This is the end?

Yeah, so my inbox and reviews are littered with OMG you killed them! How could you?!

Well the reason I did what I did was because that was how the story was intended. I had actually written the Prologue and Epilogue at the same time, so the intention to kill them off was there from the start. Sure I could've had them jump out the back of the plane at the very last second, bounce across the mostly destroyed runway and embrace as the stricken aircraft explodes in a ball of flame and detritus, but that wouldn't be 'keeping it real'.

The good guys won, but in order for good to prevail over evil, there had to be a casualty, because even the good guys die sometimes. The story dictated it, they could only escape by the skin of their teeth so many times, before dear ole' death caught up with them.

I would say sorry, but I'm not, because that would be admitting that I'm wrong in ending it like that and as it's my story, that's how I wanted it to go. That is the hard fought truth in war, the hand of evil isn't picky about who it touches and the HEA don't always come with a big red bow, a box of choccy's or a smooch.

The HEA in my story is that they finished it together, prevailed over evil and if you believe in after lives and all that stuff, they're off sitting pretty on a cloud somewhere, making daisy chains and shitting rainbows.

I've enjoyed every minute of this little forray into fan fiction, it was very much out of my comfort zone and I've appreciated the support and comments (good and bad) that I've recieved. Maybe next time I'll have them riding off into the sunset, fully intact, beating hearts and all. (Or maybe not)

I've created a PDF of this story and uploaded it to my googledocs, it can be downloaded here....
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I know this will work on a kindle if you have one as I've tested it on my own! 

I'll get round to adding Whistling Shitcan and Emmett McCarty - The bear hunter eventually.

Download Emmett McCarty - The Bear Hunter.

Download Immediate Action Outtake - Operation Whistling Shitcan.

Epilogue

 September 6th 2010.

"We have breaking news of a plane crash at Andrews Air Force Base, lets join NBC reporter Jessica Stanley for more information."

"Thank you Dale, this is Jessica Stanley reporting from Andrews Air Force Base where it has been revealed that this evening an operation involving Navy Seals, and CIA operatives, thwarted a plot by the infamous crime syndicate the Volturi to assassinate the President. While details of the operation are still very hush hush, it has been revealed that missing CIA analyst Isabella Swan was instrumental in the sourcing of the intelligence that lead to the joint operation. It has been confirmed that numerous chemical bombs have been found and made safe in and around the Smithsonian, which we are all aware was holding a Presidential gala this evening. In a related turn of events, Miss Swan is believed to have been on the plane that crashed barely thirty minutes ago at Andrews, along with Seal team commander, Master Chief Edward Cullen. It is believed that the aircraft was an integral part of the Volturi plot and that Miss Swan and Mr Cullen had somehow found themselves on board the flight."

"Do we have any information on the status of Miss Swan and Mr Cullen, Jess?"

"Good question Dale, as you can see behind me, emergency services are working hard to control the fire that engulfed the aircraft moments after it hit the ground, at this time there is no information on whether Miss Swan or Mr Cullen made it out prior to this happening."

"We can only pray that they make it back to their families."

"Absolutely Dale, it's the heroic sacrifices and endeavours made by those such as Miss Swan and Mr Cullen that make us proud to be American."

*~*~*~*~*

September 20th 2010

"On NBC tonight, details are emerging of the Volturi plot to bring chaos to the United States."

"Swan and Cullen, America's unsung heroes."

"President Schrieber to be endited for apparent secret involvement with the Volturi, Vice President Jason Banner to be sworn in, in the interim."

"Phil Dwyer, the secret Volturi assassin."

"Nuclear scientist for the DOD Waylon Jennings found dead in Volterra, Italy."

