A/N: So it's Monday again ;) My iTunes wasn't technically on shuffle this time...but I went to see this band live in London this weekend, so I was a little inspired ;) This snapshot takes place during Breaking Dawn, when Alice and Jasper leave the Cullens...sorry if I get any details wrong, it's kind of a mix of the book and the movie so some things may be changed a little...anyway, enjoy :)

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Love Like War, by All Time Low

Heart's on fire tonight
Feel my bones ignite
Feels like war, war
Feels like war, war
We go together or we don't go down at all

25. A Love Like War

Alice ran her fingers along the smooth surface of the mantelpiece. She straightened the pictures on the top; one of Rosalie and Emmett on their most recent wedding day; one of Alice and Jasper at a graduation about twelve years ago; one of Edward and Bella from their honeymoon. She paused as her fingers brushed the last photo; Renesmee.

She needed to save Renesmee.

She didn't know what from yet, but she knew that she had to save her. Whilst the rest of the family were fretting about Irina, Alice was worried about her niece. It was all connected, somehow, Alice knew. If she could only see Renesmee's future...

Flicking in and out of the future, she tried desperately to find something - anything. She needed an answer. She needed it now.

Edward was watching her intently, reading any vision she might have. He knew that she suspected Renesmee was in danger, but she'd instructed in her thoughts that he keep quiet. Neither of them wanted to worry Bella - or the rest of the family - if Alice's suspicions were wrong. Edward was relying on Alice to find an answer before any harm came to his daughter.

"Let it go, Alice; she's not our concern." Jasper said softly as his wife began to rearrange flowers in a vase.

Alice looked up at him; he'd felt her worry and fear and mistaken her concern for Irina. She stuck her tongue out at him, trying to hide her real concern towards Renesmee. She picked up the vase, deciding that the flowers needed replacing rather than rearranging, and made her way towards the kitchen.

She hardly noticed the priceless vase slip from her fingers as a vision suddenly hit her.

Black cloaks...Aro...Marcus...Caius...the wives...the guard...too many hooded figures to keep track of as they advanced in a blur...the Volturi were going somewhere. Where? What were they doing? Black cloaks, white skin, red eyes...black, white, red...black, white, red...black, white, red...gold.

Golden eyes.

The Volturi were coming for the Cullens.

Jasper was shaking her, "What? What Alice?" She did not speak, "What is it?"

"They're coming for us," Alice and Edward whispered together, perfectly synchronized. "All of them."

"The Volturi." Alice whispered.

Everyone was silent for a moment, trying to take in what Alice was saying.

"Why...how?" Alice murmured to herself.

"When?" Jasper asked, his voice like splintering ice.

Alice forced herself back into the vision, this time trying to look more closely at her surroundings. Snow.

"Not long." Alice said, Edward echoing her words as her saw the vision through her mind. "There's snow on the forest, snow on the town. Little more than a month."

"Why?" Carlisle asked, repeating the question that was on all of their minds.

"They must have a reason." Esme said, "Maybe to see..."

"This isn't about Bella," Alice said hollowly before Esme could suggest it. If this were simply about checking up on Bella's new immortality, there would not be so many of them. This was bigger. This was...Alice glanced at Edward and didn't allow herself to think about Renesmee. "They're all coming - Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member of the guard, even the wives."

"The wives never leave the tower," Jasper contradicted her in a flat voice. "Never. Not during the southern rebellion. Not when the Romanians tried to overthrow them. Not even when they were hunting the immortal children. Never."

"They're coming now," Edward whispered, and Alice knew that despite her efforts, he'd caught on to what she was thinking. This wasn't about Bella. It was about Renesmee. It had to be; for what else would the Volturi come?

But what about her? They'd want to observe her and her talent, Alice was sure, but why would so many of the Volturi come just to see Renesmee?

"That doesn't answer the crucial question! Why?" Carlisle asked. Alice and Edward exchanged a look.

Don't say it. Alice thought at him. She knew he wanted to. She knew that he was kind of right. This had gone too far to keep the family out of. But still... Not yet.

Edward frowned at the thought. If not now, when? When the guard was knocking on the door? When Renesmee was hurt or killed?

