A/N: So I wasn't going to go this route with Bella's chapter but then someone asked to know what happened at the "gun fight" from her perspective so... It's not exactly a retelling of the events (you'll see what I mean), but it gives you some insight.

While the drama with Denali is somewhat over - the drama in the story is not. This was not the climax and now everything's going to be rainbows and butterflies...BUT there isn't going to be any lasting traumatic issues. Hope this answers some of the questions I got regarding the mental state of the girls. These girls are strong and while they won't just shrug off being held captive and at gun point, they aren't going to crawl into holes either.

Hope you enjoy!

~Tiff

Chapter 24

It was on repeat in my mind. The feelings, the thoughts…everything was on a loop and I couldn't get it to stop and I couldn't pull myself away from it.

I tried to pull away from the memories. I tried to resurface but no matter what I did I kept getting dragged into them…

The situation we found ourselves in was not part of our plan. Truth be told, nothing in the past six months had been part of our plan. I guess we never really had a plan from the beginning. When I met them our only goal was to leave our lives behind. And that was exactly what we did. We had been having fun and loving where we were, but then things changed. Everything changed. In a matter of just a few seconds, our lives went from uncomplicated to unbelievably complicated and dangerous.

How had we gotten ourselves into such a mess?

How in the hell did we manage to get ourselves bound and gagged in a dark windowless room?

And most importantly how in the fucking hell were we going to get out of it?

Sitting there on the cold concrete floor, all I could see was the eyes of my two best friends; and even though we couldn't talk, I knew exactly what they were thinking and feeling.

Without any way to tell time, we had no idea how long the Denali gang had been gone or how long we had until their return.

I knew the odds were against us but I had to try and keep hope. I had to keep reminding myself that the three responsible for putting us in the path of the Denali gang were professionals and good at their jobs. I had to keep faith in them…in him. I knew he wouldn't leave me there. I just knew he would come for us. It just had to be before it was too late and before the Denalis returned to clean up after themselves.

We had watched Demetri pull the duct tape and zip ties out of his pocked with wide eyes and knew it was in our best interest not to fight him but now I thought that might have been a mistake.

Alice was severely injured but at least she was conscious again. She was lying down on her back with her head resting on Rose's legs, her arms tied in front of her and her ankles bound.

Her breathing was labored and I knew she had to have broken ribs. Every now and then she would flinch and Rose's tears would start anew, her fists forming with the need to try and soothe our hurt friend, but Demetri had tied her hands behind her back.

'Can't have you trying to figure out a way to get of here.' Was what he had said.

It was the reason he had my hands tied above my head and secured to some sort of fixture that was anchored into the wall.

Alice was the only one who had the chance to work out of her restraints but she was in no condition to do so. She couldn't even reach her arms up to rip the tape off her mouth.

He'd beat the shit out of our friend and I had lost it. I had pissed him off and it was the reason he had ordered us to be tied up and gagged.

My arms had just completely gone numb when a sudden noise from the other side of the door had all three of us shaking.

They were back and it didn't sound like any of them were in good moods.

I jerked again trying to wake myself up from the nightmare because I knew what happened next. I knew the next scene but once again I was helpless to stop it from replaying in my mind. I was desperate to keep it from happening again. I didn't want to see the fear in their eyes. I didn't want to see the anger in his…

'Isabella…' The sinister voice echoed in the room as he stepped through the now open door. I tried in vain to work my hands free before he got to me and pushed myself against the wall as far as possible when he reached his hand out towards my face, but before he came in contact with me his hand changed course and it was then I saw the shiny blade he was holding.

In the next second my arms dropped lifeless in front of me. The blood rushed into them for the first time in…well who the hell knew how long. The tingling sensation immediately hit them and was so intense that it was painful. Tears welled up in my eyes before spilling down my cheeks.

Rose jerked from her spot but couldn't move too much since Alice was still resting on her lap.

