Disclaimer: Admittedly, it was a few days ago that I last checked, but at the time I didn't own the Twilight universe. I highly doubt that's changed since.

It was inevitable. After a long day in the car, a few miles around the park and a few exhausting months, Bella fell asleep half way through the movie. She must have slept through being moved too, because when she woke up the next morning it was to be lying on one of the Queen-sized beds.

The clock said it was just after eight. 'Alice?' she called to the seemingly empty room.

'Good morning!' the pixie popped her head around the bathroom door. Her hair was already in its usual spikes and she was dressed in a different outfit than the day before. 'Have a good sleep?'

'Yeah, actually,' Bella admitted. Maybe Alice was right and she really did need this little get away from it all. It certainly had been a trying few months.

'Great! Now you can get up and shower and I'll order breakfast for you.'

'Where's Rosalie?' Bella asked, having noticed the obvious lack of the blonde.

'She went for a quick hunt north of the city.'

'She needed to hunt?' Bella asked, with some disbelief. It was unlikely that Rosalie hadn't hunted before this little trip, or that she was already so thirsty as to need another go.

'Well, when I say hunt...' Alice trailed off with a wink.

'Oh,' Bella realised. 'Um, how long does it take to get here from Forks at a...run?'

Alice giggled. 'Not long at all, but she's been gone a few hours.'

'Right,' Bella said. That was enough information for the day. 'You done in the bathroom?'

'All yours. Breakfast?'

Bella shrugged as she climbed out from the mound of covers that had been placed over her. 'Surprise me,' was the suggestion.

Alice seemed to find that quite amusing.

When Bella emerged from the steamy bath a half hour later, Rosalie was sitting on the sofa.

'Did you have a good hunt?' Bella asked, since it was polite to ask and impolite to ask the truth.

Rosalie gave her an almost friendly look. 'The hunting was very...beneficial.'

'Really?' Alice asked, trying and failing to arch a delicate eyebrow. 'That's what you're going with? Beneficial?'

'Well, I was benefited!' the blonde laughed.

'Don't want to know,' Bella mumbled under her breath as she settled herself on the sofa. She made sure to keep a respectable distance from Rosalie's spot, but the couch was only so wide. Breakfast was on the coffee table; a mound of pancakes, orange juice and syrup. 'Thanks for breakfast Alice.'

'It's not like she made it. She just called downstairs,' Rose scoffed.

'It was still nice of her,' Bella defended.

'You're welcome Bella. Now eat so we can get going!'

'Where to today?'

'Museums!'

'One, Alice,' Rosalie said through gritted teeth. 'Just one.'

'Fine. One museum.' Alice smiled winningly. 'And one art gallery!'

'Sounds good to me,' Bella admitted, because a bit of culture after the starvation that was Forks was really welcome.

'Fine,' Rosalie relented.

'It shouldn't take all day. Do you want to do something after that?' Bella asked in a tentative voice.

Rose gave her an appraising look. 'I'll think about it,' was all she said, but Bella figured that was a start.

With another impatient look from Alice, she dug into the still warm pancake pile.

They managed, through sheer force of will (and in Rosalie's case, arms) to drag Alice out of the art gallery by noon. Despite the large breakfast Bella was hungry and a bit tired of looking at Canadian art. Rosalie wasn't hungry but she was obviously very tired of looking at it too.

They ended up at the corner of the block with a pouting Alice. 'I was nearly done,' she chastised.

'Yeah, but Bella and I were definitely done. You've been there a dozen times, at least, Alice. Bella needs lunch and I need some fresh air.'

Somehow, Bella doubted the last part of that statement, at least in its literal sense, since the city centre of Vancouver wasn't any fresher than any other metropolis on the planet. Still, it was a pleasant enough day out, with a solid layer of high cloud and a mild temperature.

'Fine,' Alice relented. 'Is the museum still okay?'

Rosalie gave Bella a look. 'Your choice.'

Bella blinked at her. 'Oh, um, what's it a museum of, Alice?'

'Well, there's the Maritime Museum or the Museum of Vancouver. They're beside each other. We can go to either.'

'The Maritime Museum might be interesting. I don't think I've ever been to one.'

The smile returned to Alice's face. 'This way then! It's only a couple of miles.'

'We're walking?' Bella asked dubiously, hesitating as Alice set off down the street.

'Exercise is good, Bella,' Alice told her in a patient tone.

'Right. Fine. Walking's good.'

'If you see anything you'd like for lunch, we'll stop. There's plenty of restaurants along Hornby.'

They made it only a few blocks before Bella decided she didn't want a restaurant. She wanted a hot dog from a street vendor. She had to go through two choices on opposite sides of the street before Alice agreed that it was safe enough. Happy to have the easiest meal she'd ever had when out with the Cullens, Bella nibbled at the jumbo dog as they continued their walk.

Rosalie kept giving her sidelong looks that didn't stop until she'd finished her lunch.

