A/N… I know it's been a minute, and I kind of left you hanging. Some of you probably know, and some were left in the dark. I'll explain everything at the bottom, including what that means for Oz.

~oOo~

Chapter 11

EDWARD

"Signal sighted," Alice stated over the radio, and the old church bells started to ring.

This was the third damn raid since Thanksgiving. And it had only been a week. We knew that Demetri had a hard-on for Emmett and me, but now that my parents had vacated the Sound, the raiders were working overtime.

Today we were supposed to head to the clinic to have my dad give Bella a checkup, but it seemed we needed to go to the bunker first, at least until the raid was over.

"I hear it," Bella said from the bathroom.

Her morning sickness had slowed down, but it wasn't gone completely yet. She stepped into the bedroom as I tied my boots, and she was a little pale but not shaky. I'd seen the nausea wreck my poor girl. This morning, she looked in control of it.

"I'm okay," she answered before I could ask.

Nodding, I stood and opened the bedroom door to see my parents waiting for us. I had to give them all the credit; they had adapted to Oz better than I could've ever hoped. They listened to us, followed our instructions, and fit in it like they'd always been here. Sue and Al had essentially made them honorary elders, and that was simply because they remembered life before walls and raiders and viruses.

None of us said much as we made our way downstairs and out onto the street. I wasn't using the crutches anymore, but I wasn't exactly at my fastest. I carried a slight limp, but my leg was healing just fine. I tried not to think about what would've happened had we not gotten to my dad in time. I could've been caught or bled to death. Hell, I could've dressed my wound with Emmett, but it might have ended up with an infection. All those things were what drove poor Bella crazy with worry.

"We got this, Ed," Emmett stated as he ran by us. "Get to the bunker."

By now, my parents knew the way, so my dad led us through the auto shop and out the back door to the old junk car lot. He lifted the door to the old box truck and pushed the hatch open by sliding the pallets back. Once we were all inside, he slid it closed.

I listened over the radio as the rest of the resistance handled the raid. I was beginning to agree with Bella about rigging the gates. We needed to stop them from just being able to come and take or terrorize. She wanted some sort of fire ditch or to maybe set explosives. She wanted to seal off the gates completely. It was starting to sound like a damned good idea.

These last few raids were in retaliation for the train. We knew it would happen. We'd saved forty-eight slaves on that train. Forty-eight. That was too many people to be stolen without repercussion. Some had stayed in Oz, and some had decided to make their way back home – wherever that was. I understood it; if I had been taken from my home, away from friends and family, I'd want to fight my way back home, too.

That thought made me set eyes on my wife. She never could sit still in this bunker. She paced, read the names and dates carved into the walls, and fiddled with the books and food stores down here. She'd been that way at twelve when she and I had to hide with every raid.

My Bella was such a free spirit that to trap her down here was like trying to cage a bird. She'd rather fight. She'd rather have the ability to run and hide, not be trapped in an underground box.

"She okay?" my dad whispered.

I smiled over at him and nodded. "This isn't her favorite place," I told him softly. "She feels trapped, but she'll be fine."

Rapid gunfire echoed from a distance, along with an explosion, but my dad stayed pretty stoic about it. Mom was on edge, but she was handling it okay.

"I thought about what you said," he said softly, glancing my way. "At Thanksgiving. About ending it, finishing it. About your child only knowing peace."

I met his gaze, nodding and shrugging. "Yeah, well, it's true."

"Do you regret this fight?"

Shaking my head, I said, "No, I don't, but everything I did…everything I still do, is for her. And now for the baby. I just… This fight needs to end, because one asshole decided he wanted to cleanse the damn world."

"History has a way of repeating itself," Mom piped up from her seat by the bookshelf. "The whole world went to war over a man who thought the world needed to be 'cleansed.'"

"Hitler," Bella stated, and both my parents nodded.

"Eleven million people died because one man ordered it," Mom went on. "Eleven million. All because of their race or religion or political view. And that doesn't touch all the soldiers who fought and died. I read once that those numbers went as high as thirty-eight million battle deaths, which included civilian casualties."

"So almost fifty million people died because of one man," Dad finished, glancing back to me. "Aro, however, was able to not only remove the military aspect of his cause, but he also thinned out the entire planet's population."

