A/N: Well you're still here. I'm glad. Daisy insisted on stopping in to say something. Catch you after the chapter.

Hello there voters! This is Daisy, writing to thank you so much for voting to keep Edward alive. I'm happy to report that you've picked me over my ficwife in a landslide victory. (despite profmom and jennde's attempts to rile me up) Your vote means the world to me and poor Cluelessward, whose life truly depended on it. I vow to use my power as ficwife to help ensure his survival, by penalty of marriage counseling and/or a trial separation, which I'm sure jb would like to avoid if possible. Thanks again and keep on reviewing! :-) - daisy3853

Characters are not mine and I guess I can't kill any of them, but I might write an alternate ending to fulfill my morbid desire.

Good Enough Chapter 14

I sprinted back to the bedroom. The first thing I saw was Bella cowering on the floor next to the bed. With a quick intake of breath, my hand went immediately to my gun, and my eyes moved to what terrified her. Bent over through the broken window was Crowley with blood draining through the hole in his head. I swallowed the vomit that made its way up my throat and ran to Bella. I grabbed her trembling arm and pulled her to her feet. I stood in front of her hoping to block her from whatever might be coming next.

I realized I hadn't really taken the threat to my life seriously. I'd always been like that, feeling invincible like nothing could touch me. Now I knew that mistake might cost me everything, but I didn't have time to brood on my shortcomings.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here," I said to Bella. We weren't safe with the window and the door in here and not knowing what direction the threat would come from. I started to move, but Bella's feet remained glued to the floor. "Bella, we've got to go." I wanted to look her in the eyes and reassure her, but I didn't want to chance looking away from the door even for a second. With another tug, Bella finally started to walk with me. I kept her directly behind me holding on to her with one hand and on to my gun with the other.

I tried to lead her as far away from Crowley's body as I could, but the pool of blood had spread so far we were forced to walk through it. "Just keep looking at me, Bella," I whispered as our feet stuck to the carpet like gum on asphalt. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins and my heart beat rapidly in contrast to my desperate attempt to remain quiet and hidden. The weakness that had been plaguing me was gone, and my only purpose was keeping Bella safe. The cell phone was on the kitchen counter, and I knew it was our only hope. Once we were in the hallway, I shut the bedroom door behind us quietly.

I quickly checked the bathroom. It was clear. There was a linen closet in the hall with two cupboards, one on top and one on bottom. "Bella, take the towels out of here and put them in the shower," I whispered. She looked at me like I was crazy and I worried her breathing was so shallow that she might faint, but she found the strength to follow my directions. We were completely exposed standing in the hallway, so I stood with my gun ready watching the entrance to the hallway. Once the bottom cupboard was empty, I told Bella to crawl inside.

"I'm not leaving you," she whimpered. "Please don't leave me."

"Shhh, Bella. I have to get to the cell phone. Please just get in. If I don't come back in five minutes…"

"You have to come back!" she said too loudly.

I shushed her and motioned for her to get in. Reluctantly she crawled inside. She had to raise her knees up to her chest and still barely fit. She was crying and trembling. Every few seconds a muffled sob would escape her lips, and I begged her to be quiet. I shut the door hiding her the best I could.

I slowly crept down the hallway grasping my gun tightly and desperately trying to keep my hand from shaking. I'd been through field training, though it had been of little use to me in my position. I tried to rely on what I'd learned before, but felt inadequate to face whatever danger was lurking here. There was no sign of anyone. As I slipped into the foyer, I could see the abandoned phone lying on the counter from where I stood. The house appeared as empty as it had earlier, and I briefly wondered if Yorkie was in the same state as Crowley. I kept my back flat against the wall and strained to hear the slightest sound signifying there was danger near. I made it to the kitchen and quickly jetted out to grab the cell phone. I hid myself on the floor behind the island in the middle and pushed two. Nothing happened, the phone was black. It was then that I noticed the battery was missing. Help wasn't coming. The irony of finally finding the love of my life on the day of my death wasn't lost on me.

I closed my eyes trying to force out a plan of escape as possibilities raced through my head. I didn't know how many of them there were, but it was clear now that they were inside the house. If I surrendered myself now, would they kill me and leave without finding Bella? It wasn't even a question of whether or not I would do that if it meant saving to her. She was all that mattered at this moment.

