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This chapter and this story contains graphic content including rape, violence, strong language and other non-suitable aspects not appropriate for minors or those sensitive to such content.

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Wizard of Oz: "As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable."

Tin Woodsman: "But I still want one."

Alice had come for Bella some time later, while she was still wrapped solemnly in Jake's protective arms. The broken man that was once her best friend held her in a way that was like a lover did and he was so involved in holding her, he didn't even seem to care that one of his most hated enemies was now in the room.

"Jake..." Bella started, sitting up so she could make eye contact with him. "You will be alright. Do you understand?"

Waiting for him to speak words, or make any sign of acknowledgement, she believed her words had fallen on deaf ears. All he did was look back at her, but she did read some sort of understanding in his feral eyes. She cupped his face gently with her shaking hands, her nerves starting to show on what was to come. "We will go home."

Alice was there, taking one of Bella's hands in her hand to attempt to ease her away from the Cullen's prized fighter. "Come on, Bella. It's time. He will be fine, I promise."

So far, Bella's once best friend had made true on all of her promises, but it was clear to the human that Alice always seemed to have an ulterior motive. "Okay." Bella's voice was soft and her touch assured Jake it was safe for her to be with Alice, as his dangerous eyes had now narrowed on Alice's intruding hand. Jake stood when Jasper had entered the doorway, behind him was the all-too-familiar crate that housed the Monster before he was released into the arena. His muscles tensed and he debated turning right here and killing any Cullen in the room, but it wasn't safe for the girl who he'd seem to have silently sworn his very life to.

As if sensing the oncoming danger that was Jake, Alice had taken the girl out of the room and down the hall towards the loud sounds of congregation coming from the arena.

"Come on." Jasper said. The two words were loaded with the promise of it being the last battle, the last time he would have to say those words to him. The Monster didn't comprehend what exactly was happening, but something was different about this time. Maybe this would be the fight that finally killed him. This would be the last time he would have to feel pain. Relieved at that realization, The Monster willingly went into the cage after transforming into his true wolf form.

Loading the cage onto the transporter, the Cullen moved the crate behind him with ease as he pulled it on the wheeling system towards the arena.

"Ugh." The sound of disgust coming from Alice finally stirred some attentions from Bella. She had only been trying to talk to her for the past few minutes, to little or no response from the human. "You reek of dog, Bella."

Rolling her eyes, Bella refused to acknowledge that comment.

"I should have thought of that and dressed you up after you saw him. Ugh! Hold on. Stop, stop, stop."

The vampire held out an arm to stop Bella in her tracks, which she had no choice to obey considering the unfair advantage in strength. Bella impatiently watched Alice rummage through her purse, wanting so badly to get in the stadium and make sure that Jake would be safe in the fight. She stood as Alice sprayed her with whatever perfume she happened to conjure up.

"You still smell like him, but at least it will keep the vampires second guessing." She smiled and Bella simply waited for them to continue, which couldn't have been any more obvious by the look on Bella's face. "Okay, we're going!"

The two visions of beautiful and put-together women walked past the lines to get in and past the security, without even a blink from them. They were royalty here, the Cullens, the people that everyone was dying to be in that line waiting to get in. Painstakingly, they made their way through the hordes of vampires that waited to greet them. Socialites, politicians, investors; the who's who of vampires that the Cullens so desperately needed to have mindless socializing with in order to maintain their high status. Bella didn't care about any of this, she never did. Now, she had no need to put on a mask and continue the charade, all she wanted was out. She let Alice do the talking, while Bella occasionally gave a smile and a nod.

When Victoria and James came to them, Bella instantly tensed at the sight of the pair. She didn't care for them, at all, and she couldn't help but feel that they wanted to make her their next meal. "Oh, Bella, it's so nice to see you again!" The red-head cooed in her posh voice, the white mink around her neck brought together with a gold pin in a shawl around her pale shoulders. Bella held a look of confusion on her face, there was obviously something that Victoria wanted. "Where is your darling fiance? We have so much to talk with him about!" Her smile was blindingly fake, followed only in fake nature by what she said next. "Congratulations, by the way. James and I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on your engagement." Her red eyes darted to Bella's engagement ring, clearly sizing up the huge stone in comparison to her own. Bella predicted she would ask to see it, but by the unwelcoming look on Bella's face, the words were never uttered.

