AN: This story is in response to a challenge by'nadia the demented one' called 'Sitting by the Furnace; I hope it fits all of her requirements. I also hope that you the readers will enjoy it. This takes place after Alice arrives home from Phoenix. As always, the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
What's a Brother For?
'What would have happened if Alice's family hadn't put her in the asylum?' It was the questions I first asked myself when I learned Alice's history. The question had an easy answer for me; I would have lost a great sister, but worse than that, I think Jasper would have remained alone wondering the face of the earth. It was terrible what James had done, but I would never regret the sister or brother that his actions gave me.
I was standing in the doorway watching Alice as these thoughts filtered through my mind. Once again, I had discovered Alice sitting idly in front of the fireplace but this time there was a roaring fire in it, and she was absently twirling a piece of string around her finger. As before, Alice was just staring. If someone less knowledgeable about Alice had walked in and found her like this, they would have thought she was daydreaming as she watched the flames dance across the logs, but I knew better. I knew Alice's thoughts didn't revolve around pleasant daydreams because the piece of string she held was a loose thread attached to her shirt, and the Alice I knew and loved would never intentionally damage a piece of designer clothing. Besides, I knew she was trying to dredge up the lost images of her human life just before her change.
James had harmed more than just Bella in that dance studio; he had also harmed Alice. Whether that had been his intent was questionable, but the damage had been done and now Alice was trying to reconcile herself to what she had learned from the video James had made while he was physically abusing Bella.
As soon as Alice had arrived home, she had sat down to watch it. She had intended to be alone at the time, but Jasper would not leave her side and the rest of us had an interest in what had happened. If it had been possible, Esme would have cried as she watched Bella being tossed like a rag doll and had heard her bones snap. Carlisle, Jasper, and I growled in anger, and even Rose winced as she watched Bella suffer. James' words about Alice shocked us all. Up until his admission of his involvement in her change, none of us had known anything about Alice's human life. Of us all, Alice was hardest hit with the knowledge that she had been in a mental institution, and since discovering that, she had taken to sitting alone and staring off at nothing, which was what she was doing that day when I walked in on her.
It hurt to see her in such pain, and I had decided to talk to her and at least try to offer her whatever help she would accept.
I walked quietly into the living room, sat down beside Alice, and placed my arm around her shoulder. "Alice," I began quietly, "can we talk?"
She turned and looked me in the eyes as she replied, "Sure, Emmett, what do you need?"
"It's more like what you need rather than me." I commented as I squeezed her shoulder. "I know this hasn't been easy for you and I thought maybe it would just help to talk to someone."
She smiled at me slightly, "That's very kind Emmett, but I'm not sure if I feel up to talking at the moment."
"Okay." She wouldn't talk to me so I offered, "How about if I do the talking then?"
A puzzled look crossed her face momentarily, and then she replied, "If it will make you feel better, go ahead."
I chuckled and wondered if she had seen something about this conversation. Instead of worrying about it, I just decided to dive in. "Alice, I'm not going to pretend to know how you feel. I can only imagine the emotions that anyone would experience when they discovered they had been in a funny farm. I personally don't think you were there for any legitimate reason," I tapped my head with my finger to indicate there was nothing missing or loose in her head. "If I had to make a guess as to why you were there, I would say it ties into your special ability, and yet in my human family, your ability would have been viewed as just that, a special gift."
Alice stared up at me as I talked, and the nicest part was that she was listening, which was encouraging so I continued.
"Second sight is a rare gift that is highly honored in the Scottish culture, and believe me, my family was very Scottish. They may have immigrated to America fifty years before I was born, but they brought their heritage and beliefs along with them. I can only image that was not the case with your family, and I feel sorry for them because they lost a very special daughter."
Alice smiled as she said, "That's nice of you to say Emmett," and then her smile turned to a frown as she continued, "But it doesn't alter the fact that they didn't want me. They must have been very ashamed of me or worse yet, they feared me because of what I could do."
