A/N: Big huge thanks to all my readers. You guys are fuck awesome people!

This chapter is quite long, longer than any chapter I have written. I essentially combined two chapters. It didn't feel right making one of them a filler chapter, so you get this one. Hope you enjoy it.

Fire and/or Medical scenes are present in this chapter. Please read at your own discretion.

Thanks to my wonderful beta LittleLea05

Disclaimer: Plot mine, everything else, Stephenie Meyer

Unnamed

He stares in the face of death
Without a second thought
To save that one special life
That he so bravely sought
He has walked so close to
"Hell on earth"
As any man could do
And he's proud of the job he did
For people he never knew
He puts his life on the line
Every time duty calls
Always doing what needs to be done
Without even a pause
He is a fireman
With overwhelming pride
Never afraid to take a chance
When saving someone's life
Often he says,
"It's my job"
But we all really know
That he is very special
And always ready to go
So when you hear the sirens wail
Or see the flashing lights
Stand aside and look with pride
He's going to save a life

Author Unknown

Chapter 8 – Berlin Wall

Bella POV

I breathed in the crisp fall air as I stepped into the station. I really loved Seattle in the autumn. There was something about the cooling air, kids being back in school and the amount of calls we go on increasing dramatically. I don't know what it is about the fall, but the emergency calls triple in number, depending on the area of course. Since the Fourth of July, our station has been hotter than ever, no pun intended. Multiple house fires, car accidents, medical calls as well as even going on a wildland fire and a ferry accident. I don't mind it so much. Being busy all the times makes it easy to forget the world exists. Constantly being on the go distracts me from things like my past with my mother, my unknowing future and Jacob – who thanks to Edward, I am forgetting easily enough.

Edward. There is a conundrum in and of itself. I never would have thought this probie would have such a profound impact on my life. In the three months I have known him; I have seen significant changes in myself. I'm opening up more and talking about things I hardly even talk about with Alice and Rose. I spend nearly all my time with him both at the station and at home. Week days are spent training, working, and cleaning with him. The only time we are apart is when we are both sleeping or he is inside of a burning building. On the weekends, we hang out at my studio or his apartment watching movies or listening to music. Simple and easy; no complications and no strings.

Aside from the one kiss a few months ago, nothing but serious flirting has been going on. It's as if he hit a wall and is patiently waiting for me to climb over that wall to him. He has been very kind and understanding in his patience with me. He doesn't push me for anything more even though I know he wants it. He is letting me find my way to him and accept that things may or may not change. I am so thankful for that.

I have slowly been letting him in; letting him see the real Bella. I haven't told him about my mom yet, I won't make that mistake again. I would have to be secure in where we stood together in order to make that decision once more, and where we stood together was still quite unclear. We flirted, like effing crazy all the time. The tension was building fast and it was so thick, before long, it's just going to snap and we are going to find ourselves in a compromising position. One where we won't know how we got there, and once we are there, what next? Not like I would mind so much. Edward is fuck hot and I haven't been laid in months. Why is that you ask? Because for some weird reason, I haven't had a one night stand since about a week before Edward started. Coincidence? Maybe, but I think it has more to do with how much I am drawn to him. I wanted him so bad that first time I saw him and subsequently every day since, that I have had to turn to my battery operated boyfriend, who just so happen to die yesterday, on my birthday of all days. Dammit.

I walked around the side of the engine towards my room to drop off my bag. Monday mornings weren't always fun but at least I know that Alice could be sending us on some good calls today. Yesterday Rose and Alice felt it was their right to take me out for the day because all women "deserve to be pampered on their birthday". I disagree. All I wanted to do was kick back with my new book and zone out for the day. But no, Alice and Rose took me to a spa for manicures and pedicures and a massage. Now, the massage I won't knock, but the rest is just a waste of money to me. So I begged Alice that since she tortured me all day, to at least give me good calls all day today.

I slowly made my way upstairs to see who else had arrived already. I was always early. I like the peace in the morning, the quiet of the station before the tragedies hit. It was still, serene and tranquil. The calm before the storm if you will. I heard some rustling from the bedroom but didn't investigate any further. I walked into the kitchen to maybe grab an apple or something to eat when I stopped dead in my tracks. Before me, sitting on the counter with a balloon attached, was a giant sheet cake with "Happy Birthday Bella" inscribed on the top. I can already see that today is not going to be my day and tomorrow won't be any better because I was going to kill someone. Everyone here knows that I don't like my birthday; it's a hush hush subject that we don't speak of. Which means a certain fairy had to have told Edward my birthday was yesterday and this was his way of celebrating it with me. He didn't know I hated anything to do with my birthday. But he was doing something special for me; he was thinking of me. I smiled because, even though I hated my birthday, I absolutely loved that Edward did this for me.

