Disclaimer: Don't tell me what to do, don't tell me what to say, and when I go out with you, put this disclaimer on display.

Adore

Chapter 37 –Bad Girl

Bella had never formally met her uncle Frederick. Seeing him up close now, she saw very little resemblance to her father. He had neither the handsomeness nor the ability to intimidate that her father possessed so naturally. Unlike James Mercury, Dr. Wesley was balding, and while tall, James still had a few inches on him.

He stood in the doorway, a shadowy figure, but he was quick to turn on the light. Fury painted his tired face.

"You just can't stop yourself, can you?" He said, addressing Peter. "I told you to leave her alone. She is off limits."

Peter was as scared as he was defiant. It didn't help that his face was still so close to Bella's. She wanted to push him away, to run, but she didn't know what Frederick would do, or if he had a weapon.

"Oh, so I can't touch her, but he can?" Peter hissed.

His father didn't react. "I don't know what you're referring to, Peter, but you should have listened. There's only so much I can do to protect you."

"I already know he wants to kill me," said Peter, who finally stood up, freeing Bella from their uncomfortable closeness. "I don't care what happens to me, but I'm not going to let him hurt her again."

"Don't worry about her, Peter." His father stepped further into the room. "I need to take her back to the basement before my brother realizes she's missing."

Bella thought about the man she had imprisoned down there. She also thought about the gun she had hidden in her shorts. It wasn't well concealed, but no one had noticed it yet, not even Peter.

Oh god, was she going to have to shoot her uncle?

"That can't happen," Bella said. Peter and his father turned around to find her pointing a gun at the doctor. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." She felt as if she was in a movie, spouting cliché, overused lines. But she really didn't want to hurt him or anyone else. That wasn't a road she ever cared to go down.

Frederick started laughing. "Don't be ridiculous. If you shoot me, you'll have the entire household down on you in a minute."

"Yes, but you'll still be dead," Bella said. "To be frank, Fred, you'll be dead either way." She enjoyed his confusion. "What, you didn't know that my father is planning to kill you?"

His face changed from amused to angry. He was finally taking her seriously. "He's my brother, he wouldn't do that. Not after everything I've done for him."

He was naïve, but that didn't mean Bella's words didn't hit a chord. "He's not going to stop at you," she continued. "All of your men…your children. He was never intending to keep any of you alive; he's just using you. I thought you would have guessed that by now."

"You're lying," he insisted. "Why would he do that? Why?"

"Because he's a psychopath."

Dr. Wesley's nostrils flared. "I don't believe you, and I don't believe you're going to shoot me."

"Hey, it's your life, not mine." But Bella wasn't exactly trigger happy. He was right; if that shot rang out, the house would be in chaos in a matter of minutes. There wouldn't be enough time to rescue Stephanie and Jack. "Peter, do you think you could knock him out or something?"

"Um…sure?" Peter walked towards his father, unsure of how to proceed. It was enough to frighten the older man, however.

"You wouldn't hurt me, Peter…"

"Why not? You hurt me."

"I did no such thing!"

"Oh right, you just sent your men to do it for you." And with that, Peter socked him in the face.

It was 7:30 in the morning when Barry's disappearance was first noticed. James was immediately alerted, and upon finding Barry locked in the basement with Bella nowhere to be found, he flew into a rage. In the end, Barry wished that Bella had simply killed him. It would have been merciful compared to her father's angry, bloody methods.

The house was searched, furniture turned over. It didn't take long for them to find Frederick Wesley, who was lying terrified, tied-up, and gagged on the floor of what was supposed to be Peter's prison.

"Where are they?" James asked, barely controlling himself. He held his brother up by the collar of his shirt, wishing he could strangle him then and there.

"I think they went to find Stephanie and Jack –"

James threw him back to the floor, ignoring his pleas not to harm his children. But they were missing as well. They couldn't have gotten far, he surmised. There were more men in the house by now, and the grounds were under surveillance.

"I saw them ten minutes ago by the library," one of his men revealed.

