A/N Heeey, so here is the next chapter. I've successfully updated one chapter a week for two consecutive weeks. So ya me! Seriously I am trying to speed this along for two reasons 1) So I don't keep you waiting for too long because I too am an impatient reader and 2) because I think I have a cool idea for a new story and I want to get started on it but I don't want to take on two stories at a time. I mean I can barely even handle one. So the faster I move this story along the faster I can start the other one. Anyways proceed and I hope you like it.

Chapter 9

"Passed? I passed?" I kept murmuring to myself as we drove back to HQ for my 'congratulatory' party.

"Yes Bella you passed, just like I knew you would." Edward said smiling behind the drivers wheel.

"And you knew about this?" I asked staring out at the passing lights.

"Yup." I whipped my head to the side glaring at him.

"And you didn't tell me?" WHACK! I slapped his arm angry at him.

"Well if I had told you, you would have freaked out! It was better this way." Be said rubbing his arm. Before I could retort and continue whacking him, my phone rang.

"Yello?" I asked as if I had not just been on the brink of a heart attack.

"Hey Bells, just wanted to say great job out there, you were amazing kiddo. I knew you could do it." Answered the voice of my father on the other side. He paused and seemed unsure of how to proceed. "I won't be attending your party because I will be in the meeting of your evaluation but...I'm proud of you kiddo. I really am." He said softly and my heart swelled with joy.

"Thank you." I whispered, clutching my heart.

The other line died and I hung up. He...he was proud of me. That was the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced...well in this past month...nooo pretty much my entire life.

"Who was that? Charlie?" Edward asked looking at me. I smiled and looked at him.

"No, it was my Dad."

...

We walked over to the large garden in the center of the building. Why they bothered to build one I don't have a clue. But the kids use it as a playground and Esme loves tending to it. Its in a square shape and all the offices in the center faced it. Kind of like if the building were built around the garden, rather than the garden into the building. It was really quite amazing. Roses and lilies bloomed everywhere, the trees were a great place to sit under and read, or to nap.

They even had fountains in here, it was like a private park for the agency. And now it had been covered with dozens of tiny lights, tables on the sides with piles of food on them, and instead of tables, they had laid down large blankets to have a sort of picnic. It truly was amazing.

"Wow." I breathed.

"You like it?" Alice asked bouncing up to me.

"Like it? It's amazing, I've never been to a party with a bunch of strangers and have it felt so homey before. You did great." I said looking around again. Seriously, like who makes a big open area feel so close? Or maybe its the vibe that everyone has. According to Rose, it had been a while since they'd gotten a break and had a party.

It was kind of cool to watch them relax and show their other side.

"Thank you, now what are you doing standing here? Go out there and mingle!" She giggled giving a gentle shove on the shoulder. I smiled at her and headed for the food table. I was starving cause of the whole 'running for my life thing' I hadn't even gotten to eat

"Hey." Said a voice beside me as I piled the chicken wings onto my plate.

"Huh," I looked up startled, "Oh hi." I smiled up at Jacob.

"Just wanted to say, congrats. I honestly didn't think you'd make it, but I'm glad to see you did. That's as pretty awesome for the amount of training you had." He said grabbing slices of pizza and handfuls of lays.

"Thank you." I said continuing with my food stacking. "Oh before I forget," I exclaimed reaching into my pocket, "you have a sweet ride but I hate the wind in my face, and I prefer the comforts of a car." I said handing him his keys back.

"But you-" he started saying looking at the keys in his hand confused.

"I merely wanted to teach you a lesson, I can tell you're not a bad guy. Even if that's what you want everybody else to think, I enjoyed it for a while but I must return it to you now." I said shrugging and giving him a pat on the shoulder. He smiled at me said thank you, and I walked away after a curt nod.

I picked an empty blanket under the tree and sat down with my pile of food. I stared at my plate and my stomach grumbled. Without further encouragement I dug in.

"Mind if I join?" Asked a voice above me. I looked up and saw green and bronze; Edward.

"Not at all." I said scooting to the side and patting the seat next to me. I put my plate down beside me and leaned against the trunk of the tree.

He looks at my smaller, yet still hill sized, pile of food. "Sorry, you must have been starving and then never got the chance to eat. I'm really sorry." He smiled sheepishly at me.

I looked down and smiled, dammit Bella, get a hold of yourself! Its like night of the living dummy over here!

"Its okay, now I have an excuse to pig out." I said biting into my pizza crust.

He chuckled and sipped from his cup, "You know what you said earlier is stuck in my mind."

"What's that?"