'Bring her.' Denali demanded to someone I couldn't see before standing up and without a second glance back my direction walked out of the room. I reached up to the tape on my mouth knowing that it was going to hurt like a bitch when it was torn so I wanted to do it before someone else could.

I had worked the edges around my lips with my tongue as much as possible hoping to ease the pain of the tape ripping the first layer of skin off them.

Rose shook her head 'no' quickly as soon as she figured out was I was doing but I wanted to tell them both something before I didn't have the chance.

I grabbed the corner of the tape just as Felix walked into the room and he smirked at me when he realized what I was doing. He reached to stop my movements so instead of the careful removal I had hoped for, I just ripped.

'Fuck!' I had screamed because that shit had hurt like nothing else I had ever felt. Instantly I could feel the warmth of blood and taste the distinctive metal flavor of it.

Felix laughed as he grabbed me off the floor and swung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I tilted my head up to try and find my friends only to see tears streaming from their eyes. It was possibly the only good bye I was going to get with them so as Felix carried me out of the room I had said the only thing that I could think of.

'I love you both…'

Demetri stepped into my eye line then and the door was shut.

'She's dripping blood dude.' Demetri had said as he followed Felix.

'Dumb bitch ripped the tape off her mouth.' He said as he walked towards the office I had been in earlier.

'It was better than one of you assholes doing it.' I mumbled causing both of them to laugh out loud.

'Yeah you're probably right.' Felix laughed again as he knocked on the door of the office. I heard James tell them to enter and was not at all surprised to see Laurent and Victoria in there as well.

'Set her down in that chair.' Denali demanded. 'Tie her hands in front of her and leave her ankles tied too.'

'Yes sir.' Felix replied as he all but dropped me into the chair that I had sat in before and then took the piece of black plastic that Demetri was offering.

I started fighting him to keep my hands free and tried to reach for his gun that had become visible under his jacket.

The backhand across my right cheek only spurred my fight but in the end Felix was able to secure the tie around my wrists.

'Now…I'm going to ask you a few questions. Each wrong answer is going to result in punishment.' Denali had sneered in my direction.

'Fuck you.' I hissed.

'If you're lucky.' He said as he lowered his face inches away from my own. 'Now first question...the boys didn't show for our deal tonight at the club. This saddens me.'

I was thrilled to find out that little piece of information because it meant that they knew. They knew we were in trouble. They knew the cover had been blown. The smirk that would have appeared if my lips hadn't hurt so bad came through in my eyes and my attitude.

'That's not a question.'

'True, true…okay so how did they know not to show up?'

'I don't fucking know.' I seethed.

'Liar.' Victoria said from her post in the corner of the office. 'What clue did you leave them…'

'We didn't know we were found out until the desert.' I wanted nothing more than to strangle the bitch.

'You surely had your suspicions though.' Laurent chimed in.

'That is true Isabella. You were all very nervous when we first picked you up.'

'A known drug dealer, murder, and his dumbass goons were taking us to the fucking desert. Of course we were nervous.'

That earned me another backhand, that time from James.

'I'm going to ask you again…what clue did you leave them and where?'

'And I'm going to tell you again…we didn't. The only things we left behind us were our cell phones and purses and that was on demand.'

'Boss…those weren't in that apartment…' Felix spoke up. 'We searched…'

This earned another internal smirk from me. The boys had been so far ahead of them that they made it to our apartment before Denali had.

'Did they know we were picking you up?'

Before I had a chance to decide whether to answer him or not he reached around my head and grabbed a hand full of my hair and yanked my head back.

'The truth.' He spit out.

'Yes.' I whimpered.

'Did they know where we were going?' He asked again gripping my hair tighter.

'Obviously not or they would have shown up and you'd be dead.'

'Attitude Isabella.' He said then let go of my hair and stood back up out of my face.

'I have a question for you.' I said

'You don't get to ask questions, bitch.' Victoria laughed but James smirked and motioned for me to ask it.

'Was Michael the only leak?'

