A few things change in exactly how it all runs, compared to the movies and books, so deal with it. I had to change stuff since Freedom is there.

I hung around the house for a few days, not doing much. I watched the pack in their wolf forms whenever they were close by. I couldn't convince Jake, but Sam was willing to teach me the basics in fighting. He was surprised as me that my instincts were useful and more clear.

Eventually I got a call from Alice about shopping. We went to a mall and found appropriate attire with Rose. Alice said I didn't necessarily have to have something too fancy, so I got this. (.com/cgi/set?id=34273603 )

I was decked out in that when I arrived on the Cullen steps. Jake, Quil, and Embry were with me, since the latter two didn't trust the vampires. I hugged Jake and he went off to give Bella a graduation gift. I danced in the crowd, enjoying the music. I saw Emmett smile at Mike over the food table. The lights gave him an eerie glow. Mike looked panicked and stepped back.

Not too long into it, I noticed most of the Cullen's gone. I saw Carlisle go into a back room and followed. Jake was back there too. Alice and Bella were explaining what was going on. I stayed in the corner, absorbing it all.

"At least we'll get to kill some vampires," Jake said in the end.

I went over to him and he put an arm around me.

"What time should we show up?" he asked.

"What time's too late for you?"

Jake responded with rolling his eyes.

"3 AM," Jasper then decided. "You can follow our scent."

"I'm coming too," I decided afterward.

"Not a chance," Jake growled, protectively, not angrily.

"I can fight," I argued, "I can take vampires. And Sam says I'm a pretty good fighter when it comes to instincts."

"I'm not letting you anywhere near this fight. You could get hurt."

"So could you," I retorted.

"I'll heal fast."

"So can I," was my comeback.

He had no reason to not let me. He sighed in defeat. Alice peered in.

"So you're coming too?" she inquired to me.

"Yeah."

"I'll inform the others." She nodded and disappeared again.

"Freedom," Jake pleaded, and it practically hurt to hear it. "I can't bear if you get hurt. Please, stay back."

"The newborns are a danger to everyone. I have to help." I answered. "Jake, let me do this."

"You know I can't say no to you," he murmured, "But, please."

"When are we leaving?" I asked.

"Probably 3, like he said."

"I'll be ready. I can handle it."

It was much easier for me to see in the woods than before. Jake insisted he carry me, so I had my hands twisted in his fur for a grip. His fur was really soft. He'd insisted in case I couldn't keep up, but I had a feeling I could outrun him if the situation demanded it. We reached the edge of the woods by the field and slowed to a walk.

We exited the trees and I heard Bella gasp she saw ten wolves appear. I smiled slightly at the reaction. Even the vampires had looked surprised at first. I climbed down from Jake's back and hugged his neck. I gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as we went to stand by the pack.

Carlisle, after Edward explained why the pack was in wolf-form, stepped forward.

"We're glad you came," he motioned to Jasper, who came to his side. "This is Jasper. He has the most experience with fighting newborns."

Jasper looked uncomfortable as Carlisle backed away to stand by Esme and leave him in front of the wolves.

"Carlisle is right," Jasper said, Southern voice seeming more obvious now. "And newborns are not to be joked at. They are stronger and faster than us; a lot stronger, since their own blood still remains in their tissue. But they aren't skilled fighters. They'll be direct and obvious." Jasper waved Emmett forward. "Emmett is the best example of a newborn attack."

"I'll try not to break anything," Emmett chuckled sarcastically, running at Jasper.

I watched the "fight" in wonder and curiosity. Their technique was different than I'd thought. Jasper was using skill and planning to safely evade Emmett, who was using brute force. I absorbed this, and everything I could note, before Jasper had his teeth to Emmett's neck. Emmett swore in irritation.

Jasper rotated through his entire family for the first two hours. I noted the fighting patterns that differed, so I could be prepared for other styles. It was the most interesting when Edward and Jasper fought. Neither was winning, since Jasper had technique, and Edward had Jasper's thoughts. They ended up on a draw.

The different Cullens broke up to fight each other and Jasper came over to me. Jake and a few other wolves growled, but I put a hand on the side of Jake's furry face to calm him.

"Freedom," Jasper waved me over, understandably not wanting to be too close to the wolves.

"Jasper," I greeted.

"Do you have any fighting experience?" he asked, "With your new strengths and all?"

"I've been practicing with Sam," I brought up, "But other than that, I haven't had the chance."

"You're going to need experience with newborn fighting for Saturday," Jasper mused.

Jake growled a warning that, though not actually words, was pretty clear. I ignored it.

"Who'll I need to practice with?" I inquired.

"Well, we need to know exactly how fast you heal." He explained, "In case you do end up bleeding. You're blood, though not exactly pure human, still attracts vampires. Though it will distract the vampires, making it easier to pick them off, it would put you in more danger. Actually," he paused, calculating, "Your presence alone may set them off."

