A/N: Writing this particular chapter was a lot of fun! I hope reading will be too! Thanks to all who reviewed or alerted to me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing.

Seventh Chapter…

…where Edward loses his head

Edward was slowly going insane.

They'd had to relocate when the sun came up because they'd have been plainly visible for the helicopter still circling over the bank and the shabby hotel they'd found was too far away to follow the situation from inside Alice's mind. Edward didn't know what was happening and that they weren't getting anywhere with their planning wasn't helping either.

Jasper had been staring for the blueprints of the bank, the surrounding buildings, the subway and sewer system for the better part of an hour and while his mind was going over possibilities with something close to the speed of light, he hadn't come up with something viable yet. Getting the blueprints hadn't been particularly difficult—there were very few databases, no matter how secure, that Edward couldn't hack into. No, scratch that. There was no database Edward couldn't crack. It had been done within a matter of minutes and then they'd printed everything out, spreading sheets and sheets of paper generously over the carpet (Edward had detected a relatively large blood stain underneath the bed, but it was old and he wasn't in the mood to contemplate where it had come from).

"Would you care to fill us in on how it's going?" Emmett asked from his perch on the narrow bed that Edward wouldn't have sat down on if his life depended on it, it reeked so badly. Without Edward's ability to read minds Emmett had no clue what was going on in Jasper's head and he was getting impatient. He itched to do something.

"Not very well," Jasper said crossly, glancing up to shoot a glare in Emmett's general direction for breaking his concentration. "In any case we'll have to wait until it's dark. That's not good, given the robbers' threat, but we can't just stroll around in a secure area in broad daylight. There's an old subway tunnel underneath the bank that we could use, but the robbers have probably access to the same plans, so they'll be down there. Then again, maybe they won't. Are you sure the robbery is just a ruse?"

Edward glared at him and Jasper raised his hand in an apologetic gesture.

"But you don't know what they really want to hit, right?"

"No, I don't," Edward snapped, "because they didn't really think about that. I'm sure they'd have been more obliging, had they known I was listening. Maybe I should just ask them."

Emmett snorted, amused. Edward didn't even bother to respond to that because he knew it wouldn't do any good.

Jasper bestowed a look upon them both that Edward was sure had made battalions of recruits cringe. Edward, however, wasn't very impressed and neither was Emmett. "No need to get pert," Jasper said, returning his attention to the blueprints. Bright red dots marked the spots where policemen had been positioned.

"We can't wait until tonight," Edward said after a moment, trying very hard to keep his voice level—not that he'd ever fool Jasper, what with his temper flaring—and managing just barely. "If they shoot Bella…"

"Rose and Alice are there to keep that from happening," Jasper finished for him. "Yes, yes, I know they'd have to be careful because of all the witnesses. You've only told me thirty-eight times. And what makes you think they'll go straight for Bella?"

"Her general bad luck?" Emmett supplied unhelpfully.

Neither Jasper nor Edward bothered to respond. Emmett was having far too much fun. Easy, Edward thought sourly, if someone tries to shoot Rose, he'll be in for a nasty surprise.

"What he said," Edward replied because although Emmett didn't display the seriousness the situation warranted he wasn't exactly wrong. Edward had thought the same.

Jasper sighed, muttering something under his breath that Edward chose to ignore.

"I'm going for a walk. Call me when you've figured something out."

He strode outside before his brothers could object. The narrow hallway was as disgusting as the room, an insult for his olfactory sense, and he held his breath all the way down to the lobby—or what passed as a lobby anyway. Two shabby armchairs sat in one corner, a small three-legged table in front of them. The reception was unstaffed; the receptionist was in one of the rooms in the back, watching TV.

Edward didn't exactly have a plan, but he knew that he had to do something. He couldn't let them kill Bella! If they did, he'd lose his mind.

Slowly, using back alleys and rooftops (as long as he was still far enough away from the bank, anyway; the helicopter was still flying annoying circles) he made his way towards the bank, ignoring the rain pounding down on him. He was drenched within seconds. He knew that there was only a single man guarding the back entrance of the bank, aside from the sniper on a roof nearby. Now, if he could just get inside… Maybe if he knocked out the sniper or made sure he was distracted, then get rid of the policeman…

Have you completely lost your mind now? Alice suddenly screeched inside his head. She'd come into range again without him noticing and so had everyone else, except for the silent spot that was Bella. It's not going to work, dolt!

Edward didn't reply; Alice couldn't hear him anyway.

Edward… Alice mental voice trailed off warningly. Instead, she showered him with pictures of what she'd seen would happen if he acted on his half-formed ideas. That made Edward pause. He'd be a fool not to trust Alice's visions.

It would be a good idea if one of you could get manage to get inside the bank, Alice thought, because the killing's about to start. Now, they're going to shoot the old lady—an image of a little old lady, her shoulders hunched and her eyes closed, accompanied the thought—because she's about to die anyway. Heart attack. She wouldn't survive anyway. A mental grimace. That strikes me as uncharacteristically considerate for a bunch of bank robbers, but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. After that it's still muddy. Did you figure out what they really want to break into?

