Bella sat on the bathroom floor on that Friday night with Edward Masen next to her, sleeping through the effects of whatever substance the Brigado's has injected into his blood stream. Her childhood storytelling had lulled him to sleep approximately an hour ago, and Bella was trying not to move a single muscle, lest she wake him before he was prepared.

As Edward slept, Bella thought, not for the first time, about what a strange predicament she had found herself in. Edward was a double agent between the mafia and Cullen Consulting and everyday faced uncertain danger because of the position he was in. He had a nasty temperament and avoided people at all costs. He was unpleasant and unfriendly and his life was constantly in danger.

So much of his energy exertion went to pushing people away from him. Any time someone touched him, he flinched as if it pained him. He lost patience in people usually within the first seconds they spoke, yet on paper, he was a phenomenal employee. He was an enigma that Bella was sure she would never fully understand. Yet, her sense of justice and fairness was fully awoken when she saw how poorly he was treated with no reward or respect for doing what he did. He was abused constantly and no one cared. It made her blood boil as she continued to think it over.

Finally, Edward startled away, and for a moment looked wildly confused as he looked around the bathroom, blinking into consciousness.

It was the most vulnerable she had ever seen him.

"Go home, Swan," he finally sighed as he registered that she was here. Bella watched as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Edward…" she started softly. "If you need help…" she began softly but he cut her off.

"This…does not happen often, Swan."

Bella opened her mouth and Edward saw the look of protest and cut her off.

"It is late. I am fine. Go home," he repeated.

Bella closed her mouth and pursed her lips as she looked at him for a hard minute. Under her intense gaze, Edward's eyes narrowed into a borderline glare. Finally, Bella was somewhat satisfied with what she saw, and then nodded.

"Alright then."

And she went home.

But didn't sleep that night.

A couple weeks later, the Monday at Cullen Consulting passed by relatively uneventfully. Bella met with a few other partners to do some job forecasting for their divisions and continued to work on reviewing the performance evaluations of the employees in Edward's division. She didn't see the bronze haired man that day, as he seemed to be keeping his head down in his office and focusing on work, just like she was. Bella did however see Arlene stationed at her new desk in front of his office and bit her lip hesitantly as she wondered if she had made the right decision.

Edward Masen was an incredibly interesting person and Bella could not figure him out for the life of her. Everything about him displayed his lack of interest in human contact and human interaction. He held himself stiffly at all times and looked uncomfortable whenever he was forced to talk to someone. He lashed out easily and often and people gave into his wish and left him alone. But she couldn't really believe that a person could truly be repulsed by human contact; yet Edward seemed to be and that perplexed her.

It was about four in the afternoon when Bella was growing weary of the work day and wanting to go cuddle up with her cat when Victoria Hansen stomped abruptly into her office, bypassing a stunned Rosalie. Victoria was the Chief Officer of Human Resources, the C-suite position directly above Bella's and one of the only people she answered to. She was a woman that Bella had never gotten along with particularly well, despite her best attempts and as such, they generally avoided each other.

Her esteemed boss stormed into the office while Bella rose uncertainly from her desk chair. "Victoria, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"You have a problem," the older woman replied aggressively.

"With what?" Bella asked in confusion, immediately growing defensive.

"I just got off the phone with one of my former associates, and Williams and Sons -a firm that focuses on private investigation- is trying to steal our employees out of the ISC division. They have their eyes on at least six of them; six of our high performers," she stressed.

Bella's eyes widened. "That division is not big enough to lose tho-"

"Exactly," Victoria cut her off. "Losing any number of those employees would be incredibly costly considering the amount of resources we have invested all the way from their extensive interview process to their highly specialized training. We cannot have their seats open."

Bella was nodding in agreement. Any turnover was expensive, but in this particular division, it could set back that entire area for months. Her mind was already reeling as she mentally pulled forth the faces of those within Edward Masen's division.

"Find a way to keep them here," she demanded. "Go through all of the files of all of the employees in the ISC and do what you have to do to get them to stay."

"Of course," Bella said, her mind reeling.

"And have it done by tomorrow."

Bella hid her grimace at realizing she wouldn't be going to cuddle up with Harold the cat any time soon.

This is why she had not gotten a dog.

Or a boyfriend.

"Don't fuck this up, Bella," Victoria said before turning and leaving without another word.

Bella scoffed once the fiery haired woman left. "When do I ever fuck anything up?" she muttered to herself in not one of her finest moments, irritated by the boss who didn't really do anything, in Bella's opinion.

"Hey Rose?" Bella finally called, "Can you g-"

"Already finding all of their files," the blonde called back, typing furiously on her computer.

"We should probably order dinner too," Bella added with a sigh.

"Sushi good?" Rose asked, whipping out her cell phone and tapping rapidly on that.

