Disclaimer: All Twilight Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I just play around with different plot ideas.

Chapter two

Carlisle's pov

The young vampire couldn't be more than seventeen, maybe eighteen when she was turned and she obviously was still a newborn. All of that wasn't really surprising to me, considering Victoria's reasons for creating this army, but what did surprise me was her careful control. When I had heard her talk to the newborn vampire who was obviously hell bent on protecting his mate, I had found myself extraordinarily skeptic. But somehow, she had managed to calm him long enough for her to convince us to let them go.

She had stood, facing us without fear, but also without threat. It was such a strange thing to me that I had instinctively wanted to goad her into a response. Over four hundred years of self-control kept that urge inside, though. Secretly I had been thankful for Edward's aggressive attitude, hoping that she would snap at him, giving me peace of mind, but she didn't. She remained calm and collected and exhibited extraordinary control over her shielding power.

She acted like she was centuries old, instead of newly created and I was worried about how it would affect my family to have her here.

According to Alice the girl was no threat to us and she wouldn't lose control, not even around humans, but Edward didn't trust those visions and neither did I or Jasper. We all suspected that she was hiding something. Perhaps another attempt on Alice's life. Perhaps a connection to the Volturi to garner more information about us.

Either way, the men in the house, with the exception of Emmett who was always willing to be positive, were on edge about bringing this new girl in.

Esme had scolded me for it, of course, but she too was worried how having another vampire in the house would do to upset the careful balance in which we now lived.

I sat up straighter when I heard Edward's annoyed stomping and Alice's happy chatter. The girl didn't say anything, but she fidgeted constantly. I could hear it in the small sounds that were coming from her and the habit threw me for a loop.

Vampires in general were always too still to be considered human, but it appeared that this girl had maintained her human habits.

Curious, I stood and walked down the stairs to greet the retrieval party.

Upon entering the room and being faced with seven curious, but careful vampires, she didn't exhibit defensive behavior. No, she stumbled.

Stumbled.

A vampire that fidgeted and stumbled.

In all my years I had never seen anything like it.

The complete silence and stillness from all of us seemed to make her uncomfortable, so she lowered her eyes to the ground and worried her lip with her teeth, her fingers nervously tapping a rhythm on her jean covered legs.

As I watched her, I was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of tenderness for this quiet girl. Jasper and Edward both looked at me with horror in their eyes, but I just shrugged. What could I say? The girl was adorable.

"Bella, welcome. We do apologize for the unconventional greeting. I hope you understand we are a bit wary after everything that happened."

She took a quick peek at me from under her lashes and grimaced. "I don't have to stay here. I can manage on my own. I can go find Diego and Bree and follow them around the world," she whispered in a soft voice.

I caught Esme's heartbroken expression and knew right away what I needed to do. "Bella, you are welcome to stay with us. As long as you abide by our rules."

At that her head snapped up and she gave me a defiant glare. "What rules?"

"We don't feed off humans and we always maintain our secret."

Her shoulders relaxed and her eyes softened. Shrugging one shoulder she said: "I don't feed off of humans to begin with, so that'll work and I wasn't planning on becoming a human lab rat, or something, so yeah. Secret's safe with me."

I'm sure I looked like a fool, gaping at her like that, but I couldn't get my head together enough to close my mouth and continue speaking.

Esme was the one that finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Bella, would you like to stay with us, or have we already made you feel too uncomfortable?" she asked, quietly, taking a small step towards her.

All the vampires in the room snarled and stood poised for attack as Bella suddenly moved to Esme, but instead of attacking my wife, she hugged her, trembling visibly. "Can you make them stop staring at me?" she murmured into my wife's shoulder.

Esme's eyes sought mine and I saw that she would be crying if she could. "Everyone," she said softly. "Give Bella some space. The family introductions can wait."

Emmett pulled Rosalie outside to hunt, Alice bounded up to Jasper and took him upstairs and Tanya attempted to get Edward out of the house, but he refused to budge.

"Edward," I urged.

"No. I am not leaving you guys with a newborn who I cannot read."

"Edward, the girl is trembling. Give her some space," Esme scolded.

"I don't trust her."

