Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer!!!

Thank you for last chapter's reviews! Sorry I haven't been able to reply to them yet, but I will! I've just been mad busy and just had my birthday...

(I hope this makes up for it)

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Chapter 34 – We'll Be Here

Bella was sat in the front passenger seat next to Edward, who was driving. One of her hands was rested on her Glock which was a weight in her hands. It kept her stable. Whilst she was holding the gun, she didn't have to think about anything but business. It was drumming orders into her mind. If she wanted to fall apart, she could damn well wait until the Volturi were dead.

Alice was holding her other hand in one of her own and where the gun was Bella's anchor, Bella was Alice's. Alice's other arm was draped across Rosalie's back and met in the middle with Esme' hand. Rosalie was holding Esme's other free hand in one of her own and like Bella, she had a gun resting in her lap.

The only person who wasn't connected to the group was Edward, but he didn't seem to mind. Bella turned her head to give him a smile. She didn't know if he saw it though, because his eyes were on the road. She stared a bit longer and finally, as if feeling the weight of her stare, he turned his head, making eye contact for a second. He looked relieved, but coldness was still set in his face. Bella looked in the mirror. Her face held the same expression. It wasn't over yet. She wouldn't feel safe until the Volturi were dead.

The lack of conversation was disconcerting to Bella. It didn't usually bother her so much, but being in the same car with Alice usually meant constant chatter. It unnerved her that the usually bubbly girl holding onto her hand was so distant and sullen. There were other things playing on her mind too.

"How did you stop the bomb from going off?" she asked Edward. Her voice sounded too polite, but she didn't mind.

"It was a hoax. The wires were connected to nothing. No juice, no boost. He could have pressed that button all day and nothing would have happened."

"For some reason, I think it's more than that," Bella said.

"You didn't get far enough into the room to be certain," Alice said wistfully. "There could have been another bomb as well."

Bella gasped. "You guessed!" she accused.

"It was a good guess," Edward said matter-of-factly.

"You could have blown everyone up!" She exclaimed.

"It would have solved a hell of a lot of problems if I did." Bella ignored the sarcasm in his tone.

"We'd all be dead!" she shouted, closing her fingers into fists so she wouldn't hit him. She could hit him later, when he wasn't driving.

"Exactly."

Bella opened her mouth to say more when Alice interrupted. "You're squabbling like an old, married couple. The point is that the bomb didn't go off and we're all alive. Isn't that your personal philosophy, Bella?"

Bella felt that Alice was making a snide remark at her personally. She knew it was best to leave the argument alone, but she was stressed and angry. At times like these she tended to pick at wounds instead of letting them heal.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, a hint of ice seeping into her voice.

"As long as you survive, it doesn't matter, right?" Alice said. There was no heat in her voice and Bella was certain she was on the verge of tears.

Saying sorry seemed inadequate, but it was the only thing she had. Just the sight of an unhappy Alice had her feeling bad about her actions.

"I'm sorry, Alice, it's all I can say. I'm going to fix this mess though."

Alice smiled. "I knew you would say that."

Bella smiled back.

Edward shook his head, aware of how the conversation had changed course.

"You two are crazy," he said.

~*~

Jasper leant against the wall outside the apartment building. The sky was a dark blue colour with a sprinkling of stars. He could see Emmett's figure moving closer. He moved away from the wall.

"We'll get up there and they'll be fine," Emmett said in greeting. "They'll be having some sort of girly party."

Jasper knew Emmett believed that as much as he did, but he replied, "Face masks and chick flicks."

They went inside the building, away from the coldness of the street. The steps loomed in front of them.

"You know, Rose prefers action movies," Emmett said as they walked up the stairs. It was his way of reassuring himself when he felt fear.

Jasper kept flicking his eyes behind them, thinking that something would come out of the darkness to eat them.

"Holy shit!" shouted Emmett, loud enough to cause the building to shake. Jasper's head whipped round so he was seeing what Emmett was seeing.

There was a hole in the door which had splintered edges, as if someone had punched their hand through it. Jasper tried to swallow back his heart but it was pounding uncontrollably.

Thoughts ran through his mind. All of them unhopeful. Someone who could have caused damage to the door like they had would have been dangerous, and the fact that they wanted to get into the apartment so badly filled him with even more dread. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"There's no blood," Emmett said, looking at the gaping hole and the floor.

"What did you say?" asked Jasper.

"I said there's no blood. If someone punched this door, they didn't bleed." He turned to Jasper.

"If someone punched their hand through a door, or threw an axe at it, Rosalie would have shot them."

"That too," said Emmett. He reached his hand through the hole and Jasper waited, holding his breath as he watched Emmett do it. The door opened and Emmett walked in. Jasper let out the breath and followed him in.

"It looks like someone's ransacked the place. Still, it's cleaner than yours," Emmett remarked.

"Yeah, but mine's allowed to look like a pit." Jasper looked around, his eyes went to the open door in the small corridor leading off the living room. "That's Bella's room."

"I've never seen it open before," Emmett said. Despite the situation, he had a glint in his eyes. Jasper wasn't as pleased, but he was just as curious.

He cleared his throat. "I mean, we have to check all of the rooms."

"It's not like we're doing something we shouldn't," Emmett added. They paused for a moment, then suddenly ran towards the room like a pair of nosey teenagers.

When they got in the room, they realised it was pretty ordinary. Jasper had expected the room to be like a bat cave, with hidden compartments and a secret lair and he was the unimaginative one. He dreaded to think of what Emmett had been thinking.

