Chapter 11

The Other Side

Riley took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders. It was all a little hard to believe, but yet here he was, standing with a knife in his hand – mostly because they didn't trust him with a gun- ready to enter the boathouse with her whacked out family. They were hunched behind one of the cars in case someone was watching them from one of the top windows. He shook his head to clear it, but thought after thought just came tumbling in. He should have known there was something different about her. She was always on edge, secretive. Now he knew why, she was a fucking MI6 agent. He knew her family was well known for playing pranks, he heard her talk about the crazy things they've done to each other, but this was no prank. They were seriously geared out for this and focused at the task on hand. He looked around the Cullen clan, or should he say team? He had to admit, they looked the part. Most of them looked stone cold, the others looked ready to kill, especially the blonde in the killer heels. She must use those for weapons. Even Renesmee looked like she had been doing this her whole life.

"So this is how the other half lives huh?" He leaned in to whisper in her ear. The tall blonde and the guy with the missing tongue had gone around the back and the Commander and the short woman with him had disappeared through the doors of the boathouse. They were waiting outside with the bronze haired guy and the dark haired girl, Edward and Bella if he had it right. They were waiting for some sort of signal from the Commander to enter. Renesmee turned to look at him over her shoulder, her gun pointed at the ground.

"The other half?" She whispered back, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the secret agent half." He could see she was trying not to laugh. Edward shot her a warning glance and told both of them to shut it and Bella just glared at Riley. He shrunk back, afraid she might attack him with one of those guns.

"Trust me, this is a normal day for us," Renesmee whispered before turning back to face the entrance of the boathouse. Something in her voice made Riley believe her, that this was the norm for her. He couldn't imagine it, the Renesmee he knew was soft and sweet and maybe a little vulnerable, but this painted a whole new picture for him, it showed him just how well she could play a part. She was playing him, pretending to be someone she was not, but she was strong, something that shined through even when she was one of her alter ego's. The whole adopting thing made everything even clearer, she was adopted by MI6, trained by them and now she worked for them. He could also understand why she didn't join the rest of her family at Dartmouth, not only was it because she was assigned to Alec but maybe it was just to get away from the double life that came with being a spy. Right now she was handling it perfectly, but the situation called for it. He heard the other Cullens talk about this Dr. Squirrel, he sounded like he should have been locked in a padded cell a long time ago.

"That's it, they are taking way too long, I'm going in," Bella announced before moving toward the entrance.

"Commander said to wait," Renesmee hissed, checking to see if the surrounding area was clear before pulling Bella back to their cover. Bella just shrugged her off and gave her one of her death glares. Riley cringed, if looks could kill that girl's body count would be a lot higher.

"Commander is taking too long, I'm going in," she turned on her heel before moving back toward the entrance. She was halfway there before there before there was a gunshot. Bella froze on the spot before sinking to the ground. Renesmee and Edward were the first ones to move, cries of pain coming from both of them. Time seemed to move in slow motion for Riley. Edward and Renesmee moved toward the body, their guns aimed upward at the windows of the boathouse as they fired mercilessly at the unseen enemy. Edward grabbed Bella's limp body, tossing it over his shoulder before running back toward their cover. Renesmee was hot on his heels as both of them hunched behind the car again. Riley stared wide eyed at Bella; dark stains on her black clothes and a giant hole in her chest.

"She's…oh fuck…" Edward and Renesmee were breathing hard, pain etched across their faces. Riley felt his stomach twist. This, the blood and death, it was normal for these people. HE could see them trying to mask their pain; they still had a task at hand. For them it was you win some, you lose some. Tomorrow there would probably be a new agent in the field, Bella already forgotten. He felt like he was going to be sick, someone just got shot and killed in front of his eyes.

"Riley?" He didn't hear Renesmee at first; everything was just one big blur. He kept seeing how Bella stopped and crumpled into the earth, like she was nothing, like she was dust. "Riley!" Renesmee yelled, pulling his attention back to her. She took the knife from him before pushing her gun into his hands. The weapon felt heavy in his hands, not because of its actual weight but because of the weight that came with holding a dangerous weapon like this. He wanted to give it back to her, but his brain had switched to autopilot and it was following her commands. She briefly explained how it worked and disengaged the safety. "If you see anyone, shoot. Got it?"

