A/n: Hello all! I trust that everyone had a good holiday.
Twilight and all related material belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
Beta'd be the fabulous eghb. She rocks!
Music: KT Tunstall, "Other Side of the World"
"She's on all seven flights," Edward growled when he opened the door. "Alice, tell me that you found something more promising that Carlisle and Rosalie did."
She wants us to follow. I tried not to think of the smell in the office and focused on the note instead. Take the flights.
"Edward, she's going to come back," Jasper asserted and grabbed Edward by the shoulder. "Wherever she is, whatever's happened, she'll find her way back to you."
Jasper's eyes were practically burning. He moved Edward as I slipped past and planted his hands on my brother's shoulders. The two were about to have a serious discussion where Jasper would attempt to straighten Edward out. I nodded at my husband and silently wished him luck. Edward made a slightly aggressive sound and Jasper tightened his grip.
I found Carlisle at the table with Esme and Rosalie. They were huddled around Rose's laptop on the opposite side of the table. Esme ran her fingers gently across Carlisle's back in a soothing motion. He was stressed. I knew that he was worried about what would happen if we actually lost Bella for some reason. We would be back to suicide watches and forcing Edward to hunt, not to mention dealing with our own grief. Carlisle sighed and leaned a fraction of an inch closer to her. In grief, vampires became inseparable from their mates. Esme was the only calm from the storm that was wreaking havoc with our patriarch. Carlisle was hoping for the best but planning for the worst.
Rose leaned down and grabbed huge hunks of her hair in her fists. Her frustration was palpable. Where was Emmett when he could actually be making himself useful?
"Is she really on all seven flights?" I whispered.
"It would seem so …" Carlisle looked up.
"Edward didn't take it well," Esme murmured. "He was hoping for the easy answer."
"I can't blame him for that. I kind of hoped for the easy answer as well," I admitted and walked around the table to look at the screen. I could only imagine Edward's reaction. Every time he lost Bella his emotions seemed to magnify. With James he had been focused on getting her back to the point of becoming a lethal predator. When he left her and then when we thought she was dead he allowed himself to wallow in self-pity and ate himself alive from the inside. Then, when she was kidnapped a few months ago he paced like a caged animal. Now, he was a caged lion growling at the bars and barring his teeth at everyone.
"So, where did our darling Bella go?" I turned my attention to the screen. Carlisle switched the tab on the browser and pulled up an e-mail from his contact at the FAA.
Bella Cullen is listed as a passenger on all seven of the following flights:
Continental 1037 to Lima, Peru
American Airlines 6091 to Hong Kong, China
Air India 144 to Frankfurt, Germany
American Airlines 100 to London, England
Korean Air 8084 Seoul, Korea
United Airlines 3615 to Seattle, Washington
Continental 2071 to Jacksonville, Florida
Carlisle, the ID on all of these passengers matches was verified. I am concerned about this matter and the potential safety risks that it posses. Please let me know how to proceed.
"I'm still trying to figure out how she's on all seven of them," Emmett spoke from the doorway. He smiled wryly but I was the only one who caught it.
"Well, of course it's not her on all of them!" Rosalie spat.
"She has to have given fake ID's to six people and sent them on the other flights," Carlisle patiently explained. I smiled back at Emmett who continued to wear a slight smirk over our private joke.
"I understand," Emmett spoke up. "I'm just being self deprecating to lighten the mood." He rolled his eyes and slid into the chair next to Rosalie. "Where's Edward, Lord of the Angst?"
"Give him a break numbskull." I cracked him on the back of the head. "He's having a talk with Jazz."
"Good, maybe he can knock some sense into him." Emmett scratched his head and then leaned his elbows onto the table. Esme glanced over at his arms and he straightened immediately.
We heard a sob break from the living room and Esme winced. Edward had made it past anger to the actual hurt he felt from Bella's disappearance. Jasper had likely pushed him just hard enough to crack his exterior.
"We have to find her," Esme whispered.
"Did she leave another message?" Carlisle caught my eyes with his. I could see the agony he experienced, it was the same for all of us.
"'Take the flights,'" I quoted. I took a deep breath before divulging the next piece of information. "Andrew has been injured."
Emmett let out a low oath and Esme gasped. Carlisle stood and I held up my hand to stop him.
"He's going to be okay. I think that a vampire injured him to get Bella to comply," I explained.
"Why?" Rosalie scrunched her eyebrows together and took her first glance away from the computer screen since I entered the kitchen.