The only interesting thing in the room was the cabinet with a piece of paper taped to its front. It said: Do Not Touch. Jasper didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what was in that cupboard.

"It's locked," Emmett said.

"We need to open it," said Jasper in response. Emmett raised his eyebrows. "I mean, we need to know if anything is missing."

Emmett didn't state the obvious—that they wouldn't notice if anything was missing anyway. "It couldn't hurt to look for the key."

Jasper grinned, mirroring Emmett's expression.

~*~

The car pulled up next to Alice's Porsche and Bella was the first one out. Her gun was in her hand which was hanging by her side inconspicuously. In normal circumstances, she would have holstered the gun, but after the kidnap, she wanted to be extra secure. Her eyes were scanning the street and she paid particular attention to the shadows. Each car became a possible target and each nook a possible hiding place.

Edward was the second person to get out of the car. He had something large in his hands. Bella could only guess that it was some serious firepower. He opened the back door for Rosalie, Esme and Alice, still scanning the area like Bella was.

"We can't stay here long," he said. Bella knew he was going to say that. She could understand why, but she still wanted to protest.

"If they know where I live, they'll know where the people I love live," she said.

"Which is why they're all dead. They just don't know it yet."

Bella turned and moved towards the apartment building. They moved in a single line. Bella was at the front, followed by Alice, then Rosalie, then Esme, and Edward brought up the rear. They were a miniature parade.

She opened the door to the building, keeping alert. She pressed her back up against the wall, tapping her right hand on the wall, telling the others to do the same. Light flittered in through the windows, so that orange glows were suspended in the darkness, looking unreal.

Bella kept her concentration on the surroundings rather than her friends. She trusted Esme and Alice to be able to take cover. She trusted Edward to be able to fight. She was undecided with Rosalie. In normal circumstances, she would trust Rosalie to be able to take care of herself, but she had been through a lot and her judgement wouldn't be how it usually was.

She pushed the thought away as she reached her corridor. A door opened and she saw a familiar face. It was a neighbour. She pressed the gun behind her back and tried to keep her face friendly.

"Wendy," she said, a bit louder than she usually would have. "How are you?" She was hoping that Edward got the hint. She did not want him scaring the neighbours.

"I'm fine, dear, calling it a night. I hope you do the same, you look like shit."

Bella's eyes widened and she tried to shake off her shock with a forced laugh. She'd forgotten she was covered in drying blood, but she was surprised that Wendy had noticed in the dimness.

She waited for Wendy to go back inside her apartment before she walked further down the corridor. She saw her door and turned to Alice.

"Did they put a hole in the door?" she asked.

"No, they knocked on the door." Bella's heart was suddenly in her throat.

"Get down and stay down. Me and Edward will go inside." Edward was suddenly beside her. She was surprised Rosalie hadn't tried to argue to come.

She opened the door slowly and crouched behind the couch. Edward was beside her, his breath on her cheek. She was suddenly very aware of his body beside hers. She swallowed.

"Bedroom," he whispered.

Bella bit back a snort. She was thinking of the same place, but for different reasons. Her senses came back to her and she started to move towards her bedroom, crouching low as she moved, her gun held between both of her hands.

Edward moved around her, going for the opposite side of the door. He turned to Bella and made eye contact, it was the go ahead she needed.

She pushed the door open with her back and stayed low to the ground, her gun was pointed from the left and Edward's from the right. What she saw made her lower the gun. Edward lowered his, seeing Bella's astonishment.

"Get off my knickers," she said in disbelief. Emmett and Jasper had been routing through her drawers to find the key to her gun cabinet.

She shook her head and started laughing, letting all the stress flow away. That laughter soon gave way to tears that she knew she wouldn't be able to hold back. If she tried, she knew they would break her.

When she finally stopped crying, the room was empty. She swiped at her eyes with the heels of her palms and suddenly felt embarrassed. She only ever cried in front of Alice if she could help it. She'd never cried in front of Emmett or Jasper, and crying in front of Edward made her feel weak and fragile. Looking up, she saw Alice standing by the door, hesitant, as if Bella was an injured fox. Was she going to bite Alice for trying to help her or was she going to let Alice tend to her?

Alice walked further into the room and perched beside Bella. Her arm went around Bella's back as she held Bella to her. Bella could feel another pair of arms wrapping around her, and someone pressed to her back. The smell of Estee Lauder perfume filled her nose and she knew it was Esme who was hugging her from the back.

"It's okay, Bella," said Rosalie. Bella wondered where in the group hug she was.

Bella lifted her head slowly, her eyes blurring more now, but for different reasons. She always cried if people hugged her or showed affection to her. She always saw herself as the one having to do the protecting and she felt that because of what she was, she didn't deserve comfort and she shouldn't feel emotions. She tried to keep them locked behind a wall or a shield, but to be able to do that she would have to be inhuman. She wasn't. And for the first time since her father's death, she was beginning to think that crying didn't make her weak. It made her real.

Alice wiped away Bella's tears, brushing her thumbs under Bella's eyes like a protective mother. Esme was stroking her hair softly and Rosalie had her stomach in a vice-like grip. They were all showing their affection in different ways, but the reason for that affection was the same. They all loved Bella and it wasn't just because of what she had done for them. It wasn't just because she had saved them. It was because they loved her for who she was.

A chuckle escaped her throat, but it was replaced by a small keening noise. Bella sniffed and said in a shaky voice, "I love you guys."

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A/N: R&R!

The action isn't over yet!!!