Beneath The Surface

by MyBella

One summer, an internship in Africa, bloodlust, sharp teeth, and a boatload of fear are all that stand in the way of Bella Cullen landing a job at the Atlanta Aquarium - As long as she doesn't count cocky shark expert Edward Masen on her list.

34. 34 What Do I Stand For

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended and in order to keep it that way, No reproduction, copying, reposting, downloading, or any kind of redistribution of this story is allowed. This is to cover my arse as much as yours! And finally, the Original characters, plot, names, nicknames, songs, poems—anything I created from my very own brain—are all the property of the author of this fanfic, My-Bella. Unauthorized use of the material is plagiarism so please be kind and don't steal my creations.

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

Chapter 34 – What Do I Stand For

Friday, July 11th

Masen could hear Bella approaching just as he could tell she was trying to be stealthy about it. He rolled his eyes even as he stayed perfectly still to allow her the illusion of sneaking up on him.

Her arms slipped around his neck and her lips brushed his cheek. "Gotcha."

"Lucky me," he said, just barely stopping himself from laughing. He tugged lightly on her arm. "Come here."

She let him go to move in front of him, standing between his legs and locking her fingers with his. "How'd the nightshift go?"

He answered her question while trying to get her closer for a kiss. "Pretty quiet. That storm Whit was tracking stayed far to our left."

"That's good." From the cocky curve of her lips, he knew she was resisting on purpose. The more her confidence rose with her work, the more relaxed she became in all areas of her life. Moments like this one where she was completely comfortable in her skin and full of boldness, they were the hardest times to resist the need he felt to possess every inch of her and be possessed by her. It made no damn sense to be this full of need when there were so many good, responsible reasons to wait.

Her sweet breath on his lips jerked him out of his head and back into the moment where his vision was filled by chocolate eyes mirroring his need—and his love. That look from her kept his kiss slow and sweet and safe. Funny how that would be his kryptonite, the weak spot that corralled his baser needs for the bigger want, for protecting their relationship as much as their careers. The expedition was going to end in six weeks and the internship would finish the week after that, but if he kept himself in check, the relationship would continue and that was what he wanted most.

She gave a little hum of pleasure and then pulled her lips from his. Her eyes were a little dazed but there was also determination and he wondered what she was thinking about.

She told him before he could ask. "I made a decision this morning. I've spent the last week reading the books you assigned, watching the videos you recommended, and asking questions of every team member. I've read all the dailies in that time and helped put together the last two, including going through all the footage. And yesterday, I watched every breach as the team filmed them. I won't lie and say I'm not nervous or maybe even a little scared, but I'm also ready for more. I'm ready for active contact again."

His posture remained relaxed and he appeared to be considering her request. On the inside, he was jittery with energy and so damn proud of her. He had known she was ready as soon as she'd asked to help create the dailies again, but he'd also known she needed to believe it for herself.

He smiled and said, "I'm sure Whit won't mind relinquishing spotter duties to you."

Bella reached for her naked wrist but caught herself and put her hand back at her side. "Actually, I was hoping it would be Lee who wouldn't mind a swap."

Masen's eyebrows lifted as he pictured Bella in Lee's spot. He wasn't opposed to the idea. In fact, he couldn't even say he was surprised by it. He'd seen Bella watching Lee yesterday, her curiosity far exceeding any nervousness she'd felt. But it was a position that required he be one hundred percent certain Bella was ready for it.

"I know it's a lot to ask, for you to trust me to go from books to an important role like this. I'll understand if you say 'no'." Her sincerity was clear—just as clear as the seriousness in her gaze.

"Why should I consider you for this role?"

"I'm ready. You've given me an army of facts, from feeding habits to typical behaviors. None of that is foolproof, of course. Sharks, especially Great Whites, are smart in their own way and that allows them a level of unpredictability. But I have a baseline of what to expect now and that's going to keep me in the moment and out of my head."

He smiled with pride at her, happy to see she finally had the confidence in herself that he'd had for days now. "Guppy, you're going to work with the camera today."

She squealed and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Not all day," he warned, getting her to look at him. "We only have two days to work the decoys in this zone. After that, the sharks get annoyed and the decoys get destroyed. You can either have the morning shift or the afternoon one."

"Afternoon. They're much more active in the morning so Lee should have that slot."

"Then the afternoon is yours, Guppy."

Her smile was so big it almost didn't fit her face and it made him laugh. "I can't help it," she told him. "I'm excited. I'm not questioning if I'm making progress anymore because I can see it and for the first time, I can feel it." She smiled and then brushed her lips over his teasingly. "And I have you to thank for that."

"I've got some ideas on how you can thank me," he said, thinking about how good her baked bacon had been.

"Bet mine are better," she said while sliding her hands up his thighs.

He couldn't tell if she was joking or not—he just knew he didn't want to find out right now when there was no time to explore it. He was fully prepared to keep them on the safe side of their line, but that didn't mean they couldn't slide right up next to it.

"Masen, I don't get it."

He and Bella both groaned at the sound of Alice's voice.

The little sister didn't seem to realize she was interrupting anything because she kept going. "I've read this report twice now and watched the video three times, but I still don't get it. How does seeing the shark swimming around and jumping out of the water give you these conclusions in your report?"

Since deciding to stay for a second time, Alice had been much more a part of the team. She was taking her assignments seriously, as well as her work on deck with the team. There was still much to be desired with her overall attitude, especially towards him, but she at least wasn't getting in the way of Bella's progress anymore.

"Which part are you confused by?" Bella asked, taking the report from her sister.

"This one right here," Alice explained, tapping her finger against the page. "How do a couple of birds tell you anything? They're not even in the video at all. You just hear them squawking a bit at the start and the very end."

"You're looking at it backwards," Masen informed her. "The birds don't tell us a shark is coming. They tell us a shark has already been there. It's called 'predation'. Black Back Gulls spend their days searching the surface of the water for scraps, the kind left behind by a shark breaching and catching a seal. Sharks are territory hunters so if you find the birds feeding on scraps in one area, the chances are very high that there will be another breach in that exact spot."

"Oh." Alice still looked confused.

"Have you ever watched any National Geographic with the lions in Africa?" he asked her.

"Yeah, those are Uncle Carl's favorites," Alice answered excitedly. "The way the females go chasing after dinner and the males come by all muscled out and scaring off other males and predators."

"Think about when they make a kill. What happens nine out of ten times?"

"Um … well, when it's in the daytime you can see some birds trying to get some of the meal. And at night, hyenas. There are always hyenas on the nighttime goggles."

"Exactly. Those animals know they will get fed if they follow the lions. Same thing with gulls and sharks."

"Wow." Alice was honestly impressed, which made Masen shake his head at her. She could have been impressed long ago if she'd have listened half as well as she was doing now. She turned to Bella. "How does he do that? Make things relatable that way?"

Bella glanced at him from the corner of her eye and smiled. "He's a genius when it comes to his work."

"And an evil genius everywhere else," Alice muttered. He hoped the fact that she was smiling meant she didn't seriously believe that about him.

"Nah, Lee's the evil genius," Bella corrected. "Her revenge schemes are unmatched."

Alice cringed and Masen knew she was thinking of her first day back on the ship. Lee's stipulation to allowing her on board had been that she couldn't speak for twenty-four hours. She could only observe and write down legitimate questions to be answered at breakfast the next day. Alice was finally starting to see it was more of a learning lesson than a punishment. She wouldn't have paid half as much attention to what the team was doing if she'd been allowed to run her mouth like usual. But that didn't mean she'd admit to it being a good idea.

"Want me to grab your assignment sheet from the office?" Bella asked Masen, bringing the conversation back around to today's work.

"I've got it up here already," he said, reaching for the stack of papers on the seat next to him. He'd gone over it a few times during his helm duty. "Would you keep an eye on the gauges so I can focus on making the changes?"

"I'm happy to be in charge of Galeos," she said as she moved toward the steering wheel.

"Can you really drive this thing?" Alice asked.

"Of course I can. I've done it six or seven times now." Bella's declaration had Masen snorting. He knew the vast difference between actually driving this ship and just steering it through the water.

