DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ISABELLA SWAN, EDWARD CULLEN, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS/SETTINGS FROM THE TWILIGHT SERIES. THOSE BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER. ALL OTHER CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINES ARE MINE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE TWILIGHT BOOK SERIES PHENOMENON, GO TO STEPHENIE MEYER'S WEBSITE.

- - - CHAPTER ONE: FAVORS - - -

It's autumn and I am standing over a bubbling creek with a disposable cell phone pressed against my ear. The voice, male, is saying something that I don't necessarily want to hear. My attention fades to the warm orange leaves of a nearby tree and then back to the conversation. It had been a heated one, and I could sense the voice on the other end starting to become agitated. A curse flys at me from the speaker, and I narrow my eyes. The tree branch that I am balanced on top of moves shakes as I pull away from the phone and say directly into the microphone, "Yeah well, fuck you too, Edward." I hear Edward's low laugh through the speaker and scowl at the device in my hand.

I drop the phone into the running water beneath me and look to Amy Ricci, who is waiting at the river's edge.

"I take it he's just not that into you?" she asks, and a hint of a smile plays on her pale face.

Snorting, I skip off the narrow tree branch and land next to her on the grass. "He got hitched, Ames. Can you believe that?"

"Misellus," she replies in Latin, and we stare at the water together. "To who?"

"Some blind freak named Isabella Swan."

"Wait—" She glances at me for a moment. "She's human?"

A smirk flips up the corner of my mouth. "Human. That's exactly something Edward Cullen would try to pull off."

"Should we—you know?"

I understand what she tries to imply and move my hand to ruffle her pretty blond hair. "If you can't even say the word…"

She looks up at me and wrinkles her nose. "I can do it," she says firmly. "Even if it is Edward."

"No doubt, Ames." I smile down at her eleven year old face and the determination that shines through. "But I'm not going to make you."

"But he married a human. And that's against—"

"The rules," I finish for her. "I know. Damien will give him hell for it. But I can't exactly kill him, can I?"

Amy sniffs. "You're Elite and he's not. And it's our job. We found out—we deal with it. That's the rule. Damien will give you hell if he found out you knew and didn't take care of it."

The thought brings chills to my already cold skin. "Edward hasn't been an active member of Lefleure for years," I say finally. "But a human! What was he thinking?"

"He was thinking of the next best thing," replied Amy, kicking the dirt under her feet. "He asked you to be his girlfriend and you rejected him. Now he found someone new and moved on. You know, I never liked him, Kate. He is such a—such a…player! And I hated how he used to mess up my hair."

I laugh and she scowls at me. "Don't try to brainwash yourself, sweetie. I've tried it for years and it just doesn't work. You take it for what it is; that's the best way."

Amy doesn't like what I suggest, and covers by rolling her eyes. "But it's gonna get out soon and you know it. Who will take the heat then?"

"The Volturi will take over if Lefluere fails," I reply bluntly. "Edward knows the ins and outs of this clan like the back his hand; the Volturi are the only ones who have a chance against him."

"And you know Edward like the back of your hand. You know how he thinks and how to keep him from reading your mind."

"Damien isn't going to send me, Ames." I pull my hair back with an elastic band. "I'll make sure he doesn't."

Shifting her weight, Amy prepares to lay on the facts. "If it's between you and Flynt, Damien's going to listen to Flynt. You wouldn't push off Flynt, would you?"

Sighing, I glance at her rounded child-like face and decide that she was bitten far too young. "No, Amy, I would never do that."

"So what? Are we going to wait this out and just pretend that Edward didn't call you ask you to cover for him?"

"What, you want to go to Middle-of-Nowhere, Seattle? And let me tell you—it smells like dog there."

"Yuck."

I nod in agreement. "Well, at least he did something right. Lefluere can't trace his phone call back to me—apparently Edward sent me that disposable phone with a note to call him for exactly that reason."

"That asshole!" hisses Amy darkly, and I throw her a warning look. "Whatever, Kate. You say it all the time. But who does Edward think he is? He's the one who ran off, and now he expects to pull in some nonexistent favor from you? To protect some human girl? She's lunch, not love."

I'm silent. Amy is right, but I don't want to think about it.

The little girl next to me assesses my silence and asks quietly, "You said yes, did you?" A sparrow twitters on its perch in the tree canopy and I glance up to locate it.

"Yeah."

"But you don't love him…"

I consider for a moment. "No," I reply and look at the sparrow in the tree; I've found him. "No, but we were good friends once. Back when we were both just changed. We used to hang out when he couldn't put up with Carlisle anymore. Lefluere was tougher then, but he and I got through it together. And then during Assessment, I rose in ranks and he, well—he didn't."

"Do you miss him?"

Turning my attention to her, I furrow my eyebrows in mock confusion and say, "No, Ames. I've got you, haven't I?"

She grins and hugs my waist. "Yup, yup."

I muss her hair again. "Come on—let's go." Amy smiles and shakes herself out as preparation for the journey back to Headquarters. Running is always her favorite part about the change, and I understand why she loves it so much.

The speed, the rush—it allows her to forget about everything she left behind.