn't find out. "Okay. I'll talk to her."

Santana smiled. "Great." She looked down at her watch, if she hurried she could catch the blonde before she went home after Cheerio's practice. Fuck. The practice that she had missed. Sylvester was going to kill her. The things she did for love.

"I'll be back with Quinn in a half hour, try not to hop any planes before then." Santana turned back towards the window, prepared to make her exit.

"Santana," Rachel called out with a barely suppressed laugh. "You can use the door."

Santana paused before turning back. "Oh. Thanks....Rachel."

"...."

"..."

"That was weird," Rachel finally broke the awkward silence.

Santana nodded her head emphatically in agreement. "Fucking weird. I think once was enough, let's not do that again."

Rachel nodded her head. "Agreed." Rachel smiled at the Latina, some of her former self finally shining through. "Thank you Santana."

Santana paused, her hand on the door knob. "Don't mention it. And I mean that literally, if anyone at school finds this out I will never live it down."