"Yes Bella! That's it! Keep going!"

Sweat is dripping down my face and my breaths are more like pants a dog makes after running for an hour.

"Don't stop, that's perfect," Steve's breaths are slightly worn as well.

I lay a final punch to his mitt that causes him to shake his hand out a bit.

"Bella, you're getting stronger every day. And you're picking up the combinations faster than most people I've trained. I'm really proud of you," his eyes showed he was telling the truth. I gave a breathless smile.

"Cap, if someone had told me 2 months ago I'd be doing this, and actually getting decent at it, I'd never have believed them. You're an amazing trainer," I complimented. He gave a small and shy smile in return that made my stomach feel warm.

A knock interrupted.

"Kid, you have a phone call," Unc says. His face is set in a scowl. "It seems it can't wait."

I follow Tony to the main phone and pick it up. "Hello?"

"Bells! Hey! It's, ah, it's Jake, from the rez?" The deep voice flows through the ear piece.

"Jake!" I exclaim. "How are you? What's up?"

Steve stiffened slightly and I looked at him in question.

"Not much Bells, listen I'm in New York for the week and well, I was wondering if you wanted to catch up over coffee?"

"That'd be awesome! When and where?"

"We could do Stumptown at say, 10 am?" I check my watch. 8:46 am

"Yeah that should work for me. I'll see you soon!"

"See ya soon, Bells," he says as he hangs up. I turn to Steve with a smile, but his face is stony. My smile drops.

"Steve? What's wrong?" I ask. His face forcibly relaxes.

"You're ditching on the rest of your training?" He asks. I shrug.

"No, we're ending a few minutes early. What's the big deal? I spend all day here doing training or school. It would be nice to go out and see New York, and catch up with my friend," I reply.

"Well, you should have someone go with you, just in case, you know?" He steps forward and I smile at him brightly.

"You're right! I'll go see if Wanda wants to get out for a bit, great idea Steve!" I dart towards Wanda's room with a laugh, hearing his aggravated sigh behind me. No way am I bringing Steve to meet Jake yet. Jake would have a field day with that one.

I knock on Wanda's door and hear her soft reply telling me to come in.

"Hey, Witchy!" I exclaim, and she chuckles. "Wanna go get coffee with me and meet my friend?" She looks around her room for a moment.

"Sure," her accent is slight. "It would be nice to get out of this tower for a bit."

"Great," I clap my hands slightly. "Let's go! We have to be there in an hour and I wanna be a little early to get coffee."

Wanda and I arrived at the coffee house at 9:45, and stood in line to order our coffee.

"Who is it we are meeting again?" She asked. I smiled brightly.

"My friend Jake from La Push. You're gonna love him, Wan, he's a great guy," I tell her. She hums while looking at me curiously.

"You like this Jake?" She asks, her nose turning up slightly. I can't help but laugh.

"God no! We made mud pies when we were little, and bathed together as babies. I think of him as a little brother," I tell her. I hear a sigh behind me.

"Do you always have to tell people how we used to bathe together as babies? It makes me seem so lame," a gruff voice said behind me. I whipped around and my eyes widened.

"Woah. I'm sorry, I almost thought you were my friend Jake, but you're much taller, buffer, and generally more handsome than he is," I teased, looking up at my now giant friend. His laugh was a deep rumble.

He grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me in for a bear hug. "God it's good to see you Bells. And you seem a lot happier."

He pulls away to look into my eyes intensely.

"How are you? You doing okay? Hopefully better?"

My smile drops slightly. "I'm doing better. I'm not fixed completely, but I get out of bed and I train, and I do some things now like get coffee with my friends. So I'm getting there. It's a work in progress," I tell him with a somber smile. He returns it and gives me another small hug, before pulling away and looking to Wanda at my side. And I swear to god, his entire demeanor changed into one of a suave play boy.

"Well, hello there," he says with one side of his mouth pulled into a smile. "And who's your beautiful friend, Bells?" I throw my arm around Wanda.