Riley nodded numbly before rising to his feet along with them. "I'm sorry-" he started to say but both of them cut him off with a sharp look and he just shut up. They crept along the side of the building, making sure to stay out of the view of the windows. They didn't need another body to drop. This was like a bad James Bond movie, only he didn't get to sleep with the hot agent before meeting his doom. He followed Renesmee and Edward to a side door, which Edward was about to kick in before Riley stopped him.

"Whoa, we're just going to go in there guns blazing?" Renesmee and Edward shared a look, as if they were having a silent discussion about the plan, before both of them shrugged.

"Yes." Edward kicked in the door and both of them disappeared into the boathouse. Immediately gunshots and cries filled the air. Riley looked at the blackness, he could run away right now and go back to the safety of Seattle, complete his law degree and have a nice, safe life without the world of cloaks and daggers, or he could go in there to help the woman he loved with all his heart. There really wasn't much of a choice.

"I'm coming Renesmee!" He yelled, holding the gun up as he ran inside, firing blindly everywhere he went and hoping he'd hit something evil.

"You're a terrible shot Riley," someone snickered and Riley opened one eye. Who would be laughing at a time like this? The lights suddenly clicked on and he blinked, shielding his eyes. "MI6 would never recruit you." The same voice laughed and his eyes adjusted to the bright lights. He blinked again, this time from the shock at what he was seeing.

All the Cullens stood in front of them, or well, most of them were standing. Some of them were doubled over in laughter, barely breathing so hard they were laughing.

"I'm coming to save you Nessie!" One of the guys imitated him, waving his hands above his head before collapsing into another fit of laughter. Riley looked down at the gun in his hands, it was fake, a large 'BANG!' sign sticking out the barrel.

"But...but…" He was so confused right now. So this was a prank after all? "How did he not see this coming?" He shook his head, he should have known. Renesmee smiled at him, walking over to him.

"I swear I had nothing to do with this, I was just forced to play along." She smiled a dazzling smile at him and he couldn't help but smile back.

A couple of hours later all the Cullens, including the recently back from the dead Bella, were sitting around the dining room table, exchanging stories of their latest prank. Renesmee just smiled, playing with her food as she listened. She missed her family so much, and a prank this elaborate could only mean that they missed her too. As funny as it might have sounded, this was her family's weird way of telling her they loved her. Plus they had to scare her boyfriend, and she was very proud of them for accomplishing that task. It was a huge prank. They borrowed the warehouse from Mr. Stanley, who used to store his boat there. They spent a week getting it 'MI6 ready' and hooking the place up with sound effects and props. Their weapons were all brilliantly designed fakes, made with the purpose to look very realistic. Bella's shooting was the hard part to stage. They had to rig up fake blood and a whole lot of make-up to make the hole in her chest. Luckily Alice was the queen of make-up and after watching a couple of You-Tube videos she could finally create a realistic looking hole. The rest was just theatrics. They should have their own TV show, Renesmee was sure it would get millions of hits.

After dismantling everything they headed back home to clean up and get ready for dinner. Renesmee had missed home. She missed the large three story Cullen house with all its charm, warmth and memories. Riley finally had the chance to greet everyone properly, though he has yet to receive any sex talk from Emmett. Renesmee was relieved; you couldn't exactly give a twenty year old who has already had sex 'the talk.' It would be really awkward as well, since they've already slept together, but her brothers did not need to know those kinds of details.

Riley was charming as ever and she could see the approval coming from everyone, especially Edward. Since her last boyfriend turned out to be a crazy psycho, having a nice and normal one who wasn't hell bent on destroying her and her family was a refreshing change for all of them. She took another sip of her wine, not wanting to think about Alec and what he was doing. Probably scheming or having sex, or doing both at the same time, she wouldn't put it past him. She didn't want to think about his war threat right now, not when she was back with her family.

"Hey Nessie, later the boys and I are going to break out the sausage and tomato. Wanna watch this time?" Emmett asked and she laughed.

"Hell yeah!"

There we go, let's get this moving again. Lots of trouble ahead.

Chloe