"Eyes only, Guppy," he said just to tease her. She wouldn't touch any of the control panel buttons without asking.

He pulled out his assignment sheet and clicked his pen, for once happy with having to reorganize at the last minute. And truthfully, it wasn't that much of a change. Instead of Lee spending all day on the skiff with him and Gopher, Bella would be there this afternoon to take photos with the still camera. The team was going to lay out their decoys in Zone 4 today and tomorrow to capture as much footage of Great Whites breaching as they could get. From the activity they'd witnessed here this past week, they were sure to get some amazing shots.

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

"Are we going to talk about this?"

"About what?"

Lee stopped loading the camera bag and turned to Bella with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips. "Don't give me the doe eyes, Guppy. You know what you did."

"Of course I know what I did. I'm just not sure what you think I did."

Lee's expression was a dichotomy with her caramel eyes glaring and her smile beaming. "You stole my job."

Bella wanted to laugh badly but she wanted to keep bantering with Lee more. "If by stole, you mean earned, then yes, I certainly did."

"Earned it? I'll be the judge of that. Tell me, Guppy, what's the most interesting thing you've learned this past week?"

"Well ..." she said, pausing to consider all of her options. She smiled as she shared her choice, "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

She nodded in agreement. "The most interesting fact is that we know nothing about Great White mating habits. We've only recently learned that females give birth to between six and sixty pups at a time in practically the same location each year. But we still don't know how they became pregnant. No one has ever witnessed it. For all of our technology, all the conservation groups and marine biologists studying this species, we are utterly clueless. How do adult sharks, upwards of fourteen feet, manage to mate in secret every single year?"

"What do you think of the theory that males latch onto females with their teeth?"

"If I was a female shark and a male shark was coming at me with two penises, I'd try to run too." Bella's answer had both women cracking up.

"Can you imagine if guys had two heads to think with?" Lee joked.

"We already do," Gopher commented, stopping right beside them with his arms loaded with video camera equipment.

"I meant two heads that you men actually use," Lee clarified. "The one on your shoulders is often used as a hat rack."

Gopher shook his head and sighed. "Still mad about the early wake-up then," he said as he walked away from them.

Lee ignored him and focused on Bella. "Masen must be feeling pretty pleased that you're getting back into the action."

"I hope so. We didn't really get to talk after he agreed to the change. Alice managed to interrupt for the bazillionth time."

"Still think she's not doing it on purpose?"

"Yeah, she's honestly oblivious. She's all wrapped up in trying to prove Edward wrong about her, that she's fine with sharks and him."

Lee snorted. "Interrupting his time with his kapu is not the way to do it."

"Definitely not," Bella agreed with a laugh. "So are you really mad at Gopher?"

She shrugged. "I'm not mad so much as annoyed. I specifically asked him last night to be quiet when getting up this morning, that I've been a light sleeper the past couple of days and I'm finding it hard to fall back to sleep once I'm up."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Lee answered with a nod. "Just a little homesickness. I always feel it around this point during our trips. Doesn't take me long to get it over it, though. I just need a couple nights of restful sleep." She grinned and added, "It wouldn't hurt to also have a man who doesn't sound like a herd of elephants when he gets ready in the morning."

"Cameras ready yet?" Masen asked, poking his head into the room.

"Just finished packing the bags," Lee assured him. She winked at Bella and then said, "I'll just run these out to Gopher to put on the skiff."

Once she was gone, Edward smiled and reached out, taking advantage of Bella's half shirt and loose shorts to grasp her hips and bring her closer. His hands felt warm and wonderful on her bare skin.

"I didn't get to tell you this earlier and I wanted you to hear it before we start working," he confided. "You had a hard week recovering from your setback and refocusing yourself. It wasn't easy and you had plenty of frustrating moments but you kept going. When it came time for the next step, you took it on your own. I am so damn proud of you, kapu."

She beamed at his praise, fully believing that she had earned this moment and that she would be successful with her assignment today.

"You have to stop smiling like that," he said, rubbing his thumb against her lower lip.

"Why's that?"

"So I can kiss you."

Her smile immediately went away and she tilted her face up in expectation. There was a quick flash of his smirk and then he was kissing her; a bone-melting, fiery kiss that had her swooning and leaning into him to stay on her feet.

She could tell from his cocky grin that he knew he'd thrown off her balance once again. She was more interested in the source than in his reaction though. "What brought that on?"

"If I told you that, it would take the mystery out of it. You don't want that to happen, do you?" He couldn't have really been expecting an answer, not with the way he was skimming kisses along her collarbone.

With a heavy sigh, he removed his lips and hands and stood up straight, slipping into mentor-mode. "You still ready? Still feel confident about your assignments today?"

"One hundred percent."

He smiled—the one that was a mix of pride and love, and was just for her. "Then let's get to it, Guppy."

Bella spent her morning working with Whit and Thumper in the crow's nest, searching for signs of predation and calling out the locations for Great Whites they spotted in their area. Based on their sightings, Gopher occasionally started up the skiff and moved closer to or farther away from parts of the zone.

By the time they'd stopped for lunch, they'd filmed seven breaches without having to put out a single decoy. Masen, Lee, and Gopher had talked over each other all through lunch, each trying to share their up-close view with Bella and Whit. She'd hoped Alice would stick around to share in the fun but she'd understood she wasn't ready yet. Alice still hadn't backed down from her claim that she was fine and sharks didn't bother her, and until she did there was nothing anyone could do for her.

Whit appeared beside Bella and looked down at the skiff with her. "It's that time, Guppy. You ready for this?"

She smiled and rubbed his shoulder. "Are you ready? You're going to be left here with Thumper and I'm sure she's going to be very vocal in her dislike."

"I'm not so sure you're right about that. While you've been busy making your changes, she's been making a few of her own."

"I've seen her efforts to participate more, but her overall attitude hasn't improved that much."

"Not on the surface," he agreed. "But she's working on it."

"You guys actually manage to talk?" Bella teased. Alice had confided a couple days ago that she and Whit were sharing more than a bed, which in Alice-speak meant that they had moved up from boyfriend and girlfriend to lovers. It was hard not to envy their freedom to be together so Bella focused on being happy that her sister was happy.

Whit actually blushed. "She … uh … I love her, Bella. This isn't some summer fling for me. I never would have let things go so far if I didn't love her."

She smiled to reassure him. "I know. If I thought it was anything less, I'd kick your ass for sleeping with my baby sister."

"Guppy, you gonna stare at the boat all day or actually get on it?" Gopher asked from right behind them.

She turned to him and gave his shoulder a shove. "Are you questioning my commitment to our mission?"

Gopher grinned as he set his arm on Whit's shoulder. "You hear that, Whit? 'Our' mission. She's pretty cocky today standing around in her MMR shirt."

Bella smiled wide and pinched the edge of her baby blue shirt, proudly showing off the MMR logo. "Looks pretty good on me, huh?" She'd specifically run down to change into this shirt after lunch, wanting to wear it for the first time during her first shark-focused task.

"Looks amazing," Edward said as he grabbed her from behind and pulled her against his chest. "You do great this afternoon and you'll earn yourself a hat."

"I'm partial to the one I swiped from you," she said, laughing and tapping the hat on her head.

"Um … here are the bags," Alice said, holding out the two camera bags Lee had repacked after lunch.

Gopher smiled as he took them from her. "Thanks, Thumper."

She gave him a nervous smile and then turned her worried eyes toward Bella. "Good luck."

Bella grinned. "You almost sounded like you meant it."

"I do mean it," Alice assured her. "I just also wish you wouldn't do this."

Bella stepped away from Edward to hug her little sister. "I love you."

"I love you too."

She cupped her sister's face and smiled brightly at her. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"You better."

She kissed Alice's cheek and then turned around to board the skiff with Edward and Gopher. She was nervous and excited, but most importantly she was confident.

They spent the afternoon watching the birds on the water and waiting. Lee checked in on the radio every fifteen minutes to update them that were no updates while Edward and Gopher looked over the map spread out on the floor and debated where to drop a decoy if it should come to that. It was so dull that Gopher even joked Alice had somehow found a way to wish the sharks out of the area.