"Because Bella is selfless and he would be easier to kidnap than one of us." Jasper appeared at my side as he spoke. "Mark can sense weaknesses. He must have caught a glimpse of her with her shield down."
"Provided that this is Mark," Emmett interjected.
"Who else could it be?" Esme hummed.
"It has to be Mark," I agreed with Jasper.
"Does it matter?" Rosalie clicked her tongue and directed her attention to the computer where she pulled up the exact flight information that Bella left behind. "She wants us to 'take the flights,' so let's do it. We need to divide them up."
Divide them up. That involved splitting up. It was the absolute last thing that I wanted to do. Jasper was my anchor. He was, quite literally, my life. Nothing from before mattered. We had never been separated for more than a few hours since we found each other. The destinations were all thousands of miles apart. I didn't relish the thought. The closest two destinations were Jacksonville and Seattle and they were across the country from each other.
"I'm taking Jacksonville," Edward announced from the living room. I eased my way around the corner to look at him. Edward huddled on the white couch. His dark clothing and demeanor were a stark contrast to the rest of the room. He ran his large hands over his face and looked over his shoulder at me.
"It's the first place she'd go if he had the choice," he explained while looking at me with eyes that brimmed with venom. "She would protect Renee."
"Why wouldn't she go to Forks and protect Charlie?"
"Because Charlie has the pack to watch over him. Renee and Phil are alone in Jacksonville." He sounded like something old and decayed, like death. He was brittle, fragile, and close to falling completely to pieces. I couldn't selfishly insist on taking Jacksonville solely because it was closest to Jasper.
I could take London and Jasper could take Moscow, or we could go to Hong Kong and Seoul. Truthfully, I wouldn't be much of an advantage in anyplace outside of the United States other than Moscow.
"Jasper or Carlisle should go to Seattle," Edward murmured and tried to hide his grimace.
"Why?"
"Because of the pack. Carlisle and Jasper are the best combination of patience and strength that we have," he sighed. "If whoever takes Seattle runs into the pack both may be necessary, given our current situation."
"Jasper should take Seattle," Carlisle suggested. Edward and I made our way back to the kitchen.
"I didn't broker the truce with the pack, I wasn't even there when you made the deal for Bella. Sending me doesn't make sense, Carlisle. It needs to be you," Jasper argued.
"No, I need to take London," Carlisle never raised his voice but he meant business. He caught the look on my face and explained, "None of you know London or the vampires there nearly as well as I do. There are a million places that any of you could miss if she's actually hiding there with Mark."
"So, Edward takes Jacksonville, Carlisle goes to London, and Jasper gets Seattle." Rosalie said as she clicked her fingers rapidly over the keyboard and made the reservations. Jasper looked up at me with sad eyes. The future cleared and I knew that Jasper and I were about to have one of the biggest arguments we'd ever had because I was going to go to Germany and possibly on to Russia.
Edward released a long slow breath and gave me a hard look. Jasper looked between the two of us and his right eyebrow lifted infinitesimally. It was going to be very bad.
"Emmett should go to Russia via Germany," Edward intentionally tried to change the course of the conversation. I shook my head. It wasn't going to work.
"That makes no sense," I argued. It dawned on me that perhaps this should be a private conversation among the parties directly involved, I switched to speaking Russian before questioning his judgment. "Vui znayete shto tolko mui s'Carlisle, e Dzhasper govorim pa Russiky. Emmett ne govorite pa Russiki e ne pa Germanii. Pochemy ti skazal Emmett nado exhat v Germanie?" Jasper's going to be mad either way Edward. I'm the only one left who speaks Russian. Man up and admit it. He winced and from Jasper's expression I knew that he was reading my husband's thoughts. I also knew from decades of being married to Jasper that he had already assessed that the difference in Bella's flight information to Russia - the fact that it was a connecting flight when a direct one was available could mean that this was the correct flight and thus, the most dangerous. Jasper didn't like the idea of me walking head first into danger. However, there were only four of us aside from Bella who spoke Russian: Carlisle, Edward, Jasper and me. You picked Jacksonville. Edward shot me a warning glance because he could see what I did: the explosion coming from Jasper. He shifted his eyes left then right in a plea for me to stop.
"Durak," I called Edward a fool and shook my head.
"Alice-" Jasper warned.
"Nyet!" I raised a hand to silence him. "Pochemy Emmett?" Why Emmet, Edward? Say it.
