Chapter 25 - 5th August 2010 - MClean, VA

Traitor POV.

I listened in on the small ear piece, the two men sat nestled into a corner booth at the back of the bar, angled so that they could see anyone who entered. They talked quietly of day to day things, their eyes continuously sweeping the room for a threat. I hugged my drink and carried on reading the newspaper spread out on the table in front of me. She'd called me again demanding in her threatening manner that I keep tabs on the Seal team, the plans they had made were moving up at speed and they wanted to ensure there would be no problems from this end. I felt terrible doing this; I was conducting the ultimate betrayal and all because they held my own problems over me.

"How was he when you left?" A gruff voice said.

"Still pretty beat up, but he's improving daily, she's good for him." said the other in reply.

"And her?"

"She's tougher than she looks, we just have to keep them hidden a bit longer, give her time to find the source, we need to keep up appearances here, they are meant to be dead after all."

"I just don't like feeling out of the loop, so I can only guess what those two are like being stuck in the ass crack of nowhere." The gruff voice chuckled.

"It'll be over soon, and then they can resume living. Although I think they may be doing a little living up there as it is, you know she stayed in that hospital in Kalispell for days waiting for him to wake up, they have some weird kind of telepathic bond voodoo going on."

"Yeah, I saw it on the plane back from Spetses, freaky. I'm glad for him, he's been alone for too long."

"Yeah..."

I didn't listen anymore, Swan and Cullen were alive, near some place called Kalispell, where ever the hell that is, I need to do some research. I stood from my seat, folding the newspaper under my arm and walked from the bar, my head held high as if nothing was wrong. I swiftly walked the few blocks to my car and left as quickly as I could. I had research to do and another call to make. I sighed at how that would go, I could only hope that the woman would go easy on me.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Instead of driving home, I drove to Reston, I couldn't chance having this information on my own computer and using the terminals at work would raise flags immediately. I soon found myself standing in the entrance to Java Grande Coffee Bar, in Issac Newton Square, just off route 828. I quickly found a terminal and ordered a coffee from the barista. Pulling up Google I typed in Kalispell, I clicked on maps in the results, Montana. Why Montana? Why didn't they hide out here in Virginia, or downtown DC? The logic escaped me, but the more I viewed about the location, the more it became clear, that they had chosen wisely, it was easily defended, remote enough to not draw too much attention, and had easy access to interstates and airports to make a quick getaway. I sat back in the chair, and took a sip of the steaming coffee set beside the terminal. I let the warmth spread through me, I really didn't know what to do now. On one hand I knew I had to make the call, on the other I didn't want to, too much damage had been done already and I was already in so much trouble, I knew that adding anything else to this long list of crimes would put the final nails into my coffin.

I thought about my family, I cringed, I'm essentially a selfish person, it's very rare for me to consider anyone else besides myself, yet I couldn't help but wonder how they would take my betrayal. Would they turn their backs on me, or would they support me and attempt to understand why I've done what I have? Atonement would be a long time coming I'm sure. I closed the browser and swallowed the last of the coffee, before standing and walking from the cafe, my inner voice was in as much turmoil as the rest of me, I really didn't know what to do. The night was still young, but it held no call for me to go anywhere but home.

Home, I let out a mirthless chuckle, had I really not been back in so long? I walked the remaining few blocks to my car, eager to put as much distance as I could between myself and Reston. I spent the drive silently at war with myself, not even the night time ramblings of the DJ on the radio could pull me from my solitary bout of conscience. Why now?

As I drew into my driveway, I had finally settled on my next move. This would be the last time, no more cow towing to the Volturi, I'd done enough damage. I turned off the ignition and the engine rumbled to a stop. I rested my head against the back of the seat, this is it, tell them what you know then stop. I pulled my cell from my bag, my hands shook, fear spiked causing sweat to bead across my forehead. It's a phone call, get a grip. I hit 1 on the speed dial and waited, the dial tone was followed by ringing.

"What?" the sharp voice echoed through the ear piece.

"I-I- um, I have information." I stuttered, cursing myself internally at my own weakness.

"Well. Get on with it, I don't have all day." She replied.

"I was misinformed, th-they're not dead."

"WHAT!" she screeched. I pulled the cell from my ear in pain at the sharp sounds coming from the line.

"Th-they're not dead, it was faked, th-th-they're in hiding." I muttered.

"Where and how did you not know this before now?"

"I-I-It wasn't done by the agency, they think they're dead too. I-I-I d-did as you asked and kept tabs on the teams, th-th-they have them hidden in Montana. A-a-a town called Kalispell."

"Not for long. Don't fail me again." She snarled.

"N-never again, I-I-I'm done, I-I-I won't do anymore, I-I-If that means you'll kill me, then so be it, I-I-I can't take it anymore, I-I-I deserve to die for what I've done." I stuttered.

"Oh you will, you will." She all but growled at me, before hanging up.

I gulped as I dropped the cell back into my bag, it's done, if they don't get me, then the agency will, either way, I'm finished. I stepped from my car on shaky legs, resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be around to see the fall out. I shuffled towards the door of my apartment, fighting the desire to jump back into my car and drive, just drive anywhere as long as it's away from here.