Alice interjected when Bella refused to respond. "We just came from where Edward is. He's running a bit late. Closing up a business deal."

Those were maybe the wrong words for Alice to say, but the pixie vampire seemed to know what she was doing. Always.

The couple exchanged a look of worry at the thought of the Cullen's going elsewhere with their breeding idea, before walking past the two girls and out from where they came.

"Thanks." Bella said.

"Don't mention it."

They didn't look at each other, but kept moving through the groups of vampires and humans alike with the finesse that only Alice could pull off. Her skills and natural social manipulations disguised any nervousness or anger that came off from Bella. She had never been so grateful to have her by her side, even if Alice was the one who helped Edward do, what he did to her. When they finally made it to their reserved seating, Rosalie and Emmett were there to greet her.

"You look fantastic, Bella." Rosalie genuinely complimented as Bella took her seat next to her.

"Thanks. As usual, Alice picked it out." Alice smiled as Bella said that, talking to Emmett when he asked about Edward's whereabouts. She offered a similar lie to what she told Victoria, minus the attitude and with more details to put him at ease. Bella had tuned it all out, even when Rosalie had started talking of the new house Emmett and her were thinking of buying, Bella couldn't stomach to take in any more information on this life. She was over it and she feared if she faked a smile for one more second that she would have a breakdown of some sort.

The lights flickered overhead, indicating the match was starting. Everyone dulled down their conversations into silence and it was then that Bella realized there were two very important people missing right now. "Where are Carlisle and Esme?" She asked Rosalie.

As the blonde fixed an out of place curl, she replied. "Esme is over there, making her way over here." She pointed with her chin and Bella looked to see her making her way hurriedly over. "And I have no idea where Carlisle is. Probably with Edward, planning...something..." Rosalie had brushed it off as if she didn't care, but there was no mistaking the subtle, yet bitter tone she held. It was true then what Alice had said about the family being torn apart and from what it seemed like to Bella, the Cullen siblings were all terribly jealous of Edward.

The lights in the house went dark and the arena lights turned on, illuminating the arena in its blue fluorescence. The breath hitched in Bella's throat and Alice's cold hand had made its way to comfortingly squeeze Bella's in an effort of comfort. Jasper had released Jake and on the other end there was a black wolf of equal size. This was no mere werewolf that Jake was fighting, this was a shape-shifter like he was! Panic-stricken for Jake's life, Bella went to stand to her feet, but Alice's strong grip was there to keep her in her seat.

"Relax, Bella. Don't make a scene!"

The rest of the Cullens were now staring at Bella, as they had been the night she ran down into the pit to try and stop all of this. They were worried she'd try it again, but they didn't know the extent of her worry and how this time was so much different. This time, she knew who was in that arena. This time, this was much more than just an attempt to stop animal cruelty. Down there was the man Bella cared for above all else, someone who needed her help more than ever. The brunette stilled at Alice's grip, knowing she wouldn't get very far if she tried to run down there anyway.

It seemed to ease the others, since they all brought their eyes back to the fight. The two beasts paced in a circle around the ring, as final bets were placed, then cut off as the first of the attacks begun.

"No!" Bella cried out as a blur of brown and black tumbled over one another in the ring, the sounds of snarls and slashing teeth heard in the farthest corners of the stadium. Her fingers pulled at her own hair and face in terror as she watched blood spill, unable to bear another second of waiting for this plan to unfold. Jasper had ducked out after releasing Jake, surely bringing in the other Quileute so they could bring an end to the torture.

