Chapter 11
A/N - I unfortunately lost my first version of this chapter when I had to do a restore from my computer as my hard drive corrupted. I've been backing up weekly, but of course the day before backup comes (I had 3 'copies' with different names at different progress points) I had the problem.
So, I will post this up in its rewritten form as I don't specifically remember all the language nuances and other things I'd included. The plot is the same as it was, but the style was very different. I will probably go over this during the next few weeks and polish it up as time allows, but I didn't want to postpone this by another two weeks trying to get it close to what it was.
Previously:
To be prepared for this meeting, Harry had discussed the possibility of SHIELD having some knowledge of vamps with Shacklebolt - after all, Agent Barton had watched Harry fight a vampire right in front of him - and Harry was authorized to reveal the truth of their existence if it explicitly came up.
It clearly had just done so.
Finally, Harry nodded his head to Bella, and she let out a deep breath before turning back to Fury.
"Yes, Director Fury, I know what she is, and what she is capable of." Her words hung for a minute - and everyone leaned forward in their seats.
Bella took a deep breath, her eyes trailing over her captive audience. "She is a vampire."
Bella waited with baited breath as the word 'vampire' echoed in the room. She was not certain what she expected to see, but the lack of reaction - save for a quick glance between Fury and Maria Hill - was certainly not it.
A few moments later, she cut her eyes to Harry, and saw he too seemed a bit surprised by their non-plussed reaction, and suddenly her intuition flickered.
"You already knew, didn't you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing on Fury. "My words didn't surprise you at all."
A slight widening of Hill's eyes - hard to catch if you weren't looking - was the only tell before they turned flat. Bella nodded to herself, and glanced at Phil, who was smiling at her, his expression almost one of...pride? He then looked over at Agent Romanoff, who also had a small smirk on her face.
She didn't understand it.
The sound of Fury's elbows sliding along the desk had her turn her attention back to him. He was staring at her with that heavy, expression, almost like a pirate glaring at a nervy prisoner.
The analogy almost made her laugh.
He held her captive with his gaze for a few moments, beyond clenching her fists under the table. A long, tense moment passed before Fury's face relaxed into a nonplussed expression. "Very good, Ms. Swan." He looked at her carefully again, before gesturing to his colleagues. "Given the forensic reports, we suspected it might be the work of something that we would classify as 'vampire', since that seemed to check the most boxes of what we knew."
Harry chuckled, and he leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "Why did you reach that conclusion though? Besides the blood drinking, real Vampires are almost nothing like they are portrayed in popular fiction."
Fury nodded to Coulson, who, despite the grim subject matter, spoke in a friendly, almost cheery, voice. Bella wondered if it was an affectation, or he simply was just that personable. If it was just an act, he deserved an award for his excellent skills.
"Despite the fact that most of the victim's bodies were burnt to the point that forensic analysis was almost worthless, several bodies were recovered mostly whole. They all had a few similar patterns that led us to a few firm conclusions." Phil took a moment to look at Bella, to see if she was going to get squeamish on him. He had read in her file that she had, on several occasions while living in Phoenix as a young girl, fainted during routine medical exams that involved the drawing of blood.
He waited a few moments, and when she seemed unphased by the grim subject matter, he continued. "The main thing in all the bodes that was noted by the examiners was complete and total exsanguination, well beyond what should have occurred given the wounds on the bodies." He took a moment and flipped open the file in front of him. "In two of the cases, the wounds to the victim's throats, while certainly fatal, should not have been capable of depleting all the blood in their bodies."
When Harry raised an eyebrow, Phil looked at him and explained. "Once the victims blood pressure dropped sufficiently, there should have been blood that remained in their extremities and in certain muscles and organs. It simply would not have been able to reach the wound site and drain out; even if someone stood the victims on their head it would be unlikely, and if they did that then their would be indications by accumulation in the skull." He looked up from his notes. "Instead, the blood was completely gone, like it had been removed somehow with very powerful suction. And as the only wounds that pierced skin and would have caused bleeding was on their necks, the coroners could not account for the blood loss." He paused for a moment. "One of the coroners, in fact, remarked that 'it was like a vacuum drew every drop of blood right out their necks."
Phil waited a moment and continued. "All the recovered victims also had extensive crush injuries. They were difficult to explain, though in two cases bruised handprint were discovered on the shattered wrists of the bodies, as well as tearing of the scalps. The coroner explained them as if someone of great strength was grasping the victim by the forearm with one hand, their hair with the other, and holding the arm in a strong grip while yanking the head to the side to expose the neck and shoulder area, dislocating the scalp from the skull."
