Disclaimer- I would love to claim myself to be Stephanie Meyer, alas, I am not, but the following work is all mine!

Annoying Author's Note – So, I have successfully avoided the angry mob and pitch fork scenario for my incredibly long absence. Other than, I am really, REALLY sorry I have been gone for so long, I don't have a good excuse. I do have a somewhat, though, not all-encompassing, excuse. First, I have met the most amazing man. We talk constantly – and by constantly I mean, about the only time we are not in contact is while we are asleep. Second, I have been out of the country, in CANADA where I will be moving after the New Year. Third, I ended up staying for three weeks instead of three days in Canada with before mentioned amazing man. I know – wow. Like I said, not a good excuse, but the only one I have, well, that and some annoying writer's block. If any one has a muse they'd like to share with me, I'd be forever grateful!

Recap:

Soon, both Emmett and Rose were headed back to the car and as we all got in and headed back home, I leaned forward and began to tell them the plan.

EPOV

"So, let me get this straight," Rose turned around and said to me. "You and Alice say that Phil, her step-father, is "in" Bella's head but taking up all of the room in there and if he weren't you'd be able to hear her like you do the rest of us?"

"And you are going to get into his head by way of Bella and what, exactly? Try to make him see reason? I don't understand Ed." Emmett stated, his eyes never leaving the road. I could see the concern and frustration and the hatred for Phil in Emmett's features. I didn't need Jasper around for that today.

"Once I'm in his head, I can force him out of Bella's." I began.

"And just how do you plan to do that exactly. The guy is IN her head, causing her immense pain and has spread himself through out her mind like a virus. Just HOW are you going to force him back out?" Rosalie asked in complete indignation.

"To start, I'm going to try to help Bella do it herself by being inside of his head. He will feel all of the pain he is causing her, much the way I felt it when I was in his head earlier. He's not focusing on the pain he's inflicting, he's concentrating on inflicting that pain. I think that's why he doesn't feel it. I was focusing on the pain she was in, that's why I did feel it. It is just a theory, but that is all I have…for now anyway.

After Bella and I force him to back out of her mind, I'm going to take over and "fill up" her mind the way he had previously in order to prevent him from being able to come back. Alice thinks this is only one phase of what he has planned for Bella, and based on what she's seen he will back off and stay gone from her mind once he realizes this avenue is closed to him." I explained.

The rest of the ride home was spent in relative quiet. Emmett and Rosalie asked minor technical questions, mostly trying to ease their own minds that neither Bella nor I would be lost in this process.

Soon enough we were pulling up the long drive to the house. Rose was out the door and into the house before Emmett even had a chance to put the car in park.

As I was turning to open the door, Emmett reached between the seats and grabbed my arm.

"Ed, before we go in. Tell me you are positive this will work and that we will not lose you or Bella in the process. Rose, she…we, we can't, we won't be able to stand it." Emmett asked me, his eyes begging me to tell him that everything would be fine.

"Emmett, there is a chance, but Alice has already seen, this is going to work." I replied as compassionately as I could. I was in a hurry to get back to Bella. "And Emmett," I smiled, "we don't bet against Alice, do we?"

"No," he sighed, "we don't."

"Good, now let's get in there before Rose smothers Bella to death in hugs." I chuckled.

"Right." He answered me absentmindedly, his thoughts already racing ahead to the different possible outcomes to the night.

Before heading inside, I stopped Emmett with my hand on his shoulder.

"Emmett, everything is going to work out. Bella is stronger than she realizes."

"I know, but things can happen, unpredictable things. Those are what I'm worried about."

I patted his shoulder in a brotherly fashion before heading through the front door.

Once inside, we headed for the rarely used dining room. Rosalie was nowhere to be seen as I scanned the room. I had been steeling myself for what had to be told next. I was barely able to stand what had happened to Bella when I was seeing her and Phil's memories and now I would have to sit with my family and replay it all for them again.

"I'll do what I can to keep you calm Edward." Jasper pulled me from my thoughts.

"What? I'm sorry Jasper. I wasn't paying attention, what did you say?" I asked him.

"You are worried, and scared. I'll do my best to keep you calm so you can make it through telling us what you saw."

"Thank you. I am going to need it, and so is every one else. You may need to pay particular attention to Rose, Emmett and Carlisle. Besides myself, they, feel the most protective of Bella."

