Atonement
By BetterInTexas
Chapter 05:
BPOV
“I don’t get it.”
“What don’t you get Bella?” Garrett asked, sounding a bit irritated. I guess he doesn’t like questions during movies.
The two of us had been watching a Lord of the Rings marathon. Garrett insisted after I told him I had never read the books or seen the movies. I admit Aragon was hot. So was Legolas. The movies had their moments but it all seemed pointless.
“Why didn’t they just fly the big eagles into Mordor and drop the damn ring in the lava?”
“Because. The big dark guys on the dragons would have killed the eagles.” Garrett explained.
“Not if the armies had just attacked Mordor to begin with. The dragons would have been busy. All it took was one giant eagle getting in. I mean they flew right to Frodo and Sam. They could have been there in an hour. Instead these little people had to walk forever to get there and go through all this crap when they could have just caught a ride with a giant eagle. For that matter why did Gandalf ride his horse from the one castle to the other? You know, the one with the steward who has got to be the worst dad I have ever heard of? Why didn’t he just catch a ride with his birds? He seemed to be able to get them anytime he wanted.”
“They were busy,” Was Garrett’s short response.
“Doing what? What could giant Eagles be doing that kept them that busy?”
“Did you like the movies Bella?” I guess he didn’t know either.
“Yeah Garrett. I did.”
“Good. Now what would you like to do?”
“Train.”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No. You trained for 24 hours straight on the light beam test. You can overdo it. Relax. We can read. I can show you how to work the main database. The satellites. Anything besides training.”
My touch isn’t great Garrett.” I reminded him.
“It is getting better. Why don’t you work on that? I could help.”
“What would you like me to touch?” I asked wondering what he trusted me not to break…
Oh shit.
He was quiet. Maybe he didn’t notice.
“Go ahead Garrett! Tell her what you want her to touch!” Ty yelled from his room. Really got to start closing the door.
An awkward silence descended.
“Well I am going to beat the fuck out of Tyrone. I would suggest you work on your touch, human tendencies, things besides fighting.” Garrett casually said.
“Why? I want to fight.” I argued.
“Maybe. But in a few days you are going to be talking to your parents on the phone. I am hoping in two weeks you will have enough control that with my help and Ty’s that you can actually see both of them. So get to work.”
Garrett walked out.
Wait.
I ran after him in the hallway.
“What did you say?” I grabbed him by the arm.
“I said you are going to be speaking to your parents on the phone tomorrow. And if everything works out right, seeing them in a couple weeks.”
“How?” Why was he fucking with me like this?
“I read up on your parents. I saw they weren’t doing well. They needed to know you were okay Bella.”
“That’s where you were? The past two days?” I whispered.
“Yes. Lives needed to be saved. Yours, and your parents. You need them in your life.”
“I thought they couldn’t know.”
“Says who?” he asked.
“Isn’t it a law or something?”
Garrett shrugged. “I’m the government. I do what the hell I want. In case you haven’t noticed I have been breaking the supposed law for a very long damn time.”
A part of me really wanted to hug him until I realized…
“What’s wrong Bella? Are you angry that I did this without your knowledge? I… I’m sorry. I thought you would…”
“No. It’s fine. But they know, don’t they?”
“Know what exactly?”
“They know what I have done.”
“Yes. Jake explained…”
“Jake! You spoke to Jake!”
“Yes. He changed into a wolf in front of Charlie to help me explain.”
“Jake didn’t attack you?”
“He wanted to at first but once I threw your name out there he calmed down.”
Oh my God.
“Why?”
“I covered that.”
“But now they know! They know I killed people!” Oh God no.
“Bella they don’t care! It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes it was!” I screamed.
“They fucking love you anyway! Deal with it! They need you to be strong because they fell apart when they thought you were dead. So don’t be carrying your guilt to them. Get over it or put it aside. You don’t have time to wallow.” Garrett screamed back.
“You had no right to approach them.” I told him.
