AN: I am so so SO sorry to have left you all on that cliffie for that long! It was never my intention to do that. By now I am sure you all are tired of my excuses, but believe me, if I could have had this chapter up any sooner, I would have.

I cannot thank you enough for all of the fantastic reviews last chapter. They had me so excited throughout the entire holidays. You have no idea. I'd like to say thanks to Kamce who started a thread on the forums for this story. Her story, 'lowering the wall' is amazing. All of you ladies who have stopped by there have been wonderful. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. You should stop by and join the fun.

As always, thanks to my Beta Limona. Thank you so much for all of the help and I hope you're feeling better! If you find mistakes it's because I was impatient to get it to you guys and didn't wait for her second review.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*Please be sure to read the AN at the bottom for an announcement… Now, on to the show.

Previously on Flight 2804…

"Ladies and Gentleman." James' sardonic voice began. "It would appear that we have a situation taking place on board flight 2804." He paused for a dramatic effect. "This plane is going to blow up."

People were crying more loudly now, but no one said anything.

"You all are going to die within the next forty-five minutes. Notice I said you and not we. I, along with my favorite girl, will be long gone by the time you all reach your final destination and go 'kaboom'. However, I plan to have a little fun before I depart. Edward is it? I will enjoy what I'm about to do to your precious… ah, yes. Bella. Very stunning, this one is. I might keep this ID badge for my personal collection to reminisce with later."

My blood boiled and I felt sick. Bella was defenseless, and the very thing I was so scared of happening, was now a reality. I just stood there frozen at the door feeling more helpless than I ever had before.

"Say goodbye, sweet Bella."

My heart stopped at the next thing I heard: Bella's scream followed by a gunshot.

Seattle Federal Aviation Administration Headquarters – 12:15 pm

Chief Fason POV

To say I was tense would be an understatement. Today was the day that James would most likely make his move to strike against our government. Every major city in the United States was on high alert and had all of their air marshals out on surveillance today, yet I worried that it might not be enough.

James' plan had been carefully thought out and he most likely would have succeeded if not for Agent Masen happening upon him Thursday. If James was able to pull off his plan today, then our nation will take a long time to recover from it. We did not have enough information at this point to know in which direction we should act.

The fact that a single source was directly responsible for this vile act versus a terrorist organization would send the message to the world that our national security was not as superior as perceived. If this attack succeeded, I wouldn't be surprised if higher authorities chose to cover it up to make it seem as if it were the doings of an actual organization. If they connected it to the Volturi, we might find ourselves at war with them. Our country couldn't afford another war right now, especially not one based on a falsehood.

Before I could continue down this train of thought, my cell phone beeped. I knew that a message had come through, so I removed it from the clip on my belt. My already tense muscles tightened, and my back became ramrod straight as I read who it was from.

Message from: Agent E. McCarty

Flight 2804 has been compromised. James is pilot. Victoria is passenger. Most likely aware we are on board. Maintaining recommended coordinates to NY. Need help.

I was out of my seat and walking toward the door immediately. This was worse than I imagined. James had somehow managed to become the pilot of this plane and had an advantage. No one could get to him. I'm not sure of what part the woman was playing in all of this, but there no doubt was a part. This information needed to be shared with the FBI and we had to find a way to take James' advantage away. I'd lost a man out in the field before, and I would do everything in my power not to let that happen again.

I passed through the threshold of my office and briskly walked down the hall towards out Data and Intel specialists. Our D.I. Specialists were located on the same floor as me so that we could easily access each other in emergency situations. Their help would be crucial in facilitating the aid of my guys on that plane.

Agent McCarty was scheduled to be in route to New York right now with Agent Masen. I knew that if we had received communication from one of them while they were still up in the air, that there was a situation on board.

I swiftly walked into the D.I. room letting my presence be known and quickly got the attention of the six specialists in sight. "Give me any and all details you can pull up on Sky Jet flight 2804. I need to know what timing we are working with. Nobody is to stand around being idle, now move!" I barked out.

I turned my back to the group and again removed the phone that was clipped onto my belt. I scrolled my contact list until I reached the desired number and connected the call. Two rings later it picked up.

"Hodge."

"Nicole, this is Chief Fason. James and Victoria have been located."

"What are the specifics?"

I scanned down the print off that I read the message from a moment ago. "All I know right now is that this is Sky Jet Airlines, flight 2804. Seattle to New York. Left at ten o'clock this morning. It's been in the air for…" I quickly glance at my watch again, "approximately two and a half hours out of five." I continued on to recite the message word for word.

"You have got to be shitting me. I didn't think the bastard would be able to pull that off." Agent Hodge had a reputation for being hardcore, but was one of the very best. She was no stranger to tough situations and always came out victorious, even if she acquired a few battle wounds along the way. "They are probably going to try to divert the flight course toward Washington, DC. We need to alert the national control tower of this situation and the President. Have your team contact the control tower and I will get a hold of the Secretary of Defense. He will tell us how to proceed with the President."

