Hey guys! So sorry this is late, you guys should all know this by now! If not, buckle up butter cup! Unfortunately due to technical issues and editing problems and just life in general we had to push back the start date.

I hope you guys are ready for the latest installment in the H&H series! If you thought that Dean dying was the worse thing to happen... o_O

As always, disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I just claim the adapted plot lines!

Lets go!

Chapter 1: Homeward Bound

Forks Washington

May 3-5, 2008

Bella POV

The drive back was longer than I expected. I contemplated getting a motel for the night, but Bobby had only given me enough cash to get gas for the car. I didn't have my wallet, thinking I may have left it in the car when Edward took it. I frowned, hoping that no cops would be out patrolling. I kept the needle right on the correct speed just in case. My joy at coming back home was slightly bitter as I mulled over the last few days. My brother was gone… I bit my lip to stifle the tears, and Alice had gone missing. I had no idea if she was even okay or not. Not only had I lost my wallet but my phone was also lost during the chaos. I prayed that she would be alright, hoping that her vision wasn't true.

"I hope she's okay…" I spoke to myself. "I can't lose anyone else… Please." I didn't even know if anyone was listing. If demons existed, surely the opposite was true.

When I was a mile away from Charlie's I decided to stash the car down a deserted road, deciding to walk the rest of the way. I didn't want to take the chance of someone spotting me so after I took the license plate off the car I changed my appearance to a mid-twenties girl with long red hair. Hoping to avoid being recognized. I made my way to Charlie's easily and smiled when I saw the cruiser still in the drive way. I found the spare key and opened the door, finding Charlie in the living room.

"Bella…?" Charlie turned at the sound of me coming in, shock registering on his face as I turned back to my original appearance.

After seeing him, my emotional wall cracked. I felt the tears streaming down my face as I couldn't hold them back any more. The weight of the funeral crashing down on me in full force.

"I'm so sorry kiddo…" Charlie must have figured out what happened to Dean. Sympathy and grief flooded his expression and he hugged me.

"Charlie… oh god… it was horrible." I gulped back the tears as I tried to speak. "He was ripped apart, dying in agony…. I-I couldn't protect him…."

"You did your best kid… no one expected any more from you."

"There's just a lot of shit going on…." I thought again back to Alice, wondering if she was okay right now.

"Why didn't you stay with Sam? I'm sure he needs you."

"'Cause he's an asshole…." Charlie looked stunned at my words, but I just shrugged and walked over to the couch. "We need some time apart. It was my decision to come back."

"Because of Edward, right?" Charlie asked, following me over to the couch.

"He went with me… but then Alice went missing. I told him to come back." I hoped he wouldn't be too upset with me. I asked him to leave, did he think that I was just gonna blow him off?

"Someone kidnapped Alice?" Charlie's eyes widened.

"Yeah. We think it's the vampire we've been tracking. I haven't heard anything else about it. My phone broke… or was lost… whatever. Hopefully one of them will be there…." Which meant that I would have to go back to school. I sighed, wondering how this was gonna turn out. "Would you mind giving me a ride to school Charlie?"

"No problem Bella."

"By the way, I stashed a repoed car about a mile from here." I grinned, wanting to see his reaction.

"Bella…." He frowned disapprovingly.

"What? It's legit… plus I didn't really want to be around Sam."

"What did he do…? You two have never fought…." Charlie frowned as he pulled on his coat.

"Sam has teamed up with a demon named Ruby." I scowled at the mention of the little blonde demon that I only got to meet two minutes before my brother was made into a human chew toy. "She was saying that she could save Dean." I choked out the name. "I don't know why he believed her. But I couldn't talk any sense into him…." Sam placed her opinion over my own, how was I supposed to compete with that?

"Let me know about Alice okay?" Charlie asked when we pulled up outside the school.

"Will do…." I got out and sighed. Waiting until he got back out on the highway to go into the small office to get a note. The parking lot was empty of students which meant that I was at least tardy. The clocks in the office said that it was just after 8:30 am. When I got the note, I walked across the empty campus, feeling the weight of Dean's passing like they were a ball and chain connected to my ankles and wrists.

I walked to the building where my history class was. Feeling like it had been two years instead of two days since I had been here. I knocked on the door, disrupting the lecture.