"Because it's the only non-direct flight that she took and according to Jasper's mind it's the most likely to have an ambush waiting on the other end," Edward fumed. "I'm not risking my sister, my brother's wife, when I've just lost mine. I can't watch and hear Jasper feel the same things that I am."
Jasper opened his mouth to agree and I raised my hand to stop him again. He growled at me but couldn't get a word in.
"I'm the only one left who speaks Russian!" I got in Edward's face. "Do you seriously expect me to let him deal with our Russian mafia contacts? Emmett's not exactly one to handle a delicate situation."
"Hey-" Emmett protested.
"Shut it!" I snapped back This is why I wanted to have this argument in Russian, Edward.
"It's too dangerous!" Edward shouted back.
"Do you really think that sending Emmett into one, possibly two countries, where he doesn''t speak the language, and letting him try to navigate the intricacies of the Russian mob, is going to be effective?" I pointed a finger at Emmett and on cue Emmett reacted.
"What!?" Emmett baulked. "Are you saying that I can't handle myself?"
"Be realistic Emmett!" I took a second away from my argument before focusing back to the problem at hand. "We'll need their help to find her if she's there. Russia is huge. I'm the logical choice!"
"No, you're not!" Edward ripped at his hair and screamed back at me.
"Bella's not gone! She's coming back!" I shouted and felt the future shift around Carlisle. I knew what I had to say to get him on my side. "Edward, those are the only two countries where I can give us any sort of advantage! Emmett speaks Korean – he should go to Seoul! He's also more likely to expose us in a tense situation. Emmett is safer in Korea." I glanced at Edward, then Jasper. "Do you honestly think that someone is going to get the drop on me? It's not like there are American werewolves just hanging out in Europe waiting to blind me. Even if there were, it's not like I can't take care of myself. Besides, on the off chance that Bella is along willingly she's more likely to let me talk to her!"
"Carlisle, think about this." Edward turned his head to our patriarch who had obviously been hashing the situation out in his own mind. Then, I caught it. It was infinitesimal, a slight break in his demeanor. Edward was changing the future and my argument with Jasper by forcing Carlisle to take sides.
Leave it to you to try to fool the empath.
"You know that I have, Edward," Carlisle reasoned.
"No!" Jasper growled and turned his chair over when he flew to his feet. He'd reached his limit. He was willing to allow me to hash things out with Edward but when Carlisle took my side it was a different story. "Alice! No! You can't do that!" I was in Jaspers arms and in the hallway, away from everyone else, in a flash.
"It's the tactically responsible decision," I reminded him.
"No."
"Yes." I raised an eyebrow.
"I won't let you." Jasper pushed me into the wall with the palm of his hand on my chest. I noticed that it rose and fell rapidly before I realized that I was breathing heavily.
"This won't be like the last fight," I crooned softly, trying to bring him back to me from the dark corner of his mind where he saw this trip as a risk. "If there's any danger Bella will be there. Do you think for a moment that she'd allow someone to harm me?" It was a lie. The possibility that an ambush without Bella's presence was equally likely, but I was confident that nothing would happen.
Jasper looked away from me. I reached up and flattened my palm against his cheek. I pushed his face so that his eyes were once again focused on mine.
"Jasper Whitlock, I love you, and nothing is going to keep me away from you." I smoothed his hair back from his face and focused on him. "Besides, you're completely overreacting. I don't see anything coming at me. I'm safe. No one is going to hurt me."
"Alice-"
"No, Jasper, it's the right thing to do. There's nothing for you to worry about. Any or all of these seven locations could result in an ambush. There's no reason for me not to take Russia," I quietly spoke to him and stroked his face with my other hand.
"It's a risk," he insisted.
"Everything is a risk," I whispered. "Carlisle agrees with me and I'm going."
"You're not-"
"Don't argue with the psychic, darling. Picking a losing battle doesn't become you."
"Do I lose?" He sighed.
"I'm still going." I nodded.
Jasper crumbled and leaned his forehead down to mine. He pulled in a deep breath and shook slightly.
"I'm not Bella," I told him."Remember, you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."
"This time, Bella could too." He didn't move. "She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself."
"I'm not that selfless." I smiled. "I'm not going to give anyone a chance to keep me from you. There is nothing more important in the world than that."
"Don't lie to the empath, it doesn't become you," he laughed darkly. "You are that selfless. Promise me and don't lie."
"I can't promise," I shook my head. "But I'll do everything I can."
He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss.
"We have to go," I hummed against his lips.
"We have a few minutes." He ran a hand up my side and I sighed heavily.
