Author's note: Well, I'm not dead! (Whatever gave you that impression?) On a good note, I got my driving permit today, and the new Sims 3 game that came out. Island paradise! Wooh!

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I don't own Twilight, blah blah blah, what is this Twilight you speak of?

Come on baby there's some things you oughta know,

I've looked up how this love turns out and where it's going to go,

Don't tell me that I'm different or that you could try to show me,

Other ways to go about it I already know

(Stefan's pov)

"Stefan, I do believe you may be going over the speed limit."

Stefan's hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, his eyes looking straight ahead on the road with his lips in a thin line. Maria sat next to him, her hands crossed neatly in her lap. "Stefan," she started again. "Calm down, I'm pretty sure they haven't killed them yet."

"You don't know that."

She sighed. "You're right, I don't."

He turned back to the task ahead of him. The road was icier now, since snow had fallen earlier that day. The entire road had at least several dozen flakes stuck to the ground. He growled, seeing as the drive was taking forever. "Do we even know where we're going?"

Maria nodded, looking at her phone. "They're in a cabin somewhere in the mountains. We're going to have to hike."

"Joy."

She eyed him. "Good thing we brought our hiking boots," she picked up her phone, her fingers moving against the screen. "You remembered to bring first aid equipment, right? Who knows what's going on in there."

Stefan nodded, parking Maria's car on the side of the road. "I remembered," he said as they got out, opening the trunk of the car. His eyes went wide with impressiveness as it revealed of a whole cargo of guns, ranging from hand held ones to rifles. He picked up a Blaser R8 rifle, observing it with calculating eyes. "This'll do," he commented, grabbing a handgun. "You ready?"

She nodded, picking up her own rifle. "Yup, let's go kill some Italian bastards," she grinned. "I really look forward to seeing Demitri's brains on the floor. If he's here, however."

The grinned, and shut the trunk. Snow was beginning to fall as they walked upwards, their guns over their shoulders as they hiked up the many miles to where Vladimir and Maggie were being held hostage. Stefan grunted as his foot hit a rock sharply, feeling his toe pound as he kept going. Maria didn't smirk or even smile at that, she just followed along silently.

The snow seemed to be getting even heavier at this point, blowing sharply in their faces. Maria's eyes had narrowed into slits as he moved her scarf over her eyes and nose, trying to see ahead of her. She was shivering as she walked, whereas Stefan wasn't. Living in Forks for many years had made him adapted to the environment.

He stopped her, the wind blow harshly against him. "We need to find shelter," he said, though it was hard with all the snow and wind blowing around. "It's getting bad out here!"

"No," Maria protested, wrapping her arms around herself. "We need to keep going!"

"We haven't even made three miles! Look at you, you're freezing!"

She shook her head, her chin jutting out in defiance. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to being this cold," she grabbed his arm as she stumbled against another rock. "Let's keep going."

Stefan rolled his eyes, spotting a cave nearby and grabbing her along, feeling her protest the whole time. He flashed a flashlight through the cave, looking for any bears that might have been hibernating in it. There were none, much to his relief.

"Here," he began, handing her a bunch of sticks and his lighter. "You do know how to start a fire, right?"

She nodded, taking the sticks and gathering them together, adding fire a few minutes later. Stefan poked the fire gently, not wanting to disturb it too much or it would go out. Maria huddled in the corner, her teeth chattering and her body shaking. Her lips had turned blue and her face as pale as the snow outside. She didn't look good, to say the least.

He continued to poke the fire, rubbing his hands above the flames carefully. She followed him, her cold, chapped hands cracking as she did so. After a few minutes, some color had returned to her face, but not much. The fire wasn't very strong, much to his annoyance. Maria was still shivering.

"Come here," he said slowly, offering his left hand to her. "We need to share heat."

She paused for a minute, her eyes shifting carefully before crawling over to him, cuddling her way into his chest. They watched the fire for a few minutes, listening to each other's breaths as they did. "Stefan?" Maria started up, not looking at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

She sighed, glancing at him cautiously. "Is everything okay between you and Vladimir? Whenever I call him, he sounds…distracted."

Stefan shrugged, feeling a heat wave from the fire rush over to their side of the cave. "Everything is fine," he said reassuringly. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She narrowed her eyes, her lip bit in concentration. "I can tell when someone is lying to me. Are you sure everything is okay?"

He sighed, adjusting his arms around her small frame. "We're not on bad terms right now," he began slowly. "But we're not necessarily on good terms either. I don't know what's going on, but he just seems rather tense around me."

Maria didn't say anything for a few minutes, but a smile broke out on her face. "I knew it," she eventually muttered. "I knew it wouldn't be much longer."

"Much longer till what?"

