Chapter 7: Mission, Part I
Jasper and I became almost inseparable after that. Either he was horny or I was. We couldn't get enough of each other. I think we've fucked on every surface of our living space. We were addicted to each other. I don't think this is healthy but I'm fucking enjoying it so fuck off if you don't like it. We even moved in together, too. I couldn't move into his place and Ang was still at ours, so Esme had us go to a room down the hallway. So, we'd be somewhat close to Ang but not too far away. Thank goodness this place has more living spaces for future uses (can anyone say Build-A-Family? Come on, I know you want to). I finally showed him how I like to "paint" and decorate our room. He kept laughing and told me how worried he was about me inhaling paint fumes.
Speaking of paint, I've let my hair go back to a long wavy brown with light reddish blonde highlights. I'm tired of the gray streaks, for now. I may eventually bring them back or try another color. But, for now, it'll be all natural.
Anyways, we took some classes at the college here together. The classes are very intense and you can get a degree within a few months because you literally live and breathe school. I decided to go into medicine and hopefully become a scientist like Carlisle. Jasper is really good at fighting and strategy, so he decided to go into security (go figure). We were learning a lot and did our homework together, although a lot of our knowledge was coming in through lab work and hands on experience. They have this Star Trek hologram room where it makes you think you're somewhere else. The imagery is amazing. It's really easy to get lost in it. It helps him research different scenarios and create strategies. It's also a great place to hide out and 'escape.'
I've seen Alice around somewhat but very rarely. She always has this sad look on her face. I'm trying to keep my distance as well, just in case she turns out to have a diabolical plan to take Jasper away from me. Ok, I know I sound paranoid but shit, wouldn't you? She's pretty though, so I doubt she'll have to wait long to find someone else to love her. I haven't seen HAC around, either. I mean, Edward. He's still hot, don't get me wrong, but he's no Jasper.
Jas and I have a lot of fun with Angela, who met this guy Ben, a human, at the compound. Actually his full name is Benjamal Shag Nguyen-Hajreen. It was either call him Ben or Shaggy. I really wanted to call him the latter but Ang told me not to. Dammit. He's cute though. Tan skin, about 5'5", a round babyface that is incapable of growing any facial hair and absolutely perfect for Ang. She's only slightly taller than he is.
He grew up here. His parents are engineers who have been working for Carlisle since this place was built. How did he get his name? His father is Cambodian and his mother is from Zimbabwe. He lives a few doors down from our area, apart from his parents. He is kind of geeky but really nice. He treats her well and she isn't the crazy wild bitch that she has been while we were in the band. It's almost as if she's reverted back to shy girl. BUT. The wildness comes out when we go dancing. What's funny is that he's as non-wild as it gets. Ang will turn that around, I think.
Ah, yes. Did I mention this compound has fucking everything? There are dance clubs and shopping. You name it, they have it. It's like a little city. It's even bigger than Forks! Ok granted that's not hard but still. I don't feel so confined because of the size, you know?
It's now been about a year that we've relocated here. I like it but am itching to get out and travel a bit. Carlisle rang me and asked me and Jas to meet with him at his office right away. We sat down and waited for him to begin.
"Hello, you two. I'm sure you've been wondering about other humanoids we have created. There is a woman who is missing. She is a humanoid and is with a human man. I don't know why they're missing, just that they are. I would like for you and Jasper to find them and bring them back here to safety. You two are the best field ops I have based on your field experience and programming."
Say what?
He went on.
"I think a month will be long enough. Classes are over in a couple weeks and then you'll have your degrees. I'd like you to go then. What do you think? Are you willing to do this?"
We both nodded. "Of course. We'll need more information and create a logistical plan but I think we're ready." Of course, I'm doing a happy dance and this is going to be a great adventure! Leave it to Jasper to think clearly and develop a plan while I'm excited about just going out and having fun.
"Their names are Rosalie and Emmett. Maria has been trying to find them as well and they seemed to have dropped off the radar. Even Rosalie's homing device isn't working for us. We found it at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."
"I didn't know we had a homing device. That makes sense to be able to track us. Wait, if you knew where we were while at Maria's, why didn't you come get us sooner? And, what exactly did you find at the bottom of the ocean?"
"We had to wait for you to come to us. To come get you by brute force would've hurt someone on either side and I don't believe violence to be a method. I do not want to risk losing anyone. I knew you would come to us sooner rather than later. Your homing device is implanted in the back of your neck. You'd need someone to help remove it that knows what they're doing. Clearly he helped her but we don't know why."
