Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Blood And Steel

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 06:

The Island

Bella and Jason did not leave for the island the next day as planned. A quick stop at San Diego Jump Station showed Jason that pushing Bella out of an airplane with little practice time could be extremely dangerous even with him present in the air with her.

So the two spent the next three days at the airport. Jason had Bella hung in suspension while she attempted to control her body in the air. Soon she was jumping off of high dives into a net four stories below.

Bella had hoped to continue the closeness the two had found in Death Valley. Instead it seemed every hour was dedicated to training. In between jumps she was taught to scuba dive. Then she was taught to scuba dive at night. She was taught to plant explosives underwater and set up detonators. He was with her through it all but neither had time for the intimacy they showed in the desert.

Bella was hungry for knowledge, so she focused on learning as much as she could in as short a time as possible.

After two weeks, Bella was woken by a kiss to her forehead. She knew it was him. Looking at the clock in her barrack she saw it was three AM.

“Ready for a night jump?” Jason asked.

“A real one? I thought we were going to do a day jump first?”

“Anyone can do that. If you aren’t ready say the word.”

Bella was ready.

An hour later she was in a plane in the dark, dressed in a black jump suit and a heavy backpack carrying more than just a suit.

Jason showed her the altimeter on her wrist. She had left her sword in her barracks. This was on her.

The red light went off and Bella jumped without thinking.

She screamed falling into a pit of darkness.

At least until she felt a hand on hers.

She opened her eyes and could make out the face of Jason inches from her. He moved closer and kissed her as best he could, their goggle touching. Jason pointed to her altimeter causing Bella to focus. She checked her altitude and saw she had time. She had space. With him here she began to enjoy the ride.

Too soon his hand let hers go and they broke apart.

Bella estimated she had ten seconds.

Five seconds.

She pulled the ripcord, afraid at first that nothing had happened.

Then she felt the jerk casing her stomach to lurch. Her fall slowed but she was still descending. She tried to make out the ground but through the goggles she could not do so. Checking her slightly glowing altimeter she saw she was twenty feet away and prepared for a landing on ground.

Instead she felt the icy water enveloping her.

She felt lost underwater. She held her breath and began kicking her feet. Breaking the surface she found herself under her black canopy. Jason popped up under her smiling.

“Reach back and unhook your chute. Take the weights on your sides and hang them on the canopy.” He told her.

Bella did as she was told. The canopy began to slide away from her pack and over her head. Soon it was on its way to the bottom and only she and Jason were left floating in the water.

“Inside the outer pocket of your pack is a regulator and a mask. Place them on. We don’t have fins so we will have to swim about a mile in to the beach. Before we surface on the beach I want you to activate the night vision on your mask. You will see a pier reaching out into the water. Take off your pack and pull out the plastique and detonators. Set them on the front legs of the pier and swim away as fast as possible. Set them for thirty second detonations. As soon as it goes off we enter the beach and run for the tree line and disappear. Understand?”

Bella nodded and did as he said.

Swimming without fins was difficult but she found she could do so with greater ease than before. She couldn’t keep up with Jason but he had been doing this long before she had.

Within ten minutes she surfaced and switched on the night vision on her mask. She saw it three hundred feet to her right. A wooden pier that reached about on hundred yards into the water, built for fishing.

“You ready?” Jason asked her.

“Yep.”

“Good. See that cluster of palm trees straight ahead? I will meet you there. Plant the explosives on the front two pylons, set the timers and swim back here as fast as you can. If there are any problems abort and come back here. When the explosion happens you are to surface on the beach and sprint. Soldiers will be running towards the pier so you should slip by unnoticed. Run to me. Understand?”

“Yep.” Bella answered without hesitation. Jason swan to the shore and waited. Two minutes later he was nervous. What if she had been trapped by a pier? What if a current had taken her away. She had no fins. She had to be tired. Her sword wasn’t with her.

He shouldn’t have sent her in alone. She need to do this but he should have followed. This was too m…

His thought was cut off by two explosions going off nearly simultaneously.

90 seconds later he saw Bella’s rising out of the surf running quietly and low across the beach head. Reaching the trees he whistles lowly to her. She made her way over to him.

