The Ultimate Mission

"Fear is not a weakness. No. Fear is a good thing. To fear something is to respect it. Without fear, there would be no caution."

Bella's POV

I sat myself down in a chair and just smirked to myself. I couldn't wait for his response.

I sat there like an idiot until it hit me.

"Brady!" I gasped.

I jumped up and scurried around for the damn fish food. How long had it been? A few minutes? An hour?

"C'mon, c'mon! Got it!" I finally found the small bottle and ran back to Brady.

"Here it comes! Dinner time!" I exclaimed, appearing in front of his bowl with a smile.

Shoot.

He was either sleeping on his back or dead.

I'll go with guess number two.

"Crap! And it was going so well!" I whined, throwing the fish food bottle onto the floor. Brady was a gift actually from my boyfriend. Gee, I wonder what kind of message will he get to see that his gift of a fish is dead?

Not a good one, I'll tell you that.

"Now what. Pet store?" I muttered to myself, running my hands through my brown hair.

Sniff.

"Ewwww." I was still ripe from the sparring session with my almost estranged brother. Stinky did not go well with dates which I'm sure would happen tonight.

I sighed sadly as I glanced at poor Brady. "I should be arrested. I'm a gold fishy killer! How can I live with myself?!" I started to sob.

I'm an animal lover through and through. I just wasn't healthy for them, not even a little innocent goldfish like Brady or Emmy or Brock or The Rock or Marshall or Gippie or Goldie or Fish or.....

RiNg-A-lInG! rInG-A-DiNg!

"YEEP!!!" I shrieked before realizing that gawd awful noise was my phone. Gotta fix that....

I flipped it open again and checked out the text.

'Bella dont be like that. I dont want any bad blood between us. Lemme in when i get there k?'

I sighed. So he was coming. Fabulous.

So I had to flush the fish, take a shower, and be full of snappy comebacks in probably half an hour.

I took a deep breath. "OK, you can do this. You've solved tough cases before. You work for the FBI and police for Chist sakes!"

And so I picked up my beloved Brady and rushed carefully to the bathroom with him.

"OK Brady. Here you go to that big ole fishbowl in the sky. Lots of water and fish food and girl fishes just for you. I'm gonna miss ya buddy. You were the longest fishy I've ever had. I'm sorry. I'll light a candle for you every December 14th." I sobbed quietly at Brady's short and sweet funeral.

With a big blow into the tissue, I flushed the sucker down into the sea of happyness and peace from psycho fish owners.

Still crying, I got myself in and out of the shower in record time while making sure to get myself squeaky clean.

"Rub a dub dub!" said a deep voice.

"What the hell?!!" I jumped about a foot before I recognized the voice.

He was here.

Damn, I really shouldn't have given him the spare key. He could rape me in my sleep.

Stupid stupid Bella!

I was still in my bedroom putting together an outfit when he knocked on my door.

"Um, you decent?" He called hesitantly. Yeah, like you would mind if I wasn't.

I rolled my eyes. "I just got out the shower. You really think I dress myself that fast? God, won't you ever start thinking?"

"How about you? You didn't even put on the extra lock. You know I have a key, Bell." He sneered through the door.

The hell...

"You can get out. I'm not arguing with you tonight. I promise, if your ugly face isn't gone by the time I get out there I'll castrate you!"

"That's the Bella I know."

I threw my hands up. Nothing could deter him. The idiot.

"Go. Away. Now." I growled.

"You know I could join you in there, right? I've got a problem that you could help me with."

Ugh! Was I destined to be around perverted buffoons all day?

"Grrrrr...." He growled. Aw c'mon!

Apparently yes.

"You are retarded!" I shouted angrily. Could he not get a clue and go away? I don't think I knew what kind of man he was going to be today. How could I give him another chance?

He sighed. "Look I'm sorry. Bella, I'm being a fool. I guess I hate how our last 'date' had gone so much....I'm sorry. It's no excuse."

Do you see? This guy switches moods like he changes clothes.

I rested my forehead on the door.

"I can't do this anymore man. It's crazy." I told him.

He let out a deep breath. "I know. I know. I want to fix us though. We were in love once, you remember?"

Half of my mouth went up in a smile. "Yeah. How could I not?"

He chuckled, remembering. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

I shrugged. "You were cool then. Always surprising me...in a good way. We clicked."

"Yeah we did."

"But not anymore." I admitted.

I could hear him walk away from the door. I listened hard. It sounded like he was far enough away.

I opened the door a crack to check. Big mistake.

"Whoa!" I squeaked as he opened the door wider.

He reached for me with a grin and pulled me close against his broad chest.

"Hey!!" I protested, struggling. I was strong, very strong, but he was bigger and worked out too. He was a freaking giant compared to me.

He lowered his head and breathed in the scent of my hair. Strawberry shampoo I vaguely remembered being his favorite on me. Why didn't I throw that blasted stuff out? Not thinking, I guess.

"Relax Bella. I'm not going to do anything. I just wanted to be close to you one last time." He whispered into my ear.

I blinked, my eyes starting to glisten.

"I'm sorry?" As if I hadn't heard him the first time.

"C'mon Bell. You knew this was going to end. It's been a great five years but you said so yourself. We don't click anymore. So...."

I finally wiggled my way out of his grasp.

"OK, hold up. First of all, I am not getting dumped by your sorry ass. Second, hell no to inside my own apartment! Damn it, you think you can just humiliate me like this? Try to make yourself feel good? You worthless piece of shit. I don't know what the fuck I saw in you."

"Bella." He grabbed my hands which were poised on my hips.

"Let go!" I struggled. Damn him and his fat butt!

"No. I don't want to end on bad terms. C'mon friends?" He pleaded with me.

Um, can you say fuck no?

But I could tell he was too stupid to realize how stupid this stupid question was.

"Fine! Now get off!"

He let go.

Idiot.

I started off with a roundhouse kick, which he was completely unprepared for. I caught him in his neck and he choked, falling to his knees grabbing at his neck. Wow. That was easy.

I stood over him with a disgusted look on my face.

"Look, I'm the one dumping your sorry ass around here. Now get the freak away before I get my gun." I kicked in the direction of his 'treasure'. Wisely, he crawled away towards the door before I could make any painful contact.

"Damn you Bella!" He rasped, still out of breath.

My foot plus his ass equals him flying out the door cursing.

You do the math.

I locked the door with all the bolts and leaned against it heavily, muttering angrily to myself.

Then it hit me.

I had finally broken up with him after all these years. It was kind of unsettling even though it was expected. Our fathers had planned our wedding since we'd been born! Awkward, I know but yeah, true.

I slid down the door and buried my head in my arms.

"I hope you're happy now, Black." I muttered under my breath.

But I was confused. What was I gonna do now? I sure as hell wasn't going to cry over him. His loss, not mine. Right?

Sniff!

Hey! And it wasn't me this time.

I stood up and walked to the kitchen towards the smell.

It was Chinese food. A peace offering gone bad.

Yum.