It took multiple rewrites to get this chapter the way I wanted it, and it feels like it's taken forever! Has it been forever? Anyway, it's finally done and has some romantic fluff (our favorite couple deserve some fun after everything I put them through) and a warning for off-screen violence and assault.
Chapter 31: Reunited
SeaTac Airport - Sunday afternoon
Elle stepped out of the airplane's loading chute with a sigh of relief at feeling solid ground under her feet again. She ignored Noah's voice telling her he was going to go retrieve their luggage and focused instead on searching the crowd for the reason she had just put herself through another hellishly long, nerve-wracking flight - one made even longer and more nerve-wracking by turbulence and the delays that plagued airlines on a daily basis. Next time he can fly to New York to see me, because there is no way I am doing this again!
She finally spotted him outside an airport bookstore and ran toward him, discreetly zapping anyone who didn't get out of her way fast enough. Edward easily halted her momentum as she crashed into him and flung herself into his arms. "The damn plane sat on the runway for fifteen minutes after landing before they let us get off."
"I know - Alice told me there would be a delay."
"Just another thing I hate about-" Her complaint was cut short by Edward crushing their lips together. He didn't seem inclined to let go until her oxygen ran out, so she let herself get lost in the kiss while running her hands over every part of him she could reach, familiarizing herself once again with the sharply angular planes of his face, his messy hair, the lean, hard muscles in his arms and chest…
Finally, when her mind was emptied of everything except him, he pulled back. "I'm sorry, it was rude of me to interrupt. What were you saying?"
"Airlines suck, blah, blah, blah… Shut up and kiss me again."
"Hold that thought," Noah ordered as he walked up to them, panting slightly under the weight of Elle's bags and both of their suitcases (his was much smaller). He unceremoniously dumped hers, and the bags, at her feet with a sigh of relief. "There's your stuff. You know where I'll be if you need me." He started to walk away, then turned back. "Try not to need me."
"You don't trust me to stay out of trouble?" Elle asked sweetly. Noah's answering glare made it clear he didn't.
"Where is he going?" Edward asked as the Company man vanished into the crowd. "I thought he was meant to be your…chaperone?"
She scoffed at his word choice. "You can say 'babysitter', Edward, we both know that's what he is - until he found more productive things to do with his time."
"You must be joking." His tone became darkly disapproving as he listened to her thoughts. She wasn't even trying to censor them; she was proud of what she'd done. "You told him about Bella? You know that when it comes to people like you that man is as dedicated a hunter as James was, and you sent him after her even though I told you repeatedly to leave her alone?"
"It was the best way to get rid of him. Your precious Bella will be fine - even if he decides to bag and tag her she won't get hurt. She won't even remember it. Admit it, you're glad he's off chasing her instead of hanging around us, making sure we don't misbehave." She leaned in until their lips almost touched and laid the flirtatious inflection on even thicker. "We'll have way more fun without him."
Edward resigned himself to giving in to her again. He couldn't defend Bella anymore; that he had tried to in the first place had probably been a factor in Elle's actions, because although she would never admit it, she was jealous. It was just convenient that her desire to lash out at the girl she wrongly perceived as a potential rival fell in line so well with her desire to get rid of her sitter. And honestly, I won't mind if we don't see much of Noah Bennet. Faced with the prospect of finally having Elle all to himself again, it was hard to care about anything else. Bella, who was barely even a friend, meant nothing to him compared to his mate. Yes, she was an innocent human who didn't deserve to get hurt, but Elle said - and truly thought - she wouldn't. He would have to trust her. "All right, love."
He effortlessly lifted all her bags and suitcase and led her out of the airport into a heavily overcast day. Alice had promised there would be no rain, but Elle still wanted to get into the car quickly. The familiar silver Volvo, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Where's your car?"
"The one you're thinking of is in the garage at home; the one I'm driving today is right over there." He pointed out his Aston Martin.
"The special occasion car? Is today something special?"
"We're finally together again after the longest two weeks of my existence, so I would say yes. Also, I'm going to take you out this evening."
"I hope you mean on a date, not 'take me out' like in a hit."
That comment made Edward smile for the first time since she told him about using Bella as bait for Noah. "Yes, I am talking about a date. We have dinner reservations at seven-fifteen, and I'm afraid you're a touch underdressed."