'What's wrong?' Bella finally asked.

Rose almost looked guilty. 'I thought walking and eating would be too difficult for you.'

'Rose!' Alice admonished.

'No, it's okay. She's right. I don't usually do that. Knowing my luck I probably would trip on something or choke. I won't do it again.' Bella grimaced internally. Yeah, that could have ended really badly. But maybe Alice would have foreseen it and warned her. Bella wasn't sure; sometimes it was hard to tell exactly how the pixie's gift worked.

They were out of the main busy streets by then, though there were still people around. It was therefore a surprise to Bella when Alice and Rosalie suddenly froze. For the moment they were on a block without anyone else in obvious site. Bella didn't know what had caused the two vampires to suddenly go on the defence. If Alice had seen something she couldn't have told her sister so quickly. Clearly they had heard something.

They shared a look. 'Stay here Bella!' Alice told her sternly and then she and her blonde sister were racing down the street at a barely human pace. They ducked into an alleyway about fifty paces down. Bella followed.

When she cleared the mouth of the alley, it was to find a narrow winding path between two tall buildings. With the grey skies, it wasn't particularly bright. Further down, in an even dimmer area, Bella could make out Rosalie's yellow hair. Keeping to one side and edging forward slowly, Bella followed them in.

It wasn't as far down as it looked. Maybe thirty or forty feet in the alley ended in a solid wood gate. On the ground in front of Rosalie was a large man, not moving. Alice was standing beside her sister, speaking so fast and quietly that Bella did have a hope of following along. Rosalie's entire body was taunt as a bowstring and she was breathing heavily, considering she didn't need to breathe.

And then Bella noticed there was someone else. Huddled up against the corner made by where the fence met the wall was a young woman. She was probably about Bella's age, or not much older. Her entire body was shaking as she sobbed, hugging her knees close to her body.

'Um,' Bella started.

'I told you not to follow us,' Alice sighed.

'What happened?' Bella asked tentatively, keeping her eyes firmly on the young woman.

Alice followed her gaze. 'He was,' she swallowed unnecessarily. 'He was going to hurt her. We heard her cry out.' Alice stepped away from Rosalie and approached the woman, hands stretched out.

'Are you alright miss? Are you injured?' Bella could tell that Alice was trying not to breathe too deeply in case there was blood involved. Against her will, Bella took an involuntary breath, but she couldn't smell anything over the reek of the alleyway.

The woman let Alice crouch down beside her, clearly not worried about a four-feet nothing pixie.

Bella turned her attention to the other Cullen instead. Slowly, Rosalie seemed to be relaxing; her breathes had returned to normal, at least.

'Rose?' she ventured. Bella was a bit surprised when Rosalie actually turned around to look at her.

'I'm fine,' she said, though unconvincingly.

Bella gestured to the man who still hadn't moved. 'Is he...?'

Rosalie huffed. 'No. Alice wouldn't let me ki—' she cut sharply to her sister. 'He's just knocked out,' she finished instead.

'We should get her to the hospital. We only just passed St. Paul's,' Alice suggested.

'Yes,' Rose agreed.

'Bella, would you help me?' the smaller sister asked. Clearly she thought Bella would be less intimidating and more welcome than their blonde companion who had just knocked the attacker out cold.

Together they got the woman on her feet. She was small, no bigger than Bella, and she couldn't have weighed anymore either. Her sobs had turned to a dry choking wheeze and she was still shaking intermittently. They walked slowly to the mouth of the alleyway and turned left, back towards the hospital a block away.

'I'm Bella,' she tried to introduce herself. The woman gave her a pleading look, but didn't respond. Bella cast a worried look at Alice, begging for information. Alice just shook her head slightly.

They didn't get any attention until they were within sight of the emergency room entrance. A doctor was standing at the corner of the building, smoking a cigarette. He dropped the fag immediately and ran forward.

'What happened?' he asked.

'A guy tried to attack her, but my sisters and I walked by the alley at the right time. When he saw us he just took off, but I think he got a few punches in before he left,' Rosalie announced, gesturing at the split lip and red cheek that decorated the battered woman's face.

'I'll take her,' the doctor offered. 'Good thing you were in the right place, at the right time.'

'Yes, very good,' Alice agreed with a slight smile. They stood watching the man lead the shaking woman into Emerg.

'Will she be alright?' Bella asked again.

Alice zoned out for a beat as she looked. 'Yes. She's been on the streets, I think, for a few weeks at least. But that nice doctor will make sure she gets the help she needs.'

'Good.'

'We should go,' Rosalie suggested.

'I'm not really up for a museum visit anymore,' Bella put in. Rosalie nodded too.

'We'll go back to the hotel. Let's get a taxi. We can do the museum tomorrow,' Alice led them down the street to a main intersection. It took the work of only a moment to hail down a taxi driver and pile into the car.

They didn't speak a word to each other until they were safe inside their hotel room.