"If it'll make it easier to get rid of them," I said solemnly, "What should I do?"

"Just make sure to stay in the middle of things. It'll distract the newborns enough. Also, if you learn to fight them, numbers will deplete faster. Come practice with Emmett so you learn technique first hand."

Jake took steps forward, teeth bared. The other wolves were attracted to this, and all growled loudly. Paul especially, not because he favored me, but because he trusted them the least out of the wolves. I went over to him to make them stop.

"It's fine, Jake," I murmured. "It's gonna help me. Just stay calm."

Jake didn't move back, but he stopped bristling. Jasper waved Emmett over.

"Want a rematch, Jazz?" he asked.

"No, I need you to fight Freedom. She hasn't fought vampires before and needs practice. I need to see how much she already knows."

"Excellent," Emmett smiled teasingly at me. He was at complete ease, which helped me stay calm, or maybe that was just Jasper.

Emmett walked away, then turned to face me from about fifty feet away. Jasper stood off to the side to observe. Emmett started running at me. I tensed for a fraction of a second, doubting myself. Then he was right in front of me. I flipped over his shoulder and kicked him in the back. He hit the ground and rolled over. Then he was running again. I dodged a few fists, then slipped around behind him as he reached for me. He spun and I slid the other way around again.

One hand clipped my shoulder and I flipped through the air from the force. I landed crouched down, balanced with one hand on the ground. I heard the wolves in the back of my mind, and realized that the blow should've probably hurt, all of this within a second. Emmett was in front of me again. I blocked his swinging arm, grabbed his shoulder, and swung around to his back. I had a hand under his chin, ready to behead him, and stopped.

All of this had gone on for a matter of minutes, if not less. The other vampires and all the wolves were watching. Emmett laughed as I released my hold. He held out a hand, which I was slow to shake.

"Nice," he complimented, with another booming laugh.

Rose came over to him and they started talking as I turned to Jasper. He had a small, almost unnoticeable smile. I saw the wolves leaving as I turned for his response.

"Emmett doesn't usually react to losing like that," he commented.

"How did I do?" I inquired.

"It would've been a little to repetitive for a seasoned fighter," Jasper explained, "But for newborns, you did well. I'm still not one hundred percent sure your strength would be able to dismember a vampire, though."

"If I can't, I'll just lead them to one of you guys or a wolf," I answered.

"Good," Jasper approved.

I turned to find Jake, but I didn't see him. I was about to get worried, but then he came out of the woods in his human form. He hugged me, kissed my head, and wrapped an arm around my waist. I heard Bella argue with Edward about helping, since I was. I walked over, Jake still close to me.

"She's not completely human," Edward reasoned, about me probably.

"Jasper said her blood would be enough to distract them, that's human enough," Bella argued, pouting.

"Can't Bella just walk through the field or something before they get here?" I suggested in confusion. "That way she can participate like she wants without getting hurt?" I covered Jake's mouth as he went to speak, knowing it was about me doing the same. "I mean, if they are after her, that'll distract them. She could walk around the woods nearby, like a trail."

"And then when she's finished, the newborns would follow her trail back to Forks," Jake and Edward said in unison, then grimaced at each other, but Bella perked up.

"Couldn't a wolf smudge up the scent?" I added, "Since they smell so bad to you guys."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Edward murmured. "But if a wolf followed her to cover the scent, there's a chance they'd make a mistake."

Jake grumbled about this, but I thought it over.

"A wolf could carry her, right?" I suggested.

"That might work," Edward mused picking through the description in my mind. "Jacob?"

"I guess I'm okay with trying," Jake shrugged.

Edward nodded, then looked over his shoulder, "Jasper, come over here."

Jasper came over and Edward turned back to Jake. He quickly explained our plan to the other vampire. Edward nodded to Jake, who swept Bella up off her feet. She squealed in surprise and Jake rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Bella, relax."

Jake smiled at me before turning to run off into the woods. I watched him until he disappeared behind the trees. My mind flashed back to when he'd found me and had carried me through the woods. Back before I knew what he was, and that there was a reason I loved him so much. I smiled to myself. My life had changed so much when we ran into each other. I could still hear the hunters' voices when I'd escaped, yelling and threatening.

Jake was back with us minutes later. He put Bella down six feet from Edward, and she quickly went over to his side. Edward glanced to Jasper who darted off into the woods where Jake had gone, crouched like an animal. While we waited for him to come back, I bent down to pick up a chunk of rock from at my feet. I turned it in my hands for a moment before tightening my grip half as hard as I could. The rock shattered. I dumped the remains of it on the ground and dusted off my hands.

Bella was staring wide eyed at me.

