A/N: I would totally apologize if I knew it would help. But I don't think it will, so I won't apologize. Plus, I haven't much to apologize over. School's killer and I'm a senior so it's even worse. I'm busy. But I pushed myself to write this and I love it. This chapter is amazing to me. It just seems so….I don't know. This was the chapter I was looking forward to even if I tried to lie to myself by saying I wasn't going to be happy by finishing it. The horrible thing is, the BPOV in this chapter is my favorite. I can't help it. It just is. Anyway, hope you enjoy it in that sickeningly sad way.

Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight and the characters, I'd be so stoked. But since I'm just a tired high school student with little spare time, all I can claim is this story's plot, not the actual characters or the original story. How depressing.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING PART 13: TIME

EPOV

Cold; that was really the only way to describe the room when I had first entered. Detached and expressionless, silver and black covered most of the office. The room seemed to portray the expression on the face of the man behind the black desk when we came in. That is, until he focused in on Jasper and smiled so kindly that I wondered errantly whether he was related to Carlisle, my adoptive father. He certainly would have passed as his son with his light blond hair and kind yet authoritative blue eyes.

"Jasper, it's been too long," Peter said quietly, pulling Jasper into a brotherly hug and patting him roughly on the shoulder. Jasper winced in pain but did the same without much thought. His arm and shoulder were both ligaments that had suffered permanent damage during his time in the armed services. Scars littered his body from the sharp scraps of shrapnel that had been launched from a suicide bomber's explosives. He had been lucky in the unluckiest of missions. He never talked about what happened, but I could see why. Painful memories must have surrounded Iraq nowadays.

"Same here, Peter," Jasper said. "Unfortunately, this isn't exactly a personal visit." Peter nodded, the smile slipping away into the blank, unemotional stare that he had sported when we had first opened the door.

Jasper stood straighter when he spoke, his arms directly at his side and never wavering from there position against the seams of his khaki pants. The loose fists his hands fell into were awkward, the pads of his thumbs sitting on the forefingers. I vaguely wondered why he stood that way. Jasper spoke quickly, emotionlessly, as if he was completely detached and had been reading from a script.

"Illegal trafficking has been detected in Chicago. Their present headquarters has been found but the police have been infiltrated. There is no chance that they will be able to assist. We have two witnesses of the trafficking, both willing to give their testament to having seen this." When he was done, his shoulders relaxed and his fingers fell from their positions.

Peter looked aware and intrigued, perhaps even a bit angry. His expression became calculating when he stared at me. He nodded his head in my direction and Jasper nodded back.

"Name?" he asked.

"Edward Cullen," I responded.

"What exactly was it that you witnessed that makes you think this was trafficking?" I sighed and thought back.

"King had hired girls to entertain the men, or so he said. They had bruises around their legs and arms, a few had them along their face. They didn't look willing when the men started pulling them from the group. Then we talked to one…" Peter lowered his head slightly, his fingers entwined within each other as his forehead leaned on his erect forefingers.

"Who is 'we'? Were you not alone?"

"I was with my brother, Emmett." He nodded for me to continue.

"Bella was adamant about not telling us everything but there were enough slips that gave up a good portion of the information. She's from New York City and—" Peter cut me off with a stern look.

"You don't sound detached at all from this situation," he said accusingly. "Why do you care so much about this girl? Your attention didn't stay on the other girls for very long." I held back a growl. If he was getting at what I thought he was getting at, I was going to leave and deal with this myself. Like hell I'd be accused of something as disgusting as this.

"She's been missing for two weeks, her family has had no idea where she's been and she's only with those monsters because her family's well-being was threatened if she didn't go along with what they were doing," I hissed. "I talked to her, listened to what she had to say, and then promised I would help her. Of course I care about her first and foremost. I wouldn't be human if I didn't."

Peter took on a wistful expression, his eyes closed and his lips pulled up into a small smile, a smile of memories.

"You know," he said in a quiet, breathy voice. "This reminds me vaguely of when I first met Charlotte. She was a reporter from Germany who was in Iraq and had been taken hostage. Girl thought she was tough enough to take on two armed men. She almost made it too but unfortunately, her thunder was stolen when I came into the picture and took out the guys. She was so angry at me and we ended up fighting all the way back to base. Bravest girl I ever met; taking on various men, all armed with military grade rifles, takes some nerve." He looked at me.

"I'll help. But this has got to be done the right way." He gave me a hard stare that I returned. "If I find out that you are trying to make yourself a nuisance by pulling any stupid stunts like going in and saving her yourself, I won't hesitate to shoot you in the leg. This isn't high school and you aren't some tough guy saving a girl from a rough situation, you got that? I won't risk this being jeopardized for your attraction." I bit my tongue and nodded. My desire to just go up to him and push his head down and crush it into his metallic desk was thick. He seemed to have this stupid idea that I had no idea how to protect myself and someone else. I'd been through enough self-defense, martial arts, and various other fighting classes to know how to keep myself safe. I had promised Bella I would help. I wouldn't break the promise. But if I jeopardized this rescue mission thing Peter was trying to pull off, then I would do my best not to get in the way. However, I definitely wouldn't take lightly to being called a liability.