"Mmm," I hummed in agreement, opening my arms for Bella when she walked to me. "If we can stop him, then he's now created a world where he won't survive outside of his own walls. There's no money, no one to bribe, no elite – none of that exists anymore. He set himself up in those towers, surrounded himself with people who could protect him and provide him with necessities, but he set the world back hundreds of years. Take away his power, his protection, and he wouldn't survive out here."

"If you succeed in exposing him and stripping him of his power, Edward, then what's the end goal?" Dad asked me.

"Give Seattle back to the people. Hell, give all the walled cities back to the people," I answered firmly.

"And walk away," Bella stated.

"And walk away," I concurred through a sigh, hugging her closer. "Find someplace away from it all and settle down."

"You don't want to be involved with reestablishing some sort of government?" Dad asked.

I laughed. "God, no! No. I really don't. I just want to stop them from trading people like cattle for whatever their reasons. After Aro falls, smarter people than me can set up a government or whatever. I trust Charlie or Sue or Al to start that kind of stuff over. Hell, you, too."

My mother chuckled, and my dad's smile curled up his face. The hatch door above us slid back, and Emmett was up there looking a little ragged. He was covered in dirt, his lip was split, and the knuckles on his right hand were busted open.

"The hell, Emmett?" Bella asked, walking away from me toward the ladder.

He grinned, swiping at his lip. "Demetri. He sent like four raiders after me. Two limped back, and two… Well, the other two didn't make it." He grinned at our laughter as we made our way up top. "And Al may or may not have blown up one of their Hummers at the main gate. That bastard is still on fire. Guess we figured out how to block that gate after all, Bells."

Bella's giggle was soft and sweet, which made all of us smile. She tugged his shirt, saying, "C'mon, we're all heading to the clinic. You can get checked over."

Emmett, though, lit up like a kid on Christmas. "No shit? You're… Are you gonna see Baby Cullen today?"

Grinning, I slapped his shoulder. "Let's hope so, Em. C'mon, she's right."

"I'll meet you there. I'm gonna grab Rosie for this," he said excitedly, taking off through the auto shop and back out onto the street.

We turned the opposite direction, making our way toward the clinic, which was all the way in Sector D. This sector was relegated to the elderly, the clinic, and the school. It was far enough away from the walls to keep the old and the young safe. The clinic wasn't a full hospital, but it was big enough for the residents of Oz. A regular hospital was reserved for the Sound, which was where my dad once worked. It was, however, an old doctor's office, and next door was an assisted-living facility. It provided basic care, vaccinations and, of course, maternity.

Flash's people and the resistance kept the clinic and the elderly stocked with as many medical supplies as we could. Reverend Weber ran the clinic, but his knowledge was limited, which was where my dad would help. Tanya and Kate had become fairly decent nurses, along with a few people we'd rescued over the last couple of years.

However, my dad was probably more experienced than all of them combined. And funnily enough, he was truly looking forward to a career change. I couldn't really focus on that on our walk because I was way too amped up about the possibility of seeing our baby.

I wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders, pressing kisses to her temple. I needed her to stay healthy, I needed the baby to be healthy, and my worry over both of those things was making me almost shaky.

We stepped inside the clinic, and Reverend Weber was at the front desk with Tanya and Kate.

"Ah, good, you're here," he greeted us and then turned to the girls behind the front desk. "Katie, Tanya, this Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Edward's father. He's going to be helping us out around here."

Both women greeted my father, and I introduced my mother, but Reverend Weber glanced Bella's way.

"Okay, Bells, I've set up the room for all of you. Sector C was able to get their hands on some prenatal vitamins, so I'll give you those before you go. As of right now, you and Irina Adams from Sector B are our only expecting mothers. And she's due in the next several weeks."

The doors opened behind us, and Emmett and Rose entered the lobby. Reverend Weber's face sobered.

"Kate, will you please show Emmett to the first exam room so we can clean up those abrasions?" he instructed, and then he turned to Tanya. "Tanya, take Edward and Bella to the room we just set up. I'll give Dr. Cullen a quick tour. He's going to need to know where everything is."

Emmett and Rose followed Kate to the first room off the lobby.

My mother looked conflicted, but Bella turned to her. "Will you come?" she asked. "I'm kinda…"

Mom gave my girl a watery smile. "I'd be happy to, Bella. The first few times are scary, but you'll see that it can be exciting too. The first time I heard Edward's heartbeat…" She grinned up at me when I chuckled. "It was the best sound."

