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I paralyzed Edward while I chained myself to him again. What was I going to do with this guy in the States? I guess I could drop him off in Phoenix with Jacob, but would Jacob be strong enough to handle Cullen? Sure, Jake had a good six inches on Cullen, but Cullen was strong, probably stronger than Jacob.

I sat us down on the snowmobile and pulled out my cell phone to call Jacob. I'd need two plane tickets to Phoenix and for him to pick us up at the airport.

I keyed in his number and pressed "talk".

"Hello?" Jacob answered. "Bella?"

"Yeah, it's me," I sighed. "I killed Aro and five other FBI agents."

Edward hissed while Jake answered. "That was quick. So you need a plane ticket and me to pick you up then?"

I smiled. "You read my mind. "What's the closest airport?"

"Uh, just give me a sec here," Jacob murmured, his fingers clacking against his keyboard. "It says that Aro has a private airport about three miles south from there. I'll phone the base and tell them you're coming. What would you like your title to be?"

"Niece and nephew would make the most sense, I think," I decided. "Cullen called Aro his uncle, so might as well be telling a half-truth."

"Okay, sounds good," Jacob replied, a smile clear in his voice. "See you soon, Bella. Try to make it home alive, I haven't seen you since you moved on to killing the scientists last year."

"I'll try," I muttered, starting the engine of the snowmobile. "Bye, Jake."

I hung up my phone and took off for the airport.

Cullen was silent and still the whole way. It worried me a bit. I automatically assumed he was plotting a way to kill us both. I thought about how easily I could kill Cullen right now. He was tired, weaker than me, and chained up. I could kill him in two seconds without so much as a single thought going through my head. It was the thoughts after I killed him that would bother me.

I couldn't tell exactly how or why I'd feel guilty, but I had feeling that I would. Cullen didn't have any reason to stay alive. Aro and Roscoe had more reason to live, from my perspective. Roscoe and Aro were old, gently, and seemed kind. Cullen was young, rough, cocky, and was a definite threat to me.

So why didn't I have the guts to kill him?

I was contemplating this as I pulled into the airport. I shut off the snowmobile and paralyzed Cullen to unchain us and get him on the plane. I tucked the chains into the pocket of my jacket.

A man rushed out to meet me.

"You're Mr. Basso's niece?" he asked, no accent in his voice.

"Yes," I answered, smiling at him. "The drunken man on the snowmobile is his nephew. Could you carry him while I take the bags, please?"

"Of course." The man ran over to Cullen and threw him over his shoulder. He'd be limp well after we got onto the plane.

I let the man lead me directly onto the plane. He sat Cullen down before taking my bags out of my hands.

"Thank you," I murmured, smiling gently at my helper.

"My pleasure," he replied with a smile before leaving the plane.

I buckled Cullen into his seat before buckling myself in. This was going to be an interesting ride home. I hoped he'd just ignore me rather than try to escape.

"Prepare for lift off," the intercom announced. That was quick. Jacob must have wired over a small fortune.

The plane took off. It was a good ten minutes before Edward groaned, twisting in his seat. I knew we wouldn't be disturbed, so I quickly chained his hands behind his back and his feet together.

"Stop doing that," Cullen mumbled as his eyelids fluttered open.

So he was going to talk to me? This was something unexpected.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized under my breath. "If I could trust you enough to keep your mouth shut and for you not to run away, we wouldn't need to do this."

"Why don't you just kill me like all those other FBI agents?" Cullen questioned, his green eyes piercing into my soul like daggers.

"You could be useful to me," I lied smoothly. "I could eventually get information out of you about James or your father."

Cullen snorted. "Good luck with that."

"I got you here, didn't I?" I snapped quietly. He still underestimated me. "I'll bet you never expected to be taken hostage by your biggest threat, who just happens to be a girl."

Cullen shook his head, an angry expression etched into his skin. "I still can't believe I fell for your bullshit. But now I know who you are. I won't tell you anything."

"Who says you have to tell me?" I asked nonchalantly. "Maybe I'll let you go and be seduced by an ally of mine. You almost spilt your secrets to me on the snowmobile. You could do the exact same with another girl you take out for a nice dinner."

"Who's to say I'll ever go out on a date with a random woman ever again?" Cullen snapped back. "This experience ruined one-night stands for me."

I shrugged. Who's to say I care...

"I have a few questions for you," Cullen stated. "I would ask if that was okay, but frankly, I could care less what you think. Just answer them."

I smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Are you seriously trying to command me? You're in no position to demand anything, Cullen."

"Why do you call me 'Cullen'?" he asked, ignoring my reasoning.

"I don't have any respect for you," I answered bluntly. "I only call people by their first name when I respect them."

"You respect Aro?" he asked, slightly surprised.

I nodded slowly. "If he can change a body like he changed mine, it makes a person be grateful. I wouldn't have the strength of body or mind to do much of the things I do now if it weren't for him."

"Is Aro the only one you respect from Project R?" Cullen pushed, more interested now.

"No." I paused. "I respect nearly all the creators of Project R. Carlisle, Aro, and James are all respected by me. Tompkins wasn't, and it's not because she's a woman. She whored herself out too much to maintain my respect."

Cullen smiled a taunting smirk. "And you don't? You had sex with me, I saw you strip for Aro and his guards."

