A/N… As I work on these notes, I realize that Sunday is Christmas Eve, so more than likely this will go up Saturday, but we'll see.

Okay, I won't keep you up here. Back to Bella…

~o~H&E~o~

Chapter 10

BELLA

"Where does this lead, love?" Edward asked with a salacious grin on his face.

"I think the conference room on the fifteenth floor. Hang on," I said through a laugh, batting away his touchy hands as I peeked through the doorway.

"Mmm, so…big, sturdy table?" he verified in my ear softly, pressing kisses to my neck.

"Why, yes. Yes, it is," I sang, stepping through the supply closet and into the large room.

I caught sight of the camera in the top corner of the room and dragged a chair over to cover it temporarily with a piece of paper and some tape.

"We've had this discussion before, sweetness. You don't want to record us?" he asked, leaning back against the edge of the table as he folded his arms across his chest.

I shook my head as I laughed softly. "No, Edward."

Still grinning, he looked like sin incarnate – jeans worn out and faded in all the right places, a fitted black T-shirt, and hair sticking up everywhere, still damp from his shower. His green eyes were dark, sexy, beautiful with those long eyelashes.

The kids had gone with Esme and Carlisle to the movies, and we'd set up everything we could in Carlisle's office, so since we had some time, we'd started to run around Twi Tech's secret stairwell. I'd wanted him to know a few of them, but then things turned a little touchy-feely somewhere around the twentieth floor, which was no surprise, really. It had always been that way between us – just the smallest thing could turn innocent fun into…something more.

The Chos weren't due in for another two days, but it was absolutely impossible to ignore the man standing in front of me, especially when he was looking at me like he was at that moment. He looked starving but not for food. He looked so very playful and silly and loving, but he gave off a fiery, dangerous vibe. All that rolled into one gorgeous man, and despite how strong of a woman I considered myself, there was no denying him. Not when all that was aimed my way…and had been since we'd landed on the roof.

"I have no need to record us," I said softly, walking to him. "And there's no way in hell those security boys downstairs could survive seeing us. They'd feel inadequate for the rest of their lives."

Edward laughed, reaching out for me. "Good thing Old Man Frank isn't still down there running things. You'd put him in an early grave, baby."

"Mmm, good thing," I repeated, reaching for the bottom of his T-shirt.

I pushed it up until he relented, reaching back to grasp a fistful of cotton before tugging it off over his head. It landed on the table behind him. Sweet-smelling skin and abs and pecs and ink were right in front of me, and my hands couldn't resist. Neither could my lips.

Kissing over his Air Force ink and up his neck, I finally met his mouth. Edward hummed into our kiss like he'd needed it forever. Toying with the button on his jeans, I smiled when he hummed against my lips again.

"Sweetness, what're you—"

Kneeling in front of him, I smiled as I rubbed him over the outside of those deliciously fitting jeans, and I dragged the zipper down slowly.

"Well, Edward," I stated seriously, which made him huff a laugh and shake his head. "I think it looks like I'm about to give you a blowjob."

His head fell back as he laughed again but groaned in want at the same time. "Jesus, Bella…" He trailed off as I pulled him free of the confines of the denim. A string of curses hissed out of him when I licked the tip of his cock. "Wait, baby… I want… Oh fuck! Bella… Bella…"

"Bella," I heard, and I came up out of the memory to see Carlisle forcing my gaze to his. "You okay?"

I nodded, sighing deeply. I couldn't take the stares from the guard at the window, never mind how twitchy he was. I couldn't take the time ticking away, because we were pushing close to the hour mark. I couldn't bear to watch another five people get killed. The only thing I could grasp on to for hope was that Edward had gotten Sammy and Bethy and the rest of them out of this building.

Esme said I used it as a coping mechanism – the blocking of reality by focusing on something good. I suppose I did. I needed the happy memory of Edward to block out the hate filling this room. It was all I could do not to pull the knife from my sleeve and bury it into Kim's heart. I needed the memory of that happy, sweet Edward, where we were teases and laughs and kisses.

Carlisle tilted my chin gently, and I knew what he was looking for – any signs of panic, signs that some of this shit was getting to me. It was, but I wouldn't let these assholes know that.

