A/N: Hey guys, so things are getting dicey for our favorite vamps.

The Ghost Of Circumstances Beyond My Control

Divide and Conquer and Divide Again

Within a few moments, everything I had fought so hard to keep together the past half a year fell apart. This was it, and we were going our separate ways. I guess I knew all along having such a large coven of vampires following one person's morals and being fugitives from the Volturi was not enough to hold us together forever. The others still craved human blood. I did too, but my commitment to Bella was enough to override that urge, but even then just barely. That caused short tempers and an automatic defensiveness among of us and I never expected Jane to cope well. They had been uprooted from all they knew.

In the end, only our loyalty to our mates could withstand the test of time for an extended period. And if I was completely honest with myself, I was angry, furious, that our survival instincts could be stronger than that sense of family I wanted so badly. I wanted to hate them all for that, and hate the Cullens for already succeeding for years when we didn't make it a full year, but I couldn't bring myself to.

"Fine," I said, rather pointedly, under my breath. I took Bella's hand and led her into the white room we were using. "Pack whatever you want, but we're gone as soon as everyone else is ready to leave, if they wish."

Within a minute, she had a few shirts, jeans, the black dress I loved, a hat, gloves and a jacket in the bag I bought her. She also managed to fit a couple shirts and pants for me although I didn't ask her to. She knew I would regret it later when I was done being pissed off at the world, and she was right. There a simple pleasure in a fresh change of clothes.

As we were taking the small speedboat we borrowed from Carlisle to the mainland, Demetri brought up a good point, ever the voice of reason, and got four satellite phones. He gave each couple one, along with Jane. Regardless of the high tensions, we all agreed to keep them on and with us, just in case we needed in regroup quickly and to keep in touch.

"So what do we do now?" Bella sighed as we aimlessly walked the streets of Rio.

"I'm sorry Bells, but I have no idea," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm never this out of it."

"You're upset." It wasn't a question, just an honest-to-God statement.

"Really, hon, you have no idea," I whispered, stopping on the bridge we found ourselves on, staring out into nowhere. "Half of them I changed myself, and I've been with them all since they were created. None of us have ever been so truly isolated from everything, and I don't know how to deal."

"Felix," she whispered, obviously guilty because I was hurt. "I'm sorry, if I wouldn't have attacked Jane –"

"Hellcat, stop. You didn't do anything, you were only following your instincts to protect me, and no one, not even Jane, could fault you for that."

"I don't know what happened. I saw all that pain on your face and I just snapped," she said, ignoring me.

"Bells, remember when Jane tried it out on you and I tackled her? That wasn't even in a stressful situation, and I did the same thing. I'm angry because I've never been without any direction. So far, I was at least one step ahead of the game. Now, I don't even know what the next step is."

"Lix, maybe you should let someone else take the lead for a while," she suggested, wrapping her slender arms around my waist.

"Like Jane?" I scoffed, still seething about her unleashing on me.

"No, smart-ass. Me." As selfish as it was, I never seriously thought about Bella making the decisions, my only concern was to protect her and I didn't give her enough credit sometimes. She was grown woman who could hold her own.

"You're right. Sorry I've been a bit overbearing lately and to be honest, I'm probably going to be a pain in the ass for a few days."

"Demetri?" she asked. I was surprisingly pleased she didn't need more than one word for me to understand what she was getting at. We really were a perfect match, and I would gladly have taken the whole split in stride if I would could control my emotions.

"Nah, Dem and I are fine."

"Jane?"

"Yeah, she was like my little sister," I said.

"I'm so sorry, Felix," Bella mumbled.

"Babe, Jane won't be acting like a little bitch forever. She'll cool down eventually, but I doubt we'll have quite the same relationship."

I put my arm around her shoulder and continued walking, not caring where we ended up as long as we were together.

"Felix, I –"

"Drop it, Bells. I'm seriously alright with not being on the best of terms with Jane. She can be petty and vengeful at the best of times. I think it's about time she grew up a little, and maybe running around with Alec and Chelsea will do that." I had to smile at her, partly genuine, partly a cover for the bitterness I felt. "Sorry I didn't mean to be so short with you."