"That I didn't have a say in your fate, but the entire reason that you had that pressure of passing the test is because I asked for your death should you not. They wouldn't have killed you had I not asked for it, it was all my fault. And i-I-I am sorry." He hung his head and I smiled up at him even though he couldn't see me. I ran my fingers through his hair, holy crow! Its so soft! How is it softer than mine!

"Hey its OK, well no looking at it you were kind of an ass. But still, that's in the past...2 weeks. I've moved on, I hope and ask that you forget who I am and who you think I am. And get to know me like you would any other stranger, without previous bias." I said twirling strands of his even messier hair.

"Sounds complicated but I've always been one for a challenge." He smirked at me and I rolled my eyes and retrieved my hand.

I rested my head back against the trunk and looked around, Angela was lying on her stomach, laughing, and Ben was sitting at her side leaning back on one elbow. Mike and Jessica were dancing in the middle of the garden. Seth, Jacob, Collin, and Paul were throwing a Frisbee and tackling each other, everywhere people were together and happy. So this is what family looked like. Not that I'm saying Nana wasn't awesome at being my family, but it was always just the 2 of us. Here I was beginning to see what a large family looks like, and I hope to be admitted into it.

Human Nature started playing and slowly couples began making their way to the 'dance floor' and swaying to the gentle rhythm. I smiled as I saw Alice on her tippy toes trying to put her arms around Jasper's shoulders.

"Oh Edward." I heard a familiar feminine voice say to my right. "You owe me a dance remember?" She giggled grabbing his arm and pulling it. He sighed and got up, walking with her to where the other were. I shook my head and laughed, for such a tough 'I'm so distant and heartless' guy, he sure was whipped.

As he wrapped an arm around her middle my eyes involuntarily whipped away. It was weird because I hadn't even thought about looking away, one second I was watching him hug her close and the next thing I knew I was looking up at the office windows.

"Why so lonely?" Seth asked plopping down next to me.

"I'm not lonely." I defended. "I may be alone but I'm not lonely."

"Right, so why so alone?" He corrected himself.

"I don't know, why does the sun rise? Its just my thing." I shrugged.

"Actually the sun rise becaus-"

"Alright Mr. Smarty Pants," I said shoving his shoulder, "since you seem to know it all, what can you tell me about those two?" I nodded over to where Edward was twirling a giggling Tanya.

Seth looked over and then slowly turned to looks at me with a smirk. "Why? Is there anything in particular you are looking for?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm just asking, he seems like such a removed and closed off person, yet he does as she asks. Just like that. I want to know if its a 'thing' between them, or if anybody is open to the offer cause I could use an advantage over hover.

"Well its like this Edward was Mr. Perfect, all the girls were after him. He was top of his class, the boss's nephew, and training to be a field agent, we just call them IAs or interactives because they're the only ones doing any actual interactions. Anyways to everybody he was the bees knees. Then with time all the girls realized that he was more of a distant fellow and settled for us. All of them except for Tanya. She thought she was the one for the job, that was mainly due to the fact that every other guy was after her. So she thought she had what it took. The simple version is that to Edward and everybody else she failed, but to her she's merely had a minor set back. She has been trying to get changed to be Edwards partner instead of Jacob's, its driving him nuts." He explained and I listened closely.

"But we've all pretty much decided nothing will ever happen between those two, 1) because she's too expectant and 2) because he is more of a loner. Doesn't really let anybody in, prefers to be alone, etc." He counted off with a wave of his hand.

"I see, well that's too bad." I said closing my eyes.

"How so?"

"I was hoping for drama." My high school life lacked drama, mainly because I didn't pay attention to the measly problems of the whiny teenager, but still, I wanted excitement.

"Oh believe me, there will be drama." He said confidently. "Were a bunch of agitated, teenagers, who know how to handle a weapon, there is loads of drama."

"Bellsie! Why aren't you dancing?!" Emmett hollered striding over.

"Because I don't dance?"

"Nonsense. You forget we know EVERYTHING about you. And you most definitely know how to dance. So get out there and shake it!" He grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet.

"But I don't want to shake it." I groaned.

"Too bad because you're gonna." He pushed me toward the center of the garden.

"I thought this was MY parry?" I reasoned.

"That's why YOU have to dance." He argued.

"Ugh." I groaned

...

"DODGEBALL! GIRLS VERSUS BOYS!" Rose shouted as she brought out the tubs with the big balls.

"Umm..." Was my reaction when Alice handed me a ball.

"Don't worry Bella, we'll take it easy on you if you beg us to." Jasper taunted and gave me a wicked smile.

"We'll see who's begging who." I grinned.

...

"Who's up for a little baseball?" Jasper asked twirling a bat.

