Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

For God And Country

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 07:

Garrett POV

Forks has been quite relaxing since we took care of the rodent problem. Bella and I have spent our days training. She trained. I kept pace with her. She ran. She threw knives at an unfortunate tree behind the house. She made me practice marital arts with her. I even let her throw me up over her shoulder and landed on my ass. I had to do this completely myself but I think she appreciated the effort.

She found a nice secluded spot half way up a mountain. It was a sort of meadow that appeared out of nowhere. Bella told me she always thought this place was pretty. Apparently it was where Edward Cullen used to take her. She set up a target in the meadow and spent hours firing round after round from different positions. She would run, dive, roll on the ground and shoot from her knees or on her belly. It was like a child playing Cowboys and Indians except she was firing very real bullets. That and she didn’t have a cute cowboy hat on.

I smelt the wolves spying on us one day but when I turned to look the scent was gone.

We learned a lot about each other during our time together.

She learned about my family and life when I was human. She learned my favorite clothes brands, my favorite music, the adventures I have had in my life. The failed almost relationships I have had.

I learned she could do 200 sit ups, followed by 200 pushups, run ten miles in 45 minutes and still shoot a target from 50 yards away dead center with a small caliber hand gun.

I also learned that she really liked Jane Austen and other Victorian romances. I learned that sometimes when she had to be alone for long period, waiting for a target to be in position for a kill, she would read Wuthering Heights or Romeo and Juliet. One of her favorite movies she made me sit through was Sense and Sensibilities. The girl really knew how to torture someone. Who would have thought the cold blooded killer who was afraid to open herself up to love, was a romantic at heart? She just needed the right man to sweep her off her feet.

She had learned from Kevin that the leak had not been found and she was to stay the hell away from DC and her place until the issue was settled. Bella however, was getting very agitated. She was restless. I did my best to keep her occupied, usually without clothes on when Charlie wasn’t home. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop her from realizing an ugly truth that I hoped she would avoid. I saw it in her eyes tonight at dinner. Dinner… ugh. After Charlie went to sleep I walked to her room to find her ready for me to hold her, like I did every night.

“Garrett.” She whispered as her naked body pressed into mine under the covers.

“Yes baby?”

“I like it, don’t I? I wouldn’t miss it this bad if I didn’t.”

I sighed. No point in denying it.

“You know, don’t you?” she whispered.

“Yes. It’s okay.”

“No it’s not. Garrett, I have always justified what I did as a part of serving my country. You know how it is. God and Country. The order of importance in every person’s life. I thought I was just doing a job. I trained for it. I didn’t question it. I don’t question it now. But it was always… I was told I was morally flexible. That I could think outside the box about issues such as right and wrong and life and death. That I wouldn’t be bothered by things like justified killing. Not like a normal person would.

“Did you know after the Cullens left I had nightmares almost every night? When I joined the Army, I would have them in boot camp, but not often. By the time I was out of boot camp they were gone. I still never slept great at night. Always tossing and turning. Until I had my first kill. It was up close. I stabbed a lady in the neck. She was very pretty. She was supposed to bleed out quick and clean but she was a trained agent too. A double agent. She ducked at the last second and I had to slice, instead of stab. We fought and she bled all over me.

“I went back to the hotel room with my overcoat covering my blood soaked clothes and body. I went to the bathroom and threw the coat off. I took off my gloves. I undressed. I stared at my body, stained with blood that had smeared over me and seeped through my clothes. I could see the gleam of blood in my hair. A part of me was sick. I hated the smell of blood. The site never bothered me much. Just the smell. But another part of me never felt more alive. I really looked at myself and noticed that I was smiling. Honestly I thought before that I would have puked before I did it and afterward but, I wasn’t sick at all. I felt alive. I slept like a baby that night for the first time, probably since I left Phoenix.

“I made myself believe I was just proud to have helped my country. But there is more to it. I liked it.”

I didn’t say a word. I just let her work through this. Our relationship has made me look closer into some aspects of my life and my view on the world. I believe everyone when faced with a sudden all-encompassing love steps back and examines themselves closely. Bella was having to face things about herself that she had avoided for a while. This was one of those things.

“Garrett, I like to kill. I mean I really like to kill. I do it because I like it.”

“Does this bother you?”

“I don’t know. No. It doesn’t. I think that is what disturbs me the most. If I like it, am I really morally flexible or was I chosen because I was a fully functional psychopath?”

“Has it ever occurred to you that you are good at a job and you enjoy doing your job? It doesn’t have to be complicated, Bella.”

She relaxed a little and wrapped her legs around mine.