Bella felt a bit queasy, but tried to keep her face blank as she digested this. Fury took control again. "We can get back to the specifics of these 'vampires' in a moment. I imagine there are more - perhaps many, many more - of them out there; after all, a pair of them seems to have some rather public fights with Mr. Potter in London a few weeks ago." He gave Harry a sour look.
When Bella saw that Harry was completely unaffected by his glare, she had to fight back a smile. She turned her face down so Fury didn't see her reaction, but she noted that Agent Romanoff - who Bella suspected was rather quick witted - noted Bella's little faux-pas and seemed amused by it.
Fury continued speaking, and Bella realized she had missed some of what he was saying. "...but I'm more interested in what they were doing in Seattle and why they were in your house, Ms. Swan."
Bella tried to keep herself still, but with Fury's heavy stare now turned back to her and all eyes in the room on her, she had some trouble doing so.
When she didn't answer, Phil smiled gently at her. "Ms. Swan - Bella? - may I call you that?"
When she nodded he gave her another small smile. "Bella, as part of our investigation, we looked very deeply into the backgrounds of everyone who was even remotely involved in this case." He let that hang in the air for a moment, not unaware of her small gulp, before he continued in a gentle voice. "We know this incident had to have had something to do with the Cullen's."
This time, Bella could not stop her physical reaction. Her sudden posture change and the small shiver that traveled down her spine would probably have been visible to anyone: to trained SHIELD agents, she might as well have a sign that flashed over her head that said 'JACKPOT.'
No one said anything for a good thirty seconds, and save for the soft whirring of machinery, Bella's breathing seemed to be the loudest thing in the room.
She glanced over at Harry, and he gave her a small smile, but did not in any way try and tell her what to do. He knew that Bella wanted the Cullen's protected; but this wasn't the British Ministry, or even MACUSA. All of the things that took place last year, and all of the victims, were muggles in America. Totally outside his jurisdiction.
This was SHIELD'S homefield.
And, Harry thought, even if he decided to help her shield the Cullen's, he wasn't sure they deserved her loyalty and protection. He knew he didn't have all the facts, but, even knowing her less than a month, he knew that Bella had some deep scars left by the Cullen's.
And the final insult? They had left her behind to face a crazed vampire who wanted revenge on her.
Harry suppressed a small shiver. Despite his exposure to the horrors that the death-eaters did when torturing their victims, his magic began to stir at the thought of what Bella would have faced if this 'Victoria' had been able to catch her.
No, animal drinkers or not, he would not be shielding the Cullen's from any fallout that was coming their way.
Phil, meanwhile, waited for perhaps a minute to see if Bella would speak, and was impressed that she didn't; and when she squared her shoulders and her mouth tightened, he could admit she would probably make a good Agent. She was smart, and tough, and had a lot of knowledge they could probably use if they could gain her trust.
But that would come later, perhaps.
"Bella," he continued quietly, "If you are protecting the Cullen's, let me assure you that we have no plans to go after them in any capacity. We do not suspect them of being involved in this or of killing anyone despite what they may be. We did a very careful search of them, going back at least twenty years and various residences. We have found no missing persons or mysterious deaths that coincide with their living in certain small towns."
He let this percolate for minute, watching as Bella relaxed a bit. "We have also checked their current place of residence, and again have found no evidence of them doing any killing."
He waited again, and when she didn't say a word he opened the folder again, and flipped towards the back, reading the notes. "We've been watching them. The Doctor is currently teaching at a University, and is well regarded. Four of their 'children' are attending college at the University he teaches at. Mrs. Cullen opened a small home remodeling business; the last of the 'children' was recorded leaving the country about eight months ago, using his current passport; he has not returned since."
At that last little bit, everyone in the room became aware of Bella's reaction: she tensed up again and her mouth closed in a tight line. For Romanoff and Barton - the two Agents who were the most well trained in interrogation and could read body language cues that many would miss - it was obvious that she was showing high degrees of stress and turmoil, and they both had to grudgingly admit she was doing a good job of keeping herself under control.
Phil calmly folded his hands, pretending not to notice her struggle. "We just want to know what happened, Bella, that's all. Please help us close this case and prepare for anything like this ever happening again."