"Seriously? I haven't played since I was a kid." I laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Then this should be interesting." Alice said from the center of the garden, practicing pitching.

"I'll just sit this one out." I laughed crossing my arms.

"Oh I don't think so. Baseball is the agency's official sport. Everybody plays it, even Carlisle and Esme stop whatever project they're working on and join us. Carlisle has a mean swing." Jasper said swinging the bat at an amazing speed. "Everybody plays." He repeated pointing at me with the end of the bat.

"Well, almost everybody." Seth nodded over to where Edward was sitting on a branch.

"Edward doesn't play?" I asked curious.

"Its been seven years since he's played. He used to love playing, he was incredibly fast, and he was a great catcher. But when he was 10 he slowly stopped playing, then eventually he completely stopped, and we could never convince him to join." Rose explained.

"Do you guys know why?" I asked as I turned to look at him over my shoulder.

"Not a clue, everybody thought it was an early entrance into puberty, but if it was he's taking his sweet time exiting it." Emmet complained.

"Alright guys, let's pick teams. Sam and I are captains," Jasper stated loudly so everyone could hear, "Sam has first pick."

As they started naming off their team members. I walked over to Edward.

"Hey." I said leaning against the trunk and looking up at him.

"I'm not playing." He grumbled. Lying down on the branch.

"Okay, although I wasn't here to ask you to play." I stated calmly.

"Then why did you come here?" He asked swinging his dangling leg.

"To say hello." He scoffed as a response. "And," I continued, "to ask why you don't play."

"Why does it matter?" He responded sounding bored.

"Because I want to find a way to get out of this too. Since you're the only one with any experience, I thought I should know your story." I explained sounding casual.

"There isn't a story, I just don't like to play." He answered.

"Now why does that sound like a lie?" I mocked him.

"Look you can believe it or not, I don't care. That's the truth, I don't see the concept of the game and that's all." He snapped. I frowned but I controlled myself, not yelling at him was my best way to go.

"Well if that's how it is then ask yourself this, what's the point to this game you're playing? Why bother training to be so efficient if nobody is going to see or notice your work. Why try to be the best, what's the point to your life, to your game?" I asked a little more harshly than I'd like to sound.

I took a deep breath and tried speaking more calmly. "If you think in that perspective, no game or anything else has a point. Its not about the game itself, its about who the game consists of, and if you choose to play for them and because of them. You might find yourself enjoying it after all, and if not at least you know they're happy. Life is a game Edward, the only difference is that the consequences are on a larger scale, but its always the same. There is no point unless you make a point, unless you choose to have a point." I finished softly.

"Bella! You're with us." Alice shouted at me.

I slowly straightened until I wasn't touching the tree anymore and I walked over to the rest.

We played until we felt sleep creep into our eyes. We, Jaspers team won, and then slowly people started clearing the area.

I staggered over to the blanket I had been sitting on earlier in the night and laid down, my muscles relaxed and then went went numb.

...

I slowly roused awake, and I felt heavy. I tried to move my legs to stretch but I couldn't feel them. I put my hand on my pillow and tried to push myself up, but I was too surprised by the hardness of my pillow. I was scared to open my eyes and find myself at the bottom of some steps and my pillow was actually a concrete step. I slowly opened my right eye and I saw a coffee machine across the room. Well at least I knew I was inside. Then I opened my other eye and saw I was on top of something. Actually it was someone, Edwards serene face was right above mine, and my pillow had been his torso.

I looked down to my numb legs and found jasper passed out on Edwards and I legs with Alice asleep in his lap. Well no wonder I couldn't move my legs. I lifted my head and took a look around the room. We were in division 1's rec area, the corner that faced the street windows. It was where they kept the coffee and food, they had a bean bag here, a small couch which Rose and Em were using as a bed. He took up all the space so she was asleep on top of him with her back to his chest. And then there was the big round couch we fell asleep on. It was one of those big circular sort of couch/chairs you usually see in waiting rooms and stuff. It was big enough so that my whole body fit, with only my feet dangling, Edward being taller about half of his lower legs hung off the couch. A little below his knees and on my calf's, Jasper lay perpendicular to us. One of his arms hung off the couch and the other lay on his chest. Alice being so small had her head on his lap, her chest was on my legs, and the rest of her body fit in the small crack of space between my back and the edge of the couch.

I tried thinking of a way that I could get up without waking them but we were layered in a way that made it impossible. I sighed and rested my chin on Edward's chest. I looked up at his sleeping face and he finally looked at peace, not frowning or worrying, or scowling. Simply peaceful, he looked...well amazing. He always did, but now he looked humanly beautiful, not Adonis beautiful.

