She regained her sight of Emmett and Jasper around 7 o'clock, meaning that they'd likely be home sometime after midnight at the earliest. They would just barely catch their flight and would end up with an hour long layover at some airport Alice didn't care to see. Instead she let relief fall over her as she flickered through each of their futures.

Emmett would have a bit of an intense reunion with his wife—Alice tried hard to skip passed those glimpses of his night and following day—instead smiling at the visions of him happy and home.

As for Jasper…

It wasn't a very clear vision, but there was—of course—another possibility of them fighting tonight while she sorted through visions and possibilities with Carlisle and Edward, and now she found herself dreading the encounter, where before she had been as determined as ever to sift through vision after vision, until they could potentially learn something.

When Bella left around nine and Rosalie disappeared into the basement to begin working again, Alice found herself growing sad. Of course this was a busy job, and Alice would be a fool to ask for more free time with the people she cared about, but their absence, paired with the oncoming battles she'd be fighting with Jasper later, Alice wished she had more time to simply be.

So when Alice made herself at home on the couch in the den, and when Esme came and sat beside her, Alice merely curled up into her side and closed her eyes, wishing she could sleep to pass the time.

The two women remained like that, curled into one another comfortingly—and god, did this make her miss Josie—until just before one in the morning, the sound of a car pulling up to the house pulled them both from their thoughts.

"You're a strong girl, Alice." Esme spoke, drawing her eyes away from the hallway that led to the garage door. "No matter what you think or what doubts plague you, you are stronger than you know."

"Will you stay?" Alice asked, feeling childish. "When we have this meeting or whatever, will you sit with me?"

Esme smiled, cupping Alice's cheeks and leaning forward. "Of course, sweet girl." When the woman pressed a kiss to her forehead before standing, Alice felt herself grow warm with what she could only describe as love. Esme was truly a wonderful person.

Clinging to her hand, she stood and followed as Emse walked to meet Emmett and Jasper.

Jasper was the first person she saw, but when he caught sight of her he stopped, letting Emmett race past him. Esme met him first, smiling up at him as she pulled his massive form into a hug.

"Sup ma?" He squeezed her affectionately, eyes locking on Alice as he pulled back from the embrace. "Hey," his voice was more gentle than she'd ever heard it. And when he walked around Esme and held his own arms out, inviting her over as opposed to storming up and squeezing her, Alice felt emotion well up in her, thankful at the gesture. "You good, pipsqueak?

Alice couldn't help but smile then, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his huge torso, squeezing tightly. When he didn't eagerly return the embrace, she felt her smile drop. "I'm not going to shatter, you know?"

"Yeah but," he leaned down and hugged her back, still hardly using a quarter of his typical strength in the hug, "that scream from earlier scared the shit out of me."

Ah, she'd nearly forgotten that Emmett had been with Jasper for that entire debacle.

Forming a fist, she punched him lightly in the chest. "Good," she stood her ground, as she pulled back, refusing to be tiptoed around, "whatever keeps you all on alert."

"If you end up killing one of us from the world's first ever vampire heart attack, it's gonna be that asshole," Emmett pointed a thumb over his shoulder, clearly referencing Jasper. "You guys enjoy your meeting," he smiled down at her as he began to walk away, bag slung over his shoulder, "because I have an appointment with the librarian." Pointing toward the basement he winked at them and Alice couldn't help but laugh, especially when Esme clicked her tongue.

"Are you ready?" Jasper asked from where he stood, still unmoving in the hallway.

Alice turned back toward him, meeting his eyes for the first time in almost two weeks. She'd missed him terribly, she noted with a sad realization, taking in his unmoving form.

Her memory was as sharp as ever, but she swore every time she saw him after a period away from him, he looked more and more handsome. His blonde hair fell into his face slightly, just barely out of the way from his golden gaze that was fixed steadily on her. With an arm gripping the strap of the black backpack thrown over his shoulder, Alice could clearly see the muscles in his triceps flexing against the fabric of his shirt.

The urge to hug him was powerful in that instant, but as he remained unmoving, so did she, not about the be the one to bridge this gap between them. She was still upset with him; for his reaction to her attempt at helping and at his patronizing words. He didn't seem too happy with her either, but his gaze was more gentle than Alice had been anticipating.

After a few seconds she realized he was waiting for a reply. She simply nodded, grabbing Esme's hand and letting the older woman lead the way.

Jasper trailed behind the women, not close enough to reach out for, but close enough that Alice could still smell his scent. The urge to embrace him and bury her face in his neck, just to get a better hint of it, was nearly overpowering.

But all too soon they were walking through Carlisle's office, where he and Edward were already waiting.

"Jasper," Carlisle acknowledged from behind his desk, "glad you're back."

Jasper simply nodded, walking up and handing him the small bag. Alice was sure it was loaded to the brim with filled-out paperwork. As he reached across the desk, she eyed him carefully.