"This, Jake, is my beautiful, taken and unavailable friend, Wanda Maximoff," I tell him smugly. His smile drops slightly but he quickly recovers. Jake always took rejection in stride. I should know...

Wanda chuckles and reaches her hand out. "It's nice to meet you, Jake," she says, and he balks a bit.

"Woah, sick accent! Where are you from?" His eyes light up as he shakes her hand. Jake has an unhealthy obsession with accents and people from other countries. Especially when they are women.

"Sokovia," she says, releasing his hand.

Sokovia, Jake mouths.

"Next!" The barista calls to us, and I step forward. "What can I get for you?" Her voice is tired, but friendly. I give her a small smile.

"I'll have an iced chocolate mocha with extra whip cream and caramel drizzle please," I order. I turn to Wanda and she looks overwhelmed at the menu. "Wanda if you're unsure just go with a vanilla latte. Trust me."

"Okay," she says, and turns to the barista. "I'll take one of those please?"

"Hot or iced?" Wanda looks to me and I giggle.

"She'll have it iced please," I interject. I turn back to Jake to see what he wants.

"I'm going to just have a triple shot espresso with a cookie," he says.

"Will that be all for you guys?" She asks. I nod and go for my purse when I see a meaty hand cut in front of me to give the barista a card. I snap my eyes to Jake.

"Jake this was supposed to be my treat," I protest. He shakes his head.

"Shut up, Bella. I'm treating the two most beautiful ladies I've ever had the pleasure to accompany. It's too late," he snickers. I sigh and put my wallet that I had finally found back in my purse.

"Well, thank you, Jake, I appreciate it."

"Yes, Jake, thank you."

"You're welcome ladies," he beams a pearly white smile at us, and leads us to the area we wait for our drinks.

"I think I'm going to go get us a table," Wanda says, already zeroing in on an empty table not too far away from us.

"Okay, Wan, we'll bring the drinks over," I tell her.

"Sounds good," and she darts off.

"So, Bells," Jake starts, and I look at him questioning. "What's it like living with the avengers?" His voice is excited like a child on Christmas Day.

"Entirely unexciting," I laugh. "I haven't seen any bombs, missals, or evil villains. It's been kind of disappointing to be honest," I say as our drinks are put in front of us. We gather them and head over to Wanda at a table against the window.

"So Jake," I start. "What's been going on back in Forks and La Push?" His back stiffens slightly and his eyes dart downward.

"Oh, you know how it is Bells. Same old same old, nothing really exciting happens there," he tries to joke. I give him a look of confusion.

"Jake, I know you too well for you to be lying to me. What's going on?" His eyes dart to Wanda. And suddenly, I realize it may not be something anyone unfamiliar with vampires should know, and I almost regret bringing her here because it means I'll have to wait to get some answers.

"We can talk about it later," I say quietly, to which he gives a reluctant nod. I put the thought to the back of my mind, and Jake seems to do the same, as we go back to joking and I let Jake and Wanda get to know each other as well.

When we all finish up, Wanda steps out to take a phone call and get the car, and I seize the opportunity.

"Okay, Jacob. What is going on?" I say angrily. He blows out a breath.

"The red head, she's been looking for you. Sneaking around your house, looking for your scent. We keep trying to catch her, but...she is fast. And slippery. We were able to kill the one she was with- that had dreads, but we can't seem to catch her," he whispers. I feel all the blood leave my face, and my stomach turning.

Victoria.

Victoria was looking for me. And how long would it be until she found me? My friends and family wouldn't stand a chance against her, and the pack was struggling to get her.

"Jake, what do I do? It won't take her long to realize I'm gone and she probably already knows and is trying to find out where I've gone. My mom, my dad, my friends...they're all in danger because of her. And I can't save any of them, if she goes after them," my breaths are starting to come in short and panicked, and Jacob grabs my face with his large hands.

"Bella, we will take care of this, of her, I promise," he vows. I try to calm down and put on a brave face but I know the truth.

My days here are numbered if Victoria is hunting me.