Bella huffed from her upside-down position. The evening had been a blur and she was trying like hell to lower her heartrate with some yoga in her sleeping quarters. The sounding of the emergency alarm, being rushed into the panic room attached the CO's office, that long tense wait for word of what was happening kept replaying in her mind, removing any possibility of sleep from her future.
They'd been told nothing, just quickly marched and deposited into that small, small panic room, all three of them; Bella, Jacob Black and Private Meyer. Black had prowled the confined space, his tension and energy so extreme it looked painful. When Private Meyer couldn't give him any answers, Black had snapped at the boy so viciously Bella was surprised he didn't follow his insults with physical blows. Bella had spent her time in the vault holding her briefcase up to her chest and running over every scenario she could imagine. She'd run the gamut of a base attack, a mutiny, missiles from Israel or Iran, to an assassination of King Abdullah in the capital…. then finally came the anticlimactic static radio message announcing the return of normalcy to al Salti.
Both she and Black were taken to their respective rooms and instructed to remain inside until the Commanding Officer came for them in the morning. Some soldier had told them that nothing had happened, there was nothing to worry about. But Bella had heard the voices of the men stationed outside her bedroom door. Their presence was not as reassuring as they probably intended. Whatever had happened at Muwaffaq al Salti was obviously still happening. And Bella had no way of getting answers. Logically she knew base protocol was to secure any visitors and to deal with the situation, not prioritise answering questions from her. It's a good thing you're in your room. Bella reminded herself that if things were worse then Black and herself would be evacuated or thrown back in the vault. They wouldn't risk a civilian. If they think your room is safe, then it's safe. There is absolutely nothing you could do but wait.
Bella had trained for highly tense or emergency situations and had always tested well during simulations. But being the sole unarmed civilian on a Marine base in the Middle East was a bit different. A base which has recently seen a Green on Blue. She shook herself and took another deliberately slow and deep breath, focusing on pushing out her diaphragm and dropping her clenching shoulders.
Bella took a series of more breaths, leaning into the downward dog position and welcomed the burn at the back of her ankles as distraction from her thoughts. She was focusing on her breath and counting the seconds when she heard male voices outside her door followed by a loud deliberate knocking.
She huffed and pushed herself back up into standing, running a hand through her ponytail which had stuck to the back of her neck. Bella's eyes darted around her small room lit by the utilitarian lamp on the desk. Her work briefcase that contained her laptop was concealed in the cupboard, and nothing else was out of place. Still, Bella hesitated and bit her lip. "Who is it?" She called to the locked door.
There was a beat of silence before a familiar voice answered, "Its Edward. Lieutenant Cullen."
Bella surprised herself at how quickly she lunged forward, yanking back the door to reveal the sweaty, haggard face of her one friend on base. Until she saw him standing there, glistening with old sweat, his hair mashed down to his skull evidence of long hours under a helmet, she didn't realise that a good portion of the tension she'd been unable to shake had been centred on him. From the first call of the alarm, to that awful wait in the vault, she'd been thinking of Edward. The half hour of yoga hadn't calmed her as much as seeing his face in front of her now.
They stared at each other across the threshold of her door for a few seconds in silence when the soldier guarding her door shifted his weight, reminding Bella they had an audience. Two fucking guards outside the door. Obviously something was still happening whether they told her or not. Bella reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Edward's shirt, pulling him forward into her room. He came easily, and she quickly closed and locked the door behind him.
She panned back to look at Edward, startling at much his big frame filled her small bedroom. He just seemed… larger than life. Bella blinked. This whole fucking week had been something of a blur and she felt discombobulated by everything that was happening from Yorkie's murder, to the Code Red, to a Marine in her bedroom… Bella felt a wave of stress and exhaustion rush over her and she rubbed her forehead vigorously, like she could wash away the anxiety.
"You ok?" Edward's question was voiced in the staccato rapid rhythm of a soldier.
Bella shook off the wave of tension. "I'm fine. Are you ok?"
Edward nodded, his chin jerking up and down rapidly. Right, so, soldier mode it is then, Bella realised the man in front of her was still working and not the same off duty guy who walked laps of the base with her. She'd assumed because he was here checking on her in her room that he'd be more normal guy than soldier. Don't be stupid Bella, she shook herself. This man is a US Marine on deployment, minutes off patrol from the look of him, and we just had a fucking Emergency Alert not a full hour ago. Of course he's working. Well, if he wasn't here for to check on her as a friend the least he could do is answer some fucking questions and tell her what the hell was going on.
