A/N Hello?! Is anyone still out there? So, I am finally in a position to write again, and this puppy needs the "complete" sign on it! You'll all be cursing me for having to go back and read the whole thing all over again because you can't remember what happened. Apologies, and sincere thanks to those who resume and review.

I am blessed to be able to call HollettLA my beta. Thank you, Lisa xx

Song: 'Be Still' by The Fray

War Of My Life

If terror falls upon your bed,

And sleep no longer comes,

Remember all the words I've said

Be still, be still and know

…If you forget the way to go

And lose where you came from,

If no one is standing beside you,

Be still and know I am

-x-x-x-

"It was the same guy," I said, mostly to myself.

"Who was the same guy, darlin'?" Jasper questioned.

"His face, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. He was in the diner when we had ice cream that day." I looked to Edward, seeing if it registered with him, too. "He knew who I was. He knew who I was," I asserted nonsensically.

"The guy who attacked you knew you?" Edward asked, more concerned now.

"Yes. I remember panicking when he said my name – when he was talking to me by my truck. I knew I was in pretty serious trouble when he said it, like it was the first confirmation that he truly did have some sort of agenda. It just chilled me instantly. I have no idea how well he knew who I was, or quite how planned it had been, but he certainly knew my name."

"And we know he wasn't a vampire," Alice stated.

"There's no way. If he was, he would have destroyed Bella in seconds; the asshole was way too messy," Emmett summarized.

"So why on earth would some average human target Bella, of all people?" Rosalie asked.

"Perhaps we're underestimating, thinking too otherworldly. Her father is chief of police. Who knows who could have a vendetta against him," Carlisle said.

All their thoughts flying at me were giving me a headache. A vendetta against my dad? No way.

"It doesn't fit with Alice's visions," Edward said.

"There were definite vampire links in my visions; there was just something preventing me from connecting faces and decision-makers," Alice agreed.

"This guy could have been why you couldn't work it out – I mean, none of us seemed to know him. Maybe the decision making was done by someone other than the guy who attacked Bella; that would have made it harder for Alice to see." Edward deliberated.

"So we think that they knew Alice would see something coming, so they mixed up who was making the decisions and who was taking action?" Jasper, this time. The voices were nearly overlapping, it was all coming out so fast. I wondered if vampires could faint - I needed a time-out.

"Someone sent him to kill her. He didn't decide it; that's why we never saw it coming."

I focused my line of sight on Alice in an attempt to settle my restless mind. I watched as her answer fell from her cherry lips.

"The Volturi."

Carlisle spoke to Eleazar shortly after Em and Rose left for their watch at Jacob's. The way they were all approaching this situation and how they had handled everything to do with me becoming one of them said a lot about the Cullens. It would be easy for any one of them to tell Edward that I wasn't their problem, yet here they were looking for information and protecting the house of someone they hardly knew.

As we had suspected, Eleazar thought it likely that I had some form of a defensive talent, and the evidence suggested I was a "shield". We had very little to go off; it wasn't as specific or easy to describe as Edward's mind-reading or Alice's visions. He had still apologized profusely for not being able to shed any more light on it. Eleazar was considered well-versed in vampire skill and special talents, yet he indicated that these things were always highly specific to the individual. Knowledge of my abilities would only come from testing them out, unfortunately. There was no instruction manual.

Now that we knew of what I could do, the fact that Edward couldn't read my mind started to make more sense. Eleazar was particularly fascinated that my mind was silent to him even as a human, suggesting that would indicate a rather powerful latent talent if it was manifesting so clearly even before the transformation. He kindly offered to come out for a visit to meet me if we decided some more help would be useful.

I was confused and a little confused at having a "defensive" rather than offensive or more neutral talent. Carlisle thought the classifications were fairly loose; what Alice could do worked both offensively and defensively. I knew from discussions that it was often an exaggeration of an element within you as a human.

When Esme approached me to check how I was dealing with all of the new information, she managed to ease my mind on the talent perplexities – as was her skill.

