Bella McLeod

Healer

This is my first Twilight fic, and it is a femlash, featuring Bella and Rosalie as a couple. So, if you don't like, please head somewhere else.

As an introduction, you may want to read "Snape McLeod" since the Bella that trained Tobias there is the same one here, only a decade later. It's not a requirement for you to read it, especially since I will try and untangle things as the story progresses. I altered the timeline to fit my needs, so… she met Snape in 1997, they parted ways in 2000 and it is now 2011, when she moves to Forks with Charlie.

Bare in mind that I do not own Twilight, nor its characters, so if you recognize any of them, THEY'RE NOT MINE. I only own the idea of making Bella Swan part of Clan McLeod.

I also not own the Highlander series, characters and concepts.

Remember to leave your reviews…

Bella McLeod

Chapter 24

Healer

I could hear Duncan exhale loudly, a clear sign of frustration at Bella, which in turn annoyed me even more so than I already was, how dared he treat my mate like that. "Ok. Give me a couple hours to try and figure out who put the price to your head" he said gritting his teeth "Patrick still is in debt to you, we can use that-"

"He already paid off" interrupted him Bella

"When?" practically snarled Duncan, making Bella flinch slightly

"Just now, by actually letting me know he's in town instead of ambushing me" she explained him "He is asking around in school for my whereabouts, he even gave them his name, obviously someone there is bound to try and locate me, which indeed happened"

"Giving you with that plenty of time to-" added Duncan sighing defeated but was interrupted by Bella

"Yeah, but I'm not ready" she said this looking me in the eyes "I need time"

"Get your ass to Holy Ground then" he demanded

"The Brothers won't be that far behind Patrick, and you know as well as I do that they are not bound by the rules, Holy Ground will not help at all when it comes to that, and in fact it will be worse because I will not be allowed to defend myself" she sighed

"Isabella!" yelled Duncan over the phone "We need to start preparations and you need-"

"NO!" said Bella firmly before cutting the line. She took deep breaths, I guess trying to control herself, my suspicions were confirmed when I felt a wave of calmness hit me and a second later Bella relaxed against my body. I looked up at my siblings and noticed Jasper's stiff posture, I nodded in thanks to his effort. "I don't want to leave you" Bella muttered holding me tight.

"Then don't" I told her soothingly. Her phone rang again, she looked annoyed at the caller id and let it rang. It rang again several times for the next minutes, in which my family was patiently waiting for her or me to explain. Finally, when the ringing started again, she sighed before taking the call

"Joe, I need him to understand I love her so much that I rather lose the Game than leave Rosalie" she said firmly before ending the call again and shutting off the device.

"I love you too" I told her softly before kissing her cheek. "Are you going to tell my family now?" I asked her whispering in her ear after a few more minutes of silence. She looked up at me, smiled softly before leaning in to peck my lips and trying to stand, I held her firmly against me again. I did not want her to leave, and I felt that she was about to try to flee.

"I just need to use the restroom" she told me softly cupping my cheek in her hand "Then I'll come clean." Then she turned to my family "under the condition that none of you let anyone else know that I did. No one outside this meeting should know that you know what you will know, if it makes any sense" she added scrunching her face while looking directly at Carlisle in the eye.

"I give you my word" he said "None of us will reveal anything you confide to us"

Bella nodded, pecked me again and headed to the bathroom. Once she locked the door we all could hear her muttering under her breath and hitting, presumably punching, the tiles. I stood when I heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering, not a second later, as soon as I reached the door, she came out, knuckles bleeding a and a piece of the mirror's glass impaled through her hand.

"Are you out of your freaking mind!" I yelled at her when the scent of her blood filled my nostrils. I heard a low growl from behind me and turned to face Jasper who looked ready to jump and feed of my mate. I instinctively crouched and positioned myself between Bella and the immediate threat, growling at him, however Edward was soon at Jasper's side also growling and ready to attack what they perceived as Prey.

"Stop!" ordered Carlisle, but we all kept growling. "Emmett, take the boys for a quick hunt" Emmet approached us apprehensively, with his hands up in the surrender gesture to show us that he meant no harm, as soon as he was at my side he ran and tackled Edward carrying him outside to the woods. Jasper noticed the absence of his mate and the thirst for blood was replaced by worry, for which he ran after my retreating siblings. I kept growling keeping Bella between me and the rest of my family.

"Rose" said Bella placing her uninjured hand on my shoulder. I glanced at her, but still kept my eyes fixed on Carlisle and the others, gauging if they were going to leap on Bella too, after all, she still had a shred of glass on her hand and was still bleeding due to that "I'm fine. I am safe. They are not a threat right now" She said softly "And what did I tell you about growling at your siblings?" she asked teasingly while cupping my face as soon as she noticed she had my undivided attention, when I finally stopped growling she pecked my lips and leaned her forehead against mine, making me sigh in relief. "Thank you for protecting me. I am fine" she added

"Come on Bella, let's get your hand cleaned and treated" said Carlisle chuckling.