My eyes widened. He saw that? How? He was locked in a room.

Cullen rolled his eyes. "There was a hole in the wall. I didn't escape."

"Actually, I don't whore myself out," I replied smoothly with an icy tone defining my voice. "You're really the only person I've had sex with in four years. Sure, I strip to get closer to my targets, but that just shows how sad a man's perspective is. I haven't had the chance to pretend to be the pretty girl at the diner because no one in this joke of a government has time to make conversation with a normal person anymore. They need something quick and strictly physical, and it just so happens to be what I provided for them."

"Don't start on the feminist rants, please," Cullen groaned, closing his eyes. "I'll even change the subject for you. Who's Redbird?"

I blinked. He really was clueless about Project R.

"I'm Redbird. That's my old codename from Project R. They gave everyone a codename starting with the letter 'r'," I explained. "Carlisle really didn't say anything to you about this, did he?"

Cullen shook his head. "I didn't even know Project R existed until I got hired by the FBI. I couldn't believe Dad his something that big from Emmett and I. Even after I found out, Dad wouldn't talk about it. I only know that Project R exists and that my dad and Aro were a part of it."

I exhaled, becoming impatient. Cullen didn't know fuck all about me, but he still made assumptions. That pissed me off.

"Oh, and I knew you were the only girl," Cullen continued as an afterthought. "Why is that, anyway?"

"Apparently I was the only one strong enough." I shook my head angrily. "I was inferior, yet I escaped that hell. The so-called weakest link of Project R is the only one that made it out alive." I sighed. "James, the director of Project R, is my ex. I dated him during my senior year of high school. For a while, he really did like me, but then he realized my potential. Project R had been established before James and I started dating. Soon after I graduated he took me in for surgery. And, viola, here I am."

"So James hand-picked you?" Cullen asked slowly. "Even though you were a woman? And his girlfriend?"

"I wasn't your average girl." I smiled wryly. "I fought my way to the top. I beat the shit out of the top fighter in Phoenix at the time. They kicked me out of street fighting because of it."

Cullen nodded and relaxed into his chair a bit.

"Do I get to ask questions about your profession now?" I asked with a smirk.

"You consider this your profession?" Cullen questioned with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Self-employment."

Cullen scowled at me and I sighed.

"I guess you can ask some questions. I have nothing else to do," Cullen finally decided.

"Did you really believe my story?" Might as well start from the beginning.

Cullen nodded, his face contorted into a stony glare.

I laughed a bit. "I messed up so many times, nearly every time I opened my mouth."

"I messed up, too," Cullen muttered.

I smirked. "Yeah, I caught that. How did you become an FBI agent?"

"I was in the military for a year when they 'realized my potential'," Cullen quoted in a mocking tone."Then I never looked back. Worked my way to the top as quickly as I could."

I nodded. "You dated Tanya while you worked for the FBI?"

Cullen got a dark and distant look in his eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"I have my connections," I murmured impatiently. Somehow the conversation always came back to me.

"Like Jake?" Cullen pressed.

I sighed. He wasn't going to give up. "Yes, and no, I will not talk about him. I'm not stupid."

Cullen pursed his lips, clearly disappointed in his failed attempt to get information out of me. "Fine, then. Tell me about Project R some more."

"What do you want to know about?" I asked, bored already. I'd talked and thought about Project R for too long.

"What exactly did Aro do to your body?"

"A lot," I muttered, not wanting to give away my physical and mental advancements.

"Can you give me at least some idea?" Cullen asked impatiently.

"Which part, body or mind?" I murmured flatly.

"They messed with your brain, too?" he asked in shock. "Wow, I would have never guessed that."

I nodded grimly. "I don't need to sleep or eat like a normal person. I sleep once a week, approximately, eat whenever my stomach causes me pain. I remain stoic most of the time; most of the emotions you see are fake. I still have the mindset of a Project R agent, so I hate non-Americans. I'm so paranoid I can't walk down the street without assuming someone's going to follow me." I let out a shaky breath. Now I was starting to get mad.

"I can't even imagine..." Cullen shook his head, obviously trying not to pity me. "What did they do to you physically?"

"Basically enhanced everything. Stronger, faster...all that good stuff," I explained. "The physical stuff doesn't bother me. I'm glad that I'm stronger, and who needs tear ducts?"

"No tear ducts?" Cullen asked in disbelief, raising an eyebrow.

"No," I answered with a smile. "That would be showing too much emotion. I'm surprised they didn't remove the muscles you use to smile. We need to be approachable though. We're all about the deception."

"I know," Cullen murmured coolly.

It was uncomfortably silent after that. Cullen officially knew more about me than anyone else in the world, and that scared me. What if he got away and spilled everything to the FBI?

I sighed. I'd just have to deal. Right now I had to focus on the tasks ahead.

Cullen finally nodded off against my shoulder. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty damn tired, too...


A lot of stuff got explained in this chapter, mostly about Bella. I kept trying to explain some stuff about Edward, but it wrecked the flow of the chapter, and somehow he always got the conversation back on Bella... Crazy characters controlling the story...

Anyway, I don't really have a song for this, so if anyone has any ideas of what music could go along with this chapter, let me know! I'll post the ideas. Make sure you have a legit reason why it ties into the chapter!

Keep reviewing! The more you review, the more I want to post!