I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Cheryl and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.

Warning: There is violence in this chapter.

Ch. 29

I could feel the wind hit my face as we sped over the water. I gripped Edward's shoulders as we hit the wake from a speed boat that passed us. The water droplets that sprayed us cooled my overheated skin.

Edward cut the engine, and we coasted into our familiar cove. As the jet ski bobbed in the water, I carefully climbed around from the back, then straddled him. My breasts brushed against his chest and his hands rested on my hips. I was hyperaware neither of us were wearing life jackets. My father, his aunt, and his uncle would have a fit if they knew." I have to say the bikini is an improvement over the rash guard." Edward winked at me. I went to give him a playful shove when the light caught my ring, making it sparkle. There was a second band behind it. Edward caught my hand and gave it a kiss. He was wearing a matching band."What's got you distracted, Mrs. Cullen," he asked. I was even more confused. "Why are—"

"Bella, wake up, love." Edward woke me from a dead sleep.

"What's going on?" I tried to clear my head when I realized the lights. "Wait, is the blinking system the same as your apartment?" I was now fully awake.

"Yes, you need to get to the safe room. Take the elevator in my parents' room with my mom and the others." He was getting dressed and my chest clenched as I saw him grab a bullet proof vest.

"How did they get in? I thought Alice had this place locked tighter than Fort Knox?" I got up and my mind was wheeling that we were in the middle of Anthony Junior's worst nightmare.

"I don't know, but we don't have time to figure it out. We need to move." He hurried me along.

The door burst open, making me jump. Jasper entered, and for a moment the guy's held each other at gunpoint.

"We gotta move. There's six of them. They entered through the garage and are moving through the bottom floor," Jasper said. He pulled out a second gun and handed it to me. "You might need this."

I took it and looked it over in my hands. It wasn't a style I was used to. "Is it loaded?"

"Yes, so be careful. It also has a stronger pull than the one you've been using," he told me.

"Let's go." Edward looked agitated.

"I'll take the backstairs; Bella, follow me to the bedroom. Edward, you take the main stairs. The others are already down there." Jasper nodded.

"What about Uncle Carlisle?" Edward hissed.

"He's still at the hospital as far as we know," Jasper answered.

I kissed Edward's cheek, hoping this wasn't our last, and took off down the hall. Jasper paused only briefly to check out the bedroom with me before continuing down the hall. I hurried to the closet where the others were waiting with nervous expressions. Rose also had a gun out and seemed alert.

"You're here." Esme looked relieved.

Suddenly the power went out, and Alice was frantically hitting her screen and the wall panel.

"No...no... this isn't happening. My signal is blocked. We're stuck," Alice said.

"How?" Rose asked.

"If I knew, we wouldn't be," Alice said, rubbing her temple in frustration. "I need to restart the router. But it's in the basement."

I looked around at the others. We couldn't stay here, we'd be sitting ducks. One of us would have to make a run for it. And the best candidate was me. I was the fastest and could defend myself.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"On the gym side. The panel is behind the poster that says Hang in There," Alice told me.

"Bella, you can't go out there. Edward wouldn't like it." Elizabeth looked worried.

"I have to if we want to get the router restarted and get into the safe room," I answered her.

"I'll go with you," Rose volunteered.

"No," I refused her immediately.

Rose looked pissed. "Why, because I'm pregnant?"

I shook my head, as we had no time to argue. "Because you're the only other one who can shoot. You need to be here to help them." I pointed to the gun in her hand.

The anger left her face as she realized I was right.

"Be careful, dear." Esme looked concerned.

I glanced out in the hall, and I could hear gunfire down below. I prayed everyone was okay on our side. Quietly, but as quickly as I could, I made a run for it. When I got to the garage, I peered through cautiously. I didn't see anyone, but I kept my back to the wall as I crept to the door. I froze when I saw a body lying in the doorway. He didn't appear to be breathing and he was lying in a pool of blood.

I cautiously stepped over him and looked for the poster. I then looked around the dimly lit room and froze. I wasn't alone. Edward and Garrett appeared to be in a standoff. My heart jumped to my throat when I saw Edward on his knees and blood saturating his arm. Without hesitating, I aimed for Garrett.