"It's alright, sweetheart," she smiled back.

Bella thought it would be nice to hit the States again. We ran our way through the western hemisphere, ending up in Miami.

I accidentally moved too fast when Bella tossed a shirt at me at the mall. I glanced around quickly, praying no one saw my inhuman speed.

"I like that one," my wife grinned.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I read the writing on the women's black t-shirt: Protected By Vampires. "A vampire is more like it."

"There's one for you," she laughed, tossing me another piece of clothing to add to the growing mound. This one read 'super villain'. I had to admit I did love it.

"I think we have enough," I smirked as we went to checkout.

Bella thought we should try to blend in a bit more. She thought we could hide easier in the human world, and I tended to agree. Most vampires in cities didn't want a fight and stay out of each others way, but we also couldn't stay too long after we ran across another. I knew how fast word spread and our whereabouts would cross the path of someone who shouldn't know within a month.

I was really impressed with her self-control around humans. We could live a halfway normal life now as long as there was wildlife nearby.

Taking a note from the Cullens, we finally settled on moving to east Texas in a little three bedroom house that the owner was all too happy to sell us. I honestly think Bella and I unnerved him enough to take the cash and turn a blind eye to the fact I just handed him a one hundred and sixty thousand dollar check. Surprisingly, the funds weren't hard to come by, thanks to Alice and Carlisle setting up a sizable bank account for us. Money really was no object for them.

The neighborhood was quiet and peaceful, one of those that the neighbors didn't bother you, but people left their doors unlocked. I wasn't too happy about not having a secluded place, but this town was perfect place to lay low for a while. It was just big enough to not be noticed, but small enough to know if anyone was looking for us, especially without seven of us. Bella and I were just the weird couple that moved because we wanted to get away from city life.

It was easy enough to stay out of the sun, the nights were getting longer and it was an unseasonably rainy year. In the dead of night, Bella and I moved a full living room, dining room and master bedroom sets into their places by ourselves, mainly to keep up appearances.

I started snickering the second night, thinking about what the neighbors would think if they saw Bella carrying the massive, heavy king-size bed frame by herself. I was close behind, toting the mattresses, one in each hand. She seemed to be thinking the same thing and cracked up herself. It was refreshing to find ourselves laying in the middle of the living room laughing at something so trivial.

"If anyone saw that, we'll definitely be the talk of the town!" Bella laughed.

"Well, I know the neighborhood is already talking about us," I grinned. "Apparently they think we should get some sun."

"Is that it?"

"The kid next door was telling a friend that you've got to be a supermodel or something. Sounds like he's planning to make a move on you." I couldn't help but be smug knowing he had no chance at all. I was rather thankful I couldn't read minds, since I probably would have killed him by now.

"Oh whatever!"

"Seriously, Bells. You were beautiful before, but now, there aren't words to describe you. Stunning, gorgeous, and breathtaking is a good start though."

"I could say the same about you," she smirked, always trying to divert attention away from herself.

"Look, I know you're not used to being noticed and gawked at, but get used to it. Especially here, our paleness and looks don't blend in too well, but aren't enough to raise more than a couple eyebrows."

"Only a couple of eyebrows?"

"More or less. People out here tend to ignore anything that doesn't fit. Either that or declare us satanist, but I couldn't care less regardless. We'll only be here a few years at most, and probably less given our current situation."

Bella's face turned pensive and once again, I was reminded how my actions had uprooted everyone I cared about.

"Bells, I'm sorry. I know how you feel about not staying put for an extended amount of time. I really do understand better than you think, remember I was in one place for over a millennium. So it seems like we're moving every other day to me. I promise, just let this Volturi issue get resolved and we'll settle down anywhere you want." I sighed. I hated her being upset about anything, and much more so because I was to blame.

"It's not your fault, babe. I'm thrilled to not been living out of a bag," she smiled.

I heard the tell-tale shifting of footsteps and quickly told Bella humans were coming, in case she needed to leave or hold her breath.