"It's not necessarily-personality based, Bella. It's not as if you had walls around you as a human. You were always open to love and friendship, and that meant you were also open to getting hurt. It's not so simple as saying that you had a defensive personality, not at all." She brushed a piece of hair from my face, her motherly warmth surrounding me. "To me, this will be an extension of your strong will to look out for and guard those you love. All of you can use your talents in a way that looks out for your family and your mate. If Eleazar is right, then it has the potential to be a great gift," she said.

As Esme, Edward, and I returned to the living room, we walked into a conversation between Carlisle, Jasper, and Alice.

"Given that we don't know the motives in all of this, I think it only prudent that we should get in some fight training. I don't think it would be a bad idea if Bella learned some of the fundamentals anyway. Obviously strength won't be an issue for her at this point, but knowledge will only boost that," Carlisle was saying.

"No matter what this comes to, Bella won't be fighting," Edward announced.

"Edward…" I started.

"Edward," Jasper cut in. "You know that's not what you believe. You're well aware that she's capable of this now. Hell, she's probably more capable than you." He finished with a gentle smile, lightening the true implication of his words.

"You know he's right, Edward," I said calmly, squeezing his arm that was looped around mine. "You know that we're a team now. I'm not some trophy wife who will stay at home while you go out and fight for us."

He couldn't help but smile. Jasper was right – what he had said wasn't what Edward believed. He was so accustomed to having to protect me; he needed to adjust to the idea of my being the queen on the chessboard now. I had the power to defend and defeat, and he knew it.

It was then that I caught sight of Alice as she all but disappeared from consciousness. I was becoming fairly used to it happening, though it always brought on a touch of anxiety as to what news was coming to us. Her eyes were glazed, and it looked as though she was struggling to put pieces together in her mind.

"The detectives are on their way here," she said suddenly, her presence returning.

"Charlie?" I whispered.

"No, no Charlie, Bella," Alice responded.

"I have to take Bella away from here," Edward said quickly.

"I'll go," Esme said. "It'll look less suspicious."

"No, you all stay here. I'll be perfectly safe by myself."

"Use the bunker," Carlisle jumped in. "Esme, show her how to get in – it's under the garage, Bella. It's wired so you'll be able to hear our discussion up here as well."

Of course they had a bunker; though I couldn't figure out in what scenario a vampire would actually need to retreat to one.

"It was already in the house when Carlisle bought it," Edward answered the question that was obviously on my face.

Rose laughed a little. "I'm sure she'd be undetected if she just went upstairs."

"It's fine, downstairs is good. We don't know what they're here for," I said.

"Edward, a regular teenage boy would be lying on his bed wallowing or something…Scram," Alice instructed.

Esme lead me to the garage and swiped her fingers over a keypad, revealing a doorway disguised in the wall.

"I'm sure it won't be long, honey. No doubt you'll be able to hear us anyway, but there's an intercom if you want full sound. We've never needed to use it, but the walls of that thing are pretty thick, even by our standards."

I caught the sound of unfamiliar voices in the house as she retreated up the stairs. I turned the intercom on and tried to make myself comfortable on the large couch which was positioned against one wall. It was fairly well-equipped in there, but you could tell there wasn't really any intention for it to need to be comfortable for any period of time. There wouldn't be anything the Cullens needed to hide from. Except of course when they were smuggling a vampire who was supposed to be a (dead) human girl.

"Edward isn't doing so well, as you can probably understand. None of us are." Carlisle's voice.

"I'm sorry that we once again have no news to make this any easier."

A different detective spoke next; I got the impression there were two of them.

"As you know, the summary of our evidence is that this was definitely not a local. Most of it points towards it being a random attack, and that the guy took his chance purely off the back of the horrible luck that Bella's truck had broken down as he passed."

"But what did he get out of it? It wasn't theft, it wasn't…sexual." You could hear the cringe in Alice's voice at the suggestion.

"As much as we don't like to think it, some people are simply 'bad'. He may have killed before and, shudder to think, he may kill again. For some, it's not for any other purpose than the act itself."

He cleared his throat and heard him shuffle in his seat. My vampire hearing still fascinated me in the way it could differentiate between the smallest subtleties in sound. Even human versus vampire was obvious, and the intercom wasn't really necessary.

"I have to admit, we've never really come across a case in our district as seemingly random as this one. And to have no body, no sightings…I don't need to tell you how challenging it's been."