"Come in." I heard my homeroom teacher's voice through the door.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Thorne." I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the eyes on me. "I have a note…." I frowned, holding up the note between my index and middle fingers. I walked up to his desk and handed it to him, he took it from me and read it before nodding at me to take my seat. I didn't look up until I got to my desk, breathing a small sigh of relief when I noticed Edward sitting beside me. I bit my lip, hoping to have a different reunion with him. I pulled a piece of paper from his notebook and began to scribble on it

Is Alice…?

I passed the note to him and he nodded before writing back a quick reply. I tried to glance down at it casually.

She's safe. We found her two days ago.

I nodded, grateful that she was found.

Good… how did you find her?

We both looked up when Mr. Thorne had asked Edward a question.

"1949 sir." Edward spoke clearly.

I looked down, feeling everyone's eyes on us. "We can talk about it later okay?" I whispered to Edward. He nodded back, and I tried to focus on the lesson, unsuccessfully I might add.

The rest of our classes seemed to pass in a blur and we soon found ourselves in the crowded lunch room.

"Okay, what happened?" I waited till he had paid for the food and we had sat down at our regular table. I was also trying to keep my mind from thinking of Dean.

"Jasper never stopped looking for her." Edward admitted as he looked over to his brother sitting over in the corner of the lunch room. "Alice stayed at home with Esme, she's still a little shaken up.

"Yeah… I figured." I looked over to Jasper as well. He looked much the same as he had last week, maybe a little more stressed out but that may have been from Alice going missing and the fact that his eyes were pitch black. I thought about Alice sitting at the Cullen's house, feeling bad that I wasn't there to help her.

"We eventually picked up Alice's scent and tracked it to an abandoned warehouse in Seattle." Edward brought my focus back to him.

"Was James there…?" I bit my lip.

"No, Alice told us that he had gone out to hunt. But he wasn't alone…. Alice said that he had found a mate, a red head."

I sighed, "Great…."

"She's apparently worse than James. He just wanted to kill Alice, but she suggested torture." He replied back quietly as a group of seniors walked past our table.

"Bitch…." I frowned, thinking back to the bodies we found. The savagery must have been her doing.

"When we got there, James had left to hunt. The woman was guarding Alice. When she saw that we outnumbered her, she managed to flee." Edward could feel the prying eyes on us too apparently because his tone turned more casually. "It took all of us to restrain Jasper from going after her. Alice finally convinced him to stop. She's perfectly fine, thankfully."

"Good…" I sighed, feeling defeated. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help."

"Don't apologize. What happened with your brothers?"

"Dean's gone… he died in agony Edward." I whispered, voice breaking, and feeling the tears in my eyes. "Sam's off doing god knows what…." I scowled.

"I'm sorry love." Edward touched my hand lightly.

I put my head in my hands, trying to get a hold of my emotions. But out of the corner of my eye I could see my fellow students staring and whispering,

"We don't have to stay… we can leave." Edward offered quietly.

I sighed and laughed humorlessly. "I have to stay… I've already missed too many days. We buried him two days ago… I survived that, I should be able to deal with a few people staring at me…." I gritted my teeth.

"If you're sure." Edward nodded lightly.

The bell rang loudly overhead, I frowned as I remembered that the next period was the only class that we didn't have together. "I'll see you after English."

"See you in Biology." He touched my face gently like he used to before I left.

I started walking towards the building that the English classes were held in.

"Yo Bella! Wait up!" I grimaced as I heard Mike calling out for me.

I stopped warily, sensing the argument ahead. "Hey Mike. What do you want? I'm late for English." I hinted, trying to throw off the conversation. "If you're gonna ask me why I was gone let me just stop you right there and tell you to bug off…. It's my business. If I had wanted you to know I would have told you." Remember your promise to punch any boys in the face that bothered me Dean? Wish you were here to hold up your promise…. I thought grimly as Mike caught up with me.

"We're your friends Bella. Or have you forgotten about us ever since Cullen decided to give you the time of day? Do you think you're too good for us now?"

I glared at him, who in the hell did he think he was?! "You have no idea what I'm thinking Mike…."

"You can't shut your friends out. You never told us about your brother." Mike frowned, scratching the back of his head.

"Because you didn't need to know!" I shouted, startling a group of freshmen. I looked over at them and tried to lower my voice. "I'm already the freak of this school due to me not getting killed by Tyler's van! I've had a shitty week Mike! I don't need people making it worse, just please leave me alone!"