Bella was fighting hard not to have a break down. She had, over the past year, put the Cullens mostly out of her mind. But now, having the worst months of her life shoved right into her face and asking her to explain them to virtual strangers, was taking a huge toll on her emotions.
She found herself turning to face Harry, trying to fight back the tears.
Trembling, she found herself turning to face Harry, trying to fight back the tears, feeling one drip down her cheek.
Harry shuffled closer and took her hand, wrapping both of his around it. "It's okay, Bella. I'm here for you, whatever you decide to do."
Brown eyes locked with green, and Bella felt herself falling into the depths of his gaze. She saw herself reflected in his pupils, pale faced and unsteady, the long shadows that Edward left still staining her.
But at the same time, as she found herself drowning in emerald green, she felt his loyalty and support, and somehow knew - despite barely knowing him a month - that he really was there for her.
Bella took a deep breath and she squeezed his hand, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. Her eyes shined at him, and she tried to convey her gratefulness.
Harry seemed to understand, and he raised a hand, his thumb softly wiping the tear from her cheek. And when he gave her a tender smile, Bella felt something loosening in her chest, like a huge vise she wasn't even conscious of anymore suddenly releasing it's constricting hold on her.
Taking several deep breaths, Bella suddenly felt herself relaxing, and for first time since the Cullen's had left, she felt herself ready - even eager - to tell what happened to her, and finally lay her demons to rest.
Except for the brief and heavily edited version of Victoria's motivation for wanting Bella dead that she had told the wolves, and the slightly more in depth version she'd told Jake, Bella finally told her story.
Bella tried to keep herself detached as she narrated to a group of mostly strangers the most confusing and emotional time of her life. She chose to keep some things back; partially from embarrassment, partially from irrelevancy. She tried to keep her story clinical, factual. What happened, and why. Bella wanted to keep most deeply personal things out of it, highly downplaying the relationship aspects of that long year.
After all, in her mind, Edward never really loved her, and had left her when he got bored. Just a distraction, he'd said.
So why discuss her one-sided love for him that she had felt so strongly about? It wasn't relevant to the Seattle murders anyway.
Nevertheless, everyone in the room knew she was heavily editing in some parts, though they didn't call her on it. There were very few interruptions - a clarification here or there maybe - but they let her get it all out. Some of the listeners - Harry and Phil in particular - could see how cathartic this was for her.
When she'd first started speaking, it had been in a quiet, disconsolate voice that was difficult to listen to without cringing; but that changed as the story went on, her voice becoming firmer, and as they got further along, Harry was happy to see faint stirrings of anger in her eyes.
That was good, he thought. He remembered Hermione and one of his therapists that he'd spoken with after the war telling him that directed was one of the stages of grieving, helping the individual move forward in a healthy manner.
Bella laid it all out. Her move to Forks, her motivations for doing so. Her first meeting with the strange boy who looked like at her with such hatred. The van, Port Angelas and the rapists, her friendship with Alice and the family, and finally the fated baseball game.
No mention of love, or sleepovers, or meadows. Just facts and some opinions. When asked, she rationalized that Edward found her to be interesting because he could not read her mind, and she was a test for him as her blood sang. "He always thought he was a monster. To be able to withstand the call of my blood, I think, was the ultimate test for him. If he could keep me alive, he would perhaps feel himself worthy of redemption."
That was it, she had said. That was the extent of their relationship. And then, after the near miss at the birthday party, Bella concluded that the family must have decided it was too risky to blow their cover on Edward's little ego project, so they moved on without a backward glance for their human science experiment. "Carlisle was a very humane person. He'd not fed on human blood in almost four hundred years. He probably decided that it was not worth the risk to me and to them to stick around just to cater to Edward's ego."
As Bella paused for a moment, there were several eyebrows raised at this; but again, no one interrupted. Bella skimmed over most of her depression during the fall, and started the next part of her story with meeting Laurent in the woods. At that point, everyone leaned forward, listening with fascination about his telling Bella about Victoria wanting to avenge James' death by killing the Cullen's pet human.
Bella stopped for a long moment when she got to how she escaped from Laurent, chewing her fingernail. Once again, though, Phil made it easier. "Bella, we have satellite and drone images of...something...that chased a vampire from your home in late spring. We know there was something else out there that was protecting you." He paused a moment, gauging her reaction.
Bella's eyes widened for a very brief moment, which was picked up by everyone in the room: clearly she knew something.
