A/N: So...been awhile...I blame Trigonometry...it held me hostage...still have a C-...bastards...yeah...pretty much...I give up...I'm dropping Pre-Calc for next semester...don't know why I'm still telling you this...But I've updated...One month later...sorry...

Alec looked up for the tenth time since his "last look". She was still gone. Her striking silver eyes had drifted and her body had stilled to a nearly cryogenic state after the impact of his sister's gift. He knew that it would take a while for her to snap back into reality from her self-induced psychological trance. She was a witch, after all. Since Jane's gift originated from the pain of a witch's death-sentence, the gift had a greater effect on the practitioners of magic than on any other creature. So he knew that he shouldn't be concerned over the fact that it had been an hour; he knew that the shocked facial expression was perfectly normal and he knew that she'd be alright, but he still worried.

The sound of an opening door caught his attention. In the kitchen entrance stood an unruly Jane. Her dress was wrinkled, her tights were gone and her hair was loose and messy. She cast her red eyes downward, watching her own fingers tap against her legs in stress. It was rare to ever see either of "The Witch Twins" in such a child-like state, so scared and lonely. Such a situation was to be handled with inordinate care.

Alec held out his hand to his downtrodden sister, who slowly began making her way towards him. She took her place in her brother's lap and rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped her in a hug. The blonde vampire relaxed in his embrace, letting herself be reminded of his love. She wasn't alone. He didn't hate her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, her broken and soft voice coming out as a small whimper, "I didn't mean to hurt her."

He kissed her forehead. "I know, sister." He told her sweetly, "And Aro knows, as well. Even if he won't admit it."

"Is he still upset?" She nearly whispered.

"I wouldn't know, dear sister," He said truthfully, "But I did hear Sulpicia degrading him for his treatment of you."

That earned a small chuckle from the disenchanted child. It was always good to have the wives on your side.

She sighed lightly and fell further into her brother, thinking of her mistake and consequences.

"What did she do?" The younger twin asked his silent sister. He felt her stiffen in his arms.

"She asked about the Freegards."

Alec went cold.

….

Well…colder.

"Mhmm." Jane murmured with snark, noting her dear brother's reaction.

He was hushed with contemplation. The Freegards were people that he and his sister were more than happy to leave behind. The name always brought back terrible memories. Memories of flames and burning, betrayal and venom. Memories to be forever forgotten.

A twitch of a movement attracted the attention of both young vampires. Agatha was awake.

Alec focused on the blonde girl, who was patiently waiting for her senses to be returned. A rarity, for all intents and purposes. The only people who were ever so calm in this situation were the Masters and other guard members. People who knew they could trust him. As far as he knew, she didn't even know this was him. So why was she so calm?

Slowly, he returned her senses. Hearing was first, then smell, then taste. The others, though…

"Agatha?" He asked softly, making sure she was handling the sensory onslaught alright. Sensory overload was a serious concern with his gift. If he didn't handle everything just right- if he went too fast or gave back the wrong senses at the wrong time- he could do severe damage to the physical and psychological mind.

She nodded to her name, signaling that she had heard properly.

"I'm going to return your sense of touch. Are you ready?"

Evidently, she was more than ready. Her fingers were twitching in anticipation and her foot was tapping against the bottom rail of the chair she sat in. But she responded simply with another nod.

Gradually, he let his hold over her fourth sense slip.

Her hands rubbed down her jean-clad thighs and pulled on the black sleeves of her jackets. Pale fingers ran through her silky hair and pearly teeth bite lightly onto her lower lip. She was like an infant, completely amazed and fascinated by the new sensations.

"I'm going to give you back your sight now, alright? Bear with me, because this one is dangerous."

She nodded once more and Alec set Jane down, moving over towards the other girl. Walking past her, the scent of vanilla and pine bombarded him, and it was all the thirteen year old vampire could do to not sink his teeth into her frail little neck.

He swallowed the pooling venom and stood behind the teenage girl, covering her eyes with his cold hands. A shock of lust hit him when their skin made contact. He suppressed the growl that came to life at her contact and clenched his jaw, desperate for some kind of control.

Jane watched as her brother slowly went mad. His entire body was taut, except for his hands. He made sure his hands were limp, lest he hurt the witch. But the rest of him was tense with stress. His eyes were half-closed and dazed, hidden under his dark bangs. He was clearly in a state of emotional distress- caught in world between instincts and intelligence. Attack and claim and deal with the consequences later, or be smart and not let 1200 years of lessons go to waste? Poor Alec.