Bella looked at Carlisle for a second before nodding and heading into the living room again. I sat at her side while Carlisle retreated to his study for what he thought he would need to treat Bella's wound. Alice and Esme shared a concerned look between each other before sitting on the farthest couch from where Bella and I were, both obviously holding their breath. Carlisle came back and with gentle hands took the shred of glass off Bella's hand. Bella smirked at me when after a few seconds Carlisle reached to clean her cut with a clean cloth.

"Wha..? How?" He asked clearly confused at seeing Bella's hand completely healed.

"What is it?" Asked Esme standing and walking to us followed by Alice who gasped upon seeing too, Bella's healed hand.

"Surprise" said Bella sheepishly smirking holding up her hand for Esme to see.

"How are you able to heal so fast?" asked Carlisle with the curiosity of a child with a new toy, which made me growl again. I did not like the idea of Carlisle thinking to experiment on Bella.

"Rose" she admonished me, but took my hand in hers and gently squeezed reassuring me of her safety "I am an Immortal" she told Carlisle "Not one like you obviously, but Immortal nevertheless"

"How remarkable" said Carlisle "I've never seen a human like you in my whole life"

"Maybe you have and you don't know" I told him, still not liking the look in his face

"Bella, dear" started Esme "can you explain us what you mean?"

"Yeah, if you can't die, then how come you're worried about the guy who is looking for you at school?" added Alice

Bella sighed, then scooted closer to me, still holding my hand in hers. "In part, because due to his visit, Duncan will talk to Charlie and they will want me to leave Forks for good, I don't know where they will think to send me this time around"

"I won't let them take you away" I said in a serious tone letting go of her hand in order to give her a side hug and press her body possessively against mine.

"They won't" She said softly "And doesn't matter, in the end it is true that I have to leave Forks, they already know I'm here anyway so it is best for me to move away, again. I just don't want to expose your family anymore than you already are, nor do I want to leave you." she said looking me in the eye before turning her attention to Carlisle "I'm not the only one of my kind" then she turned to Alice "And I can die, if I am beheaded" Esme gasped. Bella took a deep breath and launched into the same explanation she had given me about how they are bound to a Game for the ultimate prize and the rules of it. How Charlie was not her father but her Watcher, and Duncan an Immortal like her who had raised her and trained her since birth and who had been with her when she woke up after her first death. She then explained how without a first violent death to trigger it, they would age, heal and die like any other human.

"How violent?" asked Esme repeating the same question I had posed Bella

"If he had the gene of Immortality" started Bella "And Rose hadn't taken him to Carlisle, Emmett would have been one of my kind. Same with Rosalie" she said looking at me and cupping my face "if you had had the gene of Immortality and Carlisle hadn't found you, you would be like me"

"How do you know if someone is like you or not?" asked Carlisle in the same amused and interested tone that was bugging and upsetting me.

"We can feel them when they are nearby. We call it the Buzz." said Bella still looking at me "Unfortunately the misunderstandings in the beginning of my relationship with Rose, were in part caused by my reaction to the Buzz" she added then looking at Carlisle

"So when we found Rosalie stating you were death, you had in fact died" muttered Alice. Bella nodded "I'm sorry" said Alice looking at me. I nodded in acknowledgment

"And this Patrick?" asked Esme now

"He is an Immortal like myself, but he is a head hunter. Some of us like to live among regulars and we just wait for other Immortals to find us and issue the Challenge. Others live to find others and take them off." She sighed "A few of them, like him, like to do that, for a price. They are hired to take others out. We met once, we had a common problem, I helped him and saved his life, in turn he let me go that time stating that he would find a way to pay his life debt"

"So you think that someone is sending head hunters after you?" I asked her, she nodded "But why?"

"I don't know" she said shaking her head "But the other Immortals are not what worry me. If they were my biggest problem, I would go to Holy Ground for a few years. I lived with a group of Nuns for a couple of years a while back, curiously it was quite fun. Whoopi had the right idea when she did Sister Act." She said smiling

"Nuns aside, then what's the problem?" asked Carlisle

"Why can't you hide at Holy Ground as you call it?" added Esme

"There are humans, mostly who either used to be Watchers, or are their descendents. They are not bound by the rules. They call themselves The Brotherhood. And if there is someone specifically wanting my head, they are to be around too"

"We'll keep you safe" said Esme with determination

"Yeah, I'll look ahead for visions on them and others like you" said Alice

"No" said Bella firmly "That's not honorable and…"

"Honor be damned!" I told her interrupting whatever she was about to say "You said you rather lose the Game than leaving me. But don't you see? If you lose the Game you leave me too, and we both loose" I said pleading

"How about a compromise then?" She asked me after a moment. I quirked an eyebrow waiting for her to elaborate. "Alice can be in the look out of the Brothers. The Humans that are not bound by the rules"

"And Raoul" I added frowning "You said he only abides by the Holy Ground rule"

"Fine, Raoul too" she agreed sighing "Now, I need to figure out what to tell Duncan. If I don't leave or convince him I will soon, he will come here himself and that would be embarrassing. Not the best way for the in laws to meet"

"You're worried about being embarrassed instead of being alive. You certainly are an odd human" said Alice chuckling

"Maybe we can tell him and Charlie that you are going to go camping with us" said Esme after a moment.