"Edward…" Bella rolled her shoulders, anticipating the frustration of yet another party line, "What's going on?"
"Bella," the man let out a sharp, pissed huff. "I don't fucking know."
"Bullshit." Of course he did.
The man reached up and pulled a fist of his matted hair, yanking it at the roots. Bella opened her mouth to ask him again when he spoke, his words coming out in short sentences. "Someone stole weapons from the armoury. A lot of them. In the right hands it'd be enough for a coup. Or a massacre. They found them in the Officers Building. No one knows who nabbed them. Or how. But after Private Yorkie…" Bella felt her stomach lurch. What the fuck was happening on this base that weapons were able to be stolen? Were the guns just left out in the fucking open? Like tensions aren't high enough. Was this some sick prank? A threat? Or did the thieves actually intend to do something with them? Any one of the men on base could enact a bloodbath with just one gun let alone many… Bella's mind flicked back to the panic room when she was desperately trying to hear anything from the outside. Would she have heard the bullets? The men? What could they have done from inside to help anyone? Help themselves? Private Meyer was the only one armed. They'd be sitting ducks. A massacre at Al Salti… It wouldn't matter if it was the Jordanians or the Americans or insurgents, there would be an international uproar. The alliance could collapse over something like this… The US could pull their support from Jordan, weakening the Hashemites, toppling a regime… Bella's analyst mind spun out thinking of all the scenarios but then stopped short. Edward. Where would he be in all that? And she knew. She knew the man in front of her would've run into the blaze, would've tried to stop it, would've tried to protect his men, would've been hurt, would've been ki- Bella jolted herself out of her thoughts and ran her eyes up and down the solider in front of her. He's ok. He's here, he's fine.
Edward seemed to sense her need for reassurance and continued. "I was on patrol. Near Winston's Hiccup. The alert came in… I ordered my squad to approach base. We had to get back. I had to get back."
"I know you did." Stupid, heroic, dangerous, brave man.
He shook his head rapidly like he heard her. "It was all over by the time we got back. They found the weapons. The base lockdown lifted. All the men sequestered to their barracks. The Gunners are patrolling the base now. Its over Bella. You're safe."
Bella blinked. "I'm safe? What about the fucking base? All of the four hundred men who live here? Weapons were stolen – by god knows who, for what fucking reason – buts it's all over?"
The man didn't flinch. He was a soldier, and he'd been given his briefing, and that was it. "For the moment, yes. It's over."
An acidic bitter laugh bubbled out of her throat and Bella rolled her shoulders back. "Well great. Thanks for the brief First Lieutenant Cullen. I'll let you get back to the patrol with the other Gunners." She turned back toward the door, her teeth grinding at this obstinate solider taking up every inch of space in her quarters.
"Bella-" The change in his voice was drastic. Normal guy again. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to minimise this-"
She pivoted back toward him, "Do you know who stole the weapons? Do the CO's?"
He blinked rapidly. "No. I told you. We have no idea."
Satisfied he at least wasn't lying to her, Bella replied, "Then it's obviously not over. But why should I care? I'm just the person sent here to evaluate the state of the base. Figure out how the fuck things got so bad a boy died six days ago. Can't imagine why I would need to know or care about an Emergency Alert."
"Bella," Edward interrupted her, his voice raised and his hand back pulling at the hair above his neck. "I didn't come here to brief you. I came here to check on you. I wanted to see if you were ok. See you myself. Jesus Bella. Do you have any idea how worried I was?" The rawness of his voice struck Bella and suddenly she felt traitorous tears well up in her eyes. He saw them. "Bella-"
"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?" She demanded, hating the way her voice cracked. She shut her eyes against the building pressure of tears and willed herself to get a grip. Then she felt Edward's body heat as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight against him. His shirt was damp and smelled of old sweat, but it was perfect. Bella felt the strong force of his strength as he squeezed her tightly, then slowly begun rocking them lightly from side to side, saying nothing. Bella took a deep shaky breath and felt her chest expand against the bracket of his hold, feeling protected and secure. She took another series of breaths, the way she'd been trying to do during yoga and finally, finally felt her shoulders and neck relax.
The rocked for a few more seconds before Bella felt the vibration of Edward speaking against her cheek pressed to his chest. "You ok?"
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Better. Thank you."
Bella knew he was grinning. "Anytime."
Bella took in one last inhale and leaned back against the support of Edward's arms. "You ok?"
He nodded, slower this time. Normal guy again. "Yeah. Better now too."
