52. Best friends share… everything.

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.


Embry's blood covered his legs and dripped onto the floor. Bella had been reduced to sobbing quietly. He wasn't healing any more. He was exhausted; his spirit and his body. He was having real trouble remaining upright; his legs were trembling from the effort. Bella knew she was becoming a dead weight and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to whisper to him; to tell him that she loved him, but it just seemed to incense Victoria.

"Phase," she begged him.

"Can't… no energy," Embry muttered. His voice was hoarse from screaming, and his throat was probably bruised from the choking pressure of the metal cable around his neck. "Too weak," he rasped.

Of course. That was why they ate so much. Transforming your whole body into something else, must take an enormous amount of calories. His body had spent all the energy it had on healing. And Victoria had weakened him first, using Bella's proximity as a hold on him. She hated her.

The room suddenly felt tenebrous. The shadows seemed darker; murkier. A wedge of despair crept in.

"Dying," Embry muttered.

"Yes, you are," Victoria crowed. "You can't even heal any more… it's no fun hurting you now."

Riley looked around but he couldn't see any enemy. He glanced up the main entrance tunnel.

Bella whimpered. "No Embry… no … please… don't die." Her tears were hot against his chest. "Not dying… Victoria, please," she pleaded for the hundredth time. "Edward left, he doesn't love me."

And then she heard a voice she had thought she would never hear again.

"Victoria? Is that your name?"

"Dad?" Bella was incredulous.

Victoria glanced at her. Her face was gleeful. "Your father?" She clapped her hands together in delight, like a small child being told they could have a kitten to play with. The game had shifted to a new phase.

Riley looked confused. How had one human got past the newborn guards? He glanced at Victoria, but she just looked pleased to have someone else to torture in front of Bella. Someone else that Bella loved.

"Mind if I come in?" Charlie shouted out, as if he was knocking on a door in Forks.

"Oh please do," Victoria called back. "How did you find her?"

"Lojacked her," Charlie lied. "Put a tracer in her clothing. Do you know how much trouble this girl gets into?" he asked, as he picked his way carefully down the mine shaft. He stepped around the puddles and the twisted metal rails. He was empty handed; just his standard service 9mm holstered at his hip. He had his hands held away from his body to show that he had nothing hidden behind his back.

Victoria just laughed at him. "You didn't think of that, Riley," she pointed out to him. Riley looked even more doubtful; and just a little bit annoyed. She didn't tell Riley to kill him, so he left him alone.

"No, Dad… please… she'll just kill you too!" Bella implored.

Embry managed to turn them both so that they could see Charlie. Bella needed to see her father.

Victoria smiled.

"Now Bella, we had this discussion," Charlie said. And they had. Bella remembered Charlie being horrified that she had offered herself in exchange for her mother. He had told her she was a fool for offering herself; that James would have just killed her too. If he knew that, what was he up to now?

"I thought of everything," Riley suddenly interrupted. The aura of doubt seemed to be affecting him more than the others. "You changed the plan. It was perfect until you changed it suddenly, just last week," he accused his lover.

Victoria looked mystified by his accusation. "Not now," she hissed at him.

Riley looked at her as if he really saw her for the first time. "This is all about James," he accused. "This whole thing is about revenge for his death. Isn't it?"

"She loved him," Bella interjected. "She thinks killing Edward's mate is just punishment." She had a feeling this doubt had an external source; there was only one person she knew who could do that. Jasper Cullen. And that meant Alice was with him; Alice was always with him. Charlie hadn't come alone.

"Shut up, hamburger!" Victoria screeched at her.

"You don't love me," Riley stated. "You're still in love with James." He turned suddenly and ran out of the mine at vampiric speed. Charlie flattened himself against the wall and let him run past.

Victoria was bewildered. She couldn't chase Riley and leave the others alone.

Charlie made a sudden movement and caught her attention. She looked at him. He had drawn his police issue handgun and he was aiming it at her.

She looked incredulous. She let out a very unladylike snort. "You can't hurt me with that!"

Charlie didn't respond. Bella moaned. She thought she was going to watch her father die too. "Dad, please," she begged him.

"Yes," Victoria crowed. "Listen to your daughter. She's really quite smart. I am a vampire. Do you know what that means?"

No reply.

