Love is our Resistance

by cullenisabella

No one can imagine that a famous institute kidnaps people and experiments on them, but it happens very often. One of the prisoners is Bella. Besides pain and sorrow, she also finds Edward, the love of her life. Is their love enough to save them? AH, HEA

Again, another contest entry, this time in the Write that Tune contest. I didn't win anything, but you should check out the other entries as well. You can find the link on my profile page.

My wonderful beta did a great job with this one-shot; thank you!

Also, you should listen to "Resistance", by Muse, while reading this. You won't be sorry!

Title: Love is our Resistance

Penname: cullenisabella

Rating & Any Warning Needed: M; If you are sensitive to topics such as character death or experimenting on humans, please do not read.

# of Lyric Chosen: #17

Word Count: 4,537

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Summary: No one can imagine that a famous institute kidnaps people and experiments on them, but it happens very often. One of the prisoners is Bella, but besides pain and sorrow, she also finds Edward, the love of her life. Is their love enough to save them? AH, HEA

Disclaimer:All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and the plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"Quiet, girl. We don't wanna harm ya… yet," a cold voice hissed behind me. I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling more scared than ever. Who was he? Did I know him or did he know me? I wasn't naïve, I knew these awful things could happen to anyone, but I had always hoped I wouldn't be one of them.

"C'mon now, dude, just take her and stop talking to her. You know we're not supposed to entertain them, at least not this way," another man laughed from somewhere further away.

Take me? They were going to take me? As in… kidnap me?

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the man behind me agreed and put a wet cloth to my mouth and my nose. It had a stinging smell and in just a couple of seconds, everything went black.

When I woke up, I first thought I was dead. However, I quickly realized there was no way I could be dead. Death was supposed to bring you peace, but there was nothing peaceful about the place I was in.

I was lying on the cold cement floor, with my whole body aching. They had probably thrown me around carelessly.

I began crying hard, not knowing why I was there or if I ever got the chance to go back. Maybe they wanted my parents' money… but they hadn't any!

"Let me go! Please, please, let me go! Why am I here? Talk to me!" I shouted through tears.

"Crying is useless. They won't let you go," a soft, almost too quiet voice to hear, called from somewhere next to me, sounding broken.

Wasn't I alone? Were there more people taken just like me?

I didn't know whether to be happy I wasn't alone in this dark, scary room or miserable because there were more people taken.

"Who… who are you?" I said, now whispering.

"I'm Edward Cullen."

He had such a beautiful name.

"I'm Isabella Swan, but I go by Bella. How long have you been here for?" I asked again.

"Two years," he said, more to himself than to me.

Two years? He had been there for two years?

"Why? Why did they take us?"

When he didn't answer, I took his silence as a way of saying "Leave me alone. I'm not in the mood for your stupid questioning" and I closed my eyes, resigned.

"For an experiment," he sighed after what seemed like an eternity.

"So, now we're lab rats?" I said, my sick sense of humor deciding to appear.

"Yeah, you could say that too," he laughed. He has a musical laugh that I would have loved to hear more often.

"They want to see which degree of obedience the human race may achieve. They tried to make us submissive, and I'm not talking about the term's sexual meaning.

"They want a world in which people aren't able to think by themselves. They want to control us, but they haven't succeeded with "the training", as they called it. It's not in the human nature to be completely obedient.

"Now, that they have realized this, they plan on injecting some drugs into our system that will modify bits of our DNA. We are here because they want to have as many people as they can before beginning the new tests.

"They haven't finished the substances yet, but I know they'll fail. The people used in the experiment will die," he explained, still whispering, probably because he didn't want to be heard.

I didn't know what to think. On the one hand, I believed what he said. I was talking to him for the first time, but I felt like he could be trusted. But on the other hand… he sounded like he was crazy.

People's total obedience? Injecting drugs? Control? All this reminded me of the science-fiction books the so-said nerds used to read in high school.

"But how can you be so sure? Did they tell you what they wanted to do?" I questioned further, extremely intrigued.

"It doesn't matter. Now leave me alone," he said coldly.

I knew I had been pushy, when it was almost obvious he didn't want to talk about the events bringing him there.

"I'm sorry for intruding," I whispered.