They both heard the muffled sounds of the guards outside her door and Edward retracted his hold on her. Bella felt some of the tension return to her body immediately, which Edward somehow sensed. "They're good guys Bella. I know them both. You're safe in here."
She winced. "Not what I'm worried about."
Edward hummed, the anxiety of the situation hanging between them. They both knew something was wrong, both knew they couldn't do anything about it at this very moment.
Edward changed the subject. "I'm guessing you didn't get dinner tonight then huh?"
Bella laughed weakly. "No. Got an extra-large serving of anxiety and isolation. Carbs, not so much."
"Ha. Er- well, I brought you something," Edward pivoted to reach to the small desk behind him. When he turned back, he had a plastic cup of noodles in each hand. "Dinner!"
He sounded so, so proud of his hunting and gathering skills that Bella let out a big belly laugh, which made Edward grin so hard the lines around his green eyes crinkled.
Edward bustled about within the small space, pulling out the small kettle from the cupboard and breaking open the six pack of water bottles, pouring two into the container and setting it to boil. Bella had no option in the small space but to sit herself cross-legged on the bed, watching the solider move swiftly within the small room. Once he'd poured the hot water into the two cups Edward made a show of placing a tissue on Bella's knee and handing her the cuppa-noodles very carefully, watching to make sure she had full grasp before he let go, warning her "It's hot."
"Duh, Edward."
He just grinned and turned back for his dinner, before looking awkwardly at the folding chair half tucked into the desk. The small thing looked like it would break under the weight of the Marine and Bella laughed, patting the bed next to her. Obviously happy with her offer, Edward ripped off his size thirteen boots which clonked heavily onto the cheap carpet. He was surprisingly graceful given his size as he matched her cross-legged position on the bed, facing her.
"Cheers," he held up his cup of broth.
Bella smiled, touched by his attempts to distract and soothe her. "Cheers." They clinked their noodles together gently, smiling at one another.
They both used the plastic forks to dig into their cups, stirring the noodles and scooping them into their mouths. Bella grinned, "This reminds me of college."
Edward raised his eyebrows teasingly, "No fancy dinners at Yale?"
She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm a cuppa-noodle, mac-n-cheese, grilled sandwich kinda girl."
"Noted," Edward scooped a massive forkful of noodles into his mouth.
Bella motioned to the meals in their hands. "Did you get these from a care pack?"
"Nah, the canteen sells them cheap. I stock up for the days I work late or when the mess is unbearable."
Bella cursed herself. She knew most soldiers' families or girlfriends sent care packages to their loved ones on deployment, filling the boxes with gifts from home or things they could trade around base: cookies, sweets, decks of cards, cigarettes, puzzles and the like. But Edward didn't have family. And he was single. She felt a pang for this caring man who'd gone out of his way to make sure she felt secure at al Salti, who spoke about his men which fierce protection, who instinctively returned to a base potentially crawling with insurgents. This man who didn't have anyone to send him things to make him smile. She cleared her throat and focused intently on the steaming cup in her lap. "Can I send you a care pack when I go back state side?" When Edward didn't reply she looked up to see him watching her, a strange look on his face. The mood in the room had changed and felt thick. Bella desperately wanted to return him to the smiling joker from a minute ago. "I promise to fill it with lots of cuppa-noodles. Chicken flavour."
Edward grinned. "That'd- yeah. That'd be great. Thanks."
"No problem," Bella felt her cheeks flood, blushing. She glanced down at their laps and noticed Edward had inhaled his meal and was now finished. Her stomach dropped and the noodles in her cup suddenly lost all appeal. "You have to go now right? Join the Gunners on patrol?"
"Yeah," Edward reached his long arm out and put the empty cup on the table, then pivoted his body so his legs hung off the bed and begun pulling his boots back on. Once the laces were strapped securely Edward paused and took a deep breath. "You'll be ok?"
Bella nodded, forcing a smile. "Yup."
Edward glanced over his shoulder at her, seeing right through her bluff. "If you need m-anything, if you need anything just ask one of the men outside to radio me. I can come back."
Bella nodded, her throat feeling tight. Edward stood and she felt the bed shift as his weight lifted. She used one hand to steady herself and her noddles, focusing overly on the food in her hand as Edward prepared to leave. He bent down and kissed the top of her head, lingering for just a beat. "Goodnight Bella."
"Goodnight," she whispered, watching the solider in Edward return as he squared his shoulders and paced the one step across her room to the door. He opened it, but turned back as he left.
"Be safe," he ordered as he left.
~A~
I'm so so sorry for the lack in updates. Guys… 2020 be wild. I hope everyone's doing ok out there. TR xx