“Maybe. I guess it doesn’t really matter. I mean, maybe I am evil. I can’t change it now.”

“You are not evil, Bella. You are a soldier. Not in the traditional sense but you do what you have to do to protect your Country. An evil person is incapable of true love. I know you truly love me. You are just very good at what you do. You take satisfaction in killing. Most great warriors in history have.”

“I’m not a warrior. I’m an assassin.” I felt her smile.

“Says the girl who invaded and conquered the La Push Reservation and took out half of Cortez’s personal army.”

“How do you choose who you are going to kill Garrett?”

That was a surprise.

“How do I choose?”

“Yes. When you feed? Do you pick a pretty girl who walks by or a bigger guy who looks like he would have more blood? How do you choose who you are going to feed from?”

“Oh. No, I try to look around. See who is being naughty. I’m kind of have a Santa Claus thing going on. I prefer to kill bad people as a general rule. At least those I consider bad.”

“You don’t feed often. You don’t like to kill.”

I took a deep breath. “No, Bella. I don’t like killing humans no matter how evil they are. Do you want to know why?”

“Because you are a better person than I am?” she smiled.

“No. I don’t like killing humans because it isn’t much of a challenge. I prefer to fight and kill other vampires.”

That caught her attention.

“You have fought other vampires?”

“Of course. I love battle. I met Peter Whitlock and his maker, Jasper Whitlock, or Hale as you know him, during the Southern vampire wars. Jasper was the best. Peter was good as well. They seemed like fun guys. I joined them for a few wars. We had a good time. I don’t have any gift like empathy. I can’t read minds or see the future. But Bella, I can fight. I can kill. I am very good at both. If you are wondering, yes, I enjoy the hell out of it. I am as much of a killer as you are. I am as good at it as you are. We are the same. We are just playing the same sport in different leagues right now.”

She lay quietly for a while and I thought she had fallen asleep.

“So you don’t think I am evil?”

“No Bella. What do you think?”

“I don’t care so much, I just want you to love me.”

“Then you should be very happy because I do very much love you.”

I heard nothing else. Her breathing got deeper and slowed down. She was asleep. Her head was on my chest and I began running my fingers through her hair like I did every night.

The next morning after breakfast which I thankfully manage to avoid, I was preparing to go fishing with Bella and Charlie. Bella refused to fish. She told him the idea of hooking a fish’s mouth and dragging him onto a boat seemed cruel.

I had an idea that if we sat in a tree and tried to shoot the fish from 300 yards away she would have been all in.

We were loading up when a black sedan pulled up. A young man in a light grey suit and red tie got out. He had bright blond short hair and very bright shiny teeth.

“Todd?” Bella asked, confusion in her voice.

“Bella.” He opened his arms and she ran too him into his hug. Charlie gave me a, what the fuck, look and I shrugged my shoulders.

“Is this your Dad?” Todd asked.

“Of course. Come meet him. Dad this is Todd Merker. We work together.”

Charlie shook his hand. “Nice to meet you Todd. What brings you out here?” Charlie was already suspicious of this guy. So was I.

“Actually Bella this shouldn’t take long. Captain Brooks wanted us to go over some briefings and intelligence reports we received recently.”

“You couldn’t have faxed or emailed them?” I asked. Blondie turned towards me.

“Who are you?”

“I’m sorry, Todd. This is Garrett. He is an old friend of mine.” An old friend? What the fuck?

“Garrett. You got a last name?” Several actually. Something told me Todd had more names than I did though.

“No. I don’t. One name has worked for me so far.” I told him.

“Well we don’t just email or fax secure documents in the government. I was in the area so Captain Brooks asked me to stop in and see you Bella.”

“Todd, why don’t we go inside and we can get to those reports. Dad, we will be done by the time you two are back and we can clean those fish and I’ll fry them up for you.” Bella looked at me and nodded, smiling.

“Yeah, I… I guess so. Uh Garrett, why don’t we head on and let Bella get to work.”

I glared at Bella but she just winked at me. She obviously knew this guy. Was he one of the infamous 6? I never asked her if it was one guy 6 times or 6 guys once.

“It was nice to meet you, Todd. I look forward to seeing you again.” He turned and smiled but the smile left his face when he looked into my eyes.

Charlie and I left and I saw Bella and Todd walk into Charlie’s house. Captain Brooks. Must be Bella’s handler that sent him. That Kevin guy. The Kevin guy who is currently trying to track the leak that gave out Bella’s address. The Kevin guy who Bella says is the only one who ever contacts her about jobs or anything else. The one guy besides Charlie and I, whom she completely trusts. He would never send someone else to talk to her.

