"But shouldn't I be able to see them a little bit? After all, they are technically human."
"You're right. Their genetic makeup is different than ours though, and that may have something to do with it. We both have 25 pairs of chromosomes. Humans have 23 but shape-shifters have 24. It's likely that because of their genetic makeup, it's difficult for you to see them but," he lifted a finger, "potentially not impossible. It could just be because they're so new to you."
The two had been taking their first break in several days. Carlisle hadn't had anything specific for Alice to tend to—nothing that she knew how to do anyways—but had been allowing her to follow him around most of the time. She watched over his shoulder as he filled out forms, patiently answering questions when she had them (and she nearly always had them), she listened in on phone calls, and even learned how to organize paperwork down in the library, something she'd seen Jasper do on a few occasions.
Edward had been right. Keeping busy with Carlisle certainly had been helping the time pass.
Currently, they were both in the kitchen, sipping on their own large containers of lukewarm blood. She'd been excited when he'd informed her that he needed a drink, but her disappointment had been obvious when she realized he only wanted to go to the kitchen to appease his thirst.
He'd smiled, kindly informing her that they didn't have enough time to go on a hunt and she'd swallowed back her disappointment along with the less-than-satisfying but equally-filling meal.
"You think I might be able to develop a way to see them?"
"Possibly. You can see Josie after all, and she's a human. Vampires come easier to you, correct?" Alice nodded in confirmation. "It is possible to expand and improve our gifts, you know."
She nodded again. "I used to only be able to see myself. I didn't see Josie's regularly until I'd already been with her for a few months. But by that time I was already catching glimpses of random vampires I'd started seeing around the neighborhood."
"It's likely you could develop some sight on them. But the full black-out is what makes me wonder. Still nothing?"
She focused on Jasper for a moment, but came up empty. "Nothing," she admitted with a sigh.
"Keep at it, but don't stress over it. It could be you may have to spend time with a shape-shifter to develop sight of them." Alice grimaced at that. "You get used to the smell after a while."
"I can't see how."
"We smell just as bad to them," he informed her.
"Maybe that's the real reason we were mortal enemies once upon a time," she mused, bringing more blood to her lips as she sipped.
Carlisle hid a grin behind his own bottle. "Don't worry too much about things you can't see. The fact that you can witness to anything at all is beyond what we would have ever dreamed of."
She nodded, still finding her contributions to their effort to be lacking. It was hard, having to learn everything during a high-stress time as this, but there was nothing she could do at this point but try to learn, and to help as best as she could.
She contemplated whether to speak again for a moment, but then decided keeping him updated was her best course of action. "I've been working on trying to see Maria." She admitted, unable to look him in the eye.
He placed the cup down. "Any luck?"
"No. I thought maybe since I'm so in touch with Jasper, and they used to be," she struggled to find words, "close, that I'd be able to see something, but… not a darn thing."
"Don't worry about that either," Carlisle dismissed. "We'll find ways to track her regardless." He finished the rest of his meal. "Trust me, Alice. Everything you've done so far is enough."
It seemed like every time she didn't meet up to the standard she was beginning to hold herself to, someone else was trying to assure her that it was fine, and that her inadequacies were okay, and to be frank Alice was getting a little sick of it.
She was eager to see Rosalie again, because she knew that the woman would tell her exactly what she needed to hear in terms of keeping her head in check. Sure, she could go about it a bit cruelly, but Alice thought of it much like a well-deserved kick in the ass. She'd gotten a good one on the phone back in LA, and she thought she was overdue for round two.
Suddenly, when she got a vision of Edward, she straightened up, almost dropping her cup.
"Edward's—" no, he wasn't coming home, but he was away from the wolves, which meant he was Arizona, which meant—
Oh. Nevermind.
"He's on the way to Nashville, right?" Alice nodded, trying not to be disappointed at the fact that she still couldn't see Jasper..
That must have meant that Emmett had arrived in Arizona. With a quick glance, Alice saw that she was right. Where Emmett's future had been as easy to pull forth as Edward's now was, it was now gone, the tiny hole in her vision yet another reminder of her inadequacies.