No more running, I made the choice to betray them, I have to stand by it and take the consequences too. I can't be a coward anymore. I turned the lock and entered the dimly lit hallway, shrugging out of my light jacket I hung it on the coat rack as I walked past and headed to the kitchen. It would be a long night; sleep was far from my grasp, despite the enduring fatigue that washed through me. I moved sluggishly through the apartment, checking windows, the locks on the door, anything to give me a sense of safety. Nothing did, nothing will again. I couldn't blame it on anyone but myself. My own mistakes lead to this situation. I was filled with remorse, a feeling that I was completely unfamiliar with, I felt the need to seek out and apologise to those affected by my stupid decisions, but thought better of it. It wouldn't make any difference. They would still pay the price for what I had done; the only saving grace is that soon I would too.

*~*~*~*~*

The last few weeks had been hell. I still went to work; I had to keep up appearances, even though I knew that getting out of this unscathed is barely a pipe dream anymore. I know for certain that they are joining the dots and I know that soon I'll be made to answer for my actions. Why didn't I just go to them when they first got hold of me? Hindsight is as always 20/20, if only I'd had the benefit of that bit of wisdom months ago.

Security here had been bumped up exponentially over the last month; I had no hope of going down to the server room and ensuring my tracks were completely covered, not without company. Since Swan had been found and then died, you couldn't take a dump without someone nearby, big brother has nothing on the CIA, especially when the paranoia gene kicks in with the D/O. Everyone is a suspect. I'd managed to avoid being questioned thus far, but I knew that my turn would come and soon.

I was startled from my inner rant by a sharp knock to my door; I guess my turn was now.

"Come in." I called nervously, my hands wringing under the desk.

The door opened slowly and two large men stepped into the room, they were the archetype 'Men in Black', black, suit, white shirt, black tie, ear pieces, only thing missing was the sunglasses. Broad shoulders helped to fill out the fitted jackets, tightly cropped hair, not quite buzzcuts, but short none the less, kept them looking slick and somewhat menacing. Adrenalin pumped through my veins, this is it, sink or swim. I stood from my chair, my hands held lightly onto my desk to keep me from falling.

"Gentlemen?"

"Ma'am, your presence is requested in the sub level conference room, if you would follow us please."

I was tempted to ask if it was urgent, but decided against it when an eyebrow was quirked in my direction, it was as if he was begging me to protest. I sighed and logged out of my terminal, before moving to join them. I felt quite insignificant flanked by these two giants. People openly gawked as we walked through the building; it's almost as if I had already been found out, not just being routinely questioned. A shiver ran up my spine, maybe if I come clean, they'll be lenient with me, and maybe they'll keep my family safe, maybe, maybe, maybe. Yeah and maybe they'll strap me to the table and administer the lethal injections themselves. I was torn, do I come clean, or do I continue to live this double life and hope they don't catch me on a lie?

The elevator to the sub level was claustrophobic, the walls were too close, the men were too close, it didn't descend quick enough. I felt sick, I knew I couldn't lie anymore, they would know, they would know the moment I opened my mouth. I swallowed, my mouth was dry and no matter how hard I tried, I just could make enough saliva to compensate for the cotton mouth feeling. I could feel the sweat gathering on the back of my neck, there's no way I'd be able to play it off as just being hot, they would know. I was done for.

We exited the elevator and continued down a sparsely lit corridor to the sub level conference room, it was really only used for high security briefings, I didn't go there often; in fact my last visit had been the last time Swan attended a briefing. I faltered in my steps slightly, so this is what it's like going to the guillotine. As we approached the conference room, I noticed two more men stood guard beside the double doors, once more adorned in the trademark black suits. As we stopped, one knocked the door heavily and opened it before stepping back at the call to enter.

I took a deep breath and stepped through, my fate teetered on a knife edge. The room was empty apart from a small table set in the middle, seated behind it was Phil Dwyer, General Garret and another man I didn't recognise. Papers were set in a tidy pile in front of them; a small recorder sat in the middle of the table, a single light over head illuminated them in the cavernous room. My escort stayed outside the door, unmoving, I glanced at them before moving towards the assembled men. My hands hung limply at my sides, my steps sluggish, my breathing laboured. If ever there was evidence to them of my guilt this was it, I couldn't even make eye contact. I stopped at the single seat sat opposite them, yet far enough from the table to tell me that I was there to be interviewed and that I had nothing to protect me from revealing everything. Nothing to hide my betrayal behind. I barely spotted the video camera sitting on the tripod to the left of the assembly. I had the urge to clench my hands, but didn't want to draw any more attention to myself; I needed to have some semblance of control. Now that is laughable. I stole a glance at them before dropping my head once more and waited for their instructions. The silence was deafening, please say something, anything, just don't just sit there and stare at me. I sighed under my breath, I didn't go unnoticed, Phil Dwyer moved slightly in his seat, his hand moved towards the small recorder, clicking a button.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Take a seat Miss Mallory."

chapter 24 - 30th July 2010 - Flathead Lake Mt.

BPOV

It's almost three weeks since Edward and I had 'died'. Three weeks since we'd taken up hiding in Montana, just over two weeks since Edward had finally been released from the hospital in Kalispell, sixteen days since I'd stumbled into him while falling down the stairs and kissed him and boy what a kiss. I don't know if I was more shocked that I had kissed him, or the fact that he had kissed me back, quite enthusiastically. Since then we'd gotten close, well closer, having been through what we had, our bond was already strong, just now it had morphed into something else. He was still the over protective, slightly neurotic, over thinking Edward I'd gotten to know in that hell hole Bourtzi, but I was learning that he was also the domesticated, cheeky, fun loving, flirty, oh my was he flirty, sweet talking, cuddly Edward too. We'd spent the last two weeks dividing our time between scouring data, trying to piece together the real threat, making casual appearances in town and getting to know each other better.