Paying close attention after Bella's brief moment of surprise, their training told them to expect a lie or misdirection to be forthcoming; thus, they were not surprised at her careful answer. "I suspect there might have been something out there looking out for me and keeping me safe. Maybe the Cullen's left some friends?"
Every eye in the room scrutinized her - the second part of her statement was, clearly, the misdirection. But was she being truthful at not knowing precisely what it was that kept her from harm? Or was she protecting someone or something else?
Bella was nervous, but she was determined to keep the wolves safe. She knew she was outclassed here when it came to keeping secrets, but she would do her damndest. They, unlike the Cullen's, deserved her loyalty.
No one said anything for a while, as the SHIELD agents waited her out. They knew that people who had things to hide were often made uncomfortable by long silences and often said things to try and ease tension, often giving away clues to skilled interrogators.
However, Bella didn't crack. After a long minute, when she didn't speak, Phil gently prodded with a different approach. "Bella, these people could be allies. We mean them no harm."
Again, Bella chewed her lip. Finally, she shook her head. "The people you are referring to have apparently been keeping me safe and have asked nothing in return. Even if I knew something, I cannot give them up. I'm sorry."
When she saw the disappointed frown on Phil's face, and the stronger frowns on Fury and Hill's faces, she immediately offered a bone. "I will, however, try to keep my eyes open and see if I can learn anything. If I do, I will ask them if they would be willing to talk with you. But I make no promises."
This answer satisfied no one; Bella was stubborn and loyal, but she was not a skilled liar; they saw right through this statement as the bullshit that it was, but there was nothing they could do about it right now.
Harry, meanwhile, smiled proudly at her; most anyone else would have been too intimidated to refuse, or would have stumbled over their words and revealed something. But Bella had held firm; and when Harry glanced around the room, he thought both Fury and Hill gave her a look of grudging respect, and Agents Romanoff and Barton seemed almost pleased with her answer, despite that seeming counterproductive.
Unless...In Harry's mind, a vague suspicion began to grow. 'They are going to want to recruit her. That's why they really wanted us here today. And then a lightbulb went off, realizing the true reason they wanted him at this meeting as well. They are going to try and recruit us both.'
Clearing his thoughts, his face tightened while he carefully moved his hands from his thighs and leaned forward so his hands were fully under the table. A surrepticious glance showed no one paying him any attention, and he slowly drew his wand from his wrist holster. He moved very carefully, trying to make his movements look natural. He had no doubt that Romanoff and Barton could easily detect a sudden motion that might look like he was drawing a weapon or leaving behind a device of some sort. He also suspected there were cameras everywhere in here, including under the table, so he did not let the tip of his wand move more than an inch past the end of his fingertips, using his sleeve to conceal it.
With a very abbreviated motion that required extra power to compensate, he cast a silent, listening charm, anchoring it to the bottom of the table near Fury. The charm would stay in place for months unless it was dis-spelled, and would allow him to hear whatever was said in here, as long as he was within about fifty miles.
Harry also considered trying to blindly cast a listening charm at Fury's shoes, but it would be a very low chance that the spell hit the target; and if Fury had contacts at MACUSA and he went to their headquarters, then their scanners would immediately pick that up.
No, better just leave the one on the table for now. He could always re-evaluate later.
After he re-holstered the wand, he focused back in on Bella's story. For the next five minutes or so, she recounted what happened after Laurent's attempted attack on her and the frequent concern she had about what was happening in Seattle. When asked, she said she didn't know for sure that a vampire had been in her house, but she did notice some of her clothes were missing and suspected it might be used to catch her scent.
Bella wasn't sure they believed that she was being completely truthful, but she could not admit to anything that would implicate the wolves.
It was a very thin line she was walking.
"Why did you not involve your father?" Hill asked. "He was in law enforcement. He could have maybe done something?"
Bella shook her head. "Charlie is a very practical man. Unless I had proof - and I mean incontrovertible proof, like a vampire standing in front of him showing what he was capable of - Charlie would not believe me. He is the kind of man that believes what he can see and touch and taste. Supernatural stuff? No way. He'd find a way to rationalize it away, or think I needed mental help."
She talked a bit about 'newborn' vampires, admitting she didn't know much, and answered a few questions for them about how newborns seemed to differ from mature vampires. And finally, she wrapped up her story how suddenly all the vampire activity just stopped at the beginning of the summer. She admitted at first she suspected a trick, but as the news in Seattle became less grim, she hoped that the trouble had passed and someone had cleaned up the mess.