"Why the hell are they here? And why didn't I hear them?" she asked, too fast for a human to understand.

"No idea, they're not talking so you're guess is as good as mine," I chuckled. As much as she might like to think I understood the ins and outs of human thought, she had a better grip in that area than I did. "And you did hear them, you just didn't recognize the sound. I've been around a lot longer and tend to be more alert than most."

"Why?" Bella questioned as the humans had barely taken a step since I warned Bella.

"Mostly because of my fighting reflexes, but I hunted humans for centuries, so I'm well acquainted with the slightest human movement." I snickered at the glare she gave me at the mention of my old diet. I still hadn't softened to the point she would have liked me to about my previous food source, but I would never go back and she knew it. I guessed the compassion was something that strengthened over time, instead of the slight pangs of guilt I got here and there. I was sure it would catch up to me at some point, and it would all come crashing down after I didn't have to worry about the Ancients wanting me, and Bella by extension, dead.

A minute passed, with Bella fluttering about, quickly setting up the living room to look a little less like we had just moved two tons of furniture the previous night. She also changed into ripped jeans and a smoking hot blue tank top and brown boots. I threw on my 'Super Villain' shirt with a pair of khaki cargos and sneakers so we wouldn't come off as the gothy anti-social types. The humans natural reactions would take care of that.

"If you're trying to not draw attention to ourselves, I'm not entirely you should be wearing that outfit," I smirked. She raised an eyebrow, daring me to explain myself. "I'm having a difficult time not jumping you and ripping it all off." I winked at her, and grinned my perfect devilish, bad-boy grin.

"You know you drive me crazy when you wink at me," she laughed. "Stop, this is the wrong time for a round of rough and tumble right now." She smacked my arm, letting out a musically peal of laughter.

Bella wisely waited a few seconds before she opened the door. I flipped on the TV to a hockey game and settled comfortably onto the floor.

"Yes?" Bella asked, realizing the group at our door was obviously shellshocked at the sight of my wife.

"Wow," I heard the high school kid from next door breathe, nearly inaudible to the others.

At that point, I decided it would probably be wise to go help Bella out.

"Hi! I'm Anna, and I'm just so glad to meet you!" The little woman couldn't be more than twenty-seven and was your typical small-town girl, complete with a thick Texan accent.

I had to fight to hide my smile as she shivered slightly after shaking Bella's hand. Bella glanced at me with an 'oh god, please help me' brewing in her ocher eyes. She was holding her breath, although it wasn't really necessary now. I figured it was probably more out of habit than anything else.

I quickly ran through my head all the ways to play this: what would be easiest to get them out of here, what would make them stay and how to sculpt this encounter so they would be satisfied and leave us be. Unfortunately, they wouldn't ditch the fabled Southern hostility even in the face of vampires, so it was not as simple as it would be elsewhere, say New York City or even Dallas for instance.

"Hey, I'm Felix and this is my wife, Bella," I said politely, but with a very pointed look towards the men ogling her.

"Hello," Bella said, trying to sound upbeat and not annoyed.

"This is my brother, Chris," the thirty-something man motioned to the boy, "That's Henry there, and I'm Stephen. We...well, we saw ya'll moving in and figured we'd come help. You know, get to know the new neighbors and such."

"We all live there, there and there," – she pointed to two houses across the street and the smaller house next door – "and I thought it would be nice for the boys to help you move in the big stuff, while, Bella and I stocked the kitchen. You know how important it is to keep these men fed!"

"I think we're good, but thank you though," I replied, smirking at Bella, sharing in the private joke of what their reaction would be if we did eat around them.

"Oh, nonsense! Look, you don't even have your entertainment center put together!" Henry chimed in. The rather tall but lanky man squeezed past me into the living room, followed shortly by the others.

Bella gave me an exasperated sigh. "What happened to sending them on their merry way?" she griped too low and fast for mortals.

"Sorry, I didn't expect them to be so forceful and we don't want to make waves, unless you want to deal with nosy neighbors," I answered in the same tone.