Edward continued to exude the confidence of a professional soldier, always on alert, but I had grown to love our down time. The short hours we spent hanging out on the large leather couch in the family room, talking, sharing every bit of detail we could think of about our lives away from this madness. Those meant more to me than I could put into words. I'd grown to enjoy the thrill that would shoot through me from the barest of touches, and I'd noticed that we touched... a lot. I don't think there was really a time when we weren't touching, be it a slight brush on a shoulder while we were entrenched in the panic room trawling through mountains of data, or linking hands as we walked through the house. The few times we were apart from each other, for example bathroom breaks, I'd actually found Edward stalking back and forth outside the bathroom door, tugging at his hair if I'd taken longer than normal, like I said, over protective.

We hadn't taken things any further than some seriously heavy petting, it wasn't something we actually decided on, we just seemed to want to enjoy whatever this is for as long as possible without complication. We're together 24/7, and while we've not slept together, we do cuddle up together in my room, well I guess it's our room now and sleep on the bed together at night. Being here and somewhat out of the loop is difficult for me, I'm so used to having all of the information at my finger tips that had Edward not been here with me, I'm certain I would've gone mad by now, or probably done something really stupid and ended up getting myself killed. He's quickly becoming one of the most important people in my life and it worries me that I'm going to be hurt when all of this is over. Physical pain I can cope with, but emotionally, I'm teetering on a knife edge, waiting on the other shoe to drop. I'm sounding crazy to myself, it's just that I'm scared that what we have is based solely on what we've been through and are going through, and that when we are finally able to go back to our own lives, Edwards going to turn round and say, “Thanks for keeping my bed warm, you've been great, but it’s over now, I've a line of hotties waiting on some Cullen loving if you get my meaning and I can't tie myself down to plain Jane, when I don't have to. It’s been swell, let's not mention this to anyone, I just want to forget it happened.” So maybe I have a few self esteem issues, but if I let my guard down, I know that once this is over, I'm the one that will be hurt.

Today we're heading in to town, we still had plenty of supplies so we didn't really need to go to town, but it helped keep the nosey locals at bay. Since the visit from the Sheriff all those weeks ago, we've had multiple visitors from town, pop over to welcome us to the neighbourhood, or gawk at the new people as Edward puts it. He does have a point, but I came from a small town and knew that we wouldn't be left to our own devices for long once they got wind we were here. Needless to say our pantry and refrigerator is fully stocked with all manner of 'welcome' pies and casseroles. I've hardly needed to cook for the last week.

"What's got you thinking so hard beautiful?" Edwards sleep muffled voice drifted from the pillow beside me.

"Huh?"

He chuckled at my addled response as his arms snaked its way across my stomach and pulled me in closer to him. I snuggled into his warm embrace, burrowing into the covers of the bed. The early morning sun was slowly breaking through the curtain covered window, rays of light forcing its way through any available crack, casting beams to dapple across the taught muscular skin of Edwards back.

He lifted a finger and smoothed the crease between my eyes.

"You always get this little pucker between your eyes when you're in deep thought and you've been staring at the ceiling for almost an hour now Bella. So what's got you thinking this early in the morning sweetheart?"

"Oh, I was just thinking that we've been here for almost a month now and I was just wondering when we'll get to go home," I said with a shrug.

"Soon sweetheart, we've got a whole team of people working for us in DC and when the threat is gone, we'll get our lives back, we just need to be patient for a little longer."

"I guess," I replied blowing out a breath.

Edward tugged me up until I was straddling him, his hands glided up and down my back at a tauntingly slow pace, before coming to rest on my hips. He snaked his left hand till it cupped my cheek, before guiding my face to his and meeting my lips with a feather light kiss.

"Are you sure that's all that's bothering you sweetheart, you seem pretty distracted. Talk to me, we need to trust each other, we're all that we have baby, so tell me what's eating you?"

I sighed, why did he always need to be so observant? A traitor tear slipped from my eye and meandered its way down my cheek stupid emotions. I couldn't look at Edward, how could I face him, when inside I'm such a pathetic mess? I'm so confused, I don't know if it's down to the bond from experiencing trauma together or real, but my feelings are all over the place. I'm not going to say I love him, because that seems too trivial a description. Of course then there's the fear that it'll be unrequited anyway and I don't think I could handle the rejection. When we're together I feel calm, safe, loved, content even. The few times he's slipped out to check the perimeter himself, instead of relying on the monitors and sensors, it's practically crippled me, I feel empty, it's like having a limb amputated, the ghost of it is still there, but the physical limb is gone. It's like the air has been sucked out of the room by a vacuum and I have to fight to breathe, a piece of my soul has been torn from me and been transplanted by a piece of his, but when he's not there, the wound throbs. How am I supposed to go on as normal after all this when I feel like that?

"Sweetheart? You're worrying me," Edward said, holding me tightly while gently rubbing his thumb under my eyes to clear the tears

"S-sorry," I sniffed.

"Hey, no more tears, just tell me what has you so upset," he crooned.

"It's so stupid; you'll think I'm just some silly woman, crying over nothing."