"Oh. So, we have no idea where they are?"
"I'm afraid not. But I can give you details on what they look like and where we last saw them."
The next three weeks were spent getting ready for the trip and studying the retrieval plan. Apparently there's a way Carlisle thinks talking to them will help. He said that's the only way they'll come with us because it won't help to use force. However, worst case scenario, he gave us these cool looking guns that shoot out tranquilizers in case they get violent and misunderstand the reason we're there. It reminds me of the KGB – apprehend and then ask questions. We learned how to use them and armor ourselves with other cool state of the art devices.
It was the night before we were set to leave and Jasper and I were in our room.
"Are you excited?" He asked.
"Um, yeah. But, also scared. What if something happens to you? There's a lot of danger that I have been thinking about lately. I couldn't imagine what would happen if you aren't in my life anymore. I couldn't live."
I don't think he's ever seen me this serious or sad.
"Nothin's gonna happen to me, darlin'. You make sure you're safe and I'll do the same."
I hope he's right.
Jasper and I left at 5am. I've decided I like the term dark o'clock better. He rolled his eyes at me when I told him that. So, being the adult thing that I am, I rolled my eyes right back at him.
Carlisle told us the last time he saw RoMet, as I have affectionately started to call them, they were in San Francisco. So, we decided to start there. We took his private jet because, really, who wants to stand in those security lines while they check my flip flops? Oh and because of the crazy spy shit in our suitcases. With my luck, they'll randomly choose my luggage to search. And that would be very, very bad.
He also gave us some background information. Rosalie had been created a couple years after Jasper and I. HAC & Alice were in between us.
RoMet had left the compound when they were both 17 last year, so they'd had a good amount of training and knowledge to survive outside of the compound. In fact, they were in California because Rosalie wanted to go shopping for something other than Pixie designs. Her closet was full of them and she wanted a change. We also learned Emmett has an addiction to pancakes. I'm not sure why Carlisle thought this would be useful to know. I mean, would they seriously hang out in a pancake house? Apparently Rosalie loves sushi, too. There's got to be a method to his madness.
We first stopped at our hotel. San Francisco is quite large, so we'd need a few days to collect information.
Then we started visiting all of the pancake houses (Jasper's idea) with their pictures. Amazingly enough, one of them remembered him. After seeing his picture when Carlisle gave us their profiles, I understood why. I'd remember him, too. Emmett is huge. He's 6'5" and got these cute little dimples on his cheeks when he smiles. He has wavy brown hair and is very muscular. I wonder how much he bench presses?
They used to come in a lot last year. The guy at the pancake place told us they told him they were taking a long vacation and were staying down the street at the Hotel Nikko. Jasper and I went there next.
Well, RoMet has good taste, I'll give them that. It's amazing. We walked in and we saw so many vibrant colors. Everything was decorated with modern style but in the way that it's classic. We went up to the desk and requested to speak with the manager. We sat in the lobby waiting for her. Oooh, the plush seats made me want to take a nice, long nap.
"Hello, I'm Victoria. Can I help you?" The manager said.
"Yes. We are looking for these people." We held up their photos. Her eyes widened a little and then she covered it up with a blank look.
"No, I've never seen them before. Are you with the police? Have they done something wrong?"
"No, they're just missing and we'd like to find them."
"I'm sorry; I haven't seen them here. Is there anything else? Perhaps I can assist in another way? Do you have any other information on them that I could use to help you?"
Now that was weird. Not even the pancake guy offered and he'd seen them before. I didn't have to see the look on Jasper to see he was suspicious, too.
"No, ma'am. We appreciate your time. Thank you." He said and shook her hand.
We walked out of the hotel and went to our own in silence. He walked fast and I thought maybe he was trying to avoid the looming inquisition. Once we arrived into our room, I was pissed.
"How could you let her go like that? You saw how she was hiding something!"
"Baby, have I ever failed you?" He asked.
I didn't even have to think about that. "No."
"So what makes you think I'll start now? I bugged her."
"What? How? When?" I asked.
"When I shook her hand, I used the mini shooting gun attached to my sleeve that can be activated by one of my fingers. All I have to do is point and curl my finger a certain direction and it sends a bug into her sleeve. Good thing she was wearing long sleeves today, huh?"
"You are a genius!" I exclaimed.
"Well, that's a mighty fine compliment. Especially because it came from you." He said.
Did I mention that I love him?