Let me find the reason first. Let me figure out how Renesmee is involved. Alice begged him. I need calm to figure this out. If you tell them now, everyone will panic. I can't see Edward...I need to see!

Edward nodded at her. One chance. If she didn't find something soon, he'd tell the family. He couldn't keep this from them; he couldn't keep this from Bella. His first was to his wife and daughter.

"Go back, Alice," Jasper pleaded. "Look for the trigger. Search."

Alice shook her head slowly, her shoulders sagging. "It came out of nowhere, Jazz. I wasn't looking for them, or even for us. I was just looking for Irina. She wasn't where I expected her to be..."

Alice trailed off, her eyes drifting again. She stared at nothing for a long second. Irina...she'd been looking for Irina and she'd found the Volturi.

Her head jerked up, her eyes hard as flint. "She decided to go to them. Irina decided to go to the Volturi. And then they will decide... It's as if they're waiting for her. Like their decision was already made, and just waiting on her..."

Alice's eyes were glazed, still desperately searching for answers. What was Irina going to tell the Volturi? What would make them come? Her visions didn't make any sense...it was like she was putting together a puzzle, and she just couldn't find the last piece...the one thing she needed to make the whole picture become clear.

"Can we stop her?" Jasper asked.

"There's no way." Alice said, watching her vision of Irina, "She's almost there."

"What is she doing?" Carlisle asked. Alice frowned in concentration, trying to make the blurry vision become clearer. She was pulled out of her vision when Bella spoke.

"Think of what she saw that afternoon," She said in a low voice, "To someone who'd lost a mother because of the immortal children, what would Renesmee look like?"

Their minds all wondered to that afternoon a few days ago...Irina standing on the cliffs looking down on Bella and Jacob...and Renesmee.

"An immortal child," Carlisle whispered.

"But she's wrong," Bella was saying, "Renesmee isn't like those other children. They were frozen, but she grows so much every day. They were out of control, but she never hurts Charlie or Sue or even shows them things that would upset them. She can control herself. She's already smarter than most adults. There would be no reason-"

Alice wasn't listening. She'd found the final piece of the puzzle, the thing that tied Renesmee into everything.

When she'd first seen the Volturi coming for them, she'd sensed danger, but she'd thought they could find a way out of it. Now...

"It's not the kind of crime they hold a trial for, love," Edward said quietly to Bella, voicing Alice's thoughts exactly. "Aro's seen Irina's proof in her thoughts. They come to destroy, not to be reasoned with."

"But they're wrong," Bella said. She didn't understand.

"They won't wait for us to show them that." Edward said. He kept his voice gentle, but Alice saw the pain in his eyes.

"What can we do?" Bella demanded. Edward glanced at Alice for ideas. She shook her head ever so slightly. She had nothing. She didn't know how to fix this.

"We fight," Emmett said confidently. Alice was about to protest when Jasper beat her to it.

"We can't win," He growled. He put his arm around Alice protectively; he wouldn't agree to a fight where she could get hurt.

"Well, we can't run. Not with Demetri around." Emmett pointed out, "And I don't know that we can't win. There are a few options to consider. We don't have to fight alone."

Bella glared, "We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to death, either, Emmett!"

"Chill, Bella." Emmett said, seemingly the calmest of the whole family. "I didn't mean the pack. Be realistic, though - do you think Jacob or Sam is going to ignore an invasion? Even if it wasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Irina, Aro knows about our alliance with the pack now, too. But I was thinking of our other friends."

Carlisle echoed Bella in a whisper. "Other friends we don't have to sentence to death."

"Hey, we'll let them decide," Emmett said, "I'm not saying they have to fight with us. If they'd just stand beside us, just long enough to make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right, after all. If we could force them to stop and listen. Though that might take away any reason for a fight..."

Bella looked like she wanted to hit Emmett, but Alice began thinking. Could it be that Emmett was actually having a good idea...for once?

"Yes," Esme said eagerly. "That makes sense, Emmett. All we need is for the Volturi to pause for one moment. Just long enough to listen."

"We'd need quite a show of witnesses," Rosalie said harshly, her voice brittle as glass.