"We are immortal. We are supremely strong and fast. We don't even sleep. I am four hundred and forty years old," she boasted. "My skin is like marble. I walk in daylight. You can't hurt me with that puny little gun."

Charlie rolled his eyes.

She put her head back and she laughed.

He shot her in the mouth while she was practising her evil laugh. It was a lucky shot. Maybe the wolf gods were on his side too.

The bullet did what it was designed to do.

The Hydra-Shok bullet was a hollow point round. These rounds are anti-personnel, meaning they are designed for use against human or other organic targets. A normal bullet has a smooth, rounded tip designed for accuracy and penetration. A hollow point round, however, has a hollow tip that causes it to expand upon impact. The expansion of the bullet increases its stopping power, the force at which it makes contact with its target. The Hydra-Shok bullet was designed to have minimum penetration and maximum stopping power which makes it very effective as a defensive bullet.

Charlie knew all of that.

It stopped in the body of his target, about where her spine ought to be. And all its forward momentum, designed to damage the flesh of a human being, continued to move forward. The bullet expanded rapidly from its stopping point.

But she wasn't a human being.

She was made of marble. Her body had fault lines and stress points that humans didn't have and she was dry. Liquid stopped bullets. Every ballistics lab had a water tank for test firing rounds into. Charlie also knew that.

The bullet shattered her spine and the back of her marbled head blew clean off in a hail of stone chips and dust.

His second shot, fired immediately after the first, was a tracer round; incendiary ammunition that set her shattered head on fire. Her body collapsed where it stood and started to burn.

Quil had dashed down the tunnel when he fired the first shot; Sam and Jake were right behind him. They were in human form. Just as well, because Embry collapsed and started to choke.

"The winch," Bella shouted. "Release the lock."

Jake hurried to comply. Embry and Bella fell into Quil's waiting arms. Sam was standing over Victoria's body waiting for her to move. She didn't. He glanced at Charlie. "You prepared," he said.

Charlie just nodded. "Had one shot."

"Need a knife," Quil said.

Charlie pulled one out of his belt and started to hack the tape holding them together. It was hard going with the blood and the layers of tape. He hesitated at Bella's hair.

"Just cut it; cut the hair," she begged. "Need to get Embry out of here. I think he's dying."

"Noooo," Quil sobbed. He had got the cable off Embry's neck, but it was bruised and bleeding where the metal had cut into him.

The knife made quick work of her hair. Cut apart, Bella was in her father's arms and Embry in Quil's. He hoisted him easily and carried him out of the mine. He was unconscious. The pack all touched him as he passed them. The tears streamed down Quil's face.

Charlie handed Bella off to Jake. He scooped her up and followed Quil out to the fresh air. Sam stood there and made sure that every particle of Victoria burned, even though the air in the mine got smoky and hard to breathe. Charlie stood with him. Sam glanced at him quizzically.

"I hate it when they go on and on like that," Charlie grizzled. "Makes me nuts."

When they emerged the pack looked worried. Quil was trying to get some water down Embry's throat. His supporting arm across the top of his back was about the only place on Embry's back that hadn't been cut. It was where the tape had bound him to Bella. His clothes were tattered remnants; covered in blood. His flesh was in ribbons.

Leah approached Sam and spoke quietly. "He's not healing; it's human slow. But we can't take him to a hospital. We need to get him back to the tribal medical centre."

"Too many questions at the hospital," Charlie pointed out.

Sam nodded. "Questions we can't answer."

"The SUV," Bella suggested. "He can lie on his stomach. They brought us here in an SUV. It must be around here somewhere." She kept quiet about her own broken wrist; she could wait.

"I'm on it," said Paul. "Hope the keys weren't in his pocket." He nodded at the smoking pile that Bella assumed must be the remains of Riley. Clearly, Paul had won the fight to play with the flamethrower.

Bella threw herself at her father. "I was so sure you were going to die." She was still covered in bits of tattered duct tape and blood.

"How did you shoot her?" Seth asked. "Vampires are as hard as marble."

"She wasn't frightened of guns. Too old maybe? Doesn't know about new ammo? And marble is not that hard," Charlie said. "People carve it into sculptures all the time. Now if she had been as hard as granite…" He trailed off. The pack members were all looking at him oddly.

"He shot her?" asked Jared. "With a handgun?"

"Blew her head clean off and then hit her again with a light emitting bullet that seemed to set her on fire," said Bella. She looked so proud.