She glanced at him slyly. "That you two would fall in love with each other. Don't worry; I've been preparing myself for this day. Maggie has been too."

"What does Maggie have to do with anything?"

Maria shrugged. "She has been sending me pictures of you and my little brother. The one of you two on the couch was ADORABLE. I've never seen him get that close with anyone before," she let a wan smile show on her face. "It was nice."

"Um, you're welcome?"

She shook her head, leaning against his shoulder. "I just wish you two would just accept it already, you like each other, and those feelings aren't going away any time soon."

"I do not like my boss in that way. You're dreaming."

Maria just wagged a finger at him. "You say that now, but just you wait. I have a feeling it won't be much longer till you two accept it."

Stefan rolled his eyes, feeling her head nuzzle his shoulder as she closed her eyes. "It makes me happy to know he has you," she murmured, looking rather drowsy. "It gives me a peace of mind."

"How often do you worry about him?"

"I worry about him constantly."

He let her sleep for a while, watching the storm outside blow around them. He dozed off a little too, but woke up every thirty minutes to see if the storm had died down. He looked at his watch after a while, seeing as the clouds broke through and the setting sun peaked out. The snow had stopped, leaving a fresh new blanket of snow to tromp through. He nudged Maria, who awoke instantly and stretched accidently hitting Stefan's head.

"Sorry," she yawned. "I've just been tired all day."

Stefan shrugged, putting out the fire by throwing snow on it. "Good thing we got some sleep. We're going to need it when we get the others."

She nodded, standing up and stretching some more as they walked out of the cave. The wind wasn't as harsh this time, but it still stung against their ears. They traveled upwards silently, their limbs feeling tired after a while as they did. Maria had to stop once in a while, leaning against a tree as she took a few deep breaths.

They trekked on for another hour, the waning gibbous rising high in the sky. Stefan wiped a bit of snow from his hair, letting it fly all over the ground. Snow was beginning to stick to Maria's hair, drenching it with its cold and wet texture. She looked at it murderously as she walked behind Stefan, cursing in Spanish every minute or so.

With their guns draped over their shoulders, they came to a very large hill. Stefan sighed, knowing that some god up there was laughing their ass off at their situation. Maria gave a deep sigh, glaring at the hill intensely. They took each other by the wrist, pulling each other up slowly as they tried to overcome the hill.

"Will this ever end?" Maria eventually grumbled, leaning against a tree. "This is killing me?"

Stefan nodded, letting out a puff of air. "We need to keep moving. I don't want it to start snowing again. This is not the safest place to be in."

"I know. Aren't there supposed to be bears wandering around?"

Stefan shook his head. "They're all hibernating right now, so there shouldn't be any right now. If there are, we'll have no choice but to shoot them."

"Isn't that illegal?"

Stefan nodded. "Only if it's a female, but I don't know the difference. I think they make exceptions if the bear is trying to kill you first."

"Oh. How lovely."

He rolled his eyes, pulling her along as they continued their hike. The ground was becoming less steep and more flat now, meaning that there could be cabins around the area. He turned back to Maria. "Where did they say they were?"

"In a cabin called La Shove. It's about a half a mile from here."

"Thank god."

Maria snickered t that, but followed along closely behind. The moon gazed down at them brightly as they walked, and Stefan swore he could even hear a wolf howl in the distance. Maria stopped him after a second, pointing to a light in the distance.

"I think that's it," she hissed in his ear. "Now what? Do we just walk in?"

Stefan shook his head. "No, we have to take out the guards. See them? There are two of them guarding the door."

Maria nodded, heading behind a bush nearby. "I got this one," she murmured, motioning for him to get behind her. "Can you get the other one?"

He nodded, lining up his gun to where he could see the man on the left. He targeted him, letting the scope pinpoint where the man's heart was. He let go of the trigger, watching the man flail about until he hit the ground, twitching and frothing.

The other man looked around wildly, but was not able to see Maria or Stefan. Maria lined up her gun, not wasting a minute as she let go of the trigger. The man was dead in an instant.

They threw their guns over their shoulders, walking slowly to where the cabin door was. Stefan kneeled down to where the two dead men were laying. "This one is dead," he announced, indicating to the man he had killed before moving over to Maria's. "So is this one."

"Good," Maria said, smiling viciously as they stared at the door. "Won't they be surprised when we walk in? I haven't felt this good since I heard Jane was shot."

Stefan rolled his eyes, but a smirk was left on his lips. "Aren't you violent?"

"Shut up."

Stefan grabbed the handle to the door, opening it slowly as he drew his gun.

Hehehehehe cliffie! I know, but they didn't just teleport there. The Volturi was mean enough to make them walk. Poor Maria. She's a little farther North than what she's used to. Oh well. Song was Soul for Sale by Simon Curtis