He sighed, a small part of me felt guilty for yelling at him. "I just want to help." He looked down, hurt.

"Well, you can't bring my brother back to life, can you?!" I didn't mean to yell at him, but I was so close to an emotional breakdown and he wasn't helping. "No one can! Just let me grieve in peace Mike!" The dam busted for a second time today as the tears came on without any warning. I didn't want to talk to him anymore, I decided to make a run for it and stopped short of going into the class, I sat on the floor to the side of the door. Trying to catch my breath and stop the tears.

I heard someone walking up to the door, but I didn't pay them any attention until they kneeled beside me. "Bella?"

I looked up, grateful to realize who she was. "Angela, please, I don't want to talk about it…" My voice broke on a sob.

She looked down at me with a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Let's get you to the nurse's office okay?" Her voice came out as if she was speaking to a small child, I guess she was used to seeing tears with her two younger brothers.

"I don't need the nurse… I'm just upset…." I leaned my head against the wall slightly and looked up at the ceiling, trying to reign in the tears.

"I know, but you can't go into class like this." She offered me her hand to get up. "I'll tell Edward where to find you."

"No really. I'm fine." I took her hand after wiping away my tears. "Mike just pissed me off… I'm okay now. Thanks Angela. I've really had a bad week."

Edward POV

I sat down in my third period class, the only one I didn't have with Bella and I listened to the conversations in the English building until I locked onto one of Bella's classmates. Thankfully it was Angela Webber's calming mind that I could listen to. She had found Bella outside of the classroom in tears. I smiled at the girl's compassion.

I hope Bella's okay…. She looks exhausted… Angela looked over Bella as they got out their textbooks. "I'm sorry about your brother Bella… I know you must really miss him a lot."

"You heard huh…?" Bella sighed, and she tried to smile. "Thanks Angela."

"Of course." Angela replied comfortingly. She must have really been close with her brother, poor Bella. "If you ever want to talk Bella, I'm here for you."

"Thanks." Bella smiled back slightly. "But I'll be okay… people die all the time, right?" Bella tried to lighten her expression, but it faltered when she mentioned death.

"Still… I'm here. You don't have to suffer alone." I really did love the fact that Angela was Bella's friend. I made a mental note to do something nice for her.

I saw Bella nod from Angela's perspective, my dead heart ached for her pain. But soon I could hear the whispers floating from the other petty teens, I gripped the side of my desk as their thoughts pierced my consciousness as well.

"Her brother died?" A nasty girl named Lauren whispered harshly. "Why would she keep that from us? God, you'd think she'd say something instead of going around moping. She's just begging for attention."

"Definitely, you're right." Another girl replied. "Jessica was right to get Mike away from her. She and Edward deserve each other… They're both weird."

I growled quietly, barely able to contain my anger.

You okay man? I felt Emmett's strong grasp on my shoulder as I realized that I was already half way out of my chair. I shook my head as I lowered myself back into the chair. How's Bella doing? Emmett's thoughts were colored with sympathy.

"She's going through hell Em." I whispered back, my voice bleak. "They're talking about her… it isn't fair."

Emmett snorted as he thought. So, what? Screw them. They talk about us all the time.

"I know. I just want to make it easier for her. She only got back this morning." I thought back to when she came into class, her appearance matched her school look, but her eyes looked much older than they should have, she looked exhausted and her eyes were red tinted from all the tears she had shed over her brother.

You can't protect her from everything Edward. Emmett reminded me with a frown.

"I want to tear those little brats apart." I growled quietly.

Keep it together man….

I nodded, not needing to cause a scene in class. I looked up to find Jessica staring at me and her eyes widening as she realized she had been caught. She whipped her head back towards the front of the class. Her thoughts drifted back to me.

Edward looks pissed…. I wonder if Bella yelled at him too.

I frowned at her words.

It's not that much longer dude. The bell rang, accentuating his words. Just don't do anything stupid, okay?

I nodded. "I won't." I left the class in a hurry, needing to see her face to keep me from premeditated murder. I sighed with relief when I saw her walking out of the English building, Angela offering her kind words of encouragement.

"Hey." She smiled as she walked towards me, seemingly relieved to see me as well.