What disappointed her further is that the training would likely take longer than any of them had anticipated.
Jacob Black had told them that only two-hundred and twelve shape-shifters from across the country had RSVPed to attend the week-long training seminar they were hosting in Navajo Nation. When they'd arrived there were almost four-hundred men and women in attendance at the camp.
Edward had called Carlisle immediately, and they'd had to do some major reorganizing of their schedules.
It had been five days since they'd been gone. Emmett would hopefully be there for the rest of the training; they were hoping three extra days would be adequate enough, but a sinking feeling in her gut told her it would likely be more.
Pulling her phone out she sent a quick text to the group chat—she'd been ecstatic when Esme had showed her how to do it—she'd set up between herself, Edward, and Jasper. Of course, Jasper hadn't replied to a single message, but she'd been harassing them enough that Edward would give her a short reply at least once or twice a day. (It depended on how many dozens of messages she'd send.)
EDWARD! I can see you again! Come home soon!
Now she'd have to see if there was a way to add Emmett to the group and take Edward out of it. After all this was strictly a 'I can't see your future so this is how I'm keeping tabs on you' chat, and now that she could see Edward—he'd have to flicker by some nosy journalists when he got off his plane later—she felt much better.
Of course, swapping Edward for Emmett still didn't do much too for her nerves, but she allowed herself to be content with what she could see as she flickered through Edward's incoming day.
Soon after their pit stop in the kitchen Carlisle was back in his office, making more phone calls that Alice found herself only partially paying attention to now that they were starting to get repetitive.
The following morning he sadly informed her that he'd have to leave her behind when he drove to DC for the day, and then spent time in Philadelphia the day after.
"I'll be back in roughly two days," he assured her, "maybe less. Maybe more. But I want you to stay here. Shadow Esme a bit down in the office. Just listen in on everything. You'll still learn some new things."
Alice had nodded along to his words, trying not to feel stir-crazy at being cooped up in the house. It was an odd feeling. Something she would have never thought she'd experience in her life. Especially considering she skulked around an attic for several decades, content as they come.
Esme, sweet as ever, had wordlessly allowed Alice to listen into and watch every single thing she did, even telling her that if she wanted to take a break to hunt, change, check the mail, or do anything, really, she was welcome to do so at any point.
Alice had dismissed that at first, feeling silly that the woman even thought it was necessary to offer, but after three days, she had to leave, excusing herself quietly while Esme was in the middle of what Alice had to admit was the most ridiculous phone call she'd ever listened in on.
Some humans were drunk and unsure of whether they'd stumbled across a newborn hiding place when they had called to file an emergency report. As Esme spoke to these people they were receiving real-time updates that it had likely been a basement full of large and impressively fast raccoons. Alice didn't know who decided to let that report go through all the way to the intelligence office, but as Esme listened with a patience she wasn't sure she had, Alice had to leave.
Sitting herself on the back porch, Alice let the warm breeze blow around her, closing her eyes and letting the noises surround and soothe her.
Everything she had been doing nowadays felt so repetitive and unhelpful. Esme and Carlisle's instruction had been invaluable, of course, and they were teaching her things that would truly come in handy one day. Things she would need to learn at some point.
But it felt like a lot of it was simply wasting time. Everything Esme was doing could be performed unassisted, and everything Carlisle had been letting her watch in on and follow had been slowed down every time she asked a question or made him explain something.
Realistically, there was no time to be teaching her the ins-and-outs of tasks that everybody was already dealing with. If they really wanted to utilize her, they'd send her off to help with Edward or Rosalie or Bella. When she had been travelling with Jasper he'd informed her, after she'd dealt with several entrance exams, that she'd been saving him time all across the board.
The only other way she could think to help out would be to utilize her visions to their benefit, but…
Focusing for a few seconds, she let out a frustrated huff. Seeing Maria was still impossible for her. It wasn't actually the first time she'd ever attempted—back in the day and soon after her change, when she was hiding out under highway overpasses and running along roads just on the treeline, she'd attempted to see both Jasper and Maria with no luck. After all, those had been the only two faces she knew, and for her first several years she'd been desperately seeking some type of purpose. Maybe finding it with the two that would bring her demise had been a foolish idea, but that was all she had until Josie plucked her off the streets.
