A/N: This isn't what was originally planned for Chapter 2, but I figured I might as well cut to the villains for a bit. I'm still looking for good writing songs and a beta, but for now, let's just get to the point.

Brief note: I've been wanting to write a story like this since reading the Adopt-A-Villain Catchphrase forum on nanowrimo, and hence, I will occasionally be dipping into its valuable resources to sprinkle goody quotes into the story.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, but if you didn't know that, I don't know why you're reading fanfiction for her…

Jacob Black was the one who sent the message. Not like it was even his idea, or his responsibility, but he figured that it was his turn to pay up. That's the way their little world worked – a system of debts and promises, trust and suspicion. After making such a colossal screw up last time, it was really all that he could do.

So he recorded what he was supposed to, searched up the information that he was supposed to, and used the voice changer to make it all sound like he was the Loch Ness monster like he was supposed to. Whatever the Loch Ness monster sounded like. He imagined it sounded the same. Very freaky.

"This is a kidnapping." Just in case they didn't get the memo the first time or something. You could never be sure with heroes. Or blondes. Best to make everything abundantly clear.

Sure, even in the dark Jacob noticed the name of the victim. Sure, it caused a lump to roll up and down his throat as he swallowed a little more forcefully than necessary. But it was his turn to pay up, and this was the way it worked.

Now he was sitting with his feet kicked up on the monitor, draped across a chair in the dark. They said that looking at a computer screen in the dark can damage your eyes, but Jacob wasn't particularly worried at the moment. As usual, the air was set to a frigid temperature, particles bouncing away in dismay from his abnormally hot skin. His eyes, black at the iris like that of a cartoon character but serious, focused almost unblinkingly on the image as he waited.

Another man, his opposite in most ways except for the expression in his eyes, was leaning against the wall behind him. He might have been there for a while, or just a few minutes – he often came and went so silently that it caught even Jacob by surprise. His pale skin, unlike Jacob's, however, stood out in the dark, and the reflection against the glass in front of the computer screen gave him away.

Jacob cocked his head slightly to acknowledge the black-clad figure, meeting his brooding eyes.

"So, Edward, it's all done," he informed him.

Edward brought his hand up to bite lightly the knuckles, a gesture which he used for so many situations that it had stopped giving insight into his mood. The side of his mouth twisted up in thought.

"You sent messages to both the doctor and Chief Swan? And you're sure they're untraceable?"

"Very," Jacob chuckled, remembering the painstaking measures he had taken to ensure that much.

"That's a relief, then."

Edward had to spoil the mood by turning on the lights, but Jacob made no comment, instead allowing himself to sink further down into his chair. His eyes had flickered back to the monitor. Many times they had used this monitor to view confidential information from hidden cameras, but at the moment it was only hooked up so that they could watch their captive, who was still out cold.

Jacob had to wonder if she just didn't do well with drugs, or if Edward had somehow made a mistake and used too much chloroform. It wouldn't have been the first time that he got a little overzealous in the execution of his plans.

Edward, however, answered Jacob's thought with the semi-annoyed expression on his face as he watched the sleeping woman as well.

"What exactly is so great about this woman, I wonder? The police seem to think she's something special, obviously, which is why she's of use to us… but what good could she do?"

Edward had a tendency to murmur to himself. He was a quiet person in general – extremely intelligent, mind you, but a man of few words. The brooding air he carried about him and the bitterness in his eyes would often hoodwink people so that he could unexpectedly impale them on his sarcastic wit. People just didn't expect him to have a sense of humor, was the problem. Jacob was a bold, large, boisterous type of person, but Edward was the type of criminal who just seemed a lot more… serious.

In any case, it was only with people who spent a lot of time with him that he started voicing some of his thoughts aloud, and at that point one would come to realize that he wonders a lot about what's going on. He bloody hates taking things at face value, and when he has to, it feels like something's wrong to him.

Jacob shifted.

"Well, I imagine that she's pretty weak, yes," he agreed. "But Bella is actually pretty smart, and gutsy… she has, you know, that 'hidden strength' type thing that the general population seems to gobble up. At least, that's what I remember, anyway."

He was talking casually, but Edward glanced sharply at him.

"…so you know this girl?"

Jacob snorted, closing his eyes.

"Edward, you do remember that my father's friends with the chief of police, right?"

Edward was silent for a moment, his eyes flickering from the screen to Jacob's face. An eyebrow raised, then backpedaled.

His lips quirked upward thoughtfully at one corner, and genuine curiosity crept up into his expression. "So do you have a problem with us doing this, then?"

"No, I mean, it's fine," Jacob said, fingering the gun at his side, a gesture of his similar in use to that of Edward biting his knuckles. He watched as Bella took a particularly deep breath, guessing that she was finally awake, although with the blindfold covering her eyes it was hard to tell. "Whatever gets the job done, as long as you don't plan on lowering her slowly into a pit of boiling lava or something."

"Because we have so many of those around here."

Jacob shrugged, maintaining the same perfect deadpan expression that Edward had. "Hey, you said we were ready for upgrades."
They both grinned a little at that, the smile on Edward's face rare but natural. They remained in companionable silence for a long moment, contentedly watching their victim apparently come to a realization that she was tied up as she moved her arms against the bonds around her.

"What exactly are you planning on doing with her, by the way?"

Edward's eyes lost their hint of amusement, changing back to that their normal tone of serious, on-focus glint. "What do you expect? I'm going to use her to take down the heroes by holding her as a hostage, and if she doesn't do what we want her to, I'm going to kill her."

Jacob nodded absently. "That works, I guess.

"And hey, malevolence, murder and mayhem… the only way to start the day, right?"

Edward didn't bother answering, instead seeming to grow a little bored with the conversation and the watching. After a quiet moment, he left the room, turning the lights off. He knew that Jacob preferred it at that way.

Then again, it might not have anything to do with boredom that he decided to walk out. As Jacob focused on the screen again, he realized that Bella was starting to undo the ropes holding her semi-motionless on the floor.

"Huh. That's a new trick." He grinned again as he settled in to watch her little Houdini act. There was still an unvoiced hint of unease in his stomach, but he wasn't going to make another mistake this time and act on it.

A/N: What?! No romance yet?! What a horrible author I am DX

Typos, problems, annoyance at my style? Hit the green button, please! :) (well I mean it's not technically green but you get my point)