AN: Be prepared - we are full on in the next couple of chapters. Hope you like.

Thanks to SarcasticBimbo for her beta'ing now that she is feeling a bit better and to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight who pre-reads and stepped in for SarcasticBimbo last week.

I did manage some review answers and will get to a few more this weekend since it's the Easter break and I don't have to work until Tuesday

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed since last week - SM still owns every last piece of Twilight

Skyjacked

Chapter 9 - Ditching

Bella

Fear flooded my body at the words Edward whispered in my ear, and although I showed no outward sign, inside I was indeed panicking at the thought that we were headed toward a landing in the ocean. My mind raced over all the horrible newspaper articles and television documentaries detailing how many people died in plane crashes both on land and in water. Despite the fact that we were over the Pacific Ocean somewhere in the South Pacific, I knew the water would only be warm on the surface, and even if we did survive a landing, there was no guarantee of anything beyond that either.

Jacob Black's handsy torment was nothing compared to this, though Edward's intervention was hot and I couldn't help but be thankful he had been keeping an eye on me while talking to the co-pilot.

Now, I couldn't even think of what sort of problems that might cause both of us in the future; our immediate survival overshadowed everything. I guess I must have done something to alert Edward to my inner panicking, as his arms squeezed me just that little bit tighter, calming me instantly.

Now I was focused. What could I do to help us survive?

"I need my backpack, it doesn't just have a change of underwear, it has things that might help save us." That was the first thought in my mind. I knew from the safety videos that I shouldn't be thinking of taking that with me, but if we survived beyond the ditching into the ocean some of the things I always carried with me could be useful, if not essential.

After the plane jolted sharply, I followed Edward's gaze out of the window, drawing in a sharp breath at the sight of flames licking around the engine. They were still small but any fire in a plane engine couldn't be good. Edward's movement echoed my thoughts as he stood to grab both our backpacks from the overhead locker. It was a bit of a struggle to get the backpack situated and as I looked up, Edward was just pulling his life vest on over his backpack, already thinking ahead. Reaching down, he helped me with mine before sitting back beside me.

With the immediate actions taken care of, fear washed over me again and Edward's hand took mine, while he hugged me close to his body as if he could protect me with it.

His murmured, "Shhh, my Bella, it'll be alright, hold on to me, love," calmed me, although I was still shaking inside. I didn't miss the endearments; the words and tone bringing how I felt about him to the surface. There was a lot I wanted to say but I wasn't sure it was the time for declarations of the deep feelings I already had for him.

Instead I brought my mouth to his ear. "Edward, if we don't make it …"

He interrupted me, no doubt not wanting to tempt fate, with, "Shhh, don't say that. We'll be fine," but I had to tell him something of what I was feeling.

"I need to say it, Edward. I just wanted to tell you, that whatever happens I am so very glad to have met you."

I felt his lips hit the top of my head and his words made my heart beat faster in my chest and was absolutely nothing to do with our immediate danger, more about the man sitting beside me offering me support and comfort.

"I am, too, Bella, but don't give up, please. I'll do whatever I have to do to get us out of this alive and we can talk about the future later. And there will be a future trust me and hold onto that, and to me." His fervent words, echoing loudly into the silence surrounding us, made my heart sing. Somehow, in less than a day, I had fallen in love with Edward.

Before I could even contemplate if I should or would say anything, the loudspeaker crackled to life and Heidi's voice informed the rest of the passengers what I already knew, relaying general instructions on what to do next. That was followed by a deeper voice I hadn't heard before and I somehow knew it came from the Captain; it could only be good to have two capable pilots and I was glad he was feeling better.

A quick glance out of the window showed the ocean zooming toward us at a terrifying rate and I swallowed hard, holding tighter onto Edward's hand. His echoing squeeze told me he knew what was happening. "Jasper will be trying to pull the nose up to give us a better chance, so there will be a lot more shuddering."