Tanya led us a little farther down the hall to the last room at the end. She opened the cabinet door and handed Bella a gown.

"Here, Bella. Just change into that." She glanced between my wife and me and smiled. "I wanted to congratulate you both. I'm…happy for you."

"Thanks," I told her, but I barely looked her way.

I was aware of Tanya's crush. It had always been there. It just never made a difference to me. I only saw the girl who was slowly taking off her shoes and pants. Tanya was beautiful, yes, but Bella carried a different type of beauty. She'd grown from the very pretty girl I'd first met when my dad brought her home, to a stunning woman, but it was more than that. We just fit. We were friends first. Fierce, secretive, protective friends. Bella knew me better than anyone in Oz. And vice versa. Bella on the inside was even more breathtaking than she was on the outside, and that was saying something.

Tanya left us so that Bella could change into that gown. Once she was on the examination table, I walked to my wife.

"Don't say it," I warned her when those dark eyes narrowed on me. "I don't give two shits about whatever it is you're gonna say about that. I'm aware, and I've got better things to do."

Bella cracked up, shaking her head. "Well, as long as you know." She glanced over to my mother. "Tanya's had a crush since like…forever."

My mother smirked, saying, "Nothing is more attractive than a man in love, even if that love is for another. Before the world went crazy, it happened to Carlisle more times than I could count. Nurses, the woman at the corner store, neighbors. You learn to ignore it, Bella."

"Mm, exactly. Ignore it," I mumbled around a kiss to Bella's forehead, which was beading with sweat. "Hey, why are you nervous?"

She shook her head, fidgeting with the sheet she pulled up over her lap. I placed my hand over those incessantly moving hands, linking her fingers with mine so I could bring them up to my lips.

"I need… I want… I don't know what I'll do if everything isn't okay," she whispered, meeting my gaze. "I want this too much, Edward."

I sat down on the edge of her table. "What did I tell you when I brought those tests home?" I asked her sincerely.

"That if I was pregnant, we'd adjust, and if I wasn't, then we'd keep trying," she replied softly.

"Exactly, love. Deep breaths, Bella. We're okay, no matter what, but I think you're worrying for nothing."

She nodded, squeezing my hand. "Okay."

Kissing her fingers again, I said, "I love you. Just relax."

Bella tried to stop being nervous, but I knew she wouldn't calm down until we'd heard from my dad. I tried to keep her at ease by running my fingers through her hair, and it worked for the most part. Tanya came back in, drew some blood, and left. When Dad finally stepped into the room, Bella was a little calmer.

Dad's demeanor was no different than when he'd worked at the Sound's hospital. It was simply his personality to stay calm and easy with a patient, even if that patient was his daughter-in-law. And it was that calmness that put Bella at ease more than anything I could say.

By the time he pulled the machine closer and turned it on, we were all practically holding our breaths.

"Everything looks good so far, Bella. So let's see what we can see," he told her, squirting some blue gel onto her stomach and then finally placing the wand thing over it.

Immediately, a whirring sound filled the room and then a rapid thumping, like a galloping horse.

"Is that…" I started to ask, glancing from the blurry images on the screen to my dad.

"Heartbeat, yes," Dad said with a proud grin. "A strong one."

I didn't know what to feel, but Bella's hand squeezed mine.

"Oh, my God," she whispered, and when I glanced her way, tears were streaming down that beautiful face.

I cupped her cheek, kissing her tears away. "Listen to that, love," I whispered against her lips. "I've never heard anything so beautiful."

She sniffled, met my gaze, and then her eyes went right back to the screen.

"There we go," Dad sang softly, and on the screen was a tiny blur that was the shape of a potato. "I'd say you guys are right at fifteen weeks, almost sixteen. And I'll have to do your bloodwork myself, so—"

The door filled with Emmett and Rose, the former saying, "I wanna see!"

He was sporting a new bandage on his hand, and his lip looked like he'd needed a few stitches. Rose, however, was tearing up over the sound that meant everything.

Bella giggled and sniffled at the same time, waving them both into the room.

"Oh, look! You're having a potato!" Emmett teased, laughing when Rose smacked halfheartedly at his shoulder with a laugh.

I huffed a laugh because I'd thought the same thing.