"But first, it has been announced that Lauren Mallory, former assistant to Director of Operations Phil Dwyer of the CIA has been sentenced to life imprisonment at Virginia state penitentiary as a traitor to the United States. As you are aware Miss Mallory was found to be selling secrets and planting false intelligence while in her trusted position at the CIA, which resulted in the deaths of Chief Petty Officer Peter Jackson, Senior CIA Intelligence Analyst Albert Berty, and the life threatening injury to colleague Angela Webber. Also mentioned in the prosecution was the abduction of Miss Isabella Swan and Master Chief Edward Cullen, who were both taken and tortured by the Volturi. Miss Mallory apparently fell into a bad situation with the Volturi due to gambling debts at a casino that had been used as a front by them during the few years they had been quiet. She only escaped the death sentence because she gave herself up and supplied information that could be used to bring them to justice."

"In other news, Mastermind Aro Volturi and bomb maker Demetri Volakov have been named among casualties of a helicopter crash over the Balkans. Mr Volturi has been on the run since the events of Labour Day when a Volturi plot to not only assassinate President Schrieber, but also a majority of the men and women of the Senate was foiled by a joint operation between Navy Seals and the CIA. It is still unclear as to the reasons behind the Volturi plot; however sources at the Pentagon have said that they are breathing a huge sigh in relief that there is one less threat to our nation’s stability tonight."

"Stay tuned for further updates. I'm Dale Cleary and this is NBC news."

The TV blared noisily over the thrum of patrons. Standing at the bar in Whitlows Bar and Grill on Wilson, Charlie Swan sighed. Over the last few months he'd aged nearly ten years, his brown curly locks were now peppered with white flecks, his face sallow and his eyes shrunken and surrounded by deep dark circles. Sleep was no longer a commodity that he was familiar with. He looked around the bar at the assembled men and women, all of them here to pay homage to the lost. His heart ached as much as his body; he understood the grief many of these people assembled felt intimately. Scratching the back of his neck a gesture that he'd come to understand as a nervous tick he took a swig from his glass and then tapped the bar to gain attention of the crowd.

"I um, I'm not big on talking, but I just have to say my piece." He mumbled out.

The bar was silent, all eyes fixed on the middle aged man, whose eyes bore a frightening resemblance to those of his daughter. He was flanked by his wife Sue and the large muscular forms of Emmett McCarty and Jasper Whitlock, adjacent to them stood Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme, and lastly their daughter Alice. Charlie's shoulder sagged a little under the weight of the feelings he was holding in, his only comfort coming from the elegant hand of Emmett's heavily pregnant wife Rosalie, who looped her arm through his. He nodded to her thanking her for her kindness.

Two folded flags held places of honour within the group placed with care upon a tall table alongside a pair of framed photographs of Edward and Bella. The assembled people stood in silence as the quiet spoken man prepared to speak.

"I just w-wanted to say thank you, the support and acceptance I've received these last few months has been overwhelming, as you may know I'm a quiet guy and don't really socialise with folks. I'd like to think that despite the sacrifices that my Bella and your Edward made that I've found something that was missing, family. We may not be family by blood, but we're united in our grief for our missing loved ones. Bella and Edward were alike in so many ways, but what made them stand out was their shared courage and love for their country. I'm proud to have been able to call Bella my daughter, just like I'm proud to be able to say that I knew Edward. In protecting what they loved they made the ultimate sacrifice, and while I'm saddened that they can't be here to see the good that they have done, I know that wherever they are now is a better place." Charlie choked slightly as he lifted his glass once more.

"Bella and Edward always remembered, never forgotten."

The crowd lifted their glasses and the toast chorused throughout the bar.

Chapter 33 - 6th September 2010 - End Game

EPOV

I gunned the engine of the SUV and sped from my parking spot in front of the Smithsonian, as I drove I pulled the small tracking device from the pocket of my pants and switched to Bella's signal, it showed her moving away from Mclean and out towards Dulles, when I thought about it, it seemed pretty obvious, the freight terminal would be the ideal location to launch an attack, as long as they had a private plane in order to fly out of there, which I had no doubts they did.

"Please stay safe baby," I said to no one.