“Of course I didn’t have a right. I did it anyway. You think I only do what I have a right to do?”
“Yes. I mean you should.”
“Well I don’t.”
I really had nothing to say to that. He said nothing so I guess the argument was closed.
“I can’t talk to them. I’m too ashamed.”
“They need to hear from you. Either you call them or I am bringing them here.”
“You can’t Garrett. I don’t want them to see me lusting for their blood. Seeing the monster I have become.”
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. You are not a monster. Stop describing yourself as one. Self-pity is not attractive.”
“I…”
Wait a minute.
“Did you just say I…”
“Yes. Nothing is wrong with your hearing. I said it and I meant it.”
I wanted to ask follow up questions but didn’t. One because I wasn’t sure what to ask. Two because a speaker just said his name.
He walked towards the control room.
“Yes General?”
“We have an emergency. The type only you can handle. Can I come down?”
Garrett looked at me.
“Better I come up. I’m on my way.”
Twenty minutes later Garrett walked in, went to my closet pulled out a black suit I wasn’t aware I had. It looked like a wet suit.
“Ty. Water gear. Time is of the essence. Bella, put the wet suit on.”
Wet suit?
“Wet…”
“Now Bella. I will brief you both in the air.”
“I’m not ready…”
“Get in the fucking suit already.” Garrett was in his. I changed hurriedly. Following Garrett and Ty to the elevator I came down here on. I realized a part of me was hoping I would never have to come out of my self imposed exile.
I saw three humans on the first floor. I recognized them from my first night here. Their smell caught my attention but I didn’t growl. The smell didn’t hit me as hard. I admit I had gotten used to the smell permeating my room. I guess Garrett had a point with the whole scent thing.
A few minutes later we were in a chopper. A big black chopper.
“We rendezvous with the USS Washington aircraft carrier in thirty minutes. At that time we will each get into a F22 raptors. We will be riding shotgun. Bella in that compartment is a blood pouch. Drain it. We can experiment later. Right now…”
“What’s an F 22 Raptor?” I asked.
Wait a minute.
Aircraft carrier?
“A fighter jet shortie. A very fast fighter jet. Meaning we got to get our asses somewhere quick so shut up and listen to G Man.” Ty helpfully added. Asshole. Still he was probably right. I should pay attention.
“Thank you Ty. No need to be rude to Bella though. She isn’t up to date on the lingo. Right now the SSBN Ohio class submarine, Oklahoma is sitting on the bottom of the ocean. 1200 feet deep. An explosion of unknown origin has crippled the sub. The explosion occurred near the reactor. The water proof doors held. There were 15 officers and 140 enlisted men on that ship. We don’t know how many are alive but since the explosion occurred near the reactor in an area with a limited number of crew working I am hopeful that a large number of sailors are still alive.”
“So we go down and lift the sub, right Gar?”
“No Ty. The reactor is in meltdown. That sub can never reach the surface. The sailors and the missiles have to reach the surface. The reactor has to be flooded and the rods pulled so the bottom of the Atlantic doesn’t turn into a nuclear wasteland and then we are going to leave that damn thing at the bottom.”
“How do we get them out?” I asked quietly. This was beyond me. My touch. I would fuck this up.
“There are pods being dropped to the ocean bottom as we speak. Jason Connolly and his team have taken over rescue operations. That is how we are able to help. Each Pod can hold 60 sailors. We get to the bottom, hook up the pods to the wreckage. Walk the sailors in and then swim them slowly to the surface so they don’t die from the bends. Then we come down, use chains to recover the missiles and mission complete. Bella, while you and Ty are organizing the sailors inside I will take care of hooking up the pods.”
“I can’t rescue sailors.” I said quickly.
“Yes, you can. Now drink your blood. You will both be in scuba. The sailors will be told it is a top secret deep sea suit.”
“Garrett, she has a point. Explosion man. There is gonna be blood.” Ty said helping my argument.
Garrett looked me in the eye.