Just then the Greek god stirred, and then his eyes opened.

"Morning." He said in his quiet 'I just woke up' voice. He stretched his arms and I felt his muscles under me.

"Morning." I answered still looking at him.

"What time is it?" He asked looking down at me.

"I don't know, I haven't been as to move." I said lifting my head and looking down, he followed my gaze and chuckled at the sight.

"That explains why I couldn't feel my legs." He said softly.

"Any ideas on how to get out?"

"Give them a sec, Alice usually awakes at the slightest sound of a human voice, always ready to converse. And Jasper has a weird thing of sensing when Alice is awake, it seriously creeped me out the first few months I had witnessed it. But I guess its part of the connection they have." Edward explained, and sure enough throughout ss explanation Alice had begun to stir. Pretty soon she was sitting up, because out of all of us she's the only one that could.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked at us, "Morning guys." She said already bright and crisp. As if she'd been awake for hours.

"Good morning." I said sounding weirded out.

"What's with all the chit chat." Jasper complained rubbing his eyes. He opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. "Well isn't this interesting." He said taking in the situation.

"Yeah, its crazy, but guys I can't feel my legs. " I wiggled my legs, trying to get the message across.

"Oh pardon me." Jasper said standing up and stretching. Alice hopped of the couch and went to wake up the other two.

"Holy crow." I breathed as the blood rushed to my dead feet. "That's painful." I winced.

"Sorry." Jasper apologized sheepishly.

"Its OK, I've just never had half of me die before." I shook out my legs and sat up.

"We're lucky it wasn't Emmett on top of us, then we'd be in trouble." Edward groaned as he sat up as well.

"You better watch it or I'll have to come over there." Emmett exclaimed from the couch.

"I still don't even know how I got here, or why I ended up as a personal couch. I remember lying down on the blanket under the tree and then I wake up here." I popped my arms and neck.

"Oh yeah sorry, that's my fault. I saw you were asleep on the floor and I picked you up to take you to your apartment. I came here to grab a file real quick, and when I set you down my hands were stuck under you. I made the mistake of lying down and I knocked out." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well aside from that, I appreciate the gesture. Thank you." I blushed looked down. Dang it, I thought I had conquered that annoying habit.

" I'm sorry about falling asleep on you, I was just rally tired and I didn't even think about where I crashed." Jasper apologized. I stood up and made my way over to the coffee machine.

"It's all good." I said after my sip of coffee. "I just need to get home and clean up." I said looking down at my clothes from last night.

The door behind us opened and in walked the rest of division one. I turned to look and saw Ben and garret walk in.

"Hey guys." They waved and I nodded at them.

"I better get going, the sooner I leave the sooner I can get back." I said grabbing my jacket from a nearby chair. I put it on, grabbed my coffee, and headed for the door.

"Wait Bella, how are you going to get there? You gave Jake his bike back." Rose said from her work area.

"I'll walk, it'll be good for my legs." I said as I passed her.

"Wait Bella, I have to go too. There's no sense in making you walk if were going to the same place." Edward said grabbing his keys from the table.

I nodded and waited for him, as his way over arranging his jacket. Before he had reached my side the door opened again and in walked Carlisle, Charlie, and Esme.

"Oh good you're all here." Carlisle smiled from in between the other two.

"Morning daddy." Alice skipped to his side, and kisses his cheek. Then she kissed and hugged her mom.

"Hello dear." He smiled and proceeded to look at the rest of us. "The board has reached a decision concerning with Miss. Swan." I could feel everybody's gaze on me.

"From this day forward Isabella Swan is a member of Class 1: Operatives and Investigation. Division 1." Esme announced looking at me proudly. "Area of specialization: Field Agent." She stated loud and clear.

I heard a collective gasp. "She's an IA?!" Edward exclaimed behind me.

A/N Soooo? What'd ya think? I know it has its lumps and bruises but I tried to go through and fix as many as I could. But anyway I hope you enjoyed it, and if things go according to plan I should have a new chapter out Monday/Tuesday. Yup, I can't make any promises but the odds are good. So remember to let me know what you thought and if you have any questions/comments you know what to do. And by questions I don't just mean about the story, it could be about in life. Don't know what the definition of 'fo shizzle ma nizzle' ? Go ahead and ask and if I can answer it I will. (P.S according to urban dictionary 'fo shizzle ma nizzle' is slang for "fo sheezy mah neezy" which is slang for "for sure mah Nigga" which is slang for "i concur with you whole heartedly my African American Brother." Jeez that's exhausting to write, imagine if I had to say it?)