I felt guilty at leaving the guys behind, but had every faith that they would be fine without me, they've been operating without my interference for months now, one more mission without me is not going to do them any harm. It's something they need to get used to anyhow. I watched the signal beep across the tracking device as it moved into the freight terminal, well so far I seemed to be on the right track. I continued out onto the highway flooring the accelerator and speeding through traffic.

I cursed under my breath as I passed a patrol car and suddenly the lights lit up and it was on my ass, "Fuck! Not now assholes!" I yelled slamming my hand against the steering wheel.

I pushed the call button on my throat comm and called in to SOCOM, "Hey guys this is Cullen, I'm en route to Dulles, tracking a suspected terrorist, I have a patrol car on my ass, you need to get someone to call them off," I said as calmly as possible.

Moments later the patrol car dropped off my tail with a final flash of its lights in acknowledgement, I flashed my indicators in response and continued on towards my goal. It felt like I'd been on the road forever when the sign for the freight terminal loomed ahead of me, I sped through the barrier, nearly taking out the portly security officer that only just jumped out of my way as I passed him. Sorry dude lay of the doughnuts!

I slowed down as I rounded the terminal building and moved onto the tarmac, Bella's signal seemed to be coming from the C-130 that stood ready to join the cue for takeoff up ahead. I passed it and parked up alongside a line of freight trucks. I stepped out of the SUV and tucked my glock into the back of my pants and added a couple of more clips to my pocket. With a final prayer that Bella was on board I moved swiftly alongside the containers and various vehicles towards the rear of the plane.

The rear hatch of the C-130 was open, this was the only chance I had at finding Bella, and I could only trust that my guys had gotten to the President to safety along with all those other innocents caught up in this fuckery. I could hear movement ahead of me as I snuck inside and hid beside a supply cage, that's when I saw them. Bella was slumped on the floor and appeared to be fixed to a device, the big guy from Bourtzi stood over her with a menacing look on his face, a welding torch in his hand. Looking closer I could see that she was fixed to a supply cradle, an image flashed through my mind, shit! It made sense to me suddenly, the nuke was being delivered by air, he'd get to the appropriate altitude flick a switch and it would be forced out of the rear doors with Bella attached and literally fall into the Smithsonian, what a sick bastard.

"You can come out Mr Cullen, no need to hide in the shadows, we're all acquainted with each other." he sneered.

I stepped out from behind the cage and moved tentatively towards him, lifting my glock from my holster and aiming it at him.

"Ah ah ah," he said wagging a finger, "not very smart idea that Mr Cullen, I'd hate to have to damage Miss Swan when she's already in such a delicate position."

"Stay the fuck away from her!" I snarled.

"Drop the gun." he retorted.

"So you can kill her without interruption, I don't think so." I growled.

"She's going to die anyway, you're all going to die, it's for the greater good, after tonight the Volturi will be invincible, we'll have free rein to claim new territory and the United States will be in turmoil. I'm excited to see how a country works when it's whole leadership structure is wiped out in one sitting. Now drop the gun."

Bella's' eyes drifted open slightly, catching sight of me standing there.

"Don't..." she whispered, before recoiling when a kick hit her in the stomach.

I moved forwards again, angered at his touching her, but stopped suddenly as the welding torch moved towards her face.

"Drop. The. Gun." he said, not moving the torch.

The gun clattered to the floor.

"Good, now move over to the cage, climb in and shut the door behind you."

I moved without comment, knowing that it meant Bella was untouched. He secured the door, sneering at me through the metal bars, I ignored him, my eyes firmly fixed on Bella huddled on the floor. Sure that I was secure he moved back over to the device, pressing buttons and secured a cover over what appeared to be an electro-magnetic detonator. Bright red numbers flashed on a clock and begin to count slowly down from 20 minutes.  The giant turned and looked me in the eye.

"Try to keep it together, you'll join her in hell when it goes off, she'll just get there a little quicker." he said laughing.

"Fuck you." I spat.