“Did both go off?” she asked him, out of breath.

“Yeah, you did great. But if they search the beach they are going to see our footprints. We need to move.”

“Okay. You lead and I will follow. What is the objective?” she asked.

“Control room in the middle of the isle atop that hill. We have to use non deadly force. Those are our guys out there. Army Ranger recruits. Our objective is to make them look stupid, not kill them.”

“Got it.”

Jason wove his way through the jungle pausing a few times while patrols passed. Bella stopped when he did and did not move.

Halfway up the hill they came to their first resistance. Three soldiers standing in the way of their path.

“Going around is too risky. Too much rough terrain. They will know we are close and have the high ground. We have to do what they least expect. Head straight for them. Fast and deadly. Just don’t kill them. Remember what I taught you? How to choke a person out?”

“Yes.” Bella told him, getting very nervous.

“Good. I hit the first one. When the other two jump me take one out.” Jason rushed out of the darkness and with one punch a guard dropped. Another jumped on his back only to be met by an elbow. The third never had a chance. Bella was on him, arm around his neck clamping his jaw shut while her other arm covered his nose. He tried to grab her but she had her legs wrapped around his waist.

He fell to his knees and passed out. Connolly knocked the air out of one and pinched a nerve in the shoulder of the first soldier he hit causing him to drop.

Without another word they moved. Another roving patrol passed them on the mountain side while they blended into the terrain, never being seen.

Connolly saw the Ranger recruits had made a typical rookie mistake. Leaving the control room lightly guarded while the others searched the island for the intruders.

Only four soldiers stood between Jason, Bella and their target, two on top of the building and two in front. There may be more around back but they didn’t matter. The objective was to get inside the building.

Taking out his side arm strapped to his wet suit, Bella stopped him.

“You said we weren’t going to kill them.”

“Tranquilizers. We can shoot now. Once we are in, we lock the door and have control of the island. Simple. I take the ones on the ground and you take the ones on top of the building while we move. Aim for the chest area.”

“What if I hit their heads?” Bella asked.

“Then some parents are going to be getting letters on behalf of a grateful nation. You ready?”

Bella took a deep breath.

“Yeah. On your count?”

“Three, two, one, now.” Jason told her standing up. She stood up at the same time and four shots went off nearly simultaneously. They were quiet, no louder than silenced weapons. All four soldiers looked at the darts in their chests and passed out quickly. Luckily of the two Bella shot neither fell off the building.

Connolly and Bella reached the building. He was prepared to blow the lock and dart the two guards around back but found the door to be open.

“Come in Lt. Commander Connolly or whatever your rank is now. Have a seat and don’t shoot me. The game is up. You won. You always do from what I hear.”

Jason relaxed. Bella, seeing him relax, did somewhat as well. The lights to the room turned on and she saw a man in a uniform covered in metals. He had snow white hair but appeared to be in very good shape.

“You have me at a loss sir. I am afraid I don’t know you.” Jason told him.

“General Townsley at your service. Or I suppose we are both at the President’s service. He wants to know one thing and I was sent here to find out. He was very vague and suggested I simply give him the answers to the questions I ask and do not ask any of my own.”

“Of course sir.”

“Is she ready?”

Connolly turned and looked at Bella.

“We have four more weeks of training left.”

“He said you would say that. He told me to ask you again. Is she ready?”

“Yes.” Connolly told the general, making Bella’s heart soar with pride.

“He said to tell you that your team is to assemble at Gitmo. We have a lead on Diego Ortiz. The President has actionable intelligence that he is in an estate heavily guarded in the heart of Columbia. There are many houses of workers surrounding the compound. Forced workers, making an airstrike unlikely. Tree cover also makes it difficult for an accurate bombing run. The President told me to tell you there will be no special resistance but it would give your team a chance to gel and try out the new weapons in a real world setting. Are you up for it?”

Jason smiled and then looked at Bella. She had no expression on her face as she pondered actually killing people.

Deciding she could do what had to be done, Bella nodded.

“Hell yes we are up to it.” Connolly answered.