And now with her complicated relationship with Jasper, perhaps seeking out her nightmares wasn't a completely terrible idea...
But something Carlisle had said had sparked the hint of an idea within her. It was true, she was definitely most attuned to Jasper and Josie, but she could very easily pull forth her other fellow Protectors futures with ease. Even vampires she'd only met once—Paula Deers, Ben Fields, even the impatient studio producer who had scolded her for tapping her foot with a live mic on—Alice could, with little concentration, pull forth flickers and glimmers of their futures.
But how on Earth would she be able to track down something or someone she'd never seen before? She would certainly need help. She didn't know the terrain of her own country, let alone a foreign one.
When she heard footsteps approaching, she opened her eyes and turned, smiling when Esme walked out and joined her on the back porch.
Pushing back the idea and chewing on her lip, she considered keeping the idea to herself. After all, how likely was it that they'd agree to any plan she could concoct? Especially being the new kid. They didn't need to fight Maria, of course not. Alice would never ask anything like that of them. They just needed track her down enough that she could get close. Being able to exchange words would be the best-case scenario, but Alice would take any opportunity she could get.
"Everything alright?"
Alice shrugged, "I feel sort of useless."
"Learning isn't useless." Esme sat herself down beside her, mirroring her position with her hands behind her back as she reclined, looking out into the trees. "In fact, it's the best thing you could be doing right now."
"The best thing I could be doing would be using my visions to help everyone, but," she let out a pathetic laugh, "that doesn't seem to be happening."
Esme didn't seem taken off guard by her uncharacteristic bout of self-loathing. "Carlisle told me you've been trying to see her."
"Yeah, and with no luck," she shook her head, hating how pitiful she sounded. "It would shift the tides in our favor if I could see her. Knowing her next move could save thousands of lives and I have the ability to do it. But doing what I am now, isn't helping. I'm not helping."
"You know what's funny," Esme smirked, eyes following a group of birds as they flew over the house, "Jasper was telling me the same thing."
That really hurt, Alice realized with a sharp gasp. It was one thing to acknowledge your own shortcomings in this time of crisis and panic, but for one of the people you cared about most to agree with your biggest insecurity for the time-being? That absolutely stung.
"Why even bother training me then?" She asked, trying not to cry. "If everyone knows I'm not helping."
"Oh, that's not what I mean," Esme was quick to dismiss her pain, "I'm saying that Jasper doesn't think that he's helping." She corrected with an apologetic look. "Not about you. He can't say enough good things about you and everything you've done so far."
"Really?" Alice breathed, the ache that was swallowing her dissipating with just a few words. "Wait, Jasper doesn't think he's helping?" He was the reason they'd likely win, when it came down to it. He was the continent's most valuable asset right now.
"I had a conversation quite similar to this one with him just before he left. He doesn't think he's doing enough. He thinks he's wasting time running these 'errands' for us," she lifted her hands to pull finger quotes into the air, "and that he'd be better suited for work on the front lines."
That revelation left Alice confused. "Down in Mexico, you mean?" Esme gave her a serious look. "But—why!? He's been so against us going down and helping!"
"He doesn't want us to have to get involved."
"So he can help but we can't?" Alice frowned. "Why the hell not?"
"Alice," Esme fixed her with a stern look, as if she were missing the point, and as Alice saw what Esme was about to say, she realized that she was. "Jasper is trying to keep us all safe. He has wanted to leave from the start." Esme spoke, matter-of-factly. "His first plan he proposed was for him to travel down and work directly with Gerardo. But since he wanted to go, then Emmett wanted to go, and Rosalie wasn't going to let him go by himself, so then suddenly half of our members wanted to leave and we had a panicked country to deal with. Jasper called off the entire idea when he realized that Emmett wasn't going to let him go alone.
"The next day was when we learned Mexico had lost another Protector, so that had solidified the decision that no one would be going,. Not even Jasper."
That had certainly explained his disposition for those first few weeks that Alice had known him. He had been giving off the same energy that she imagined a caged animal would exude, uneasy with his confinement, ready to strike, and quick to frustration. When Alice had her first conversation with him, she hadn't been expecting it to go so civilly.