"What's wrong with what my outfit?" She was wearing tan slacks and a glittery gold sweater topped with a beige leather jacket - a more understated choice than her usual attire, but since Edward sometimes voiced the opinion that her usual attire was almost indecent she had decided to forego her favorite miniskirt and rubber boots. "If you wanted me to dress up you should've said so."
"Alice took the liberty of selecting new clothes for you." Elle's eyes narrowed. "I tried to talk her out of it, but if I didn't agree to give you the dress she bought she threatened to drive up to Seattle herself, grab you the minute you walked off the plane, and whisk you off for a complete makeover. Trust me, you're getting off lightly."
"So where is this dress I'm supposed to wear?"
###
Twenty minutes later she emerged from the backseat wearing a rose-colored satin dress, matching high heels, pink diamond jewelry, and a disgruntled expression. The ensemble also included a filmy white wrap which she held out between her thumb and forefinger like a dead rat. "This looks like something Mrs. Petrelli would wear."
Edward disagreed, but there was no denying that the dress, with its high neckline and knee-length pleated skirt, was a bit conservative for her taste. "Hardly; I think it's lovely, although I can't be an objective critic - you can make anything you wear look good. I could take you to shop for another dress, but I didn't think to allow time for that when I made plans for this evening-"
"Well, I'd hate to mess up your plans." Plans you never asked me about…
"Don't worry, you're going to like this. One of the benefits of my telepathy is that I know exactly what you want." In fact, he knew what she wanted better than she did. The price and prestige of the restaurant they went to meant nothing to Elle; what did matter to her was that her father could afford to indulge in the finest dining New York had to offer every night, but he never wanted to take her along. He never wanted to take her anywhere with him, treating her like some embarrassing secret to be locked away out of sight - and out of mind except when she could be useful to him. She deserves so much better than what he gives her, Edward thought for the umpteenth time. What I wouldn't give to rid her of him… But unfortunately she was still rather attached to Bob. Breaking her away from him would be a slow, and very possibly long, process, but her decision to see him without Bob's knowledge was a step in the right direction.
Her voice suddenly cut through the Debussy CD he had put on for background music. "Are you okay? You looked like you were thinking about some pretty heavy stuff."
"Did I?" He thought he'd been doing a flawless job of hiding his thoughts while driving and maintaining their conversation. "How can you tell what I'm thinking?"
"It's all in your eyes."
"You are the only thing on my mind, and having carried you I can assure you that you're very light." It was only half a lie; everything on his mind was connected to her after all. But I shouldn't be thinking those things. Dwelling on his festering hatred for Bob Bishop wouldn't do any good, and pondering how to keep Elle by his side for good - forever - was downright dangerous. While he knew one surefire way of facilitating a break between her and Primatech, it wasn't tenable; not only were the ethics of it cloudy at best, she had made it clear she didn't want to be like him. He wouldn't change her only to have her hate him forever. Also, the thought of Elle as a vampire was frightening. As a human she was dangerous; with her powers amplified by the change she would be lethal, unstoppable.
She wasn't convinced, but before she could press the issue he stopped the car and announced that they had arrived. Then he was helping her out, giving one of the valets a key to the Vanquish, and ushering her into the restaurant. At his request they were seated in a corner booth separated from the adjoining ones by high glass partitions.
"Well, this is nice and private," Elle commented.
"It's a compromise - I wanted to take you on a proper date, but I also want you all to myself. Besides, I didn't care for the way the maître d' looked at you. He was thinking some very inappropriate things." A soft growl rumbled in the back of Edward's throat.
"What about the way our waitress looked at you when she asked what we wanted to drink?"
"I wasn't paying attention to her."
"I was, and I don't need to read her mind to know she wants you. Ugh, she's coming back." Elle moved over to his side of the table, putting herself between him and the waitress.
She set a tall glass of Coke in front of Elle and then whipped out her little notepad. "Are you guys ready to order?"
"Yes, I want the peppered salmon with lemon."
The waitress jotted it down, then peered past Elle to Edward. "And what can I get for you, sir?"
"He's not hungry," Elle answered for him, "are you, baby?" In case her use of such an intimate address and the lack of space between them weren't enough of a hint for the waitress to back off, she ran her fingers up his arm and purred, "Or are you just waiting for dessert?" Mentally she added, Play along.
So he wrapped her in his arms and replied, "The second one. Definitely," as he pushed her hair out of the way and put his mouth to her neck. The waitress left looking bummed out, and Elle smiled in satisfaction. "That wasn't very nice, love," Edward gently chastised her - perhaps too gently, since it had no effect on her whatsoever.