Esme nodded in agreement, as if she hadn't heard the sarcasm in Rosalie's tone. "We can ask that much of our friends. Just to witness."

"We'd do it for them," Emmett said. With the family seemingly on board, Alice let the plan wash over her mind.

"We'll have to ask them just right," She murmured, searching the future to see the reactions of their friends; to see who would agree to help them. "They'll have to be shown very carefully."

"Shown?" Jasper asked, looking down at his wife.

Alice and Edward both looked down at Renesmee. Then Alice's eyes glazed over.

"Tanya's family," she said. "Siobhan's coven. Amun's. Some of the nomads - Garrett and Mary for certain. Maybe Alistair."

"What about Peter and Charlotte?" Jasper asked half fearfully, hoping the answer was no, and that his old brother could be spared from the coming carnage.

"Maybe." Alice said with slight hesitation. She too didn't particularly want to call on Jasper's old friends, who had in time become Alice's friends.

"The Amazons?" Carlisle asked. "Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna?"

Alice looked to the jungle, searching for their Amazonian friends. She hit a wall. She pushed at the blackness and tried to see past it, but it didn't move. The only other time she'd experienced that was-

Alice shuddered and brought herself out of the vision. She met Carlisle's gaze and then quickly looked away. "I can't see."

"What was that?" Edward demanded. "That part in the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"

"I can't see," Alice repeated, not meeting his eyes. A look of confusion crossed his face and she knew that she'd been successful in hiding her thoughts. She had to keep it that way. "We'll have to split up and hurry - before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever we can and get them here to show them." She dipped back into another vision, but it gave her little help. "Ask Eleazar. There is more to this than just an immortal child."

The room was silent for a long moment while Alice was in her trance. She blinked as she came completely out of her visions, her mind now solely in the present.

"There is so much. We have to hurry," she whispered.

"Alice?" Edward asked. "That was too fast - I didn't understand. What was-"

"I can't see!" She exploded back at him, her anger bubbling at the surface. He needed to stop asking her, or she'd slip and he'd find out what she'd discovered. Alice caught the scent of wolf and found her escape. "Jacob's almost here!"

Rosalie took a step toward the front door. "I'll deal with-"

"No, let him come," Alice said quickly, her voice straining higher with each word. She grabbed Jasper's hand and began pulling him toward the back door. "I'll see better away from Nessie, too. I need to go. I need to really concentrate. I need to see everything I can. I have to go. Come on, Jasper, there's no time to waste!"

She was babbling, and she knew that she sounded crazy, but she needed to get away. Now.

Alice yanked, impatient, on Jasper's hand. He followed quickly, confusion in his eyes just like Edward's.

"Hurry!" Alice called back before they disappeared, "You have to find them all!"

Alice kept tugging Jasper forward, and he offered little resistance except from asking where they were going. He got no response.

He could tell that his wife's sudden exit from the house was due to more than just wanting to be able to see clearer. Her emotions were all over the place...fear, anxiety, anger, sadness...but in amongst it all was the tiniest shred of hope. Alice had a plan.

"Where are we-" Jasper asked again.

"Please, Jasper, trust me. I'll explain it all soon, but you have to trust me. Do you trust me?" Alice asked. Jasper did, of course, trust her so he let her lead him through the forest. When they were out of earshot from the house, she stopped. "We have to leave."

"What?" Jasper asked, confused, "Leave where?"

"The Cullens." Alice said.

"Leave the Cullens? Why?" Jasper asked.

"There are others...like Renesmee. Vampire-human hybrids." Alice explained, "In the Amazon. It's why I can't see there. I get a blank wall just like when I look into Renesmee's future. We have to find them and we have to show them to the Volturi. Show them that hybrids aren't dangerous."

"But why do we have to leave?" Jasper asked, "They should know, they can help-"

Alice was shaking her head, "They cannot know. If they know, then Aro will know. If we're going to have any hope of winning this, we need this to stay a secret."

Jasper was doubtful; he didn't want to abandon his family when they were in danger. Then he looked down at Alice and remembered her words. Do you trust me?

"How are we going to explain our leaving?" He asked.