“Charlie…”

“Yeah, I know. This guy showing up doesn’t feel right and neither does you being relegated to old friend status. Especially considering you two sleep together every night after you think I am asleep.”

“Exact… wait, what?”

“We are going back.” Charlie turned his patrol car around and drove back to the house at a speed above the suggested limit. I could have run but I’m not sure it would have saved time. Bella would be okay. I shouldn’t have left. But she would be okay. She seemed comfortable with the guy. She must have trusted him. But, if she trusted him… We pulled up to the house and I immediately saw the front window had been shattered. We had only been gone ten minutes. I smelt blood. A lot of blood. I ran to the door and opened it, Charlie right behind me. Oh my God.

There she was on the floor. Covered in blood.

Straddling what looked like Todd’s dead body.

With a knife in her hand, dripping blood.

She was breathing hard. She was smiling. She looked up and saw us.

“Daddy, this isn’t what it looks like.”

BPOV

I watched Dad and Garrett drive off. I had to figure out who knew what. Garrett would protect him. The smile I had plastered on my face at Todd’s arrival disappeared. His did as well.

“You want to die outside or in your childhood home Bella? Either way, lead on.” He had already drawn his weapon while I was smiling at Charlie leaving.

“I guess we are going to go inside. Maybe I can offer you coffee before you kill me?”

“No, I really am in a hurry. I have to cut your head off and take it the Cortez’s to collect my reward.”

“So why did you send the Russian after me Todd? Why not do it yourself?” I walked into the living room and heard him close the door behind me.

“I figured get him to do the dirty work, kill him and collect my money. He had no idea who he was working for. But of course if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. On your knees Bella.”

Todd and I trained together. We came up at the same time. He was good. Almost as good as I was. His flaw is that he always thought he was better than me.

“I can’t believe you are betraying your country for money, Todd.”

“I’m not betraying my country. The Cartel just wants you dead. They don’t give a fuck about national secrets. And this was too good of an opportunity to pass up Bella. Besides Kevin doesn’t know a thing about me. He is chasing his tail at the agency trying to figure out who sent the free agent after you. I triangulated his phone the last time he called you and found you here. Imagine cold blooded little Bella Swan having a family and a childhood and everything. Now on your knees Bella. This can go quick and painless.”

I slowly dropped to my knees keeping my hands up.

“Todd, you really shouldn’t call Kevin dumb.”

“Why is that? The idiot has no clue.”

“Yeah maybe. But he texted me yesterday that his phone got tracked like he suspected it would and you would probably be coming to visit. I got news for you Todd. This won’t be quick or painless.”

I rolled onto my back and kicked his weapon hand. He fired but the bullet shattered the front window next to the door rather than my abdomen where it would have been a split second ago. I ran and dove behind the couch. He gathered himself and began firing into the couch. I crawled over to the end and reached under the sofa. I felt my recently purchased .12 Gauge. Whipping it out I reached over the sofa without looking and fired in the directions the shots were coming from. I chambered another shell and fired again.

The gunfire had stopped. I had sawed 4 inches off the barrel of the shotgun making a wider spray pattern. I figured it would come in quite handy for situations such as this. Damn if it wasn’t loud. That was going to get the neighbor’s attention. I pulled the gun strapped to my ankle and walked slowly to the recliner. I saw his legs laying on the other side. They were not moving. Blood was starting to pool on the floor. He was hit. But he wasn’t dead. He always sucked at playing dead. He would have been shot in the torso. Not one shell could have hit his spine. His legs should be twitching.

There it is. I make a step. He pops in a clip. Not very quiet are we Todd. I fired into the recliner and he jumped from the other side. His shirt looked like it just got blasted with a shotgun. His tie was missing the lower half. Under those garments was a bloody mess. He wasn’t dead now but he wasn’t long for this world. I noticed this in half a second. I fired. He fired. I aimed for his chest and hit his gun hand right after he fired at me. I felt the slug go past my shoulder. The burning sensation told me it was going to leave an ugly scar but I would still be mobile. My shot knocked the gun out of his hand. I expect him to pick it up with his other hand but Todd did the unexpected. He charged me.

I took the brunt of the blow in my gut and let him knock me back so I wouldn’t lose the air I had in my lungs. Unfortunately I dropped my gun. He pulled a knife and stuck me in the left thigh. I screamed.

That fucking hurt!

