Title: Twilight Soldier
Author: Azure the Dragonlady
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own Dark Angel or Twilight.
Summary: Dark Angel/ Twilight Crossover. X5 Bella/Edward. No Pulse. After escaping the harsh treatment at the hands of a secret government organisation known as Manticore, X5-472 has tried to settle into life as an Ordinary with varying degrees of success. Going by the name Bella, which was given to her by the CO of her unit, Zack, she comes across the Swan family and is soon adopted by them.
Years later, after an Eyes Only broadcast revealing the possibility of her location being compromised, she decides to go to a small town called Forks. There, she meets Edward Cullen. They both have their seeming impossible secrets, but that doesn't stop them from being drawn to each other. However, when Bella's past finally begins to catch up with her after ten years on the run, she finds that her life just got even more complicated.
Author's Note: NaNoWriMo 2009 Entry. This chapter is not beta'd. I will repost it once it is. This is my first venture into a romance story, so feedback is appreciated.
Chapter One: Forks
Ten Years Later
Bella leaned back into the couch, sinking into it with a small sigh. The now eighteen year old tried not to listen to Renee and her new husband, Phil's, conversation. But, she couldn't help it, especially with her superior hearing, she was able to discern that their topic of conversation concerned her.
A lot had changed in ten years. Renee and Charlie still believed her full name was Isabella and she hadn't done anything to dissuade them. When she had met them, she had felt that if she did anything to anger, frustrate or even agitated them, they may want to get rid of her. She hadn't wanted that as she felt that they could give her a home – and they did. It worked out well too, as having another name would be beneficial if Manticore did in fact know about her and her siblings names. She could never be too careful.
A few years after Renee and Charlie found and subsequently adopted her, they had a few major differences that couldn't be compromised and they filed for a divorce. Charlie had moved to a small town called Forks in the state of Washington. Renee, on the other hand, stayed in the state that they had found Bella in and settled into the big city of Phoenix.
Bella had decided to stay with Renee. She had had qualms about it, but Charlie had felt that it was best that she moved in with her adoptive mother too. Still, Bella visited Charlie whenever she got the chance.
The one thing Bella was thankful for was that in big city like Phoenix, it was easy to get lost in. On the other hand, the more people there were the more chance of being recognised by Manticore operatives. Still, it would be like that in other places, she reasoned. She would still have to look over her shoulder.
Bella stared at the television screen blankly, wondering what she should do. It was clear that Renee wanted desperately to go to Florida with Phil, but also didn't want to leave and uproot Bella either, as she already had an unstable home life in her early years.
Bella never told them about Manticore. She couldn't put them in anymore danger then they all ready were with Bella living and associating with them. As far as they knew, Bella ran away from the orphanage where she was staying at. That was all she wanted them to think too. They had, at first, been suspicious about her strange behaviour, but Bella found that she was a quick study. She studied what the civilian children her age were like in their behaviour and attempted to mirror them. It worked to a degree, although she still retained some things that Manticore had drilled into her.
Bella closed her eyes. She stayed like that for awhile, until a certain sound from the television drew her attention, causing her eyes to snap open.
Eyes appeared in the middle of the television screen, sandwiched between a red and blue strip on the top and bottom on the screen, respectively. Bella recognised the layout as the renowned hacker and vigilante, Eyes Only.
Bella wondered what sort of crime he was trying to stop today. Usually, he would stick to hacking in Seattle, but with a big enough crime he occasionally hacked nationally.
'Do not attempt to adjust your sets. This is a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin. This cable hack is being beamed to you right across America. It cannot be traced. It cannot be stopped. This is a message for those known as X5.'
This stopped Bella short. Her eyes widened in disbelief. He knew about X5's? Suddenly, the strip in the middle changed, showing the symbol of Manticore along with the barcodes of her siblings. There was Jondy, Krit, Tinga, Zane…
Did this mean they all made it out alive? Bella allowed the gleeful thought enter her head. The others might have made it! Bella closed her eyes briefly in relief. She opened them when Eyes Only spoke again.
'You have been compromised. You are in danger. I repeat. Your locations have been compromised. You know what to do. This message will repeat every hour on the hour until each of you has checked in.'
Shoot! Did her barcode come up? She shouldn't have closed her eyes or taken her eyes of the screen for a second. But she had just been so relieved about finding out the rest of her siblings had also survived and possibly escaped too!
