I like that so many of you love Sue being the chief. ;)


Emmett had to wake Edward up when they reached their parents' house. Though he debated carrying him straight to bed, he wanted to make sure he ate first. Their father stayed behind to continue the search with Ben and the officials, though he promised not to be too much longer. Emmett called Rose before they left the reservation to make sure she would be okay without him for a few more hours, and she assured him that Esme was staying with her.

Though Edward walked like a drunkard toward the house, he made it inside on his own accord and sat in a kitchen chair much like the day before. Emmett dug through the fridge until he had the makings for sandwiches and then stood at the island counter and watched his brother.

"You gonna make it?"

Edward nodded, scrubbing his face roughly before getting up and grabbing two beers. Emmett's eyebrows went up into his hairline as Edward sat with both of them.

"And here I thought one of those was for me." Emmett slapped a piece of cheese onto the bread in front of him and closed the sandwich he'd made for Edward. He wasn't normally one to judge, especially not when it came to his older brother that he typically thought walked on water. Once upon a time, Edward had everything Emmett wanted: a devoted wife, a baby, a house, and a business of his own. He'd helped Emmett get a carpentry apprenticeship so he would know the ins and outs before they opened Cullen Brothers Carpentry. Emmett had never been made to feel like he was trailing along after Edward, even when that was exactly what he was doing. He would go to any limits for Edward, including mopping him up off the floor after he got piss-drunk.

"I heard the chief say they were going to set up a press conference tomorrow. You know, for national attention."

"So they can play off of my grief for the greedy press? The way Beth's parents suddenly wanted to become advocates after her death, only to throw money at one organization and then forget about it?"

Emmett shrugged, not looking to open a new can of worms. He made a second sandwich and got himself a beer before setting the food on the table and joining his brother. They ate in silence, both staring out the bay window into the backyard. The sun was on its way down, painting the grass in the last golden rays of the day.

"It's night again," Edward commented right before swallowing the last of the first beer.

"It's only been a little more than forty-eight hours."

"Forty-nine hours, thirty"—he glanced at his watch—"five minutes, and a handful of seconds." He bit down on the sandwich without actually tasting it.

"I know, Edward. I do. It doesn't matter if it's been thirty minutes or thirty days. It's too long."

There was silence between the brothers for a long time.

"I'm going to kill them."

Emmett froze with the beer bottle halfway to his mouth. He turned his head slowly to look at Edward, who was still staring blindly out the window. A dozen thoughts flung themselves through Emmett's head. Would he stop him? Could he blame him?

Would he help him?

He chose not to say anything as Edward twisted the cap off the second bottle of beer. They continued to eat in silence, a silence that slowly engulfed Edward like an evil entity. It crept, leisurely but steadily, from the edge of the white linoleum, toward the table and chairs, toward the pair of men that were trying to put one foot in front of the other under the enormous strain of what happened.

"I can't keep doing this. This isn't living," Edward suddenly said. "You babysitting me because I can't keep my shit together, abandoning your pregnant wife for your pathetic excuse of a brother."

"Hey, I want to be here," Emmett tried to interject.

But Edward was engulfed in the tidal wave of hate and revenge and loneliness until it burned in his heart. "It's bullshit, Em!" He stood, knocking the chair into the wall and towering over his seated brother. "You need to go back to work tomorrow. Or, fuck, spend a whole day with Rose. Something other than wasting what you have on me."

"I don't consider it wasted!" Emmett stood as well, his voice matching the volume of Edward's. "I know it sucks. It's the worst thing that could have happened, and it shouldn't have happened to you. I wish I could take some of the burden off your shoulders. Don't you see?" He put his hand on Edward's shoulder, watched as tears brimmed over the eyes that matched their mother's. "That's why I'm here. I want to ease your suffering in any way I can. I'm sorry it isn't the same as having Maggie back."

"I know you're trying." All his strength vanished as he collapsed back on his seat. "I'm not blaming you. I'm not trying to make it sound like you're not doing enough. You being here, Dad being with me, it's the only thing keeping me sane."

"Dude, you're not sane anymore." It was said in a light-hearted manner, but neither of them laughed.

Emmett went back to the fridge and pulled out the last of the beer. "Dad's going to be mad we drank all of these."

Edward tried to smile. "He only lets himself have one a day. I think he'll manage without." He accepted the bottle and then just stared at it. "I want it to help, but it doesn't."

Emmett sighed. "Then save that one for Dad and go lay down on the couch."

Edward took his brother's advice. He stared at the television as the people on-screen recapped a football game. He wanted to fall into oblivion. He knew that if she wasn't found, he wanted that oblivion to be permanent.

He saw her face in his head. His Maggie. The one person who managed to convince him that loving someone else more than yourself was rewarding. He had a doting family, but it was Maggie that saved him after Beth's death. So who would save him now?