"Ooh, cake." I heard Emmett chuckle as he walked in behind me. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a plate. "Mind if I cut in?" He asked as he stood poised over the cake ready to cut it.

"For breakfast Em, what would Rose say?" I chided. "Go on, I don't care. You know I won't be eating any of it."

Emmett had a piece, more like three pieces, cut and on his plate before I finished my sentence. With a nearly full mouth he answered. "Rosie wouldn't mind. Gonna kill Edward for this?"

"For what?" I hadn't heard Edward walk up behind me and I jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.

"The cake man, Bells here hates her birthday. I think it has something to do with how old she is getting. Carlisle is the only one older than her here." He answered as he shoved another giant bite into his mouth. Edward walked over to me and pulled me into a tight but brief hug while whispering a quiet 'Happy Birthday' into my ear.

"Hey! Both James and Jasper are within six months of me." I joked back.

Edward smiled along and glanced over at me. I felt a small smattering of butterflies assaulting my stomach. "So how old is Carlisle then?"

"41. He's an old man by fire standards." I laughed.

"Yeah, what is the chief then?" Emmett grinned as he put the last bit of the cake in his mouth.

"Father Time." I answered as I leaned up against the counter.

"I'm going to tell him you said that Isabella." Carlisle entered the kitchen laughing. He walked over to me and gave me a quick hug. He put a little present in my hand, "Esme wanted me to wish you a happy birthday and also, she wants you to come to dinner sometime in the next few weeks."

I nodded my head. "Thanks Carlisle. Tell her that I will definitely be in touch." I quietly pulled the ribbon from the tiny package and started opening it. I may hate presents and protest getting them from people, but Esme was like the mom I never had. She took me under her wing six years ago when I had just started here like Edward and gave me the motherly love I never got from my own mother. You didn't argue with Esme, if she wanted to give you a gift, she gave you a gift, no questions asked. I pulled open the small box to find a simple delicate silver bracelet inside. It was nondescript and classic. Esme really understood me and it was easy to see it in the things she did for me.

I glanced up at the clock in the kitchen and noticed it was already a quarter after eight. I looked around the kitchen and noticed all the engine guys standing around talking, all except for one.

"Jake's late" I said loudly to no one in particular.

Carlisle stopped mid conversation and looked over at me. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell everyone." Everyone in the kitchen quieted down, even the ladder guys joined us in there to see what Carlisle had to say. "Apparently Jake's wife Leah went into labor late last night. He called to let me know he wouldn't be in this week. So, until he does get back…" he turned and looked at me. "I'll be running the engine and you Bella will be paired with Edward for any and all calls. Does that work for you?"

I smiled and nodded, glancing over to Edward as I answered. "I don't mind at all. I don't think Jake broke in our newest probie properly." I winked at Edward and he just laughed. The crew started to disburse to begin on their daily chores. I decided that Edward and I needed to work with each other a bit before our first call. Perhaps a fun exercise today; an obstacle course maybe.

"Hey Edward" I called to him as he started to make his way down the stairs. I caught up to him in no time.

"Whatcha need Bella?" He smiled and I tried not to lose focus.

"I think me and you need to do a little training this morning, you okay with that?"

"Lead the way my dear…" he motioned towards the back door leading to our little training facility.

"I was actually just thinking some reaction time training, you know, a couple obstacle courses and we time each other; and then we can go do our chores." I said as I started to pull some rolled up hose packs from the storage locker.

Edward laughed. "I do believe Miss Swan that it sounds like you are avoiding chores today."

I smiled. "Whatever gave you that idea?" He leaned over and grabbed some orange traffic cones we used to set boundaries.

"Just the fact that in the last three months, if we haven't been asleep or on a call, we've been training….I just think you don't like to do chores."

"Eh….so sue me." I laughed. "Now go grab two more hose packs while I grab some nozzles." I walked over to the engine and pulled out an assortment of different nozzles, couplings, tools and a few non essential items that are more for confusion than anything else. I noticed Jasper walking down the stairs into the engine bay and I whistled lightly to catch his attention.