"I know. I'm on my way up to get Rosalie for this meeting. I'm glad you are feeling better. When you left, you were barely able to stand." He said to me on his way up the stairs.

Jasper's thoughts had already trailed off to how he would be able to keep every one calm, devising strategies and contingencies as only he was capable, as I turned and headed into the dining room to take my seat at the rarely used table. Esme had placed another chair at the table when Bella first joined us so that we could all sit down for meals together, although, Bella was the only one who actually ate, it did feel good to have every one sit together and talk. Bella, at first, was self conscious having every one around while she ate, but as we overcame our fascination with watching her eat, and began speaking and looking at each other instead, she became less self conscious and would also join in the conversation on occasion.

"What are you chuckling about?" Rosalie asked as she sullenly walked into the room.

"I'm just remembering how self conscious Bella used to get when we all would sit around this table while she ate."

"At least she finally got over it though." Emmett added.

"With just a little help." Alice chuckled.

Every one turned to look at Jasper who shrugged and took his seat. Carlisle entered next and stood behind his seat, looking each of us in the eye for a moment before taking his seat solemnly.

"We all know why we are here." He started. Turning to look at me he added, "And we are also aware that whatever is happening to Bella is linked to her past. Edward, I think it's time for you to share with the rest of us what you experienced."

All eyes turned to me and suddenly, I began to wonder if this was how Bella used to feel while she was eating. "I you sure you all want to hear this?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter if we want to hear this. We need to know Edward." Esme said. "We need to know what happened to Bella. It will help us in the long run. It may hurt us to hear, but this will help. We'll be better able to help her heal, and we'll be better able to understand if she ever decides to talk about it with any of us."

"Alright then." I said, and I began to relay all that I had seen while I was trapped in Bella's mind. I told them all I could of the circumstances of her mother's death, of Phil and Charlie, and of how Bella had come to live in Forks and then to live with us.

I had to pause often as every one's emotions grew more and more upsetting. Jasper, barely containing his own emotions, was having a very difficult time keeping every one else in control.

After two hours, everything that needed to be said, was. Carlisle angrily pushed his chair away from the table, the chair clattering to the floor. He began walking out of the room when Esme called him back.

"Carlisle wait." Esme called to him.

Carlisle stopped in the doorway, clenching and unclenching his fists, his shoulders tense. He turned around slowly and for the first time since I have known him, his eyes were as black as onyx. He was not forming any complete or coherent thoughts.

"What is the next step?" Esme asked when she was certain Carlisle would not do anything rash.

"First, all of you need to go and hunt." Emmett replied.

"Once we get back, Edward and Jasper are going to help Bella and Carlisle will attend to her injuries. After that, we all help her in any way we can, or that she will allow us."

"What do you mean, Alice?" Esme asked.

"Well, she's going to be…difficult, at first. She'll be more concerned with keeping us safe then with her own recovery, and in her mind, that will mean attempting to keep us away."

"We will NOT allow for that!" Carlisle yelled.

"No, we won't. She will just have to get used to us being around. I will NOT leave her side until she is able to live a normal life!" Rosalie exclaimed.

"She will not be left alone for any period of time. Some one will be with her to help her bathe, food will need to be prepared for her, she will need physical therapy, and some one to talk to. She will need people around her to take her mind off of things, and to help her get caught up with schoolwork. She needs a friend and a family and we will be both for her." Carlisle declared.

"We already are all of those things to and for her, Carlisle." I said quietly. "We will continue to be her friends and her family no matter what, just as we have remained friend and family to each other through the years."

"Let's get going." Jasper said softly. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get back and be able to help Bella. Carlisle, how long will that sedative last that you gave to Bella?"

"I'm going to give her another one in a moment, then we'll head out." He replied, then turned and headed up to Bella's room.

"I've never seen him so angry or murderous." Alice whispered.

"Because Carlisle is the most compassionate and forgiving person on the face of the planet. But even the most compassionate and forgiving person would feel the way he does when a member of his family is in danger and has some one with a malicious intent after them." Jasper explained.

No one spoke again as every one drifted to the living room to wait for Carlisle to return so he, Esme, Jasper and Alice could go and hunt.

"Would you mind giving me a moment before you come up?" I asked Emmett and Rosalie.