"I'm okay," I whispered, trying to smile, but we'd been up there for hours. My hands had been bound for hours, and while I wasn't strapped down to a table half-naked, I wasn't sure how much longer I could maintain. "I promise," I tacked on to the end, but I hoped my angry, brave front would hold a touch longer.

The love I saw in Carlisle's eyes was bigger than the damn building we were in. It had always been there. And if anyone aside from Edward understood my limits, my history, it was him. I think the worry I saw in those blue eyes of his was the fear that, should I have a panic attack in that office, the two people who could talk me down weren't there. Esme and Edward had been talking me off the ledge for so long that I wasn't sure what would happen without them.

"The rats have been exterminated," I whispered, leaning into his touch. "I'm trying to focus on that."

Carlisle's eyes drifted over to the desk and then the other two guards. When he met my gaze, he surreptitiously pressed the commlink in my ear.

"IGOR, reboot the servers, allowing Jacob Black's login. Only release the locations of previously noted weapon caches. Please send those to Alice first." He gave that command in the calmest, quietest voice, but it sent everyone connected to us in a frenzy, IGOR included.

As you wish, Mr. Carlisle. IGOR's response was instant, and it caused a touch of shock over at the desk when Jacob's laptop suddenly shut down and began to reboot.

"Here's hoping they'll forget to watch the fucking clock," Carlisle muttered, glancing around the room and back to all of us. "Once they're in, this will change their approach. They'll have no choice but to keep some of us as shields or bargaining chips, but for the ones downstairs, they'll have served their purpose. Moving us, leaving with us, will open up an opportunity for mistakes. Bet on it. And I've lived my whole life exploiting those types of mistakes."

"Roger that," Dean, Mickey, and I all replied together.

I stood up from my spot, and Kim rounded on me. "Restroom," I stated without much emotion, and he snapped a finger at Twitchy.

Carlisle jerked his chin at Mickey, who stood to follow me. She leaned in the doorway to face our guard. I needed the sink more than anything else. Turning on the cool tap water, I splashed water on my face to help me calm the edginess. When Mickey decided to go again, I took her spot, my emotionless glare on the guard – his sweaty brow, his ski mask, the way he was holding the gun. He was either a rookie or really young, because he was nervous as fuck.

Rolling my eyes at him, I leaned there waiting on Mickey. My gaze found Carlisle's desk from behind the men sitting there. On top were several framed photos of all of us – Esme, the kids, Edward, and me. Some had been turned over or knocked aside, but one caught my eye and I couldn't break away for a moment. It was from a few years ago – Edward was stretched out on the sofa with Sammy planted on his stomach, and both were crooked smiles and laughter and utter cuteness.

What I hadn't realized up until that moment was that if Kim knew that man was the one tearing through his men all over this building and the ones next door, and that the same man was the son and husband of people in this room, all fucking hell would break loose. I wasn't sure how long I contemplated that, or even if it caused me to freeze, but when a hand landed on my shoulder roughly, my reaction couldn't be stopped.

The very second Twitchy touched me, he'd signed his death warrant. He wasn't even aiming his gun, and that was his first mistake. My elbow swung back full-force into his face, connecting to his nose. I felt the crunch as well as heard it. Spinning quickly, my foot then met the side of his head even harder. He fell to his knees, and despite the yelling and the sounds of rifles engaging, Twitchy didn't stand a chance.

Edward had always shown me how to hide weapons. The knife up my sleeve was one of those things, but he'd also shown me how to bring it from hidden to useful in the shake of my arm.

The blade was out and in the guard's chest before I could stop to think about it. His shock and pain gave me the opportunity to relieve him of his weapon. By the time I kicked him again in the chest, Mickey had joined me. Two boots landed right in Twitchy's midsection, which launched him back toward the already cracked window. All that force and the weight of the guard hit the glass, and it couldn't hold.

The man dropped out of the window in a rain of shattered glass, but he was dead before he hit the ground below, I was sure of it because he never made a sound.

My hands shook, my breathing was heavy, and tears stung my eyes, because he'd triggered something inside me that I'd been doing my damnedest to maintain. The sound of Mickey's voice and fighting behind me made me turn around to see Kim's rifle pointed in my face.

Dean was holding his own against the guard from the door, sporting a split lip and a wicked gleam. It seemed he'd found the second weakest link.