"Hey Bella, training? Again?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah, we're going to do a drill, want to help?" He nodded.

"Definitely. Is it the course you have the best station time on?"

I smiled wickedly. "You know it."

"I am so in then, what help do you need?"

I thought for a moment and pointed to a few of the spare tires located in the storage unit. "Set those up please? Maybe fifty yards or so from the stairs on the outside of the building?" He nodded and took off. Twenty minutes later I had the whole course set up.

"Hey Edward, you ready to begin?" I asked as I walked over to where he was standing. He had a bit of a confused look on his face as he surveyed the obstacle course before him. Jasper walked up and stood next to us seconds later.

"Uh yeah, I think so. How's it go?"

"In full gear, starting at the back of the engine you have to pull a fifty yard section of hose from the engine and connect it to the side, run forty yards to a gated Y and connect the hose. From there you have to connect the gated Y to a one inch reducer coupling to connect the two inch line with the one inch line sitting there. Unroll the one inch line to the side of the hydrant and connect it using the right coupling. From the hydrant you have to pick up a rolled up one inch hose line pack and jog to the other side of the lot and through six tires much like you would do in football practice. Run with the hose pack on your back to the fire in a special outdoor fire pit and put it out with the fire extinguisher sitting there. After the fire is out, you have to pick up the two inch hose pack line and jog up the three flights of stairs that are on the outside of the training facility that lead to the roof. When you reach the top, the course is over and the time is stopped."

He nodded along looking at the directions I had pointed out. "Sounds easy enough. What's the fastest time anyone has gotten?"

I smiled, "That would be me babe. Four minutes and fifty-seven seconds."

"Five minutes? It took you five minutes love? I think I can beat that."

"Good luck man." Jasper joked and slapped a hand on Edwards shoulder as he walked off towards the engine.

"Care to make a wager?" I joked.

"Okay. If I beat your time…." He rubbed his hand on his chin lightheartedly as he pondered his thought. "I get to take you out this Friday…"

I smiled. "Like a date?"

"Yes, a date. You know dinner, movie, dessert or drinks. A good night kiss with maybe a little tongue or some possible fondling."

I laughed. "Okay, and if you don't beat my time?"

He laughed, "You get to…take me out this Friday?" I raised a quizzical eyebrow, "For drinks."

"Sounds like a win-win situation to me." I grinned at him.

"That's what I like to hear."

"Okay, if you guys are done flirting with each other, I'd like to begin and see who wins..." I heard Emmett holler from the door of the engine bay. "But I am going first."

"Alright Em, but you know you still won't beat my time, you never do." Edward and I made our way over to stand next to the side of the building. I grabbed the stop watch from my back pocket. "Okay Em…" I shouted. "Whenever you are ready let me know."

"Give me a second, I'm almost ready, just few more things." He yelled back. I watched as he donned his SCBA mask and helmet. I saw as Emmett give Jasper two thumbs up and turned to face the engine to get ready.

"Bella!" Jasper yelled. "On the count of three….One….Two….Three!" I pushed start on the watch and saw Emmett immediately start in on the hose. Edward and I watched as he ambled along "running" as fast as he could. He was definitely not our quickest on the crew, more like the strongest. Jasper was our quickest, besides me, however I haven't gone in a fire in quite some time. Before I knew it, he was trying his damnedest to quickly run up the stairs to the roof of the building. I pushed stop on the watch and saw the same old average time.

Emmett pulled his helmet and BA mask off, "What's my time?"

"Six minutes and five seconds Em, about the same as usual." I heard him loudly mutter a 'dammit' from the roof as he made his way down. Edward quickly ran over and disconnected all of the connections, rolled up the proper hoses and started the fire in the pit again while Jasper donned his gear for his turn. Emmett was already half out of his gear as Jasper gave me the signal. I counted down again as he took off. It was obvious how much faster Jasper was compared to Emmett. Minutes later Jasper was reaching the roof of the building.

"Five twenty-two Jazz." I hollered to him as he made his way down the stairs. This time Emmett broke down the course as Edward got ready for his turn. I didn't know whether I should be hoping he does do better than me or wishing he didn't. Either way, we'd be spending Friday night together, like normal just this time we would be spending it together in public. What did that mean? Did that mean we were "dating" or just friends seeing if there is something more? Who am I kidding myself? There is obviously more between us, but am I ready for that?