"You have no news at all then, I take it?" Carlisle asked.

"Unfortunately, the only progress we've made since we last spoke was that we found a car that would have matched descriptions of one seen in the area that evening."

"Would have?" Jasper this time.

"It was torched, there wasn't much left of it."

"So what now?" Esme asked with a regretful sigh.

There was this pregnant pause, a telling sign that the detective had in fact come to deliver news he didn't think they would like.

"We've just told Charlie and Renee that the investigative team is being...reduced. We'll be going back to our respective stations and seeing what more develops from there."

"You mean you're giving up," Edward said, his voice vacant, as if he didn't know differently.

"Not giving up, no. There's just not any more evidence in the area to justify our being here. We won't give up."

As the detectives took turns at filling the silence, I realized how much worse this would have been when they were telling people who didn't know any differently to what they were saying. The Cullens' mock disappointment and grief was poignant enough, I couldn't bear to think…

"Please accept our sincerest condolences and our regret that we haven't been able to bring…to bring closure yet."

"Yet" was an afterthought, they all knew it. I imagined the regret on the detective's face that he hadn't been more collected in his delivery. I hoped he'd done a better job of reassuring my parents. Though…did I want them to keep hanging on to false hope? Maybe it was time for someone to man up and declare me "Missing, Presumed Dead' rather than simply "Missing".

"Thank you for coming to us directly, detectives. Safe travels back to Seattle," Carlisle said.

I heard shuffling that indicated they were standing to leave. All the discussion had done was let me know that my parents had suffered another blow. Reducing the team basically meant I was in the process of becoming a cold case. While that may be helpful in minimizing the investigative eyes around Forks and unexpected visitors to the house, it did nothing for Charlie and Renee.

"Bella?"

Edward's soft voice came from behind me.

I turned toward him and moved into the familiar solace of his arms. It was a remarkable comfort that no matter what happened or where my mind took me, I would always have this to come back to.

"Carlisle's anxious to get in some training, baby. Are you okay to come now?" he spoke into my hair.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll be fine." I pressed myself harder against him, reassuring myself as much as I was trying to reassure him.

"I'm sorry we have to do this now. We just don't think we have much time left."

I had to pull myself together. I couldn't be wallowing in my past when my future was being threatened.

I pulled back from Edward's hold to look him in the eyes.

"I love you, Edward. I can do this."

His hands shifted from my waist to the sides of my face. The feel of his fingers forking into my hair felt as good now as it had when I was human. He answered my words with his lips on mine, breaking them apart with a slip of his tongue. The kiss was short but tempting. I couldn't hide the fact that I was looking forward to the time when the threat to us had passed and I could really be with Edward.

As I lead him up the stairs, I could feel his eyes on my behind, and a quick turn of my head confirmed it.

"What?" He smirked. "I can't turn off my attraction to you, Bella. Even when there's a threat of danger."

I soaked up his smile and enjoyed that he had allowed himself that moment. He was capable of enough self-regressing worry for the two of us, and it gave me hope that my being more his equal would allow him to take some of the pressure off.

Carlisle and Jasper were already squaring off when we got to the land at the back of

the house.

"Bella, you're just in time to watch me demonstrate how to use your mind as well as your strength. Most vampires are careless in their tactics. They'll go for brute force or an easy kill." Jasper spoke as he circled Carlisle then somersaulted away from a lunge at him. "The easy kill being the neck, as my father so considerately just demonstrated." He laughed, as Carlisle stopped and shook his head.

"Basically, to kill a vampire you need to behead them, Bella, and break apart the body. Then set it alight to be certain," Carlisle explained. There wasn't really a more delicate way to explain the reality.

The thought of it kindled a feeling like nausea in my throat. I hated the idea that it might come to this. That we could have to physically fight to put an end to whatever threat we were facing. My influence in their lives could result in the Cullens going against their morals and how they had lived for so many years.

"Something's not right," Alice muttered. Moments later Emmett broke through the tree line, Rosalie following closely behind him.

"It's a shield," Emmett called enthusiastically, his excitement not matching Alice's trepidation.

