Disclaimer: I do NOT own Twilight, sadly, or any of its characters. That honor belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Dang it.

Chapter 1: You Suck At Modern Warfare

BPOV

I hung up the phone, my heart pounding. Crap. Holy mother of crap. How was I going to tell him? He's gonna be pissed, no question about it. It was a stupid moment of weakness, that's it, but now I'm gonna have to deal with the wrath of 7 vampires. Yippee. I was only truly worried about 4 of them, but the others would surely take their side.

"Bella? What's wrong? Who was that?" Edward asked, voice filled with concern.

"We need to go to your house." I stated, keeping it simple. My voice stayed steady, much to my surprise. "I have to tell the family something." And they are going to be super pissed I added in my head.

"Sure, let's go." He said quickly, concern evident in his voice. I left a note for Charlie, telling him where I was and not to worry. After what had happened recently, he deserved to at least be a little in the loop. We got in the Volvo and he sped back to his house, shooting glances in my direction every 15 seconds. When I reached for my door handle, Edward touched my arm. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead, obviously sensing my anxiety. I leaned into him, trapping what was sure to be the last moment of peace for the next 15 months.

When we walked through the front door, Alice and Jasper were situated in the living room. Alice seemed to be confused about something. I nervously looked up at Edward, wondering how badly he was going to react. He looked confused as well, his eyes locked on Alice. What was going on? Couldn't she see me in training? Or overseas? Or being tied to a tree somewhere in Yemen by Edward?

We walked into the living room, and he called the rest of the family in. As if they weren't listening I mentally scoffed. I took a seat on the loveseat next to Edward, tightly gripping his hand. I took a deep breath, looked down at my shoes, and quietly mumbled, "I knit bing ployed free winks."

Everyone took a sharp breath. Edward was the first to speak. "Your unit is being deployed in three weeks?" he asked in a shaky voice. "Explain please."

I looked up and saw that everyone's facial expressions had changed to one of distress, except Rosalie's, of course. "When you guys left," I felt Edward flinch, "I went to the army recruiting office and signed up. If I couldn't be with Edward, then I wanted to do something honorable. Today, they called and said that I leave for combat training in a week, and after two weeks, I leave for Kabul with my unit. I won't be able to come back until my tour is over." I took a deep breath, and finished, "fifteen months from now." I finished with my head hung low, fearing their reactions, and like a ticking time bomb, they blew up.

"How could you be so thoughtless?" Alice shrieked.

"Are you trying to make me lose my mind, Isabella?" Edward yelled.

"Wow. Even for a human you're stupid." Surprise, surprise, that one was Rosalie.

"You suck at Modern Warfare, so you'd better be better at it in real life!" Emmett shouted. Strangely, I felt surreally calm after he said this. Jasper must have been trying to keep the rest of them calm so they didn't get so worked up. I sent a small wave of gratitude over to him, hoping he understood.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry we drove you to this." Esme whimpered. It killed me to see the sadness and guilt in her face.

"I can make some phone calls if you want, get you out of it." Carlisle offered, his fatherly expression in place.

Before I could even answer, Jasper cut in. "Bella, there is no greater honor than serving your country. It will be hard, and you will want to quit a lot, but it is well worth it. I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just telling you the facts."

"I know. I didn't come over here to ask you guys to get me out of it. I'll admit, when I registered, I was in a weak place, but I'm going to serve, and I'm going to make a name for myself. Private Swan, it's got a nice ring to it." I cracked, trying to lighten up the tension in the room. It failed.

"Are you telling me I won't be able to see your face or hear your voice for 14 months? Impossible. I can't do it." Edward growled.

"Baby, I will be able to Skype once a week for 10 minutes. Maybe even e-mail if my camp had a computer and working internet. I know it's not much, but it's more than I got when you were gone." I immediately felt horrible about bringing up him leaving but he had to understand that I wasn't leaving him for good. He visibly winced, but quickly regained his composure.

"So what does this training entail?" he asked quietly after a moment of silence. I knew he was trying to be calm about this, and I couldn't have loved him more in that moment if I tried.

"Basically, the first week is just weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, and getting used to our schedules, pre-assigned roles, and weapons. For the last week, we live as if we are in Kabul."

"Do you know what your position is yet?" Emmett asked eagerly, no doubt planning my virtual training.