The first sign that things were changing was the black back gulls Edward had talked about just this morning. They had been off to their far right but now they were circling over a patch of water about thirty feet in front of them.

"Camera up, Guppy," Edward ordered as he put his own around his neck. "Gopher, get on the radio and find out what Lee sees."

Before Gopher could reach for the radio, Lee's voice was coming through it. "We've got potential action, guys. Straight ahead of you. A few seals have broken from a larger group and we've got a dark shadow moving to intercept."

Edward picked up his binoculars again while the gulls' cries grew louder. "It's gonna happen and it's closer to us than I'm comfortable with. Gopher, start the engine and stay at the controls in case we need to make a quick exit. Guppy, I want you grounded. Back up from the edge and take a knee."

She did as he asked and then lifted her camera to her eye and set her finger over the shutter button. She was feeling anxious but it was a jittery, excited kind rather than the fear-fueled version she was used to experiencing. She had no doubt that she could take these pictures and contribute to her team.

For the next twenty seconds—she knew because she'd counted—no one made a sound.

Twenty one …

All hell broke loose and it all happened so fast that if she'd dared to blink, she would have missed it. The Great White breached, soaring up and out of the water with its mouth of razor sharp teeth exposed and in pursuit of two young seals. One seal was torpedoed by the shark's nose and tossed away from the great beast. The other did a somersault that caused it to smack into the shark's lower jaw before disappearing back into the water.

The shark twisted its body as it reentered the water and charged after the acrobatic seal. It was as if the shark had pinned some kind of homing device to the seal with the way it seemed to easily switch paths to stay on the tail of the seal.

Both animals suddenly disappeared under the water, leaving ripples running across the surface.

Seconds later, there was another breach and this time the seal was in the shark's mouth. Somehow, by some miraculous event, the seal twisted and popped out from between the shark's massive jaws. The ensuing slam back into the water was closer this time, as was the spray from it, stopping only a few feet away from the skiff.

"Where'd they go?" Gopher yelled.

Bella let go of her camera, leaving it dangling from her neck, and searched the area for any sign of the seals or the shark.

The radio crackled behind them and then Whit was yelling at them. "Masen, get out of there! They're heading straight for you guys!"

"Too late," Edward said as the seal popped up right beside where he was standing. "Gopher, gun it. Get us out of here."

Gopher tried to do exactly that but he was a little too eager and he flooded the engine, causing it to stall out. "Shit, shit, and more shit."

"Fuck!" Masen roared. "Okay, okay. Open the throttle all the way, no choke, and keep turning the engine over until it starts." He slung his camera around to his back and locked eyes with Bella. "We've gotta grab the seal. We can't let it use the boat to try and hide."

"What? Are you crazy?" she screamed at him.

"We don't have a choice. You can do this, Bella. Help me protect our team."

She trusted him. She trusted that if there was any other way, he'd go with it. She pulled at her camera twice before realizing she would never get it off that way and finally lifted it over her head and set it on the floor of the skiff. Her arms and legs shook as she scrambled over to Edward, wishing her trust in him equated to courage.

Kneeling at the edge, she groaned at the sight of the seal with a chunk of its back missing.

"It's going to be okay, Guppy," Edward told her. "On two we lift up and over."

She nodded to show she was listening.

"One. Two."

They reached into the water together, with Bella's hands closing around the wriggling tail and Edward grasping the head between his large hands.

"Up, up, up," he coached as they pulled the seal out of the water and into the boat.

Over the shouted complaints of the seal, Bella heard the skiff's engine roar to life. She felt the push of the boat darting forward and then they were cutting through the water. She actively ignored what she'd seen while they'd been lowering the seal to the boat's deck.

"Head for Seal Island," Edward shouted while struggling to contain the seal at the back of the boat.

"What if it's following us?" Bella asked, her eyes wide from a mix of adrenaline and fear.

"It won't," he assured her. "It's going to stay in the area for a few minutes to try and figure out where the seal has gone."

"Masen!" Lee's shout came through the radio clearly.

"Gopher, talk her down," Edward ordered.

"No harm, no foul," Gopher yelled into the radio, fighting to be heard over the cries of the seal and the roar of the engine. "I say again, no harm, no foul. We've got an injured seal aboard and we're going to drop it off with its seal buddies at the island and then head back to base."

"You get your ass back on this boat A-S-A-P, Emmett," Lee demanded.

"I'll be there before you can take all ninety-nine bottles of beer off the wall. Over and out."

"Guppy, talk to me," Edward said, moving his head into her line of sight. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm not letting go." She wasn't sure what she meant by that but at least she was still functioning and not crippled by a panic attack.

"That's good. We'll keep the seal immobilized so he can't harm himself or us. We'll be at the island in no time."

"This isn't really happening, is it?"

He laughed. "I take you out for a photo shoot and we end up in an action adventure."

"I'm not sure I'm feeling the adventure part right now," she replied with a shaky laugh.

"Come on, Guppy!" Gopher called out from the front of the boat. "Who else do you know gets to say they raced out of a shark's path while holding on to a seal?"

"Don't forget the flooded engine that required the holding of the seal," Edward said, giving Gopher a dirty look.

"Yeah, yeah. I fucked up. Trust me, I am kicking my own ass right now. All these years of perfectly running the skiff and I manage to flood the engine at the absolute worst time."

"Next time, I drive and you hold the seal," Bella told him.

"Next time?" Gopher asked with a boisterous laugh. "Mase, you hear your cocky intern?"

"I hear her," Edward replied, looking right at Bella and smiling proudly.

The seal let out another loud squeal while attempting to twist free, causing Bella to look down and make sure her grip wasn't going to slip. She couldn't help feeling revolted by the damage to its back.

"Will it live, you think?" she asked.

Edward shrugged. "As bad as it looks, I think it's mostly topical damage. That would explain why there's a lot of blood but not a huge rush of it. Also, the bite isn't deep enough to reveal the spinal column so he likely doesn't have internal injuries. From what I saw as it was happening, he was already twisting out of her mouth when her teeth clamped down on his pelt. If he can manage not to get an infection, he should live."

Once they made it to the island, Gopher came back to help Edward toss the seal into the water. Bella stood beside them, watching the injured young seal scoot his way up a sloped make-shift ramp of rock and onto the island's hard surface. They had no idea if the seal would survive its injuries but at least for now it had survived the shark attack.

Edward had them all clean the seal's blood from their hands and then he worked on mopping up the floorboards with scraps of fabric while Gopher drove them back toward Galeos.

Bella felt she was holding up fine under the circumstances, not making a big deal of her shaking hands as she reached for the camera she'd been using. Shaking hands was nothing when compared to what she'd just seen and experienced.

A drop of blood hung from the corner of the casing and then fell to darken the wooden deck. She saw everything that had happened all over again, from the initial breach to the giant black eye of the shark staring at her as it slid past the boat in search of the seal she'd just helped pull out of the water. A hard shiver tore through her as she wondered if Edward knew how close the shark had been to the boat.

All at once the sounds around her faded until she could only hear her heartbeat roaring in her ears. She tried to suck in a breath but her throat felt closed up and she realized the shaking in her hands had spread to her entire body.

Edward noticed the change in her immediately and grabbed her by the elbows, keeping her steady on her knees. "Breathe, Bella. Just focus on me and take a breath."

She focused on his eyes, on the concern and the love she saw in the steel blue, and somehow managed a small breath.

"That's good. Now take another and then another. It's okay. No harm, no foul. You're okay. I'm okay. Gopher is okay."

"Damn straight," Gopher confirmed, laying a big, steady hand on her back. "No harm, no foul. And you, Guppy. You were epic."

Edward brushed her sweaty hair from her face. "I know this was more than you bargained for today, but you did great. You listened, you were helpful, and you protected your team. I am so damn proud of you."

"I … I don't …" She was trying to tell him she wasn't sure why she was freaking out but the words wouldn't come.

"It's okay. It's a lot to take in. You were expecting a few photos, not to have to grab hold of an injured seal. This is a huge deal and it's okay to freak out a little. Just sit here and breathe for a moment."