The information I had so far was not giving me hope. I didn't hear a shot. Unless it was well hidden by the thunder, the assailant probably had a silencer. They threw Crowley's body through Bella's bedroom window, so they'd been outside. They took the battery out of the cell phone, so they'd been inside. They'd obviously taken care of the electricity and the back up generator. They could have easily opened the bedroom door and killed us while we were distracted, but they didn't. All the signs pointed to one thing, whoever was doing this was playing some sort of a sick game. I had no doubt they didn't expect me to leave this house alive, but it looked like they weren't planning for my demise to be quick and painless.

In the pantry was a hidden gun cache. I stood and quickly opened the pantry door. I slipped two extra clips into my back pockets and an extra 9mm into the back of my pants. I grabbed a knife and stuck it in my pocket. I turned around slowly hoping to sneak through the house and catch whoever was here by surprise. Instead, I saw a red light trained directly on my forehead shining through the dim room. I could just make out the smirk of Laurent Capps leaning against the doorway. I could have sworn he was happy to see me.

"Why don't you go ahead and put that little wanker down?" he said in his obnoxious British accent.

I set my Glock down on the kitchen counter, and held out my hands where he could see them. I'd seen his picture a few times while going through files. Maybe all hope wasn't lost. From what I knew of him, he could be reasoned with, and even more importantly he could be bought. He didn't fit the profile of what had happened here tonight. He wasn't one to play games.

"I've got him," he called over his shoulder. Of course he wasn't alone. I saw her fire red hair illuminated by a flash of lightning before I saw her face. Victoria Wike. I'd been studying her almost as long as I'd been studying James. They got together a few years ago, and had some sort of bizarre lust/sex/sadistic/hired henchmen relationship. Well, in this case I guess it was more like a hired wench. The last intel we'd received was that she and James had split, and Victoria fled to Italy trying to evade the authorities. Victoria was pure evil. If James didn't have a conscience, she was Satan herself. She liked to torture her victims and dismember their bodies while they were still alive. I couldn't think of a more horrifying scenario than having Victoria here in this house. There was no bargaining with her. She found joy in watching her victims suffer.

I prayed that Bella would remain hidden. Thoughts of Bella made my palms grow cold with sweat, and I had to purposely focus on making my knees stop shaking.

"Laurent, go find his little bitch. She's here somewhere." Victoria smiled at me seductively. "I'm going to enjoy this. James didn't mention you were so pretty."

"Yeah, well it was dark when I met him," I answered her. I was going back and forth in my mind what the best course of action would be. I could try and make sure this ended quickly. I could grab the gun behind my back, forcing Victoria have to go ahead and shoot me. That would leave Bella at their sick mercy though. I could wait until they found Bella, try to kill Bella myself quickly to save her from the pain and torture Victoria was sure to inflict, and hope Victoria killed me quickly too. Or I could just wait and hope that we could somehow find a way to escape or overpower them. Maybe they would turn the lights back on, and I could make it to the emergency panel. I didn't know if I could find the strength to actually shoot Bella, but it would be easier than watching her writhe in pain before she died anyway.

I felt a sob creeping up my throat, but I couldn't let Victoria see the terror that was gripping me. It would only fuel her further. She would get off on any type of emotion or weakness. A response was exactly what she wanted.

Yorkie walked in the backdoor with some sort of camping lantern illuminating the room. I glared at him any all my muscles screamed at me to attack. I could hide my fear and horror, but I couldn't hide my hatred for him. My questions about how Victoria found us were answered. He was the reason I would never get the chance to feel Bella's body close to mine. I'd never see her in a white dress. I'd never get to make a speech at our fiftieth wedding anniversary party telling her that even though she was wrinkly and wearing a diaper, she was as beautiful as the day we met. I'd never wanted to murder anyone as much as I wanted to murder him.

"I took care of Crowley and the generator. I'm done here." He threw the keys to the house and the Expedition down on the counter.

"Yorkie, you've been fabulous. I couldn't have done this without you," Victoria gushed.

"Yeah, well you made it worth my while. I've got a plane to catch." He turned and started to walk toward the front door, when Victoria raised the gun in her hand and shot him in the back of the head. His body flew forward and hit the ground face first with a loud thud. At least someone was getting what they deserved here tonight.

I heard Bella's muffled cries coming from the hallway, and my eyes darted that direction. It sounded like there was a struggle and even though my body was telling me to move, to help her, to rescue her, I remained stoic. I forced myself to steady my breathing and was thankful Victoria couldn't my erratic heart rate as it threatened to beat out of my chest.

