YOU'RE WHAT!
Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.
The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.
No one knew that Edward hadn't gone too far, but, was in fact standing still outside the club in the shadows where he had been facing his own realities and making certain decisions. As he watched his two friends leave with two of the agents while leaving Bella behind by herself he stepped out into the light to make his presence known. However, before a word could be said Edward found himself on the ground staring up into the business end of a gun that none other than Agent Swan was pointing at him.
CHAPTER 10: SOME VERIFICATION
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Edward shouted out to Bella in both fear and frustration to find himself in his current situation.
Bella looked at him for a long moment before relaxing her gripe on her gun and began to back up a few steps, at least, enough to allow Edward room to get up, but, at the same time she still maintained her vigil of where they both were and any possible threats that might present itself. She was never off duty when it came to taking care of her charge once one was assigned to her care. Remaining alert to her surroundings meant staying alive and her charge staying safe. That is what made Bella, Alice and Rosalie the top team that they were. Edward still had a lot to learn about them in that regards. But, if fate gets its way in the short run instead of the long, all three charges would learn very quickly about their three protectors and vice versa.
"What did you think you were doing by coming out of the shadows like that and trying to creep up behind me?" Bella demanded of the man that had just risen to his feet. "Didn't you pay any attention to what was explained to you a few days ago? We protect you; we're trained to be alert and to defend our charges and ourselves; we have worked extremely long and hard to hone our reflexes to react without hesitation.
"Get that through that thick skull of yours and absorb it into your brain cells. If you don't you just might end up getting yourself, person assigned at the time to protect you, or, both you killed. Next time, if there is a next time which I believe the probability is high that there will be, you might end up pretty bruised and that pretty face of yours could be battered for a few days because of a stunt like that."
"Are you by any chance threatening me, Agent Swan?" Edward demanded in a barely controlled tone of voice as he was clinching his teeth in an effort to keep a tight rein on his temper.
"Not at all. I'm merely warning you, or, trying to explain to you, take which ever term you feel works best for you, that it is dangerous to come upon any agent or anyone else in the manner that you just did with me when that person is highly trained to react upon instinct and to ask questions second.
"Now, if you can't understand that then all I can say is that when God said brains, you must have thought he said trains and missed yours as you seem to be having a hard time grasping the facts of what I'm trying to tell you." Bella explained once more in much of an exaggerated voice that was meant to demonstrate patience that would be used when speaking with an annoying child of limited mental capacity.
"Stop talking to me like I'm a mental case. My intelligence IQ is very high."
"Then start demonstrating that very fact by showing an understanding of what has been told to you and start falling into line that has been established for your safety instead of fighting what has to be done." Bella told him in a voice that was starting to sound very tired and exhausted.
Edward just stood there staring at the woman that was in front of him. He didn't have any words that he could offer to rebuke all of her statements concerning his motives. She had hit each one of his actions that had been prompted by his doubt and fear and then she had managed with action and her words to make him feel ridiculous. He stood there feeling completely foolish.
"Look, Mr. Cullen, -" she was interrupted by Edward say, "Just call me Edward." "All right, Edward, we really need to get moving before we draw attention to ourselves and that could lead to more problems." That caused Edward to take a look around and he had to agree with her.
"Let's go get some coffee somewhere that would give us a bit more privacy so we can discuss this further." Edward suggested and was surprised when Bella quickly agreed with him. He reached out an arm to encircle her waist as he led her towards his car where he gently helped her to get settled before he rushed around to the driver's side to get behind the steering wheel, started the car, put it in gear and then just sat there as he suddenly realized that he had no idea where to go.
"Ugh, Agent Swan, do you have any idea where we could go to get that coffee and to talk in private?" Edward hesitantly asked. In spite of all that had happened he still had fantasies in his mind about what he would like to do to Agent Isabella Swan. His place would be ideal for such action, so, that was why he couldn't take her there; he would pounce on her without any thought at all once they had entered his place and the door was securely closed behind them sealing them inside and the world out.
As he drove the silence in the car seemed to stretch on forever instead of just the length of a few minutes in time. Each person in the car didn't really know how to begin the conversation after what had happened back at the club, both inside and then out and now that they were alone together because of the dreams they had been having about the other. Each of them was a bit nervous around the other due to the emotional intensity that they felt unexplanly drawn towards the other. It was just some awkward moments until Edward suddenly spotted a small café type diner on his left. He signaled to make his turn as he slowed to be able to pull into the small parking lot that accommodated the eatery.