He got out one of our suitcases and went to a hidden compartment that even I didn't know about. He took out this mini stethoscope looking thing with an antenna. He gave me one side to listen to while he listened to the other.
Bingo. She was on the phone. The vocal clarity was amazingly sensitive. It was like she was right here with us.
"James, they were here. They're looking for them too. I was hoping they'd come back but it looks like they've split and aren't coming back. I don't know why. Do you think they know something we don't? Tell her, immediately. Don't waste any time. Ok, bye. Love you too."
Well that was news. I didn't realize James was involved with anyone. He always kept winking at me but Jasper made him keep a distance because it would "interfere" with our training. Huh. I think a light bulb just turned on above my head. Either Jasper has been possessive from the beginning or James is more dangerous than I thought.
So, now we knew Victoria is affiliated with James and Maria. Why and how is what I want to know.
We decided to break into Victoria's office as a starting place when she leaves for the night. Thankfully there's big corner window. However, we failed to remember we have no way to unlock the windows without breaking them. Shit.
"What do we do now?" I whispered.
"Hmm, I don't know. I'm thinking about all of the devices Carlisle gave us and am pretty sure none of them cover something as stupid as opening a window lock." He said.
How could we have not foreseen this? Seriously.
I looked at Jasper and he took off his shoe. He's not going to strip, is he? He got out a silver looking knife and put his shoe back on. What the hell was he going to do with a knife?
As if feeling my curiosity, he turned around and explained. "This is a special knife that can easily cut the wood panes. Once I take them off, I can just remove the window without breaking it and causing the alarm to go off and put it back on when we're done."
Well, that makes sense. He is so smart. And clearly resourceful.
So, we were in the office within 10 minutes. We started looking in the file cabinets, drawers, you name it. Nada. I was getting really frustrated. Partly because I didn't know what the hell we were looking for and partly because we weren't finding anything that could help us.
Cue the end of my frustration.
Jasper found a key on the back of one of her paintings. The ironic part is that the painting resembles Maria's compound. Why the hell didn't I think of that?
So, where does the key go?
"Does the key have any inscriptions?" I asked.
He looked at the key and nodded. "It's a key at a storage facility in Fremont by the look of the inscription. We'll have to rent a car and drive to it tomorrow."
"how do you know the storage facility is in Fremont?"
"Cause it says so." Wow, do I feel like an idiot. "Sound like a plan, then?" I nodded in agreement and to get the hell out of there.
The next morning, we rented an SUV because I didn't know how much stuff is in the storage locker. Better to be safe than stupid.
We arrived and went to the front desk. They had this little bell as we walked in to alert our presence. A big guy came in from the back. He was the kind of guy who looked like his name was Buffalo Bill – he gave me the creeps. "Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?"
Well, good thing manners and excellent customer service skills still exist in other areas. But, definitely not here. Yep, definitely not.
Jasper spoke up. "We have a key and were wondering if you could point us in the right direction of it."
"Oh, I thought you might have been with the fucking police from last week." Do I even want to know why the police were here last week? No.
"No, we are not with the police." Jasper said.
"Follow me." He said.
He led us outside and pointed to building that housed mini garages. Good planning on my part. Jasper wanted to rent a Ducati motorcycle.
We opened it once B-Bill left. We took a big breathe and released it when Jasper opened the door.
Inside, there were all kinds of documents and scientific supplies. I briefly wondered why Maria kept these documents here and then realized she probably didn't know Victoria had this place. We started searching through everything to see if we could find any traces of RoMet.
"I got it." Jasper announced. Finally!
"What did you find?" I asked.
"Pictures. Lots of pictures." He answered.
We grabbed them all. I took all the documents, too, just in case. There were quite a few boxes of those. We built up a sweat quickly and damn…Jasper looked good enough to eat. He had the whole country boy look down to a T. He had on a plaid shirt, worn jeans and boots. I couldn't think of anyone who looked better. Granted, I'm a tiny bit biased. Ok, maybe a lot biased.
Shit, what did he say? "What? Sorry, can you repeat that?"
He rolled his eyes. He knew I was eye-fucking him and was basking in my embarrassment.
"I said, while you were thinking whatever pervy thoughts that came to you, that we better head on back to the hotel and look through all this."
"Good idea. Let's stop for lunch first." I said.
We drove back to the hotel in silence. He tried to put on a country station but that shit wasn't happening. Just because I loved my country boy doesn't mean I like country music. At. All.
He didn't say anything when I turned to a classic rock station. Good boy.
We went to a pizza house for lunch. It was edible. That's all I can say about it. Granted, how could I hope to find good pizza in BFE, outside of Chicago or New York?