“You’re a fucking hero Bella. Be heroic.”
I’m not a fucking hero.
“Yes. You are.”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“No. You didn’t have to. Defining moments Bella. You define them or they define you. Get your head straight. We are on the carrier in 5 minutes. Raptors will get us to the USS Kennedy in two hours. When we reach the site we dive. The containers are on the bottom. Those men will have about three hours of life support left. They are scared and probably breathing very fast due to panic. Figure we have an hour and a half to get them out.”
10 minutes later we were blasting off a deck in a jet. I screamed. I wasn’t tempted by the pilot. I couldn’t even smell him. I had a helmet on. I was taking in oxygen I didn’t need.
“Ma’am?
Oh shit. A voice in my head. I’m hearing voices in my head.
“Ma’am?
Or the pilot.
“Yes. Copy? Roger?”
“Ma’am do you think it would be possible for you not to scream anymore?”
“Would it be possible for you not to turn this plane upside down anymore?”
“Yes ma’am. That can definitely be arranged. First time in a fighter?”
“Yeah. Usually when I am flying there are peanuts and drinks offered.”
“I see. Hold on. We are hitting supersonic. Your stomach may feel flattened.”
Yeah. That’s not going to happen. I sat back and concentrated on not touching anything. Garrett would not be happy if I broke the fighter. Deciding to look and see if I can see Garrett or Ty I checked my right and panicked.
“The plane is on fire! I swear I didn’t touch anything!”
“It’s all right ma’am. That’s just vapor trails. Happens every time. Nothing is on fire.”
He was chuckling. Great. I wonder if he knew that the girl behind him was a blood sucking demon who had murdered 38 people if he would still be chuckling. Probably not.
“Bella! You having fun shortie?”
What the hell?
“Ty? How are you talking to me?”
“Called a radio. New technology. Been around since before World War 2.”
“No need to be a smart ass.”
“Ty we really need to keep the radio open for the pilots.” I heard Garrett’s voice instruct sternly. Killjoy.
One hour later we began to descend. Good. I was bored. I kind of saw the Carrier in the distance. Damn it looked small.
“Are we really going to land on that?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“It’s moving.” I pointed out. Maybe he didn’t know.
“Yes. Yes it is.”
“Shouldn’t it stop?” I heard Ty laughing over the radio.
“Blackjack 127, 128 and 129 we have you in range. Angel three zero descend for approach.”
“Copy.”
This wasn’t good. We were coming up on that thing fast. This poor guy was going to kill himself. Oh damn. I remembered what Ty said. Fire. My clothes are going to burn off. Oh damn. This is not good. Is this suit flammable? Probably not. They have to think of these things. Right? Damn…
“Hey! Hey top gun! You’re going to fast!”
“Quiet please ma’am.”
Quiet? He’s about to kill himself and I’ll be naked.
Oh shit. Here it comes.
“Shit, shit,shit,shit,shit…”
The plane bumped hard. Then it caught on something. Then it stopped. We stopped. I opened my eyes and saw we had made it onto the deck.
“Thank you for flying with me today ma’am. I hope you enjoyed your time and will consider the US Navy the next time you need to travel.”
“Uh… yeah. Can I get out now? Please?”
“Let me taxi to the elevator. Your friends are landing right now.”
Five minutes later my feet hit the ground. Then I realized people were watching me. Remember to act human Bella. Remember to move slow.
I began walking towards the tall center building on the deck. Damn it was loud up here.
“Ma’am are you okay?” My pilot asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“You’re walking in slow motion.”
Oh. Maybe I should speed up.
“Let me escort you Bella.” Garrett walked up and offered his arm. I hooked mine in his.
“Just keep pace with me Bella. I’ll get you there. How are you doing?”
“Good.” I was. I wasn’t hungry. I hadn’t even thought about blood since I had that bag on the helicopter.
“Great. Stay focused and you will be fine. You are about to save a lot of lives. Lots of people are counting on you. Are you ready?”