'That's a far too simple question Isabella…in fact I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping for something more entertaining. Something maybe more difficult to answer…yes Michael was the only one on the inside for me. I hadn't had a chance to get anyone established in LA. Although I think that's my next step. See I met Victoria through her uncle…you'll remember him as the cliché that stepped off the plane in the desert earlier. That's her uncle on her mom's side by the way. As soon as I met her and found out step-daddy dearest was the director of the DEA office in New York, I knew exactly what needed to be done. She personally couldn't breach the trust with Aro so she latched onto the first schmuck she could find – Newton. The rest is history you could say. It was perfect until you pinned him against us, using the knowledge that he was in love and blind…well played. Very impressed.'

He told me way more than I had asked. I just wanted to clear Edward's boss's name.

Denali was cocky and self assured that he had won. Part of me believed that he was right to be cocky but there was a part of me that refused to give up on Edward and Emmett and Jasper.

'We need to kill them and move on.' Victoria said as she pulled a weapon from her behind her back. 'Starting with this one.' She added as she aimed the weapon right at my head.

James sighed in defeat knowing that she was right before turning his back to me.

But it wasn't the sound of her gun that I heard next. It was an alarm and sudden chaos erupting in the small office that held five of them and one of me.

And it was James's hand around my throat forcing me to look at him that caused me to finally realize what was happening.

They were there.

'How the fuck did they find us?!' He roared as he ripped me out of the chair still holding my throat. 'How!?' He yelled again as he threw me against the opposite wall.

The sound of gunfire erupted around me as I laid on the floor against the wall where I had fallen.

'Boss get back in the office!' I heard someone yell and then the sound of the office door slamming shut again before more gunfire but then it suddenly stopped.

'Denali!' Emmett roared from somewhere. I wanted to yell out to them to let them know I was in the room but James was covering my mouth with his hand.

With a small nod of his head Victoria and Laurent opened fire from inside the office aiming for anything on the other side hoping to hit someone.

'You're cornered asshole!' My eyes widened at the sound of his voice and the tears threatened to start again.

Denali glanced quickly at me and grinned knowingly. He had me and by the look in his eyes I knew exactly what he was planning to do with me. He knew they wouldn't shoot me. He knew he could use the relationships that had been formed to protect himself.

I was going to be his way out.

'Stand up.' He gritted between a clenched jaw as he used a knife to cut the ties around my ankle. 'Go you two.' He added to Victoria and Laurent.

'No.' I said because I absolutely refused to be his bargaining chip.

'Get the fuck up right now.' He said as he held the knife to my throat forcing me to rise from the floor.

As soon as I was up he dropped the knife and wrapped his left hand around my throat pushing his gun to the side of my head and falling in directly behind me.

'Walk.' He demanded and pushed the gun to prove his point.

The sheer panic in Edward's face when I stepped out of that office with a gun to my head told me what I was going to have to do. I was going to have to make the decision for him.

'Shoot him damn-it.' I growled as I tried to work my way free or at least free enough to allow one of them to get a clean shot but his grip on my throat only got tighter and no one made a move to try and take a shot. I was searching Edward's face for a signal…a sign telling me what to do but all I saw was fear and the knowledge that Denali was right and taking me as a shield had been the perfect idea.

I pleaded again for someone to take a shot and within seconds, Victoria and Laurent were on the ground mere inches away from the obviously dead Demetri and Felix.

It took me less time to decide what to do than it did to blink and when he moved his gun to my shoulder I reacted.

Remembering what my father had taught me, I headed butted him, attempting to break his nose. It didn't work, but his grip loosened enough on my throat that I wiggled free and grabbed for his gun.

I was face to face with him and I could see the desperation. He knew if I dropped he was an open target and I knew it too. He wasn't going to let me going easily so there was only one option.

If they weren't gonna take the shot and take me out of the equation then I would do it for them.

'Fuck you asshole.' I whispered just as I got my finger on the trigger and instantly pulled it.

The pain of getting shot again hit me hard and it was enough to jerk me out of whatever hell I had been in.