"He was willing to fight with Mexico and risk his life rather than to stay here?" The idea terrified her. If Maria was currently capable of disposing of three Protectors within the first few weeks of her resurgence, what would have stopped him from being the next fatality? "He planned to leave?"
"He would have gone, too, if he'd been able to go alone. Well," she shifted slightly, a frown maring her features suddenly. "His idea actually included the involvement of some of our own newborns out of our containment centers."
Alice blanched at that. "To form his own army?"
"He acknowledged it wasn't very ethical, but he brought up some good points when he proposed the idea. It would've been strictly volunteers, of course. He even had Carlisle almost in agreement. This is Jasper's absolute area of expertise," she reminded her.
"Strategy." Alice nodded grimly.
"Yes. He says that even with training all of these people—which is highly valuable work, no matter what he says—it's useless without being able to form and execute a proper strategy of attack."
"But... we're training for defense."
"Exactly," Esme nodded. "Jasper isn't used to that. Which is why he's discouraged."
"And why he thinks he isn't doing enough." Suddenly, so many things were making sense. His tense moods, his inability to see everything that he was doing right and doing well.
"That's why I'm saying that his concerns are reminding me an awful lot of yours. You both know where your strengths lie, but you're both currently unable to utilize them fully. You're both frustrated and to be honest," she shot her an apologetic look, "it's very obvious."
And just like that, Alice was certain they weren't simply talking about their line of work now.
Eyes flickering back to the woods, she tried to ignore the sympathy that she saw in Esme's eyes.
"I won't pry, or ask any questions," the older woman quickly assured. "Jasper is a very private person and I know you're new to all of this. But I know enough to see that you both very clearly care for one another."
Reaching down, Alice began fiddling with her bracelet, letting the hard pads of her fingers gently brush over the engravement of her name. It's reciprocal, her brain kept trying to remind her, despite her insecurities always forcing her to be unsure about them.
"I know I'm not supposed to—"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have."
But the words he spoke as he'd embraced her made her heart ache.
"We can't get distracted," she supplied pitifully.
Esme laughed lightly at that. "As if you both aren't already." Standing up, she brushed some discarded, rotting flower petals leaves off the back of her pants. "I'm going back down. Join me if you'd like, if not," she looked around at the petals littering the porch, "feel free to sweep this a bit." She offered, frowning at the sight.
Alice couldn't help but smile a little at that. Esme was always keeping things neat and clean. It wouldn't hurt to help her out a little bit while she was stuck downstairs, sorting through reports and files.
Before Esme could walk into the house, Alice reached out, "Wait. Esme." The woman turned, a questioning look on her face. "I had something I wanted to ask," idly, she found herself playing with her bracelet, nervous at the idea of bringing this up, "to help, I mean."
Esme stood, waiting while Alice tried to word her plan as delicately as possible.
"I have an idea to start watching Maria more closely."
She raised an eyebrow, "You want to go down there?" She guessed accurately.
"Not to fight of course," Alice felt the overwhelming need to assure her. "But if we can get me within a certain distance from Maria I might be able to start seeing her. If not, then even if we exchange maybe two words, that would work. Then we could get out of there and then suddenly I have every decision she'll ever make right here," a pale finger tapped her temple. "It will be easier from there to take her out, and cut her off at her every turn."
"That's a very dangerous idea, Alice," Esme spoke seriously, her expression grave. "Countless things could go wrong."
"Even more wrong than the murder of innocents down south?" Alice was not going to give this plan up so easily. "You said it yourself, I'm the key to all of this. But that would only be true because of my visions. And my visions won't help me unless I can get an accurate read on Maria but I can't do that unless you send me down there." She had to get Esme to see her side of things. If she could, then everyone else would have to relent. "I know it's hard to sacrifice people—especially someone who doesn't even know what they're doing," she felt a bit hysterical at that statement.
"No one is getting sacrificed." Esme's face was sad as she spoke, clearly displeased with Alice's word choice as she wrapped her arms around her midsection.