Three hours later, Bella and Rosalie had files on every employee who was part of the Investigation and Specialized Crime division and Bella was trying to put all of the information into a spreadsheet on her laptop to try and identify which of the six were being recruited elsewhere. Her eyes were starting to sting from staring at the screen for so long and she had a headache that was beginning to form.

She was ready to start drinking soon.

Rosalie, on the other hand, was growing more and more restless as the night went on. She kept glancing down at the time on her phone and occasionally sending a text and making small faces to herself. After she had been doing it for about an hour, Bella asked, "What's up?"

The blonde winced and hesitated for a moment. "Emmett was planning on taking me out for a 'real date' tonight," she said using air quotes. "But I've told him that it doesn't look like we'll be getting done in time…"

Bella shook her head. "No, but you go," she said with a smile. "Go on your date, I'll finish up here, you've done enough."

Rosalie looked torn. "Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

Bella nodded. "Go. Just tell Emmett that he owes me," she said with a chuckle. Hopefully this would smooth over any residing tension from their last conversation about Edward a while back.

"Oh I will," Rose said with a grin, moving to stand up. "Thanks so much, Bells, you're the best!"

The brunette grinned and watched as her friend excitedly moved around and gathered all of her things before frantically darting towards the elevator. Bella waved as she left, an amused grin on her face before the doors to the elevator closed and Bella's face dropped and she sighed.

Looking around at all of the papers in front of her, Bella let her head fall into one of her hands. They had been at it for a few hours so far and Bella had several possibilities of who was being head hunted, but nothing confident and very few ideas how to secure their position within the next day. But she needed something to deliver to Victoria – her job and future at Cullen Consulting would be impacted if she didn't.

Bella let out a small groan at the thought.

"What the hell has Hale buzzing around more than usual?" a voice asked, pulling Bella away from rubbing tiredly at her face.

Edward Masen was leaning against the doorway of her office, his arms crossed casually against his chest as he watched her. Bella looked at him in surprise, noting that his outfit was more casual than usual. He was still wearing his impressively fitting black slacks but he didn't have the matching suit coat or tie. Instead he was simply wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms and the top button undone.

It was only the second time she had seen him so casual – the first being the bathroom that night. They hadn't spoken since. And a part of Bella (one that was larger than she would have thought) couldn't help but be pleased that he was standing in front of her.

And her stomach flipped as she realized how handsome the man really was.

"A date," Bella finally answered wryly.

"Of course," Edward agreed dryly, but not entirely venomously.

Bella looked at him in consideration. He seemed to be in a decent mood, as far as his moods went. She decided to test the waters.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked curiously, having been sure she was the only one around this late.

"I could ask you the same thing," he intoned back, ignoring her question.

Bella rubbed at her temple. "It seems there is another firm who is interested in pouching the employees out of your division. So I'm trying to figure out who they're after and what we can do to keep them here."

"My division?" he asked with raised eyebrows, not bothering to hide his surprise.

Bella nodded, glancing back at the giant stack of files she had spread out on the coffee table in her office.

"Bring them to my office," he directed firmly. "I'm sure I'm considerably more qualified than you to analyze the people who work for me," he said sardonically.

"No, I can do it," she protested, unwilling to let him take it on.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Bring yourself as well, then."

Bella opened her mouth to protest again but upon seeing his raised eyebrow she closed her mouth and moved to go and get the files. "So you're going to help me?" she asked skeptically.

"Something like that," he said, once again rolling his eyes as pushed off against the door frame and began to walk to his office.

"Have you eaten?" Bella asked before he could get too far.

Edward turned and looked at her in confusion. Since confusion allowed for some vulnerability, Bella watched as his expression hardened almost instantly.

"Yes," he finally replied, composing his face.

"Liar," she accused.

"Please tell me you're not also now concerned with my caloric intake," he snapped in annoyance.

Bella grabbed the sushi that was still on her desk. She had ordered enough for both her and Rose but the latter had not touched much of it, knowing she was scheduled to go on a date.

"Oh I get your table scraps," he said with snark. "Charming," he sneered.

Now it was Bella who rolled her eyes and shoved the black tray that contained California rolls at him. "Take them."

Edward looked like he was about to protest but Bella glared right back at him and then started walking in front of him as soon he had it in his hands. She left him staring at her with a raised eyebrow as she led the way to his office with a giant stack of files in her hands.

Right before they entered his office, they were both surprised to learn that they were not alone on the 33rd floor.

An intern looked at them in surprise when they rounded the corner. Bella immediately saw nervousness spread across his face as he saw the two partners coming near him. He was a young man that Bella remembered from a second round interview she did with Alice back a few months. His name was Matthew Romero, a student at Northwestern University studying marketing.

"Mr. Romero," she greeted, keeping her voice cool.

He visibly swallowed. "Ms. Swan," he finally said, giving a nod in her and Edward's direction. Bella saw Edward's lips curl back at the sight of the intern in front of him; she was well aware how he felt about them.

