Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
A/N: Hmm...I think this was the easiest chapter to write so far. I hope you like it!!! Thank you to everyone that reviewed/ added this story to their alerts or favorites, it really makes my day. So...if you get a chance....please review!
"If you can't get someone off your mind, they're probably supposed to be there."
-Unknown
Rosalie slipped silently through the trees.
Her blonde hair was tied up into a carefully constructed ponytail, and her jeans and t-shirt were dirty and torn.
Her carefully tuned ears zoomed in on the sound of Emmett's breathing close by. She molded her body against the back of the tree, refusing to have him jump out and surprise her. In a flash she was climbing the mossy tree, expertly placing her manicured fingers on the right branches, silent as a fox. From her perch she spotted Emmett sneaking around below.
She flung herself from the tree, landing lightly at his side. His fighting instincts kicked in and he swung a blind punch, Rosalie ducked it effortlessly, laughing quietly.
"You big moron" she whispered affectionately, her voice seductive.
He grinned his adorable grin. The one that entirely contradicted his size. With a straight face he could send people running for their lives, but if they saw him smile, they would never believe his tough-guy charade for a moment.
But Rosalie never had.
She softly caressed his face, feeling the short stubble on his chin from the days of not shaving. She wound her arms around his neck, placing a soft kiss to his exposed skin. She lightly bit down, teasing him.
But, instead of moving to his mouth like she normally would, she turned and fled.
"I'll see you later, baby." she called carelessly over her shoulder.
Because she was frustrated.
Frustrated at the filthy forest that they had been spending way too much time in, frustrated at Edward, frustrated at Jasper, pretty much frustrated at everything.
But most of all, she was frustrated at Emmett.
He had promised her that this would be a temporary situation. That they just needed to save up some money, then they could move into a quiet neighborhood, get married, and start a family. That's all Rosalie ever wanted. To live a normal life with Emmett.
But instead she was yanked into this nightmare.
At first it wasn't so bad, being Edward's henchmen. Edward and his wife were small time crooks, they'd somehow got caught in some kind of deal with a shady organization.
The Volturi.
Money was exchanged, promises broken, and Edward and his wife found themselves in debt to them. They had recruited Emmett and Rosalie for help with the not-so-legal dealings the Volturi had them responsible for. Emmett was desperate for cash, so he agreed he'd help for a few months.
Then they found Jasper. Things got more complicated. He had some kind of power, and Edward was fascinated by it. He'd thought his wife was the only one with a power. He swindled Jasper into helping him also.
So then there was five.
Jasper was always moody, it took tons of convincing to get him to help with the dealings. But, Edward found his talent useful for swaying people's decisions. So Jasper stayed. Things went even farther downhill.
Edward made a bad decision concerning a smaller organization. Made them lose heaps of money.
Then his wife disappeared. He put two and two together.
Rosalie was snapped out of her thoughts as the bushes rustled, revealing Jasper and that physic. Rosalie caught a glimpse of some foreign emotion in Jasper's eyes, but he quickly covered it up. She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Edward wants everyone there for the next step." Jasper informed her sharply. Rosalie nodded stiffly, turning away and sprinting through the shadowy forest like a bullet.
Alice turned to look at Jasper.
"You two don't get along." Alice stated flatly. Jasper shook his head.
"No we don't." he agreed.
Alice's eyes became probing. Jasper felt entirely exposed as her eyes slid over his face, soaking in every thought and feeling. It would have been terrifying, had it not been Alice doing it. He'd never met anyone that understood him in the least.
Emotions were his forte, and he'd assumed that the price for that was having no one understand his.
But Alice did.
He could feel it, deep in his bones, in his most primal senses.
He could feel it.
Then, as swiftly as it began, it ended.
Alice's all knowing eyes dropped, inspecting a bug crawling nonchalantly across the vibrant leaves. She tilted her head to the side.
"That is one weirdly colored beetle." she commented lightly, like nothing happened. Jasper grinned, nodding in agreement.
Then Jasper felt Alice's swift change in emotion. Or rather, lack of emotion. Her eyes went blank and her feelings went numb.
"Let's get going." she said, her voice a blank monotone.
Jasper didn't like seeing Alice like that, blocking her feelings. He wanted her to be her bubbly, energetic self that he had only caught a glimpse of.
He wanted her to be Alice.
His emotions flattened out parallel with hers. Almost like they were bound together.
They began a lifeless walk back to the clearing. As they entered it, they saw everyone gathered around the edges. Edward motioned Alice forward.
"Alice, see if you can narrow down where your vision takes place to a smaller area." Edward commanded.
She nodded, her face still emotionless.
Standing alone, in the middle of the field, she closed her deep blue eyes.
Jasper watched in fear as he witnessed Alice's eyes fly open, all signs of life gone. Her tiny body was rigid, her petite fists clamped together at her sides. He fought off impulses to run to her, biting down on his lip and clasping his hands together so tightly he was losing feeling in them.
Inside Alice's mind, she was once again falling. This time she tried to focus on one of the captors of Isabella Swan, sensing that being brought back to that dark room would do her no good.
She was dropped onto an old dirt road. It was in the middle of nowhere, and as far as Alice looked both ways, she could see no signs of life. Then she heard the roar of an engine. Only it was more like a purr. A sleek black car sped past her, the gleam of the sun reflecting off the shiny paint job. A stream of deep red hair blew out the window, flying in the wind. Alice recognized that hair from the last vision. In a split second the car was gone, leaving a cloud of dust.
But she didn't need the car to find out anything.
Because directly across from her, was sign.
Alice gasped softy when she read it.
Biloxi, Mississippi.
Her home town.
The dials turned and the sound faded from her pounding eardrums, the image blurring into incomprehensible shapes.
Alice began to fall.
Jasper's ears perked up as he heard Alice's sharp intake of breath. All at once he hurtled all of the calm, peaceful emotions he could muster up at his Alice. It didn't even make a dent. Jasper's ears felt as though they were bleeding as Alice's piercing scream sliced the open air. He put everything he had into his gift, launching buckets of tranquil feelings at her, and he felt his energy draining.
Soon, he felt his face against the rough patch of dirt where the truck's tires had left their marks. He fought to stay awake, knowing that if he fell asleep, things could get much worse for his Alice.
He had his duty.
The one he'd had even before he'd met Alice. If he couldn't keep Alice protected from her own mind, he would keep her protected from Edward's.