The radio squawked behind them. "Firefly, come in. This is Galeos. Over."

Edward immediately looked toward the radio but stayed where he was crouched in front of Bella.

"I've got Guppy," Gopher assured Edward. "Let the others know we're okay. You know Lee's only going to believe it if she hears it from you."

Edward kissed Bella's cheek and then went for the radio. "Galeos, this is Firefly. We're okay and we're heading back to base. No harm, no foul. Over."

"Pick up the pace. We should see you by now. Over."

"You'll see us shortly," Edward promised. "Over and out."

"Come on, Guppy," Gopher said as he helped her to her feet. "Help Mase drive us home while I finish the cleanup he started."

She took Edward's outstretched hand and let him pull her between his body and the steering wheel. He held her tight against his chest with one arm while directing the boat with the other.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"Okay, I think. Still panicking a little, but I've got it under control now."

"Just don't feel defeated if you panic again before the day is over. You may even find yourself reluctant to participate tomorrow. And that's all okay, Bella. This is a lot to process."

"I know. I knew I wasn't overreacting when I heard Lee. She's freaked out too."

"And she'd be just as freaked if she had been the one on the skiff."

"And she'd also be back on the boat tomorrow. She will be back tomorrow."

"Yeah, she will. Just like I'll be back and I'll also be ordering more room between the skiff and potential active sights. But that's us, Bella. You have to do what feels right for you."

"Do you think I'm okay to be back tomorrow?"

"I think we need to talk about it a hell of a lot more first, but yeah, I think you're okay to go again tomorrow. You're not shutting down or being numb. You're just reacting to an extreme change in our plan. And I am damn proud of you."

She closed her eyes and leaned further into him, soaking up his praise and his confidence in her while working to fully calm her heartbeat. Of all the thoughts and images in her head, there was one that gave her almost as much comfort as being in Edward's arms … I protected my team.

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

Lee jumped aboard the skiff before Masen even had a chance to shut the engine off. She flew at Gopher, wrapping her arms around his neck in a grip tight enough to make the big man grunt. There was no talking, no yelling—just her holding tight to Gopher and him holding on just as fiercely.

"Well didn't you just have yourself a fun little afternoon wrapped up in crazy," Whit said as he took the line from Masen and tied the skiff to Galeos.

"That's about as good of a description as any," Masen replied. He helped Bella onto Galeos' platform first and then hopped on over, receiving an immediate hug from Whit. "No harm, no foul, bro," Masen promised his worried best friend.

Whit scoffed and pretended not to be concerned. "As if you'd let there be any other outcome." He turned his worried gaze to Bella and yanked her into a hug.

She smiled, though it was still more nervous than normal in Masen's opinion.

"You okay?" Whit asked.

"I'm getting there," she answered. She lifted her head and smiled up at him. "Hugs help."

He gave another tight hug and then all three climbed the ladder one after the other, letting Bella up onto the deck first. Masen was the last and he made it all of three steps forward before he felt his shirt being yanked.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Lee asked, still pulling on his shirt.

He snorted and turned toward her, but the worry on her face wiped his grin away. He held her tightly, wanting to erase all of her worry and bring her smile and her smart ass comments back. "We're all okay. I made sure of it."

"I know."

"So then stop worrying."

"I'm working on it. Now just shut up and hug me."

He laughed while doing exactly what she'd asked of him. He also noticed Whit giving Gopher a hug. They hadn't had a close call this serious in two seasons so he wasn't surprised that they were all a little jumpy.

"Alright," Lee said with a sigh. "Get away from me." She poked her tongue at him and then went after Bella, hugging her tight enough to make her squeak.

"Where's my sister?" Bella asked.

Lee lifted her chin toward the cabin. "She's inside somewhere."

"She doesn't know," Whit added. "She was grabbing drinks for us when it happened. We figured it would be better if she heard it from you."

Bella bit her lower lip.

"What's wrong?" Masen asked, putting an arm around her waist to comfort her.

"Well …" She looked at him with worried brown eyes. "She's either going to think you or I told them not to tell her, or she'll be too busy being angry I was on the skiff to care how she found out."

"There wasn't time to plot to keep her in the dark," he pointed out.

She shrugged. "I hope she'll realize that but I'm not counting on it."

"No time to find out like the present," Whit suggested.

Masen looked to Bella, feeling this was her call since it was her sister. If she wanted to wait until later, then they'd wait.

Bella nodded firmly. "I think Whit's right."

"Then let's have a team meeting," Masen replied.

Once they'd brought in all the gear from the skiff, Whit went downstairs to get Alice. Lee decided there should be drinks and snacks for everyone and Gopher followed her into the kitchen to help.

Masen stood back to see what Bella wanted to do. First, she double-checked that the gear they'd brought in was still stacked neatly in the corner. Then she sat on the sofa for all of two seconds before shooting up and starting to pace between it and the booth, chewing on her thumbnail the entire time. He wondered which was bothering her more—her sister, her first positive adrenaline rush, or her mild freak out on the skiff.

Rather than ask, he decided it was best to let her work out some of the energy on her own so he slid into the booth and got comfortable, knowing from his own experiences that the pacing could last awhile.

After a dozen or more passes back and forth, Bella came to a sudden stop and locked eyes with him. "I don't know yet how I feel about today."

"That's okay," he told her. "There's no hurry for you to figure it out."

"But I should know. I mean, other than being glad I didn't have a full on panic attack, I don't really have any thoughts yet."

"My guess is that you're still shocked that it happened at all, which is a pretty normal reaction, Guppy. It might even take a couple days before you've processed everything."

"What about you?"

"I'm here for you when you do figure it out."

"I know that," she said, sliding in beside him. "I'm asking how you feel about today."

"I believe we made the best of a bad situation. I don't think there's any way I could have predicted this or planned for it before, but now I know to watch out for it. And I am absolutely and extremely proud of you for how you handled yourself today."

Bella smiled and then snuggled in to Masen's side, laying her head back on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and seemed perfectly content and relaxed now, though he knew she really wasn't. He could feel it in the stiff way she was sitting propped up against him. He slipped an arm around her and pressed a kiss into her hair, trusting she would talk to him when she was ready.

Lee set a couple of bowls down in the middle of the table and sat across from them. "Don't eat all the olives, Mase. Sharing is caring."

He immediately plucked an olive from the bowl and popped in into his mouth. "I care enough to test them all and make sure they're fit for consumption."

"What kind of cheese is this?" Bella asked after selecting a cube.

Lee looked toward the kitchen. "Em, what kind of cheese?" It didn't escape Masen's attention that she was still using the man's real name over his nickname. It was probably going to take her a couple days to fully calm down and stop worrying for them all.

"Smokey Blue. My mom sent it in the care package I got last Saturday," Gopher said as he came over with the drinks. "Supposed to be able to pick out the taste of caramel and hazelnut in it. Figured it would be a good sweet for the salty olives."

He then turned his attention to Lee, putting an arm around her and pulling her close. "I know it's hard for you but you need to relax and stop thinking of all the things that could have happened. Focus instead on what did happen. We're all safe. No harm, no foul."

She smiled and rubbed his chest. "I'm working on it. Promise."

Masen reached his arm across the table and wiggled his fingers at her. After so many years of friendship, he knew there was no better way to calm her worries than with tangible, touchable proof that her loved ones were fine.

She grinned wide as she slapped her palm against his and grabbed his wrist. "So can we finally agree that you guys aren't allowed to go anywhere without me? 'Cause trouble always seems to find you boys when I'm not around."

Gopher nuzzled Lee's neck in response, causing her to squeal. Bella laughed at their teasing behavior while Masen wrestled his hand free of Lee's. She was pretty damn strong—and currently obliviously squeezing the hell out of his fingers.

"What's so funny?" Alice asked as she approached the table with Whit right behind her.

"Proving Lee wrong," Gopher replied with a laugh. "She's ticklish whether she admits it or not."

"Not," Lee said, smiling wide as she hugged his neck.

"Sit next to Bella," Whit suggested to Alice. "I'll force these two clowns to share on this side," he said, waving his thumb at Lee and Gopher.