"Well until you tell me, I'm thinking all kinds of crazy, baby," he responded pushing a stray hair behind my ear.

I blew out a cleansing breath and snuggled into him, "I'm driving myself insane."

"Okay baby, go on..."

"We're stuck here in the ass crack of nowhere, isolated from our teams, we're both recovering from hospitalisation, and we’re on the run and pretending to be dead. We've gone from barely exchanging niceties at a briefing to sleeping in the same bed in a matter of weeks. My head is telling me to focus on the now, concentrate on the mission and then I can go back to my solitary life in DC as if nothing happened, then there's the little voice saying, it'll never be the same, it says that we're clinging to each other because of the trauma, the feelings are pretend. Part of me believes the little voice, part of me wants to tell the little voice to go to hell and embrace the feelings. See it's messed up."

"Oh Bella..." he sighed.

"See and that there, is why I didn't want to say anything, I don't want you to feel guilty for rejecting me, or obligated to protect me, I don't want that. So stupid, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Look at me sweetheart," he said cupping my chin.

"I can't, I-I-I can't look in your eyes and see pity. I can't," I sobbed.

"Okay, but I want you to listen to what I think, what I feel, can you do that?"

I couldn't speak, so I nodded.

"We've been through a lot in a short time, hell in the past month I've been declared dead, twice! I wouldn't change a thing though if it meant I'd be here with you at the end.  See over a month ago, I was called to a security briefing and there was this really hot and feisty analyst there that I was rude to, but she kind of handed my ass to me. She went missing the next day and then I found myself in a bit of trouble. The thing that kept me going though was the thought that if I found her I'd do everything in my power to keep her safe and show her that she's loved. Imagine my surprise when I found her and she willingly took torture for me, seeing her be so strong, so brave solidified her place in my heart and that will never change. Baby that was you, you were so selfless, so brave how could I not love you? When this is over, I want to take you home, I want to introduce you to my mom, I want to tell my dad that 'my girl' was instrumental in the downfall of the Volturi. I want to show you off to my team and then I want to meet your dad, so I can promise him that I'll keep you happy and safe until you decide you no longer want me around. So no I don't think you're being silly."

"Y-you w-want me?"

"Yes Bella, very much," he replied tugging my chin to dance a kiss across my lips, as if sealing a promise.

******

EPOV.

Being cooped up in the ass crack of nowhere was getting old pretty damn fast. I'm not complaining, the house is pretty damn awesome, the setup, state of the art, hell if I'd chosen a place to hideout myself, it would come pretty close to this. But, the seclusion was getting to us, Emmett and Jasper checked in daily on their disposable cells, things back in DC were for the time being quiet as a church mouse and that is what concerned us the most. The fallout of our 'deaths' had been minimal; the team had been stood down and had undergone some low level interviews to establish any connections on their parts. Of course none were found, I know my team, and they’re good guys. Bella's dad had also been interviewed as he'd attempted to apprehend my would be killer. Yet they still had been unable to track them down and no arrest had been made.

Bella was antsy, she was enjoying the seclusion as much as me, meaning that apart from our 'down time' that I enjoyed immensely, or times when we were immersed in data, she was like a skittish junkie going through withdrawal, bouncing off the walls. We needed to end this and get our lives back, although I'm hoping that that now included me and her together. We established a routine, it helped keep the demons at bay, breakfast, perimeter check, I'd run the perimeter, she'd watch on the camera in the panic room. Data observation, we were fighting the tide trying to figure out what those bastards are up to, lunch, down time, dinner, perimeter check, lock up, bed. It was the same every day; the only change in the routine was what we did in down time, whether it was spent in the family room, or if we went out. During our jaunts out, we established more routes of escape, and now had a jeep hidden in town and an atv and a small cache just outside Polson.

Today we're heading in to town, we'd visited many times over the last few weeks, we had needed to visit the pharmacy to collect scripts for pain killers and antibiotics for Bella, she'd suffered Acute Atelectasis from her injuries in Bourtzi and they'd put her on meds to control it until it rectified itself. We were also visiting the hospital for a check up for me, I'm hoping I could get this damn cast off my arm, I'd settle for a brace if I had to, but that thing has to go.

I was stirred from my musings by feather light touches along my jaw, I looked down to see Bella placing dainty kisses; I squeezed her tighter letting her know that I was paying attention. She continued on her mission to drive me to the brink of insanity. We'd moved forward a lot over the last few weeks, but never crossing the line of actually having sex. Neither of us broached the subject and that was fine, we were in a fucked up situation already, sex had the potential to muddy the waters further.

"Baby..." I groaned, shifting slightly under her.

"Hmmm?" she mumbled.

"If we’re going to make it into town at a reasonable hour, we should perhaps take a raincheck on the seduction," I groaned. I knew we had to stop, but I'd be damned if I didn't want to, if a month ago someone said to me that I'd be hiding out in the ass crack of Montana, with a sexy as hell analyst, who's pretending to be my wife, and I was turning down the possibility of getting some, I'd probably laugh and call them a pussy. Yeah funny how things turn out.

"Fine, but I intend to cash that check baby," she huffed, before climbing off my lap and stumbling towards the bathroom.

I chuckled under my breath while I leaned back in the bed, may hands laced behind my head as I watched her go. When I told her early this morning that I want her, I meant every word, I could see the white picket fence, the cape cod house and the dog in my head every time I looked at her, the more I looked, the more I wanted it, and come hell or high water after all this shit was over, I was going to have it.