"Mhm…" was his only reply and also the end of our little conversation.

I yawned and stretched. When I felt the sore spots in my body, I grimaced. Albeit I could handle pain better than most people, I certainly did not like it at all.

After a few hours of staring at the darkness, I closed my stinging eyes, deciding I should try to get some sleep. Nevertheless, then was when I heard my "roommate's" low voice.

"I am truly sorry for being rude to you. I certainly wasn't educated this way. There is no excuse for my behavior, but I guess I can say that I have lost most of my social abilities," he apologized.

I couldn't say I wasn't intrigued by him or by his choice of words. He did seem a gentleman, but I still wanted to know where from he knew those things. However, I knew better than asking him again and I decided to shut up.

"Apology accepted. I think I should also apologize for being curious and not respecting your privacy," I told him.

After another deadly silence that lasted for about ten minutes, I heard him talking again.

"It's not your fault, don't worry. Just that… I don't want to ruin our future relationship, whatever that might be. I have done horrible things, that would change your opinion about me, whichever that is now," he said.

I could feel the pain in his voice and I realized what it probably meant talking to someone after all those months of loneliness, probably interrupted only by guardians bringing him food.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I know I'm a stranger for you and I totally understand your caution," I said sincerely.

He didn't say anything else and I once again considered that our talk had finished.

After a few minutes, I fell asleep and woke up probably hours later. I still was exhausted, but I had to go to the ladies' room, not that I wasn't counting on finding any in that place. I decided to ask Edward what I could do and where I could go, but then I reminded myself that he could be sleeping.

"Edward?" I whispered.

"I usually snore when I sleep," he answered and I could hear the smile in his voice. "What did you want to say? If you're hungry, you'll just have to wait. They bring us food in the morning and at night."

"Um, well, it's not really that. You see, I have to use the bathroom…" I told him, somewhat embarrassed by the topic.

"If you want to have a shower, you are allowed to use it two times a week. The shower day was yesterday, so we'll have to wait a bit now. However, if you want to go to the toilet, there's a door in the other side of the room. Go in there, but be careful. It smells absolutely horrible," he advised me.

I was already wondering what kind of conditions there were, but I quickly remembered I wasn't there for a vacation.

"Okay, thank you."

I stood up slowly, all the muscles in my body screaming at me to stop moving. I reached around, trying to find the wall and get some support. I finally found it and slowly walked until I got to that door Edward mentioned.

I opened it and was suddenly greeted with the same darkness, but also with a disgusting smell. I felt like I was going to throw up.

I tried to be as quick as I could and when I got back into the other room, it felt like heaven not having to feel that smell anymore. I blindly walked back to the other side of the room and sat down on the floor. I closed my eyes and soon went back to sleep.

When I woke up, I wasn't aware of my surroundings, having forgotten the events of the last day. I was scared, but I soon calmed down when I heard Edward's soft snoring. He was asleep.

The following days Edward and I kept talking about nothing and everything. He was nice, warm and with a beautiful, but tormented soul.

I told him about the death of my parents after I had just graduated high school.

I told him about my dreams of being a writer and my job as an editor.

I told him about my few friends.

I told him a lot of things.

He did the same.

He told me about his childhood, about his friends, his parents, his passions.

He used to play the piano.

But what he didn't tell me was how he knew so much about our kidnappers. I wasn't going to ask again. I didn't want another talk like that. But, God, I wanted to know so badly!

One night, after we ate and went to the showers, we began talking again.

"I should tell you about my past and how I got here, right? It's only fair. You told me so many things about you and I have revealed almost nothing to you. I'm sorry for that," Edward said, out of the blue.

"You don't have to tell me this if you don't want to. It's okay, really," I lied. I did want to know his story, but I wasn't going to make him tell me. It clearly was a hard topic for him to talk about.

"No, it's okay. That's it, if you are interested and want to listen," he said, somewhat apologizing.

"No, it's not that. It's just that I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I'll be okay. Just… listen and don't interrupt me, please," he asked.

"I've already told you I'm thirty," he began.

"Well, I graduated high school early, just like you said you did. I went to med school and then decided to have a career in genetics. I was accepted by this famous institute soon after graduating. I finally had something to help me think positively, believe there was a future and leave behind the past.

