Title: Shattered Glass

Author: Fallen Angel of Hell

Beta: twilight-is-lovee

Rating: T

Summary: Post BD. Have you ever looked into a shattered mirror and saw your reflection. It's so distorted, but you know it's you. Or do you? Or maybe you are looking at the face of something else entirely. Perhaps your other side? Or someone else entirely?

Original Characters: Matilda "Mattie" Masen, Gunnar Harlow

Chapter 10

Homecoming

Another two weeks had passed before we heard from Mattie again. Apparently, she had been very busy taking care of Anamaria, but she was due to come home today.

"Do you need someone to pick you up from the airport?" I had asked during our phone call earlier that morning.

"No need. I flew to Pennsylvania last night to pick up some things. I'm driving the rest of the way. I should be home by early afternoon, if not earlier."

Carlisle went to work after we received the call, and Esme went out to hunt

Now several of us were playing the waiting game patiently in the living room. Some of us were playing better than others. Gunnar had been pacing the floors since about eight in the morning, while Leah watched with her arms crossed over her stomach. We were all certain that he might leave a permanent ten feet trail.

"Please sit down," Leah said in a pleasantly warning tone.

"Can't," he muttered. "Too nervous."

"Fine," she sniped. "Sit down before I knock you down and sit on you."

He stopped dead in his tracks with a sheepish grin on his face and took a seat between Leah and Emmett. Thankfully, he had followed my advice and talked to Leah about what had been happening to him months before they ever crossed paths. Surprisingly, she was okay with it. The relationship was budding.

Edward appeared in the door, a faint smile playing across his lips.

"Shouldn't be long now," he said, sitting down next to me. "Alice said five minutes or so."

"You seem chipper about her coming back." I eyed him in mock suspicion.

"We're not always like two live hand grenades." He smiled.

"How to you know she said that?" I asked, slightly baffled.

"Because we are," he smirked, "and Gunnar was the one who thought it to begin with."

"Well, you two are," Gunnar mumbled.

Emmett grinned in his corner of the couch, bouncing like a child.

"Wonder what she's driving," he said, sounding like a two year old at Christmas.

"Dunno." Gunnar looked up at the ceiling. "I have no doubt that she took the Camaro back to Anamaria. She won't drive the GTO. The Challenger still had something wrong with it, which reminds me… Jake, can you take a look at it?"

"Sure." Jake grinned. "I've never worked on one before, but I'm sure that I can figure it out."

"Why not ask me?" Rosalie asked, sounding a little offended. "I would probably know what I was doing better than the pup."

"Play nice, children," I warned. "I don't want to ask Gunnar to separate the two of you."

"Yes, mother," Jake mocked.

"That just leaves the Shelby," Gunnar continued, finishing the list of cars.

"No way," Emmett said, looking as though he might possibly explode. "A Shelby Mustang?"

"It is the most beautiful nineteen sixty-eight GT five hundred painted in the subtle shade of gunpowder. Other than my sister and I, that car is her pride and joy."

"Don't hump the car, guys," Edward warned, shooting glances between Emmett and Jake.

"I will do my best to contain myself, Edward." Jake grinned. "But I make no promises."

"Seriously, though, Jake," Gunnar continued, running a hand through his blond hair. "Hump the car, and for her, it will be on like Donkey Kong."

"Okay, Puppet Master," he said, still grinning. Gunnar shoved him playfully.

"Boys," Leah grumbled. "The faster the toy, the more they want to play with it."

"Not always," I said, looking at Rose. "I'm sure you'd want to give it a look."

She nodded her eyes showing interest. Leave it to Rose to want to look over a classic car.

"I think the Vanquish could take it," Edward said, smirking at Gunnar.

"I wouldn't get too cocky Edward," Alice said, dancing back into the room. She had to go a few miles away in order to see when Mattie would be home. "However, if you want a challenge, she's beyond up for it. In fact, I think that she's expecting it."

"And you're going to keep translating 'we all live in a yellow submarine' into French so I won't know the outcome."

"Yep." She beamed.

A faint rumble made its way up the drive, and we all turned to look. I shot a look at Gunnar who had a look of pure smugness as he stood and sauntered out of the living room.

"Leah," Jake said with a smirk. "I think he's gay."

"He's not gay," she shot back, standing to follow him with her arms still crossed over her stomach.

"Well, he doesn't drive a powder blue Prius, but still nobody moves like he just did," he said, trying to stifle laughter. "The walk that just say I'm gay."

There was no retort. Point for Leah. I smiled at Edward as we walked hand-in-hand out to greet Mattie.

Mattie was already parked and getting out when we made it out to greet her. She looked around curiously as if she had no idea what was going on at all. Her grey t-shirt dress blew a little in the wind as she watched us. Gunnar picked her up in a tight hug, lifting her nearly a foot off the ground. He set her back down with her four-inch stilettos, which gave a faint tap as they hit the ground. Her eyes were still set on all of us.