While Bella washed up, I headed down to the kitchen and set the coffee going, while I waited for the machine to do its thing I slipped down to the panic room and checked the video feeds, everything looked good. The sound of the coffee machine signalling it was finished drew me back to the kitchen, Bella was stood at the stove cooking eggs and bacon, dressed in blue jeans and a flannel shirt, even in something this casual she looked hot to me. I filled two mugs and set the table, joined a minute later by Bella holding two plates of food. We ate in comfortable silence, both of us speculating what the day ahead of us would bring.

After cleaning up, we headed to the garage and climbed into the SUV, lacing our hands over the console I steered us out of the garage, hitting the remote to secure the door before gunning the engine and heading towards town. The pharmacy was quiet, I'm not sure if it was down to the time of day, or just that it's a small town, not that it bothered me, I had no real desire to spend too much time here anyhow. We were in and out in minutes. Bella snickered at my eagerness to get to the hospital, but I know for sure that she's as eager to get rid of the offensive blue cast on my arm as much as I am, that damn thing chaffes!

"Baby, you do realise that you may have to keep that thing on a bit longer," she chortled at me, mirth dancing in her eyes.

I glanced across at her, before darting my eyes back on the road.

"I don't care if I have to cut it off myself, I'll even settle for a brace, but it has to go," I grumbled.

Bella laughed, and ruffled my already insane hair, before leaning over and kissing my cheek. I grinned in amusement. Yeah regardless of the outcome today, nothing was going to ruin my mood with Bella around.                            

******

As we left the hospital two hours later, my arm finally free of the blue monstrosity and now encased by a smart black brace, I couldn't shift the smile from my face. Bella chuckled and tugged me towards the SUV. The doctor said I was healing well and the brace could be removed for sleep, I was just pleased to be able to wash my arm, not to mention scratch, you cannot imagine the pleasure you could have from something as simple as scratching an itch. I could easily empathise with the look on a dogs face when they have a good scratch behind the ears, heaven.

We arrived back at the cabin a short while later, nothing seemed remiss and we pulled into the garage and entered through the back door without a care in the world. We grabbed coffee and walked hand in hand down to the panic room, setting up for hours of trawling. Well hours of Bella trawling and me, checking security, watching Bella and occasionally casting a second eye over something she'd found. Bella grinned at me from her seat in the large leather chair she'd sunk in to, cracking her fingers before placing her hands on the keyboard. The hard brace on her wrist similar to my own. I settled in to my seat opposite her and reviewed our status from the security setup on the screen, all looked good, the cctv streamed through various cameras all feeding onto the multi screen setup in front of me, all was quiet. The sensors were calibrated; no one would be sneaking up on us. I sat back in the chair and rested my eyes. Bella was fully entrenched in her data.

"Baby, come look at this, I think I have something," her voice carried across the desk.

I slid my chair up next to hers, on the screen was an image of a middle aged man, his bio told me he was a scientist.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Dr Waylon Jennings, he's nuclear scientist, for the DOD, specialises in nuclear weaponry."

"Okay?" I mused.

"He's been reported missing, yet he's been out of contact for months without anyone raising any flags."

"How is that possible?" I asked, straightening in my seat.

"He went on vacation, only thing is, he never came back," Bella responded.

"Surely they would've kept track of his whereabouts?"

"Obviously not, he's been gone for nearly three months now.  I'm thinking our missing scientist is with the missing plutonium and if I'm right I think the Volturi are trying to start a war."

"Holy shit, how do we alert them to this without drawing attention to ourselves?" I asked.

"I pin it to my streams, and let my computer flag it, if they're watching my data, then the programme I wrote to connect flags should alert those that need to know to the data," Bella said.

"Baby, you are a genius, I don't understand much of what you just said, but if it works hey I'm all for it," I said kissing her quickly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jasper called later that day, we informed him of what we had found, he promised to keep an eye on things in DC, I didn't dare to ask how he would do that, the guy had his ways and regardless of how hokey they seemed, I trusted him. He informed us that they had a lead on the traitor, no details were given, but he was confident in what he had discovered. Both Bella and I were keen for this to be over, we really were starting to suffer from cabin fever; we needed to get back in the game.

After hanging up with Jasper, I went about my normal routine, check the perimeter, check the gun cases, and lock up the cabin for the night. Meanwhile Bella returned to the panic room and it was there that I found her once my routine chores were complete, hunched over the computer, fingers gliding at speed across the keyboard, endless streams of data speeding across the multiple screens. She was in her element and I stood just inside the door in awe of her. She was relentless in her search for the truth and I knew that I would have difficulty removing her from her post tonight, she was heavily focussed, the air around her crackled with determination. With nothing more that I could do, I headed up to the kitchen, flipping the switch on the coffee machine, if I could do nothing but bring her coffee, then that is what I would do, I could support her in her endeavour to get us home.

Around 3am she sat back in her chair, weariness covering her features, I moved from my chair opposite and stood behind her, placing my hands on her shoulders I gently massaged the tight muscles beneath her sweatshirt. Bella's head fell against the back of the chair as she groaned in appreciation.

"You wouldn't believe how good that feels."

"I have an idea," I responded with a slight grin.

"I've been looking into Dr Jennings. I can only assume that he is operating under duress, his background shows no affiliation with the Volturi or anyone involved with them. If he does make a device, which I know he has the knowledge to do, I'm worried about the target," she said sighing as I hit a particularly tender point on her shoulder.