True to his word, the plane began to shudder and shake so hard it felt as if it was just about to fall apart. I could practically feel my seat tip backwards as Jasper and the captain fought to keep us on track. Their efforts seemed to be working but the next words scared the life out of me and despite never having been a religious person, I found myself praying.

"This is the captain, brace for impact in two minutes. Flight attendants to your seats, now." The captain's voice was calm and focused. The woman who had been screeching moments ago, was now silent, as were the other passengers. The only sounds heard now were coming from the cockpit; the low voices of the two men communicating and trying to save our lives.

I could feel the plane slow and it's shaking increase, practically rattling my teeth, and I was worried that it would shake apart before we managed to make the water. The heat inside increased, though I wasn't sure if it was the air or me, and there was a mad scramble by the flight attendants to strap themselves into their seats. The captain continued to give us a countdown to landing and the a final yell from the cockpit told us everything we needed to know as the plane hit the water.

Nothing could have prepared me for the noise as it hit; there was a series of very loud bangs and a huge roar from the engines, which rose to a high-pitched screech before cutting back to a dull background rumble. Thankfully it only bounced a few times and, for that, I was grateful we had seatbelts on, or we would have been thrown around in the air like juggling balls. There were screams and cries of fear from everyone around us, but I seemed to be unable to utter a sound, waiting for the final move that would kill us all.

What seemed like hours later was, in reality, only minutes and the shouts and screams from the passengers had been swapped for utter silence for a short space of time. Then the mad rush began and I watched as the passengers all left their seats at the same time, pushing and shoving at each other trying to be the first to reach the doors at the front of the plane.

The captain appeared in the doorway of the cockpit and although he looked a whole lot better than he had a few hours ago, he was still pale and sweat beaded his forehead, his face grimacing in pain. Nevertheless, he took control of the situation and his voice rose in a roar. "Hey!" His first shout was ignored and lost in the rising noise. Edward and I had not yet moved, I think both of us aware that the best chance of getting out of the plane before it sank was to get everyone to listen and make their way to the front of the aircraft in an orderly fashion, and to stop everyone leaping over each other hell-for-leather.

When it looked as if things were degenerating into a free-for-all, Edward released his seatbelt and stood on his seat. "Enough," his voice was much louder than the captain's, and those passengers closest slowed and looked up at him. "Listen up," he continued, his voice still loud but lowered a little. "The captain has managed to bring us down on the water without the plane breaking up. I think you owe it to him to listen to his instructions, don't you?"

A lot of the passengers looked ashamed of their actions, and gave their attention to the captain, urging those who were further away and still pushing and shoving to be quiet. None of the hijackers said a word and I wondered what they would do now that their escape was as fraught with danger as ours.

The captain nodded his thanks to Edward and proceeded to give us his instructions. "Heidi is preparing to open the front door, which will initiate the release of the evacuation slide …"

At this point, movement from the other side of the cabin showed Jacob and the rest of his cohorts pushing the passengers aside, heading toward the rear of the plane. Edward also saw and moved through those people on our side of the cabin, following them.

"Edward? Where are you going?" I knew my voice sounded a little panicked but I was suddenly afraid of being separated from him.

"Don't worry, Bella, I'm not going far. Please listen to Captain Hunter and do what he says. I promise I'll follow you out in a few minutes. Promise me you'll stay with him, for me, please?" I had to agree to his impassioned plea, and with that he kissed me quickly and turned to follow them to the rear of the plane.

Turning back to Captain Hunter, I tuned back into his instructions.

"There are rafts at the rear of the plane, but it's already under over two feet of water. Under the circumstances, I believe we will be safer if we stick together." His glance up also told me that he seemed to think, as Edward had done, that Jacob, Caius, and the rest of his cohorts were headed in that direction. The unspoken thought was that we needed to stay as far away from them as possible.