“Yes.” I answered without hesitation. Then I really looked at Garrett. He had a flight suit on but he had peeled it off to his waist. I could see his spandex wetsuit on underneath it. Damn he looked good. I mean he really looked good. He made us put in brown contacts in the helicopter but his eyes were still gorgeous. He also had this look on his face. He was focused. The only thing that mattered to him at this moment was getting those boys off the bottom of the ocean. He wasn’t worried about bloodlust or killing anyone by accident or breaking anything by touch. He had a mission. Nothing would stop him. I glanced at Ty and saw the same look on his face. Would I be like that in five years? Would I ever get past my guilt? He killed a lot more people than I did.
Garrett led me to the tower and the three of us took an elevator to the top. I was guessing this was the flight control or the bridge or something. There were a lot of computers, and screens showing charts. I probably shouldn’t touch anything. I looked for the big wooden wheel but it must be somewhere else. I saw a small one but it didn’t seem big enough to steer this thing.
“They don’t have a big wheel. I asked the first time I came onto one of these. A main wheel is more for show. Computers pretty much run this bitch.”
I nodded, thankful to Ty for saving me from a stupid question.
A man in black fatigues walked up. Short blonde hair, about 6’3. Really hot for a human.
“Damn Garrett. When you pick a stray to train you don’t fuck around. She is hot.” He winked at me.
“Bella, Jason Connolly, leader of Seal Team D, assigned to our division, or as I like to call him, Renfield.”
“Renfield?” Strange nickname.
“Yes. When we need human servants to do chores we call him.” Garrett grinned.
“Fuck you sparkles. Bella it is truly a pleasure to meet you.” He was looking at me with a weird look.
“Have we met before?” Jason asked.
“Maybe in another life. Not this one.” Garrett answered. “Can we get down to business?”
I stood still listening to Garrett and Jason discuss strategy. Until Ty bumped my arm and whispered to fidget. I crossed one leg over another. I looked at him and he slowly blinked. I rolled my eyes but blinked slowly. Then I took a whiff. Damn. The scents were starting to get to me. The smell of adrenalin. These guys were worried obviously. But their heartbeats were increasing. Ty must have noticed me sniff.
“Ow!” Fucker slapped me in the back of the head.
“Stop thinking with your stomach shortie.”
Oh yeah.
“Okay. Time for a swim.” Garrett stated, grabbing my hand and walking us out of the room. We walked to the edge of the flight deck. I noticed everyone else was on the other side. The lights were out on this side. It had gotten dark since we landed.
Garrett grabbed three bags and tossed one at me. I opened it and saw a strange looking mask and a strange looking air tank.
“These were experimental scuba outfits for deep sea diving. They don’t work for shit. We won’t need them of course. Once we reach the sub put the mask and tank on. We can’t have the sailors wondering too much how we got down there. We reach the bottom we find the sub. It will be hard to miss. According to Connolly the escape pods are down there. We simply pick them up, place them onto the top port and go in through the back torpedo bays. Once we get them in, we swim them up. Slowly. Follow my lead. I have the decompression ascension rate worked out.”
Garrett jumped. Holy shit. This was real. Guess I better go…
“Fuck!”
Ty threw me in. I didn’t bother surfacing. I had tried to bury myself underwater once. I killed a young couple when I came out. I knew how to handle water. I shot down catching up with Garrett. Ty passed me. His legs were longer I suppose. More power to his kicks.
It was dark. Even my eyes couldn’t see much. I think I saw fish. Maybe. Then I saw nothing. I could get lost down here.
A hand reached out and grabbed mine. Even without seeing him I knew it was Garrett. I let him lead me towards the bottom. After a few minutes I saw a light. It must have been the lights on the rescue pod. We finally reached the bottom of the sea. The pressure was tremendous. Not enough to bother me. Nothing could bother me. But enough that I knew it was there.