"Bella!" Rose exclaimed from somewhere close. "Call the nurse Emmett." She said as her soft hands settled me back down.

"Where's Edward?" I asked, remembering suddenly that he had been there when the paramedics arrived but then he disappeared.

"He'll be back. You need to relax." She said.

"Alice…" I said suddenly remembering the state she was in the last time I saw her.

"She's fine too. Broken ribs, dislocated shoulder but fine. You're the one everyone was worried about…" She trailed off as a nurse came swooping into the hospital room.

"How's the pain Miss Swan?"

"Hurts."

"Okay let's give you some more morphine…" She said as she injected something into the IV in my arm. "There all better now. Glad to see you awake. You don't react well to anesthesia apparently. Been out now for a whole day after surgery." She rambled on but the drugs were setting in causing her to sound more like an adult from Charlie Brown than a real human.

"Edward…" I mumbled before dropping back off into sleep.

It wasn't a peaceful sleep though.

I was jerked awake once more when the memory of getting shot ripped through me.

"Bells?"

His voice was thick with sleep and worry, but the gruffness of it was unmistakable.

"Dad?" I choked out.

"Yeah Bells." He sighed. "Your mom is here too. She and Phil just went to the cafeteria to get some coffee."

The next question was on the tip of my tongue when he answered it for me.

"Edward called us. Told us that you had been shot and that you were fine but that you were in the hospital. He told us we didn't need to come that you were fine and of course he was right. You're fine – just recuperating from the surgery. I told them you didn't react well going under for surgery but to remove the bullet…Jesus Christ Bella what the hell were you thinking?!"

He was in his 'I'm gonna act pissed off so you don't see my true emotions' phase.

"I'm sorry dad…but…had no choice…"

"You could have come home to me. I would have protected you all. Rosie and Ali too…" He said with a far off look in his eye. "They're good people Bells."

"How long have I been…" It felt like a lifetime to me.

"Only about two days." He chuckled at my astonished face. "According to Edward, they brought you in about 5:00 in the morning Friday and it's only Saturday night. You were out of surgery by 7:00 but you didn't come around again until late Friday night early Saturday morning. They gave you the morphine and then you passed out again."

"Oh." But then I started worrying about where Edward was exactly. "Where's Edward?"

"With your mom and Phil…" He said but then stopped as the room door opened quietly. "I'll just leave you two alone for a minute."

Edward replaced my dad in the seat next to the bed and I could tell he was raging a war with himself. He was relieved obviously but I could see the anger beginning to rise up as well.

"You fought him for his gun and got yourself shot?! What the hell were you thinking Bella?!" he shouted as he began to pace my room. "Why would you fight him for his gun? Why?"

"Because none of you were going to take the fucking shot or remove me from the equation! I had to do something or the asshole was going to take me fucking hostage – or take me at least long enough to get into a car and then who the fuck knows what would have happened to me. But I wasn't willing to risk it…apparently you were!"

He was mad at me for fighting James. He was mad at me for doing the only thing I could think of to protect myself. He thought James had been the one to shoot me. He was really going to be furious when he figured out what I really was doing and what I successfully did.

"We had a tracking device on his SUV…we would have been able to follow you! Christ it was how we found you in the first fucking place!" He fumed as he pulled at his hair but then he suddenly stilled and turned on his heel to face me again. "What do you mean 'remove you from the equation?" His voice was suddenly calm and very controlled.

"All you would have had to do was shoot me in the leg and it would have dropped me and then his "shield" would have been gone…"

"Isabella...please tell me you didn't do it…"

"I can't."

"YOU SHOT YOURSELF!?" He roared and suddenly the room was filled with my father, my mother, Rose, and Emmett.

"Nobody else had the fucking balls to do it!" I yelled back as my heart rate monitor sky rocketed causing the nurse to then also join us.

"Alright everyone out." She started shooing my dumbstruck friends and family out of my room. "You too." She said as she pushed Edward out as well.