"Of course, I knew I would always remember that appalling night.

"You see, when I was twenty, my parents decided to go in the town and dine. Yeah, I know, you might be thinking I was some kind of "mommy's boy", unable to live by himself even during college. Now, when I think about it, I'm happy for having spent my life until then with them.

I wasn't sure I wanted to hear that story, as I had a feeling it would not have a happily ever after, but I let him talk.

"Anyway, that night, I had a sudden urge to call them. I did so, but I couldn't think of any reason for having interrupted their dinner, so I said the only thing I could think about, "I love you".

"After this, I decided to head off to bed. It would have been too awkward to be up when they got home.

"I fell asleep quickly, but I woke up startled when the phone rang, sometime around 2 AM. As I answered, I heard a monotonous, bored voice announcing me I had to go to Harborview, the hospital where my father worked."

He stopped talking for a second and I gasped almost inaudibly, knowing what was coming wouldn't be something nice.

"Apparently, they were driving home when they collided with a truck driven by a drunken man. The man died almost immediately, before the arrival of the ambulance, but my parents were transported to the hospital.

"I rushed to the hospital, driving like a mad man, trying to get there as fast as I could. However, I also had to think about my own safety. It would have been funny in a bizarre way if I had an accident more severe than the ones I had been called for.

"However, by the time I got there, my parents' brains had stopped functioning. As a future doctor, I knew they weren't alive anymore. Their bodies were only empty shells kept alive, with no soul or chance of recovery. It was a very hard thing to do, but after a couple of days I had to say farewell."

Edward's voice held so much pain that I would like him to never feel again. I could hear him crying and as I blindly crawled closer to him, I could feel him body shaking with his sobs.

I reached and put my arms around him, in a comforting manner, but also in a useless try of washing away all the awful memories. Edward returned the gesture and put his head on my shoulder, burying my face in my still damp hair.

I held him as tightly as I could while his cries and sobs got worse, then slowly quieted. Finally, I heard him sniff, and then he broke away from me a little, just enough to look at my face, not that he could. It was much too dark.

I didn't know what to tell him. I had never been one for comforting and supporting people.

"Edward… I…" I began to say, but he interrupted me, breaking away from me a bit.

"No, don't. I'm not done yet. There is more."

"Okay," I whispered.

"I told you I had been accepted by a famous institute. Well, I was doing some research in genetics and one day, I was told about a new project. I accepted their offer immediately, but after a time, I realized what they wanted me to do.

"They were planning to "rule the world", but they needed the help of many genetics engineers. They still believe they have to make us all obey. According to them, a human must do what he is told and nothing else. We shouldn't even be allowed to think, they say!"

My mouth hung open in disbelief. I couldn't believe his words. I still believed that everything seemed to be like from a science-fiction book. Only that this was real.

"Go on..." I encouraged, not really knowing if I wanted him to.

"When they realized I had found out the truth, they first wanted to kill me. My direct superior, James, came to me with four men. I was dragged and thrown in here. I was told they would kill me the next day, but they never did it.

"James understood he couldn't do anything without my help. The ones I was in charge of didn't know all the details, so I was needed. Not that I did anything for them since them.

"However, as they noticed my lack of interest, they tried to make me "cooperate"."

I shivered, knowing I didn't even want to think about what methods they had used.

"It didn't work, but they keep me here because they hope I'll reconsider things. Not going to happen," he stated firmly.

"But in that first night... you said something," I began, remembering my confusion from then.

"It was something that intrigued me and things haven't cleared up, not even after what you told me now."

"What was that?" he asked.

"You said that they hadn't finished the substances. You were sure they would fail and the people used as lab rats would die. How could you be so sure?"

"Well, the basic idea is manipulating the human DNA using those substances. But when you do that, you can't possibly be completely sure of the result. Of course, you can never be completely sure, but the chances of succeeding are very slim. Also, they still had to do a lot of work before they injected the prisoners. They can't do it," he explained as simply as he could.

Everything was still quite foggy for me, I had never loved neither Chemistry, nor Biology during school, but I got the main idea.

I stroked his hair, trying to comfort him. We dozed off rather soon, my hand still in his hair, his hand on my waist.