The funny thing about being a vampire is I still felt human. My skin did anyway. My hair. My… other parts. So did Garrett and Ty. Feel human I mean. So it was a bit surreal to be in a situation where your mind understands you should be dead but you aren’t. The three days I spent on the bottom of the ocean working up the courage to open my mouth prepared me for this. Not for the darkness. But for the water.
Garrett pointed to the right. I barely saw it. An outline of a shadow against a shadow. He pulled open his bag and place the mask and tank on. Ty did the same. Not wanting to be left out I pulled mine on. Annoying.
A light lit up. Ty had grabbed a flashlight hanging from one of the massive escape pods. The wasteland before us lit up. No fish. No nothing except a giant submarine with one end blown out. It was on its side. Not good. It would complicate…
Garrett rolled it over.
Ty swam quickly to the end that had blown. I followed. It was a huge explosion. I saw a body on the ocean floor. It was missing an arm. The face had an expression of horror. He wasn’t much older than I.
Poor kid.
Ty slapped me on the back of the head. That was getting old. I looked at him biting back a growl that would have came out as bubbles anyway.
He pointed to my head and tapped it.
Get focused. Got it.
I followed him to the wall towards the back of the sub. Garrett had his ear to the sub wall. I copied him and heard the voices. The moans of pain. No crying. Brave men. I would be so scared. We swam to the rescue pods. Ty grabbed one end and I grabbed another. Garrett ripped open a porthole around 7 foot in diameter. We placed the pod on it. Garrett did something to the controls and I heard a hiss and pressure. Then a pumping noise. He must be draining the water. I was so lost here. Damn his hair looked good floating in the water.
Ty grabbed me and we swam around to these tubes on top. He pointed down. Guess we were going down. He went first and I followed.
He hit a circular cover and when I followed he closed it behind me. Then we were in a pretty dry room. Just like that.
“Torpedo tubes. The ones on top used for the really bad missiles.”
“Bad?”
“Nukes.”
“Oh.”
I heard the noises. Ty walked to a door and ripped it open. I looked behind me and saw a door behind us.
“Waterproof doors. Shut down in an explosion. Keep water out of the decks. Hopefully enough to limit the damage but not this time. Not that blast. Damn thing got slammed.”
“Can you hear them?”
“Of course I can woman. You ain’t the only damn vampire here. Now listen up. Don’t be using your real name.”
“What name do you want me to use?”
“Don’t talk. I’ll handle shit. You just concentrate on looking like you are breathing while not breathing.”
I nodded my head. One more door to lift.
The smell hit me like an avalanche. So much blood. So many racing hearts. Garrett sent me here. He knew what I would be facing. He trusted me.
Ty glanced warily at me and then continued in. The shock on the sailors’ faces was evident.
“How did you get here? How did you get the doors open?” A man who looked like an officer asked.
“You wanna ask twenty questions or get the fuck out of here?” Ty asked.
“My men and I would definitely like to get out of here.”
Hold your breath Bella. Just hold your breath Bella.
“Who the hell are you ma’am?” One of the sailors asked. I admit my vampire body was looking good in this wetsuit. I wish I had this body when I was human.
“That’s Amber… Deveroux. She don’t talk. Everybody follow us. Amber, lead the way.”
I turned around and began walking very slowly. I wanted to run and I wanted to attack. Damn it Garrett.
“Keep going shortie. Focus on the mission.” Ty whispered from behind. I stepped aside and watched 60 sailors climb into the escape pods and strap in. Ty knocked on the side of the sub to signal Garrett. The Pod closed with a hiss sealing off the pod from the sub. I looked at 40 more sailors. I should probably say something.
“Anybody else besides those in this room?”
The officer who spoke up earlier spoke up again.
“I know the Captain is dead plus most of the officers on duty at the time of the explosion. Anybody left probably have died or are dying of fatal overdoes of radiation.
“The reactor room walls should have locked down.” Ty said.
“Yes. But they don’t always work.”
“That reactor needs to get wet.” I whispered so only Ty could hear.