"Sure Ed." Emmett replied.

"Why?" Rosalie asked me.

"I want a private word with Carlisle before he leaves. I just want to make sure that he'll be able to be clear headed when he comes back." I answered.

They both nodded to me as I backed out of the room and began heading up the stairs.

I ascended quickly and headed to Bella's room. I found Carlisle sitting on the edge of her bed holding her hand and stroking the hair on her forehead. I did not wish to intrude on his moment with his surrogate daughter so I stood back and tuned into his thoughts. I had never known a moment when I felt myself concerned for Carlisle, but in this moment, I had never been more concerned for any one.

'I'll make sure that whoever is doing this to you will never be able to hurt you again. I swear it Bella. From the moment I met you, I knew that you were some one special. I knew you would be a member of this family. It did not hurt that Alice had seen you would be with us once we had met you. Still though. We will get you back, and we will keep you safe. Once this is over, we will make you safe.'

'You can come in now Edward.'

"I apologize. I didn't wish to intrude."

"No, I apologize. I lost my head earlier. I honestly do not know what came over me. I have never felt this protective of some one before, not even for any of you."

"That is understandable Carlisle. We would be able to protect ourselves, even from some one who would be able to get to us in the fashion that they are hurting Bella, we wouldn't be as vulnerable as Bella is. She is human, she bleeds, she heals much more slowly, her bones can break so easily. Even for a human she is weaker than most because of all that she has been put through."

"Even still, it is no excuse for my earlier behavior, and I apologize. As head of this family, I…"

"As head of this family, it is good to know that you are capable of being protective of the members of this family. We all recognize that Carlisle. While none of us has ever seen you respond to anything in the manner you did earlier, it is good to know that we are not the only ones so sickened by what has occurred. Sickened and pushed to the point of murderous intents. If I were capable, I would rip the head off of the person who's doing this to her while I'm inside of his mind."

Carlisle gently placed Bella's hand down on the bed, brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and kissed her forehead lightly. He then rose and picked up a syringe from a tray by her bed and injected the liquid into the IV tube.

"It's a sedative. It will keep her in the state she in long enough for us to get a hunt in and get back and prepare."

Carlisle moved to leave the room and paused as he passed by me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Every one keeps asking you to assure them that everything is going to be alright. It will be Edward. I know how you feel for her, I can see it in the way that you watch her when you think she is not looking. She completes you in ways that I never thought possible."

"I do not know what I will do if this does not work Carlisle. I always thought I was complete, until I met Bella that is. I did not think I needed anything or any one else other than this family. If we lose her, if I lose her, I don't think I will recover."

"Then we will not lose her. Besides, we do not bet against Alice, do we?" Carlisle chuckled humorlessly as he used my own words from earlier.

"No, we do not." I replied.

"It's time to go. We will be back in under three hours. She should sleep calmly, she has so far."

And then he walked out of the room and down the stair. I took his place on the bed holding Bella's hand and stroking her hair. From down stairs I could hear the front door open and close softly as the others left for their hunt.

Emmett and Rosalie came in quietly. Emmett stopped by Bella's bed and touched her free hand making a silent vow to do everything within his power to protect her from further harm, then made his way to the love seat by the window. Rosalie sat behind me on the bed and put her hand on Bella's thigh making the same silent vow as her husband had just moments earlier. Then she placed her arms around me, hugging me from behind. I placed my free hand over her arms and leaned my head back to rest on her shoulder.

"Everything will be fine Rose. I swear it. Alice has seen it, I believe it, now you have to as well." I said to her softly.

"I do Edward, I do. Just seeing her like this, seeing you, it's just so…"

"I know, but we'll all pull through, you'll see."

"Come here Rose. Edward needs the time to prepare." Emmett said from the window.

Rosalie gave one more squeeze and then went to Emmett, who held her in his firm embrace. I took the moment to silently thank him and watched him give an imperceptible nod of his head.

Turning my head back to Bella, I contemplated the merits of beginning before every one returned and found myself coming up empty. I would have to wait, for Alice and Jasper, for Carlisle. Without them, everything we would be trying would fail, and I knew it. For the moment, the only thing to do was to prepare my mind to attune myself to Bella as best as I could. So, that is what I did. After the others return, that would be when the real work, and the most danger, would begin.