A/N: For anyone who had a mixed week of good and bad, I feel you. Weekend updates are my favorite and I've been blissed out.

Upon arriving to my room, two massive pieces of luggage rolling behind me, I found that the scenario I'd expected was not in front of me. Part of me was relieved that my efforts to keep Bella locked up had worked, the other half was screaming to find her and make sure no harm had come in my absence. We'd scarcely been apart since she came to Carlisle's hotel. Even when the medic fixed my shoulder, spurts of blood shooting out as he tried to compress the wound, she stood—on shaky legs—close.

The bathroom door was damaged at the seam. It had dents where the chair pressed unrelentingly against it. I had assumed Bella could get through the barrier and would be waiting for me when I entered the room. She could have taken the flower pot and bashed me over the head, tripped me and knocked me out, squirted toothpaste in my eyes and beat me with the ironing board.

Pulling the bathroom door open I tentatively peeked inside. The powder I'd thrown at her streaked the mirror and floor from a few days ago. It had gotten damp and clung to every surface. Part of the mirror was gone, the very bottom corner.

On the floor, curled into a tiny ball that would have had my joints popping, Bella cried.

I threw open the door, hesitant to go near her in this state. Beside her head was the piece of mirror that had been broken off. I tiptoed around her to grab it, but she beat me to it.

"Why are you crying?" I asked. My tone was harsher than I'd meant it to be. Her close proximity to a weapon pushed my instincts to the forefront. "Bella, what's wrong?" I asked once more, calmer.

She said nothing. Her legs pulled tighter to her chest and she rested her head against her knees. I crouched down, one hand on the counter, the other on the floor to keep my balance. Some distant thought tried to argue that she wouldn't attack me when her fear of being alone was all consuming. I was the only one she knew here—the only one who would protect her.

In a movement so quick all I caught was her right hand extending outward, she threw the mirror piece to the wall. It shattered all around while the sound echoed inside the bathroom. I winced and placed a hand on her waist.

I could handle the violence thing. I was good with physical outbursts, was prone to some myself, but the… womanly thing, well, I couldn't do it. The crying only got louder as I grimaced and kept my distance.

"I spoke with Carlisle," I tried, dully. "Got two tickets to Washington."

She choked out a word, or maybe a sound, then cleared her throat. "Why two?"

Her face turned towards me and I shrugged. I sat cross legged beside her, shaking off my hand after I set it in some powder. Bella slowly unfurled herself and propped herself up on an elbow. I tried not to cringe as her tear streaked face came into view; red puffy eyes looked up at me warily.

Drawing in a deep breath, I spoke, "Maybe I'll come, too."

She didn't look as happy as I thought she would. "You locked me in a bathroom," she said, voice cracking.

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"What if a murderer came and tried to kill me? I'd be dead on the ground and it would be your fault. You can't leave like that. I don't want… what happened before to happen again. I didn't like it."

"You can't expect me to shelter you for the rest of your life—"

"Yes I can!" she screamed. Her shriek cut me off and I put my hands up in defense. "I'm not doing it again. And definitely not with two more people. That extra ticket better be for you."

I pulled her up from the floor, ignoring her protests. She morphed into an appendage at my side as we strode from the bathroom to the bedroom. Eyeing the luggage she started to gather random articles of clothing from my dresser.

I sighed in irritation before helping Bella pack.

--

"This isn't a vacation," Carlisle sighed. "Get your ass where you're supposed to be and do your job. If you really don't want to do this then just kill her."

"You're so funny," I snapped.

The signal to my cell phone cut out for the millionth time in the last two hours. Bella didn't pay me any attention as she sang along to some song on the radio. Her hand was stuck through the window while scattered raindrops smacked her skin. She looked more at ease than I'd seen her in the short week since we'd met.

After the longest plane ride of my life, in which I was forced to the middle seat while Bella got the window and some kid spilled soda on my lap, we found the car Carlisle had gotten and went on our way. It was mildly better than the car I had while chasing James. It went up to ninety for a few minutes before the engine started to gurgle something awful.

Bella grabbed my phone from where I'd thrown it on the dash. She flipped it open and played with it for a few minutes before bringing it to her ear.

I snatched it from her, closing the phone and sticking it between my legs. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was calling my dad," she said angrily. "We're going to his house so I should at least call him and let him know."

I rolled up the windows and pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders. Fucking thirty degrees, raining and night, so she pulls down the window. My foot tapped against the dead pedal and I pinned her with a glare when she made to grab my phone.

"That's not how it works, Princess. You were a hostage for how long? Do you think telling your police chief daddy that you're back and making a big fanfare about this is smart?"

"Yes."

"It's not. You'll tell him when we get there in an hour."

She pawed at my phone again. I moved my leg and she scratched my thigh.