A gunshot from behind the premium economy curtains was shockingly loud in the cabin and every head turned that way. Without thought, I pushed through the passengers, heading toward the sound; fear for Edward washing over me and moving my feet his direction without further thought. Sounds of a struggle drifted in our direction and I watched in horror as Jacob and Edward fell into the aisle, Edward underneath. Held over his head was a gun, Jacob obviously trying to turn it enough to get off a shot.

My feet picked up speed and my anger at this asshole flared, rushing over my skin and through my body. Grabbing a bottle of something from a bag of duty free goods someone had left on their seat, I charged toward them raising my hands over my head. I caught sight of Edward's shocked face as I hit Jacob on the back of his head as hard as I could, smashing the bottle in the process.

The smell of good whiskey invaded the cabin, but it did the trick; Jacob fell like a stone, unfortunately trapping Edward underneath his huge frame. Edward struggled a little to free himself, but with my help, he was finally able to wriggle out and stand.

"What the hell, Bella?" Edward snapped.

"Don't fucking snap at me, Edward. I heard a shot and my first instinct was to help you; wouldn't you have done the same?" I turned and stalked back to where Heidi and one of the other flight attendants, Mike, had managed to open the door. With a sharp bang, the evacuation slide unfolded and people began to head through the now open door, eager to leave the sinking plane.

The water level was creeping up around us, already washing over my ankles and I knew we didn't have much time, so despite my anger at Edward, I turned back to encourage him to hurry up. From my position, I could see Riley and one of the others dragging Jacob to his feet and helping him back to where the rest of them were pulling large packages of some sort out of an overhead locker.

Jacob shrugged their help off, turning to glare at Edward's back and head toward him.

"Edward, look out," I called to him.

He turned to look around just as Caius stepped forward, calling out to Jacob and motioning for him to assist them. Jacob hesitated, the fury evident on his face and he reluctantly obeyed Caius.

"Cullen," he called out before rejoining the others. "I will find you, fucker." He lifted his chin toward me. "And her; she will be mine one way or another."

Edward didn't give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him, and reaching me, took my hand, apologizing for his behavior. I smiled and forgave him immediately; he was under a huge amount of pressure, I reasoned.

Wrapping my hands around his arm, I tugged him toward the front of the plane, where almost everyone had now left. Heidi was standing at the door with Captain Hunter, beckoning to us. Reaching them, I could see that the slide had been detached from the doorway, but was almost full, not leaving much room for the four of us left on the plane.

"Go on, Heidi," Edward urged. "And you, Bella." Heidi needed no more urging, kicking off her shoes,before grabbing them and jumping into the raft.

"No, Edward, I won't go without you." Inexplicably, I couldn't bear the thought of being separated from him and refused. "You go, Captain Hunter, they need you."

"I want to go back and see if they've left anything intact we could use, especially another raft. If I asked you would you stay here and wait for me?" When I followed him he muttered to himself, "I guess not." Taking my hand, I smirked at him despite the seriousness of the situation.

A few minutes later, Edward and I looked at each other in disgust at the gaping holes where the rafts had been deliberately ruined by Jacob and the others. "Fucking bastards," was all he said.

There was nothing for it but to return to the forward door and squeeze onto that emergency raft. Edward took my hand again to lead us back the way we had come when a shoe, or more accurately a foot, sticking out from behind the seats on the other side of the cabin, caught my eye.

"Edward," I said tugging at his hand. "Look!" Pointing the foot out, I could now see the body of a man lying on the floor.

"Shit, that looks like it could be one of them." He took a step forward, reaching down to touch his neck. "He's alive, Bella. Can you get Captain Hunter for me, please?"

I was reluctant to leave Edward alone with one of them, but I could see there was no way I would have the strength to help him lift the man up and the water was getting deeper every second. I could see the faint pink tinge to the water around the man and knew that if we didn't do something pretty quickly, he would drown, despite whatever other injuries he might have.