A few seconds later, Laurent came dragging Bella back into the room. He had one arm around her waist holding her back against his side, and one hand twisted in her long hair keeping her from moving her head. He took heavy steps as she struggled against him. He was cursing under his breath as she made the journey difficult for him. I forced myself to look away. The anguish and fear on Bella's sobbing face was more than I could handle. She kept falling to the ground like she was struggling not to faint, but Laurent kept jerking her roughly upright. When they were finally in the room with us, he threw her at me. I reached out my arms and caught her quickly pulling her to my side and breathing in her scent for what was probably the last time.

"Just do whatever they say and try not to show how scared you are," I whispered in her ear. I didn't think Victoria could hear me, so I quickly added, "I love you." I needed to say it. I needed to make sure she knew it.

Victoria watched our exchange with a gleeful look in her eye. "So sorry to interrupt your little love fest earlier. That voyeur Crowley was watching through the window. You should really close the blinds next time. You don't have to thank me for stopping him."

So much for trying to hide how important Bella was to me from Victoria. Now was my chance. I could easily move my arm to my back, get the gun, and save Bella from suffering at Victoria's hands. It was the truly loving thing to do for her. My fingers twitched, but I couldn't make myself move. I was such a damn coward that I couldn't do this one thing for her. I couldn't watch what Victoria would do to her, but I couldn't keep her from it either.

Victoria stalked toward us, and instinctively I moved Bella behind me trying to shield her from what was coming next. I could hear Bella's muffled whimpers, but once again I returned my face to stoic. Victoria stepped directly in front of me holding her gun against my groin with one hand and raking her nails up and down my chest with her other. Leaning up, she licked a line from my jaw to my ear. Holding my vomit down again, I stood as still as humanly possible. I heard Bella gasp at Victoria's actions. I gripped her wrist tighter trying to communicate for her to be quiet.

"Tie her up," Victoria directed Laurent. He moved quickly grabbing Bella by the arm as she shrieked and jerked her past me. He slammed her roughly into a dining room chair and proceeded to tie her wrists in front of her. A low growl radiated in my chest causing Victoria to chuckle.

"Why are you doing this? Please don't do this!" Bella screamed.

I tried to communicate to her with my eyes to shut up. Her pleading would only make it worse, and it was all my fault for being too much of a coward to stop it. Self-hatred consumed me, and with every ragged breath I prayed for this to be over. Victoria put one hand flat on my chest and started to push me backwards until I hit the wall with my back. Damn it. I knew Victoria. I knew how her mind worked. I knew her physical capabilities. I knew there was nothing I could do. Physically she could over power me. Maybe, if there were just one of them, I'd have a chance, but with two it was pointless.

Her hand once again made its way down my chest and kept going past my belt and onto my jeans. "Oh, Mr. Cullen. It seems you've got something hard down there," she purred reaching into my pocket and pulling out the knife I'd taken from the kitchen. "I'll do the chopping tonight, dear." She flung the knife haphazardly toward Bella who screamed as it sliced her arm open.

All of the air whooshed out of my lungs, and I fell to my knees at the sight of her blood. I no longer had the strength to stand. Once again I was disgusted at my own weakness. Slowly I raised my eyes to Victoria's face. Her eyes danced in excitement at my display, and a broad smile appeared on her lips.

"Laurent, baby, come watch my boy for a minute." I was still on my knees, and Laurent pointed his gun directly at my forehead watching me for any sign of me trying to fight him off. Fortunately we both knew what Victoria would do to him if he killed me before she was ready.

Victoria grabbed Bella by the hair and pulled, raising her face up. She slapped her across the face hard, and Bella cried out. "I can only imagine the screaming she'd be doing right now if we hadn't interrupted. Sorry about that, Agent Cullen," Victoria mocked. I forced myself to be numb. My emotions were crying out for release, but I silenced them and imagined walking through a meadow on a sunny day with Bella.

She pulled her hair again harder and drug her out of the chair onto the floor. "Please! Stop! No! Help me, Edward!" Bella sobbed in quick breaths. A tear fell slowly down my cheek. I was too weak to save her.

"Do you love her, Agent Cullen?" Victoria asked.

"No, she's just my nurse and a good lay," I answered stoically coming quickly out the meadow. My true feelings for Bella would fuel her further. What I didn't calculate was the look on Bella's face when I said it. She looked hurt, angry, and then hopeless, like she believed me. She must understand why I said it. How could she have such little faith in me?