He shook his head, and walked away towards the cockpit chuckling. The rear door closed behind me as the engines rumbled to life and I felt the movement of the plane underfoot. If this is all the time we have left, there is no way in hell that I'd waste it standing in here. I looked around the cage for anything I could use to break the lock, but came up wanting. Looking up, hoping for inspiration or divine intervention I saw that it wasn't fixed to the ceiling, and spotted a gap, it would be a tight fit, I'm not exactly the scrawny kid I used to be. Planting my feet into the bars I climbed, it didn't take long to reach the top, sucking in a breath I squeezed into the gap, note to self, cut down on the pizza. Bella had hardly moved from her spot on the floor, the red countdown flashed angrily at me, taunting me for being slow. I dropped down quietly from the top of the cage and moved swiftly to Bella’s side.

"Bella...are you hurt baby."

Her eyes fluttered open as I cupped her face in my hands, she shook her head in response, before looking towards her hands, I followed her gaze and stumbled slightly at what I could finally see. We needed to stop this bomb, but without hurting Bella it would be impossible. It's almost as if he knew that I would have to make an impossible decision, hurt her or die. Okay so when I think about it like that, it's not as impossible, but still the idea of hurting her was abhorrent to me.

"Edward! Just do it, I know it's going to hurt, but what choice do we have, just promise me that you'll work fast." Bella sobbed.

I cupped her jaw in my hands, swiping the tears from her flushed cheeks, for the first time in my life truly understanding the term 'catch 22'.

"Bella...I don't want to lose you, it's breaking my heart to even begin to hurt you."

"Do it." she sniffed.

"I love you." I said steeling myself and gazing into her soulful brown eyes.

"I love you too, now do it."

I nodded in acquiescence, hating myself for this, yet knowing we had no other choice, hurting Bella was the only way that we were going to put an end to this and hopefully she'd live to see it with me. I leant forward kissing her with everything I had, if this is the end, then I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do this first. We broke apart at the same time her hands still secured tightly to the side of the bomb; those sick bastards are going to pay. The countdown indicator flashed its angry red numerals at me, reminding me that in ten minutes time I will have either stopped the bomb, or made the ultimate sacrifice. Either way, if Bella didn't make it out of this, neither would I. My life was forfeit the moment I laid eyes on her that day in the briefing.

I knelt in front of her, eyeing the offensive metal shackles that were cuffed around Bella's wrists, following the gentle lines of her hands as they cupped the magnetic detonator coil, on to the weld that secured the shackles to the bomb, ensuring she'd be the first to die should it go off. Sick bastards, it's not enough that they want to create turmoil in our country so that they have free run to take over new territory, but they have to put Bella in this position, so that the only way I can disarm this thing is by hurting her. I shook my head, anger, frustration and hurt pouring out of me.

"Edward... stop thinking, do it, please just... please." she sobbed.

Using my multi-tool, I began to unscrew the casing for the detonator; it worked with the use of magnets, creating an electro-magnetic field. I could hear and feel the dull buzz as the casing fell from the bomb. Bella stood shaking, her hands fixed tightly to the detonator. The C-130 banked suddenly and my balance shifted slightly, I stretched my leg out to stop myself from falling and put my hands out to keep Bella steady. Sweat beads fell from my hair, if we get out of this, if I see another plane again, it will be all too soon.

"Awww isn't that sweet, the lovebirds spend their last minutes together crying. How poetic." The voice sneered from the cockpit.

"Fuck you, you sick bastard." I yelled at him.

"Oh no, no Fuck You." he sneered, moving towards the rear of the plane, a parachute firmly attached to his back.

Anger blasted through my veins and before I even had time to think it through, I charged him, my shoulder fixing firmly into his stomach as I pushed him with all the force I had in me against the side of the fuselage. His head gave a resounding 'thud' as it came into contact with the metal struts that made up the side of a supply cage. I pounded his face with my fists, blood flying in all directions. I had a grudge to pay this giant for what he had done to Bella not only this time, but the first time he took her and I was cashing in all my chips.