"I'm on it. Time is of the essence. Let's report back in twenty minutes. Can you come down to headquarters?"

"I'm already on the way. See you in twenty."

We disconnected the line and I turned back around. "Listen up people, who is currently working on getting me the flight info?"

Three of the eleven people in the room raised their hands. "Good, I want you -" I pointed to one guy who had not raised his hand, "to contact the NCT and let them know that we have a situation unfolding in the air." He nodded his head, turned around and immediately began to dial the National Control Tower.

I looked at the three that raised their hands before. "You three, give me what you've found out about the flight."

Jordan, one of our more talented specialists, spoke up first. "I linked into the aircrafts internal navigational system and discovered that the flight has started to deviate off course, Sir."

I nodded my head and prompted her to keep going.

" Its coordinates indicate that they are headed Southwest. Also the recorded speed is coming in at over 700 mph. Normally, aircrafts this large travel at speeds of 500 to 600 mph. The aircrafts altitude readout shows that they are flying at about 25,000 ft. It's historical data showed that an hour ago it was at 40,000 ft, thirty minutes ago it was 32,000 ft."

They seemed to be steadily getting lower and faster. "What is their ETA for reaching the white house?" I was worried that my original time frame for getting help to Masen and McCarty was becoming shorter.

"Estimated time it will take for the flight to reach DC at current speed, altitude and direction will be approximately 49 minutes. Give or take 15-30 seconds."

Less than an hour. We had less than an hour to give them support in the air. We had to move now. Without waiting to hear what the other two analysts found out, I turned towards my guy talking to NCT. "Jones, have you gotten through?"

"Yes, Sir. They have them tracked on their screen and are waiting for direction from us on whether to contact them or not."

"All right, tell them they will have an answer in five minutes or less." I glanced at my watch. 12:42 pm.

My phone rang just as I began to call Agent Hodge again. I answered. "Fason."

"Chief, it's Hodge and I have General Wilson on the line. Do you have any new data?"

General Wilson was our current Secretary of Defense. I told them all of the information I had just learned. "General, the NCT is waiting for some instruction, Sir. We need to know how to proceed now."

"Given our short window of time, do not have them do anything outside of their normal protocol for a flight that strays off of its course. I do not want the hijackers to know that we know as much as we do. I will send for a Raptor fighter jet to depart from Detroit, MI. It will be able to intercept the Sky Jet plane within minutes of becoming airborne."

"With all due respect, Sir, what are you planning to do with that fighter jet?" If the General was planning to shoot down the plane to keep it from hitting its target of the white house, then I would have to would have to insist on another plan of action.

"It's not what you think Fason. At best we only serve to intimidate them in to giving up control of the plane. If that does not work, then the Raptor is able to zero in on a target with 1 cm of accuracy from a 100 mile distance. We can take the hijackers out but only if we know someone else can enter the cockpit and fly. This is where your men come in. This plan requires someone with the ability to fly the plane."

"My men are licensed pilots, Sir. They will be able to fly if able to navigate the plane to safety." I interjected.

"It will not be a simple task. They will have to find a way in. In this situation, whoever is able to fly the plane to a safe emergency landing will need to be prepared for a lot of air in the cockpit. In order to terminate whoever is controlling the plane, the windshield will need to be penetrated. It may stay fairly intact, it may not."

This sounded impossible. "So let me get this straight. You will have a fighter jet travel to intercept a plane traveling at 700 mph. Once the plane comes into the 100 mile range, it will shoot one or both of the targets before getting out of its path. This will cause extremely risky conditions for anyone who may or may not be able to get into the cockpit?" Disbelief laced my voice.

"That is correct. It can be done. The jet is already in route."

"Sir, what happens if my men cannot gain entry into the cockpit or this plan is not successful?"

"We will have no choice but to extinguish the threat. We will have to terminate the flight in a safe zone so as to not hurt any innocent people other than those who are on board." His voice was tight. He obviously didn't like this option any more than I.

"There must be another way. Is there a way to control the plane via manipulation of the navigational system?"

"You know the answer to that as well as I do Chief. We can monitor data, but we haven't had the budget available to equip all commercial aircrafts with emergency remote operational control."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Agent Hodge spoke up instead. I was so engrossed in my discussion with the General that I forgot she was on the line. "Chief, we do not have the time to second guess this plan of action. If we do not do something within the next 35 minutes, everyone dies anyway. I've arrived at headquarters and am on my way up. General, we will report back the moment we have any new information."

She effectively dismissed the conversation and disconnected the line. More than a little put off that my men were faced with such a difficult task I turned toward Jordan.

"Jordan, we need to get a message out to McCarty." I began dictating the contents of the message when the beep of my phone interrupted me.