"Okay, Bella…." Jazz yelled to get my attention. I watched as he signaled and I pushed start. Edward took off. He was so much faster than Jasper. I watched as he sped around the track like a man on a mission. Soon enough he was scaling the stairs to the roof. I glanced down at the watch and started shake ever so slightly. Shit. He was going to beat my time if he kept this up. I glanced down as the seconds ticked by and looked up in just enough time to see him reach the roof. I quickly clicked stop on the watch and looked down. No way. "Bella?" I heard Edward ask loudly somewhere in the distance. No effing way!?! "Bella, time?"

I glanced up, the obvious answer on my face. "No way, I beat your time, didn't I?" Edward asked as he made his way towards me. I nodded my head. "By how much?" He asked ecstatically.

"Ten seconds." I mumbled.

"Ten seconds, really? Wow, but that's still beating you."I saw the cocky grin cross his face as he made his way towards me.

I smiled finally admitting to myself that he won fair and square and I was far from disappointed that he did. "Yeah, ten seconds. Guess that means I'll see you Friday night, you'll just have to let me know when and where." I said as seductively as possible as I trailed my hand across his chest and headed towards the engine bay. Emmett and Jasper were already hard at work cleaning up our training course. I glance at my watch as I made my way up the stairs to the kitchen. It was already nearing noon and I knew we would all need to eat something soon. I was also quite surprised that we had already been on for four hours without a single call yet. It was quite unusual for our station especially with Alice giving us all of the good calls normally.

I started breaking out food to make for lunch for all of us. I figured the guys were still down stairs cleaning up our training course and would appreciate a hot meal when they were done. I decided to keep it simple and just make some hamburgers and homemade fries. I was nearly done making all of the food when the guys started coming in.

"Mmmm, smells good in here Bells…" I heard Emmett say as he came in and grabbed a plate. He got three buns onto the plate before I smacked his hand away.

"Oi…you can have more only after everyone else has gotten food first." Everyone had their food as I finished up the cooking; I grabbed my own plate and took a seat at the table. Lunch wasn't always spent sitting at the table; some days, like today, we sat where ever we wanted. Most of the guys took a seat in front of the big screen watching some game or another. Edward, Carlisle and I were the only ones sitting at the table.

"So…I got a call from Jacob." Carlisle said as I took my seat.

"And?" I asked as I took a bite of my burger and tried not to show my fowl disposition. I knew I didn't want to hear what he was going to say next.

"Leah gave birth. Jake has his first boy – Trevor William Black."

"That's nice." I mumbled as I continued to eat. I wasn't expecting Edward to comment.

"First boy, does he have a daughter too?" He looked questioningly over at me.

"Um…no…." Carlisle muttered as he finished up with his lunch. "I'm assuming you don't know the full drama history at the station and as it's not my story to tell…I'm going to excuse myself."

I looked up at Carlisle astonished that he would just throw that out there and take off. I didn't even know if I wanted Edward to know the whole story yet, let alone before we were dating. It was hard enough knowing it happened.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I heard Edward next to me. I looked at his face and saw nothing but understanding and acceptance there. No, I would tell him. He's been nothing but good to me and over the last three months, he has proven himself trustworthy.

"No, I'll tell you. Actually, it might make things around here a little easier." I took a deep breath to steel myself before the onslaught of memories and emotional pain took me. I couldn't tell him about my mom yet. I couldn't tell him that she played a huge part in the whole break up and why it was so bad for me. All I could do was tell him about the Jake side of it. "When Jake left….me….he left because he 'found his soul mate'…" I scoffed at the term and even used my fingers to quote the words. "He was sleeping with us both, said he loved me but Leah was his true love. Right before I kicked him out of my studio he told me that she was pregnant, that was why he left. They got married weeks later because he wanted to do right by her, but as the weeks went by and she didn't start to show, all of us started questioning."

I stopped talking and took a deep breath. I was finding that it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be to talk about this. There was something about the way Edward was looking at me that was comforting. It wasn't as if he was looking at me with pity like the rest of the guys at the station did, but he with compassion. "So, what happened?"

