**Disclaimer** I don't own anything. At all.

Chapter 10

Fight or Flight

Previously....

"Edward," I whispered, "It's her." It's Jane. Robin's smile slid off his face. A feral growl escaped his lips.

*******

Robin dropped to a crouch. How do you know she's here? Robin asked.

"I remember the last time we met. She brings doom with her, and wears it like a-- like a cloak." I grinned, remembering her dark cloak. "Do you really think you can surprise me, Robin? I know you too well."

"Drop dead," he hissed, and sprung. An oak's root snagged his ankle before he could get more than five feet off the ground. It threw him to the ground, and he was immediately covered from the neck down in dirt. "Let me out, you hag! I'll kill you, bitch!"

Edward growled protectively. "He's not going anywhere," I assured him. It's Jane we have to worry about, I added, for his ears only.

He nodded, and started to search the surrounding area. This sounds kind of weird, but I asked the trees for her whereabouts. And they answered. Their boughs started swaying southward and slightly to the east. "Thank you," I whispered sincerely. I tugged Edward's arm, to silently tell him to follow me.

We stalked in the way the trees told us. At the same time, we heard her thoughts.

What's taking that fool so long to send me the signal? were her angry thoughts. She obviously hasn't heard us yet. What was that? she thought. Oops. Spoke too soon. I signaled Edward to go right, and I'll go right. We split up and circled her tree. She was half-way up the old spruce, closer to Edward than me.

Bella...Edward said in his mind. Yeah? I'm going to distract her, and while her attention's on me, you go in for the attack. A thought struck me.

Hey, Edward...if you don't mind, could you try to call out Emmett's name? He wanted me to scream or yell or something if there was going to be a fight, and well...he could always take care of Robin.

Sure thing, babe. I could almost hear him wink. And then the air was filled with Edward's velvety voice. "Emmett! Emmett! Emmett Cullen, come here!"

The decoy worked perfectly. Jane turned away from me, toward Edward, and she was almost going to pounce--

I threw myself at her, knocking us both away from the tree. "Gotcha!" I said in her ear before we hit the ground. I immediately backed away. She was livid. That bastard! He gave away my position! She hissed at me.

"You can go, Jane. You don't have to fight me," I said, not really caring if she stayed, or fled. "Robin's still alive, however fleetingly. You can kick his ass yourself, if you want. I don't necessarily have to kill you. No one would like that." I smiled reassuringly at her.

She straightened up out of her aggressive stance. "So, Bella, we meet again. I've heard so much about you. Is it true about your powers?" She asked with forced nonchalance. I smiled inwardly. I made the wind gust into a whirlwind around her, swirling her cloak around her tiny body.

"Pick a color, any color," I said teasingly. But she acquiesced. Pink. "I wouldn't have made you out as a pink kind of woman, Jane. I thought you were more of a black. Or a grey." I winked at her shocked expression.

"So it's true...Robin wasn't exaggerating..." I rolled my eyes at her.

"He has been known to do that, hasn't he?" I asked sarcastically.

"Aro's going to love you, Bella," she purred.

I stiffened. "You'll have to tell him I'm sorry, and that it would be a great honor, but I can't. My family is here, in Forks. I can't leave them. I won't leave them."

Her face fell in a very convincing way. But I could see right through it. She was secretly pleased I wasn't coming. "That's too bad, Bella. Because I was sent to make sure you came back to Italy." Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"I believe you're the one at a disadvantage here, then." I raised an eyebrow and lifted my hand, curling my pointer finger back to me. Bring it.

She calmly smiled at me. I felt the jarringly familiar burning erupt in my head at first, and then felt it spread down throughout my body. I struggled to push through the haze of pain, and was elated when I did. I brought the earth around her feet up around her slim form. "Edward!" I yelled urgently.

He sprung agilely out of the trees and landed next to Jane. He lowered his head to her neck, and it looked like he was caressing her with his lips. And then her head popped off, and the pain stopped. He started ripping her to shreds, and I relaxed the dirt's hold on her body. I left him stacking her pieces in a pile, racing back to where Robin was buried from the neck down.

On my way to my destination, I heard Emmett rushing in the direction I had just been. "Hey! Em! Over here!" I stopped to wave my arms above my head. He changed course, and I ran beside him to Robin.

Robin was brimming with anger. "Would you like to do the honors?" I asked Emmett serenely.

"You whore!" Robin screamed at me. When he saw Emmett's burly form coming at him, he started cussing him out. "Stay the fuck away from me! Damn you, Emmett! You fat bastard!"

"You know, Rob, I never liked you. And, well, now you're going to be gone." Emmett said, bending down to grasp Robin's head between his muscular arms. Robin just continued to swear. "You know, Bells," Em said casually, "you should have buried him up-side down." I laughed. He pulled. Robin's head popped off, and I made the ground spit him back up.

After Emmett had finished pulling apart my old friend, we divided up the parts, and carried them back to Edward, dumping them in his pile of Jane. Edward looked grimly at me. "Would you?" he asked. I nodded.

I extended a finger and a flame burst to life. I touched it to a clump of dried grass that Edward had put on the pile. The flames playfully jumped from grass blade to vampire piece, quickly consuming the entire pile in its dance. The putrid smoke spiraled thickly upward. I walked slowly to Edward's side. He wrapped both his arms around my waist, holding me tight to his chest.

"I love you," I told him confidently. His gold eyes sparkled, and he smiled warmly.

"I've always loved you, Bella," he replied. My dormant heart gave a strong thump. Or, at least, I thought it did. "And I always will." He bent his head to mine, and his lips pressed softly to mine.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening our kiss. We would be together forever.

A/N: Okay, so there's probably only going to be one more chapter, and that will be like an epilogue. I hope you liked the story, even if it only turns out to be 11 chapters long. ;) And sorry this chapter was so short...it felt longer than it is....