“Yeah. Plutonium rods need to be pulled. You think you could do it or you want to hang with the boys?”
Rods? I could find rods. They glow right? They do on TV.
“I think I will…”
“Good. I got the rods. You stay here. Let Garrett know when they are loaded by gently bumping the side of the sub.”
“No! You can’t leave me here! Some are bleeding.”
“Yep. Be good. Be a hero.” Ty ran off.
“Where the hell is he going?” a sailor asked.
“Checking for more survivors.” I whispered, using the last of my air. Shit. My throat was burning. I could feel venom pooling in my mouth.
No! I would not do this damn it! No!
“You okay Amber?” The officer asked.
I took a shallow breath.
“Yep. Why do you ask?”
“Your eyes are red. They were brown. Now they are red. Red and black.
Fuck. My contacts dissolved.
“Experimental diving suit. Must have broken some blood vessels in my eyes.” I said softly trying to drown out the sound of blood rushing through their veins.
An escape pod sat down. I gently banged on the wall. The seal closed and the sailors were gone. We wouldn’t need the third escape pod unfortunately. Ty wasn’t back yet. May as well head out. I went back to the area we entered and swam outside. Where was…
Oh fuck!
Garrett turned the flashlight on his face inches from my face. He scared the shit out of me. Still he was smiling. I looked around and saw that he had been using a third escape pod to gather bodies that had been on the ocean floor. I looked back at him. I noticed his smile was sad. I hugged him. I hadn’t hugged anyone voluntarily in a long time. It felt like the right thing to do.
We swam over to the pods. I lifted one and Garrett lifted the other. I followed his lead. An hour and a half later we were at the surface. Connolly’s Seals were in the water hooking chains to the pods and raising them to the deck.
“You did good.” Garrett whispered in ear.
“I nearly killed them all. Ty left me alone with them!”
“You didn’t. You did good. Now let’s go get some nukes before China finds them.”
Ty was waiting for us at the bottom. He had dragged the reactor out and had rods in his hands. I had a strong opinion on where he could stick them. Fourteen missiles were lying on the bottom of the ocean. Chains dropped down and Garrett and I began hooking them up to the missiles. We followed them to the surface in case the chains broke. Sixteen hours later we were done. We scaled the carrier on the dark side that was still dark and unoccupied. Jason was there waiting for us.
“Good job. I don’t know why they wouldn’t let us do it but really not bad.”
“Thanks.” I answered.
“Hey Bella maybe when we get back we could go…”
“She’s busy Connolly.” Garrett practically growled.
“No offense Gar. Just asking her out for a drink.” He grinned.
“I might drink your blood.” I told him honestly.
“I might not mind darlin.” He winked.
“Enough. Bella lets go. Ty, you too.”
“You can ask me out for a drink Connolly. What are you? O neg?”
“Fuck you Gavin. Have a nice trip back. See you guys in Washington.”
I flew in an F 22 on the way home. This time we went straight to Washington and did an inflight fueling thing. I was very careful to not touch anything once again. We arrived home and took the elevator down. I wanted to go to my room and take a shower. Get the smell of salt water out of my hair. Drink a few bags of hot blood. Bath in it. It would be very bad when the smell of my room hit me.
“Bella a word before you go to your room?”
“Yeah Garrett. Of course.”
“Tomorrow 100 sailors will be going home after debriefing. Their loved ones will be waiting for them. Their wives and children. Their parents. They are going home today because of what we did today. You are a part of that. Those men are alive because of you.”
I said nothing.
“Now. Do you want to save two more lives?”
“Yes.” I answered without hesitation. I was ready for whatever mission…
“So are you ready to speak to your parents?”
I met his eyes. He was smiling. It was a warm smile.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“Good. In eight hours you can call your Mom. With East Coast time she should be up. I arranged for her to be discharged so she is home. A couple hours later your father will be up. Save their lives Bella.”
Garrett walked out.
He was right. It was time to talk to my parents.
Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction 
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