Fury looked at her with a penetrating gaze. "Do you have any suspicions on who cleaned this up?"
Bella bit her lip again, wondering how much to tell. She glanced at Harry, and saw he had his poker face on, which she suspected that he was either leaving the decision up to her or in no way wanted her to discuss it. When she looked carefully into his eyes, she suspected he wanted her to keep it quiet.
She thought hard about this; giving up info on the Volturi might have huge ramifications. If she did talk, and these SHIELD folk went to war with the Volturi...what would happen? What if vampires suddenly had no oversight? Or even worse, if the Volturi and all the vampires decided that, since they were exposed anyway, they might as well try and take over? Would they be seeing repeats of Seattle all over the world?
What would happen if knowledge of vampires reached the general public?
So far, she had no evidence at all that these SHIELD people could do anything against one vampire, let alone an army. She'd seen how ineffective Agent Barton's arrows had been in London against a lone vampire.
In fact, had Harry not been there, they all would have died.
Her resolve firming, Bella decided that, for now, it was probably better for everyone if the Volturi stayed right where they were. Later, she'd discuss it with Harry privately; if he disagreed, they could always tell SHIELD at another time.
Nodding her head, Bella looked at Fury, determined to give him only the barebones. "There is supposed to be a powerful group that overseas vampires from going 'too far' and drawing attention to themselves; maybe they are the supernatural version of SHIELD? I suspect this group stepped in and destroyed them."
Harry almost laughed at Bella's description of the Volturi, but managed to contain himself to just a grin.
The SHiELD personnel, on the other hand, were taken by surprise. They had no idea such a group existed. They all shared loaded glances, and finally leaned forward, his face looking more serious than it had at any point so far. "Bella, what can you tell us about these 'overseers?'
Bella grimaced. "Truthfully, not much. I was barely told anything about them, I suspect they value their privacy. I only know about them at all because I once asked why vampires weren't everywhere, why did they bother to hide?"
All the agents leaned forward, intent on her answer. "Really, all they told me was that they had one rule, keep the secret. And that they enforced it ruthlessly, and that they had a Guard that prevented the vampire population from forming vampire armies to fight each other for feeding territories and to keep other vampire covens from literally taking over the world." Bella was thoughtful for a moment, tapping her lips with her finger. "It probably would have been easy for them to do a couple of hundred years ago," she mused. "After all, who could have stopped them?"
This last statement elicited a very sharp reaction from everyone at the table. Harry was particularly interested in the sharp looks going on between Hill and Fury. Some sixth sense in Harry twitched, and, trusting his instincts, Harry performed a wandless legilimancy probe on Hill when her eyes turned back to him for a moment.
'...phase two is going to be pushed forward even faster now. Fury won't ever stop, now.'
When Hill turned her face back to Bella, the connection was cut, but Harry would think over those words for a long time.
Her story finally done, Bella let out a long breath, feeling strangely relaxed. "And that's all, really. Once the threat went away, I really just was anxious to get out of Forks and never look back."
After a short staredown, gauging her sincerity, Fury too let out a breath and nodded. "Thank you Miss Swan. You've been very helpful."
Not trusting her voice at the moment, she just nodded in reply.
Harry had kept silent during most of the conversation, a generally blank expression on his face save for when Bella looked to him for support. His occlumency helped control his facial expressions.
However, on the inside he was very angry. Finally hearing the whole ordeal made him feel almost murderous; he had come to care a great deal about Bella over the past month, and hearing how this coven of bloodsuckers had treated her made him want to find them and cut loose on them.
Harry knew that Bella had held a lot back, particularly about the 7th, and only single, vampire in the coven. It wasn't difficult for him to get the gist of what she was not saying and he suspected the SHIELD folks knew it as well, especially if they did their digging into the relationships between Bella and the Cullen's; it would be child's play for them to interview a few teachers and students and find out what they needed to know about her relationship with the only single Cullen, and how she felt about him.
Harry took Bella's hand again, giving it a light squeeze. She turned to him with a small smile, her cheeks flushing pink.
For Harry, looking at Bella's flushed face and noting the sweat on her brow and the small nail marks she'd cut into her other palm when she had clenched her hands tight, he made himself a promise: if this Edward Cullen ever wandered into his sights, he would not escape unscathed from Harry's wrath.
A/N - not a lot of action here, but the foundation for Bella and Harry joining SHIELD and the AVENGERS have been laid. Let me know what you think!