"What are you doing here so late?" she asked with a neutral voice.

Romero paused for a second and then replied, "I forgot something."

"Does your security pass allow you access to this floor?" Bella asked mildly. Because it shouldn't have.

Romero shook his head. "No ma'am, someone was leaving when I came up so I got in that way."

"Did you find what you forgot?" she asked pointedly. It was clear in her voice that she didn't necessarily believe what he was saying.

"Yes," he said quickly.

Bella nodded briskly. "Have a good night then, Mr. Romero."

The two of them watched as the intern hastily wished them a good evening in response and then scurried away. Bella didn't move until she saw him exit the door that led to the stairway, one which he would not be able to reopen once closed. Edward, who had remained entirely silent throughout the exchange, looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" she asked with a huff.

Edward's lip curled into a smirk as if he was regarding her differently for the first time.

"And they say I don't like interns."

Bella rolled her eyes.

An hour later, the two of them were working in surprisingly companionable sync. They had already gone through most of the stack and identified several employees who Edward felt were high performing enough to warrant looks from a different firm. Throughout their conversation which centered entirely about work, she found herself growing even more confident in her opinion that Edward Masen had an unrivaled intelligence.

Which is probably what kept him alive, she mused.

"Sydney Hampshire," Bella read, looking at the next file in her stack. "Her work does look impressive and you said specifically in your review that she's a good team player-"

"I did not," he snapped in disgust. Bella looked at him in surprise. "I have never and will never use that phrase in my life."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Of course not," she agreed.

"And no, I don't think Hampshire would leave. She's been here since she finished school and met the Mr. Hampshire who is down in IT on the 16th floor. She has ties."

Bella scribbled all of that information down and then moved to the next one in her stack. She was surprised again by Edward's level of knowledge regarding his employees. She had not pegged him as someone who would show that much care for his subordinates. Perhaps care was not the right word, but he did have a wide breadth of knowledge about them.

"And Anthony Weber, he-"

"He's one of them, I'm sure," Edward said.

"And how do you recommend we get him to stay?" she asked after writing something down.

"Give him a generous salary increase. He's motivated by the finer things in life. Whereas Hibbing wants significance and status and will be motivated by a shiny new title and office, Weber just wants cash."

"A generous one?" she asked.

Edward nodded, not offering further information.

"Would 5% be sufficient?" she wondered, mostly to herself.

"Don't be cheap, Swan," Edward said, almost playfully, if she didn't know him better.

"7%?" she tried.

"Better."

Bella wrote down more and realized that they identified all possible employees who Edward felt were worthy of being targeted and they had also come up with retention plans for all of them.

As Bella wrote down some last few notes and they settled into silence, she realized it was a surprisingly comfortable silence. There was no danger they were in, no one was bleeding, Bella's temporary problems has been solved, and for a few minutes, they were simply existing together in quiet companionship.

Their silence was interrupted by a buzzing that could be heard in the quiet. Edward's entire body stiffened as he moved to snatch the phone off of his desk.

"Masen," he snapped in greeting. Bella looked up from her papers again and saw how cold his expression had gone and how rigid his posture now was. It was seeing the harsh position that she realized how relaxed he had just been with her for the past hour.

"Yes," he was saying curtly. "Yes, of course…yes. I will be there shortly. Will do."

Bella watched as he slammed his phone down and then cursed and pushed away from his chair and ripped the suit jacket off the back on his desk chair and threw it on gracefully, pulling a tie from off his desk as well and moving hurriedly to put it on. He moved smoothly and quickly.

"Who was that?" Bella asked as she watched him in concern as he cursed at not having tied his knot perfectly.

"My other boss," Edward snapped sardonically.

Coldness filled Bella as she realized what he was saying. Her stomach sank as she saw how rigid his body was and how immediately stressed he was.

"My apologies, Swan, it does not seem like I'll be able to assist you any further," he said as he unlocked a drawer in his desk and quickly pulled out a small black gun and shoved it into his waistband.

Bella's eyes widened as she saw the gun and then swallowed and nodded.

"Be safe," she said in a voice barely above a whisper, holding her hand out for a moment as if she was going to touch him, before she dropped it.

Edward gave her a curt nod and then was gone without another word.

Bella looked around the now empty office and then took a breath through her nostrils, trying to calm her fluttering stomach as she panicked about where had Edward had just gone off to.

With a sigh, Bella kicked off her black pumps and then tucked her feet under her, nestling into the office arm chair comfortably, prepared to wait for his return.

Hi everyone! Life has been a little bit crazy and I admit to be immensely distracted by the alma mater, the University of Minnesota, and the way in which that is all being handled. I'm also preparing to move to Scotland in less than three weeks which is keeping me on my toes - if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations about life in the United Kingdom, I would love to hear them.

As always, let me know your thoughts and questions and have a merry Christmas. much love.