Bella pulled away from Esme and stalked right up to Edward. "I'm right here. You can talk to me, you know!"

"Fine! I don't trust you."

"Well, tough! I am not going to hurt anyone. Are you crazy? That big bear of a bother of yours makes me want to piss my pants, even though I know I can't. You really think I'd be stupid enough to try anything?"

"How should I know, I can't read your mind!"

"Well thank god, you can't because you wouldn't like what I'm thinking right now!"

"Show me, I know you can."

Bella's eyes flashed with fury and with a determined set to her mouth she took a step back and glared at Edward. He blinked once and then stumbled back.

"Enough!" he cried after a minute, clutching his head.

Bella looked away and ran out the door. Not knowing which one of them to go for, I stood frozen.

"Ooh, you stupid men," Esme hissed before bolting after Bella.

Tanya knelt beside Edward and tried to get him to speak, but he just clutched his head and tried to breathe deeply and evenly.

"Tanya, can you give us a minute?" I asked.

She looked defiant, but did what I asked, leaving me alone in the room with Edward.

"Edward, what did she show you?"

He swallowed thickly. "Her life before she was changed. She remembers all of it. With perfect clarity."

"What happened to her?"

"She ran away from her alcoholic mother and the woman's abusive boyfriend in the hope that she could live with her father who is supposed to live around here somewhere, but she was kidnapped when she got off the plane in Seattle. The man that took her was a sadist, dad. He put his cigarets out on her skin, he raped her over and over and beat her until she thought she was going to die."

I wished I had consumed human food, so I could have had something to throw up, because my stomach rolled at the things Edward described.

"Since she didn't know exactly who her father was she knew there was nobody that would try to save her. She was dead inside by the time that man grew tired of her. He left her to die in an abandoned warehouse. That's where Riley found her. He changed her himself. She was his first successful transformation."

"Did she show you what happened after that?" I asked, not sure that I really wanted to know.

"No. I told her to stop when she showed me that Riley had given her to his second in command to use as he saw fit. I don't even know if the guy did anything to her. I didn't want to know any more."

I nodded solemnly. "She's your new sister now, Edward."

"I know and I'll protect her from anyone who even looks at her wrong. I promise."

We were quiet for a while. "She's strong. So much stronger than any of us. Mentally I mean," Edward muttered after a while.

"I figured."

"What do we do about her father? Should we try to find him?"

"I need to think about that. We need to talk to Bella and see what she wants."

"They're heading this way. Bella told Esme everything. They're both pretty distraught."

I nodded and we both walked to the door to await them. Edward muttered something under his breath that even I didn't hear before he excused himself for a few seconds.

He flew up the stairs and told Tanya to stop nagging and that he needed to be there for his new baby sister. He was back before she even had a chance to complain, but by the scowl on his face I figured she was using his power against him.

I decided to ignore it and instead focus on the two women that were heading our way. Esme's eyes were clouded with worry and rage and pain and Bella looked positively broken.

"Bella?" Edward called quietly. "Will you allow me to take you somewhere so we can talk?"

She looked up at Esme with fearful eyes, but my wife encouraged her to go, probably guessing, as I was, where Edward planned to take her.

Bella drew in a shaky breath and then nodded. Edward approached her slowly, holding out his hand in an offer of apology. In that moment I couldn't have been prouder of my stubborn, strong willed son.

The two of them walked off at little more than human pace. Esme came to my side and together we watched them walk away.

As soon as she was sure they were out of earshot, Esme collapsed against me and shook with dry sobs.

"Oh, Carlisle, that poor girl!" she cried.

"I know. Edward told me."

I carried Esme inside and was surprised to find Rosalie there, waiting for us. "Do you think I should talk to her about it?" she asked, sounding oddly insecure.

"If she's open to it, I think the two of you can help each other."

She nodded her head and then narrowed her eyes. "Just a fair warning. If anyone messes with her, I will hurt them."

I chuckled and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Of course, Rose. Why don't we all try to take our minds off of it for a while? I don't want Bella to come back to a house of brooding vampires. We need to be ready to distract her from those horrible memories."