"What sort of payload are we talking about; perhaps if we understand the potential size we can determine the possible targets?"

"Think Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I'm not suggesting that they'll recreate 'fat man' but in the sense of devastation they could cause, then the potential is on a similar scale," she replied grimly.

"Okay, now we know potentially what we're up against, we need to find out the who, the where, and the why, do you think you can dig up any more information on the Volturi? I think if we can know our enemy, then we'll understand better why they're doing this."

"I can do that," she answered with a nod, moving to assume her position in front of the terminal.

I placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Tomorrow... you're tired and need to rest; it will still be here in the morning."

Bella looked up at me, her face drawn with fatigue, before taking my hand in hers. We ascended the stairs in silence, flicking light switches as we went. Tomorrow, we would begin to hone in on the Volturi.

Chapter 23 - 25th June 2010 - 4th July 2010 - Volterra, Italy

DemPOV

The helicopter rose from the outer courtyard of Bourtzi, Aro had called early this morning calling Felix and I back to Volterra. Jane and Alec would remain in Bourtzi with the two idiots James and Victoria and our two guests. I didn't envy them. Neither Ms Swan nor Mr Cullen had divulged anything to us, despite numerous hours under interrogation. In fact, this was another reason that I was glad to be heading back to Volterra, they were withstanding our methods and I was swiftly losing my patience. Jane was annoyed, even her sadistic use of electricity was fruitless. I was beginning to think that all this effort on getting information from them was pointless and we should just get on with killing them and finishing up the job. Why did things have to be so complicated?

On arrival back in Volterra, we were greeted at the helipad by an agitated looking Aro. I was somewhat confused that he had come to meet us at all, but didn't question it, as I didn't wish to incur his wrath...ever. We disembarked from the helicopter and swiftly walked along the city walls to the central citadel. Aro continued to appear agitated as we walked in silence, barely exchanging murmured greetings. It was unlike him to be this way, but when he was it didn't bode well for whoever was on his shit list. I could only hope it wasn't me.

It wasn't long before we arrived in the main reception hall of the old Medici fortress, the tall marble columns towered skywards across the pristine marble tiled floors. We strode confidently through the familiar rooms, heading towards Aro's study, passing through the thick gilded wooden doors into the richly panelled room, filled floor to ceiling with books and manuscripts. The lighting was low creating a warm glow throughout the room and a fire blazed vibrant in the hearth near to Aro's ornate desk. He moved to sit behind the large wooden piece of furniture and gestured to the two large wing back chairs positioned opposite. Both Felix and I didn't question this and moved to take our respective seats opposite our leader.

"Demetri, Felix, I expect you are wondering why I have requested your presence barely days since I sent you away," Aro began, while steepling his fingers on his desk in front of him.

"Yes Sir, although we are sure you have good reasons," I responded.

"Indeed," Aro replied with a glint. "Plans have changed a little, timings need to be moved up."

"In what way Sir?" Felix asked.

"There are rumours, many of course are just pure speculation, but they are getting too close to home."

"Sir?"

"You know of my history with the current Presidential office in the US. So I'm sure I don't need to go into great detail as to how that cheating, lying fool owes me," Aro spat.

I grimaced at the memory of Aro's involvement in 'assisting' the current President in gaining his position in the White House in return for his 'assistance' in acquiring weaponry, and a promise to overlook our involvement when we incited tensions in the Balkans in order to overthrow the regime and use it as our own training ground and eventual plan to turn the area into our own personal terrorist state. Of course that hadn't worked as he'd not wanted to keep his nose out of proving himself to the other 'Nato' alliance countries and had sent in teams to quell the fighting, thus breaking his promise to Aro and marking himself a traitor, a liar, a cheat and ultimately DEAD. We'd been in hiding for the past two years because of this and only recently had we made a presence back on the circuit. Of course we'd kept our hands in with various criminal activities, but the ultimate goal was to overthrow the Balkans, declare the country as ours and hold the world to ransom.  Well that's the gist of it. Now Aro wanted revenge.

"So the plans have changed, do we have timing for this change sir?" I asked.

"There's to be a Gala at the Smithsonian on Labour Day, September 6th. The President and much of congress are expected to be there."

"Okay, so we have two months, I presume that you require a bomb sir?"

"We have a nuclear device; however I want no mistakes, so I want you to create secondary devices. I don't care for the details only that when Labour Day has passed, the Americans will be so concerned with the turmoil in their own country, that our march into the Balkans will be barely a blip on their radar."

"I won't let you down sir," I responded.

We talked into the night, hours passed with barely any notice from the three of us. We plotted and planned everything down to who would be where when the shit hit the fan. As dawn approached I stifled a yawn as I looked bleary eyed over the maps and notes scattered about Aro's desk. It was settled. I would immediately begin working on the liquid devices that would be placed within the basement of the Smithsonian. The Nuke would be flown in under their noses and remote detonated. It would arrive the day of the Gala so as to avoid the possibility of being located beforehand. An insider will pass it for us, so that it won't be searched.

We settled back in our chairs, all of us weary and needing our beds. Felix broke the silence. "What of our guests in Bourtzi?"

"They are of no use to us now, kill them," Aro commanded coldly.

"With pleasure sir," Felix replied with a grin.

"If there is nothing more sir, it has been a long night and I feel that we could all do with some rest," I suggested.