"Liar," Victoria laughed and stepped on Bella's wrist. I could hear the bones crunching underneath the weight of her foot. Bella was just crying now, and the sight was more than I could bear. Before I could retreat into my mind again, sobs erupted from my chest and found their way out of my mouth causing Victoria to laugh harder. She raised her gun quickly before I could process what was happening and shot Bella in the leg.

"No!" I cried out wishing the bullet had hit me instead. Bella yelped in pain, and then thankfully fainted. If her mind and body could help escape what was coming, it would make the next few minutes much less excruciating. Instead of picturing myself with Bella, I pictured myself killing Victoria, punching her bloodied face over and over, ripping her apart limb from limb.

Victoria looked down and wasn't happy to see Bella lying unconscious. She kicked her hard in the face once. I closed my eyes trying to hide and praying for death to take us.

"Open you eyes, Agent Cullen," she seethed. I obeyed, but looked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I made out Emmett's form peeking around the corner with his rifle in hand. The adrenaline started pulsing even harder through my veins. I made eye contact and quickly looked away not wanting to betray anything to Victoria. Everything changed. There was hope. There was a chance that I could feel Bella in my arms again. I could tell her I loved her over and over and over again until she was tired of hearing it. That was worth fighting for. I would fight for it or die trying.

I glanced up and saw that Laurent's eyes were also trained on Victoria. I watched her and waited until she looked away from me so I could look back to Emmett. She bent down to examine Bella, and I quickly looked for Emmett. He motioned for me to take Laurent and pointed at his gun and then at Victoria. He held up three fingers, then two, then one… I took my fist and slammed Laurent's hand against the wall behind me causing him to drop his gun. I lunged at him bringing us to the ground with me on top of him. I grabbed his shoulders and beat his head against the ground until he was unconscious. Simultaneously, a shot rang out from Emmett's gun. Emmett never missed.

With Laurent immobilized, I scrambled to grab the gun from my waistband. Victoria lay on the ground next to Bella, but she was still conscious. It felt like slow motion as I watched her lift her body up until she was on her knees, raise her hand with the gun still in it, and aim it at Bella's face. Shots rang out from both me and Emmett. He shot her once in the back, and I emptied my entire clip into her. I continued to pull the trigger over and over until I felt Emmett's hand on my shoulder. "Bella needs you," he said as he pulled out his cell phone.

My gun fell from my hands to the ground, and I ran to Bella pulling her into my arms.

"Alice is already on the way, and she radioed for backup and an ambulance. She started driving back when she couldn't reach you, Crowley, or Yorkie on the phone, and then the techies alerted her that the electric was out," Emmett informed me.

"Why did you come back?" I asked.

"Rosalie insisted I bring her back to check on Bella. She was worried."

I could barely remember what happened earlier that night. Kissing Bella seemed like a beautiful dream I'd had before this nightmare started. I stroked the hair out of her face and prayed she would wake up soon.

"Do you think there are more of them here?" Emmett asked looking around the room, the gun still in his hand.

"No, that's not the way Darnell works. He wouldn't send more than two at a time."

"That's what I thought. I saw what happed to Crowley when I swept the perimeter. Looks like Yorkie met a similar fate."

"Yeah, but he deserved it. That bastard turned us over to James," I seethed wishing I could have killed Yorkie myself. "Where's Rose?" I asked.

"I've got her hiding under blankets in the back of my jeep. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her."

"I understand completely." Emmett's words rang in my head. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her. God, I'd been so selfish. I realized now that it wasn't going to stop. I was alive, but my life was over. James would never let me testify, and if I managed to stay alive long enough, then he'd want revenge. Bella would never be safe with me. Every minute she spent with me was a death wish.

A/N: Whew. I'm not kidding when I tell you I've been labeled by some as a comedic genius. I would never give that title to myself, but I wear it proudly. I apologize therefore, that this chapter was not funny. Believe me it hurts me more than it hurts you.

I really appreciate all but one of the reviews I've gotten for this story, and it's always fun to make new fan fic friends. Oh speaking of friends. I was doing this activity with some kids the other day and they had to move to a different spot if they agreed or disagreed. One of the questions in the curriculum was "It is dangerous to talk to people you don't know on the internet?" I had to chuckle at that one. I suspect a few of you may be dangerous – I won't name names (InsaneGrizzlies) though.

Thanks as always to Profmom and Twike. And and extra special thanks to Everwondering who helped me with this chapter. She writes a mean action sequence. Best I've read fan fic or otherwise.

Oh yeah, could you please review? See, I'm just asking nicely this time.