"Hiii," she drug out, looking around at everyone. "Am I in trouble for something I don't know about?"

I watched as Jake and Emmett went around the back of the car in pure childlike admiration. Occasionally they would point at something and smile.

"Not as far as I'm aware," I said, smiling. "How's Anamaria?"

"Fine." She stopped and turned to look at Emmett and Jake. "Hump my car, and Jake, I will break your leg, and as far as you go, Emmett, Gunnar would gladly stick you in the closet of a perfect stranger."

"But it's so pretty in person," Emmett whined. "Can I sit in it?"

"She's doing pretty good for open heart surgery. Pissed that she can't pick up a jug of milk, but she's mulling through." She grinned, ignoring Emmett's request. "And she says 'hello.'"

"How's Jin?" Gunnar asked quietly.

"She still hates me." She shot a glance at her son. "And she's pregnant. With something funnier that I could ever imagine."

"As long as it's not puppies, I won't be shocked." Gunnar puffed out his chest proudly.

"Nope." She smiled. "Quads."

"She might as well be having puppies," Jake mumbled to Emmett.

"Dude, I'll break your leg," Gunnar said, shooting Jake a murderous glance. "I take it back; I'm half shocked. Can't be too shocked because of the fertility treatments."

"Let's go catch up inside." Mattie started taking a few steps forward before she stopped and looked at Edward with a faint smile on her lips. "The Vanquish would give this car a good run for its money, but I would still beat you in a quarter mile straight away with half a second to spare."

"You've done your homework," Edward stated simply.

"I had a feeling you might want to challenge me, so yes I did my homework." She crossed her arms. "Your Vanquish will go zero to sixty in four point four seconds. Izzy, here, would be at sixty in three point nine."

"But does Izzy have the stamina to keep going?" Edward asked, mirroring her position.

"Is that a challenge, Edward?" Mattie questioned, almost taunting him.

"What if it was?"

"Later," she promised, bowing her head slightly in acceptance. "Oh, Gun, I brought Jack and Jill if you want to get them out."

"I love you," he said in a calm, even tone as he took the keys from his mother and went around to the trunk, elbowing Jake and Emmett playfully in the ribs before he opened it. I wondered who Jack and Jill were for a moment as I watched him. He pulled out two large guitar cases, one bright red leather, one black matte leather.

"Which is which?" I asked as he carefully balanced the two cases and closed the trunk.

"Jack is my bass here in the red case." He held up the red case. "Jill is my normal electric guitar."

"Yes, and that damn guitar is fickle as a female," Mattie called back to us. I hadn't even registered the fact that she was nearly inside, carrying a large bag full of stuff. "Even with vampire hearing, I still can't tune it."

She shrugged lightly and disappeared into the house with Rosalie behind her. I looked back at Jake and Emmett, who were still circling the car like kids in a candy store with one dollar. They didn't look sure if they should even touch it. After all, Gunnar had told us that this car was Mattie's baby, and she had threatened both of them.

"When did you get that?" Rosalie was asking Mattie in the living room.

"I found it in a junk yard about two years ago," she said moving things around in the bag she was carrying. "Most of it was still in one piece, but it took another six months to find the rest of it. Took a lot of money to get it back together."

"It's a beautiful car. Edward was thinking about challenging you when you got back."

"There's plenty of time for that," she mumbled. I watched as she pulled a book out of the back and flipped it open before holding it open to me with a smile playing across her lips.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This is the book I started putting together when I realized that my maiden name and Edward's former name was more than a coincidence." She paused for a moment. "I've gone back four more generations since Edward's grandparents."

"You could have gone back farther than that," Edward said, coming in behind me. "You've been distracted by something. What's going on?"

"Nothing." She looked down at the book and set it on the coffee table. For a moment, she continued digging through the bag and pulled out a cookbook. "I brought this for Nessie. She seems so eager to learn how to cook."

"Well, to feed that mutt, she's going to have to know how to cook," Rosalie commented with a broad smirk.

Beside me, I heard Edward give a heavy sigh and the smooth sound of the cotton of his shirt rub together as he crossed his arms.

"You're lying," Edward muttered. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Edward," Mattie repeated, sounding as though she was long past the conversation he was trying to have.

"Now you have me convinced," he said sarcastically.

"Edward, she says that there is nothing wrong," Rosalie warned. "Leave her alone."

"Stay out of my mind," Mattie warned. "I don't invade your thoughts, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't invade mine."

"It's hard when they are constantly mumbling." He walked a few steps closer to her. "Someone or something has you on the edge of madness."

"Can't tell you what I don't know," she growled. "I've seen a man in my visions. Someone who is going to cross my path, but I can't see his face, and therefore, I can't tell you what I don't know."

"Mattie!" I said in an irritated whisper.

"He wasn't around here when I saw him." She pulled out a grey and black game case. "At least I don't think he was. I'll keep an eye out because I don't want any danger coming close to this family."

"That's not all, is it?" Edward growled out.