"None of us really know. Jake wouldn't specify. All he would say was 'pregnancy wasn't in the cards for us.' Whatever the hell that meant. The only thing we could speculate was either she had a miscarriage or she wasn't really pregnant." I grabbed our plates and headed into the kitchen to start doing the dishes. Edward of course followed me and began running water in the sink in order to help. "You know?"

Edward nodded his head in understanding, "Maybe she found out about you and decided it was the only way to get him?" He pondered.

"That's a good point, very possible too. I have thought that before. Trust me when I say I have had a lot of time to wonder what the hell happened." I laughed and he chuckled along. There was a small break in conversation but it was anything but uncomfortable.

"You seem really good with talking about this." He said tentatively as he dried the dishes I was placing before him.

"Yeah, well…You're really easy to talk to about this. You helped me get over that hurdle more than you know." I smiled at him and he just winked back with that crooked smile of his. I leaned into him and rested against his side lightly while still washing the dishes. It was so surreal to be standing here with him doing tedious house chores and be connecting to him like I was. This date we would be having this Friday was looking more and more crystal-clear. We needed to be friends like this first in order to succeed in a relationship. I think that was where Jacob and I were lacking the most when we just jumped in with each other. But I still wasn't quite there yet with Edward. I was looking over the cliff but I was just too scared to jump.

Bing- Bing- Bing. "Engine 17, Ladder 17, Engine 13, Engine 12, Engine 4, Ladder 4, Battalion 11, Battalion 12, Medic 5, Medic 13 and Medic 15 please respond to a multiple car pileup on Highway 99 North bound between Madison and Spring Street exits. Triage standing order in place. Car fires, trapped passengers, overturned bus and a jack knifed semi truck also reported at the scene. Seattle City Police on scene and established incident command. All units respond."

I stood stunned in my spot as Alice's voice washed over us. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We hadn't had a multiple car pileup like that in a really long time, and now that Jacob wasn't here, I would be leading Edward. I snapped to at the sound of the guys' footsteps on the floor rushing downstairs to respond. I turned the facet off and followed after Edward down the stairs. We were in the engine and out the bay doors faster than we have been moving over the last few months. I knew exactly where the accident was reported at. The section of off and on ramps were usually really congested in the early to late afternoons, like now, in that corridor.

When I pulled up on scene I paled. I was looking at a horrific scene that very well could have been out of a movie, much like Final Destination with the logging truck. I slowly rolled up to the side of the accident and positioned the engine in a place that would be beneficial. I could see several small car fires scattered around and some of the other engines on scene were already on them. By quick count I saw seven individual vehicles in the accident, four of which had the car fires. The other three vehicles had people pinned in them; one from the jack knifed semi in the middle of the road. There was a school bus on its side next to it nearly on top of two other vehicles. I could see the casualties could be high in number and I was praying against all odds that they weren't.

"Emmett, Jasper take the semi. Bella, Edward the school bus. Ladder 17 will be taking the two cars next to the bus." Carlisle hollered out as he jogged off over towards the group of city police officers. Em and Jazz grabbed the extrication tool and the Jaws of Life off the engine and took off towards the pinned car under the front of the semi. I grabbed the extra back board off the engine while Edward grabbed our medical bag and headed to the over turned bus. It was nowhere near as stocked as an ambulances medical bags, but it would do fine in triage situations.

We approached the bus cautiously as the chaos was going on around us. The back door on the school bus had been pushed open and the occupants inside had started to push out. From the looks of it; the bus was full of a high school football team on their way to or from a game, I would guess. Most of which were walking around the scene and by the ambulances.

"You have to help us." One tear stained teenage boy yelled as we started to approach. He was walking around with a slight limp and he had several large cuts across his face and arms. I walked over to him and pulled his face to my level so I could look him in the eye. I pulled my light pen from my pocket and checked his eyes for reactivity.

"What's your name?" I started my quick examination of him, Edward walked over to another group of students to start the triage process with them.

"Stewart."

"And do you know what the date is?" I counted his breathing and check his pulse between questions. I determined he was considered a walking wounded and stuck the tag in his hand. "Do not lose this. I need you to go over there where the ambulances are and they will take care of you."

"But I have to help my frie…"

"Don't worry about your friends, we have it handled." I pushed him off towards the ambulances and continued over to Edward. He had already sent away two others with green minor tags too. I slowly walked up to the back of the bus and peered in. Quick count I saw four other students in side that needed immediate assistance. The bus driver unfortunately appeared from this distance to be dead.