“Good. A chopper will be here in an hour. Use the facilities to get cleaned up. I was told your equipment would be waiting for you including some sort of sword along with a partner?”

Bella smiled. She had wondered if Winter would be included.

“I believe the Presidents words were, have fun.”

“Thank you sir.” Bella smiled feeling the missing piece of her was returning.

“I guess we got an hour to get ready. See you at the LZ out that backdoor.” Jason told her with a smile while feeling great anxiety. Despite what he had taught her in a short time he had not prepared her for the emotional toil it would take once you kill someone. It never bothered him. He hoped she was the same. Only one way to find out.

Seattle Washington

Mr. J. Jenks sat in his luxurious office overlooking the beautiful city. He was a bit apprehensive. Today he would be meeting a new client. A client vetted by his men who assured him this man and his money were very real.

At ten AM on the dot his intercom rang. His assistant announced the arrival of the visitor. Two visitors actually. A small girl was with Mr. Gavin. He had not expected her but how much trouble could she be. To get this far the two must have gone through at least three pat downs.

Tyrone Gavin walked in and had a seat followed by a young girl with short dark hair and a long coat. She shrugged off her coat and he was surprised to see what looked like a katana sword inside it. She drew the sword and to his dismay he was right. It was a Katana blade.

Pushing the security button under his desk he tried to plant a smile on his face.

“Mr. Gavin. I was not aware you were bringing an associate.”

“Shut the fuck up. I just gave your secretary the day off and the rest of your ass clowns you call security are dead. You will be too if you don’t do as I say.”

J. Jenks shaking hand reached for his coffee cup. As he grasped the handle a silenced bullet came through the window behind him and shattered his cup.

“What the fuck?!” he screamed.

“I could ask the same thing. I really don’t like your expensive desk being in between us. Winter?”

Winter stood and brought her blade down the center of Jenks’ desk. It split in two. With two kicks the desk was in separate parts of the office while Jenks sat before the two of them.

“Her name is Winter. We call her that because she is cold as fucking ice. My name is Ty and honestly I’m just bad fucking news, especially for you.”

“What do you want?”

“Every record you have. Especially the customers your family has worked for many generations, faking documents since documentation became popular. That’s what you do right? You make paper for people that need it. Underworld types and the same people who need different documents long past the time they should have been dead.”

“How? How did you find out? Is this some government sting? Who are you with?”

“Who we are with isn’t important Mr. Jenks.” Winter answered. “The important thing is you work for us now. You get to stay in business. You get to keep making documents. The only difference is instead of discretion, you are going to tell us everything you do. We will be watching. You give a warning to one of your special clients, say a Mr. Jasper Hale as he goes by now, then we eliminate you.”

“I don’t know a Jasper Hale.”

“Yeah? Cause his brother Emmett Cullen called him and he said you would get some investigators down to Florida to watch a lady named Renee a bit closer. Now you can tell us what we need to know or I can kill you here and have my boys at the NSA crack whatever secrets you have in that laptop of yours in a matter of seconds.”

Ty pulled a handgun from his coat and pointed it at Jenks.

“Or I could have my girl Winter here castrate you and let you bleed to death in your office. Which one do you want? Maybe my guy who blew your coffee cup outside can do the same to your head? Or maybe a stomach shot from behind? Leave you lyin there bleedin on your floor. The important thing you need to know is we work outside the law with the one purpose of bringing down your most dangerous and oldest customers. We can kill you at any time. We know where you are at all times. You can’t get away. So the question is simple. Do you want to stay rich and alive and work for us or dead before the fucking vampires whose existence you ignore get to you?”

Jenks did not have to think long. He was a survivor. He had always been loyal to Mr. Whitlock because he knew or at least suspected what the man was and feared for his life if he betrayed him or any of his other well preserved clients. But these people were a direct threat to his life. Jenks was nothing if not a survivor.

“If they find out, I’m dead.”

“If we don’t find, you are dead. Best hope you got is to become a damn good liar and hope they don’t find out. These investigators? You gonna call them off. All of them. Because we see any of them hanging around we gonna kill them too. In case you haven’t got the picture yet, one thing we are all very good at is killin and ain’t nobody gonna hold us accountable for it. You hear what I’m sayin?”