"A shield? You're certain?" Carlisle asked.

"Yup, certain. So she's a shield herself and it's a shield she left behind. Freaky, right? Oh yeah: that's the not so good part – we're certain because a guy tried to get up to Jacob's house and couldn't. When he got to where Bella's thing must have passed around the house, he stopped."

"You're so well spoken, Emmett," Rose cut in. "What he should be telling you is that it was one of Aro's guard snooping around Jacob's place. He obviously didn't get in, but it doesn't look good."

"Alice?" I asked, turning everyone's attention back on her. She almost looked nervous and I didn't like it.

"We're out of time," she answered. Those words held most of what we needed to know. "Rose is right, there's a human and one of Aro's guard near the Black property and…and Aro, Caius, and Marcus aren't far from tracking them down."

"We need a plan, otherwise we'll end up making mistakes or drawing attention," Carlisle said hurriedly.

"We need to get them away from the Black property first," Jasper said.

"I'll do it," I stated. "I'll draw them out of there, up to the field by the waterfall."

"Bella, no way," Edward said stubbornly. "Fighting with us is one thing. Using yourself as bait, and doing it alone?"

"You've all said I'm stronger than any of you at the moment. It's me that they seem to want. That means that it's me that will get them where we want them."

"You're stronger, sure, but this is the Volturi. I'm not willing to take chances with you when we have so many unknowns."

"Edward..." Carlisle began. Edward gave him a look I was sure could literally kill. "She's right. And we won't leave her completely - you know we'll be able to step in if she needs it. We'll be with her in the field for sure."

"I don't like it," Edward muttered. I squeezed his hand.

"There's no time not to like it, I'm afraid," Carlisle responded.

Alice and Jasper had moved to sit on the back porch, trying to draw more detail from her visions.

"Bella, does the name James mean anything to you?" Jasper asked down to us.

I focused on sifting through my foggy human memories with the name not striking any familiarity. I shook my head.

"It seems like that's the human's name. It's him, Bella. It's definitely who killed you."

"Have you got anything else?" Edward asked.

"Only that it seems he has a strong desire to become a vampire. That might have something to do with the connection to the Volturi."

"We have to move," Alice called down.

Everyone made a quick trip into the house to make sure they were equipped for fighting. Alice threw me a pair of decent boots, and Edward slipped me a beanie and bomber jacket. It wasn't as if I'd feel the cold that had encroached upon Forks, but at least I wouldn't look out of place to any unknowing eyes.

Edward and I had not had a last grand scene of farewell, nor did I plan one. To speak the word was to make it final… So we did not say our goodbyes, and we stayed very close to each other, always touching. Whatever end found us, it would not find us separated.

He was going to shadow me closely from the cover of the forest with Emmett. The rest of the Cullens would lie in wait up at the field. The plan was that no one but me would be in the open until the Volturi threat was real and present. I didn't know if I should be alarmed or proud that I didn't feel any nerves as we parted ways and ran through the trees to face our future. I knew that I shouldn't let naïveté get the best of me. That could be a fatal mistake.

"I'm right here with you," Edward whispered when we reached the location of our first move.

I left him with a fierce kiss and started walking the track that skirted Jacob's property.

As I broke through beside the house, my certainty wavered about whether I'd be able to get them away from there before the vampire lost his patience with James and did away with him on the spot. He was clearly frustrated and his temper was radiating.

"Aro said I wasn't to kill you until they arrived, but I've just about had enough of you and this fucking impenetrable house. I'll deal with the human kid later, after dinner."

"I'll kill him, I promise you. I don't know why we can't get in; I'm sorry!" James was far more cowardly than I remembered. Seemed he lost his knack when he wasn't the one in control. "Change me," he begged. "Change me now and then I'll be stronger to do the job."

"You're a fool. You didn't even get all the details on how this works before you agreed to this disaster of a plan, did you?"

"But you said your bosses would make me one of their henchmen…I want to be like you."

I couldn't believe the mess I was hearing.

"You're lucky I like a chase, James. I'll give you a head start."

"What…what do you mean?" His voice actually cracked.

"You're dinner, stupid. Run," he seethed.