Rose agreed, albeit reluctantly and pulled Emmett upstairs with her. I had every intention of taking Esme, who was still sobbing into my chest, upstairs as well, when Tanya blocked our path.

"Yes, Tanya?"

"I don't like this. Tell Edward I went to visit my family in Alaska. If he wants me to come back, he knows where to find me."

"Tanya, don't you think that's a bit selfish of you?"

She merely shook her head, grabbed her suitcases and flew out the door, reminding me of a child throwing a temper tantrum. Rolling my eyes, I carried Esme up the stairs. I had more important things to worry about than Tanya.

When we were finally alone in the privacy of our room, I gently laid her down on our bed and carefully stripped her clothes, after which I stripped down to nothing myself. I picked her up and placed her under the blankets and crawled in after her.

I cradled her to my body, trying to have as much of our skin connected as possible.

This was the best way to show her that no matter what, we always had each other and the intense connection we shared between us. The low buzzing of the electricity that flowed between us whenever we touched was always stronger like this and it always helped her whenever she was feeling particularly down.

This wasn't about sex, it was about comfort.

Edward's pov

Bella's tiny hand trembled in my grip and I worried that I was pushing her too fast. I glanced sideways at her as we walked and carefully let go of her hand. Her eyes flew to mine, wide and fearful as she clutched my hand.

"Don't leave me alone right now," she whispered.

"I won't. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'm not as long as I'm not alone."

I nodded and continued walking. I considered asking her if she wanted to run and she surprised me when she showed me her thoughts of her own accord, showing me that she wanted to run as badly as I did.

"Well, let's go then. Hold onto my hand, okay?"

She gave me a small smile, gripped my hand tighter and took off in a run. It's a good thing I'm the fastest in the family, otherwise I never would have been able to keep up with her. I told her which way to turn and in only a few moments we burst through the trees and into the meadow.

I pulled Bella to a stop to keep her from running right past it.

She jerked in surprise but when her eyes focused on her surroundings her lips curved up into a small smile.

"This is where you were taking me?"

I nodded, watching her carefully for her reaction.

"It's beautiful out here," she whispered.

"It is, but it's also remote and quiet. I go here whenever my gift becomes too much for me to handle."

"I can only imagine."

I released her hand and sank to the ground, watching as she carefully took in everything about the meadow.

"Do you want to talk about what you showed me?" I asked her when five minutes had passed without her saying a word.

Her big black eyes flashed to mine and she grimaced. "Not really. I showed you what happened and I told Esme. I want to forget it, if I'm honest, but I can't."

"I wish I could help you forget, but I think it's better if you deal with it, give yourself a chance to get over it."

She grimaced. "I know, believe me. But it's so hard when you have a crystal clear memory of it."

"You could try to talk to Rose about it."

"Your girlfriend?" she asked, her face guarded.

"No. The tall blonde. She has been through a lot before her change. It might help."

She shrugged. "We'll see. For now I just want to concentrate on other things."

We lapsed into silence for a while and I nearly groaned at the joy of being around someone without hearing their thoughts all the time. Even with Tanya I needed space every now and then, simply because it's hard to know your partner's every thought, especially in bed. But with Bella there was nothing but blessed silence.

"Edward? Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"What do you guys do every day?"

I chuckled for a moment. "We go to school."

"Is that allowed? With the secret that Carlisle wants us to keep?"

"Yes. We just have to make sure we behave in a way that doesn't draw attention."

"Could I go too?"

"Depending on how you do among humans, I'd say you can."

"I've been around humans a lot in Seattle, I never drained one."

"That's a plus. I do think Carlisle will want proof of that."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Carlisle knows a lot, right?"

"Right."

"Do you think he can help my find my dad? All I know is that he's from Washington state, but that's all. I only vaguely remember a man with dark hair and a mustache and dark brown eyes, like mine were."

"Your mother never told you who he was?"

"No."

"Do you know his last name?"

"I don't. I remember when I was younger that we used to get a lot of mail from a C. Swan. My mother always got rid of the letters as soon as she saw them. She was so weird about that it stuck with me. Even through the change.

"Do you know your full name?"

"It's been Isabella Marie Dwyer since I was little. I don't remember what it was before my mother married Phil.."