"The problem is people fear what they don't understand, and obviously, they didn't understand you or your gift." I still had my arm around her shoulder but she was turned slightly toward me, so I took her chin in my free hand and held it so I could look straight into her eyes. "You are a very special person, Alice, and no matter what anyone else said or did, I am very grateful that I was allowed to become your brother. In this family you are highly treasured, and none of us are ashamed of you or your ability." I wanted to say more, to make her realize just how special she really was, so I added, "If you had been a part of my human family, you would have been treated with respect and instead of fearing your gift, we would have recognized it as the blessing it really is." To help add a bit of a smile to her face, I added with a smirk, "Besides, what other weather forecaster can boast their predictions are one-hundred percent accurate."
A beaming smile lit up Alice's face as she removed my hand from her chin, laid her head down on my chest, and wrapped her arms around my middle. "Thanks Emmett, that was very kind of you to say, not the forecasting part, but the other. In a way, I wished I had been part of your human family, but since I wasn't, I'm glad we are now part of the same family."
I responded by wrapping my other arm around her shoulder and pulling her close for a big hug. I liked showing affection; coming from a big family, there were times when we were happy to display our affections for each other and hugging was one of the best ways to do that.
Along with the affection that I felt for Alice as a sister came the realization of what it must have been like for her in the institution. I had never personally been in one or even visited one, but I had heard stories about those places. In my time, they had been referred to as the 'crazy house,' and there were horror stories about the patients being strapped to tables and electrical charges shot through their bodies. There had also been tales of patients who had been lobotomized in the hopes of making them sane. The problem was, we had heard about people going into those places, but never of anyone coming out.
"Alice, even though I know it is hard for you to accept the fact of not having any memories of being human, considering where you spent some of those human years, I'm actually glad you can't remember. I may never have actually been in one of those places, but none of the stories I ever heard about them were good. I consider it a blessing that you can't remember what they did to you while you were there, and at least someone in that place was looking out for you. He must have liked you very much considering he changed you rather than allowing James to kill you."
"You're right Emmett, but isn't it odd that James had wanted to kill me, and then years later he turns up and wants to kill someone who I'm connected to in an odd way," she mumbled into my chest.
It was a good thing vampires had excellent hearing, or I might have missed her comment. "I hadn't thought about that, but it is rather odd, isn't it?" Who would have imagined that the same vampire who hunted Bella had also hunted Alice?
"We could have lost her Emmett, and I don't think Edward would have gotten over the loss. Had we been a few minutes later, it would have been too late. As it was, he had already bitten her. I still think it would have been better if Edward had just changed her then rather than sucking the venom out." Alice mumbled again.
"Why is he so set on keeping her human? It's not like he can really do anything with her; she's too breakable, as seen by the fact that she is now in the hospital." I could not understand Edward's unwavering decision that she remains human. Sure, it was fun to watch her blush and trip over nearly everything in front of her, but at some point in time, I would think he would want to share more with her than a laugh or an accident waiting to happen.
"I don't see her remaining human. All my visions show her becoming a member of our family. I think Edward is just afraid that she doesn't love him enough to give up her humanity to become a monster like him. Edward does see himself as a monster because of how he lived after he left Carlisle and Esme, and besides Rosalie, I think Edward is the only other one of us who is still struggling to accept what he is, and even more, what he isn't."
"Wow, that's deep. I always figured Edward had all the answers to everything. I guess I was wrong, at least where Bella is concerned." Alice's comment surprised me. Of everyone in the family, I always thought Edward was the most adjusted to what we were. I never realized he had issues with what he was. I wondered if he regretted being changed like Rose did.
As I was contemplating what Alice had shared about Edward, I suddenly realized we had wondered off the topic of what she had just discovered about her human life and how she was reacting to that information. If she had hoped I would forget that I was trying to make her feel better, then it was time to remind her that vampires don't forget. We might become sidetracked, but we don't forget.
I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from me before I asked, "Alice, has anything I've said about your circumstances helped any?"
"Actually it has. I guess I was too focused on my human family and what they did that I forgot that I have a new family who would never treat me in such an atrocious manner. Thanks Emmett for reminding me of what I have right in front of me."
"Not a problem sis, and next time you feel depressed or melancholy, please let me know and I'll be happy to find a way to cheer you up because that is what brothers are for," and to stress that fact, I began to tickle her.