"Technically, the baby is about the size of an apple," my dad said through a chuckle as he shifted the wand around on Bella's stomach. "Ah, there…"

We all looked up at the screen, and my mother walked closer. The potato shape shifted into what I could see were arms and legs. The baby was curled into a ball, but I could still make out that there was more to the shape. The best part was the tiny profile of a face. It was still a blurry image, but it meant everything.

As Dad shut off the machine, I turned to Bella. "We did that," I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers. "We made a potato."

Her giggle was gorgeous and way more relaxed now that we'd seen and heard everything. "Yeah, we did," she agreed, smiling up at me and cupping my cheek.

"You're right on track," Dad said, his amusement at us all over his face. "We'll get you back in here once a week if possible." He handed over a piece of paper, and he'd printed two pictures of the baby for us.

Bella looked to me. "I want to leave one of those for my dad."

"Absolutely," I agreed wholeheartedly. "I'll leave it for him."

"After dark, Edward. Please."

"Yes, ma'am."

Everyone left the room, and Bella got redressed. She picked up the pictures, studying them with watery eyes as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Without taking her eyes from those images, she asked, "How's it possible to love someone you've never met this much?"

Smiling, I stood between her legs and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We have met. Small fry there is half you and half me. That's all I need to know in order to love them."

Bella nodded against my lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I wrapped my arms all the way around her and lifted her off the bed. "C'mon, love. You can write a note to Charlie. I'll take it after dinner." She nodded, standing up on her toes to kiss my lips as I set her down to the floor. "And then, we need to talk about the baby's room."

"Okay. I think Sue's got a place for your parents. And Flash said he's got new baby stuff for us," she agreed, tugging my hand to pull me from the room.

Before we left the exam room, though, I stopped her. "Baby… This… I still want you to stay on this side of the wall, no matter what. And I'd like you out of the line of fire when raids go down."

Bella nodded, her hands cupping that little bump. "Yeah, I know. I'm not arguing, Edward. But I need you to promise the same."

Wrinkling my nose, I nodded. "I'm not exactly at a hundred percent, love, but I'm… Yeah, I've got to be more careful. I hear you." That seemed to settle her a bit more, and I added, "Let's go tell Charlie about our little spud."

"And so the nicknames begin…" She snorted into laughter as we left the exam room.

~oOo~

Slipping through from Oz to the Sound, I studied the raiders' patrol. They were still running double the vehicles, and it seemed they'd added men walking the quiet, dark streets. Which meant they weren't giving up looking for us – both my parents and Emmett and me.

I was deep in the shadows behind the apartment building. I didn't want to move until it was clear. I didn't want a fight, and I wasn't there for anything other than to leave Bella's note for her dad, along with the picture of the baby.

Radio chatter could be heard from someone on the street, and a Hummer passed by slowly. This shit was getting dangerous now that Demetri had changed things. I was hopeful that going quiet for a few weeks would make them give up. We'd leave them alone, and they'd think we'd given up.

We were nearing Christmas, and Al and Sue decided we'd go silent and dark until after the first of the year. Maybe longer. As much as it pained us to allow them to continue to trade slaves, weapons, food, and medical supplies via ocean liners, we couldn't risk getting caught or killed.

Jasper called it lulling them into a false sense of security. Let them think they'd won, that they'd scared us. That was fine by me.

Once the walking patrolman was out of sight, I shifted away from the wall toward the back of the apartment building. I moved quickly, unlocking the cellar door and slipping inside. I clicked on a small flashlight as I walked to the red toolbox in the corner of the cellar.

There was movement on the stairs, and my gun was out and pointed before my next breath.

"Jesus, Charlie," I breathed, leaning against the damn wall.

He snorted. "Timing is everything, kiddo."

"I guess," I said through a relieved sigh, tucking my weapon back into my jeans.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Smiling, I held up two folded pieces of paper for him. "Bella."

He took the note, opening them both, but the picture caused him to glance my way. "Yeah? She's good? She's healthy?"

Nodding, I squeezed his shoulder. "Yeah, Dad checked her today. He's still working on her bloodwork, but he said everything looks good. Charlie… I… The heartbeat was strong."

Bella's dad was a tough man, a former cop who had little to no patience for bullshit. He spied for us and helped us smuggle slaves. He did it all with rarely any emotion behind it. However, hearing that his daughter was healthy and seeing his future grandchild made that man's eyes watery.

He rubbed his face with one hand, but his gaze went right back to that picture. "I carried one of these in my wallet the first few months Renee was expecting Bella. I'd change it out when we'd get a new one."