Jasper let the wolves in. He motioned Seth and Embry down a side corridor, one that would lead to Seth's sister. The Cullen moved forward at his fastest humanly stride, while three unturned wolves flanked his sides. They entered the stadium with no problem and once inside, Jasper brought Paul, Jared and Quil down to the playing ring after entering a series of codes to grant them access. They went unnoticed, since everyone was too involved in the raging fight to pay them any mind.

Once inside, several would try to stop them from proceeding to the arena, but Jasper killed each one mercilessly so not to break his stride. Just behind the luminance of the arena, the four figures stood. "Now." Jasper ordered calmly, as the three beasts changed into their wolf forms and ran into the ring.

Gasps and screams could be heard in the crowd, along with protests from large investors at the disrupted fight. By the time the three pack-mates had entered, the black wolf had Jacob to the ground. Paul could smell the drug emanating from Jake's pores, clearly injected with something that would make him lose this fight against none other than Sam. The power of most of the pack together brought on a new magic that had been lost all those months ago. Communicating silently and able to hear each other's thoughts, Sam backed off of Jake with the rediscovery of himself. His own strength-enhancing drugs pumped into his system were now fading by the power of the pack, but Jake had been lost to unconsciousness due to the crushing power of Sam's jaws on his airway.

In the stands, the audience was at their feet while security made their way down towards the arena with their electrocution devices. Before Bella could make a decision of her own on what to do, Alice was quickly pulling her to her feet and away from the chaos. A confused Esme called out for them, but the family was too focused on the scene below to try and follow them. Starting to drag against Alice's powerful grip as they moved towards the exit, Bella finally managed to get her arm back for herself. "No! I'm not leaving him like that."

Impatience flashing in Alice's eyes, she tried a new attempt to console to keep her going. "Bella, the pack will get him out of here with Jasper's help. Right now, I'm leading you to safety. There's a truck outside, that you'll all be going in with Jake...and back to Forks. Back to home and to Charlie."

Charlie.

The name of her father immediately brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't even remember the last time they had talked, not since before her engagement to Edward. For all Charlie knew, Bella was probably dead and maybe, that girl he once knew was dead. The Bella now was nothing compared to that girl of ignorance. She was a hell of a lot stronger now than she was back then, not to mention, smarter. Nodding and once again putting her faith into Alice, she followed Alice's lead.

Their designer heels echoed down the bare halls, till the two made it outside. A large truck waited outside, a loading truck that Bella presumed Jake would be loaded into in the back. A yellow Lamborghini parked in front and another pick up truck behind it. Bella recognized the truck as Paul's, which made Bella more at ease with her decision in trusting Alice. Still, Bella wasn't sure she could just wait out here while all hell broke loose inside, but pretended to follow Alice's advice for now by sitting in the passenger seat of the larger truck.

Alice disappeared somewhere back inside and after waiting several beats, Bella threw off her annoying stilettos and made her way also back inside. Embry was there to stop Bella from getting very far, running back out holding a frail and deathly looking Leah in his arms. She looked dead and the lower half of her was covered in dark crimson. The sight of the bump on her belly made Bella go white, till Seth came running down the hall in his wolf form far behind them. "Get to the truck, Bella!" Embry yelled as Leah seemed to come back to life in his arms from the pain she was experiencing. Bella wasn't versed in anything about childbirth, but it looked like Leah was going into labor. And she was no Doctor, but it didn't look like Leah was going to make it through this.

Embry delicately placed Leah in the back of the Paul's pick up truck. She laid there, frail and exposed to the world in the open-back-flatbed. Instinctively, Bella climbed up to be by her side. This girl had always seemed to hate Bella and everyone else for that matter, but seeing her like this had quickly put whatever past they had behind them. Seth climbed in the back with them, pulling on a pair of shorts that were in the back next to them. "We have to get her to the hospital!" Bella yelled to Embry as he drove into the driver's seat.

"There's no time!" Seth yelled. "She's having the baby now. We can't risk the drive!" The youngest Quileute banged on the back window for Embry to get out, which caused him to come back to continue whatever argument had been happening since they apprehended Leah.