Aro nodded in agreement. "Until tomorrow, gentlemen," he said, before standing and striding from the room.

I looked over at Felix, his face bore a fixed grin, he was eager to return to Bourtzi and inflict the sentence on the two we held there. Always eager to clean house and never to relinquish the honour to anyone, especially Jane or Alec, they each held a mutual dislike and respect for one another, Felix relished in the thrill of the clean kill, while Jane and Alec were sadistic in drawing out the pain for as long as possible.

I shook my head in amusement, my brother, so childlike and yet cold and hardened at the same time. He truly was made for this life. We rose from our seats and walked casually from the study in silence. We had no need to speak, tiredness and the comfort of comradeship enveloped us. Our footsteps echoed across the cavernous reception hall, bouncing off the marble floor and rebounding from column to column. As we neared the stairs that would take us to our rooms my cell rang, the shrill tone piercing the solitude.

I glanced at the display, the word Jane appeared on the screen as the tone shrieked out of the small device.

"Are you going to answer that or what brother?" Felix moaned.

"Yes?" I said lifting the cell to my ear. The voice on the other end sounded panicked. Alarm bells rang in my head and I looked warily at Felix.

"What do you mean they're gone?" I asked incredulously.

"Alec and I went to the cell after you had left, that idiot James and his puttana had been behaving suspiciously, acting nervous around us, with good reason it seems. They'd let them escape." Jane said viciously, her voice quivering with a mixture of worry and rage. I'd be worried too sister, Aro will not be pleased.

"Then why are you calling me? Find them and when you do, keep them away from the other two. Felix will be returning shortly, he will be in charge from now on," I spat.

Felix looked at me, his eye brow cocked in question. I nodded at him and lifted one finger, asking him to wait one minute. I finished up on the cell and looked at my brother. Barely keeping the rage simmering under the surface I told him what Jane had told me, how our guests had somehow escaped, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. She believed they had taken the submersible as the boats had been scuppered in the dock.

I barely heard Felix mumble "Stupid Bitch" under his breath, but his whole demeanour made it clear to me that he was not pleased about this latest development and was eager to return to Bourtzi in order to clean up the mess. I closed the cell tossing it into my pocket angrily, we'd hardly been away 24 hours and already they had managed to let our guests escape. It makes me wonder if Aro puts too much faith in the sadistic twins. Incompetence is high on my shit list and there will be some pretty strong retribution awaiting their return to Volterra.

I rolled my eyes, mentally huffing in anger. Felix remained beside me as I ascended the stairs to our quarters. The atmosphere between us was prickling with anticipation, rage and anxiety, the incompetence of the twins could veritably put a stumbling block in front of us. I could only hope that Felix would be able to round the escapees up swiftly.

I was broken from my internal reverie by Felix' large hand landing on my shoulder.

"I'll clear this up brother. Concentrate on what you do best, things that go boom. Let me deal with the fools on Bourtzi."

I nodded in response, still too angry to say anything. We parted ways at the top of the stairs, Felix wishing me well for the following months I would spend ensconced in my workshop building bombs for the Gala. I shook his hand and patted his shoulder, mentally hoping that he wouldn't be too far behind the escaped guests to be able to catch them and clean up the huge mess that had been left behind. They had both proved to be quite adept at resisting our attempts at making them talk, even more so now that they had somehow managed to escape and in Aro's prize submersible at that. I can only hope that they didn't damage it. I slightly wished I could join Felix on Bourtzi so I could watch him exact his punishment on James and his puttana for allowing the escape. Had those two kept to the plan and left the interrogations to Jane and Alec, I'm sure we wouldn't be facing this problem. Oh there will be hell to pay for them, but for now we needed them alive, at least until September.

~*~*~*~*~*

30th June 2010.

Felix had been in Bourtzi for three days now and even he was getting disillusioned. They'd had a possible sighting of them on Spetses, unconfirmed of course, but the evidence told us it was them. We had sixteen dead foot soldiers. Some of our best men were now dead, all of them found on Spetses after they had gone ashore having found Aro's missing submersible abandoned in a cove. After that night the trail had gone cold. There'd been an obvious fight, the blood soaked earth, the bullet riddled trees and not to forget the bodies of our men spoke volumes. Felix was furious of course, how could two heavily injured people, regardless of the man’s training have taken on and beaten sixteen highly trained mercenaries? He'd taken out his anger on the two idiots James and Victoria, both of them now bearing the scars of my dear brothers’ wrath. Jane and Alec had remained scarce in order to avoid a similar fate at is hands.

~*~*~*~*~*

 VicPOV

I hunched over the wooden table in the banquet hall of the fortress, my body throbbed from the beating I had taken at the hands of that sadistic bastard Felix. He blamed James and I for the escape of the two prisoners and to ensure we understood his rage he beat us black and blue for hours. I knew it was a mistake to get them involved, but James wouldn't listen to me, well he'll listen to me now won't he!

"Bitch so help me, you better start coming up with ways to find them or I will have no choice but to remind you of your inadequacy," Felix yelled into my ear.

I tried so hard not to flinch at his proximity, but I just didn't have it in me anymore, he scared me.

"I... I have a contact in Washington, perhaps I could call them?" I said hopefully.

"Do it now, hurry up. We need them dead yesterday."

I nodded in response digging into my pocket and fumbling slightly with the cell phone as I lifted it to dial the contact. She better answer me or so help me she will die at my hand.