James stumbled then headed toward the path from where I'd come. The vampire was going to do my job for me. James was heading right where I wanted him, and I hadn't even had to make a move. The only challenge now was skirting around the other vampire and hoping that my shield around the Blacks held.

I caught a glimpse of Edward and Emmett behind me, toying with James out of sight to keep him going in the right direction. Their flashes of movement revealed nothing to him and increased his fear tenfold. Edward caught up with me as I ran the final miles to the field.

"The other vamp is Demetri. He's a tracker so he meant what he said about wanting a chase. He's not following yet, but he will soon."

He left me as I moved into the open space to wait. James was slow, so I had about ten minutes alone of getting furious about what I had seen at Jacob's. He was at risk because of this scumbag human who thought he could play at the level of vampires. I had been killed and the Cullens' existence had been jeapordised because of his naïveté.

The figure that burst through the trees was whiter than my pale vampire skin. Colored by his fear, it was satisfying to see the roles reversed on my killer. The hunter had become the hunted.

I watched as he saw me standing there and a wave of relief flashed in his eyes. He expected a young woman standing in a field to mean safety; those who staked him out wouldn't hurt him in front of a civilian, surely – he'd get her to drive him to town where he could make his escape.

He came to a stop in front of me, panting from panic and exertion.

"Miss, you have no idea how pleased I am to see you. Do you have a car? I really need to get into town as soon as possible."

I smiled at him. He was more predictable now that my mind worked a hundred times faster than his did.

"You don't understand, miss." He was begging now. "They're going to kill me. Please, help me."

It was a challenge not to let my delight show.

"Oh, James. How naïve you are."

I removed the woollen beanie from my head, releasing my brunette hair in a wave. I didn't think he could get any whiter, but he looked like he'd seen a ghost. To his mind, I suppose he had.

He stared intently, trying to put two and two together. Finally his tiny glimpse of hope that I might be able to help him completely vanished.

"Isabella?" he said, clearly confused. He was looking at me through squinted eyes, frozen in place as he processed what my presence meant to him.

"That's right," I nodded.

"It can't be. You're dead."

"I suppose I am, technically."

"You look…different," he stammered.

"Immortality will do that to you," I replied.

"Im…mortality?"

"That's right."

"You're a…a…"

"Spit it out, James. Stammering is not becoming on you," I stated impatiently.

He looked like he was going to be sick as he shrank back from me in fear. I was happy about that. Afraid was the least he could be, after what he had done.

When he turned and ran in the opposite direction, he was faced with a problem for both of us. The vampire Edward had called Demetri finally made his reappearance.

James froze between us, not sure which way to turn, knowing that there wasn't an option where he wouldn't be outrun or outnumbered.

Demetri didn't seem sure where his focus should lie, on me or the human. As James attempted to move to my right, three figures stepped in his path, figures I could only assume were the Volturi leaders. Their rich burgundy capes and other-worldly faces held a regal air, and they emanated age and power. James collapsed to his knees. As the danger increased, I could feel the presence of Edward and the other Cullens skirting the woods behind me. I signalled with my hand toward the darkness for them to hold off. I knew it would be torture for Edward, but I had the family on my side with this plan.

"Demetri, I hope my eyes are not seeing what I think they are." One of them spoke. "It looks to me as though the human Edward Cullen was fraternizing with is now a vampire. That can't be right though, can it, James? Demetri?"

"James, James, James. What have you done?" one of them tsked.

"You unconquerable fool."

"You didn't kill the girl, and you lied to us."

"We were going to kill you simply because we were tired of you. Checking the girl was in fact dead was a mere formality. Now we'll have to kill you because you're completely worthless."

I felt like an audience member to a play. I wondered for a moment whether my leaving would bother them, they were so wrapped up in their discussion and scolding.

"Why did we even entertain the idea of granting him his desire to become a vampire?"

"We had a job that needed doing by a certain type of fool…"

"Enough!" the one who had been silent shouted. "I'm done with this ridiculous mess. Caius, would you deal this blithering idiot please? And the girl too. I want this done, once and for all."

"Wait," the one they called Marcus spoke. "She's a vampire now. Do you think she might be useful?"

It was the first true attention they'd paid me. Caius sized me up, his eyes lingering like smog over my body.