"A tracer round," exclaimed Jared. "That would work."

"Wait a sec," said Sam. "What was the first bullet?"

"A hollow point," Charlie said.

"I sooo want to see Embry's memory of that; if he saw it," Seth crowed.

"Remind me never to piss Charlie Swan off," said Sam.

"Where's Alice and Jasper? It was them?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, it was. They had a new friend. A new vampire. They had to leave. She said she will call you later," Leah answered. She was trying to help Quil with Embry, but Quil was growling at her. "She said she'd see you before they left the area again."

"I've got her number," said Charlie.

The SUV drove up and parked next to Quil and Embry. Bella went over to them. She touched Quil's face. "Let's get him home Quil. We can look after him at home. Come on Quil," she encouraged. Her voice seemed to get through to him. "Everybody wants to help. Leah is just helping. Let's just get him home," she repeated.

Quil looked up at her. She leaned in and kissed him. And then she kissed Embry's face. His eyelashes fluttered. "Quil," he whispered.

Paul was already adjusting the rear seats so that the whole back area of the car was flat.

Charlie gave her the first aid kit from the squad car. "I'm calling you McGuffin from now on, kiddo." He studied her. "You'll stay with them?"

"Yes. I don't understand my supernatural attraction either," she said. She hugged her father again. "Thank you. You were amazing."

"I'll drive," Jake announced. He kissed Leah and gave her a hug, before helping Quil lie Embry in the back of the SUV.

"Jake," Charlie called out. "You'll need pants. I've got a pair of sweats in the squad car."

"Sorry, Charlie. I forgot. I have some tied to my leg. But I think Quil might need a pair for later."

"Stop at a drive thru and get some food into him," suggested Paul. "Start with isotonic drinks. He should be able to swallow that."

"Good idea Paul, but I've got no cash," Bella said.

Charlie handed her some money and the pants. After a moment's thought he gave her some more cash. "They are probably all hungry."

"Thanks Dad." She wasn't sure the sweats would fit Quil, but at least they would cover something.

Charlie gave a strained chuckle. "I hope to be feeding that boy for a while, Bells. I'll meet you at the medical centre later. Call me if there's a problem."

Bella climbed in the back. Embry's face was in Quil's lap. Bella squeezed in next to him under Quil's other arm. He hugged them both to him.

They drove off. The pack watched them go.

"Anyone want a ride back?" Charlie asked. "I'd like some company."

Seth went with him. He talked him into stopping at a drive thru too.

Jake noticed how close the road was to the river. He suggested washing Embry off in the clean, cool water. Quil carried him in and held him in his arms while the water washed away the blood and the vampire stench. Embry moaned a little.

Bella stood on the river bank with Jake standing behind her and his arms around her and watched them.

"Did he go insane?" she asked Jake.

"Almost. He felt every cut. I had to carry him."

They all felt better after that. The smell of Embry's blood had lessened. Bella was still covered in it, but she had no other clothes. Her jeans were heavy with blood, and it was getting worse as they dried out and crusted onto her legs.

They stopped at the first drive thru they saw. The attendant was distracted by a shirtless Jake and didn't notice the state of the other passengers. Bella coaxed Embry into drinking from a straw and she badgered Quil into eating a burger. She just had to keep touching them both. She was so relieved they were all still alive. Embry seemed to gain something from being in skin contact with them both. Bella used the first aid kit on some of the cuts; there wasn't a lot she could really do, but she felt useful doing something. Washing him had exposed just how badly his back had been slashed; the cuts extended down to his thighs. She was distressed by the sight, but she managed not to faint at the blood. She guessed she had been pushed way past the point where a simple blood test made her fall over.

Occasionally, Quil would shift Embry and try to pull him a little closer to him. He kept stroking his hair and murmuring to him in a voice too low for Bella to hear.

Jake drove; his face set into implacable lines that reminded Bella eerily of his father.

They took him home.


[AN: yes, you can buy tracer rounds for hand guns. http: /www. ammunitiontogo. /cName/tracer-ammo

They even come in different ammunition sizes, and in three different brightness levels and different colours. And you can load two types of ammunition in the same gun. They do it all the time with tracer rounds. I was going to have Charlie pull out some sunglasses, but I scrapped that idea. Cool; but dumb. He couldn't have seen to shoot straight. Lol.]