Could she risk not moving though? Automatically, Bella's head titled up to look at the ceiling, where Renee and Phil were still talking directly above her.
She couldn't risk them. Not after everything they have done for her.
But where could she go?
She could run away again, hopefully assume another identity and try to avoid Manticore that way. However, with this option it was more likely to end badly – capture or death. Not the outcomes she wanted.
If only she could continue with the identity of Isabella Swan and maybe even live with Charlie. However, if her location had been compromised, the details of Charlie's and Renee's ex-marriage would come into light. It would still lead back to her. Unless she could erase them.
Erase them! That's it! Bella thought.
She could gather the necessary equipment and erase Charlie's and Renee's electronic wedding and divorce records. Then, she could track down any hard copies and dispose of them. It shouldn't be a problem for her to sneak in and destroy the documents. And she could still move in with Charlie.
It will also help with the situation of Renee wanting to go with Phil. With Bella moving in with Charlie, it left Renee free to move in with Phil at a new house in Florida.
It was practically a win-win situation.
Convincing Renee had been fairly easy. Renee had been getting what she wanted, after all. So, the next day found Bella landing in Port Angeles, Washington. She politely refused any offers to help her carry her suitcases. She gave the only baggage trolley in sight to an elderly woman who was clearly in need of it. It was not like it was very heavy for her, after all. X5's could carry more weight then Ordinaries.
She located Charlie just outside the domestic arrivals inside the airport. Her vision allowed her to quickly zoom in and pinpoint his location. Charlie looked pretty much the same as she saw him last, which was going on three years now, though, there was some additional stress and age lines on forehead. He still looked the every bit of Police Chief of Forks.
"Hello Bells," Charlie greeted her in a gruff voice. That was the thing about Charlie. He never felt the need to talk much. Bella felt that in that way Charlie and she were alike. He gave her an awkward one armed hug.
"Charlie," Bella returned warmly. She was very thankful and appreciative that Charlie would still want to take her in, even after his and Renee's split. "How are you?"
"Good. And you?"
"Good."
"Did you need some help with your luggage?"
"No, thank-you. I've got it." To demonstrate her point, Bella lifted her two suitcases a little higher.
"Well, alright."
Charlie did help her load it into the car though. The trip to her new home in Forks started silently, though it didn't stay that way.
Several minutes into the drive, Charlie started a conversation, awkwardly.
"So, er, how's Renee?" He asked.
"She's fine Charlie," Bella answered. From previous conversations, Bella got the feeling that Charlie wasn't at all over Renee, so she felt it best to keep that topic of conversation short and sweet.
She waited for Charlie to change topic.
"Do we need to pick up any Tryptophan before we go back to the house?"
"No," Bella replied. "I've still got a bottle left. I'll get sometime later, probably next week or when I go shopping."
For some reason, the human scientists who created them made a huge mistake. The X5's didn't produce enough serotonin and once that serotonin drops, they start having seizures. Once Bella had her first seizure on the outside, she had started researching to see if there was anyway to help. She had discovered that Tryptophan works, most of the time at least. While she still had seizures, they had been significantly reduced. When the Swan's discovered her condition she lied and told them that a doctor prescribed her with the pills after he ran many tests and discovered for her particular kind of seizure she had to have them. But, they didn't ask too many questions after that, for which she was thankful for.
"Good. You will let me know if it gets too much, wont you?"
"Yes. I will." Sometimes, though, there was a period were Bella went through a particular rough seizures and that was what Charlie was referring to. It had scared the hell out of Renee and later Phil. There was nothing they could do though; they had to let the seizure run its course.
"Well, uh, I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced after a period of comfortable silence.
Bella blinked in surprise. She was going to just buy a car for herself when she got here, even if it was from her emergency funds that she had stashed away.
"Thank-you Charlie. You didn't have to spend any money on me. What kind of car is it?" she felt it best to ask.
"Well, now, you're welcome," He mumbled, embarrassed by her thanks. "But, uh, I don't mind. I want you happy here," Charlie said with a hint of emotion. He really did too, Bella thought; he must be lonely. "And it's a truck, actually. A Chevy." He paused for a moment, concentrating on the road. "It was from a friend, Billy Black; he lives down on the reservation in La Push. He's in a wheelchair now, so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."