Eventually, it seemed as though he had gathered some miniscule amount of control. Enough, apparently, to safely return Agatha to her sightful self. The mist around the girl disappeared completely, and her senses were her own once more. Carefully, Alec removed his hands from her eyes, allowing her the chance to re-adjust to her vision with being blitzed with the most powerful sense. The girl's dark pupils returned themselves in size as the light in the culinary room flooded her silver eyes. Jane only caught peripheral glimpses of this, as the majority of her attention was focused on her brother. He was lingering, still hovering behind the dazed girl. His head was turned down- hair covering the entirety of his face, and the back of his hand was lightly brushing the pale cheek of the witch who sat in front of him. The girl in question didn't seem to notice his mannerisms, still adapting to her returned awareness.

Jane decided to assist her poor brother.

"Agatha?" She called softly. Silver eyes- eyes full of question and worry- fell on her. Alec's gestures halted.

Jane continued, "I would like to offer you my apologies for my actions. I had taken out old grudges on you in punishment for assumable ignorance, and I know better than to do such. I am truly sorry for hurting you."

The witch observed the vampire carefully, looking for signs of deceit or insincerity. There were none. She was honestly sorry for what she had done.

Well damn it all to hell if that didn't go against the vampire girl's presumed characteristics…

Regardless of this theory v. application contradiction, Agatha nodded her acceptance of the apology. Sated, Jane made a move to leave the kitchen, dragging her still hovering-brother with her.

~8~

"Are you going to talk to her?"

"I already have."

"Not effectively, apparently."

Marcus growled at his "brother's" snarky remark.

"What do you know?" He bit back to the blonde vampire.

"I know how to be a borderline psychopath and still maintain a happy and healthy relationship for over twenty-seven centuries. Which is more than you can say, oh wise one." The fellow leader of the Volturi replied nonchalantly.

Marcus's judgments paused. Well, he did have that…

"Alright, Sir All-Knowing Prophet," Marcus caved with a touch of sarcasm in his uncharacteristically dynamic voice, "Just what do you suggest I do?"

"Nothing."

"…excuse me?"

"You heard me," The older vampire responded simply, "Do nothing."

He was at a loss.

"But…how…I mean…"

"Marcus," A feminine voice called from the doorway. Athenadora walked toward her husband where he lay across the arms of a chair in the conference room, "Trust Caius. He knows a thing or two on how to handle pissed off women."

Caius smiled up at his wife who, in return, bent over and kissed his forehead. One of his hands continued to flip through the file that rested against his elevated legs as the other wrapped protectively around Annie's smaller one. Marcus watched the easy, second-nature interaction with a minute jealousy. He wanted that. He wanted a love that came naturally.

"I still don't understand how doing nothing is going to make anything better." He said with a stubborn bite in his tone.

"You've done too much," Wifey answered, "And you've pissed her off. Anything more you do at this point will just be lost in that rage. You could buy her a goddamned island and she wouldn't care."

"She must work through her emotions on her own time," Hubby picked up, "the more time she has away from the source of her anger –you- the quicker she'll work it out."

The dark-haired vampire glowered at the idea of sitting back and letting his Ana suffer, but the point was solid. He had done the damage, he had tried to fix it, and he had failed. There was nothing he could do, now, expect let it be and hope that centuries of her silent and self-soothing sorrow weren't to be wasted in the most needed time.

The enormous library was silent, only the steady beating of a young heart and the creaking of an old ladder rang through the impressively large storage room.

Agatha replaced an old book and climbed up higher, trying to ignore the dizzying heights she was reaching in her search for answers. Three books- of varying sizes and age- already rested at the table where she had set up. She needed just one more. Just one topic was left unaccounted for.

As she reached the top shelf, nearly 30 feet off of the ground, her eyes scanned the faded titles on the worn bindings. Her desired topic was obviously taboo, even in this library. She tried to not consider what this "Freegard case" could encompass that could possibly be so offensive as to be denied a place among documentations of genocide, pedophilia and dark arts. Assumptions would only end badly. She wanted the truth, the untainted truth. What is the Freegard case?

The books went on endlessly. Among the title- most of which were symbols and letters that clearly dated back to ancient times- was a blank binding- a small, dark brown book with multiple layers of dust (a rarity in the rather pristine library). With all of the secrecy and negative reactions to the topic she was investigating, one could only suppose that this book held her answers.

Using a delicate grasp, she slid the worn literature from its snug place among the larger peers and began her decent from the mile-high ladder. Her sock-covered feet planted themselves carefully on each rung, the slippery fabric sending her into a mini heart attack each time her foot slid.

Finally, sock met carpet and Agatha basked in momentary relief before scurrying to her claimed table. She took her seat and opened the book, quickly scanning through the first few pages, looking for one word.

"...-…-…..-….-…Dr. Freegard…."

Yes!

She smiled triumphantly and bounced in her seat, thrilled at her find. Freegard! She'd found it! Freegards, Freegards, Freegards!

"So you found it."

Her celebration stopped at the sound of woman's voice behind her.

The young witch turned and watched as an older vampire's red eyes roamed over the selection of books on the table. A pale hand ran through light-red hair as a light chuckle left parted lips.