Chuckling, I nodded. "I understand why."

He smiled my way. "I bet you do, Edward." He sighed, studied that picture again, and handed it back. "Here. You keep it."

I took the picture and tucked it into one of my side cargo pants pockets.

"I was going to leave my own note, but I'll just tell you. Getting into Aro's residence will not be easy. I need time to work on it. And even if I find an opening, all the shit will hit the fan," he told me solemnly. "We need to do this carefully, meticulously. We also need to be prepared for the aftermath."

"Raiders," I surmised.

"Not just raiders, kid. We need to be prepared for slaves, for the people of the Sound who don't really have a dog in this fight, and for retaliation from hell. Demetri alone will set fire to Oz just because he will be forced to…by Aro. Understand?" He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "This…this thing Flash has created will threaten wicked and mean men who destroyed the world in order to control what's left."

"Yeah. Not just threaten," I added, grimacing a little. "Charlie, it'll shut them out of their own systems. It'll latch on to the network and do the same to all the other walled cities. They will not only lose all that control, but they'll also be unable to obtain new supplies. Eventually, food, water, and ammunition will run out."

Charlie's temper was right there on the surface. "Kind of like how they treated everyone in the Outer Zone in the beginning." He paused, meeting my gaze. "We need to do this a specific way, Edward. And we need time to set it up. Knowing Demetri and Aro, it will be a declaration of war."

Frowning, I nodded. "You have to play this shit so close to the vest. And I'm not so sure I want you on that side of the wall when we set that computer virus loose."

"I'll have to be. At least, I'll have to play my part up until that point," he argued, but he met my gaze. "I have to kill him, Edward." His statement was a whisper yet firm. "Demetri has to die for what he did. Aro will get his, but Demetri… He killed my wife, set his hands on my little girl, fucking took her from me!" His hands balled up into fists as he said that through gritted teeth.

"Easy," I soothed him. "I get it. And I'll help you all I can, but if you don't come home… If you… Fuck me…" I sighed, gripping my hair. "Bella needs you. Our child will need all the grandparents they can get. So… I'm on board with smart and meticulous. I'm totally behind killing Demetri. As long as you end up back in Oz. You must promise me this, Charlie. Please."

When he didn't say anything, I asked, "Don't you want the shit to stop? Seriously. Aren't you tired of fighting and lying and sneaking around? Your daughter has a dream of leaving this place. She's got this dream of living by the ocean."

Charlie chuckled. "I bet she does. I'm also willing to bet she doesn't know why. She was just a baby when Renee and I took her to the beach. We rented a house right on the water. All before walls and viruses. It was the best vacation I'd ever had. Watching my girls splash around in the waves was fucking heaven."

Grinning, I nodded. "Well, she wants it back, even if she doesn't remember why. So… Smart, slow, meticulous, Charlie. We'll lie low. We'll prepare. Okay?"

His radio crackled for him to check in. "Okay, kid," he said, picking up the radio and turning toward the stairs. "I'll be in touch."

I waited until he left the cellar, and then I locked it up and ran back to the crack in the wall. I didn't blame the man for any one part of his desire for revenge, and I'd meant what I'd said; I help him if he needed it.

However, he was right. Once we set Flash's plan in motion, there would be no going back.

~oOo~

A/N… Okay so this chapter should've posted on 2/4. However, I have been extremely sick. I was in the hospital for a week with pneumonia, and then recovering at home for another week. It's been rather scary – for many reasons. All this is unpaid time off. It's taking a while to really get better. But I'm due back to work this coming Tuesday, so that's a step in the right direction. I feel like I've been beaten and drowned. I'm still on meds and shit. Hell, I still have bruises from IVs and shots. It's been a rough couple of weeks.

What this means for Oz… A break. Not hiatus, and I'm not abandoning it. I just haven't been able to sit at my desk at home, so writing hasn't really happened. I'm going to pause the updates for a few weeks so I can catch up. My goal is to be back to my normal pace in a month. I'll post when I have something to give you. I started chapter 12 before I got sick, and I'll start working on it again over the next day or so.

This fandom is something special. I need to thank all of those who have reached out. We rally around our own like nothing I've ever seen. I have so many to thank for the help sent my way, that I can barely see straight. I don't have words for the love sent my way over the last two weeks.

Okay, so I'll see you when I can. Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)