Chapter 6 – Definitions of Beauty

Embassy in Brazzaville

11:48am GMT +1

BPOV

It had been nearly 10 hours since I'd last seen Edward. Immediately upon arrival, Rose and I had been rushed off to the medical wing along with Ben. It wasn't long before we were separated from even him, as we were taken to a separate room with our own special doctor. He stitched my arm with perfect precision to reduce any scarring. USTSC didn't want us looking like warriors, and let's face it, looking all pretty has its advantages. Though I had never worked as a valentine operative, the possibility was always there and the coalition liked to keep its options open.

We were then escorted to a two man dorm room of sorts and given what we had dubbed our RTH bags. (Return to Humanity) We packed two them before each mission so that we could look just like every day people on our way out. One came with us as part of our regular gear and the other stayed behind. If needed, USTSC would send the spare to the necessary location. Mine was just a basic black duffle filled with clean clothing, toiletries, makeup, and a spare ipod.

After a shower and some food, I had crashed without a second thought. To say I had been exhausted was an understatement. I didn't even remember getting into the little twin bed. Rose had woken me about an hour ago so we could make the noon debriefing. I was definitely looking forward to getting some fucking answers to what went wrong.

As I walked into the conference room I collided with a warm and very hard chest. I looked up and met Jacob's dark brown eyes.

"Jake! Oh my god! Are you okay? Is Alice? Where is she?" I rattled off like a lunatic, but I had been very worried.

Jake gave me a comforting smile as he leaned down to hug me. "I'm fine, Alice is fine. She'll be here in a moment."

I felt relief that I hadn't lost anyone else on that horrible night. I didn't bother asking Jake the details because he would just have to go over it again once we started and I personally hated to have to go over everything twice.

I took my seat in the conference room just to jump back up when Alice came in. Rose and I practically tackled the little pixie in our attempt to be the first one to hug her. As much as losing Eric and Mike hurt, losing Rose or Alice would have been a blow that would have taken a lifetime to recover from and I needed to reassure myself that she was okay.

At precisely 12 o'clock, Caius came in and we took our seats around the large oak table. Over the course of the next 4 hours a few of my standing questions were answered but for every answer I found it seemed like three more questions popped up in it's place.

There was a possibility that the whole mission had been a set up from the beginning. The how's where still unknown as well as most of the why's. Intel showed that it may have been set up by Aro Volturi in an attempt to apprehend me, but we had no idea why. I had never crossed paths with him so I didn't understand what he could possibly want with me. The only reason Rosalie hadn't been killed was because the mercenaries that made the snatch hoped to rake in a few more bucks later on with the ransom. I knew that for the first time Rose was thanking her lucky stars that everyone thought she was just another spoiled rich kid.

I also learned that it was shortly after we separated from Jacob and Alice, that Alice had discovered the communications hack. It had been implemented earlier that evening and Seth had no way of letting us know in time. Jake had snuck on ahead after the discovery only to find the bodies of Mike and Eric and no sign of Rose and me. He then doubled back, collected Alice, and headed deeper into the jungle. They had been picked up about a week ago after Alice had managed to rig the communications equipment. We now knew we had a mole in the unit. That did more to piss me off that being held captive had.

Which led us to the last tid-bit; because of the mole, the rescue op had to take place outside the unit to prevent the loss of another team. Unfortunately, black book ops units tend not to get along that well and no one wanted risk there men for another agency's screw up. We were about to be called a loss when someone pulled some really big strings and got Edward's team to do it. No one knew who or why.

I had a damn good idea who. Now, I wanted to know why.

7:13pm GMT+1

EPOV

I leaned back with my eyes closed in the chair. I wasn't really tired, just impatient and I didn't want it to show. I cracked my lids to see where everyone else was. Jasper was stretched out on the lobby sofa with his arms tucked under his head and his feet crossed on the arm rest. Garrett was leaning up against a pillar with his hands tucked into his pockets. Emmett was pacing the seating area like a caged tiger.

I couldn't help but smirk. He was just as impatient as I was.

We had been told that because of the standing threat against what was now on all of us, we were told to pair up and scatter around the globe before returning to DC. One Beret and one agent per team. I was teamed up with Bella automatically. Emmett practically looked ready to beg if we didn't put him with Rosalie. I personally wondered what she looked like under all the blood and dirt. Jasper had picked Alice so Garrett wouldn't have the awkward position of traveling with another woman, with him being married and all. That left said Garrett with the only male agent they had left alive over here, someone named Jacob.

Bella's team had the names of the cities that we would be going to and we had the mode of transportation to the airport. It was more a matter of the higher ups trying to prove who had the bigger dick than anything to do with security.