"How was English?" I leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"It sucked." She took in a deep breath and looked down. "But I'll be okay… it's only one more class." Her shoulders rose up and then slouched back down in a shrug.

"Yeah." I took her hand and we began walking.

She pulled my hand down so that I had to lean over, and she leaned in and whispered in my ear. "I know they're talking about me, and I know you were listening…"

I nodded and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as if to protect her from the thoughts of the students around her. We got into class and took our spots at the very back of the room. I didn't pay the other students much attention, trying to abide by my brother's words but I could see that Bella was taking it harder than I was.

Bella glowered as she took her seat beside me. "As usual I'm the gossip topic." She muttered after Mr. Banner started the lesson.

"Who cares what they think?" I asked rhetorically, trying not to let my irritation show.

"I do…" She looked back up at me with a wicked sense of humor in her eyes. "Can I have a bit of fun with my knife…?"

I wrinkled up my nose in mock disgust. "I don't think that would be wise."

She laughed quietly back, a little bit of the old Bella shining through. "Let me have my fantasies…."

"That's how all the serial killers started." I smirked, but I knew full well the intentions of serial killers after hunting them down for almost a year during my adolescent vampire years.

Bella shrugged off my comment, playing with a necklace that I hadn't seen her wearing before she left. I wondered if it had been a gift from her brother.

"The day will be over soon." I whispered back as I took her hand over the table.

Banner let us go from class a little early due to a faculty meeting held in the cafeteria. Bella looked thankful for the early dismissal.

"Can we go to your house?" She frowned as we walked out to the parking lot. "I really want to check on Alice."

I nodded, taking her hand, squeezing it lightly. "Of course. She has been worried about you as well."

The ride back to my home was quiet, she would touch the amulet every now and then and look out the window forlornly. For the most part I left her to her thoughts, not wanting to upset her again. I sighed as I realized that I couldn't do anything to bring back her brother, just as she had told Mike Newton. I stifled a growl as I remembered their argument from before. Jasper warned me not to get involved in it, but it seemed as if Bella handled herself quite well. I had almost decided to go check on her when Angela stepped in to comfort her. Rosalie had to remind me that killing the Newton boy wouldn't help the problem either, but it would have made me feel better….

"Is she at home?" Bella asked when I pulled to a stop at the front of the house.

I smirked when her question didn't need to be answered. Alice seemed to materialize out of thin air by Bella's side. "Bella!" She wrapped her arms around Bella's waist.

"Alice. God, I'm so sorry." Bella hugged her back, she pulled back after a minute and fixed Alice with a worried look. "Are you okay?"

Alice sighed in relief. "I'm alright now Bella."

"Are you sure…?" Bella and Alice took off towards the house, leaving me by the car. I sighed, trying not to be upset as I realized that I would have to share my time with Bella with my sister now.

"I'm a little shaken up but I'm okay…." Alice replied as they reached the front door. "Are you alright? I saw little flickers of your future. I'm so sorry about Dean…."

Bella winced and nodded. "It's gonna be rough…."

"I know." Alice hugged her friend closer.

I saw through Alice the visions that she had mentioned: Bella gently cleaning the blood from Dean's still face, and then as they stood in the dark around a freshly filled grave, a simple unmarked wooden cross marking it. Bella and her brother's raw emotions throughout the entirety of the visions.

"Thanks Alice." Bella nodded as Alice let her go to join Jasper on the couch. Bella took in a deep breath as she looked to the rest of my family. "Hey guys."

Esme stood, forever the hostess. "Hello Bella."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here for you guys." Bella apologized, I could see the fear of their judgement written on her face.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm so sorry." Esme poured all her emotion into the hug that she gave to Bella, wishing only to give her comfort.

Bella hugged her back, a little surprised. "Thanks Esme. Now, will someone tell me what happened to Alice?" She sat down after Esme let her go.

Now it was Alice's turn to be hesitant. "I was being stupid…. I went to the docks again trying to find more of my lost memories."

"You went alone…?" Bella's voice rang with disapproval.

Alice winced and nodded. "Like I said, it was stupid."

"Very stupid." Jasper frowned, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

"They caught me off guard somehow… Approaching from down wind. I didn't even see them. They managed to get something down my throat… I think I passed out." I winced at the memory she recalled. "When I came too, I was chained to a wall and they were talking to each other quietly." A low growl building in her throat. "I tried to break the chains, but they burned me when I moved."