"Give it to me, Edward!" she shouted and lunged across the center console. I pushed myself to the door and swerved the car so she did the same. "Ow! You're an ass!"

"You should have worn your seatbelt," I reasoned. "Sit back and relax."

"No!" She lunged again, this time with her whole body and I rolled onto the side of the road before we crashed. Her hand scrambled for my thighs and as she grabbed at the antenna before it fell to the floor. Instead of going for it she palmed my whole cock and squeezed tight.

I huddled over, gasping as she relentlessly tortured my balls. "What the fuck?" I wheezed.

"Gimme it," she murmured.

"Okay!" I screamed. "You can have it!"

She let go and slid her arm down. When she was at her elbow I pressed my legs together and stopped her. She threw her free hand forward and I grabbed it. She was bent awkwardly in her seat, teetering on the edge of almost falling to the floor and almost into my crotch.

"Just give me the phone," she sighed exasperatedly.

"You must be out of your fucking mind if you think I'd fork it over. You weren't a police officer or a bounty hunter so don't you think for one minute—"

She bent forward and put her mouth on my crotch.

She breathed into the denim until it burned, but God it felt good. I shamefully got hard really fast and used my free head to pry her head back. Bella looked up at me with hooded eyes and licked her lips.

"If you give me the phone I'll suck your cock."

I gulped. "Really?"

"No." She slammed her head down and I felt teeth biting into me before I released her and cupped my crotch from the horrible, awful pain that now radiated throughout my entire being.

Bella snickered as she grabbed my phone and pressed send twice. I tried to ignore the pain as I dove across the console, my seatbelt strangling me as I did so. She broke out into a fit of laughter even as the voice on the other end picked up the phone and started to question.

Unbuckling, I threw myself at her, pinning both wrists to the window. Her father was still speaking and I tried to throw out my most professional voice as my balls burned.

"Can I interest you in a new phone service?" I squeaked.

Bella broke out in new laughter. "You sound like me!"

I shut the phone with my chin and shook her hand until it fell to the floor. My foot smashed into it until I saw the battery fly out.

"I can still use a payphone," she said petulantly.

"Bella," I pleaded. "Please, just one more torturous hour and you can talk to your dad all you want."

"I'll be good if you abide by my rules." Her eyes narrowed when mine did. "You have to stay at my house, not a hotel."

I barked out in an unmanly laugh and pulled my legs together as pain shot up my spine. She released herself and crossed both arms over her chest. She looked so serious it only made me laugh harder.

"Y-your dad is chief of police. Do you know how stupid that request is?" I giggled.

"What? Are you wanted for something?" she asked.

I nodded my head as the laughter died down. "You witnessed why. I shot that bastard straight in the head."

"Yeah, but it was for self-defense."

"Doesn't matter. They take one look at my record and my ass is in jail."

She pursed her lips as I started up the car again. "What did you do?"

I shrugged. "A bit of this, a bit of that."

"What exactly was 'this' and 'that'?" She leaned forward and put her palms on my thigh."

"Seatbelt. And move your hands, my dick still hurts."

--

The car ride to Forks was pure hell. Bella had thankfully stopped grabbing my crotch and instead went for another tactic that involved belting songs until my ears bled. Half of them she didn't know, decidedly making up words and screaming the melody.

After an hour and a half we were inside the town. I instantly wished I was back in Arizona.

The whole place was green, green trees, green dirt, green buildings—hell, even the sky was green. The clouds were gathered together in case an emergency rain needed to fall at any second. People lounged around outside for early breakfast while completely ignoring the pitter pattering rain that fell against tin roofs. The whole place was gloomy; it would have been perfect for a horror movie setting.

"Left," Bella instructed as we reached a traffic light. "There will be a dirt road, go all the way down until you hit the pavement."

The dirt road she spoke of was actually a swamp. The dirt floated up in massive potholes filled with water. My car didn't make it too well and more than a couple times I had to back out and go around.

"How does one end up in Forks?" I asked.

"My dad's family has lived here for, like, centuries. Our house is only a couple decades old but it still creaks. It'll probably bother you the first night but you'll get used to it."

"I'm not staying with you, Bella."

"Uh, yes, you are, Edward. That was part of the deal if you remember. Otherwise give me your phone." She reached out trying to get my phone from the cup holder on the door. I knocked her hand away and picked up my speed.

"We're almost there. Can you relax for a few minutes?" I asked exasperatedly.

She stuck her tongue out and pointed her finger straight ahead. I caught a small house in the middle of a huge barren yard. The grass was yellow and the crocuses out front drooped dejectedly. The wood was painted a pale yellow, almost sickening to the eyes. The cop car stood in contrast to the small garage, shiny and new with crisp white and blue paint. I grimaced thinking about how I used to be on the other side of the spectrum, riding around inside and arresting kids who had one too many.