"So," he looked to Jasper with a smirk on his face. "Ready to put your skills to work, soldier?" Jasper grinned back before pulling a sheet of paper from the printer on Peter's desk and grabbing the pen Peter had held out for him.

"You know," Jasper murmured through his lips, his focus mainly on the paper before him, circles and lines being drawn in quickly. "I didn't think I'd ever get a chance plan another mission. I wonder what Alice would think of it…"

Peter laughed. "I know what Charlotte would think. She'd be wondering if she could help out. Lord knows she hasn't written a story as exciting as the one she wrote after Iraq." I just sat there and watched as plans unfolded, internally hoping that this wouldn't take too long. The FBI may have been on our side now, seeing as Peter was the boss and could make these sorts of decisions without looking to someone else, but time was of the essence. There was so little of it now and I didn't want to imagine what Bella was dealing with now. Every time my eyes closed, a picture appeared behind each of my eyelids. One was of the Bella I had seen from her high school yearbook, the one where she had been smiling and her eyes had held all the mystery of why she looked amused rather than happy. The other was a permanent reminder that I couldn't ever change time and meet Bella under better circumstances.

--

BPOV

The young children were crying, the girls were pulling them into hugs and I was panicking behind a blank face.

"Who did it?!" Victoria screamed, her claw-like hands fisted tightly. Behind her anger, I could see the hysteria, the fear that she held for her own safety.

Felix was calm as he leaned against one of the bunks, a small frown on his lips as he watched Victoria's erratic behavior. "Calm down, Victoria. It was probably just some obsessed client again. You know how some of them get once they have a taste of what we've got to offer." He smirked at the girls before his eyes landed on me, drifting up and down. I didn't like Felix but I was reminded of Emmett when I looked at him. He always had this hint of humor in his eyes. Plus, he was similar to Emmett in the sense that he found teasing me quite the pastime. But the differences far outranged the similarities. I couldn't imagine Emmett staring at my chest like Felix was. I blushed despite myself and glared at his cocky grin.

"Someone found us," she screeched. "One of them told someone where we were! They must have found out during one of the drives." She glared at us all and started walking in front of us, her heels clacking loudly.

"Who. Was. It?" she growled, looking from one end of the line to the other. Then her hate-widened eyes fell on me and I could tell there would be no reasoning with her. She walked up to me quickly, grabbed my neck in a piercing grip that cut off my windpipe and tried to crush it. I choked and made sputtering sounds as I clawed at her arm but she wasn't having that. With her other hand, she pulled at my hair and forced me onto my knees.

"It was you, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!" I shook my head and tried to breathe but it was impossible. Tears clouded my eyes as I fought off the fear that grasped me. I didn't want to live anyway. Surely this was more honorable a death than suicide. But just as I was about to accept that I could die this way, a tiny, perfectly high-pitched voice that was musical even in its choked tone echoed through the warehouse that housed us.

"Mommy! I want Mommy!" My eyes shot open from their unknowingly closed position and they searched for the source of the voice. Beautiful brown eyes met my own, round and glassy with tears, bronze curls falling into her face as she struggled against Rosalie's arms to reach me. I wanted to scream, to tell Rosalie to make her look away so she wouldn't see this. She was innocent. She couldn't see this. It was so wrong.

"Victoria, what is the meaning behind killing one of the girls?" Victoria gasped and loosened her grip only enough to allow me a chance to breath. I gulped up the oxygen, choking on it. Saliva filled my mouth and tears filled my eyes until I felt so overwhelmed that I sobbed loudly.

"She-she told someone where to find us, Aro! She was trying to give us away! She can't be allowed to live for such a thing," she pleaded, her hand tightening when my throat convulsed against her palm.

"I believe the American phrase is "innocent until proven guilty", Victoria. We best follow them if we are to survive in this country for very long," Aro said in that dark, airy tone he always spoke in. He looked at me, his figure blurred as I tried to clear my eyes of the tears that had formed by blinking them away. "Now, why don't we assure ourselves that Isabella is the culprit before we kill her? After all, there's no reason to kill her when she has already adopted a daughter." Victoria growled lowly and nodded.

"Up you bitch," she growled, pulling me to my feet by the hair. I winced but she took no notice as she dragged me to Aro and Caius, the latter frowning in disgust as I neared him.

"Now, Isabella," Aro cooed lightly, "did you tell anyone where to find us, anyone at all?" I shook my head only to be slapped across the face by a thin, bony hand. Caius hissed, "Answer out loud when questioned, wench."