"That makes it a bit more difficult to figure out who your father is," I mused.

We lapsed into silence. I tried to assess how Bella was feeling. She looked reasonably relaxed, but without my ability to hear what she was thinking I discovered that I wasn't nearly as proficient at interpreting facial expressions and body language as I thought.

I was about to open my mouth to ask her what she was thinking when the wind shifted and I smelled the wolves. I heard Jacob Black giving out commands to the ones that were with him. It looked like they had smelled us before I had detected them.

"Bella, run home as fast as you can," I told her quietly.

"What? Why?"

"There's someone coming and I don't want them to get the wrong idea and try to harm you."

She looked like she was about to argue, but as she drew in a deep breath I could see her scrunch up her nose in distaste at the smell in the air. She gave me a quizzical look, but instead of arguing or asking questions she darted back the way we had come. I watched her retreating form until I couldn't see her any longer.

As I turned around Jacob just walked out of the trees, not even bothering to button his shirt. "Cullen, where is the other vampire?"

"She left, but there is no need for you to go after her. She's like us. She doesn't feed off of humans."

"And when were you going to tell us that you've expanded your little family?" he sneered.

His mind was on Tanya and if having a new girl with us would finally open the path for him to get her in his bed. I bit back a hiss. Tanya and I had been together for over twenty years and even though there was no love between us, we were a team and I was not going to step aside to let some vile dog go after her. I refocused on the conversation and tried desperately to ignore his mental jabs.

"We have just met her today, a short while after the battle. We haven't gotten around to informing the tribe elders. I assure you she is no threat."

"Fine. Tell Carlisle to give an official announcement as soon as possible. If she steps out of line, we won't hesitate in ripping her limb from limb."

"I know, Jacob. I'll inform Carlisle as soon as I return home."

"Good. I'll get back to the reservation then. Seth is about to turn and I've been assigned as his babysitter."

I could tell how annoyed he was with that, but I didn't comment. It was time for me to return to the house so that I could talk to Carlisle about Bella's presence in our home and what it would mean for our stay in Forks.

I made sure that Jacob was well on his way back before I started my run home. As I approached the house Alice gave me a mental warning. Apparently Tanya had left in a tizzy and since I hadn't contacted her yet, she was royally pissed at me.

"What else is new?" I muttered to myself.

As I entered the house I found Alice and Rosalie talking with Bella. They were discussing how Bella had survived in Seattle so long on her own. I was surprised to learn that she had sneaked into the hospital to steal the blood supply that was on it's way to be destroyed because the expiry date had passed. It had never occurred to me that she may have used anything other than blood from a living thing.

"We should take you hunting," Alice said, trying to temper her excitement for Bella's benefit.

"Is that safe? I mean Edward sent me home for a reason, right Edward?" she asked the last part as she looked up at me.

"It's a long story, but you should be safe if you girls stay in the immediate vicinity of the house."

Alice grinned and jumped up, dragging Bella behind her while Rose followed with an exasperated expression.

That pixie is going to drive Bella up the walls. She thought in my direction.

I suppressed a snicker and then darted up the stairs in search of Carlisle. He was just exiting the bedroom her shared with Esme when I got to the end of the hallway.

"The wolves want you to tell them about Bella. I think they might want to discuss the treaty as well," I said as he ushered me into his office.

"I've already decided to request a meeting. I think it's best if we introduce Bella to the tribe so they know who she is and there is no mistaking her as part of the treaty."

"Sounds good to me. How mad is she?"

Carlisle pursed his lips. He tried to control his thoughts, but I heard his annoyance nonetheless. He felt that Tanya was behaving like a petulant child and he thought I should just let her stew until she was ready to come back on her own terms.

"You know I can't do that, dad," I whispered.

"Why not, Edward? You and Tanya aren't mates, you don't love each other. Why should you always cater to her every whim? I think it would be better if the two of you were to stay away from each other for a while."

I shook my head. I couldn't abandon Tanya like that. "Can you please inform the school that I am ill? I'm going up to Alaska tonight."

He obviously didn't agree, but it was my decision to make after all.

A/N: A little sooner than promised. So, did you like the little insight into the other Cullens? Let me know what you're thinking.