"Did they have those strange markings on it like the one's in your vision?" Bella's face looked speculative.

"Yeah." I saw Alice comparing the two images in her head.

"Do you know what they were?" I spoke quietly.

"I've heard of some hunters carving sigils into inanimate objects that could incapacitate a creature… it could be something like that." Bella shrugged. Did I really want to know where she got that idea from?

"How could James have gotten his hands on something like that?" Jasper growled.

Bella shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "I haven't got a clue. Edward said they both ran right?"

"The red head did… James was nowhere to be found." Jasper replied, remembering wanting to go and hunt them down.

"Bastard…." It looked as if Bella felt the same way.

"It's okay Bella… there was nothing we could have done to track him. He told me that his specialty is tracking, and his mate is skilled at evasion."

"Great…." Bella sighed. "Did he explain why he abducted you?"

"He was trying to expose us… he knew you were in the area and thought you would wipe us out… he didn't plan on you and Edward falling for each other. When he couldn't, I guess he figured a more direct approach was the answer." Alice answered her honestly. She wasn't aware that I was keeping a secret from them. I frowned as I looked down at Bella, wondering if I should trust the words Victoria spoke at the warehouse.

"He seemed to think we weren't reaching our full potential as vampires because we didn't feed on humans." Alice's words brought me back to the present.

"So, he wanted me to kill you because of it?" Bella shook her head and grimaced.

"No, he wanted us to kill you… to prove ourselves I guess." Alice leaned into Jasper, remembering what James had told her.

Bella's face darkened with anger. "I really wanna find this guy… I'll behead the both of them…."

"Get in line." Jasper snarled the words.

"We'll find them… don't worry." I frowned at them both.

Bella nodded, leaning back into my side.

"What happened with your brother?" Alice almost seemed hesitant to ask.

"We were too late… I had time to watch him die…." She sighed, a hint of tears showing in her eyes. "My brother is dead…." She let out a shaky breath.

I pulled her close, kissing her forehead gently.

"The hellhounds tore him up…. It took hours to get him sorted out…."

"I can't imagine what you've had to go through." Esme shook her head in disbelief.

"You weren't hurt, were you?" I wanted to kick myself for not checking earlier. I looked for any sign of injury.

"No, I'm fine. The demon tried to kill us, but there's not a scratch on me. I'm okay… really." A tear slipped down her cheek. While she may have been okay physically, it spoke nothing to her mental state.

"Why did you come back? Not that I mind but I would have thought you would have stayed with your brother." Emmett spoke up for the first time, curiosity in his thoughts.

Bella frowned. "I got into an argument with my twin right after Dean…." She stopped before she could get the word out. "He's recently made some lifestyle changes that I don't agree with. I thought it'd be best to come back here." She looked back to Alice. "Besides, I had to know that Alice was okay. I lost my phone during the fight, so I had no way of contacting Edward."

"There was an altercation?" Carlisle stood, alarmed.

"We were trying to find the demon that held Dean's contract. Turns out she was possessing a little girl. Or at least she had been. She took possession of a demon that Sam had befriended, and she let a hellhound in… then she tried to kill me and Sam, but she couldn't. She left the demon's body. We buried Dean." She paused, wincing. "It's already been two days, but it still feels like it just happened." She finished, looking down at her hands.

Esme stood and walked over to Bella, taking her hand, sharing in her grief.

With the hand not clasped in Esme's, Bella took hold of the necklace again and smiled sadly. She then squeezed Esme's hand back. "Thanks Esme. I'm probably not going to be the best company for the next few months…. Sorry about that."

"It's quite alright Bella, but you know we will always be here for you if you ever need to talk." Carlisle joined Esme by Bella's side and the rest of my family shared his sentiments.

As she thanked them Victoria's words came back to me.

There is a price on her head, as well as her brothers. There are a lot of people who are interested in the Winchesters and would pay handsomely to capture them. And right now, you are in the way. Anyone caught helping the Winchesters are to be put to death immediately, that would include your whole family. If you go in there, guns blazing, you will get yourself killed anyway, along with her and the rest of your family. I'm the only one who knows what's coming, I'm the only one who can protect her now.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Was what she said really true…? Did I really have no clue as to what was coming? Could I really do it? Could I leave the only person in my life that made my life worth living?