"She shouldn't have been checking you out when it was obvious you're with me. I don't like competition."
"No one can compete with you. They're all so ordinary in comparison that I barely notice anyone else when you're in the room."
"Wow…flattery really will get you everywhere," she said breathlessly as he continued kissing her. Then she started shivering from the icy touch of his lips.
He pulled away, retrieved her wrap from the corner of their leather-padded seat where she had stuffed it, and draped it around her.
She pouted. "I told you I didn't want to wear the old-lady shawl…thing."
"Unless you want to move back to the other side of the table you need it to keep you warm, and I don't think it detracts from your appearance in the least."
Elle groaned in protest but kept the shawl on. "I swear, sometimes I think you could talk me into anything."
"If only that were true," Edward murmured.
Elle's human ears only just picked up the sound. "What'd you say?"
"Nothing of any importance, love."
###
When they left the restaurant almost an hour later, Edward informed Elle that her phone had been vibrating almost nonstop for the last ten minutes.
"Probably just a wrong number."
"If that's all it is, they're very persistent. I think it's more likely to be Noah Bennet."
She pulled the phone out of her tiny clutch purse and checked the list of missed calls. "Ugh, you're right. What could he want?" The instant it went off again, she answered and snapped, "What is it, Bennet? Aren't you supposed to be monitoring Bella Swan?" Instead of me?
"The doctors are taking care of that; she's in the hospital in Port Angeles."
"You put her in the hospital? Did she attack you?"
"We should discuss this in person. Is Edward still with you?"
"Yes, we-"
"Good, bring him and meet me at the Port Angeles warehouse." He hung up.
Elle returned her phone to her purse and nervously looked up into Edward's face, which was set in a stony expression. "Whatever put Bella in the hospital, I swear I didn't know it was going to happen. I may not have liked her seeing you every day when I couldn't, but I had nothing to do with this."
"I know you didn't. Come on, let's find out what's happened and why Bennet wants to speak with me about it."
###
"I tracked Bella Swan here, to Port Angeles," Noah explained when they met up with him, "but before I caught up with her she was accosted by four men - just local thugs, I think. She was hurt badly-"
"How badly?" Edward and Elle asked almost in unison.
"There was blood everywhere…and signs of sexual assault. I called 911 as soon as I found her, but I don't know if she'll make it." Noah seemed shaken by the gory scene he'd encountered; it was the strongest reaction Elle had ever seen from him.
"It's very fortunate for her you were there," Edward remarked. "Otherwise she might not have been found until it was too late."
"Yeah, great, but what does any of this have to do with us?" Elle asked.
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend? He's Bella's friend, isn't he?"
Edward's eyes narrowed at Noah's tone; the agent kept his thoughts too closely guarded for Edward to be sure what he was insinuating, but he guessed he wasn't going to like it. "You could say that - which you obviously are. I like her well enough."
"Well enough to be upset that she was gang-raped and nearly murdered?"
"It's always upsetting when an innocent girl is the victim of a brutal crime. Get to the point."
"My point, Mr. Cullen, is that the men who hurt your friend are dead. Their bodies were still warm when I arrived so they couldn't have been killed more than a few minutes after they finished with the girl, but there was no one else nearby. Whoever did it beat all four of them to death and then disappeared, and their injuries were so severe that the killer had to have had superhuman strength."
"Are you accusing me?" Edward demanded.
"That's ridiculous! First of all, he's been with me since you left us at the airport, and I think I'd have noticed him killing four people. Plus, like you said, Bella's his friend. He wouldn't have left her bleeding in the street, would he? There's no way he did this," Elle said adamantly.
To her astonishment, Noah dropped it without further inquiry. "Well, that's too bad. I really hoped he did."
"Why, so you could- Wait, what would you do to him anyway? Those dead guys are rapists. Why's it matter who killed them?"
"Because, Elle, the person behind those deaths is very strong, very fast, and has a predilection for violence," Edward explained. "Whether they're my kind or yours, they are dangerous, and if they don't limit their aggressive behavior to criminals, nobody in this city is safe."
So poor Bella's barely alive, and there may be a killer with superpowers in the area - anyone want to guess who it is? Also Edward's considering turning Elle but is a little afraid (and can you blame him? She would be one scary-ass vampire) and he's getting impatient to be rid of Bob. So am I, so I've decided Bob's gonna die at the end of this story. You all don't mind if I kill Bob, right?