"Not so fast, Bella. I can kill him before you can even pull the trigger." He seemed to sense me even though he never turned to look at me.

"Costa!" Tony yelled from the other doorway.

I didn't hesitate to shoot when Garrett turned away from Edward, and nailed him in the side of the head—he fell in a heap. The power of the gun forced me back and I hit my head, leaving me a bit dazed, and my wrist hurting, but I held onto the gun.

"Edward!" I started for him.

"I'm okay. Get the power back up first," he hissed, starting to stand.

I nodded and went to the poster and ripped it off the wall. I had to put my gun down to get the panel open. I flipped on the circuit breaker, and the bright lights made me blink as I unplugged the router. I glanced over my shoulder to check on Edward. He had gotten up and made his way over to Garrett. He gave him a kick and then checked for a pulse. He shook his head, then went toward the door. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed his dad was lying on the ground. I plugged the router back in and was relieved to see the lights start blinking on the panel, and then they became solid.

"Edward," I yelled as loud as I dared, rushing to him. "What can I do to help?"

It was unnerving how quiet the house was now. Edward got to his feet quickly and blocked me from going any further.

"Bella, stop. You don't want to see this," he cautioned with a haunted look on his face.

Telling me not to look only made me more curious. I glanced behind him and my stomach turned. Anthony had been hit straight in the eye socket and splatters of blood were on the floor.

"Oh, God!" I closed my eyes and turned my head.

"I told you not to look." He sighed, wrapping an arm around me.

I instinctively reached out to hug him, and he hissed when I touched his arm. I pulled back immediately and tried to examine his injury, but he kept it from me.

"Edward, let me help you," I demanded.

"It's only a scratch," he grumbled.

"Scratches don't bleed that much. Please, let me see it?" I pleaded. I needed to know he was okay.

"Don't touch it," he snapped, stepping away.

My arms dropped to my side and I felt frustrated and hurt. Why was he being so stubborn? I gave Edward's arm one more look and decided I needed help. I headed for the stairs.

"Bella, stop. Where are you going?" Edward demanded.

"To see if Carlisle is here so he can check your scratch," I gave him finger quotes before crossing my arms.

He waved his gun around with his left hand. "You need to stay where I can see you. Please, for my sanity. We don't know if the house is secure yet. Go join the girls in the safe room while I check the house."

"No way, and stop waving your gun. You're injured and can't hold a gun in your good hand. We have two options; we stay here until someone finds us or we go together to check on the others and find your uncle," I retorted.

"Edward, are you down here?" Emmett yelled.

"Yeah," he hollered back. "So's Bella. Go check the third floor, the girls had issues with the safe room; we're good."

"Jasper and I did a sweep of the house, no one was up there. Although there are two guys missing. I checked in with Rose, they're in the safe room. I thought Bella was supposed to be in there?" Emmett came into view with Carlisle at his side.

Emmett stopped short when he saw Anthony. He ran a hand through his hair.
"Awww...fuck."

Carlisle immediately bent down to examine him, but soon shook his head. He turned to us with sadness and worry in his eyes. "Did you get the guy?"

"It was Garrett, and Bella and my father got him." Edward nodded his head to the body.

"Carlisle, Edward was shot and needs to be looked at. He won't let me," I pleaded with him.

"It's just a scratch," Edward told him.

"That's not a scratch," I snapped. "Stop being stubborn and let your uncle help you."

Carlisle stepped forward. "Edward, take a seat, son. She's right. Bella, can you get me a towel from the bathroom? I should have enough supplies in here." He set a bag next to a weight bench and gave Edward a pointed look.

"Check Bella first, she hit her head." Edward tried to shift the attention to me.

"Bella?" Carlisle looked at me briefly.

"I'm fine. I didn't hit it that hard. No dizziness or blurred vision. It's just sore. My wrist is too, but I'm sure it's just a sprain," I told him.

"How can you be sure, you're not a doctor?" Edward furrowed his brow.

"I had a class on how to assess the differences. I've also had a concussion before. But if it will shut you up, your uncle can examine it." I stuck out my arm.

Carlisle gently looked it over, bending it, checking for breaks and swelling. He then checked my head. "She'll be sore, but nothing is broken, and she doesn't appear to have a concussion."