"Hello?" she spoke nervously.

"About time you answered, you really should have better manners than that, considering your position," I sneered.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't near to the phone," she said panicking a little.

"No excuses, it won't happen again," I said.

"Of course, I'm sorry, I'll keep it close at all times," she stuttered.

"Good. Now I have a task for you."

"I've done everything you asked of me, I've planted the Intel, I gave you the information you requested," she responded shakily.

"It seems that our 'guests' have escaped..." I started.

"I...” She gasped out, but I had no time for her bullshit and interrupted her.

"I'm not finished. Should they reappear in your locale, they are to be silenced...permanently," I spoke icily.

"But...that would be murder, I can't, I have a respectable job, a family..." she stumbled out.

"You can and you will, I don't care how, but they will be dead, either at our hands or yours. You will call us when it is done," without waiting on her response I hung up.

I looked back at Felix, he was watching me intently, a shudder went through me involuntarily. Ugh he gave me the creeps.

"It's done, if they turn up there then they will die at the hands of my contact or they'll tell me where they are and we'll take them out."

"Now why didn't you work like this before, perhaps if you had shown this kind of effort before we wouldn't be in this position now," he replied smoothly.

*~*~*~*~*

4th July 2010 - Bourtzi, Nafplion

FelixPOV

This was getting beyond a fucking joke, seriously how hard is it to find two well tortured people and silence them forever. I'll tell you how hard, fucking impossible. Oh don't get me wrong, we'd come close, so very close, but they somehow managed to get away. Not without leaving sixteen dead in their wake. SIXTEEN. For fuck sake, I'm surrounded by incompetence. We'd combed the island of Spetses for days and nothing, the only evidence of them ever having been there was the blood stained grass and the sixteen bodies we hastily removed. Unbelievable. How on earth do two people, sure one of them was a Seal, but they were tortured for days, how the hell did they manage to not only escape a fortress, surrounded by water, heavily guarded and also manage to take out sixteen highly trained mercs and vanish without a trace? It's inconceivable. I'm loath to admit defeat, but we had greatly underestimated them both, neither had shown signs of cracking and both had somehow managed to escape us and continue to evade recapture, if I wasn't so pissed off, I might even respect them for that.

Aro had been riding my ass again, I'm really wearing thin now, if something doesn't happen soon, then James and his puttana won't be darkening my horizon for much longer. It's their fault and I need retribution. I really need to kill something.

Jane and Alec have been avoiding me, I expect even they have the sense to stay out of my way, the mood I'm in, it would only take one wrong word and blam, bye bye assholes.

That stupid bitch is back at my door again, hovering like a fucking vulture.

"So help me whore, you better have something of worth to tell me, I'm in the mood to kill."

She blanched, did she honestly think I didn't know she was there.

"Well?"

"I... ugh I had a call from my contact in Washington. Um they showed up at some military medical facility, they're dead."

"Finally, now tell me, is it a confirmed kill and make it good."

"Um, the er contact didn't say, all they said was that it's done. I was a bit short with them and hung up," she stuttered nervously.

"Then how do you know that they're dead, you're taking the word of some shady individual who you have scared into doing your dirty work over evidence to prove the fact?"

"I believe them; they have too much to lose to be lying."

"Fine, but be it on your head if I find out otherwise bitch. Now get out of here, or you'll be joining them in the afterlife."

I'm surrounded by incompetence.

The red head bitch turned and walked away swiftly, no doubt eager to get away from me, in case I decide to just get rid of her. I'm tempted, but we need her for the mission. Her and that worthless piece of scum she calls a partner. Their demise would be a service to humanity, I shudder to think what would happen if they procreate. It really doesn't bear thinking about. Of the two the woman appears to be more savvy, even if the man and I use that term loosely is the more dominant, he's definitely not the brains of the party.

I flipped my cell open and called Demetri, I needed to be back in Volterra with my brother, he always knows how to calm my mind.

"You have news brother?" he spoke keenly through the phone.

"I do, I'm eager to return home and be rid of these imbeciles."

"Patience my brother, good things come to those who wait. What news have you for me?"

"The red head bitch, has a contact in Washington DC, they've confirmed the kill on our missing guests," I said with a hint of scepticism.

"I see, and you trust this information brother?"

"No, I believe the stupid whore will believe anything she hears on the phone without demanding proof. I believe they're in Washington, or at least they were, but until I see them cold and dead for myself, I'm sceptical."

"Ideally we need to see for ourselves, but I feel that if you and I were to turn up in 'DC, it would be a little too hot for us, I've no doubts that she'd be able to identify us no."

"I agree brother, so what now?" I asked.

"We send those two bumbling idiots to 'DC, we need to scope the Smithsonian and if they should happen to garner any further information on our guests, then all the better."

"And what of the creep twins?"

"Send them with them, they have some mistakes to atone for and working alongside dim and dimmer will be a good start along that path for them. It'll get them out of our hair too," Demetri laughed.

"Now I like your thinking brother, so once I've told them, I'll meet you in Volterra?"

"Yes brother, come home, we have much to prepare."

"Until then," I said closing my cell and slipping it back into my pocket.

Finally I'm getting out of here, I've had enough of this place to last me a life time. Standing from the couch I moved across my quarters grabbing my duffle I began to empty the dresser, the sooner I could get packed the sooner I could get home.