However, I held up the weapon I'd stripped from the guard, sneering at Kim. "He shouldn't have touched me." He took the rifle out of my hand, and I merely walked away from the now open window. "I don't like to be touched by people I don't know."

~o~H&E~o~

EDWARD

The SUV was quiet as we crossed into the park. It seemed Eleazar's men, which included military personnel, had cleared the front doors at Twi Tech of Korean soldiers.

"We've now contained the problem to just Twi Tech Tower," El said as if he'd read my mind. He pointed toward the front steps and the doors. "Just inside, though, there are more snipers, automatic weapons, and several RPGs. If anyone as much as steps off the sidewalk toward the doors, they open up hell, but we're doing the same should we see any of them come near the doors. So… As of right this moment, we're at a stand-off."

"Copy that," I sighed and gazed over the park that just that morning I'd taken Lock and Load for a walk. It was now a small military base of operations. "And the chopper?"

"Still up there."

I sneered. "You haven't called in your own air support?"

"I have them on standby, Ed. Right now, that chopper is just covering the area, and by proxy, they're kinda keeping the media out of this nightmare."

Snorting, I nodded as he parked the SUV beside a cluster of tents. Jasper was leaning casually against a tree, and he pushed off to walk to us.

He reached for my hand, pulling me in for a one-armed hug. "Glad you made it." He smiled at the kids, who all ran to hug him. "All of you." He met my eyes. "Alice is ready for you. We've got a shit-ton to talk about."

"Ten-four."

Eleazar pointed to the biggest tent, with the most cables running from it. If I had to guess, it was a temporary mess tent. But before he could say anything, my dad's voice came online.

"IGOR, reboot the servers, allowing Jacob Black's login. Only release the locations of previously noted weapon caches. Please send those to Alice first."

Emmett, Jasper, Alec, and I all froze. My dad was giving them what they wanted, which was a bit of a shock.

Eleazar smirked, shaking his head. "Your dad is smart as hell. We were ticking down to minutes to another round of employees in the auditorium. He just gave them a shiny object to capture their attention. That's good. That'll help us."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but Felix yelled across the park. "El, over here now!"

We all ran to where he was standing behind a barricade, and he pointed across the street, handing Eleazar a pair of binoculars. I pulled mine out of my bag.

"Oh my damn," Emmett said, looking through his own at the steps in front of Twi Tech Tower. He then slowly tilted his head back to the top floor. "That's one of theirs, and he came from Carlisle's office."

I started at the top floor, seeing a now missing window, I dropped my gaze back to the steps. Sprawled across the concrete was one of the Korean soldiers. His ski mask was still on, but he had no weapon. However, planted in the center of his chest was my knife. The very knife Bella occasionally stowed away on the inside of her boot.

"That's…" I trailed off, spinning to Eleazar. "I need eyes inside that room. Now!"

"Over here, Ed."

He walked us back to the first tent, and he turned to Esme. "Es, I'd like you and the kids to stay in here. They can get something to eat and drink."

"Take the dogs, Bethy," I told her, and she nodded with wide eyes. "They haven't eaten either. Okay?"

"Yeah, Dad."

"Dad?" Sammy said softly, leaning into my leg.

"Buddy, I won't be far. I promise."

Eleazar pointed to the next tent over. "Guys, we're right there if you need us."

That seemed to satisfy all the kids, because even Abby was looking a bit overwhelmed at Alec leaving her.

I kissed the top of Sammy's and Bethy's heads and then followed El into the next tent.

"You're fucking kidding me," Alec said with a chuckle at the first face we saw. "Boris, how you been, man?"

I grinned at the old man who had been a good friend to my dad, the man who had been an enormous help over in Russia. He looked amazingly well, considering he'd had a heart attack and open-heart surgery at the end of that whole ordeal.

"I'm good. I saw the shit go down, thought I'd offer El some help. What help an old man can give anyway." He chuckled, but it fell quickly when he pointed to the screen and got up from his chair. "Alice needs you, son."

Nodding, I took his place, catching Alice's gaze in the camera. "Pixie, what the fuck just happened up there?"

"Bella kinda, sorta…snapped?" she said carefully, grimacing a little. "Here, look. I'll start back about ninety seconds from before the fall."