Edward walked up next to me and took the back board from me. "I took care of all the walking wounded that were still standing around. What do you need?"

I surveyed the scene and made a quick decision. "Three more back boards, two more neck braces and about four more people to help." I said as I started to climb in the over turned bus. I made to the first boy lying on the row of broken windows. I climbed over him to sit next to him and check him out. I saw his eyes slightly open and regarded me with a strange look.

"Hi, my name is Bella. I'm a Seattle City firefighter; you've been in an accident. Can you tell me your name?" I asked in a soft soothing voice as I proceeded to take his vitals.

"Uh….Jeff…" He moaned out.

"Good, good. Can you tell me what hurts?" I felt around his shoulders and noticed he winced. I pulled a c-spine neck brace from the back knowing I need to put him in it as soon as Edward got back.

"I can't….can't f-feel my hands…" He choked out quietly.

"Okay, don't worry Jeff. We are going to get you out of here safe and sound." I looked up to see Edward climbing in with three other firefighters behind him from other crews. "Good, Edward come here. Oh no no, Jeff don't move." I quickly grabbed his neck and held it in place. "Edward will you come hold c-spine so I can put the neck brace on?" The other three firefighters next to Edward climbed around us to get to the other wounded students. He held onto Jeff's neck as I slipped the brace on him. I wrapped a few of his deeper gashes and helped roll him on to the back board with Edward. We quickly strapped him down and I put a red immediate tag on him. With Edward's help we climbed through the bus and out the back door. We carried him over to the caravan of ambulances coming and going from the scene. I would hazard to guess that nearly all of the ambulances in a twenty mile radius of the accident were here.

We walked up to Medic 15 to find Rose tending to a minor injury person. She had finished just as we walked up.

"Rose…" I called her name as we approached. "He's a red, need to get him out of here." She came running up with a gurney. We gently transferred him to her stretcher and strapped him down.

She read over his tag quickly and then pulled me aside. "How many more in the bus?"

"Three students and the driver; how many have you seen so far?"

She shook her head, "Total, twenty seven passengers and eight drivers not counting the ones left in the bus."

"How many black tags?" I asked, scared to know the actual number of casualties.

"Surprisingly only one black tag, but majority of the tags I have seen have been reds, that's why they have called in so many ambulances. Luckily most the students from the bus have been yellow and green tags."

"Got it. Get going and we'll go get more." Rose nodded and took off towards her ambulance. I turned and grabbed Edward, dragging him back towards the school bus.

"What's the news?" He asked cautiously.

"One black tag, majority reds." He nodded his head seeming relieved. We passed the other firefighters as we made our way back to the school bus. The third firefighter was helping another student limp towards the ambulances as well. He had a yellow tag in his hand, meaning his injury wasn't life threatening. By the looks of his limp and gashes, I would almost guess that everything was superficial.

Edward and I climbed back into the bus and climbed our way through it towards the front which was right up against the back on the semi. The last student turned out to not be a student at all but perhaps the coach of the team. He seemed rather young to be a coach, so perhaps a parent or teacher instead. He was unconscious but had a slow and steady heart beat. He was covered in cuts and bruises much like everyone else. I tagged him with a red tag and helped Edward put a neck brace on and strapped him to the backboard. We moved him out of the way and towards the door.

"Hold on." I told Edward as I turned back and walked over to the slumped driver. I pulled a black morgue triage tag from my medical bag and tied it around his wrist. The semi that the bus was up against had its doors wide open. The semi looked to be carrying metal materials of some kind and one had come off in the accident, coming through the window of the bus and pinning the driver to the seat. I turned around in enough time to see Edwards face pale and turn slightly green as he took in the site in front of me. "No throwing up on the wounded Probie." I walked over and helped him lift the backboard and climb out. We made our way over to the ambulances again and passed off the unconscious man. I spotted Carlisle over by Emmett and Jasper and turned towards Edward, "I'm going to go talk to Carlisle real quick. Be right back."

I left him standing there as I slowly walked towards Carlisle. I looked down at my watch and noticed it was nearly six in the evening already. The day had seemed to pass by incredibly fast, in the blink of an eye as it was. But as I looked around me, I could see what those nearly five hours had done. Most of the car accidents had been taken care of and cleared away by a tow truck. The semi mess and the bus seemed to be the only thing left. "Hey Bella." I heard Jasper say as I walked up. "What's the news?"