"And why didn't you stop them?"

"The girl had a gun, and I know we're not supposed to hurt them…" The man no longer looked so sure.

"Which girl?" James asked, calm.

"Your daughter, I think. She's the little brunette, right?"

He took a deep breath. "Where were they headed?"

"I think they were trying to find a way outside."

James was not a happy man. His daughter had betrayed him, just like her mother did. He loved her more than life itself, but he wasn't sure he could forgive her this time. They were going to have a good life in Texas, and now…now it was all ruined.

It wasn't easy to find Peter's siblings, but Bella was brazen with her newly acquired gun. Peter had tried to convince her to let him use it instead, but she was adamant. She didn't trust anyone. They had ventured back downstairs after making sure his father was taken care of, and it wasn't long before they came across a lone employee. Bella found that all she had to do was ask politely-while waving her gun around-where her two cousins were being kept, and he led them straight to their doors. They did have to pick the locks, unfortunately, as only a handful of people had keys.

There was no time for introductions, although Bella was eager to get to know the relatives she never knew she had. Stephanie had clearly been traumatized by the experience, and Jack, ever the protective oldest child, did his best to soothe her. They snuck back downstairs, hiding in every corner and closet they could find. Suddenly, there were more people walking about than before.

But we made it this far, Bella reminded herself. They were almost out.

Jack, as it turned out, was not as cooperative as Bella thought he would be. She thought they were all on the same side, with the same agenda, but she quickly learned that her handsome oldest cousin had a rather bossy side to him.

"You shouldn't just let these guys walk around," he hissed at Bella. "You need to fucking shoot them. It's us or them. Why does she get to have the gun, anyway?" He asked, turning to Peter, who had himself stolen a gun from the man who had helped them earlier.

"Because it's my gun," Bella said. "And are you out of your mind? If I start shooting everyone, the whole household will come down on our heads, and I guarantee you won't survive." She hadn't told Jack or Stephanie about her father's plans to murder them both, but maybe now was a good time.

"This is bullshit. Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Do you?" Bella was almost regretting her decision to rescue him.

Before long, they could hear the entire house was in a ruckus. Urgent footsteps and angry voices filled the halls. Bella had hoped to have escaped by now, but all the exits were guarded by multiple armed men.

"Fuck this," Jack muttered. "I need to get my sister out of here."

Bella felt herself hit the floor, and before she could stop him, Jack had the gun. Peter wasn't fast enough to prevent him. He saw red as Jack pointed the deadly weapon at Bella.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He aimed at his brother now, unable to comprehend how he could be so reckless and unfair.

"I'm rescuing you, Peter. You can come with us, and we'll be fine."

"The only reason you have a chance to escape is because she rescued you," Peter pointed out. "You're a doctor, for fuck's sake, how can you point a gun at an innocent woman? Our cousin, in fact."

This information was new to Jack and his sister, but it didn't sway him. "Look, I need to do this my way. I know what I'm doing."

"Stop," Bella whispered. "You're going to get us all killed."

"My dad won't let anything happen to us." Jack sounded entirely too confident in his words, in his father. Did he have any idea who these people were?

"My father is planning to kill all of you," she warned him.

Stephanie was unable to control her sobs. "I just want to leave."

"We are," her brother said. He still had the gun aimed at Bella as he opened the closet door, and with Stephanie in tow, they fled. Bella and Peter stood in shock, unsure of how to proceed, but knowing they couldn't follow. She wanted to kill Jack. If he was eager to put himself in even more danger, fine, but Stephanie…she was so scared and helpless, and the person she trusted the most was putting her in harm's way.

"Maybe we should go after them…" She said.

"No," Peter replied, sounding defeated. "You're right, he's going to get all of us killed. My only hope is that they spare Steph long enough for us to save her."

Shots rang out as soon as he finished speaking. They heard Stephanie scream, followed by heavy footsteps racing down the stairs.

Peter clenched Bella's hand.

"What are we going to do?" Bella asked, knowing there was no good answer.

"We're trapped," was Peter's reply. "Either we die now or later."