"You don't get to walk away this time asshole." I screamed at him, my fist pounding into his face, "You don't get to pull that chute, you don't get to do anymore jobs for your sick bosses, you don't get to touch her again."

He pushed and grabbed at me as I continued to wail on him, punches and kicks resounded around the plane, snaps and screams become the melodious accompaniment. Until finally there was silence. I dropped him to the sound of Bella calling me.

"Edward, stop, we don't have time..."

"I'm sorry." I said, cupping her cheek.

"Edward... I-I...”

"Bella,"

"I don't want to die attached to this thing, but I don't see how we'll have the time. If I'm going to die, I need to know that we tried, we tried to stop it, we tried to save those people, do it Edward, do it now!"

"Bella..." I sobbed, tears falling freely from my eyes.

"Do it."

"I'm sorry." I said placing my hands over hers and slowly twisting the detonator coil counter-clockwise, I could feel the tension as her wrists strained against the force the shackles were putting on them as the detonator moved. The colour was slowly draining from Bella's face as she tried to remain quiet while I turned the detonator. I wanted to speed up, get this over as quick as possible, but I knew that I couldn't, all it would take was one slip and the electro-magnetic field would be disrupted and all this would be for nothing. I could see the pain clearly etched on Bella's face, the silent tears streaking down her cheeks.  "I'm so sorry baby." I said turning the detonator once more, the tell tale sound of bones snapping as the shackles crushed into her wrists. I felt sick to my stomach.

The detonator slipped from its secured bed and landed with a thump on the floor, Bella's wrists, still shackled to the head of the coil. The countdown on the bomb froze at 33 seconds. I breathed a sigh of relief. The only sounds were our laboured breaths, the adrenalin continued to pump through my veins. I looked over at Bella, as she slumped against the bomb, all colour now gone from her, her arms limply lying across the floor. I could already see her wrists swelling from the breaks that I had caused her. My stomach lurched at the thought of it.

I moved to her side, lifting her onto my lap as I cradled her against me. She's here, she's alive, and she’s breathing. In that moment nothing else mattered. The red light outside the cockpit flashed suddenly and the sound of the rear door opening shocked me back into action, I rolled us quickly away from the now disarmed device as a clang from below alerted me to the immediate danger, just as we hit the side of the fuselage the cradle lurched forwards hurtling the device from the plane, I shuddered realising just how close I'd come to losing her.

"I love you." I spoke softly into her ear.

"I love you too." she responded breathily.

"Let’s go home baby, hopefully that fucker didn't mess with the plane."

Standing with Bella cradled in my arms, I moved through the cabin towards the cockpit, I placed Bella in the co-pilots seat before moving into the seat adjacent. Thank heavens for auto-pilot. I secured the headset and switched over to manual taking the controls and banking back towards Andrews Air force base.

"This is Master Chief Edward Cullen; I need clearance for an emergency landing. Transponder code Papa, Alpha, Zulu, 130, we're coming in from the east and we're coming in hot." I said while checking the dials in front of me, the fuel light flashed angrily, accompanied by the altitude alarm.

"This is Andrews Tower, Cullen, pick any spot you like, we've cleared the deck, we have emergency crews on standby, your airspeed is showing at 400 knots, altitude is currently 200 feet, try to level out and we'll see you home safe." came the response.

"Thanks tower, we'll see you on the other side." I replied as I struggled with the controls. I fluttered the airbrakes with my feet, attempting to regain some control, but nothing appeared to be responding. I managed to line us up with the approach as more alarms sounded throughout the cockpit. The steering became tight in my hands as I attempted to keep us lined up. That bastard had rigged the controls to fail. I looked over at Bella, her eyes were closed and her face was serene. I leant over and buckled her seatbelt, hoping it would be enough, before doing the same to myself. The flight console crackled as smoke plumed from the various dials, sparks flashed across the control dials, alarms continued to wail at me as I struggled to keep us on some semblance of course. The ground was approaching, too fast my subconscious said. I aimlessly fluttered the airbrakes, hoping for a break, I chuckled darkly to myself at the futility of it. Only one thing left to do, let the tower know.