"We are bound to go to our family yearly camping/hiking/hunting trip in a few weeks anyway" said Alice "We can go instead in a few days, right Carlisle?"

"I'll clear my schedule at the hospital" he said nodding "How long would you have to be away from Forks to take them off your trail?"

"Not sure" said Bella sighing "Usually a few months of lying low does the trick, but with Patrick asking around school and them knowing I'm with Rosalie now, if they learn that I went camping with you, they will be waiting for you to come back. And in any case, Forks is no longer safe for me, other hunters would follow regardless if there is a bounty or not on my head"

"Then we leave Forks too" I told her simply "I'm not about to let you go"

"I love you" she whispered making me smile broadly

"We could leave Forks for a few days. And when we come back, keep you hidden here, and say you broke up with Rosalie during the trip and just decided to take off by yourself" said Alice

"It might work for a little while with others, I don't want to lie to Duncan though, so I'll simply tell Duncan that I'll leave Forks in a few days time and that I'll let him know once I settle again" said Bella nodding in agreement

"Since we are moving away too, we also need to make preparations" offered Esme

"I wouldn't want you all to leave Forks just because of me" said Bella in haste

"Nonsense." Said Esme "We are family Bella."

I smiled at her concern and then turned to Bella "It is true, this Coven is very protective of our family" I told her softly "But if you want, we could leave together, buy that house we talked about earlier"

"Did we miss all the fun?" asked Emmett coming through the main door followed by Jasper and Edward before my mate could form a response to my proposal

"Sorry" said Jasper apologetically looking between me and Bella.

"It's ok Jasper, just try not to eat me next time or I won't stop her" she said good naturedly patting my leg

"Did she tell you everything?" asked Edward still not liking Bella's presence

"Everything of immediate importance" said Bella. Edward looked at Jasper who nodded looking at me

"You know she's a danger to this family then, she should leave us and Rosalie alone" stated Edward

"That will not happen" said Esme beating me "Bella is part of this family since the moment Rosalie and her met. And you know Edward, we take care of our family"

"Told you" I whispered in Bella's ear

Edward contained the growl building up in his chest and ended up stomping to his room, followed by Jasper who looked apologetically to us all.

We spent the next hour planning our camping trip, which would consist actually in us staying at home and going out to hunt, and just enjoy a few days together.

"You're tired" I said as Bella tried to suppress a yawn for the fifth time in less than 3 minutes. She looked up at me and nodded sheepishly. I sighed and turned her cell phone on again before handing it to her "Call Charlie and Duncan, tell them you'll spend the night here and that we'll go camping." I leaned and pecked her lips as she started dialing

"Hi Dad, sorry for cutting you off like I did earlier today" said Bella as soon as Duncan answered the phone

"Are you ready to see reason?" he asked sighing

"I'll spend the night here with Rose" stated Bella "Give me a few more days and I'll leave. I'll call you as soon as I settle down. Please" she said tiredly

"I don't think you'll have a few days Isabella" said Duncan, worry flooding his tone

"Not here, I know" said Bella "I'll go camping with her family. Give me just a week to figure something out"

"You really love her, don't you?" he asked her tenderly

"I do" she said looking me in the eye

"Alright Bella. We'll figure this out. We'll find out who is after you"

"Thank you dad" said Bella softly

"Take care Bella"

"You too"

"May your head stay on your shoulders" started Duncan as a farewell

"Till the Gathering comes" completed Bella.

Revised A/N (December 2022): Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! And all that you celebrate. We are going to still have the baseball game with the Nomads interrupting because why not? A little extra hunting to Bella's head… but before, someone else will make an appearance at the Cullen's house looking for Bella.

Original A/N: I know I promised you a longer chapter for the next update, and I really really tried to do that, but I didn't want to drag on this part any more than I did, next chapter will be a little insight for Bella on the Cullen siblings past, Rosalie watching over her mate as she sleeps and last minute preparations for their 'camping' trip.

Remember to be patient here with me, I've been obsessed with another fandom, and evil me dedicated all my free time there all this time, I actually will update there before updating here, just to let you know this is me staying honest.

Once again thank you for all your support and the lovely (and not so subtle) comments you've all left in the form of reviews, PMs, alerts and faves, prompting me to continue with this little fic.

Oh, and of course for you to let me know what you think about the story, though if you want to let me know what you think of life, my inbox is always open.

You can follow me on twitter at OriginalHealer