Aro didn't take his eyes off of me when he spoke. "Now, now, Caius. Answers can be found without such violence. Where are your manners?" he teased lightly, his voice showing his humor in its lightness. "Isabella, please state your answer out loud." I felt like a child that was being reprimanded when Aro spoke to me. I preferred Caius' harsh treatment over it. At least then I could hate him for the pain rather than the humiliation.

"No, I didn't tell anyone," I answered quietly in my now-coarse voice, glad he hadn't asked a broader question. I wouldn't have been able to lie to him if he had asked if I had told anyone what was going on.

Aro hummed lightly in his throat as he looked at me thoroughly, his eyes searching my eyes closely as he grasped my hand, as if he expected answers to come.

"I cannot seem to be sure if she is telling the truth. There seems to be more to the story than is being told," Aro murmured. "Maybe an incentive to get her to tell us everything would be useful. Victoria, bring forward her daughter." My eyes widened as I saw Victoria struggle to pull little Vanessa away from Rosalie. What hurt even more was that Vanessa didn't fight Victoria at all. Instead, she just looked at me eagerly, as if she was getting just what she wanted by being dragged closer to me.

"No, no, please don't!" I begged. "I'll tell you anything you want. Just don't hurt her!" Aro shook his head. "We need to be sure that you have spoken of everything. Love is always the best incentive, isn't it?" He smiled. I pleaded him but as soon as Vanessa was in his range of contact, he pulled her to him and passed her to Caius.

"Take them both to the back room and get all the information. We cannot risk being discovered." And then another voice came through.

"Megmondtam neki őket hova talál minket de ők didn't követ az én -m oktatás illően," Katea yelled. "ÉN visszautasít -hoz él mint ez többé."

"What has she said, Victoria?" Aro asked curiously. Victoria just stared in shock at her. "Victoria!" Aro called impatiently.

"She's…she's admitted to it," she stuttered.

"Admitted to what?"

"She says that she was the one who told…" Aro's eyes widened in surprise. I turned to Katea and looked at her like she was insane and shook my head, my face showing my horror at what she was doing. She just remained blank but I saw her left eye wink quickly at me, telling me it was going to be alright. But there was something wrong. There was something she wasn't warning me about and she knew it. This wasn't going to end well. I could feel it.

"Ön megenged -hoz beszélő -ból -unk elhelyezés -hoz valaki?," Victoria questioned aloud and to which Katea nodded. "Stupid girl," Victoria growled. "Honor and integrity will only get you killed." She nodded to Caius who was holding something shiny and silver in his hand. I couldn't see it until his sleeve shifted when he raised his arm. It was like a slow motion scene playing out before my eyes. A shining silver gun was revealed and when Caius' finger pulled back, the trigger followed along. The body of the gun shuddered as a tiny bullet was expelled from the gun. The grim sadness in Katea's eyes shone when she stared at nothing in particular as the bullet pushed its way through her chest cavity and blood seeped through her skin as she fell to the floor. She wasn't wearing enough that the blood could seep through her clothes so it simply rolled off her skin and onto the concrete.

Hungarian Translations:

Megmondtam neki őket hova talál minket de ők didn't követ az én -m oktatás illően. ÉN visszautasít -hoz él mint ez többé =I told them where to find us but they didn't follow my instructions properly. I refuse to live like this any longer.

Ön megenged -hoz beszélő -ból -unk elhelyezés -hoz valaki? = You admit to speaking of our location to someone?

I grabbed Vanessa and held her to my chest as she cried and mumbled, "Mommy." Rosalie and the other girls and children were screaming and crying but I didn't cry any longer. I saw what Katea had done and what she had gifted me with. Time was of the essence and she had just given me more. I stood with Vanessa in my arms, the weight not bothering me as much as it probably should have. It felt comforting to hold her tightly, to know that she was still here with me, her heart beating against mine.

"I expect double the work from you, Isabella," Aro said quietly as he watched Felix walk over to Katea. I didn't respond. Vanessa was drifting in my arms as the smell of rust, salt and tears made me sick and made me mourn with empty eyes. I had time.

A/N: This chapter didn't write itself but it made me think. I'm such a drama freak when it comes to writing. I'll miss my imaginary character, Katea. She was nice.

Oh, good people, I wrote a story some time ago called Two Minutes to End, Two Minutes to Begin. Sadly, it wasn't at all popular. But then I wrote a second chapter to it. I loved it. But I accidentally deleted the entire story when posting the second part to it so the reviews that had once been there are now gone. No one has reviewed the second part either. –pouts- Would anyone be willing to read it? I actually really do love it but no one has taken the time to look it over….I'm sad! –wails- Please….?

Oh, and please read the story I am now betareading. It's called Existentialism by MonSangEstMonEncre. She's one of the best authors on this site but people always seem to skip over her stories. I want you all to read it. It's amazingly good. She's so much better than me.

AUTHORS ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD! PLEASE DON'T FLAME THEM (AND EAT THEM). THAT, CHILDREN, IS KNOWN AS CANNIBALISM AND IS FROWNED UPON IN MOST SOCIETIES.