After turning off the engine once he had parked the car, Edward quickly exited the vehicle and ran around once more to open Bella's door to assist her getting out. They slowly walked into the diner together, but, still maintaining their silence for the moment. Each knew that a serious talk was about to take place, but, they seemed unsure of where to start and exactly what the subject should be. Should it be about the emotional and sexual tension they were feeling towards one another? Should it be about the case and Bella explain to him about what they had discovered which brought about the display at the club. Or should Bella maintain that she was just following the original plan, forgetting for the moment that the guys had been told that the schedule had to be moved up a bit due to some information that had come to light.
After waitress came over to take their drink order and then left to get their coffee, Edward cleared his throat, used his finger to run around the inside of his collar as if it was too tight and wanted to ease the pressure a bit, then launched the conversation without further ado, "Agent Swan, I need to apologize for my behavior. I've been acting like a jerk from the moment you and your team was introduced to us. It was rather a shock that three outstandingly beautiful model looking females were going to be in charge of our safety.
"I guess my brain had a hard time, and, please, don't take this the wrong way because it's likely to come out wrong regardless how I say it, that the three of you could really be as good as we were told. It's still a little hard to wrap my mind around, but, I must admit that I'm learning very quickly just how efficient you three and your team are."
"Well, Mr.—" She paused a moment as she saw Edward's reaction to her beginning use of his surname. "All right, Edward, I appreciate your apology and believe me when I tell you that your reaction and that of your two friends is the same that we receive from time to time when we have to protect a male witness.
"The reaction does get a bit old when we encounter it, but, we do understand it. Even, your doubts and then your reactions because of your feelings aren't new and we've dealt with them on several occasions in the past.
"You're scared to a certain degree, but, feel shame because of that fear. You think that it's unmanly to feel that way, however, I can assure you that it isn't. You would be a fool if you didn't feel the fear of what could happen to you, your friends or your family because of the people involved in the crime you and your two friends witnessed. That fear is what causes your survival instincts to kick in gear." Bella told him as gently as she could, but, at the same time gave him the facts of why she and the rest of the team understood.
"So, you all are more or less used to guys -"
"No, not just guys, but, some women as well do react that way. It is expected from a woman since none of the male members we acquire on our team seem to think a woman would react any other way. However,-"
"However," Edward interrupted, "some of your team members seem to feel that a man is more able to handle the situation or the emotions. Right?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Bella answered with a slight smile. "But, those are members that aren't a permanent part of our team. They are temporarily assigned to us when extra agents are needed. But, once the case is completed they are released from our detail and returned back to their regular department and pass onto another case somewhere else."
"Then what does the permanent members of your team think about the charges that are placed in your custody for safe keeping?"
"Edward, let me assure you that anyone that works with us on a regular basis has an entirely different view of things than the temporary ones. The permanent members of my team is Alice and Rosalie. Sam Uley and Felix Maxwell are called in to work with us on a regular basis, but, anyone else is considered as a temporary member. All orders come from me, Alice and Rosalie, but, make no mistake about who is in charge: I am."
"You are? What about Agents Brandon and Hale?"
"There has to be one person that makes all of the difficult and final decisions and that is me, no one else. Alice and Rosalie fall in behind me and will assume the position if I'm not available if an immediate decision needs to be make that concerns the actions of the whole team and for the safety of our charges or charges. However, the buck at the end of the day will stop with me always."
"Yes, I agree that only one person can be in charge with second and third in command, but, it doesn't make it any easier to believe that such gorgeous women could be in the type of law enforcement that you three are. It must have been damn hard to achieve the level of respect and acknowledgment that you three have. I mean, law enforcement is still considered primarily a man's world."
"You got that right, but, all of this isn't getting us anywhere near the points that we do need to be talking about."
"I know and as much as I really need to know the answers, I find that I'm afraid that I might not like the answers." Edward told her with all honesty.
Bella just gave a little nod of her head with a quick smile making an appearance before disappearing just as quickly. "Yeah, I know what you mean. We weren't happy with what we've discovered either.
"I'm not going to go into great detail this evening or in the very near future as we still have a lot that is assumption at this point and we need proof before we can really act upon some of the information. Everything has to be verified, but, that doesn't stop us from do what we feel is necessary to keep you three safe and sound.
"So, I'm going to ask you to trust us and to let us do our job with your help." Here Bella paused for a moment looked down at the table then raised her eyes to take a slow glance around the diner while taking a sip of her coffee before looking back at Edward. "From this moment on we have taken the position of being girlfriend/boyfriend as the coupling stands as of the club." Bella said without going into any further explanation.
Edward looked at her and waited to see if she would offer any further information, but, once more the silence began to hang a little heavy between them. So, he asked, "So, where do we go from here?"
A/N: Bella didn't offer any apology for her actions towards Edward outside the club like he did. Did she offer him enough of an explanation as to what's coming down?
Hope you will enjoy this story and will let me know your thoughts, ideas and comments as we move forwards.