"That's great, Charlie. I will have to thank him, sometime."
"He will be coming around soon, so if you really want to, you can thank him then."
After that initial conversation, there was silence for the rest of the trip. It suited Bella though. She needed time to think of her game plan. In a small town like Forks, visitors will stand out. It would be a major advantage if Manticore or any of it operatives were sent out here. Not that she thought they would – it was a fairly remote town.
She knew she would be the curiosity – the freak – starting a new school in a small town mid-semester, but she wasn't here to make any friends; she wouldn't put them all in danger. She was determined to keep her head low and finish high school. She will stay as normal as she possibly could. And once again, she would use her Manticore training to do so. It was her one major advantage and she was going to utilise that to its fullest capacity.
When they finally reached the small town, Bella had the first chance to glimpse her new environment. It was raining so much it would be considered quite a downpour. The weather was freezing and quite the opposite to the hot, sunny weather of Phoenix. But X5's weren't anything if not adaptable. Bella doubted she would see many sunny days in the time that she was here, however long that may be.
Forks was a beautiful place to live. Everything was green, having had lots of rain to water the plant life and vegetation. Not having a lot of chance to explore the wonder of the natural environment because of being confined to the Manticore facility for eight years, in a secluded environment, she took every opportunity to look at the different environments. One day, she decided, she would like to travel around the world and take in all the beauties of the earth.
The cold, rainy weather was useful to her, though. It would allow her to wear jumpers and jackets that hid the barcode that was permanently etched upon the back of her neck. Her barcode consisted of twelve numbers: 330034521472. Or X5-472, for short. It was the designation that Manticore gave her and the only name she was to be called, at least, if it wasn't for Zack insisting that they should have names like the Superior Officers and the Guards at Manticore.
The barcode made her easily recognisable that she was a genetically engineered super soldier, if one had the right clearance to access the records. A few years after she was adopted, she had tried to get the barcode lased off. It worked… for awhile at least. A few days later, it started showing again. Bella concluded that Manticore scientists must have genetically wired the barcode into their DNA strains. It was quite annoying.
They eventually pulled into Charlie's driveway. He lived in a small two bedroom house. It looked quite cosy from the outside. Bella's eyes were immediately drawn to her new faded red truck as they pulled up next to it in the driveway. It had big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. She loved it, even though she knew it would go tremendously slow for her. Maybe she could read up on some mechanic books and try to tinker with it a little.
"Thank-you again, Charlie. I love it!" Bella beamed.
"I'm glad you like it, Bella," Charlie said gruffly. Bella could tell he was a little embarrassed again.
Nothing more was said, as Charlie showed Bella to her new room. Bella once again picked up her two suitcases and walked up the stairs by herself. Her room faced out onto the front yard, out into the driveway. It had wooden floors and light blue walls. There was a double bed with light purple blankets and violet pillows. In the corner was a desk with a single lamp, along with a swivel desk chair. She resolved to buy a laptop for the desk. Preferably with some more of the high-tech equipment so that she would be able to hack into any database if she needed to. It was just a precaution, and one she didn't hope she will need.
"It's a pretty good work lamp. And the sales lady picked up the bed stuff. You-you like purple right?" Charlie asked hesitantly. He was as uncomfortable with this as she was.
"Purple's fine," Bella answered. "Thanks."
There was a moment of awkward silence, before Charlie dismissed himself. "Okay. Well, I'll be in the living room if you need anything. I will… leave you to settle in then," he said as he left her to her own devices and didn't hover.
Once Bella heard him flick the television on and the sounds of baseball started up, she explored the house a little. There was only one bathroom; she would have to share with Charlie. She didn't mind. After she took in all the possible entry and escape points in the house she took a quick look at the surroundings outside.
The house backed onto a forest. It had thick, dense trees that Bella could see quite a way into the forest. It would provide perfect cover, should she need it. It may also give her an opportunity to explore and go for a run at full X5 speed. It wasn't something she had done in awhile, but she enjoyed the thrill of running fast.
Bella came downstairs and they had a quiet dinner, before she excused herself and headed back to her bedroom. As she finally settled down to sleep, later that night, she wondered briefly what tomorrow would bring.
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-Azure the Dragonlady-