"Got the last of the students from the bus. The driver needs to be extricated, saws' all will be needed and it needs to be someone with a strong stomach." I nodded towards the bus and Emmett shook his head.

"I don't think I can do it. Can we get one of the other crews to do it?" Emmett asked as he turned to look at Carlisle.

"Yeah, I'll see if Engine 12 can do it since they are still here." Carlisle turned and walked away.

"What's up Em? Why couldn't you do the extrication?" I asked looking at him with confused eyes. Emmett had never had the problem before with having to do this. He paled slightly and shook his head walking away. I turned my eyes towards Jasper for an answer.

"We extricated a woman today from a minivan…well, I won't give you the bloody details but it wasn't pretty. She was the one black tag from today, well now two because of the bus driver. But that's good considering that there were a total of forty people included in the accident."

"Yeah, very good considering."

"Yep….It's a good thing your dad arrived on scene so early, reported it and started triage so soon." My eyes widened.

"My dad's here?" Charlie had moved to the big city about the same time I did. Since I graduated high school, there really wasn't anything holding my dad back in Forks. Plus I knew he wanted out of that house as much as I did even though he never said it. So he took the post as the Chief of Seattle City Police. I could tell that he enjoyed his job more now here. I'm sure the mundane day of work in Forks wasn't much for a distraction from life for him. My mom weighed too heavily on his mind. But Seattle, it provided just the right amount of distraction for him.

"Yeah, and he's talking to your probie…" He nodded over towards where I left Edward by the ambulances. Oh shit. I turned and regarded the conversations they were having. He was smiling. Charlie was actually smiling while talking to one of my boyfriends. Okay, well maybe boyfriend wasn't the right word. Love interest? No. Lust interest? No. Dating? But then again, he probably doesn't even realize who Edward was. But still, it was a satisfying sight to see. My dad and my undefined Edward were talking pleasantly, smiling and getting along. I felt that last brick knock off of my own personal Berlin wall as I made the decision to let him in and jump off that emotional cliff.

I slowly started walking over to them, running scenario after scenario through my head wondering what they were talking about and what I was going to say. As I got closer, Edwards back stiffened and then relaxed. He turned and looked at me, smiled and turned back to my dad. I had to wonder if Edward knew who he was talking to.

"Bella!" My dad finally saw me and swooped in for a quick hug. "Good to see you Bells. I haven't seen you in quite some time. How are you?"

"I'm good dad, doing well. How are you?" I returned the hug and stepped back right next to Edward.

"Doing fine, doing fine. I was just having a good conversation here with Edward."

I blanched. "Oh yeah? About what?" I swallowed nervously.

Charlie smiled. "Well I came over to get some information and Edward recognized my name and we got to talking. Nothing big." Charlie turned and slapped Edward gently on the shoulder shaking his hand. "Good to meet you, hope to see you again." Charlie turned and pulled me into a quick hug. "Have fun Friday night Bells and come visit this terminal bachelor some time." With that he turned and walked away back towards his cruiser.

"Your dad is…." Edward started to say as we turned to head back over to the engine where Carlisle was waiting for us. I was expecting Edward to say something bad about him. Charlie was a hard guy to get along with especially if you had the potential to be 'boyfriend material' for me. His meeting with Jake didn't go off as planned which was surprising. Jake got along with everyone most of the time, but Charlie, bless his heart, saw right through him. I should have listened to him.

"Is what?" I asked guardedly.

"Very respectable; Reminds me a lot of my father and my fire chief in the academy. Nice guy. I'd like to talk to him again, I'm sure we have a lot in common actually." I smiled, widely. "Not what you were expecting to hear I take it?"I shook my head as he threw an arm over my shoulder and pulled me against him quickly to whisper in my ear. "You'll soon learn babe, you should expect the unexpected with me." Ever so subtly, he quickly nibbled the edge of my ear lobe and blew out his breath over it. I felt a chill run down my back as my arousal peaked. He stepped over to the engine chuckling and climbed up to head back to the station. I growled in frustration and jumped into the front seat as well.

A/N: And the sexual tension rises again. So, I know you are all probably wondering what Charlie and Edward were talking about, right? Well, good news….I wrote an outtake of them talking just for you! Leave me a little review and I'll send you some Stacheman and Edward goodness…eh….not like that! Pervert! Just a conversation, I promise ;) Hahaha.