"We're not going to die."

"I'm not so sure anymore." He faced Bella, tears streaming down his face. "You don't have to say anything, Bella, but I need to say this. If this is it, then I can't die without telling you how much I love you. I've adored you from day one, and I think we might have been perfect for each other in another life. Even knowing that we're cousins…it doesn't change how I feel. I can't help it."

Bella bowed her head. She wished she was lucky enough to have a final goodbye with the men she loved, and she wished she was able to console Peter instead of rejecting him so harshly over and over. He was a broken man, and he might die with a woman who felt nothing for him. There was something truly unfair about that.

"Peter…we're going to make it, and I promise you'll find the happiness you deserve. I don't mean to sound like a Hallmark movie, but –"

The door to their little hiding spot opened.

James really, really was not a happy man.

The Cullens didn't understand why search warrants took so long to get. Why couldn't the FBI just barge in and save the day? This was a house full of criminals, the worst of the worst.

"We have to watch them first," they were told. Some form of evidence needed to be gathered, facts needed to be had. It wasn't a simple process.

Jasper had gotten close to the house himself at one point. All he saw were men going in and out, and while it wasn't enough to tell him anything for sure, he knew this was the place. Bella was in there. The longer they waited and watched, the less chance they had of getting her out alive.

"You did the right thing," Emmett assured him. "There's no way in hell we could have gotten in there on our own and lived to tell of it."

"I know," Jasper sighed. "But I can't stand waiting in the background. Anything could be happening to her right now. We might be too late."

Edward shook his head. "Jazz, you're the reason she even has a chance to live. If you hadn't been a dickhead and gone to school…where would we be? You already saved her." He wished that he had tried more, that he hadn't been a useless burden to his family over the last few days. Maybe they could have gotten her sooner. For once, Jasper had been right in face of everyone else's opposition.

"She hasn't been saved yet," Jasper reminded them. "But thanks."

It was early morning, and the sun hadn't been out for long. Despite the doom and gloom, it had somehow managed to be a beautiful day in Forks. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, nor the threat of rain.

Gunshots rang out at 8:36, which was all the FBI needed to commence their raid. The Cullens had been situated in a van one mile out, but they could still hear the shots and the yells coming from a nearby radio.

The brothers clung to each other, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Any sign of the Mercury girl?" An agent asked, ignoring the Cullens' look of disapproval. Bella was more than just 'the Mercury girl.'

The response came back negative. They hadn't found her, but there were two victims in critical condition, a man and a woman.

It took the better part of an hour to round everyone up, but there was still no sign of Bella. They had, however, found Peter Wesley, who had been shot twice, but was still alive.

"I thought he was dead…" said Emmett.

"Everyone did," Edward replied in disbelief. Did that mean Peter was in on it after all?

When they were finally allowed to get closer to the house, they were bombarded with blood and bodies on stretchers. The violence they heard on the radio didn't convey even half of what had happened.

"Peter!" Edward spotted him first. They rushed over, defying the medic who was attending him. "What happened to Bella? I know she's here."

To everyone's astonishment, he was still conscious and alert, though his eyes were heavy. "He took her."

James…

"I'm sorry," Peter coughed, tearing up. "I couldn't save her. I tried, I swear."

"We know," Jasper said, doing the unthinkable and putting his hand over the man's bloody one. The thing was, he believed him. He didn't know why Peter was there or what role he had played, if any, but he didn't think he would let any harm come to Bella if he could prevent it. "Get better, okay?"

But Peter had already blacked out.

"Where could they have gone?" Emmett asked. "Someone would have seen them leave."

"But they can't still be in the house," said Jasper, perplexed.

The three of them glanced around the chaotic scene. There had to be a mistake; she had to be here.

A nearby agent slapped one of his co-workers on the back, looking pleased with himself. "Mission accomplished! I told Rita I'd be back for dinner, and I was right."

His friend didn't share his enthusiasm. "Yeah, we did good, but we didn't save Bella Mercury or capture her father, so I'm not celebrating just yet. You might want to call Rita back."