As he drifted off, he saw her in a meadow. It was spring or summer, he couldn't tell which. The grass was to her knees, purple and white flowers swayed in a light breeze, and she wore a white dress. She laughed, and he grinned to see her so happy. She'd always been a happy girl, someone that brightened people's day. She talked all the time, she had compassion for others, and she was so sweet. On her bedside table, he kept a photo album full of pictures of him and Beth. Any snapshots his parents had of them, any candid photos he'd taken on his phone, and the professional photos from their wedding. They were all there so that Maggie would know she came from love.

Edward met Beth the year they graduated from high school. Her family had moved into town because Esme hired Beth's mother for her practice. Beth felt awkward being in a new school so close to the end of the year. She was upset that she wouldn't graduate with her friends back in her hometown. It was easy to befriend Beth; Maggie was much like her mother in that respect. Emmett, Rose, Ben, Angela, Beth, and Edward were as close as six people could be by the time that summer started. Beth decided to stay in Forks and go to community college to be near her new friends, a decision her parents didn't support. They wanted to send her to college in another state, but she refused. Edward went to trade school and worked for a local lumber company until he could save enough to rent a house. He wanted to propose to Beth, but he held off until he felt like he could prove himself to her parents. He worked hard, helped Emmett study for his last year of school, and spent money getting Emmett trained instead of putting it toward the house he had his eye on. Neither of them wanted to rely on their parents' generosity if they could help it.

Edward celebrated Emmett getting an internship when he graduated. He worked harder to save more money so they could open their own business. The house was pushed off for another year, and his parents promised he could stay with them as long as he needed. He had a plan. Work full-time at the lumber company, fit in any orders from his business at night, and save whatever he could. He wanted to give Beth the world, but she told him she would settle for a quiet life in the Olympic Peninsula. It took blood, sweat, and Beth working full time as the receptionist for Dr. Esme Cullen, OB/GYN before they were able to rent a house. It was a compact one-bedroom, but they were happy. They got engaged without a ring, though Esme and Carlisle offered one from the family or to help with the cost of a new one. Beth wasn't materialistic, but her mother was. Gloria Stevenson wanted Beth to go to college in the east and meet a wealthy man. She approved of the Cullens in general, but not in the way their oldest son acted as though he came from a low-class family. Gloria thought if she and her husband moved again, Beth would be forced to go with them. She didn't think for one second that her daughter could make it with Edward. She was wrong on both counts.

Edward and Beth worked for what they wanted. They saved until they could buy a house, they had a small wedding at the Cullen's home, and they didn't splurge on anything. They found the building they used for their carpentry business because it was dilapidated and Emmett and Edward had to fix it up to use it. Rose was brilliant with building them a website to draw in customers. The four of them bargained and bartered to get ad space, trucks big enough to haul finished furniture, and help to refurbish the office. Ben was hired on when they got too busy to do everything alone. Angela was still in school at that point, but Ben had worked for the same lumber company as Edward until they had enough earnings to pay employees. By then, Angela made more money than Ben, but he enjoyed being part of it all.

Edward saw the years go by as though they were right in front of him. He felt that if he tried hard enough, he could reach out and touch Beth's face. It would feel like the thrill of everything being new, the passion of first love, and the potential of their future. Beth was in a meadow, and she was laughing as the sun streamed down on her. With an odd sort of precognition, Edward realized that it was the meadow where he'd seen Maggie earlier in his dream. As Beth danced in the tall grass, she beckoned. At first, Edward thought it was directed at him, but he saw Maggie running toward her mother from the treeline. When they met in the middle, Beth scooped Maggie into her arms, and Edward cried for a scene that would never happen in real life. It was a sad, beautiful sight to him. It had the ability to heal his heart and rip it to pieces in the same instant. Maggie and Beth, together.

"Don't worry, babe. I've got her."

As Beth spoke to him, he woke with a scream ripping its way up his throat.

He sat up, disoriented and sweating. The house was dark except for a faint light shining down the hall. With his heart beating right up in his throat, Edward bent over and screamed again.

Emmett ran into the room, kneeling in front of the couch and grabbing Edward by the shoulders. "What? What?"

"She's dead. She's dead."

He repeated it continuously in a monotone as Emmett tried to soothe him. "You can't know that."

"She's dead."

"God damn it, Edward, she isn't!"

Edward's head snapped up. He beat his fist against his chest as Emmett looked on helplessly. "It's right here. She was with Beth in my dream. As she is now, at five years old, she was with Beth."

His voice strangled on the last few words and he dropped his head again. Emmett was sitting next to him and doing his best to hold the last pieces of his brother together as they heard a phone ring from somewhere in the house.

"Let me get that," Emmett muttered, reluctant to leave Edward at that moment. Since he received no response, he stood and followed the sound back to the kitchen. Edward's phone was lit up and ringing shrilly from the table.

"Hello." He headed to the living room as he answered. "No, let me get him."

He found him in the same spot on the couch, his head in his hands, sobs forcing their way out from somewhere deep in his soul.

Emmett swallowed. "It's Sergeant Whitlock."

He sat down once more, terrified of what the news would be. Edward put his hand out and accepted the phone without even looking up.

"Yeah."

"Mr. Cullen? We found her."