The elevator finally opened to show two people with the biggest height difference I think I had ever seen. The man was easily 6 and half feet and obviously Native American. The woman beside him was unlikely to clear 5 feet and reminded me of a pixie. At first I was going to write them off until they walked right up to us.

The little one danced away from her companion and came right up to me and held out her hand. I cocked an eyebrow as I shook it and was rewarded with a megawatt smile.

"Hi! I'm Alice Brandon, you must be Edward," she announced cheerfully. "Bella has told me so much about you." I smiled and cringed simultaneously. I really hoped she was less conspicuous in the field.

Jasper sat up at hearing the name of his traveling companion and almost fell off the couch when he saw her. I had to contain my laughter because I should have seen it coming. With her spiky black hair, large doe eyes, and colorful style, she was exactly Jasper's kind of cute.

Jasper finally managed to compose himself long enough to ask where they were headed.

Alice flashed him another of her smiles. "I'm headed to Sydney. Care to escort me?" She held out her arm in expectation.

Jasper immediately tucked her hand into his elbow and headed out to catch the cab that would take them to the airport. I had the feeling Jasper would have followed her if she said she was going straight into the 9th circle of hell.

The man I assumed was Jacob cleared his throat. "Umm…who's coming with me to Rio?"

Garrett straightened up from the pillar. "That would be me. We got stuck with the bus route to the airport."

Jacob nodded as he pulled on his back pack strap and followed Garrett out and presumable to the bus stop. I had a feeling that was going to be a rather silent trip. It appeared that Jacob didn't talk any more than Garrett did.

"So did they rent you anything good?" Emmett asked out of the blue.

I looked up at him with confusion. "Huh?"

"You're getting the rental to take you to the airport, right?"

"Oh yeah. Umm…just some economy car. You're the one with the sweet ride this time."

"That's right…" He tapped his chest and then held his arms out to his sides like some kind of rapper or something. "I get the limo."

A feminine voice interrupted. "Do you expect that limo to help you out some how, McCarty?"

Emmett's eyes got huge as he turned to face Rose. If it was for the fact that I knew her voice, and that not too many women are almost 6ft tall, I would never have recognized her. Her casual red dress subtly showed off a body that was designed for the runway and her golden blonde hair fell well past her hips. I noticed that while I could appreciate her stunning beauty, it stirred nothing in me. Emmett on the other hand was having trouble staying coherent.

I gave Rose a half smile before I stepped back and let them talk until Rose said something that caught my attention.

"I'll see you when we all get back home, Bells. Enjoy your day in Athens."

I looked around Emmett just as Rose was standing back up from giving Bella a kiss on the cheek. Emmett clapped my shoulder and left with Rose, leaving me to get my first real dirt free view of Bella after 12 years.

She had grown out her hair and the thick mahogany waves fell down to her waist. She didn't wear glasses anymore and her body had filled out with both curves and muscle tone. I also noticed the things I had been missing from all those years ago. Her deep brown eyes and full lips that still kept me awake some nights. The alabaster skin that begged to be touched just so you could know if it was as soft as it appeared. Even the small freckle just above her right eyebrow that most people would never even notice.

I had always thought she was beautiful, now it was just easier for the rest of the world to see it.

The Grande Bretagne Hotel

Athens, Greece

8:03am GMT+3

EPOV

Both Bella and I had been so exhausted that we both fell asleep on the plane and then again as soon as we had check into the hotel as Ethan and Brenda Platt. We had orders to remain in the city for the day and then tonight we would check out and drive up to the airport in Thessaloniki to catch a red eye flight back to DC.

Before we did anything I wanted to talk to her. I had woken up about an hour ago and had spent the time standing by the balcony door just watching her sleep, too nervous to wake her up. Finally, I ordered room service as an excuse to wake her.

After breakfast was delivered, I went back into the bedroom to wake Bella. I brushed a strand of hair back from her face; she stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. I place a hand on her arm to shake her and the next thing I knew, I went face first into the wall and back on to the floor.

"Oh god, Edward! I'm sorry! I didn't realize it was you!"

I shook my head to clear it and looked up at Bella kneeling on the bed. If I had any injuries I sure as hell didn't notice them right now.

I faintly remembered a time when I asked Bella if I would ever get lucky and catch her sleeping in her underwear. Well, I finally got lucky.

As I stood up I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her thin white camisole hugged her breasts and her nipples were plainly visible. My eyes traveled lower to wear the camisole left an expanse of flat stomach bare before they came to rest on the tiny scrap on black material that somehow passed as underwear. The white sheet was wrapped around her knees and lower legs.

"Edward," she whispered.

My eyes shot back up to her face, to her wide brown eyes and gently parted lips. Before I could think better of it, I sunk my hands in to her hair and brought my lips down to hers.