"They're already being nosy!"

"Bells, if they see there's nothing but a couple that prefer to keep to themselves, it'll all blow over in the next day or two," I sighed.

The entire secret conversation between Bella and I lasted less than a quarter of a second.

"Actually, we were going to go out for dinner in a few hours," Bella smiled. Only I could tell her apologetic tone was completely fake.

"Oh, well it looks like you haven't even gone grocery shopping yet!" The little woman was way too perky to fit my current mood, and it was grating on me.

The next hour was longer than I would have imagined. We accepted their help with the entertainment center, although they were a bit shocked I didn't intend it for the living room, but for the sunroom the next room over. I had a brand new sixty inch plasma screen to mount over the mantle. Thankfully, with my six foot eight frame, it didn't look odd for me to lift the TV by myself with only Chris and Stephen to steady it, although I didn't need them for that either.

Bella was on the verge of insanity with Anne talking nearly nonstop and basically begging my hellcat for her beauty tips while also pushing her to get a tan. Her breaking point hit when the neighbor lady tried to pull Bella outside to lounge in the sun. I was pretty frantic for a second, as Anne noticed the unnatural feel of a vampire's skin. She quickly withdrew her hand, shaking off the strange feeling, and settled for undressing me with her eyes, which actually unnerved me more than if Bella just freaked her out with her diamond skin in the daylight.

If I was worried before about her reaction to grabbing Bella's arm, it was nothing compared to when a low growl emanated from Bella at Anne eying me. Anne jumped back a clutched her chest, but obviously unsure of why she did. Thankfully, her mind was ignoring the fact that Bella just looked more like her true nature than she meant to show. Jealously in our kind tends to bring that out. I did get a good smirk and a hearty internal laugh about it though.

The atmosphere in the room steadily grew more and more uncomfortable until the humans finally couldn't stand it and said their goodbyes.

"Good God, I thought they'd never leave!" I said as I slumped on the couch.

"I didn't mean to growl at her like that," Bella smiled sheepishly. "That was the last thing we needed if we wanted to fly under the radar."

"Nah, don't worry about it babe. Plus, it was pretty funny," I laughed.

"Well, let's go hunting. I need to blow off some steam I think," she said, taking my hand and leading me through the backyard and up and over the fence to the woods beyond.

Daybreak was hardly noticeable with the dark storm clouds that rolled in overnight. It started to pour with Bella and I still cuddling on the hammock in the backyard. A wonderful thing about being a vampire was the weather never bothered us.

"I find this strangely romantic," Bella whispered, snuggling closer into my side.

"Well, if the wind doesn't throw us off this hammock, I'd have to agree," I smiled at her.

"Even then, good things tend to happen when we end up on the ground together." Her grin was pure vixen.

"That's my Hellcat," I laughed, pulling her onto my chest, kissing her with a fierceness the thunderclouds around us could never hope to match.

The hammock was officially gone, but thanks to Bella and I, not the storm.

"Damnit," I sighed. Laying on the ground, I kicked my legs over my head, landing on my feet. It was a bit too showy of a way to get up, but it was fun nonetheless.

"What?" Bella asked, as I helped her to her feet as well.

"We need to run some errands, before it gets too late in the day. The neighborhood's got to think we're half-way normal," I winked at her.

"Why don't we just go tonight?" Bella groaned. "The store will –"

I pulled my soaked shirt over my head and tossed it in the dryer. I noticed Bella suddenly lost her train of thought.

"Huh. That's quite an achievement," I smiled.

"What is?" she asked, snapping back to reality.

"A vampire losing their concentration." I winked at her.

"Oh hush, Felix," Bella giggled, shaking her head slightly.

"To be fair, you tend to do the same to me." Her wicked smile nearly stunned me right there. "But, as I saying," I continued, putting on a dark red button up and rolling up the sleeves to the elbow, "they need to see us out and about during the day, and with all this cloud cover, it's perfect." I ducked into the walk-in closet to change the rest of my clothes, not wanting to delay any longer than needed. There would be plenty of time for all that stuff later, not that I was complaining in the least.