“Yeah. What do you want first?”

“Hard drives, paper records, journals, a list of every vampire you work for. Don’t act like you don’t know who they are either.”

“If they find out, I’m telling them about you before they kill me.” Jenks tried.

“Go ahead. Tell em a black man with an attitude and a little girl with a sword threatened your life. That’s about all you got. Me and her? We don’t fucking exist. But you sell us out fool… man you got more than yourself to worry about, don’t you?”

“And I keep doing business? No arrests?” Jenks asked, ignoring the unspoken threat to his family.

“Not unless you fuck with us. Arrest gonna be the least of your problems then.” Ty told him truthfully.

“You have a deal. It will take me some time to get the records you want…”

“You have one hour. Starting now.” Winter told him. “We have someplace to be in a hurry.”

Jenks looked at the blade still in her hand and the two pieces of his desk on either side of his office and nodded his head.

“Give me an hour.”

Fork’s Washington

Edward and Alice Cullen knocked on the door of the Swan house. Chief Charlie Swan’s car was parked in front of his residence. Edward knew the man didn’t like him but all he needed was a peak inside his head.

Instead of Charlie Swan opening the door the large figure of Sam Uley walked out.

“Can I help you?”

“Hello Sam. I was hoping to speak to Charlie.” Edward smoothly replied, hiding the surprise on his face. Perhaps the time he and Alice took at the local hotel in Forks would have been better spent here. The wolves had obviously gotten wind of their arrival and had enough time to arrive at Chief Swans.

“He’s not here.” Jacob Black answered walking out beside Uley.

“Where is he?” Alice asked sweetly.

“Somewhere else.” Uley answered.

“I see. Do you know when he will…” Edward started before Uley interrupted him.

“You should probably do a better job of noticing your surroundings leech. Every wolf in the pack is circling this house right now, either in human form or phased. You know the two of you cannot take us. I doubt your whole coven can. Charlie hasn’t heard from Bella. None of us have. The fact that you are here still looking for us tells me that you haven’t either. That’s good enough for us.”

“So Charlie doesn’t miss his daughter?”

“You should probably go in the next ten seconds or things are going to get ugly.” Jacob told him.

Edward probed Sam’s mind but he did a good job of covering his tracks. Only a vision of a bus stop where he dropped Bella off, was in his head. He saw Uley give her a gun and a hug and turn to leave.

“Not until I speak to Chief Swan.” Edward said forcefully. He turned when he heard his car window shatter.

“Oops.” Paul said grinning, fist still where the window used to be.

Jared and Embry walked up next to him.

“We really want a fight in the middle of the day Sam?” Alice asked.

“Your right Alice. It is the day. It may be cloudy but you guys aren’t that tough at night. I realize you can’t see how the battle will end once we drag you two to the backyard but I promise it won’t be pretty.” Jake told her, causing Alice to back away.

“Perhaps we should leave Edward.”

Edward glared at Jake.

“You think you have won?” he asked him.

“It’s been two years. She has probably outgrown you by now. Aren’t you supposed to be in school or something?” Jake asked in return.

“Edward we should leave.” Alice whispered, taking in Leah and Seth Clearwater walking around one side of the house while Quil walked around the other.

“Let Charlie know I will be back.” Edward said.

“Charlie knows nothing. You come back and we rip you to shreds, treaty be damned. Understand?” Sam asked.

“Perhaps we will bring more than just the two of us next time.” Edward smiled.

“Get all the help you need. The taste of your kind never gets old and I haven’t eaten leech since we destroyed the supposedly unstoppable newborn army and Seth had to save your ass. Bye Edward. Let Carlisle know, Forks is off limits.”

“We will see.” Edward told him and retreated to the car, Alice by his side. Paul bumped him as he tried to get inside, all but knocking Edward into the car.

As the car drove out of sight, Charlie Swan stepped out.

“Thanks guys. What I wouldn’t give to have something that could kill those bastards.”

“You do Charlie. You have us.” Jake told him.

Still despite the threat, Jake had a feeling they had not seen the last of the Cullens. So long as they didn’t have Bella it didn’t matter.