"Andrews Tower, this is Cullen, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, we're going down, we're going down, we're going down." I called as the ground loomed closer and closer.

"Bella, I love you." I said holding her arm across the seat and closing my eyes and bracing for impact.

Chapter 32 - 6th September 2010 - Washington DC.

BPOV

Clasping the necklace Edward had given me I closed the basement door as he strode out confidently, I pushed the deadbolt across as I heard the sound of the front door closing from above me and the engine of the SUV rumble to life. "Please be safe."

Filled with concern and apprehension I headed back to my place at the bank of terminals, fixing my headset over my ears and jacking in to the comm. channel as I logged in to the SOCOM network. I called in to let the guys know I was in play.

"Little Bird calling in, all pieces in play," I announced clearly.

I scanned each of the screens set out in front of me, each of them with a different purpose. Three had live play by play video feeds from the various teams, the others had current intel scanning through and secure access to the Smithsonian's security control, the last continued to flash through background checks on all major players. I watched and listened intently as the clear to go was called and my guys shot into action clearing the upper levels and working their way towards the basement and likely locations of explosives.

Em broke in stating he had found something and gave instructions on shutting them down to the guys, before Edward cut in instructing me to shut the fire alarms down via security, I was so on it. All the while this was happening, I watched as the other teams worked seamlessly to clear the building with as little fuss as possible. Everything seemed to be going as planned and the Volturi didn't look to be making a play, that didn't mean we could be complacent.

I was jarred from my observation by the sound of breaking glass above, I froze, wondering what the hell it was, there was no one here but me and the only people that knew I was here were on the other end of the comm. I was torn, do I stay where I am, do I check it out, do I hide? The sound of splintering wood caught my attention once more and the comm. exploded into life, Jazz demanding everyone call in, I was frozen in terror as I watched the old wooden door of the basement fly down the steps in pieces. A shadow bloomed across the steps and slowly moved into the room, I had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide and my gun was on the other side of the room. So stupid!

I was bought back to the present by a hand slapping my face, I screamed out as pain spread across my cheek, the only thing that would let them know the danger was here with me was the fully open comm.

"Miss Swan, I think you should come with me," Phil Dwyer sneered.

"Like hell I will," I yelled. "They trusted you, you traitor! They trusted you and yet here you stand working for that... that SCUM!" I stood with my fists tight against my sides; I need to get to my gun.

"I don't want to hurt you Miss Swan, but I must insist you come with me," he said grabbing for me.

I twisted out of his reach and dashed across the room, vaulting the coffee table in order to reach my gun, before turning and aiming at him as he charged after me.

"Get away from me Dwyer," I growled, tensing my finger on the trigger.

"You wouldn't shoot me Bella, you're too good for that," he said, trying to coax me to give up my weapon.

"Try me asshole," I said glaring at him.

A hand appeared in my peripheral vision as it clasped the gun in my hand, reflexively I pulled the trigger and I watched as Phil Dwyer dropped to the floor in a heap. The gun was yanked from my grasp and I was grabbed from behind, the last thing I heard as the dark sack covered my eyes and I was bundled from the room was Edwards’ voice calling my name over the comm.

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

JASPOV

"Ed man, go, we've got it covered here," I said calmly over the comm, we'd all heard Bella being assaulted over the comm, we'd heard her give as good as she got, we heard her name Phil Dwyer as her assailant and we'd heard the gunfire and then silence. We couldn't dwell though, we had a job to do and the only person that could do anything was Edward. He would never leave his post without me forcing his hand and making him. I quickly came to the conclusion that wherever Bella was, the nuke would be too, these assholes seemed to follow every fucking cliché and it would be nothing but apt for them to put her with their bomb in some twisted version of revenge.