"You just do not like being in the dark, huh?" she asked, "A Brief History of Supernatural Leaders, Collegium Cases and Rulings- updated September of 1998, oh, and what's that?" The red-haired vampire reached over the teenage girl and picked up the title-less book, quickly reading through the opened pages.

"Ah, yes," She acknowledged solemnly, handing the book back to the confused and aggravated girl, "A terrible situation. Tread carefully, child. Questioning such a delicate topic could elicit less-than-pleasant reactions from a few of the tower's residents."

The girl cocked an eyebrow and grabbed her notebook, scribbling down one of the many phrases she modeled her life after.

"Ignorance is not bliss. It's oblivion."

A musical laugh left the woman's lips as she handed back the notebook.

"A breath of fresh air, you are, dear child." She congratulated with a smile as she began to walk away, "May you find your answers."

Agatha watched in a judging confusion as the strange woman disappeared among the shelves and books.

May she find her answers.

You're damned right; she's going to find her answers.

Her attention returned to the small, leather-bound book on the table. Her eyes began to scan over the words, the focal point being Dr. Freegard.

'The village council wishes to meet with Dr. and Mrs. Freegard. They have brought in a priest from the main city. Whispers have been given of desires to preform exorcisms on the small children. Exorcisms on children not yet through their seventh year. May whatever holy power there is be with these two- these Jane and Alec Freegard- fore it is the only way they may ever see their eighth year.'

Agatha paused her reading. This couldn't end well…

Two and a half hours later, she looked down the intimidating corridor, eyes scanning the dark walls and doors.

She had wanted to find Alec, "talk" to him after reading through the book. While wandering through the immensely large Italian castle, she had found her way to what appeared to be an assistant. After a fun game of charades (the remarkably air-headed woman didn't know sign language like everyone else in this place seemed to), she had eventually told Agatha where Alec's room was. Up a couple of stairs, down a few halls and now she was here. Fifth door on the left. It was that easy. One two three four five. She knew where to go, so why wasn't she going?

Simple. Because she was useless. What the hell was she going to do to try and fix something that happened centuries ago? She wasn't emotional and she wasn't a mind reader, so how was she supposed to know what to say, what to do? Just stand here and stare down the hall, waiting for some empathy epiphany? Was it even her place to bring such a terrible memory to light? Jane's reaction was bad enough, God only knows what Alec would do. She liked Alec, and she didn't want to make him hate her.

And he probably would hate her. She dug around in his personal life without his permission and she was, in a sense, making him relive what was bound to be one of his worst memories. Those were grounds for hatred, right?

Yes, from what she had gathered from the media's portrayal of life, those are grounds for hatred. The mission has been deemed too dangerous. Abort. Abort.

She turned around and began to walk away when Alec walked out from a conjoined hall.

"Agatha?" He said to the passing girl, "Is everything alright?"

The shocked almost-thirteen-year old turned to face him. Her mind kept racing with images of him burning, of his sister screaming while their parents watched on, of him yelling at her for snooping through his past and betrayal of an expected trust. No, everything wasn't alright.

Is everything alright?

She nodded, deciding that it was better to leave her findings alone. It happened a really long time ago. Like, a really long time ago. It's water under the bridge.

She tried to walk past him, but his cold hand caught her arm.

"Agatha," he said sternly, his purplish red eyes boring into her silver ones. She looked away, but the intensity of his gaze didn't lessen. Her resolve was quivering. She tried to reclaim her arm, but he was having none of it.

His eyes were burning holes in the back of her head. She tried to ignore it, but he was too good. This game of chicken was going to end with her in the fryer.

All resolve was broken when the vampire boy leaned over and kissed her pale cheek. The feel of his icy lips sent a shock a pleasure through her, sending a soft smile to her full lips. Her few collected tears began to fall from her watery eyes. Alec wasn't having that, lightly brushing away the stray tears.

Aggie turned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and borrowing her face into his suit jacket. Alec smiled to himself and returned her desperate hug delicately. He knew that she knew. There was no way she wouldn't have figure it out- she didn't seem to be the type to let questions fester. She was always going to find her answers, and he was never going to stop. To stop her would be to change her, and thinking about the young woman in his arms now- sympathetic for his pain and undoubtedly worried for his reaction-he knew he would never want to change her.

A/N2:

"When I was younger I saw, my daddy cry, and curse at the wind.
He broke his own heart and I watched, as he tried to reassemble it.
And my momma swore that she would, never let herself forget.
And that was the day that I promised, I'd never sing of love, if it does not exist.
But darling, you are the only exception."

-The Only Exception by Paramore

(Marcus and Laviana are the dad and mom, in case you didn't catch that...)

Again, really sorry with how long this took. Real life got its grimy little hands on the steering wheel of my mind for a while there. Apologies.