The following days, we talked about light things. Movies, music, books, school, jobs. Even celebrity gossips. That wasn't very easy, considering none of us was interested in that type of things. Anyway, the topics had nothing to do with upsetting stuff.

"God, this is so hard!" Edward exclaimed all of a sudden.

"Edward? What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I should tell you," he said, hesitating.

"You know you can tell me anything, right? I won't judge you," I sincerely told him, trying to comfort him again.

I was extremely curious, as usually, but this time I wasn't making the same mistake from our first talk. I wasn't going to be insistent, or at least that was what I was trying to tell myself.

"Yes, I know. We probably have not spent enough time together, and usually I don't do this type of thing so quickly, but I think that I fell in love. I think I love you, Bella," he whispered to me, talking more silently than he used to.

I was a bit shocked by his words, but I couldn't say I didn't feel the same thing. I knew I had been trying to deny it, after all, I had never believed in love at first sight or people falling in love just after a few conversations.

However, this didn't feel like one of those situations. We were united by our pain and as cheesy as it might sound, it felt like we really were "meant to be together".

Maybe it was the loneliness and hurt that made me, made us think that way, but for the moment, I could think of just one reply.

"I... I love you too, Edward," I told him sincerely.

"Okay, then. So, what are we going to do now? It's not like I can take you out on a date, huh?" he said, making us both laugh.

"Well, you can kiss me. I think that would be a great start, don't you?" I replied, smiling cheekily, then gave myself a mental slap. I always forgot about the darkness.

"Probably," he laughed and he pulled me closer to his chest.

Our kiss was great, but rather awkward, both of us trying not to have our teeth colliding or noses bumping. We ended up laughing again, albeit we were breathless, gasping for air.

We remained like that, hugging each other until we heard someone coming, most likely to bring us the remains they liked to call food.

The door opened and one of the men walked in. He put the tray on the floor, making a lot of noise, but instead of turning and leaving, I heard him approaching. I didn't know what to think – from what Edward had been telling me, they never got this close to prisoners.

"Edward? Everything is settled. I don't have time to talk about it, but tomorrow there will be an ambush. I've just talked with the authorities and you will get outta here in less than twenty-four hours. You shouldn't worry," the man whispered to him in a Southern accent.

"Thanks Jasper. Thank you so much!" Edward said back, and then made a short pause.

"You know, they'll want to take care of how many they can before…" he paused again. I could feel worry dripping from his voice.

"Yeah, man, and I dunno what I can do in this case. Tomorrow I can't be here and make sure you and the lady survive. You know they won't let me.

"Oh, but I gotta find a way. I'll do my best. Gotta go now. You'd better take care, man. One more day and you're all out," that man, Jasper, said, then he rushed away.

However, he stopped again by the door and said "Bella, don't worry, darlin'. Have faith."

"Thanks," I whispered to the now empty place he was just seconds ago.

"That was Jasper Whitlock. He was one of my friends and continues to be one. He knows that what they're doing isn't right and he has done everything in his power to save these people. Now, as you heard, he told me everybody will be rescued tomorrow. You have nothing to worry about," Edward explained.

"How does he know my name?" I wondered.

"They know the names of all the people they take. They stalk them for a while, making sure no one will report them missing. They choose only lonely people.

"And... I might have mentioned you in one or more of our talks. He came sometimes while you were sleeping," he explained.

"Oh," was the only thing I could say, blushing.

Even though I wanted to believe everything would be fine, as they assured me, I couldn't stop thinking about something Edward had said.

"Edward, what did you mean when you said "they'll take care of how many they can"?"

He sighed.

"I was hoping you didn't notice. One of their emergency plans is to kill as many people as they can. They don't want us to be free – ever again.

"I am sorry, Bella. We might just not make it. I am one of the most hated people in here, but also one that knows many of their secrets. The fact that you are in the same room isn't really good for you," he told me.

"So we're basically gonna die, aren't we?"

My question was rhetorical and he knew it. We began to eat, neither of us saying a word.

Later, while I was lying in his arms, I thought about what was about to come.

I had never been afraid of dying. After all, it was going to happen to all of us, sooner or later. Also, it wasn't like I had many motives of staying alive.