"As of right now, they're planning to see how I do as a sniper in training." I sighed. O honestly couldn't tell you what had possessed them to consider me as a sniper. Do they know how clumsy I am? When I enlisted, I tripped five times and almost stabbed the poor secretary with a pen. Most people don't know this, but it's is actually one of the most dangerous roles. You have to watch your back as well as those you are scouting for while trying not to bodily injure yourself.

"Are you kidding me? Then you'll be in twice as much danger! You'll have to watch out for others, and yourself! Do they know how clumsy you are?" Edward ranted, his voice getting noticeably higher with each word.

Alice gasped, cutting off my smart-aleck retort. Edward's gaze snapped to her face, then glazed over. They were both still for a moment, then Edward's eyes focused on my face and his arms went around my waist securely, but not before I saw the look of sadness in his eyes.

"What? What did she see? Alice, what did you see?" I asked, feeling the beginning of a panic attack coming on.

EPOV

When Bella mumbled, "I knit bing ployed free winks." my first thought was, "Is she having a stroke?" Then my brain kicked in. It processed her words, and in less than a second, I knew what she had tried to say.

I tried and failed to keep my voice strong as I asked, "Your unit is being deployed in three weeks? Explain please," I couldn't understand for the life of me what had possessed her to enlist in the army. As she explained, I was bombarded with my family's thoughts.

How stupid can she be? First the cliff, and now this?

Why can't I see her? I can't see Bella anymore! What the hell?

Hey! I can help her train! Yeah buddy! Modern warfare, the ultimate combat trainer.

Poor thing. I can't believe she did it because we left.

I'll bet I can pull some strings at the recruiting office, get her out of it.

Huh. I wonder how much procedure has changed since my tour.

When she finished, Alice put her two cents in, and I yelled, "Are you trying to make me lose my mind, Isabella?" I knew calling her Isabella would show her how upset I was, my tone as I said it even more so. When Emmett made his video game comment I was bursting at the seams with fury. Jasper obviously felt it, and a wave of calm settled in the room. "Nice Jazz, could you be any more obvious?" I whispered too fast and low for Bella to hear.

When Jasper gave her that crap about honor, I was ready to take him out back and make him pay, pissed-off Edward style. When she opened her mouth next, I expected some weak, mirthless protest to emerge. I listened closely, ready to pounce the instant she slipped up.

"I know. I didn't come over here to get you guys to ask me out of it. I'll admit, when I registered, I was I a weak place, but I'm going to serve, and I'm going to make a name for myself. Private Swan, it's got a nice ring to it." She chuckled humorlessly, obviously trying to lighten up the tension in the room.

"Are you telling me I won't be able to see your face or hear your voice for fourteen months? Impossible. I can't do it." I snarled, enraged at the thought of my Bella in danger. I was devastated I wouldn't get to hear or see hear the love of my existence.

She started to attempt to console me. Attempt being the key word in that sentence. When she brought up my leaving, her voice broke and I flinched. She continued on, oblivious to her voice and our pain.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, then asked in my blankest voice, "So what does this training entail?" I knew if I tried to protest it would just make her angry and push her away from me. We had just gotten back on the right track, the way it was before I left.

I could tell she was grateful for what she had summed up as my acceptance, so she began talking about her training plans. When I heard the word "sniper" pass her lips, all my earlier wrath returned with a vengeance.

"Are you kidding me? Then you'll be in twice as much danger! You'll have to watch out for others, and yourself! Do they know how clumsy you are?" I shouted, my fury fueling the fire of my rage. I vaguely noticed my voice getting higher, but I honestly couldn't care less.

She opened her mouth, probably to defend herself, when Alice gasped. My eyes flashed to her, and I dove into her mind.

Charlie was standing in his living room, dressed in his cop uniform. His face was redder than usual as he shouted at someone, something that seemed to fear him. "Are you freakin kidding me? I knew you were crazy, but this is too much! Get out! Get out now and never come back! I'm ashamed to call you my daughter! He turned around and plopped in the recliner, eyes focusing on ESPN. The person turned and ran up the stairs, their head hung low.

I automatically knew the person was Bella, and I looked down at her beautiful face. I knew I couldn't prevent the vision from happening, so I merely wrapped my arms around her waist in a protective embrace.

She turned in my arms and faced Alice. "What? What did she see? Alice, what did you see?" her voice was steadily getting louder and I could detect hints of hysteria creeping in. I held her close, trying to comfort her while treasuring the time I had left with her.