Once everyone was situated, Masen leaned forward just enough for Alice to see him without Bella having to move. "Alright, team. I'm going to start this meeting by saying those four little words we love to hear … No harm, no foul. That means everyone is safe and sound and there were no injuries."

Alice was on him immediately. "Why would there be injuries? And why is there a meeting right now? You've only ever had them in the morning."

He chose his words carefully, wanting to keep her calm for as long as possible. "When circumstances beyond our control cause us to deviate from our plan, we have a meeting to discuss it and come up with ways to ensure it doesn't happen again. Like I've told you before, safety is our number one priority."

Alice ignored him and zeroed in on Bella. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

Bella smiled softly and put her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Relax, little sister. You just heard Edward say no one was hurt."

Alice responded with two sharp, clipped words. "What. Happened."

"Quit being overdramatic and calm it down," Masen ordered, locking eyes with Alice.

"You butt out! I'm talking to my sister."

"Right now, you're talking to your teammate and you owe her some respect."

"Well she owes me an explanation."

Bella responded before Masen could. "And I'll happily give you one as soon as you hush and listen."

Alice huffed but was otherwise silent.

"Our plan was to photograph any breaches that occurred from the skiff," Bella began. "Early afternoon isn't a very active time so we weren't expecting more than one or two. When we finally did have a breach, it didn't go as we'd planned.

"You know that Lee and Whit weren't seeing any activity from their vantage up top. What you don't know is that when you came inside to get drinks for you guys, there was finally a sighting. But the breach happened too close to the skiff for comfort so we got out of there."

Alice huffed again and also rolled her eyes. "You made it sound like something dangerous had happened. You should have left the area. In fact, you shouldn't have been out there at all. Being on that little boat is not necessary for your quest to be alright with seeing sharks. You can see them just fine from this boat."

"You're wrong," Bella replied matter-of-factly. "It is necessary. And something dangerous did happen. The shark managed to catch a seal but he couldn't keep hold of it. Being injured, it wanted some place to hide and it picked the skiff. Edward and I had to pick it up out of the water to make sure the shark didn't wind up either ramming the boat or landing on it in another breach attack. We barely got it into the boat in time. I saw the shark poke its head out of the water and swim past us seconds after we picked up the seal."

Masen hadn't seen the shark and he wondered if Bella really had. He didn't suspect her of lying, only of seeing what her panicked mind believed to be happening.

Gopher confirmed her sighting without any prompting. "She did not look happy to have her dinner taken. Soon as I was sure she wasn't near the engine, I drove us the hell out of there."

"We brought the injured seal to Seal Island and let it go there," Bella added. "It was the only thing that was injured. We're all fine," she assured her sister.

"Fine? You're fine," Alice said, making the words sound like an accusation. "Sure, you're fine. Why wouldn't you be? You're just putting yourself next to sharks that could hurt you! You know, if that's your big master plan, if you think getting hurt somehow makes up for Daddy, then you're just as crazy as Mom."

Bella's hand loudly made contact with Alice's cheek and left behind a bright red stain on her pale skin.

"Don't you ever bring them up like that again," Bella warned. "I love you. I would do almost anything in the world for you, Alice. But I won't let you talk to me that way. I won't allow you to use our parents against me like that."

Masen kept his face neutral though he wanted nothing more than to cheer Bella on for standing up for herself. While he by no means enjoyed seeing Alice get slapped, he was tired of seeing Bella struggle to balance her goals with Alice's feelings while her sister made no efforts to do the same for her.

He slipped his arms around Bella and pulled her close, putting a little extra space between the sisters. He felt the best way to handle the situation was to keep the meeting going. "Now that we all know what happened, let's talk about how to avoid it in the future."

"In our futures," Whit corrected as he took hold of Alice's hand. It was so damn hard for him, to be in love with Alice and friends with Bella. He'd talked to Masen about it some the other night; Masen made a mental note to pull Whit aside later and check in with him again.

"Alice, you're the team member who wants to avoid sharks the most. What's your best idea?" Lee asked. She quickly added, "Outside of not getting on the skiff."

Masen suddenly had the feeling that they were all locked in an adult version of Red Rover, waiting to see if Alice would come on over and join them or stand alone. Would she be a part of the team and contribute? Or would she deem them crazy shark people and leave?

After a very awkward and tense silence that went on far too long in his opinion, Alice finally spoke up. "You guys can pretty much expect a breach if there's a seal or the predation birds, right?"

"That's right," Lee agreed.

Alice purposefully avoided Bella's eyes and looked at Masen. "So when either of those is spotted, move the boat if it's too close. Don't film that one breach. Wait for one that's a safe distance away."

"But what if that's the only breach anywhere in our area?" Gopher countered. "How do we weigh the loss of data against safety concerns?"

His questions got the entire team talking, debating the pros and cons of both sides. The conversation eventually shifted to comparing true seal captures to decoy captures. Alice actually participated and even offered a couple more rational thoughts, leaving Masen hopeful that the girl had realized how wrong she was to use her parents against her sister.

Then again, maybe not. Alice bolted from the table as soon as Masen called the meeting to a close. Whit stayed long enough to make sure Bella was alright and then he went down to check on Alice. Masen hoped she wouldn't turn out to be more nightmare than dream for his best friend. It was weird to feel such conflicting things about Alice—annoyed with her treatment of Bella and hopeful for her relationship with Whit. Of course, she'd probably never believe he felt that way.

"So that was fun," Bella said dryly.

He chuckled at her unexpected sarcasm. "Sounds like you're ready for this day to be done, kapu."

She groaned and dropped her head onto her folded arms on the tabletop.

He wasn't really sure how to help her since the line between family and teammate was so thin when it came to her and her sister. He figured he'd just make it clear that he was here for her. He started massaging her shoulders and asked, "What's bugging you most right now?"

"Losing my temper. I shouldn't have slapped her. She just made me so damn mad."

He could understand regretting the action, but he wanted to make sure she didn't regret demanding respect from her sister. "Lee slapped the shit out of me once," he told her. "I was trying to give her some advice and ended up being an insensitive jerk in the way I delivered it. I don't remember the actual slap but I've never forgotten what she told me right after. She said the easiest way to avoid being slapped was to think before speaking. Alice didn't think, Bella. She was pissed off and she lashed out at you in the one way she knew would push your buttons."

"We've rarely ever fought so for us to be at odds so much this summer …"

He moved her hair aside and laid his head next to hers. "I know you want to protect her, but you've got to take care of yourself too. You can't be the only one giving while Alice takes."

"I know."

"If you want, we can go down and you can apologize for the delivery. Just make it clear the message stands."

"I don't know … Are we done with work for the day?"

"Pretty much. We need to write up the daily. I definitely have to call Esme before we send it. She'll have my ass if I don't tell her what happened before letting her see the report."

"So would it be alright if I took a shower first and then we worked on the daily?"

"Yeah, sure. Go take a long one and relax."

"I don't know about relaxing but maybe I can sort some stuff out in my head."

"Just don't get frustrated if you don't have all the answers right away. With the shark or your sister."

Bella nodded and gave a small smile. "Don't write without me, okay?"

It made him smile to know she still wanted to be involved with the report after everything that had happened today. "Come here," he said, his hands already on her hips and sliding her closer.

She lifted an eyebrow at him while fighting to control her smile. "Something I can do for you?"

He looked her up and down and then leaned in to say, "A couple things, but I've got one in particular in mind right now."

He enjoyed their banter, and he was curious about what she might have said in response, but he didn't want to wait another second to kiss her. He dove right in, his tongue twisting with hers from the start. Rather than slate his need to taste her, it multiplied it and he found himself struggling to back off and calm things down.

"You know if you have sex right here at the table, I'm burning it," Lee promised.

A giggling, red-face Bella pecked him on the lips and then dashed away, leaving him with Lee and her big ass smirk.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"I'm always here for ya, Mase," she replied, lifting her glass at him. "That's what best friends are for."

"And cock-blocking," Gopher added, laughing loudly as he sat down beside her. "Which I'm sure Masen will thank you for later, once the blood makes the return trip from his feeling head to his thinking head."