"Okay," he called back, "I'm out, I'll be in touch soon," he continued before the sound of the SUV rumbling to life could be heard and his comm went silent.

"Good luck bro," I said quietly to the air.

I scanned the dank basement room Em and I were in as Em disabled the liquid bomb we found, the room was empty, it’s off white walls stained with rising damp, it smelled musty and dank and just gave me chills the longer we remained here.

"All clear bro," Em called quietly to me as he removed a canister of liquid from the device, rendering it useless. I nodded in response and moved towards the door, Em fell in behind me, alert to all movement within our area. The sound of gunfire in the distance told us that we would soon have company.  The comm came to life soon after.

"We have multiple contacts on the basement level, they're pouring in through a subway entrance," Jake called in from the south side.

"Same over here on the north side," Sam added as the sounds of bullets hitting plaster were heard.

"The creep twins are in the building," Seth growled as more gunfire was heard.

"Lock and load bro," Em patted my shoulder as we moved into the corridor.

The basement was well lit, the fluorescent lights flickered casting a yellow hue about the area, leaving us open to be seen. "Team 10 we need the grid shut down, bleep to confirm that this is a go," I called over the comm.

Two bleeps returned in quick succession as the lights went out and all out chaos erupted around us. Em and I dove for cover as a hail of bullets spread across the large room, plaster falling from the walls around us. I pulled down my NVG's and blinked as the world turned an eerie green hue. Using hand signals I directed Em to the left as I moved right, pulling my knife from my arm I approached the first gunman from behind and with one hand grasping his chin I drew the other across his throat dragging my knife across his jugular. As I released my grip, he fell to the ground with a thud and I stepped away from the body quietly. We would check them over once we were done.

We continued on through the basement, the bodies mounting the further we moved. Before long we met up with Seth and Embry, both were looking a little worse for wear, but not so much that they couldn't continue. We continued on our path through the corridor, killing any opposition we found. Two more devices were deactivated as we pushed on in silence. Sam and Quil met with us near to the stairs that led up to the Rotunda. Jake and Peter were missing, they should've joined up with us by now.

"Jake, Peter, check in," I called.

"We're in the south side of the atrium, we're pinned and can't move from cover, Peter has taken a shot," Jake responded breathlessly.

"Watch the north, we're coming up," I called back.

"We have multiple contacts on the north side, suggest you use flash bangs," Jake answered.

"Hold your ears bro,"

I nodded to Em gesturing with hand signals for the guys to take various positions as we moved to enter the atrium. I grabbed two flash bangs from my vest and prepared to throw them in. Raising my hands I counted, "1, 2, 3," flicked the pins with my fingers and tossed them over the balustrade that separated the staircase from the atrium before ducking back down and raising my gun as flashes and bangs reverberated throughout the room. "GO!" I called over the comm and we rushed out into the room dropping men as we moved and separated. As the dust settled around us a round of "Clear," echoed from each of us.

"Jake, where you at bro?" Em called switching to medic mode.

A hand shot up from behind the remains of what looked like a desk of some sort, "Here," he called.

Em rushed forwards as we scanned the area for any more of those bastards, there were bodies everywhere. "Shit!" Em called as he bent over Jake and Peter. I moved to join them, Jake and Em were working hard to resuscitate Peter, but it looked like a losing battle. The more they pumped his chest the more blood poured out of him.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"That crazy bitch," Jake nodded behind him as he continued pumping Peter’s chest. Em grabbed his arm shaking his head. "Stop, he's gone dude, he's gone."

Jake dropped back on his ass and scrubbed his face, his hands were covered in blood and he looked exhausted. Em patted his shoulder as he pulled a foil blanket from his pack and draped it over Peter’s body.

"Crazy bitch, just came at us out of nowhere, Pete thought he could stop her, but she was possessed or something, had a fucking cattle prod, shocked the hell out of Pete, soon as he hit the ground bitch was on him and had this fucking knife in her hand and was stabbing the fuck out of anything she touched. I shot her soon as I could get free from the other assholes drawing in from all sides, took five damn bullets to slow her the hell down, thought she would never die, crazy fucking shrew," Jake finished grasping at his hair.