"No, but that is a private matter that I would rather not discuss."

"You aren't even going to tell Gunnar, are you?"

"Tell me what?" Gunnar said as he appeared in the doorway flanked by Jake and Emmett.

"Edward! Now the cats out of the bag," Mattie chided more playfully. "I picked up Guitar Hero Metallica."

"Sweet," he said, walking forward eying her suspiciously. "Anything else you brought me?"

"There's more in the car if you want to bring it in," she said, her eyes flashing to Edward for a tenth of a second. "Maybe Emmett and Jake could help you. Just make sure that Emmett doesn't touch the keys."

"Alright." He continued to watch her suspiciously. "Let's go guys."

We waited until they were back to the car before turning on Mattie again.

"You mask your thoughts when you don't want to talk about things. You either want to talk about them, or you are so distracted by the issues that you're having to deal with that you don't have the amount of concentration to mask them." Edward's voice was low enough so that only the four of us could hear him.

"I don't know what to do about the man; he's a complete mystery. The second issue is one that I definitely don't want Gun to know about, because I would prefer to keep his record clean."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, obviously missing something they were discussing in their heads. Rosalie crossed her arms and watched the two.

"Jinesa," Edward mumbled.

"I gave her this address just in case anything happens," she said, staring into his eyes as if her life depended it. "If it happens again, I would like it if someone would go with me. If she shows up, then I would want to see to the outcome myself."

"I give it a month," Alice said quietly from the stairs. "We'll have a female visitor in a month."

"When she gets here, I'll go with you, too," Rosalie assured.

"Thanks," Mattie sat on the couch, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. I'd seen Edward do it thousands of times, but never noticed the similarity between him and Mattie.

"You guys really are related," I stated simply.

"I was pretty shocked too," she laughed, touching the book lightly. "I was going through some old pictures that my father's mother sent me before I even married my husband, and I found this picture taken in nineteen fifteen. It was just my grandfather Nickolas and Edward."

"Nickolas was four years old in that picture," Edward smiled. "Wouldn't sit still to save his own life. Did I hear right when you said that they lost all their money in the thirties?"

"Yeah, they moved from Chicago to Dallas when Nickolas was a teenager." She paused, listening to the air around us. There was a dull rumble from what seemed to be the end of the driveway.

"They're stealing the car," Rosalie said, sounding bored.

"Oh well." She pulled out her phone and began punching away at the keys that would make a typical teenager look like an amateur. "There's always a reason I do things. Where's Leah?"

"She went with them." Rosalie turned away from the window. "Emmett and Gunnar carried the car down the driveway."

"Figures," Mattie mumbled as her phone began playing the chorus of Metallica's 'Sad But True.' "Gun's driving; I'm not terribly worried. He knows Izzy's tricks. Now, if Emmett were driving, that would be a different story."

"Hey," Rosalie began to protest.

"I didn't mean it as an insult. He likes to get into the more fun situations, involving the requirement to a four by four. Not to mention I spent a minor fortune paying for that car."

"She has a point," Jasper said as he strolled through the doorway with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Wait, money matters to you?" Rosalie laughed.

"Yeah, it does, Rose," Mattie managed to hiss out. "I don't have three hundred years of fortune built up behind me. My family has had to work, since our fortune was lost in the Depression, something you would know nothing about."

I thought that a fight would probably ensue. Rosalie looked as if she might leap at any moment, but I felt Jasper's calming waves and watched as Rose take a step back.

"I need to go hunt." Mattie stood and started to leave. "Then I have a job interview to go to."

We all watched as she walked out the door. She ran out to the woods and was gone. I turned to Rosalie.

"Nice, Rose," I muttered as I sat where Mattie had been seated. I caught a glimpse of something small and leather. I reached down and pulled up a shiny, black, leather bra.

"Any strip clubs in the neighborhood?" I asked. Edward glanced at me and rolled his eyes as he looked at the bra.

"The White Rabbit."

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I've always had a thing for fast cars. I was going to have them playing Guitar Hero, but maybe I'll do something in a later chapter. I'm kinda going by the seat of my pants at the moment and things have already happened that weren't planned because I allowed my fingers to do the walking. Mattie and Edward will race the Shelby and the Vanquish any takers on who would win that one?

twilight-is-lovee - You're awesome in case I haven't told you that lately. And yes I took my first legal drink and I say that because I've been drinking in moderation for years. I've never been drunk though.


FrequentlyDazzled917 - Originally their relation was going to be non-existant and in snap decision I decided it would be ok given some similarities.

nature love 95 - I thought that it would be sweet. It took a long time for me to figure out a reason as to why he should do what he did.

Yaoi-Gurl-Xia - Why so nervous? There's no reason to be nervous.

Now I've been missing a few reviewers lately and those of you that have put this story on an alert/favorite list and have never reviewed. Feedback is a really nice thing to have and it lets me have some input and occasionally inspriation.

Forever

Fallen Angel of Hell