Lee snorted and giggled at her boyfriend's comment.

"Har-dee-fucking-har," Masen said, glaring at the both of them.

Lee grabbed an olive and tossed it at him. "You want to wait until the internship is over. I'm just doing my part as your friend to help you out."

"Why is that exactly?" Gopher asked, dumping the last few cheese cubes into his hand.

Masen thought about giving his standard answer of protecting their careers but decided at the last second to trust Gopher with the full truth. "If the internship is over, there's nothing to tie it to MMR. She'll know it's all about her. She'll know without a doubt she's kapu."

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

Alice paced around the small bedroom she shared with Whit as she waited for her uncle to answer his phone. She had done her best to understand Bella but now it was time to put an end to this insanity and their uncle had the power to do that.

"Hello, Sweetheart," her uncle greeted. "How's your afternoon going?"

"Horrible! Bella slapped me. Can you believe that? She goes out and does something stupid and dangerous and when I call her on it, she slaps me." She had stopped pacing but only so her left foot could tap away at the floor. "She's lost her mind, Uncle Carlisle. You need to step in and do something before she gets herself hurt. Or …" She swallowed and forced the words out. "Or killed."

"Slow down and start over. Tell me exactly what happened," her uncle instructed.

Alice plopped down onto the end of Whit's bed, crossed her right leg over her left, and began bouncing that leg in time to her angry explanation. "Bella decided that instead of staying here on the big boat where it's relatively safe, she would get on that little boat with Masen and go get close to sharks for some stupid pictures. Like the cameras don't all have expensive zoom lenses on them. There was some issue with a seal and then the monster shark was right there at the boat and she put her hands in the water to pick up the seal. I told her how insane it was to put herself in danger like that and she slapped me. I'm telling you, Uncle Carlisle, she has lost her mind. She's out here with these shark people and she's not making any sense anymore."

"Alice …" Her uncle paused for a few seconds. "I know Bella as well as I know you and she wouldn't lose her temper that easily. What did you really say to her?"

Her leg stopped moving and her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. "I might have accused her of seeing all this as a way to make up for Daddy."

After a short pause, he told her, "Disappointed doesn't really encompass how I'm feeling right now. You know how much that hurt her, just as you know you are the one that needs to make an apology here."

"But, Uncle Carlisle, I wouldn't have said that if she wasn't being so senseless."

"Sweetheart, have you considered at all that it's you who isn't making sense?"

She gasped and pulled the phone away to make sure it was really her uncle on the other end and she hadn't somehow accidentally called that Masen jerk. Never mind that she didn't have his number in her phone or would ever put it in there.

"How could you say that?" Alice demanded to know. "Do you even know what's really going on out here? Because it's not her petting dolphins. These are deadly, giant, ready to eat her monsters!" Her anger had boiled over into a fury, causing her to start pacing again.

"I know exactly what's going on. Bella calls me and sends me copies of the reports the team writes. I realize there are sharks in the water, and I'm all too familiar with how dangerous they can be. But I also respect Bella and her choices. I understand that as worried as I am for her, I cannot let my own fears impact her life. And I trust in Masen and the rest of the MMR team. They have shown they care deeply for Bella and want only for her to succeed."

"Masen? You trust Masen? He's putting Bella next to sharks on purpose. He's furthering his own agenda and using her to do it. Not to mention the idiot is always calling me overdramatic."

"Alice, I love you dearly, but you are overdramatic at times. In fact, you are being so right now."

"No, no I am not overdramatic," she argued, pointing at herself and yelling into the phone. "A stressed out octopus eats itself! That's overdramatic! I am perfectly reasonable for not trusting him."

"Have you considered your distrust of Masen is directly related to how much he cares for your sister? I have heard you refer to Lee and Gopher as crazy shark people, but you've only personally attacked him. You even confided in me about Whit's past and yet you don't seem to get as worked up about his work as you do Bella's or Masen's. To me, it looks like Masen is an easy target for all of your fear and frustration."

"You don't understand," she cried, crumpling to the floor between the beds. "She's in danger. Real danger. And she won't see it. How can I protect her if she won't see it?"

"Alice, it is no more your job to protect Bella than it is hers to protect you. You are sisters, not keepers. If you can't be supportive of your sister's current goals, then you shouldn't be on that boat. My suggestion is when you get here day after tomorrow, you stay here with Esme and me. Take some time to search your soul and find out what you really believe, both about your sister and Masen. You can't continue the way you have been without being a danger to the team, including your sister."

She sputtered for a few seconds before releasing a pitchy question. "How can I be a danger?"

"Bella's mind needs to be on her work and her surroundings. How will she accomplish that if she's worried about what you'll accuse her and Masen of next?"

"So that's it? I'm totally wrong and I need to get off the boat?"

"Yes and no. You have been wrong up to this point but if you're ready and willing to admit it, you can make the necessary changes to stay on the boat and be a part of MMR with Bella. But be very clear about why you are there. Bella doesn't need you on the boat to be successful. She was doing just fine before we showed up to check on her. If you are on the boat, it needs to be because you want to gain something from service to MMR. And, Alice, that will mean you provide a service to the sharks you clearly hate so much."

Alice wasn't sure what to say so she said nothing.

"Sweetheart, I love you so very much and I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings in any way, but it's my job to be honest with you and guide you as best I can."

"I know," she replied, her voice small, shaky, and unsure. This was the complete opposite of how she'd imagined this phone call would happen. "I love you too."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you and your sister day after tomorrow. I've missed you both."

"I've missed you too. Are you at least having fun with Esme in the meantime?"

He chuckled. "She's keeping me quite entertained."

"That's good," she said as the bedroom door opened and Whit stepped into the room. "I better let you go, Uncle Carlisle. I love you and I'll see you soon."

"I love you too, Sweetheart."

Alice closed her phone and met Whit's eyes, noticing right away that his expression was guarded rather than welcoming. "Hi."

"Why were you yelling about an octopus eating itself?"

She shrugged. "I read about it Masen's book yesterday and the image popped into my head while I was talking with my uncle."

"To me, talking is a give and take thing. Sounded more like you were demanding for him to see your point of view."

Alice made a face that scrunched her nose and showed a little shame for her behavior. "I just want someone to understand me for once and not immediately consider Bella to be in the right."

"That's your problem right there, Alice. You keep trying to plaster a right and wrong label on this and you can't. What's healing for your sister isn't required to work for you."

She hated to admit it, but his comment made sense. Rather than fess up to that, she told him about her uncle's idea. "Uncle Carlisle thinks I should stay in Gordon's Bay when we get back. He says I need time for soul searching and figuring out where I should be. He says I should only be on the boat if I want to gain something from working with all of you."

"I agree." Whit didn't even take a second to think about it and that hurt a lot more than she would have ever guessed. Even in her anger she'd thought briefly of how much she'd miss him if she stayed behind.

He knelt in front of her and took hold of her hands. "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, Alice," he assured her. "I'm not saying this out of anger for what happened earlier. I'm simply showing you respect by being honest. You can't keep going the way you have been. You can't force Bella to give up on her dreams just to relieve your worry. You also can't hate Masen for Bella's choices. She made her decision when she filled out the application, long before she ever met him.

"If you continue like this, then you may as well blame me for getting bit and inspiring Masen to study sharks. Blame Lee for helping us, Gopher for joining us, and Esme for encouraging us. Blame your sister and uncle for surviving. Because blame is the easy way out when you don't want to face your own hurt, guilt, and fears."

Alice's tears were a steady stream sliding down her face and wetting her shirt. "Why does everyone think I'm hiding my feelings?"

"Maybe that needs to be the first question you answer during your time off."

"You're not going to miss me at all."

"Don't be silly, Ally," he said soothingly while pulling her into a hug. "I'll miss you so much I won't be able to stand it. But you need this time off, just like I need to be here. You need to figure out why you're so determined to get Bella away. From what I've seen so far, it sure seems it's Masen you're afraid to lose your sister to, not the sharks. They just make a convenient cover."

She pulled back to study his face. "It feels like you've been waiting to say these things rather than that you're just now coming up with them."