"Okay bro, just rest easy, we'll get in team 10 to clear up and do a final sweep," I said patting his shoulder.

"This is Alpha team, we have the Atrium in our control, all remaining teams to converge on us and clear any stragglers," I called over the comm.

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

I sat on the steps looking out on to Constitution avenue, the night sky above us was awash with stars, I glanced down at my watch, 10.45pm, we'd been out of the Smithsonian for barely twenty minutes, and we still hadn't heard anything from Edward. I checked in with SOCOM moments ago, but they had nothing to tell us, he was out of contact since he left us earlier. We had discovered the bodies of the creep twins on the walk through once the building had been cleared, but Demetri and Felix were not amongst the dead. The left a bad feeling in my gut, we were missing important players and there was still no sign of a nuke. I knew for certain that Aro wouldn't be anywhere near this, he would be too busy amassing his troops to invade the Balkans, expecting this great plan of his to be successful. Little did he know that while we were here shattering that plan, he should be receiving visitors in his home in Volterra. Right now a team of Special Ops from Nato should be calling in for a chat, I could only hope that those other two assholes were there with him, but due to Edward and Bella being off the grid again, I was certain that at least one of them was involved.

SOCOM called in to inform me that the President was safe and that the civilians were also, well at least there were no blue on blue casualties. Em sat down beside me, soon followed by the rest of the guys. We chatted quietly while we waited for any news or more orders should the need arise. For over an hour we waited until the comm sprung to life.

"Alpha team, we have a situation over at Andrews, we have a C-130 coming in hot, Cullen's at the controls," the voice said.

"Shit! We're on it, mark us as en-route," I returned, springing to my feet and running for the first available vehicle with the team on my heels.

I jumped into the black SUV that was sat idling beside the entry to the Smithsonian, red and blue lights flashing on the dash, I noted that it probably belonged to the FBI or one of the other agencies present. I would worry about that later. Em dived into the front passenger seat, while the rest of the team bundled into the back, a mass of limbs and guns protruded from the tangle of bodies as I slammed my door shut and gunned the engine and sped off.

"What's going on bro?" Em asked, a little concerned at my new penchant for grand theft auto.

"Edward, he's on a plane heading for Andrews, it's coming in hot, something is seriously wrong don't you think," I responded pushing my foot into the accelerator.

"Shit, what about Bella?"

"I'm guessing she's with him," I replied gruffly.

I was thankful that I had chosen this vehicle, with the lights flashing nothing got in our way and it wasn't long before we were on the approach to Andrews.

"SOCOM, do we have an update on the situation," I called as we screeched onto the tarmac beside the tower.

"We've just had a transmission from Andrews Tower, Cullen called in moments ago," they started.

"Well, don't leave us hanging!" I shouted.

"The transmission was, "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, We're going down, we're going down, we're going down," they've had nothing more, the tower is tracking them, they should be in sight any minute now," came the response.

"Fuck me, look!" Jake called over the head rest.

The C-130 could be clearly seen as it approached too fast, a stream of smoke billowed from the cockpit; the tarmac next to the tower was awash with emergency vehicles, their lights flashing in unison as the airplane dropped from the sky. My breath caught as the rear tyres hit the ground swiftly followed by the nose, the plane continued along the runway at speed, before the front landing gear collapsed under the weight and the aircraft spun. Sparks issued as the metal scraped along the ground and the tail burst into flames as three emergency chutes burst out of the rear hatch in order to slow the plane down.

The emergency vehicles sprang into action and raced behind the downed plane as it careened out of control along the runway, quickly it was running out of space and only the large ditch at the end could halt its progress. An almighty explosion shook the ground as it crashed to a stop, still the emergency vehicles headed in, in a vain hope they could pull someone from the wreckage. I knew in my gut they would be too late this time.