No, Edward hadn't. He was listening to the voices in his mind, but they were focused on the matter at hand, namely… Edward was surprised to learn that they were planning their escape, using the abandoned subway tunnel Jasper had mentioned. If he remembered correctly, it ran just below the vault, which explained why they'd had to get inside. They weren't quite through yet; they had to shovel aside more debris than they'd thought they would have.

He wished he could ask Alice what they planned because she probably knew, but there was no way to reach her. Maybe he could get inside that way, once the opening was large enough… He could help with yet from below… Nobody would have to know…

Edward. Alice sounded exasperated. Just go back to Emmett and Jasper, please. You're not thinking straight. Besides, they let down a camera in the tunnel. And unfortunately we do show up on film.

Edward grimaced. Apparently they'd thought of everything. The back entrance it was, then.

NO! Alice yelled, once again sending a flood of images into Edward's mind.

Ignoring her, Edward set off towards the bank, stopping just behind the crowd of gawkers they police had been unable to disperse. He stood out; he was the only one not carrying an umbrella, but nobody paid any attention to him. What was going on in front of the crows, behind the yellow police tape, was much, much more interesting.

He spotted the sniper in question with ease, zeroing in onto his thoughts. He was tired and wet and hungry and wanted to go home because technically he was on vacation. Edward did feel a little bit sorry about having to knock him out, but Bella's life was far more important. A headache you recovered from. Death was frustratingly permanent.

Edward, he's going to be relieved in half an hour. Wait at least that long, otherwise they'll know something is wrong. Oh, no, don't wait. Go! Right now!

Edward didn't know what exactly Alice had seen because the future was still in flux (and Edward didn't have time sorting through images), so he turned and disappeared in one of the narrow alleys on the right side of the street, taking care to move fast enough so that the snipers, on their high perches, wouldn't accidentally see him and raise an alarm. He had to circle around the entire block, Alice's mind slipping away from him for a moment as he did, and when she was in range again, she filled him in on what she'd seen.

If you're careful, and I'm stressing the 'if' here, then you can get past him because his relief will show up early and distract him for a second or two, which should be enough time, for you to somehow dispose of the police guard. Still, I'd rather you went back to the hotel. She was pleading now.

When his future didn't waver she must have told Rosalie what he intended to do because she said, How stupid are you? He had so much practice ignoring Rosalie that he barely heard her. Rosalie seemed to guess as much because she turned the volume of her mental voice up a notch. Do you WANT to get her killed? she demanded. Just stay where you are and leave everything to us. We won't let anything happen to her, I promise.

Edward had almost reached the back entrance. He was cowering in the shadows, waiting for the moment. There. Another darkly-clad figure had just appeared on the roof. The sniper turned his head, focusing on the woman who was about to relieve him. Edward slipped out of his hiding place, dashing towards the single policeman, a man about the size and built of Emmett. Alice's warning came just as Edward knocked him over the head, not very hard; he didn't want to kill him. Edward felt the mind fade away as the man slid into unconsciousness, toppling ungracefully into Edward's waiting arms. Alice was babbling in his mind; he knew the snipers on the roof were about to look his way and he was still plainly visible, he hadn't thought of where to hide the man…

A surge of panic swept through him. He didn't even have a full second anymore to decide what to do. He could just drag the man away, but he'd never get inside before the snipers saw that the policeman wasn't where he was supposed to be and they'd know immediately that something was wrong. Edward had no way of knowing what the robbers would do if something went wrong outside, if they suspected foul play. Time was running out.

Suddenly Emmett appeared by his side. He only knew it was Emmett because his scent suddenly wafted down the narrow alley. He wore black, just as the policeman, though not exactly the same uniform, but that didn't matter because Jasper was on the roof this second, dousing the snipers in so much sleepiness they momentarily lost focus. Edward all but tore the policeman's clothing off; Emmett shot out of his own clothes and slipped into the uniform that fit well enough. Emmett plastered his blank hair against his head until it was flat and resembled the haircut of the unconscious policemen. From the distance nobody would notice that he policeman standing guard wasn't a policeman at all.

After Alice had assured him that the real policeman wouldn't wake up for another four hours, Edward hid him in an empty apartment in one of the adjoining buildings that Alice had pointed out to him. Jasper joined him when he was done and he was more furious that Edward had ever seen him.

You IDIOT! Jasper berated him silently as he dropped the backpack with the laptop and all the plans. If we hadn't followed you, you could have screwed up this whole operation! What were you thinking? No, don't answer that. You WEREN'T thinking!

"But," Edward began defensively and Jasper all but knocked him flat with a surge of rage. Edward suddenly found himself on his back, staring stupidly into Jasper's blazing eyes. He'd never used his gift that way and Edward hadn't even known Jasper could do that.

"Shut up and try not to do something stupid while I try to come up with a plan," Jasper ordered in a voice that told Edward that it would be very wise to keep his mouth shut. He suddenly felt very apprehensive as to what else Jasper could do with his gift.