Bella was bouncing in her seat by the time I pulled up a few houses down. Despite the car in the driveway it appeared as if no one was inside the house. I held up my hand as she attempted to open her door, trying my best to convey through my eyes that she was on my last nerve.

Getting out of the car, I ran up to the dilapidated privacy fence and hopped up. A quick look around the yard showed no sign of activity and all the lights in the house were off, only the porch light casting dim shadows in the morning light.

As I hopped down Bella glued herself to my side.

"What the hell?" I barked.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me forward without any grace or caution. "Charlie goes out on weekends. He takes his friend's truck to go fishing and doesn't come home 'til Monday morning."

"It is Monday morning," I said.

She nodded. "Yeah, so? We can get settled in and by the time he comes home breakfast will be ready." She jumped on the porch rail and dug around in the soupy gutter until a silver key was extracted. She grinned at it triumphantly. "What do you normally eat?"

"Energy bar and protein shake." She didn't have time to reply as the door clicked and opened slowly. Bella stared into the house as if someone would jump out.

It was a gloomy blue inside, most of the furniture was brown or dirty white. I could imagine a man like Charlie Swan living here. From what I'd read in the papers and heard from Bella, he was a quiet man who kept to himself and served to protect those around him.

"Ew." Bella wrinkled her nose. "You'll never have gross protein drinks in my house. How about the works instead? I hope my dad kept breakfast in stock. Sometimes Sue comes by to make him a meal…" she trailed off, toting me to the small kitchen.

Only when I was seated at the table did she detach herself and go through the fridge. My eyes searched the room, scanning walls and the floor, behind tables and chairs and while I knew no one would dare break into the chief of police's house, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Here we were, back where Bella had been kidnapped the first time. I understood why she felt uncomfortable and scared; her nails still marked my skin.

A stack of newspapers to my right caught my attention as a brief flick of my eyes held onto Bella's name. A cut-out article lay in the center of a big stack, all with the same headline. Police Chief's Daughter thought to be Alive.

I picked up the newspaper and skimmed the article. The stacks of newspapers were all regarding Bella and her disappearance. Sighting after sighting littered the pages and witness reviews all held the same tone of shock. The identifications didn't match up. One week he was out east, on a ferry in New York, next he was on the beach in California. James appeared to be a ghost man to the media and onlookers.

Bella banged pots and pans together as she pulled them out. A frying pan went flying and hit my foot with a hollow thud. She grinned sheepishly and turned back to the stove, pouring bisque in for pancakes. My stomach made a quiet rumble.

"When does your father work?" I asked offhandedly.

She pressed a wooden spoon to her bottom lip. "I think he works every day of the week. The only time I've ever seen him take a day off was when we both had the flu. We were up until three in the morning vomiting. I think if I hadn't begged him to stay he would have gone." She pursed her lips. "I think you'll like him."

I snorted. "Doesn't mean he'll like me. How do you think he'll react to seeing you here, and then me, Bella? The first thing I'd do if my daughter came home after months away—kidnapped—with a strange man is shoot him. I'd shoot and ask questions later."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Don't be so dramatic. When I tell him you're the one who saved me from that creep he'll be in your debt and make you an honorary police man. You can get a little badge and cool hat. And then we can take a picture and send it to Carlisle the Grump."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't know what delusional land you're currently residing in, but that's not how it works."

She flipped a pancake and ignored me.

--

"At what age did you know you wanted to be in law enforcement?" Bella asked.

I shifted in my seat on the couch and pulled another bite of hash browns in. She shifted along with me, her crossed legs always touching my thigh. "My mom got mugged when I was eight. I was there with her when the guy came. I think he would have sexually assaulted her if I didn't throw a brick at his head. He ended up just taking her purse and running."

Her eyes went wide. "Wow."

"Yeah, well, after that I started working out and became an officer. It didn't work out, but I had a goal for most of my life. That's more than most people can say." I set my plate on the table and drew my legs up to mimic Bella's crossed ones.

She turned and threw her left leg over my lap. Her eyes were bright and wide suddenly and she had a distant look settled into her features.

"Before this all happened I wanted to go to school for English. Not to be a teacher or anything, but for the love of reading and writing. I realized I'd probably end up as one of those crazy people living alone in the city with a bunch of animals. I don't like cats so they'd have to be, like, rats." She paused, looking up at me and cocking her head. "What deterred you from your path as a cop?"

I shifted uncomfortably. You could always tell her the truth, I thought. The police wouldn't let you assault perps and the money was too good to turn down.

"The police were… restrictive," I mumbled cryptically.

"How so?" she questioned. She used her leg to pull her body closer to mine. "Tell me all the dirty details and I'll tell you horror stories about the station my dad works at. You don't wanna miss out, Edward."