But now... now when I had found a reason for living – it just wasn't fair.

"Do you believe in Heaven?" he asked me a few hours later, but he didn't let me answer.

"I do. And I also believe we'll meet there. I love you."

"Maybe. I love you too," I replied.

He hugged me tightly and kissed me once more. We spent the most part of that last night making out and whispering sweet nothings to each other.

As the morning came, we fell asleep hugging, but jumped at the sound of the tray being slammed on the floor. Food.

We ate quickly. After we had finished, he held me as close as he could. I understood him perfectly. It was just a matter of hours until we were going to be separated.

"I love you, Bella. I'll love you forever. Don't worry, it'll be over in less than a minute and I'll be right behind you. They'll take care of this, won't they?" he chuckled darkly.

"See you in a few minutes, beautiful. I love you," Edward said fervently when he knew our time was almost done, kissing me.

"I love you too, Edward. See you later, darling."

I kissed him again and we continued to hold each other until we heard that unmistakable sound of ruffling feet in the hallway. They were coming after us. We once again whispered our love and they entered the dark room.

"Well, now, you lovey dovey, we gotta go. Wouldn't want to miss your own deaths, huh?" the bulky man laughed, pulling me roughly from Edward's arms and dragging me out of the room, while the other man came and did the same to Edward.

While they dragged me on the hallways, because my body was too weak for me to walk at their pace, I thought of my family and my former life. Despite my body's weakness, my spirit was strong.

I didn't cry or weep, neither for my loved ones that I would never see again, or for the many people kidnapped and about to die. I knew our salvation, their salvation was about to come – any minute now. It was just a matter of time.

As we reached the death room, they threw me on the cold marble table, tying me up. I could hear noise outside. The building had probably already been invaded and they were saving whomever they could. However, this wasn't my case, or Edward's.

I could only hope I would meet him in the afterlife, if there was such thing. Although I was a Christian, I had never been one to believe in Heaven or Hell, as I had told Edward earlier.

However, now I could only hope there was something more after life ended.

There had to be.

"Ready, girl? Well, it's not really like you have a choice, huh?" a man asked, snorting loudly.

I could hear the men approaching me and I could feel the cold, thin needle penetrating my skin. I knew it would be painless and over in a few seconds – Edward assured me of that plenty of times before. As a matter of fact, I was already starting to feel numb and drowsy.

As I closed my eyes, welcoming the sleep, the death itself, I heard the loud steps of some men rushing into the room. Shouts of "Freeze!", "Don't move!", and "Leave her alone!" were flying across the room, but I knew it was too late for me.

Selfishly, I wanted to be too late also for Edward.

My last thought before falling into the deepest sleep was "I love you". It wasn't necessarily for Edward, but for everybody I had met, loved and lost.

However, I woke up almost immediately. The most curious thing was that even though I had been asleep for just a few seconds, I felt fresher than ever. I didn't know where I was, but after a while of looking around, I recognized Seattle. Nevertheless, it was much cleaner and more silent than ever.

I couldn't see anyone walking down the street, except for the tall figure of a man. I thought I knew him from somewhere, although I hadn't seen him in my whole life.

Was this afterlife? Living in your city, but having no social contact?

I laughed at my own stupidity.

Then… it dawned on me. A man that I knew, but never saw. Could he be…?

"So you're Bella, huh?" he asked somewhat nervously. I was lost in my musing and didn't notice he had come that close to me.

"Edward?" I replied instead of answering his question.

He stroked my cheek, then he replied.

"Yeah. You're so beautiful," he said, reverently and smiling.

"You're not ugly yourself," I told him, also grinning.

Understatement of the century.

He was tall, lean, with beautiful jade eyes, his hair having a strange, but interesting shade of golden poppy. Useless to say, he still had the messy hair I used to run my fingers through.

"I love you, Edward," I whispered.

"I love you too, Bella. Forever."

He clutched me to his chest, giving me a chaste kiss on the lips.

We turned around and began walking away holding hands.

It was our forever.

And it was perfect.

AN: As some of you were a bit confused about the ending, I decided I should tell you this here. Bella and Edward died and the last bit was afterlife. This way, they have their happily-ever-after.

Please review; it would mean so much!