Out of the corner of my eye, however, I saw something I cannot believe. A stroke of luck! Emmett's picture is listed as employee of the week! I nudged Jasper and his eyes became wide with realization. Props to me, thank you very much.
I went up to the guy at the register and decided to ask about it.
"Hey there."
"How ya doin', gorgeous?" I think I heard Jasper growl a little. No, that couldn't be. Men don't growl. Only animals do that, right?
Focus, Bella!
"Um, fine thanks. Listen, I was wondering about this guy." I pointed to Emmett's picture.
"Oh, you mean Hank?"
Hank?
"Yes, Hank. Is he here today?"
"Actually I believe he went on vacation with his wife. They'll be back next week," he said.
Hmm. Is he trying to get me to come back? Yeah, I don't think so. I need to talk to Emmett/Hank NOW.
"Does he have a cell phone I can call? Perhaps you have a way to get in touch with him?"
"Well, that's against company policy. We can't just give out any employee's personal information. Why do you need to talk to him now? Can't you come back next week?"
Shit, he's got me there. I can't exactly tell him the truth. Luckily Jasper saw my dilemma and stepped in.
"Hey darlin', did you get your cousin's number?" I shook my head. He turned to register guy. "My wife here lost contact with him and she'd really like to talk to him again. We're only in town until tomorrow before we have to go our home in Texas." He was really laying on the accent thick. I liked it.
"Your wife, huh? If she's your wife, then where's her ring?" He contested.
Jasper narrowed his eyes. "It don't concern you. But if you really want to know, we got married in Vegas a couple nights ago and I want her to have a nice ring, not a plastic one. I'll get her one once we get back home." He gave me a sweet wink.
At this point Register Guy decided to help out though I think it may have been due from Jasper's death glare. "Sure, l-lemme go g-get it. S-Stay put." He stuttered out.
He came back a minute later and gave me a piece of paper with a number on it. He conveniently brushed his fingers with mine as gave it to me. Once again, I thought I heard a growl.
"Thank you." I said. Jasper led me back to the car without saying a word to RG.
We got back to the hotel after, again, driving in silence. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize we'd made it back to the hotel. Clearly, Jasper wanted to get back sooner rather than later.
When we arrived, Jasper attacked me. He pushed me up against the door once we entered out room and it was shut. I liked this animalistic Jasper. This is hot.
"You're mine. No one else's. You hear me? Say it!" He growled. Yep, I definitely heard him growl this time. I think my panties are soaking wet now.
"Yes, I'm yours. Only yours. Always yours." I replied.
After that, he started taking my shirt off. I thought he was going to rip it off. Damnit I like that shirt!
Cue the cockblocker.
"Well Jasper, I'm glad you found true love. Or maybe it's true lust?"
We turned our heads to the voice's direction.
Maria.
What the fuck was she doing here and how the hell did we not notice her there? Oh yeah, we were busy.
"Let me get to the point. I want you to come back to me. I know you're looking for Rosalie and Emmett. I want to find them too. We can be a happy family again with them added on. Wouldn't that be so nice?"
She pointed this green laser beam directly at our eyes. It started making my head hurt.
Jasper looked pissed. I've never seen him look so angry. I finally realized what she was doing. She was trying to control us and erase our memories of Carlisle so we'll go back to her! Nuh-uh bitch. Not this time.
"Maria, let me tell you a few things. First, you just interrupted me from what was going to be the most amazing fucking of my life. Second, you can't control us and erase our memories with that object. Third, there is no way we are fucking helping you find them." I said.
She looked stunned that we knew what she was doing and couldn't figure out how it wasn't working. I decided the less information that was given to her, the better. At this point she started looking around. She pulled a gun out and pointed it at Jasper.
She looked at me. "Don't move or you will surely regret it. Jasper is coming with me, end of story. If you ever want to see him again, you know where to find us."
I was torn between wanting to help but I wasn't sure how. It was a lose-lose situation. Jasper spoke up.
"Bella, let me go. Remember what I told you." Maria shot him with the tranquilizer gun and called out. James came rushing in and grabbed Jasper. He looked to me and Maria said, "No, I won't be able to reprogram her. Leave her here." And with that, they left. She's going to reprogram him?
I broke down and collapsed on the floor after they left. I don't know how long I cried but eventually did remember RoMet's number was in my jean's pocket. Maybe they can help me? Would they even want to?
RoMet to the rescue? What do you think? ;)