I rolled my eyes and tried to hold back my smile. "They didn't take bribery lightly."

"I would imagine." Her voice held no contempt, only simple observation.

"I didn't make all that much. Sometimes you need some luxuries. Who doesn't dream of making big money and living a life of relaxation and ease?"

"I couldn't tell you."

I looked down at her. Big doe eyes looked up at me and pursed lips contemplated my expression and words. The silence around us stretched on until it became almost painful not to hear what she was thinking. I hadn't told anyone about why I quit in a long time, I wondered if the definition of criminal had changed since I'd met Carlisle.

"I know what you're waiting for, Edward," she said. "And I can tell you right now that I won't judge you. I see all the crap that my dad goes through. If he wasn't so committed to his job I don't think he could do it. More than a few recruits have come to my door in the middle of the night to tell Charlie that they can't do it."

I snorted. "I doubt they take on corrupt law as their back up profession."

She leaned further into my side, soaking up my body heat and burrowing her head between my arm and chest until I had my arm wrapped around her shoulders. To anyone else it may have looked like a lover's embrace, but she was feeling uneasy and needed the physical contact. Strange how I'd come to know her so well in such a short amount of time, but I felt as though Bella and I were closer than I'd been with anyone in a long time.

"My dad's home," she muttered.

No sooner than she'd said it, the front door clicked open and the heavy sound of boots on carpet echoed through the living room. My heart began to race as I heard the masculine groan flutter through the room and then Bella's sigh as she wormed away and stood from the couch.

Bella stumbled as she ran to her father who sucked in a quick draw of breath. He cried out a little, just a quiet noise from the back of his throat. I fell back onto the couch and closed my eyes to just listen to the sound of reunion.

The rough collide of Bella into her father wrapped itself around my mind and the gentle sob from one of them constricted my brain.

I always did my job and left. Those who were part of a hostage situation went home thanks to the police and I never got involved. Once I had a target finished I left and let everyone else deal with the after affects. But it was… nice I guess.

"Bella," Charlie choked. "Oh… kid, I missed you."

My hands rubbed over my eyes like they had a mind of their own. "I'm okay, dad," she whispered.

"When—how?" A million questions flew off of Charlie's tongue, each interrupted by the following. It was a series until Bella managed to cut him off, the press of feet against the floor loud enough to jolt me into a sitting position.

The second I was up, Charlie was there, weepy eyes narrowing in a glare. His face held recognition through the onslaught of emotion.

Almost instantly Bella was thrown behind his back. The cop I'd expected to see was out and ready to fight. I sat on the edge of the couch and put my hands up, palms out. Bella tried to fight her way in front of her father but he was an unmoving boulder in her path.

"Chief Swan." I nodded.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked ruthlessly.

"He's a good guy!" Bella shouted, shoving him aside. She stood between the two us and placed her hands on her hips. "He got me away from James."

Charlie's eyes widened and he glanced from Bella to me several times before stopping on my nonthreatening form. I probably looked like a sight for sore eyes after a flight from hell and my busted shoulder, not to mention my sallow complexion from being exposed to the gloom.

Standing, I straightened up and stuck out my hand. Charlie didn't move for a long time, his eyes locked on my face and his arm holding back Bella. I understood where it all came from, that desperation to protect his daughter from the harm of the world and yet here was the man who had saved her. He was probably internally arguing between dragging my ass to jail and shaking my outstretched hand.

His hand met mind slowly until he gripped it with all the strength he possessed. Our eyes met and for a split second I saw gratitude there.

Bella was trapped between us, her shoulders pressed our chests. She slid out and glanced back and forth furiously. Charlie dropped my hand and moved closer to his daughter.

"When did you get here?" he asked thickly.

"A few hours ago," Bella answered. "I made you breakfast."

"Why—why didn't you call? You know I have all my messages at the station forwarded." He paused and his eyes went wide. "This morning?"

"Yeah. Edward wouldn't let me," she said, smirking.

I narrowed my eyes at her. Little rat.

Charlie's fists clenched at his sides, his face betrayed no emotion. "I'm just glad you're safe, Bella." He turned to me. "Thank you… Edward. I'm sure you're busy and need to take your leave."

"Well," Bella muttered. "Not yet. He's gonna stay with us for a few days, dad."

"Bella—"

"Please," her voice cracked and she swallowed. "I don't want it to happen again."

At his daughter's pleading, Charlie Swan nodded and heaved a sigh. He turned to me. "Guest room. And it's locked from the outside."

This should be fun, I thought sarcastically.

Bella grinned.

A/N: There weren't too many questions for last chapter, so I must be doing something right.

I'm having a blast writing this. These chapters are usually written late at night when I'm too tired to think so I'm a roll. Even if they make no sense to anyone but me.

Don't forget to review!