'I'm really glad of that advanced hearing sometimes,' Bella commented. 'If we hadn't been walking by...'

'He would have beaten her to death. And if she was lucky, that's all he would have done,' Rosalie said in a cold voice Bella had never heard from her before.

'I'm glad you stopped him,' Bella told her, with as much gratitude as she could put in her voice. She laid a hand on her arm and was surprised when Rosalie didn't shrug her off. She was surprised to watch the blonde's face crumble. Vampires couldn't cry, but Bella had learned that they could certainly look miserable.

They made it to the sofa, Bella and Alice on either side of the taller woman. 'It's alright,' Alice said soothingly, though of course it clearly wasn't.

'I couldn't let him do that to her. I couldn't let him hurt her,' Rose nearly sobbed.

'Of course not.'

'I wanted to kill him,' she admitted, her voice a whisper.

'But you didn't. You stopped yourself. He wasn't worth it, Rose,' Alice assured her.

Bella, feeling useless, just sat there with a warm hand on Rosalie's arm, trying to offer what comfort she could. She knew the story, of course. She'd heard all the Cullens' stories since she'd met Edward, but Rosalie's tale had always struck Bella as the most tragic of them all. It was something she couldn't imagine and didn't want to ever have to. Edward had told her time and again that Rosalie's past was what made her so standoffish of Bella in the first place. Bella hadn't been able to understand that; after all, Rosalie had Emmett now and a family and to Bella that was enough. She was only just beginning to understand that Rose would never really stop missing what she couldn't yet have. It had been stolen from her; taken by men without a thought for her future. Much like that man lying unconscious in the alleyway today. For the first time, Bella felt a surge of anger.

'But he could hurt someone else!' she exclaimed loudly.

Rosalie looked at her. 'Yes. Yes, you're right, he could. And that can't happen.'

'Rose, don't—' Alice tried to stop her.

'No Alice. Bella's right. He'll just go and find someone else to attack. I'm going to track him. With any luck, he'll still be in that alley.'

'Rose, you can't do it.'

Rose gave her sister a hard look. 'I won't kill him, Alice. I won't forfeit everything for one scum of the earth. But I'm going to make damn sure he never hurts anyone else every again.'

They stared at each other a moment, but Alice finally nodded. 'Alright. Come back soon,' she said, getting up to give her sister a brief hug.

When the door shut with a loud click behind her, Bella gave Alice a disbelieving look. 'You're letting her go alone?'

'She'll be fine, Bella,' Alice tapped her head. 'And she needs to do this alone.'

Bella didn't have any response to that. They passed the next two hours in tense silence, attempting to watch a movie. Bella didn't even know who was in it; she was paying so little attention. She knew Alice was focused on Rose, making sure everything was okay.

The door opening made Bella jump a foot into the air. Rosalie's hair was a bit dishevelled and there was a streak of dirt on her beige jacket, but otherwise it looked nothing like she'd just come from dealing with a criminal.

She disappeared into the bathroom and Bella heard the water run for a bit. She was cleaned up when she returned to the room.

'He's in jail,' Rose stated matter-of-factly.

'Good,' Bella agreed vehemently.

'Don't hate, Bella,' she cautioned. 'It's not worth it. He's been dealt with and he'll never harm anyone else. Apparently, this wasn't his first assault. He's got a string of charges against him. He's going away for a very long time.'

'Justice,' Alice whispered.

'It feels almost as good as vengeance,' Rosalie huffed with the slightest smile. It wasn't a happy one, but it was relieved.

'Rose,' Bella started and then stopped when the blonde turned to her. 'I don't really know how to say this...' She paused and took a deep breath. 'I won't ever be able to empathise with what you've suffered in your life; I can't, but I think I understand a bit better now.'

Rosalie's look softened into a real smile. 'I dearly hope you can never empathise, Bella. I very much hope for that. But you've found Edward. You have your mate, so you should never have to. But thank you. I know we haven't had the best relationship, and I'm to blame for that. I mean, Alice had to resort to a weekend away just to get us to talk!' Alice smiled at that. 'I want you to know, before you stand at that alter, that I will count you as a sister afterwards. And I already consider you a friend.'

Touched beyond words, Bella leaned over to hug her. Rosalie gave her a brief embrace, careful not to squeeze her too tightly, as Emmett always did.

'Great!' Alice exclaimed loudly, when they had broken apart. 'Now the fun begins!'

'I shudder to think,' Bella laughed.

'No shopping, Alice; you promised,' her sister reminded her.

'No shopping. But we'll do the museum tomorrow. How about we go out tonight? See a movie and have dinner? Something proper teenagers do when they're away from their parents.'

'Don't 'proper' teenagers usually go out to bars and embrace underage drinking?' Rose put in.

'Let's not,' Bella suggested.

'No, let's not,' Alice agreed. 'How about a pizzeria for dinner? And the movie is your choice.'

Bella smiled. 'Sounds great.'