Second Time Around

"I wonder where the world's going"

Emmett ducked his head under his arm to look at Jasper. "Say what?"

"I mean, is the world going to keep going in circles or whatever or is it finally going to end? Pass me the measuring tape," Jasper added, fiddling with the underbelly of Bella's new car.

The biggest of the Cullen brothers rested the upper end of the car on his shoulder as he reached into the toolbar he had on his other arm. Passing the tape to Jasper, he responded with a teasing smile, "You'd have better luck bringing that up with Alice or Carlisle"

"True," Jasper ceded as he measured and tightened another valve with his bare hands, "but you happen to be in my company now as I think aloud." He passed the tape back to Emmett who secured it in his belt before effortlessly lifting up the front of the car in his hand again.

"Despite the fact that philosophy is neither of our fortes," Emmett commented, lifting a little higher so Jasper could stand straight up. "But I am curious as to what brings this up, here and now"

"Well, here I am standing under the most state-of-the-art car in the world, checking for the second time around already flawless safety components for our beyond paranoid brother's fiancé now in the twenty-first century when at Bella's age I was riding a stallion to work"

The words were in Jasper's serene Southern drawl as always but there was something of a rougher undertone as he walked in measured paces underneath the car. It piqued Emmett's curiosity. "C'mon, Jazz, you don't mean to tell me you're jealous?"

Jasper stopped and sighed. "No, just a little…concerned I guess"

Emmett brought the Guardian back down as Jazz stepped out from beneath it. "That Bella has better wheels?" he asked teasingly.

Rolling his eyes, Jasper said, "Maybe you're right and I should take this up with Alice…"

"Sorry, man," Emmett apologized stepping in front of him and blocking the door back into the house. If Jasper really wanted to go in, the gesture would have deterred him only slightly. "Go on. I need practice in my philosophical skills anyway"

Jasper laughed at that and crossed his arms. Boy was that the truth.

"Alright," he forged, "I was just thinking about, you know, the cycles of the world. Life, death, life. Love, marriage, love"

"Light things like that," Emmett interjected, playfully wearing a somber look.

Jasper gave him a look. Despite his size, Jasper still had a bicentennial on him and Emmett was the little brother.

"My bad. Continue"

"And I was just wondering how many we'd have to go through before the world ends or if the world's going to end at all," Jasper concluded.

A little confused, Emmett asked, "How do Bella and her car tie into any of this?"

Jasper glanced behind him at the covered Guardian. "I remember when the first Model T came out. Drained some guy just so I could try it out and that was the most state-of-the-art thing I'd ever seen at the time. Now…"

He ambled over to the Mercedes and kicked it. It wasn't full force but it was force enough to dent it where any other car would have been shot into orbit.

"…who knows what humans will be driving in another two hundred years?"

"I see," Emmett told him. It was taking all of his willpower not to slip into a Dr. Phil impersonation. "And just to be clear, how do these cycles pertain to the Mrs. Bella Cullen-to-be?"

Now was when Jasper was a little less forthcoming. He dropped to his knees to try and fix the dent as he said, "Well, Bella and Edward have been through quite a fair share of Hell already and she's not even one of us yet. James' crew is taken care of but what if the Volturi come a second time around? Will it continue forever or will it, you know, end"

Emmett came over and lifted up the car again, this time by its back end. "That part is definitely best taken up with Alice"

"But Alice is part of the dilemma," Jasper said, focusing on where to apply pressure to pop the dent. "I waited ages for her and if I knew that she would always have a target over her—if there was always a chance of losing her no matter what I did…"

He trailed off as the dent popped back into place like it was never there. It was accompanied by a noise like the popping of an aluminum can, only a few decibels louder.

Now completely serious, Emmett put the car back down. "Hey, if anything were to place any really dangerous, recurring threat on Alice or Bella—or Rose, for that matter—then I don't need psychic powers to tell you what would happen"

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"All those cycles you were worried about would end, along with the rest of the world, in the process of us tearing those stupid bastards into fine powder. The first time around," Emmett told him with a cocky smile.

"Walking proof to the very theory that wonders will never cease," Jasper mocked goodheartedly, "Emmett Cullen can be philosophical!"

"You better believe it!" Emmett rallied. "Now come on! I'm gonna to go tell Carlisle!"

Jasper shook his head in disbelief as Emmett shot through the door back into the house. He headed in the same direction but stopped before he hit the light switch.

The car was still covered but he glanced back at it anyway and pursed his lips in thought.

Then he clicked the lights off.

I did another one shot with Alice and Rosalie called "The Raid" a few months ago and I wanted to do one with the boys. A plot idea just wasn't forthcoming though until I bought (yes, bought even though I already have an original) the Special Edition of Eclipse and read the first chapter of Breaking Dawn. I started thinking of a bunch of philosophical shenanigans (yes, shenanigans) as I realized that in two months the book will be here but then after that, Twilight will change: it won't be in Bella's point of view anymore; she might be a vampire; Jacob might or might never come back, etc. So the two put themselves together and you just read it.

"Second Time Around" is also the name of a song I wrote for my old band years ago and oddly enough, I found it fit perfectly with this one-shot.

This takes place in between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

Bella's Mercedes Guardian is from the first chapter of Breaking Dawn. For those of you who haven't read it…well, you should.