"Marcus don't be ridiculous, no more stupid games and playing with toys."

I decided to try and stall them further, buying us more time.

"You really don't do any of your dirty work yourself, do you?" I asked the one who was clearly the leader. That must have been Aro.

"I like to watch," he smirked, interested that I was addressing him directly.

"What if you showed up here and were outnumbered? What then?"

"Oh Isabella, how misguided you are." He shook his head in pity at me. "I always travel with reinforcements."

"For what it's worth, so do I."

He looked excited by my challenging him, the thrill it lighting his eyes with his ridiculous grin. My words of confidence rattled in my stomach a little, a moment of worry that my supposed "shield" was a once-off fluke, and my family would be no match for career killers.

"You know what's wrong with this picture, Isabella?" He took a few circling steps toward me, eyeing me up. "Where's your little vampire boyfriend? He broke all the rules with you when you were human; where is he now? Did he fall out of love when you no longer had blood in your veins?"

I knew he was trying to taunt me when he went to make contact with my skin, though he didn't realize it was pointless. His position of power lasted momentarily. In the instant that he tried to brush a wiry hand down my cheek, I felt Edward move in next to me. My response to protect him was innate and unconscious as Aro flew back as though electrocuted and Edward was forced in behind me. I turned quickly to him to make sure I hadn't hurt him, too. He nodded to me as my eyes checked his face, moving to stand next to me as assurance.

That was when the game changed. James obviously saw an opportunity, because in a split second he was running again. His movements slow to my vampire eye, none of us moved to stop him. He'd travelled about a hundred yards when a flash of blonde hair whisked in front of his path, sending him reeling through the air and crashing into the ground. There was a shift in the air as the Volturi registered the obvious presence of the Cullens in our surroundings.

I had no idea how one could underestimate Emmett's burly frame, but James certainly did. I watched as he flung himself at Edward's brother, to which Em simply stuck out an arm and floored the guy. You couldn't miss the slip of James's face, the hesitation showing clearly when he realized perhaps he had miscalculated the mutual desire to destroy him.

When he managed to get to his feet again, he stumbled right into the path of Caius. The vampire reached for James's battered body, and with one swift movement, snapped his neck. I surprised myself by turning away in shock. Seeing my killer meet his end wasn't as satisfying as I had thought, even though Alice had seen enough about him to know that not even the fright he'd had today would have cured him of his callous genes.

It was then that Demetri made a move against Edward, as two new vampires appeared seemingly out of nowhere next to him in support. Demetri wasn't thrown back like Aro had been, but the three of them couldn't get near Edward where he stood beside me. An unspoken decision for the two covens to attempt to destroy each other seemed to have unfurled.

I had so much information coming at me from different directions as Carlisle and Esme made tracks toward Aro, Emmett and Rosalie toward Caius, and Jasper and Alice toward Marcus. With the Volturi minions now in the mix, the numbers were balancing out, and the threat to my family resounded instantly through my body.

"Don't!" Edward called to them. They diverted course, coming instead to join us.

It was split-seconds worth of information, and all of it would be stopped in the moment that Marcus reached for my throat but was instead flung backward as Aro had been, like a bolt of lightning had struck at his feet. Marcus looked up from where he landed as I suddenly had Caius and Aro's attention.

"ENOUGH!" Aro's distinctive bellow echoed across the field.

The Cullens repositioned themselves beside me as the Volturi and their guard looked on. There was silence for a moment as the field waited for Aro to continue. His demeanor had changed. Before he had looked bored. Now he looked a bit put out, or even pissed off.

"It seems Isabella has surprised us." Aro spoke as he shifted his eyes over me. "What are you, a shield?"

He didn't wait for an answer before an unhumorous cackle burst from him.

"The irony," he laughed. "The irony!"

Carlisle stepped forward, his presence as the Cullens' patriarch strong. His movement made me feel a stretch and pull through my body. I became aware that my shield almost felt like a malleable object within my mind. I focused in on it and felt Carlisle's presence within its hold. I could register each of the Cullens around me, and I used the feeling to make sure it wasn't just Edward and I who were protected.