“You fucking asshole! I’m going to rip your fucking dick off!” I dropped an elbow on his head and he twisted the knife in my leg. I gouged his eyes and he hit me in the throat. I finally got leverage against the couch enough that I kicked him off of me. He rolled back and landed on the floor on his back. I jumped on top of him, landing on his waist, the fucking knife burning in my thigh. He tried to grab my throat but I avoided the grab. Only one way to do this. I grabbed the knife handle sticking out of my thigh and pulled. Damn that hurt.

His eyes got wide when he saw the knife. I smiled for some reason. I guess I was right. I really do love this.

I brought the knife down through his hand’s useless defense and stuck him in the throat. I pulled out and went for the chest. Bingo. I suddenly realized I was stabbing him repeatedly. I was stabbing a dead man. He was deader than hell. I brought the knife in front of my eyes and looked at it. I had to smile. I survived. I heard a noise. The door. I turned to see if Todd had any other friends. Oh shit.

“Daddy? This isn’t what it looks like.”

I stood up and nearly fell again. Garrett caught me.

“Bella what happened? Where are you hurt?” He whispered in my ear.

“Just a scratch from a bullet on my right arm. Stab wound in my left thigh. It isn’t bleeding much but it hurts really bad. The rest of the blood is his.”

I looked up and saw Dad was still staring at the room. I looked around and could appreciate what he was seeing. Bullet holes. Broken glass. Some plaster ripped off from the wall where the shotgun fired. Blood trails all over the floor. Oh and the dead body on the floor that has been shot and stabbed beyond recognition.

“Dad, I will explain everything in a second. Just… I need my phone. I have a call to make.”

Dad simply nodded and kept staring at me, the walls, the floor, the dead body, me…

He answered on the first ring. Garrett has me in his arms taking the pressure off my leg.

“Kid, what is going on? Did you see him?”

“He found me Kevin. I guess he triangulated my location very exactly. He was acting alone. He was too greedy not to. He admitted to sending the free agent. You were right Kevin. He was the only one who could have had the skill and knowledge, who could betray us and have been in the right time and place to know everything.”

“Dammit kid, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Scratch to the arm and stab wound to the left thigh. Nothing to keep me out of action for long. But I am going to need a clean up crew quick.”

“Are you going to have police to deal with Bella? Who do I need to call first?”

“The… my Dad is here right now. I uh, I got a feeling he is figuring out that something strange is going on. He can handle the police. I will handle him. Just get the body out of here and have the teams sweep the blood up. I will repair the plaster and replace the furniture myself. Hurry Kevin.”

“I’m on it, kid. Call me when you get yourself checked out.”

I turned and saw Dad now just staring at me and not the dead body.

“Bella you want to tell me something?”

“Not really. We should probably go outside. You are going to need to keep your deputies away Dad.”

“I can’t keep them away! There is a dead guy right there! You have been stabbed! What the hell Bella! I have to investigate. This won’t just go away!”

“Actually Dad it will. There will not be an investigation. There won’t be a murder because in less than ten minutes that man’s entire identity will be wiped clean and it will be as if he never existed. His body will be taken and burned and re burned until there is nothing left. This is a national security matter. It’s best to let the guys who will be here shortly take care of this. I will handle the repairs. Let’s just, wait till they get here and go get some food or something and I can explain some of what I do. Okay Dad?”

I hopped down from Garrett’s arms and winced as my weight pressed on my left leg.

“Bella you have to go to the Hospital! You are hurt.” Charlie commented.

“Yeah. Dad, keep your deputies out of here. When my guys get here I will go and get checked out.”

Dad to his credit nodded and walked outside. I could imagine the confusion he is feeling right now.

“I’m not very happy with you at the moment.” I heard him whisper in my ear.

“I know baby. But I had to get Dad out of here and there was no way he would by the story that both of us had to stay and he couldn’t. Besides I had it. No worries.”

“You are walking with a limp. From a knife wound. You were nearly shot. Several times by the look of it.”

“And yet here I am. Still walking, talking and breathing. Do you need to leave?”

“Leave?” He asked.

“Yes. Is the smell of my blood driving you crazy? Do you need to get away from me?”

Garrett laughed.

“Bella I am not going a damn place away from you again. The only thing I care about your blood is making sure it keeps pumping through your heart.”

I leaned in and kissed him. It was a very good kiss until we heard Charlie clearing his throat.

I looked and saw 6 police cars behind him.

“What would you like me to tell these guys Bella?”

“Terrorist attacked your daughter who was carrying classified documents. Terrorist is dead now. National security matter. No further questions.”

Charlie nodded and walked to his deputies. Garrett raised an eyebrow.

“Nice lie.”

“Thanks. Now we need to go somewhere before the clean up crew arrives. I don’t want you seen.”

“Fine but I am staying with you in the hospital.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, soldier man.”