"You're as strong as a vampire," she commented in awe.

"Or a werewolf," Jake responded gruffly.

I elbowed him before he made another rude comment. He rubbed his stomach where I'd hit him. Oops, my bad. Either way, he didn't say another word about it. Carlisle and Emmett fighting caught our attention. Carlisle was winning, clearly. Emmett would get the upper hand based on his strength for a millisecond, but Carlisle would skillfully turn the tables each time.

I watched carefully, learning their techniques. I saw Edward watch me from my peripheral vision, and then he saw that I saw him and looked back at Bella. Carlisle knocked Emmett to the ground and put a hand on his chest to stop him from getting up. Rosalie laughed and he jumped to his feet as Jasper came back into the clearing.

I heard Rosalie make a comment about Emmett "practicing" with Jake before turning my focus to Jasper. I didn't have a chance to calm before baring my teeth on instinct with my temper. Carlisle chastened Rose to stop, having noticed.

"I almost missed it completely," Jasper informed, pulling my attention back to him, "I can't imagine one of them getting close enough to the ground to search for her scent. It was nearly completely masked. Good idea, Freedom."

I nodded acknowledgement, but was caught in a yawn. I covered my mouth as I yawned. Jake raised an eyebrow at me.

"Shut up," I mumbled.

"I didn't say anything," he replied innocently.

"You were thinking something," I replied. "Wasn't he, Edward?"

"Yes," Edward answered.

"Ha," I stuck my tongue out at Jake.

"Oh, you're gonna get it," Jake threatened teasingly.

He took a swipe towards me, but I backed just out of his reach a second before, leaving him to grasp nothing but air. I grinned. He jumped towards me, and I took off towards the other side of the meadow. I was there in a second. I had enough time to turn on my heel and see him running after me. I ran forward and flipped over his head. He spun around to me, but I was already running away. I quickly zipped back to the vampires. I stopped on a dime beside Alice.

Jake came back, shaking his head with a smile. I picked up a small rock to examine it and use the chance to ignore Bella's stares.

There was a bird shriek over head. I looked up at the bird, easily seeing that it was a crow. I pulled back my arm and chucked the rock into the air at it. There was a squawk as I narrowly missed it. The bird made a funny movement, regaining control from the scare, and continued flying. I giggled.

"You missed," Emmett commented, coming over.

"Well I didn't want to kill it," I replied, "That would have been mean. What did that bird ever do to me?"

"You're gonna have to learn to kill things without them doing anything to you specifically," Rosalie said. "The newborns are coming to kill; you need to fight back."

The comment completely ruined my mood. I knew I was going to be killing things, but it hadn't really felt like a big deal. The newborns weren't people, they were murderers. They were like the "people" back at the lab. But they had been humans once. All of them. They hadn't always been killers. It was just how they learned to survive. Most of them were innocent, just confused, right? They could be convinced, not killed.

"They won't be convinced," Edward spoke, bringing me back to the meadow. "They will only want blood. They won't have a rational thought on the subject."

The others around us looked grave, but didn't dispute the fact.

Another thought, a completely different situation.

"Alice, since the people hunting me are technically humans, can you tell whether anymore are coming for me?" I asked, looking over at the smallest vampire.

"I was going to talk to you about that," she said. "I looked into that part of your future after our encounter in the woods. I see more coming, but not within the next few weeks. Unless they change their minds, you won't have an issue with it for a month."

"That's good," I mumbled to myself. "It'd be nice if they came and accidentally came across the newborns, though."

It was harsh, I admit, but true in my mind. Carlisle and Esme looked sad that I'd come to that conclusion. The other vampires didn't show much, but looked okay with it. Jake was holding me around the waist, so I couldn't see his face. I yawned again despite myself and it caught me before I could stop it.

"We'll go then," Jake decided.

"We can make more complete decisions later," Edward agreed, seeing Bella sway. "It won't take too long anyway."

"If it won't take long, then you can just decide now," I urged, "I can stay awake."

"Me too," Bella said.

But we both yawned in unison a second later. The vampires all smiled in amusement. Emmett laughed aloud.

"I don't think they're gonna believe that," he chuckled.

I tried to think of a solution. I supposed I didn't have to know, but it would be quicker for them to plan now. I could always run Bella home anyway so they'd have time now. I was strong enough, fast enough-

"That might work," Edward admitted.

Everyone looked curious, myself included.

"Freedom could run Bella home," he explained. "That way we can get this covered now, and they'll get to bed."

Bella looked about to argue, but I shrugged. She sighed, yawned and came over to me.

"Do you know the way, and how to get through a second story window?" Bella asked.

"Easy," I replied. I could trace the scent back to her house, and climb the wall or a near tree.