From the corner of my dad's office, I could see the whole room. The sitting area was filled with Dean, Mickey, Bella, my dad, Cho, Seong, and Jacob. All of their hands were bound to the front. There were four men wearing ski masks, armed and positioned in various places around the room. My eye immediately sought out my wife, whose face was in my dad's hands. He was talking to her softly, and then he secretly pressed the commlink in her ear.

"That's when he gave IGOR the command," Alice said. "I think… I mean, if I had to guess, Bella's gettin' pretty close to a panic attack, and Carlisle was soothing her. But watch this shit."

As soon as my dad's instructions to IGOR kicked in, the two men at the desk freaked out a little, but Bella stood up. One guard rounded his weapon on her, and she merely pointed to the corner of the room behind my dad's desk, which I knew was the bathroom. The man snapped his fingers, and the guard at the window nodded, gesturing to Bella. Dad ordered Mickey to follow.

Mickey leaned against the door to guard Bella, and then Bella did the same for her, but it was then that I saw the change in my girl. Her eyes glassed over, her gaze was stuck on something toward my dad's desk, and I could see her shaky hand reach up to rub her temple. She was about a gnat's ass away from panicking.

And that was when the guard made the mistake of touching her. He reached up to grab her shoulder, most likely to guide her back to her seat, but in one swift move, Bella elbowed his face so hard, I could see the blood spray, in spite of the mask he was wearing. But it didn't stop there. A fight broke out between Dean and the guard at the doors at the same time. Bella's roundhouse kick to the guard's head dropped him to his knees briefly, and by the time he got back to his feet on shaky legs, Bella shook her right arm, and my knife dropped into her grip. The asshole never stood a chance. She had to have already pegged him as a weak link, but he was dying on his feet right there because he didn't stop her when she stripped him of his rifle. Mickey joined Bella in one last kick to the chest simultaneously. I knew it was coming, but I shook my head anyway. His back hit the window, and the glass gave way.

I flinched when another rifle was pointed her way, but she gave up the taken weapon without much emotion and walked to my dad. She said something to the man threatening her, but it only made Mickey smile.

"He might've lived if he hadn't touched her," Rose snarked in anger, appearing in the camera, and Mack nodded her head from the background, muttering something about karma.

"Give me real-time feed, Alice," I ordered, and she put it up immediately. I pressed the commlink in my ear. "Sweetness," I called gently, and she jumped a little. "I know you can't say anything, but nod your head, baby." She did as I asked, and I smiled when her eyes betrayed her and lifted to the camera. "Yeah, love. I see you. You did what you had to do. He deserved it. He touched you. That's all sorts of off-limits shit. That's my job."

She fought her smile and shook her head. The guys chuckled softly behind me, and Mickey had to hide her smile behind what looked like a cough.

"Sweetness, I need you to please hang in there. I know it's pushing you, but you gotta stay sharp. We're working on a plan. Okay?"

She mouthed the words Stay safe and nodded again, leaning into my dad, who wrapped an arm around her. She spoke to him softly, and he smiled, but when his eyes met the camera, he gave me silent instructions.

"Fuck," I hissed, shaking my head in frustration and denial. I turned off my earpiece and faced Eleazar. "He wants his employees safe first."

"Yeah, I kinda thought he'd go that route, considering he's allowing them access to his computers," El replied wearily.

"Right, right, right," Alice chimed, holding up a finger. "But he's only allowing IGOR to show them distinct locations. Look." She brought up a small window. "He's keeping them close, local. Twi Tech was originally started for military weapons and technology. They did spread out and diversify into other things, better things, but that doesn't mean that Charlie Swan didn't store away shit like a squirrel with a nut. There are four locations within a few hundred miles that store some pretty hefty shit."

Alice's map was of just the Pacific Northwest. There was a large circle that started with Twi Tech's location, and it encompassed parts of Oregon and Northern California. Four locations were flagged on the map.

"Carlisle picked these specifically, I think, because you guys could essentially stop them. The two main ones, and most dangerous, are here in Washington. This warehouse holds thermobaric bombs – dangerous bastards for using the oxygen around it to build up power. They are best used for destroying bunkers, bridges, and any aboveground target. That warehouse has six of them.