"There's no time for that!" Edward shouted.
Jasper growled in frustration.
"He's right," I breathed.
"I know." Jasper buried his head into my shoulder.
"Jasper, we need you to call for documents," Esme pleaded.
Jasper gave me an accusatory look.
"Don't look at me like that. You're the one who decided to take over dealing with Jenks and his associates," I responded.
He gave up and walked back to the kitchen. I gave his rear a little swat on the way and he jumped.
"Do we have enough time to get this done?" Carlisle asked.
"No problem, Jenks' New York associate is fast, efficient, and moves us to the front of the line," Jasper explained. He cracked a smile and pulled out his phone.
"We're set, let's get this show on the road," Emmett boomed.
I gave Jasper a smile and stepped out of the room to make what little preparation we needed to in order to fly out. Edward's shoulders slumped as he walked out of the kitchen next to me. I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a half-hug. I could feel the tension is his shoulders ease slightly.
"She's fine. You saw her as well as I did," I reminded him.
"Alice, she may have said that she wasn't hurt but she's not fine, not even by her broad definition of the term," he huffed and slipped away from me up to his room. I followed him up but stopped at my own door rather than continuing on to his. I spared his door one glance as it nearly slammed off the hinges and entered my room.
I knew that he was right. There was nothing about this situation that was fine. Bella was coerced and hurting and there had to be a reason why. Why would Bella allow herself to be kidnapped? Why would she cooperate with all of this cloak and dagger nonsense, and why hadn't she told someone what was happening?
I opened up the closed and shoved a few things into my bag before starting one for Jasper. I looked forward and could see that timing would be tight for me to make my flight. Rosalie had managed to get me on one that barely allowed me to make the same connection to Russia that Bella booked. If she was there, then we'd be on the same flight to Moscow.
I scanned forward from there so that I could reassure Edward and Jazz before we left. There would be no violence within the next twenty-four hours. I still couldn't see Bella. I changed my shoes and clothes, opting for something that a human would consider comfortable to wear while traveling. When I finished, Jasper met me at the bottom of the stairs.
"No long faces," I reminded him and smiled. "We're all going to be safe for at least the next twenty to twenty-four hours. I can't see her but I can see all of us. There's not an ambush waiting for anyone."
He leaned his head down to mine again and we unconsciously nuzzled each other. The separation wouldn't be for long and it wouldn't be so bad. As soon as one of us picked up her scent we would all be back together, twenty hours at the most. It was doable.
"You're very determined," he hummed.
"You should be too," I jokingly reprimanded him and tugged slightly on the collar of his jacket. I heard Edward on the stairs behind me and backed away from Jasper to save some awkwardness. Seeing us together like that would put that defeated look on his face. Jasper nodded, he had heard Edward as well.
"How is he?" I whispered.
"Better, less macabre; he's ready to start looking."
Jasper took my hand in his and led me to the jeep. We slid in behind Rosalie and Emmett leaving the Mercedes for Carlisle, Esme, and Edward. Rosalie drove us into New York. We slipped by Alexander Duncan's office on the way. He was Jenks' associate in New York. I'd met him once before and had been unimpressed. Jasper insisted that the documents were top notch and that Duncan was sufficiently intimidated by him, ensuring that our orders would always be ready within a few hours as opposed to Jenks' turnaround time which could be weeks. Duncan employed more practiced hands and owned better equipment.
Jasper was the only one who left either vehicle. I drummed my nails on the door and Emmett fidgeted with the radio. Rose fluffed her hair before tying it back. I really wanted long hair. Rose hardly ever let me play with hers and Bella was Bella.
"I think that we should check the gates for each of those flights before we go," Emmett interrupted my pointless musing. "Maybe all of her tracks aren't covered and we can narrow it down to just one location."
"It can't hurt." I shrugged and check the future. "That decision doesn't change anything but it's worth a shot." I gave a weak smile and directed my attention out the window at Jasper's form exiting the building. He passed three folders into the passenger window on the Mercedes before heading to our car. The rest of the drive was silent.
End note:
Reviews = love
I've been asked if I'm going to switch to Bella's POV and the answer is, "no." Not until the story has run its course. Her POV would just reveal too much and kill the whole mystery aspect. I do have it mapped out.
Some of the gals over on Ravelry are hosting a little contest called "With a Burning Heart." It's anonymous judging and voting and revolves around the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games. I'm planning on entering. The deadline is my birthday, February 7th. I'll have more info later.