She looked over at Edward, hoping he'd change his mind and let her stay, but he shook his head. I took her arm and pulled her onto my back. There was a wave from Edward, a smile from Jake, and I heard Bella take a deep breath. I bolted towards Bella's house, trailing Edward's scent.

I got there in under a minute. I scanned the wall the second I reached the tree line, pinpointing a way up. There was a tree right next to the window, too easy. I jumped halfway up the tree, after making sure Bella was secure, and scaled it to the window. I bounced over, clinging to the sill, and slid the window open again. I helped Bella in, still perched on the outside. She got in with minimal struggle.

Turning around when she'd gained her balance, she peered through the window at me. I let go one hand to give her a brief wave and dropped. I landed, bending my knees slightly, perfectly. Bella had a hand on her mouth to stop a loud gasp or scream in fright. I couldn't help but smile. I gave her a small salute and darted towards the trees.

"Wait, Freedom," she whispered loudly.

I stopped a few feet from the woods to turn back to her. She waved for me to come back. I darted back and slipped up the tree.

"Are you going back to the field to listen?" she asked suspiciously.

"They're probably already done discussing it," I commented. "They talk fast."

"How come they're letting you help, but not me. You could still get hurt," Bella said.

I shrugged, "I'm not a delicate as I was."

"I'll be like that once I'm a vampire," she said.

"You want to get rid of your humanity so quickly?" I said softly.

"I won't miss anything, and I won't be as clumsy, and I can spend forever with Edward," she listed.

"I guess you have good reasons," I said, "But don't be too quick on the subject. You never know what you've got until it's gone. Live a little. I never had the chance."

"How long have you been like that?" she asked finally.

I got bored of hanging on the wall, so I jumped back to sit on the tree branch level with the window.

"For as long as I remember," I admitted. "I haven't known any normal life."

"Like Alice," Bella likened. "She doesn't remember being human either."

"I guess I'm fine with this," I allowed, "It's pretty thrilling, but it would have been nice to live a proper life. One not stuck in a cage or strapped to a table. Or," I added to distract from my other reasons, "Afraid that someone would notice that I'm different."

I heard a soft whooshing behind me and not a moment later, I saw Edward run from the forest. I stood on my branch as I saw him.

"Bella, back up," I said.

She did as told and Edward darted through the window. He was beside her before she realized.

"Thank you, Freedom," Edward said calmly. "Everything is sorted. Jacob will explain."

I took the short sentences and little explanation as a hint to leave.

"It was nice talking to you, Bella," I spoke before I turned on my heel and walked off the edge of the branch. Bella gasped overhead and I ran swiftly into the trees.

I trailed the scents, though they overlapped, until I found the freshest wolf scent. I followed it back to the rez. Jake was standing in the grass in front of the house waiting for me. I ran over the second I saw him. He saw me too, in time to catch me and spin me around.

I pressed my mouth firmly against his, with strong, happy emotion. He scooped me up in his arms and I didn't complain as we, well he, walked into the house. I heard groans from the wolf pack that were inside, but ignored them.

"You'll have to tell me the battle plan eventually," I murmured between kisses.

"Tomorrow," he promised, planting kisses across my jaw and back to my lips.

"I guess I can wait," I decided with a small smile.

"Well we can't," Paul interrupted. "What did you and the bloodsuckers—" Paul saw my glare in his direction, "—Cullens, decided."

Jake steered us towards the couch and sat me on his lap while describing the plan to everyone. He was needed to take Bella up the mountain, something about her being a part of this. She would have already set the trail. It would split up the newborns so they'd come to the field at different times, giving the vampires time to take off one group and then the wolves help end the last piece. I would come with the wolves, though Jake would've preferred I'd stayed up with Bella out of danger.

"No way, I'm not being left out of this," I said during his pause and a few others, mainly Paul, laughed at my determination.

"Seth is going to stay up with Bella and the Cullen," Jake then said.

"Aww," Seth pouted, "Why can't I be a part of this?"

"We need the connection to them," Jake explained. "So they'll know what's going on."

Seth continued pouting as Jake continued.

"I'm taking Bella up the mountain Friday so she'll be out of harm's way by Saturday when this goes down. Any questions?"

There were none. Everyone was clear on what they had to do and left within a few minutes. Jake picked me up, though I complained, and dropped me on the bed. I giggled unintentionally. I bounced onto my knees so I could crush my mouth to his once more. I sat back on the bed and crawled under the covers.

"Goodnight, Freedom," he whispered going back to the door. "Rest up. I have to go run; it's my turn tonight. See you in the morning."

He turned off the light and closed the door quietly. I ran through everything in my head, praying it turned out okay, and shut my eyes.

It's been forever and you're probably tired of it, but I'm slowly losing the ideas I had. Maybe they'll come back if I get enough reviews (hint hint)