I opened the message to reveal another message from Agent McCarty. It read:

James and Victoria are both inside cockpit with two hostages. Co-captain and flight attendant. Shot sounded, most likely one casualty. Bomb on board. No way inside. Need help.

"Chief, what is it?" Agent Hodge came up beside me.

"You should read this for yourself and then contact the general back immediately." I passed her the phone.

She quickly read it, passed the phone back to me and called the General back, conveying the latest turn in events. After a short discussion she turned to me. We need to reply back to your man. He needs to be aware of what is going on."

"We were drafting a message when his second one came in. We'll finish it now." With my attention back on the response message to McCarty, we hurriedly completed the message. Jordan typed it up and sent it his phone. Our response was:

Help is coming. Fighter jet will reach you in 10 minutes. Will eliminate targets in cockpit. Is bomb disarmed? You will need to find a way to enter cockpit and emergency land. Preparations are being made to bring down the entire flight if situation not in control within 20 min. Report back ASAP. Good luck.

Another glance at my watch revealed we had exactly 30 minutes until the plane was estimated to hit its target of the White House and 20 minutes until we would be forced to sentence everyone on board to death. For the first time ever, I prayed while at work. I prayed for my men, I prayed for the poor unfortunate souls who had to die a senseless death, I prayed for the families of those on board and I prayed that McCarty and Masen would get the flight back in our control.

Please let them get control.

EPOV

Everything went eerily quiet. The only sound was the hum of the plane's engines as they propelled us further east. Nothing could be heard from cockpit and nothing could be heard from anywhere behind me. It was almost as if no one dared to breathe.

I stood rooted to my spot in front of the cockpit door. I looked at the faded blue fabric that covered the wall and tried to focus on it to keep myself from falling apart. My Bella was in there and when she needed me the most, I had failed her. I failed her. This was my fault. A sharp pain hit me in my chest and traveled throughout my body.

I tried to convince myself that she may not be dead; that perhaps she was just shot in the arm. But, that didn't seem likely, nor did it make me feel any better if that were the case. If she were alive she would have been making some noise, whether it was screaming, banging the door or just something to let me know she was alive. Instead, there was nothing.

Guilt and despair raked through my body. It was uncertain how long I stood there, but next thing I knew a familiar hand touched my shoulder. "Edward," his voice was more somber than I had ever heard it before. "Edward, she might be alright, man."

"Stop Emmett. I don't want to hear it." My voice came out strangled. The last thing I wanted or needed was false hope. I knew that she was not alright.

"Listen, I can't imagine what you are feeling right now. God knows if it were Rosie in there, I don't know what I would do…" I glanced at him and saw him shudder briefly. He recovered and looked me in the eye. "You going to be OK, man?"

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to look behind him to the rest of the plane. Most people were looking at the scene in front of them between Em and me scared and hopeful. Those who were with their families were looking at each other with a mixture of fright, hope and love. I had to do what I could to protect the innocent lives on board. It was what I was trained to do and it was what Bella would have wanted me to do.

Almost mechanically I said, "We need to find a way in there and we have to protect the rest of this flight." I had to make up for the fact that I was unable to protect the one person I wanted to protect the most. I could not afford to break down now

Emmett patted my back before saying, "It's good to have you back. Now let's talk strategy."

"Did you find the bomb?" That was the most pressing thing at this moment. We would have to disarm it if any of us had a chance at survival.

"We were still searching when I heard that punk come on. I came back up here to check on you." He looked a little sheepish. I wasn't sure if it was because he inadvertently mentioned what just took place in the cockpit or if it was because he abandoned his job to check on me.

"We've got to find it now. Let's see if a few of the men on board won't mind helping us look." Emmett nodded his head in agreement. He was about to say something when his phone vibrated and lit up.

He grabbed it and began pressing buttons. "That's probably Headquarters. I sent a second message to them a couple of minutes ago requesting help." He frowned as he read through it. Suddenly his body posture went rigid.

"What? They can't send reinforcements to us?" Slightly alarmed at the change in his demeanor.

"Worse." He tossed the phone to me. I read the message.

Help is coming. Fighter jet will reach you in 10 minutes. Will eliminate targets in cockpit. Is bomb disarmed? You will need to find a way to enter cockpit and emergency land. Preparations are being made to bring down the entire flight if situation not in control within 20 min. Report back ASAP. Good luck.

Luck was most definitely not on our side and neither was time. With hardened eyes, I looked at Emmett. "Let's find that bomb."

AN: This chapter was a little short. I promise next chapter will be longer and that you will finally know what is going on in the cockpit and the rest of the flight. This was important for you guys to know though. Please review to let me know what you think.

Announcement – If you haven't heard about it yet, there is a new twilight fanfiction award site. It's called the Eddie and Bellie awards. Please nominate your favorite fanfics out there for the awards. Nominations end on Jan. 25th and then voting will begin shortly thereafter. Get out and nominate! The address is www(dot)thecatt(dot)net.

Until next time…