"The other location is just this side of the Oregon state line. That warehouse houses EMPs or Electromagnetic Pulse, which – 'sometimes called a transient electromagnetic disturbance, is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. Such a pulse may occur in the form of a radiated electric or magnetic field or conducted electrical current depending on the source, and may be natural or man-made.'" She was quoting the definition, but I'd take what she'd give me. "Those scary little bastards will knock out anything electronic and/or cellular for several miles in diameter from the center. Here's the thing… You set off one of those things in the atmosphere above the US, and you'd knock out electric systems across the country and you'd knock commercial airliners right out of the sky."

I sighed, looking to Eleazar. "This shit can't happen."

"Right, well, we've stopped them before from gaining access to the big weapons – you know…nuclear bombs – so we'll have to do this again."

"You've got to be fucking joking me, right? This?" I gestured a wide swing of my arm at everything around us. "All this is because we stopped George Stefan from selling those goddamn nukes?!" I yelled, standing up from the chair.

"Yeah, Edward." Alice sighed deeply. "Dean caught the name, and he's been translating a bit, but that's basically the gist of it. This is revenge for the bombs we found while looking for Carlisle in Russia."

"Motherfucker." I yanked my hat off, gripped my hair, and pulled it back on. "Okay, well, I don't have nukes this time. They're shit outta luck. And I'll climb that building to get to that room if I have to, but apparently, my dad's plan isn't half-bad." I groaned in frustration, but everyone understood. Russia had been fucking hell. "Right, so we have to take the auditorium."

"Yes, that's right, but there's something else you should know, Ed," Eleazar stated, but he pointed to Boris, who had sat back down to a computer.

Boris frowned, but he tapped the screen in front of him. "Kim Min-Jun may be a member of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, but he's not here under any authority but his own."

"He's rogue?" Alec asked, but Boris shrugged a shoulder.

"According to a few of the men we were able to question, he's working on his own agenda."

Raising an eyebrow at Eleazar, I asked, "Doesn't everyone have their own fucking agenda?"

"True," he said through a laugh. "Kim, however, was the North Korean contact for the George Stefan sale. When the sale fell through, thanks to us," he said with a grin, "he caught all sorts of hell over it. He's apparently vowed to make amends."

"So…let me guess," Alice piped up from the screen. "The fifty million he would've paid for those nukes is now funding this fuckery?"

"Yeah, probably," Boris sang, nodding a little. "Here's the kicker. I get why he's got Carlisle up there. He's the key to weapons and technology they can't get anywhere else. He's got power, money, and plenty of military friendships. But Cho, on the other hand, what's he got that this asshole wants? That's the question."

"He's got money," Alice countered. "He's got his own military connections, too. He served in the South Korean military. He supplies plenty of weapons to them now, but not a lot."

"All true, but he's not that connected," Boris argued. "He's essentially the Radio Shack of Seoul – technology supplies, electronic parts, and so explains why he's so adamant about the GPS chips Carlisle has under his control."

"Okay, fine, so Cho is a weird puzzle piece to this shit," I agreed, but I pointed toward my dad's building. "We need to get back in to take the auditorium."

"We will, kid," Alec said, gripping my shoulder. "What we haven't asked ourselves is this… Once Kim finds these weapons caches, how's he plan to get to them? He's now surrounded and at the top of the tower. Does he have men out there already mobile? Or is he planning on using his hostages to negotiate a way out? If he moves, he's a fucking target."

"He's that already," I sneered.

"He's got that chopper in the air," Jasper pointed out.

"Good point," Eleazar said with a nod. "We'll brace for that next. Right now, I think we need to put together a team to go back in. Black and silent."

"We're in," Alec and I stated in unison, and Emmett and Jasper nodded.

"You need us for this," Alec told him. "You need experience and the inability to follow rules."

Grinning, I shook my head. "I think what he's trying to say is… We'll get away with more… You know, we're Twi Tech 'security.'"

Eleazar chuckled. "Then let's get you some equipment and a plan. We need to work as fast as Alice can stall those bastards."

I nodded. "Roger that."

~o~H&E~o~

A/N… Okay, so Bella's losing it up there, and Carlisle's keeping her as calm as possible, though someone had to pay a price for touching her. And Eleazar is putting the crew to work.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas or whatever it is you celebrate. I hope you eat way more food than necessary, and you're surrounded be family and friends. We don't particularly do much, though there is a trip to see Star Wars in there somewhere. ;)

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. And I'll see you again on New Year's Eve for the next update, with a teaser in between somewhere. Until then… Mooches, Deb ;)