I gave Edward a pointed look before I headed for the bathroom.

"Wait!" Edward grabbed my arm. "No one has checked it out yet."

"I'll check it out with her. Now sit your ass down before I do it for you," Emmett told him.

Emmett went ahead of me and checked the room. He gave the all-clear, and I went into the room.

"Give him a break, he just lost his dad," Emmett said in a low voice

"I know. I almost lost him too, you know." I blinked back tears.

"He's going to be okay, Tommy." He gave me a small smile.

"I know." I grabbed a few towels.

"So why aren't you in the safe room?" he asked.

"When the power went out, so did the router and everything else electrical. Alice couldn't get the elevator to work for the safe room. I came down to get everything restarted," I explained.

"Damn. Thank you for getting them to safety," Emmett said gratefully.

"No thanks are necessary," I said. "Here, bring these to them. I need a moment."

I looked in the mirror. My hair was a mess and my skin look blotchy. I splashed my face with cool water and tried to calm down. I hated arguing with Edward. Both our anxieties were probably going through the roof. Emmett was right though, Tony died in front of us, so Edward was probably having a breakdown like I had the other day. I knew I had to push my own anxiety aside and be there for him.

I left the bathroom but hung back for a moment so Carlisle could work.

"The body over there makes six. That should be everyone," Emmett announced.

"What about our side? You never mentioned Uncle Peter," Edward asked.

"He took one to the leg but will be fine. He stayed with Jasper, so no one is alone. Jasper is calling Aro as we speak," Carlisle explained as he started to suture Edward's arm.

"Emmett, go tell Jasper we need Aro to send someone to get this cleaned up. My mom…" Edward clenched his eyes shut. "My mom can't see my dad like ..."

"We won't let her. If you'd like, I can inform her of the news. Unfortunately, I'm a practiced hand at it," Carlisle promised.

Edward responded with a short nod, then turned back to Emmett. "After you talk to Jasper, get Bella a plane ticket for Forks."

"I am not going anywhere," I spoke up, heading back to him.

"I need to…"

I covered his mouth as I took a seat next to him. "Don't finish that sentence. I'm not going to let you send me away, voicing it's for my safety." I slipped my hand to his cheek. "I am safe right here."

"You don't get it. Heidi was right, he was going to use you as leverage to get me to go to Florida. And do you want to know what the kicker is? Afton was never after you, he decided the same night the deal was off because you weren't a virgin. It was all Garrett…everything was Garrett. And he wouldn't have known about you if it wasn't for me," Edward ranted, turning purple.

I swallowed roughly as I digested the information. Edward's eyes were wild, and he had yanked his arm away from Carlisle, opening the fresh stitches. I took a deep breath and leaned in closer.

"Garrett is dead. He can't do anything to me. I am safe and unharmed, it's over," I stated calmly as I could. "It's all over. He. Can't. Hurt. Me. But you will if you send me away like this." I kissed his forehead, then his lip lightly. "It's over, Teddy."

He closed his eyes and a single tear escaped. I brushed it away with my thumb. He kept his eyes closed and his breathing was still a bit rough. Carlisle waited a moment before resuming stitching.

"This may be bad timing, but what about Florida? Is Afton really not a threat?" Emmett asked.

"Talk to Aro…Heidi if you have to. There's no way Edward, or from the sound of it Peter, are going to be well enough to go. You and Jasper would be outnumbered," I answered before Edward could.

"Heidi?" Carlisle interrupted, looking confused.

"She's literally, like, a secret agent." I smirked, hoping to lighten the mood some.

"You've got to be kidding me," Carlisle scoffed.

"Nope. She totes is, like, the best." Emmett rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go talk to Jazz. Will you three be all right here?"

I nodded and he left the room. Edward's breathing had calmed, and he slowly opened his eyes. He turned to me with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Never try to send me away again. I love you, and we will get through this together. We've gotten this far." I kissed his cheek.

A/N: For clarification, Bella and Tony both managed to shot Garrett. Garrett shot Tony. What do you think of the turn of events? Afton Costa was never after Bella, he was only after Phil. A lot happened in this chapter but the worst is over.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.