I sloshed along the aisle back the way we had come. "Captain Hunter, Edward needs some help with one of the hijackers. He's injured and we need to move him before he drowns."

"Call me James," the captain smiled at me, though I could see the pain still showing in his eyes from his head wound. He grabbed the medical kit and followed me back to where Edward had managed to drag the man up and onto one of the seats. He was barely conscious, his eyes fluttering as he tried his best to stay upright.

"He's not too badly hurt," Edward answered my unasked question. "He has a bullet wound in his upper arm, though I'm pretty sure the bullet passed straight through but it's the blood loss and a whack to the head that's causing him to be semi-conscious."

Grabbing the medical kit from James, I moved toward them both. "Hey." Putting my hand on his arm, he opened his eyes and muttered "Felix," before closing them again. I busied myself with cleaning up the wound as much as I could with what was left in the kit, packing it in antiseptic ointment and wrapping it in gauze and a bandage.

"That's the best I can do for now, guys. Let's get him and ourselves out of here, please." Edward and James grabbed Felix as best they could without hurting him more than they had to, and half carried, half dragged him through the ever rising water to the door.

The raft had drifted away from the plane a little, although a couple of the more capable individuals had managed to find paddles and were attempting to keep it in place, waiting for us. Motioning for me to jump, Edward assured me he would be following right behind me. With a look that warned him he had better, I jumped, landing in the water just short of the raft.

I had expected the water to be chilled, and didn't open my mouth in a gasp, but it was a close thing. I kicked for the surface and grabbed for the hand held out to me. Jasper grinned and pulled me into the raft, where I sprawled on the bottom shivering and waiting for the hot midday sun to warm me.

Looking up at the doorway, I could see James and Edward hanging onto Felix who did look a little stronger but still sagged a little between them. I watched as they jumped, practically dragging him with them. A minute later they surfaced close to the raft, both of them pushing Felix up toward Jasper's waiting hand. There was a cacophony of noises from some of the passengers, as those who had been singled out and under guard earlier, recognized him, and I could make out shouts of 'you can't let him stay here' and 'throw him overboard'.

Edward ignored them for the moment and helped James over the side and into the raft, where he stood, a little shakily, and held out his hand for Edward. At that moment a shot rang out over the water and James folded as blood bloomed on the leg of his pants. I looked up in shock to see Jacob taking aim again.

"Edward," I screamed, as he dropped below the surface of the water. James was slumped to the bottom of the raft, half lying on me, preventing me from getting up to see where Edward was, which was probably just as well considering I might also be in Jacob's sights. A few more shots were fired and I was panicking, not knowing if Edward was hurt or not. I struggled to get out from underneath James, crying in fear as well as frustration. Someone was screaming and when I realized it was me, I forced myself to shut up.

"Bella, stay down, please?" Jasper's voice eventually broke through. "Edward's fine; he's on the other side of the raft. He's not hurt as far as I can tell."

Hearing that went a long way to calming the panic inside me, and I lay still listening as a few more bullets passed over the raft. I hoped it hadn't been hit; there was no way around thirty people would survive without it. As the time between shots increased, I breathed a little easier and managed to get out from underneath James, helped by a woman with long red hair, now resting his head in her lap.

Gingerly sitting up, I peered over the edge on the other side of the raft, to see Edward hanging from one of the attached straps, hair was plastered to his head and breathing a little heavily.

"Are you okay, Edward?" I asked.

"I'm fine, pretty girl; a little cold, but otherwise I'm fine," he reassured me. "Shift back a little so I can climb in, will you?"

Carefully, he pulled himself up and over the edge, sliding into the bottom of the raft, enfolding my shaking body with his, the sun warming us both. Tears slid down my cheeks as I realized just how easily he could have died had Jacob been closer or his aim been better.

There was silence as heads turned toward the sound of a motor starting up and we watched as the other raft headed off into the distance, Jacob standing and, no doubt, glaring in our direction.

** Skyjacked **