The man's face fell. "What do you mean? We got her. And I'm sure we'll find him. He can't be too far away. We already got the hounds sniffing around."

"Wait, what? We didn't get her, Coop. No one saw her. The bastard must have escaped with her before we got in."

"Max, I saw her with one of our guys. I know what she looks like, and there were only two females in there who weren't agents, and the other one was laying in a pool of her own blood. I'm telling you, we got Bella Mercury."

Max paled. "Fuck."

The disappointment that had been felt all around had now erupted into panic.

"I don't understand," Jasper said. "He said they had her…so where is she?"

"Don't you get it?" Emmett clenched his fists. "He saw James with Bella. One of those bodies in there is an FBI agent."

Bella awoke with a splitting headache. It took her a second to remember what had happened, and what was currently happening. There was so much irony in seeing her father in an FBI jacket that she almost had to laugh. But then she recalled what he had done to possess such a garment, and she wanted to throw up.

"You're awake, and just in time, too," he said, smirking.

"Where are we going?" Bella wasn't sure she wanted to know. They weren't going to Texas, that much was clear.

"You did a very bad thing back there." He appeared distraught, but kept his eyes on the road. "I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't let you get away with it. You need to learn your lesson. As if I haven't given you enough chances already."

She didn't think she'd be able to lie her way out of this one, but she didn't make it this far to simply give up. "But dad, I had no choice! They kidnapped me. I swear, I would never betray you like that." It was hard to sound sincere when all she could think about was seeing her three cousins' bodies lying lifeless in front of her. Peter…

"You know, part of me wants to believe you, baby. But another part of me knows that you're your mother's daughter."

Bella was getting more anxious by the minute. "I didn't do anything wrong, I promise!" She looked out the window, hoping to get an idea of where he was taking her. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Dad…"

"I know they mean something to you," he said, happy that she had caught on to his plan. He enjoyed the pain it was causing her. If anything was going to set her straight, it was this.

"But they don't deserve it, they didn't do anything." They were only a few miles from the house she shared with the Cullens. "Please, don't hurt them. I'll do anything."

"Jesus Christ, Bella, it's too late. I was going to spare them, but you changed my mind. I hope you realize that I'm not the one at fault here. Their blood will be on your hands."

For once, Bella didn't think before she acted. In the next instant, she tackled James, her fists flying across his face. The SUV swerved, going off the road and hitting a guardrail. Bella was flung back against the passenger window. James recovered first, unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing her by the hair. She screamed, more out of fury than pain. He smacked her across the face then, having finally lost what little control he had been holding onto.

"This was supposed to be a good day, Bella." He opened the door, dragging her outside. "Look what you're making me do." He opened the back of the SUV and hoisted her in. Bella knew where this was going. He started undoing his pants with one hand, the other one wrapped around her throat. It was only then that she realized he had a gun. He took it out of his pants and laid it on the floor before going to work on her shorts.

"Don't," she pleaded.

"I didn't want our reunion to be like this," he said in earnest. His blue eyes froze as he pulled down her shorts. "Great, you're on your period."

"What?" It was the last thing she expected to hear while trying to fend off her father.

His hand tightened around her throat. "You've managed to screw me over in every way today, baby. What's next, a tornado?"

Through her tears, Bella's left hand had been making a desperate grab for the gun. At long last, she grasped it.

She didn't hear herself screaming or crying; she only felt her finger pull the trigger and the blood splatter across her face as the bullet ripped through his neck. It took him twenty seconds to die. Bella didn't notice until later that she had counted, her eyes wide, mouth agape, as each precious moment ticked by. He tipped over on his side, his eyes searching hers wildly, unable to accept that this was his end, that she had done this to him.

"B-bad girl." He gurgled his last words as the light in his eyes disappeared. Bella couldn't move. She wanted to. She wanted to run home and see their faces, to go back to normal, act as if this was all a nightmare that they were just waking up from. She didn't want to have a gun in her hand or blood in her hair.