"You have the knowledge that I'm the key, and I have the concrete vision that I'll contront Maria eventually. But if I can just go down there first, maybe it will set everything off. This could be how we win."
"It could also get you, and other people, killed."
"People are already getting killed! So what if it's me?" Alice felt like crying then. All she wanted to do was help end this nightmare. And if it ended with her death, would she really be so disappointed in that? After all, for them, to live and let things like this happen was to be a coward. And Alice was sick of running and hiding.
She wanted to fight.
"That plan would only work if you could get home safe and sound. The chances of that not happening are far too high."
"Let Jasper put the strategy together then," Alice offered, knowing as she spoke that it sounded like a ridiculous idea. There was no way in hell he'd let her go down there, "We'll have multiple steps to execute, with task forces to take me nearly every step of the way. That way it has a higher chance of success."
Esme gave her an odd look then, and Alice simply knew that Esme had had the same thought that she did: Jasper would have a fit if he knew that Alice was even considering something so risky.
"If you want, we can discuss it with everyone the next chance we get." Esme told her, sighing. "I don't like it, and I know that a lot of people won't, but we'll hear you out and see what everyone thinks."
"Thank you," Alice breathed, meaning it so genuinely. "I know it's dangerous. But this could work."
"I would hope so." And then Esme was gone.
Alice waited a couple minutes before breathing again. Sitting herself back down, cross-legged on the porch, she closed her eyes. She had to figure out a way to make this work. If she could come up with a solid plan, or at least one they could build upon, then she would make them see things her way. This had to be why she was there, even is Esme swore she didn't know the reason.
If she could pull this off, they could take out Maria.
And as Alice planned, pulling visions and possibilities forth one after the other in her mind, she knew she only had a few days to figure something out.
A/N: *bangs on table* let Alice help! let Alice help!
I usually proof a chapter before posting, but I edited this like a week ago (with the intention of posting it lol whoops), and I'm just hoping I haven't missed any obvious mistakes. As always, let me know if you see some ugly error and I'll be sure to fix it and thank you profusely.
No Jasper in this chapter, very sorry. Maybe next chapter ;)
Don't have much to say right now, other than I hope you're enjoying the story. I'll try to post another chapter this week, or at least before the weekend is over. I'm trying to keep the chapter count at 3 posted per month, but I keep getting distracted. Not from the story. I've actually written the next ten chapters after this (and damn, what chapters they are...) but I keep forgetting as I write to like... post the shit that's already written... lmao
Please favorite, follow, and review! Especially you new readers! Let me know what you think.
~*~review replies~*~
guest: thank you! oh yes, some reflection will definitely be done on at least one of their ends...
duskwolf234: love love love that people are cooking up theories... they're so fun to read... ;) glad you're enjoying! hope this small chapter didn't disappoint too much.
deltagirl74: I know we're over 100k words in, but do you really think I'd let them kiss this soon?! nonsense! you guys still have a bit to go. and oh everyone damn well knows they're smitten with one another. hell, even they seem to know it themselves. too bad every circumstance surrounding them Sucks... if only they'd, yknow... stop caring so much about shit they can't control...
worldtraveller78: honestly if you guys could bribe me in alcohol I'd constantly be drunk and this story would probably be finished LMAO. and I LOVE Jacob! couldn't leave him out! sadly he won't have too large of a role but you will see him again.
alice and jasper are so hopeless. and yes, I know I've written them that way, but I can't just... let them off easy, y'know? gotta make the babies work for it! can't have that HEA without a little (ok, a LOT of) pain first. and oh... you'll definitely know who is worrying most during the next chapter... :0) which will be out this week...
I won't say much more about extra content outside of CotN. I've learned that when I say things without already having them completed (or at least, started) I end up jinxing myself. you may get more content, but you almost might not. can't say anything for certain now, but ideas have been swimming... ;) and oh yes. you guys are definitely still my favorites. the day more than 3 people at a time comment on a chapter on AO3 maybe you guys will have some competition, but for now, you're ahead in the Favorite Readers Department
CLee56: I love the manipulation theories, but maybe keep guessing ;) glad you're enjoying it! hope this chapter was satisfying.