Alice considered, "We leave a message. That way they can't ask questions, and Edward can't read our minds. We have to make them think we've abandoned them completely." Pain streaked across Alice's features, "It's the only way they'll let us go."

Jasper nodded solemnly; she was right, of course. It would hurt them to think they had been abandoned, but it was the only way to keep them safe. "Are you one hundred per cent about this?" He caught Alice's gaze and knew that she was not, "How sure are you that this will work?"

"There is a very large chance that it won't." She admitted quietly.

"What if it doesn't work and it's too late to save them?" Jasper asked, "What if they die because we left? What if-"

"Don't! Please!" Alice begged, "This has to work, it's the only way to save them. I can't think of anything else!"

Seeing the desperation in his wife's voice, Jasper nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, "I'm not going to let anything hurt you...or anyone else in our family. I promise. We'll find the hybrids."

Alice only hoped that he was right. If he wasn't, everyone was in great danger. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmet, Edward, Bella...Renesmee. The feeling from earlier had returned to Alice; she had to save Renesmee.

If her plan failed, she had to ensure that Renesmee would stay safe. But how could she do that if she left? If she couldn't tell any of the Cullens? They all had to think that she and Jasper had completely abandoned the Cullens, or Aro would be able to...

Alice pulled away, "Wait here."

"Where are you-" Jasper began.

"Trust me." Alice said once again. He let go of her hand and she disappeared into the forest.

It took her no time at all to reach Bella and Edward's cottage. She frowned slightly as she saw the mess it was in; she'd taken so much care organising everything for them! She scanned the room. She needed to leave something for Bella. Bella, who's mind neither Edward nor Aro could read. Bella, who's thoughts were safe. Bella, who's mind was the only one Alice could trust.

But where to leave a clue that only Bella would find? Her eyes scanned the room...everything in it had been bought by herself or Esme or Edward. Then her eyes fell on the bookcase. The top three shelves were occupied by Edward's books, brought down from the main Cullen house. Along the bottom shelf were Bella's favourite books from home; mainly Shakespeare plays. They were the only thing in the room that actually belonged to Bella. Alice could leave a note there...but how was she to know that Bella would read the books? Especially in a time like this, when reading would be the furthest thing from her mind. What she needed was a clue leading to a clue...

Alice grabbed the closest book; The Merchant of Venice. She ripped out the first page - the copy write page - and quickly wrote a note on it.

Don't look for us. There isn't time to waste. Remember; Tanya, Siobhan, Amun, Alistair, all the nomads you can find. We'll seek out Peter and Charlotte on our way. We're so sorry that we have to leave you this way, with no goodbyes or explanations. It's the only way for us. We love you.

She folded the note and put it in her pocket, before turning back to the book. On the next page, she wrote another note - this one just for Bella. The address of J. Jenks.

Alice had never met the man herself, but she knew that he was where Jasper acquired the fake documents for the family. She also knew that the name Cullen would mean something to him. Bella would need fake documents to get Renesmee safely out of the country. If it came to it, that was what she would need to do. Alice wanted to write more in the book, but feared that someone else might stumble upon it instead. Only Bella could see this.

She added something above the address; Destroy this.

Shoving the book back in the shelf, Alice made her way back to Jasper. He was waiting where she'd left him. She passed him the note she'd written for the Cullens and he quickly read it. He nodded, "What now?"

"We have to make sure they don't follow." Alice said, "If we go through the ocean, they won't be able to track us."

"We'd have to go through Quileute land." Jasper pointed out.

Alice nodded, "I'm sure they'll allow it. They'll have to. We can't let anyone find out what we're doing." She looked up at Jasper solemnly, "All our lives depend on it."

A/N: Okay this turned out a LOOOOT longer than I planned, so I've split it into parts...I'll update part 2 as soon as I can...tomorrow, maybe, if I get the chance.

Anyway, what do you think of it so far? I took quite a lot of it out of the book, but the next part will be more original. I've just kind of always wondered about Alice and Jasper leaving when she saw the oncoming war...and this song seemed to fit...but yeah, hope you like it!

Happy Monday everyone... ;)