In the end, she found herself walking home, not running. Their cars were in the driveway, but no one was there to greet her, as she was so used to. She walked to the back of the house, knowing that one of the windows had a broken lock. They really needed to fix that, she thought. It took all her strength to pull herself inside, and when she did, she was faced with deafening silence.

Home.

The Cullens were sent home in a three separate police cruisers, just in time for the lunch they had no intention of eating. They said nothing to each other or anyone else. What was there to say, after all? Bella was gone. Their last hope had been in the stolen FBI vehicle, and the tracker that was installed in it. James was smarter than he looked, though, and it had been thrown out the window soon after he drove off. The trail was cold.

Esme and Carlisle had somehow managed to compose themselves enough to aide their sons. They had sped over as soon as they received the call.

"What can we do?" She asked. Her children were sitting on the couch, thinking, trying to process the idea of going on without Bella. It was an impossible thought.

"Nothing," said Emmett. "No one can help now. She's gone. That disaster back there was our last hope, and they blew it. We blew it."

"You couldn't have done anything," Carlisle said.

"I don't believe that."

Edward was the first to stand up, and he did so angrily. He couldn't listen to them, couldn't be around them. There was too much pain to go around, and it was about to break what little was left of him.

"Where are you going?" His mother asked, her concerned gaze following him.

"I just need to be alone."

His head had begun throbbing again; an on and off occurrence since his injury. He still had a bandage on his forehead, which is father had insisted should be kept on. Edward wanted to rip it off now. There was no point in anything. He walked to the bathroom and flipped on the light.

And then stopped breathing.

She sat in the bathtub, still and pale, bloody but breathing. Her arms were curled around her legs.

"Bella…"

She met his green eyes then, and lit up. "You're alive!"

Edward was on her in an instant. He touched her face, her hair, arms. Yes, it was her, she was there, she was okay. "Me? You're alive. I thought you were gone." He kissed every part of her face, unbothered by the blood that marked it.

"I killed him, Edward. He's…he's dead." It hadn't fully sunk in yet. She was still in a daze; she wasn't even sure if Edward was real just then.

"It's okay, Bella, you're okay now."

"He was going to kill you," she said. "And I shot him."

It was then that Edward really took her in. She was covered in blood, and while he knew it wasn't all hers, he could tell that something happened.

"Bella, did he…?"

She shook her head. "I need to clean myself…" She frowned, examining her arms and legs. "How long have I been here?"

Edward knew she was in shock. Whatever she had been through the last few days had clearly traumatized her. "I don't know, Bella."

"I think it's been awhile."

He couldn't take his eyes off her, and not because of the state she was in. He climbed in with her, gingerly wrapping his arms around her. "I can't believe you're here," he whispered. On the one hand, he wanted to run to his family and tell them that miracles might actually be real, but he wasn't ready to let go of her yet. He just needed to steal a few more minutes alone with her.

Bella closed her eyes and leaned into his chest, finally relaxing her tense muscles. She could breathe again.

They were soon interrupted by a brief knock on the door. His mother's voice rang out, "Edward, are you okay?"

Bella jolted. People were here. Everyone was here. She hadn't stopped to think about whether or not all of her boys were in the house. She could hardly comprehend anything that had happened in the last few hours, days, weeks. But she was home, she knew that was the only place she had longed to be.

"Yes," Edward said. "Mom, can you tell Jasper and Emmett to come in here, please?"

Esme didn't question him, and moment later another knock came at the door.

"Come in," Edward said, holding Bella a little tighter. There was nothing like the feeling of making broken people whole again, of knowing that they didn't have to live without her.

The door opened, followed by an expletive from Emmett, who wanted to know why they were congregating in the bathroom. He and Jasper stopped dead, and the world stopped with them.

A/N Sorry for the wait! My life has been crazy lately. I recently moved and have been job hunting (unemployment is such fun). But Adore is almost finished! Stayed tuned, and remember you can always check me out on Facebook or PM me on here.

Have a safe 4th of July, everyone!