The ground in front of us stirred up momentarily as it had done at Jacob's house. It was quicker this time, less obvious, and requiring no contact from me. Edward was looking at me with awe and fascination. The thought flashed that I couldn't wait to test more of the possibilities of this talent.

Aro, Marcus, and Caius looked to the ground and back to me. All eyes in their party were studying the new vampire with the talent they didn't seem to have come across before. Edward tensed beside me.

"Alec?" Aro called without turning. One of the smaller vampires who had tried to challenge Edward with Demetri responded from behind him.

"Nothing, sir. I can't get anything through."

Aro laughed again, but it was clear it was more out of disbelief than humor. Carlisle spoke up then.

"I think it's time for you to leave, and let us go on without trouble to you as we have for all of these years."

"See that's where you're mistaken, old friend. The Cullens have always pushed the boundaries of our kind. You pass yourselves off as humans, you feed alternatively, and you don't conform to our more preferred methods of living. Your grouping makes you strong, and your bizarre conventions make us skeptical of your intentions." Aro seemed a bit riled that Carlisle didn't realize all of this.

"We're a threat," Edward summarized.

"No my boy, never a threat. You simply need to be put in your place every once in a while."

"And you thought killing the human I loved would send that message?"

"She knew too much, and you had no intention of making her a vampire."

"But even when you discovered she was a vampire, you still wanted to be rid of her."

I could tell Aro wasn't impressed at having to discuss or justify. He looked impatient.

"Living like a human was one thing, attempting to live with one, with the threat of her learning the truth…that was something we couldn't tolerate. Your way of life is already unacceptable. You needed to learn that you couldn't have everything you wanted, not without us imparting some rules."

"Wouldn't it have been more effective to do the job yourselves, without using a pawn?"

"I admit it will be the last time I allow my brothers to do deals with…humans." A disgusted look passed over Aro's face. "I was intrigued at the idea of testing you and your sister's abilities."

"Can we agree now that the 'issue' you had with us has been removed? Bella being a human is no longer a threat to your existence. We have every intention of keeping control of the risks that come from living amongst humans, as we have always done. The only time that control has been threatened was when you interfered. You'd do well to remember that," Carlisle said strongly.

"You'd do well to remember who you're talking to, Carlisle."

"You don't need to assert your position with me, Aro. You know that I respect your role in our world. I think it has become clear, though, that you do not need to exert that over me or my family. Our intentions are sound, and we ask that you leave us be to ensure that intention is not threatened."

Aro glanced at me briefly.

"I think we are finished here." He made it sound like a decision rather than a retreat. "Be sure that I don't have need to return, won't you, Carlisle?"

Carlisle said nothing as a sense that Aro's threat was worthless came through in his words.

"It was…charming to meet you, Isabella," he said to me with a filthy smile. "If you'd ever like to put your power to its full use, be sure to visit us in Italy. Maybe you could convince Edward and Alice to finally do the same."

When he saw his invitation wasn't going to get a rise out of me, he turned, and with a flick of his hand, gestured for the others to do the same.

They cleared the field without a glance back in our direction.

We looked at each other in disbelief, a few smiles cracking as the pressure lifted.

"Holy shit," Emmett laughed. "Talk about Queen B!"

"Is it really over?" I whispered to Edward.

His smile was huge.

"Yes. They've given up. Like all bullies, they're cowards underneath the swagger." He chuckled, almost disbelieving.

I noticed Carlisle and Esme still had a vice grip on each other's hand.

"Seriously, people. They're not coming back. Everybody can relax now," Alice said with a laugh to her parents.

"He won't be back for a long time," Edward said, looking at me. "It was very clear in his mind that he knew it was completely beyond his powers to get past Bella."

Emmett's grin was enormous, as if I was his own secret weapon. The rest of the Cullens looked a mix of relieved and proud. The idea that I had the ability to protect them indefinitely was overwhelming. I held a power that was beyond any of our imaginations.

Edward's hand against my cheek drew me back from the thoughts flooding my mind, as what had just happened blurred with what this might mean in the future. I rested my forehead against his and revelled in the moment. It felt like we were finally coming out the other side.

"Let's go home, my love," he whispered.

-x-x-x-