"We're as good as dead if we stay here. It won't be long till they find the bodies, we're sitting ducks out here, Seth!"

Bella's eyes went wide. They'd killed in there, but who?

"Either way, we're screwed! Right now, we have to save her!" Tears streamed down Seth's face and neither Bella or Embry could bring themselves to say out loud what Seth clearly knew. She was dead, regardless of what they did now.

Leah screamed in a way that only a dying girl would. She had no energy to deliver this baby, but Bella was going to try and inspire her to do something. "Call an ambulance, get them here and I'm going to do what I can!" Bella offered a solution as she stared down at the bleeding Leah. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but she had seen a lot of movies, which was what she was going to have to work with for now.

"Alright, Leah, I know you can hear me. It's really important for the life of this baby and for your own for you to stay calm and give me whatever you've got right now. I can see the top of the baby's head..." Bella kept Leah's legs parted as she stared down horrifyingly at the crown of the baby's head. "I'm going to need you to give me one very strong push...now!"

The push wasn't that strong, but it was enough to get the infant halfway out of her. The effort had left Leah passed out with her fairing skin covered in more cold sweat. Knowing she didn't have any time and that she needed to save this baby's life, Bella reached in and pulled out the infant, only to find it quiet and still. Panic sweeping through her, Bella held it as it turned bluer before her very eyes. She tried to rub it's back and when that didn't work, she tapped it in the back as she had also seen in movies. Holding it upside down and trying this several times, it finally screamed to life. Smiling and crying out in relief, Bella couldn't help but sob at the life she had saved. Looking to the boys, they looked horrified as they looked down at Leah. She wasn't breathing and by the looks on their faces, she knew that Leah had died.

"I have to cut the chord." Bella sobered from her brief euphoria as she looked around for something, knowing she'd have to mourn for Leah's death after this. Finally responding, Embry came to her side with an impressive pocket knife. As the ambulance arrived, they took over from there in taking care of the baby and they also attempted to summon Leah back to life. Onlookers had gathered, which Bella had openly sneered at. There was no privacy for their grieving moment, all so these spectators could have something to gossip about tomorrow morning over coffee.

Jacob was still inside and having all of these people out here when they decided to make their exit was certainly not going to be part of the plan. Just as Bella had been staring into the intricate doorways, they parted to reveal a poised vampire couple that Bella had been waiting to see. Jasper and Alice made their way to her and before Bella could ask where Jake was, Alice was already answering it.

"We need to get the moving truck into the alley. These people can't see us after what we just did inside. We have to hurry!" Alice eyed Embry, urging him to take the truck into the alley with a single look.

"What did you do?" Bella was concerned, but Embry had already jumped into the larger truck to do what Alice had instructed.

The vampire couple took a glance at Leah, with Seth grieving over her dead body. The two looked like they had sympathy for their mortal enemies in the sad scene, but they vocalized none of their feelings. "We all need to get out of here. Where is the thing?"

"You mean the baby?" Bella asked, offended that Alice had called it a 'thing'. "It's a boy, by the way. Be sure to use blue wrapping paper in your gifts."

Alice blinked. Jasper blinked. Bella glared.

"They're taking it to the hospital and they also have to take Leah's body. Whatever you all did to her, it cost her her life."

Bella wasn't sure that this was directly their fault, but she had to presume it was. It was guilt by association.

"I'm sorry." Alice offered the simple consolation to her.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, but if I were you, I wouldn't set foot near Seth right now. You're actually lucky he hasn't noticed you yet. Alice, I think I could have forgiven you for what happened with Edward. I know you saw what he was going to do to me..." Bella breathed as the rage boiled through her. "...but I can't even comprehend forgiving you for this. Even if you only knew about this, this is your fault for not stopping it."

They said nothing for several seconds and Alice couldn't even bare to make eye contact. Jasper finally spoke. "If you want to save his life and your own, I suggest you both get the hell out of here. You have twenty minutes."