He shrugged. "It wasn't my place to get involved before. It was a personal issue between two sisters. But the last two times you've lost your temper, you've affected all of us and the team's safety. No matter how much we care about a person, we can't allow them to cause issues with our team. That's an unacceptable risk that we will remedy. If it means someone has to be removed from our boat, then that's exactly what will happen. Safety is our number one priority, not sharks.

"And before you go off blaming Masen, he doesn't yet know that I was going to suggest you take a break. I wanted to tell you first and make sure you understood this isn't a personal attack, that my honest intention is to keep everyone I love safe. Your uncle beat me to it, though."

"You really feel that I'm putting your team in danger."

"Worse, Ally. You're putting my family in danger. Masen and Lee and Gopher—they're so much more than my friends and my co-workers. They're my brothers and my sister. My cheerleaders. My friendly ears and strong shoulders. And Bella is feeling more like family every day. Not because she loves my best friend. But because she's a strong person with a beautiful heart and a lot of empathy. I love them and I will do everything and anything I have to in order to protect them."

"That's all I'm trying to do for Bella. I just want to protect her."

"I'm talking bodily harm due to distraction. You're demanding compliance to ease your own fears. Until you can see that and admit it, there's no room for you on this boat."

"Are you sure it's just the boat?"

"We've shared far too much for you to ask that."

"I just … I need to hear it. Please?"

He smiled and tenderly held her face in his hands. "You will always have a place in my life and my heart. But a place on my team is completely up to you and what effort you're willing to put forth."

"So do I tell Masen I'm taking some time off or do you do that?"

"If you want to show this is a serious attempt to figure things out and not just a way to annoy your sister, then you address the entire team during tomorrow morning's meeting."

She hadn't missed the hard edge to his tone, and she felt certain she was right about it being out of authority and not anger. He honestly considered her a safety risk to his family and she felt awful for making him feel that way. Even worse, she was starting to worry he was right.

Whit brushed her hair from her face and smiled sweetly at her. "I hope you know that even though I won't be with you, I'll be here for you. You're welcome to call or email and I promise to respond the first free second I have."

His smile, his willingness to help, his love for her so obvious in his gentle stare … It all made her feel completely undeserving of his friendship, much less his love and devotion. Even if she was right about Masen and about her sister needing to leave, her being right shouldn't come at the cost of Whit's feelings. "I'm sorry I'm turning out to be more of a nightmare than a dream."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Ally," he said with a chuckle. "We're pretty early on in our story and you've got a lot of chapters ahead to turn it all around."

Alice replayed her phone call and her conversation with Whit, looking for something her uncle and boyfriend had missed, some sign that proved her right. If Whit had been the first to suggest she take some time away, she knew she would have blamed it on his friendship with Masen. But the fact that her uncle had been the first negated that reasoning.

Hearing Whit had been thinking of asking her to leave was another blow, and another item keeping her from blaming Masen. While he was Whit's best friend and they absolutely had a bond, Whit wasn't the kind of man to ask the woman he loved to leave just to placate his friend. Whit supported the person in the right, no matter who that person might be.

She had never been very good at self-realization or soul searching or whatever people liked to call it. She typically took each day as an individual event and did her best to make it an a-okay day. Now she was not only going to have to look at her past, she was going to have to imagine her possible futures. This would be a great time to be a little more like her sister and share in her analytical abilities, but Alice wasn't counting on luck being on her side with this one.

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

"Look at the eager beaver," Gopher joked as he settled into the empty seat beside Bella.

She rolled her eyes at him even as she smiled wide. "I'm not working on the daily. I'm just scrolling through the photos for personal reasons."

"I don't think anyone got a photo of the shark at the skiff. We were too far out for Lee to capture it and you and Masen had put down your cameras."

She twisted in her seat to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. "How did you know I was looking for that?"

His smile was full of tenderness and compassion. "You came face to face with the star of your nightmares. I'd want to make sure it was real too."

"You really saw it?"

"I saw it. And you. Guppy. I can't tell you how proud I am of you for not flipping out. I'm being perfectly honest with you here—I don't know that I could have done it, not with all you've been through. The strength and control that took …" He paused and shook his head. "Seriously amazed, Guppy. And damn curious too. How the hell did you stay so calm right then and later during our team meeting?"

The hurt look in Alice's eyes and her red cheek flashed in front of Bella's mind. She pushed the image and the guilt away, not yet ready to deal with it. She said, "On the skiff, I kept focusing on how much I trust Edward. And after that, I mostly just thought of my sister and how I needed to be strong for her."

Gopher nodded and then he shifted to face Bella, suddenly seeming hesitant and unsure. "As your friend, can I be honest with you?"

She immediately reached out to comfort him, laying her hand on his big shoulder. "Of course you can. You weren't expecting what happened any more than I was."

"This isn't about me or the shark. It's about your sister."

"Oh," Bella replied, sinking back into her chair. She hadn't planned on talking about her sister but if Gopher was bothered enough to bring her up, then Bella would talk about her. "It's not my pick of topics but go ahead."

"I've got sisters of my own. I know it's a natural instinct to want to step in and protect your sibling. But I also know I have to take care of me and I'm really worried you don't. Since she's gotten here, I've seen you put yourself in the backseat for her again and again. Sometimes maybe it was the right thing to do, but not all of the time. And not today."

"Is it really that noticeable?"

"It couldn't be any clearer if you two were wearing bells and waving flags." His answer meant that everyone was seeing it now, not just Edward.

"Guppy, what you experienced today is a big deal and you shouldn't have had to pretend otherwise. You should have felt free to be yourself and feel whatever it was you were feeling. You should have had the comfort and support of your sister. But you didn't even have mutual respect from her today. I know you think you owe her something for what happened to your parents, but you don't."

"How can you say that? If it wasn't for me—"

"If it wasn't for you, she'd be without a doting big sister on top of not having her parents around. Sad part is she doesn't see that at all and that's why she doesn't appreciate you. If you want to change that, if you want her to appreciate and respect you, you're going to have to stand firm and stand your ground. Don't put her first anymore. Don't apologize for standing up for yourself today, especially not the slap. The second you apologize for hitting her, she'll take it as an apology for everything and convince herself again that she's in the right."

"Em, I don't know if I can do that," Bella replied honestly. She had never been able to stand the thought of anyone in her family hurting, especially if she felt she was the cause.

"Then if not for yourself, Bella, do it for Masen. That man is doing everything he can to help both you and your sister but he's no longer sure where the line is between keeping peace between teammates and interfering in his kapu's relationship with her sister. He's stuck taking his cues from you so you have to draw the line with Alice and hold it."

Bella sighed and sunk her hands into her still damp hair; she'd come straight to the office after her shower.

"Talk to me, Guppy," Gopher urged. "What are you thinking?"

"I hate that I'm having such a negative effect on Edward. He's already admitted I throw him off all on my own so I can't imagine how awful Alice is making things."

"All of that is true, but it's also not your fault. It's not your duty to fix Alice either. She sure as hell isn't trying to help you. Look at all the times she's interrupted your conversations with Mase and the rest of us."

"She's not doing it on purpose. She's just so focused on her questions that she doesn't realize."

"Bella, that's the textbook example of selfish. Even if she's oblivious at first, Alice never apologizes or offers to come back later. She runs right over you. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think she's as innocent as you believe, especially when it comes to interrupting Masen."

She thought back on all of the interruptions in the past week, searching for that one time that her sister had said she was sorry or asked if she should come back. There were none and that discovery made Bella feel incredibly sad. The relationship she thought she'd had with her sister was completely one-sided. And there in the middle was Edward, confused and trapped between two polar opposite sisters.

"I like your sister. As a person, she's pretty cool," Gopher continued. "As a teammate, though, she sucks worse than Harvey Dent blaming Batman for Rachel's death. I want to see you and your sister both happy, and I really think the only way is for you to focus on you and leave her to figure out her shit."

She took a moment to think over everything he'd said and all that had happened since Alice's arrival. She thought of today and how it should have been a team-building experience rather than a divisive moment. She remembered her conversation with Alice in Edward's office, showing her the proof of his hard work. She had given her sister a set of rules to abide by, hoping to get through to her as much as protect the team from her. But Alice had chosen again to put her own wants and needs in front of everyone else and because of it the team had been focused on her rather than their work. Losing focus was one of the quickest ways for accidents to happen and one of Edward's biggest fears for the team.