"Good point, babe," she conceded.

I quickly realized I was out of my depth at the store. I had no idea what would be a believable amount of food for two humans for a week. Bella pointed it out when I put three bags of sugar in the cart. She gently told me to back off, and did the shopping while I just tagged along, occasionally plucking something from the top shelf for her.

I thought about picking up a six pack of beer, since it was practically a must for guys in this town, but I realized I didn't have an ID. That gave me an idea.

"Hey Emmett, got a favor to ask." I was rather glad I knew someone who could provide us with quality papers, since Demetri and Heidi went off. I didn't even have access to the equipment necessary.

"What's your address now?"

"Holy hell, Em, do you have documents on file or something?" I chuckled, then gave him our address.

"Not hardly," he laughed along with me. "You didn't count on Alice. She sent Jasper to get them last week, since he's the one that usually handles all that for our family."

"I should have known. Speaking of that, what have you been up to?"

Over the next several minutes, he filled me in on everyone.

"So basically, same shit, different day?" I grinned at his overly descriptive narration of life in the Cullen household, including a knock-down, dragged out wrestling match between him and his brothers.

"Really! That fight lasted for a full twelve hours! But yeah, basically," he answered. "But what the hell happened with you guys? You seemed like such a solid group!"

"Oh God. In short, Jane used her fiery thing on me, Bella attacked her, and we all split. It's a lot of stress to be under, and some of us didn't handle it well." I sighed. "It'll all work out eventually. We really are too close to not regroup down the line."

He could tell I didn't want to elaborate further, and he dropped the topic. After checking all the details we needed for the papers, we talked hockey for a while.

Granted, having the papers were a very minor thing in the big scheme of things, but I knew how small town police could be, especially after the neighbors got nervous. Not calling attention to ourselves was my biggest priority here, all the better to avoid anyone that might be an actual threat. After all, the only other places you would really see vampires settle down and act human were in huge cities you could fade into the background and Volterra.

Bella vaulted over the couch, landing feather light in my arms. She was all I needed, the rest was just a bonus. She took the lead this time, raining kisses all down my jaw and neck.

She made me push all my worries, major and minor out of my mind. She was happy, and we were relatively safe for the time being. Nothing in the world was going to pull me away from my Bella now.

"Felix!" The call came along with a swift banging on the door. I wasn't going to let him ruin this moment with Bella for me.

"Go away!" I muttered over my shoulder.

Two seconds later, Demetri and Heidi strolled in through the unlocked door, not that a lock would have matter. Bella, in an unusual display of intense public affection, refused to move.

"What is it Dem?" I said exasperated.

"Not happy to see me?" he laughed.

"You know I am, but..." I motioned to Bella.

"Ah, gotcha. I got an idea," he grinned. "I won't be long."

"The hell happened to your phone you insisted we all have?" I questioned.

"Blame Heidi," he chuckled, no further explanation needed.

"Hey Bells!" He gave a quick glance at Bella, still straddling my lap, and continued anyway. "From what I can tell, the Volturi know we've split up, but without a definite plan of attack or a tracker. There's a couple of them in Dallas, hoping one of us comes through there. Basically they've sent out scouts. I say we should hunt them down before they get a chance to start a witch hunt. The Ancients have kept it all pretty quiet thus far."

"And you want me to take care of the Dallas bunch? Easy enough, now come back later," I grinned, returning to Bella.

"Actually, we're headed west. I'm tracking the guards that are still on the move. The rest are doing the same."

"Cut their numbers until there's no one left. Good plan, Dem. Now out, I have my wife to tend to."

"We'll stop by in a few weeks," he laughed, walking as slowly as he could stand out the door just to annoy me.

It occurred to me how even as divided we were, we were still taking care of the whole, one person at a time. I had my first glimmer of hope that beating the Volturi at their own game would be far easier than I thought.

A/N: Ah the quiet life for Bella and Felix. I have to admit I'm a bit jealous. But will things really be that simple? ;)