It was all they said before they walked past Bella, not uttering another word as the sound of the truck being loaded could be heard in the distance. Luckily for their unfortunate situation, the ambulance scene had distracted any onlookers from what was going on in the back alley. Turning on her dirtied bare heel, Bella approached the ambulance car that was ready to take the baby and ready for Seth to let go of his sister so they could take Leah to the morgue.

"We have a slight change in plan." Bella spoke up, checking the time in the dashboard before approaching the medical technicians. Her blue Chanel dress covered in blood, she looked anything but the sane voice in the group. "We have to take Leah's body back to their family. It's a ritual of the Quileutes and their tribe, a religious ceremony that is really important..." She wasn't sure if they were buying it, but they definitely looked speculative of her words. "I'm going to need the baby too, for the same reasons. Seth is now the legal guardian and in order for me to get him out of here, I'm going to have to take both with us and back home to their lands."

The two EMT's looked at one another, then waved a police officer over. Bella shifted the weight on her hip uncomfortably at the new presence. The blonde EMT said to the cop, "She's taking the baby and the body back to their people. They're native americans and if we take them, she says it goes against their culture."

Man, she summed it up better than Bella did.

The cop looked at Bella and the mess that she was, uncertain if this was a good idea or not.

Bella spoke up. "My name is Bella Swan. My father is Charlie Swan, he works for the Forks Sheriff's Department. You can have him crosscheck everything I'm saying, or even check on us tomorrow to make sure everything's okay. I really do need to go, Leah's father has no idea and they need to do the ritual as soon as possible."

The three of them seemed to slowly agree to Bella, then offered her a release to sign saying that she was responsible for the body. They also needed Seth's signature, which he gave without even knowing what he was signing.

"We can't give you the baby. Not tonight." The cop spoke up and Bella knew she was running out of time. After checking the clock, she knew she had less than five minutes.

"Why not?" Bella was frustrated, but knew they might have to leave the baby here for now in order to make it out of here when the clock ran out.

"We can't let you drive him home without a car seat. It's the law and it's not safe. A legal guardian can come by and pick him up tomorrow. I'm sorry to do this at such a horrible time, but it's for the best. The baby should have tests done too. He will be in safe hands."

Slowly nodding, Bella knew she was not going to win this battle. "Fine. Just get him out there now. We might come back after we drop her off to their father." It was a lie, but Bella needed to know that baby was out of here before the next few minutes was up.

"They're already on their way."

Seeing the ambulance pull off, Bella sighed in relief to the cop. "Thank you."

The crowd had started to disperse and the sounds of the distant truck had long since gone, as well as the yellow sports car. "Come on, Seth. Let's bring Leah home."

"I'm staying back here with her." He sobbed, but Bella was happy that he actually had managed to make a coherent sentence.

"That's fine. I'll go slow once we get on the highway. Just stay down. Don't need to get pulled over and give another cop the shock of their lives."

Closing the back of the truck, Bella hopped into Paul's large vehicle with some difficulty. Hurrying, she turned it on and pulled out onto the streets, just in time before the pride of the Cullen family blew up from the inside. The impact caused the truck to swerve into oncoming traffic, but Bella managed to straighten the wheels and move past the cars that were now driving in a frenzy to get away from the blast.

She didn't know how he did it, but Jasper had managed to plant the entire fortress with bombs. She wished she knew what exactly he had done in there and how she kept them all inside, but now that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting Seth and Leah home, as well as Jake. Hoping Jake was okay was the nail-biter on the entire drive and she had no cell phone on her to call and ask anyone; not that she expected anyone to pick up. She was certain there was just as much chaos in that truck, if not more, than there was in here.

First stop was the Clearwater's for Seth and Leah, then she'd find out the scoop on Jake. The road home had never seemed longer.

There will be only one more chapter of this story, then it's a wrap! Don't forget to review and to check out my other stories!