Bella lifted her eyes to Gopher's, finding nothing but understanding and the love of a good friend in his warm gaze. "I told her she had to accept my choice to be here and that I wouldn't put up with any more attempts to play on my feelings and fears. If I want her to follow through, I have to show her I'm serious about it. So I'm not going to apologize, and I'm going to ask her to go home."

"Bella, I didn't mean for you to kick her off the boat," Gopher said quickly. "I just want to see you stand up to her and to keep her from affecting the entire team."

"I know that," she assured him. "And I know my sister. The way to prove to her that I'm serious is to follow through with the consequence I promised her. She proved today she's not part of our team so I'm going to prove I mean what I say."

"Only if you're sure that's really the best way to handle it. I'll back you up with anyone who disagrees."

She smiled and set her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you. I know it's just two words but I mean them so completely."

He grinned and puffed out his chest. "Look at me. Escaping a shark, saving a seal, and helping a friend all in the same day."

Bella laughed with him, shaking her head at the same time.

Edward appeared in the doorway. "Why does the sound of you two laughing worry me so much?"

"'Cause you're too damn untrusting, Mase," Gopher replied, giving Bella a secret wink. "You find two teammates laughing and immediately assume we're being nefarious. For shame."

"For shame!" Bella echoed, trying for a stern look and ending up giggling instead.

Edward ignored them both, sitting down behind the desk and starting to arrange his piles of paperwork.

Gopher leaned over to whisper to Bella, "Make sure you tell him tonight. He's not so great with surprises, especially when it involves the whole team."

She couldn't help her snort or her smart ass response. "Ya think?"

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

Bella felt her body being tugged. She forced herself to wake and popped her eyes open, finding Edward trying to scoot her over and cover her up at the same time. "Hi."

"Don't wake up. I'm just making a little room to join you."

"But I want to wake up. I want to talk to you."

He smiled at her as he tucked her legs under the covers. "We'll talk in the morning."

"I'd rather talk now if you don't mind."

"You okay?" he asked, stopping to study her face.

"Yeah, I just really want to talk to you tonight." Once he was in the bed with her, she said, "I guess piling all your pillows up wasn't the best idea since it made me fall asleep."

"True, but putting them and yourself in the direct middle of the bed ensured I'd have to move you and most likely wake you."

She picked his hand up from her stomach and slid her fingers through his. "I'm still not sure how I feel about today. It didn't get any clearer in the shower or going over it again for the daily. And I wasn't able to write in my journal tonight while I was waiting for you to finish up your work. But I did make some decisions about Alice."

Bella shifted to face Edward, finding his eyes to still be the ramped-up blue from an exciting day. "I want to apologize to you. What happened during the team meeting wasn't professional and I'm sorry for my part in it."

"You don't need to apologize, Bella. We're all family. We've all blurred that line ourselves a time or two."

"But I do owe you an apology. All of you." She felt a deep mix of guilt and remorse for what she'd put her team through, feelings that she knew he would immediately say she didn't deserve to feel. But her choices had gotten them here and had put her team at risk today.

"It was my idea to bring Alice aboard," she continued. "I thought if she was here, it would be easier to fix the rift between us. And I thought you could work your magic on her like you've done with me and help her fix her fears. But I was wrong. I brought her aboard for the wrong reasons and I put unnecessary stress on you. I can't fix my sister. I can only support her in her efforts to fix herself. The problem is, she doesn't believe there's anything wrong."

Edward wrapped both of his arms around her and pulled her against him. At first, he just held her and warmed her inside and out. But then he slowly began to respond to all she'd said.

"Bella, the changes you've seen in yourself, that's not my magic. That's your hard work. All I'm doing is offering you the tools to overcome. You're the one taking the steps and making the strides.

"As for your sister, you are not responsible for her. You told Whit that we make the choice every day to be responsible for our own actions and not blame our behaviors on our tragedies. You also told him Alice was choosing wrong and that none of us are responsible for that. You've said it. Now you need to believe it.

"The reason you brought her aboard, wanting to fix your relationship with her … It's honorable and it's a loving gesture. Not a single one of us would even try to fault you for that. I can't even say I wouldn't do the same if it was me with Whit or Lee. Hell, even Gopher.

"And you didn't put any extra stress on me. Not really. I could have refused to help at any point but I wanted to try to reach Alice. I wanted to help her if I could. The only thing I regret about her coming along with us is that she never gave me a real chance. Maybe if she had, things would be a lot different right now."

"Things are going to be different," Bella promised, looking into his eyes so he'd see the truth in hers. "I'm going to tell Alice she has to leave during the meeting tomorrow morning. I brought her here, so I'm sending her away. She doesn't really want to be here and I don't want her negativity around any of us anymore. She refuses to respect me, my choices, my team—it's time for her to go home."

"Do you really believe you'll be okay with that decision? That you won't end up regretting it and replaying it every single day?"

"This is what I want," she promised. "This is me standing up for myself and putting my needs first. I need to be here, I need to be focused, and I need to continue making progress. I can't have what I need with Alice around."

Edward tucked her head under his chin and hugged her tightly. "I know this wasn't an easy decision for you, and I agree it's necessary. The reason you had time to fall asleep while waiting for me—I was trying to find another solution, any other solution. But Alice's behavior today, the way she had the team more worried about her than themselves … If it will help your relationship at all, I'll tell her it's my choice."

"You are so sweet to offer, but it has to be me. She has to see this is my decision, that it was made because of her behavior. Otherwise she'll never take me seriously or stop blaming you for my choices."

He pressed his lips against her hair and squeezed her gently. "I'm proud of you. I'm also pretty damn awed by how strong you've been today."

"Well I do have an awesome support system, what with my always patient and encouraging mentor and my great friends."

"I sense a little sarcasm with that patient part, kapu."

"No, no sarcasm," she promised. "Just selective defining, as in you are absolutely persistent but hardly a blip on easy-going."

He called her a smart ass at the same time that he pinched her ass, getting a squeal and then a laugh out of her which he quickly cut off with a kiss. So sweet and soft and almost innocent to start with, and then building into a fiery pyre of passion and possession, all of which she was perfectly fine with and happy to accept and reciprocate. She was pinned to the mattress by the weight of his body just as much as he was trapped by her arms locked around his neck and her legs tangled up with his.

His rough stubble scratching her neck was quickly cooled by the softness of his lips. "I love you. I love who you are as a person, how strong you are, and how you make me feel when I'm with you. I love that you make me say girly shit like that just as much as you make me feel alive and needy."

She figured the best response was a physical one so she lifted his face, took half a second to admire the deep green of his eyes, and then kissed the hell out of him, pouring every bit of herself into the kiss and giving it all to him freely and with complete trust that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

They shifted together, aligning areas they'd been careful to keep separate, both of them fully aware of the layers between and deciding to leave them there. Agreeing without words that waiting to be together was the right thing to do, but so was sharing this moment and their need, and easing the frustration between and in them. Working together, her body lifting to meet each of his slow, powerful thrusts … Their kiss-swollen lips swallowing soft cries and deep moans. Fully immersed in this moment with only the needs and pleasure of the other on their minds.

Minutes or hours later, neither knew or cared, their sweaty, spent bodies remained locked in a lovers embrace. The only movement was her hand gliding through his silky hair, the gentle action calming them both and bringing them closer to sleep with each pass. Their minds were blank for the first time in a very long time for each of them and neither could come up with the word for the unknown but welcome feeling coursing through them. It had been so long since they'd known contentment, a true peace with themselves and their world—which was currently narrowed to include only the two of them.

They fell asleep that way, with him still covering her with his body and her hand in his hair half-way through another calming pass. Tomorrow there would be plenty of time for reflection and discussion. Tonight was only for the dreamless sleep they both deserved and needed.

"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"

A/N: We hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of this new year! We've also got a blog post from Lee and a picture to share with you over on the blog at masenmarineresearch