If there had been any sort of incident during his time in Navajo Nation, it didn't show physically at least. She would maybe pry that story from Edward later. She doubted Jasper would be willing to tell her something that she was sure he'd claim would worry her any further.

"For the record," he spoke as he took up space leaning against one of the walls, "this is a bad idea."

"Tough luck," Alice couldn't keep herself from snapping at him. When his eyes found hers, they were pure ice. She met his gaze unflinchingly, deciding that she'd had enough of his pessimism for one eternity.

"Even if we don't follow through with any of these 'decisions'," Carlisle commented smoothly, either undisturbed by their sudden hostility or unable to bring himself to care any further, Alice didn't know. "The intel we could gather through Alice's visions alone is too valuable to pass by."

"We've already got one name," Edward mentioned casually, holding out what appeared to be a freshly printed stack of papers. "Kyle Ellis of McAllen Texas. Went missing six months ago."

When Jasper didn't take the offered documents, Alice huffed, walking up to them and taking them instead. As she flickered through the thin packet, her eyes fell upon his face. He was the only vampire she hadn't seen in her vision. The one who'd ripped her arm off and kept her restrained.

"He's the one who hurt me," she muttered quietly, eyes flashing over his face, memorizing it. "Six-foot-six. On the wrestling team for the state school."

"He went missing during a visit home in December. On Christmas, no less." Edward frowned. "He had disappeared unrelated to these sightings though, so Maria has been at it for longer than we thought.

Noting how Jasper had moved to read over her shoulder, she shot him a look, passing him the papers instead. "Anyone else?"

Carlisle then pulled up a large sheet of paper, spreading it across his desk. Alice's heart fell when she realized it was a picture of every human that had gone missing from Mexico since Maria's reappearance. All eighty-five of them.

"Martin Avelar, Elizabeth Smith, Gloria Cheatham, Daniel Hernandez, Cole Alcon." As he spoke, Carlisle circled a picture, marking a tiny star next to each name.

Alice leaned over, slight terror coursing through her as she recognized each of the faces that Carlisle circled. That was them. Those were the people that had been staring back at her with red eyes and violent gazes.

"Wouldn't they know better?" She mumbled quietly. "They know what's going on, right? Or who Maria is, don't they?"

"It's the bloodlust," Jasper finally spoke up. "It drives them nearly insane with thirst. They'll do anything to get to their next meal, and if Maria is their only way of feeding, they'll do anything for her, no matter how much they may hate or fear her."

She nearly shuddered at the thought. These were innocent, perfectly law-abiding citizens who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And now they couldn't help but want to tear the world apart just for some blood. It sickened her, and made her pity them.

Without her visions to guide her along, she could imagine she wouldn't have been any better off than these poor people.

"There's one missing," she commented as she walked around Carlisle's desk to study all eighty-five faces. "There was another one—she was young. No older than fifteen or sixteen."

"Can't find anything on her. It could very well mean she's much like this kid, Kyle. Taken before we knew Maria was around, older than all the other newborns." Carlisle marked a few more notes beside each name as he spoke.

"Her eyes were a darker red than the rest," Edward thought, "which could be a factor of age."

"Or of thirst," Jasper spoke. "But even working alone, that's a small group for Maria."

"You're right," Carlisle nodded. "There's always a chance she has more second-in-commands, hiding out around the country."

"Are they not looking?"

Edward shook his head, "Not actively. They're trying to keep people safe right now. The don't have the time or resources to safely scout areas. And even if there are other groups hiding out or staying underneath the radar, it would be hard to find or track them. Our kind is exceptionally good at evasion when we don't want to be found. Gifted or not."

"Let's do this," Alice spoke eagerly, sitting herself down in the chair across from Carlisle, directly next to the one Esme was sitting in. "Let's run through plans, make decisions, and see what I can find."

Carlisle nodded, but when he turned and met Jasper's gaze, as if seeking his permission, Alice's frustration mounted.

"I'm fine," she assured through gritted teeth. "I can handle it."

"You screamed like someone was killing you," Jasper scowled. "I thought you guys were being attacked for a moment."

"I can handle my own fear just fine."

"But you can't, Alice."

Having enough of his lack of faith, Alice sat herself forward and made a quick, knee-jerk decision. She wouldn't leave until the next time Jasper left to go hunting, but she would attempt to track down Maria. Then, a vision:

Sprinting through the woods, Alice pushed her legs as hard and as fast as she could, cycling through vision after vision as she attempted to lose the vampire that was hot on her tail.

She was only a few hundred miles from home, just passing through and out of the appalachians, when suddenly her pursuer caught up to her, making a wide arc and cutting off her trail.

"Alice!" Jasper yelled angrily, as she dodged his every attempt to grab her. She managed to avoid his every move until an impulsive move caught her off guard, and suddenly, they were both on the ground, Jasper gripping her tightly as she screamed and thrashed.

Back in the present, she frowned, a bit embarrassed at the swiftness of it. "That was a bust."

"How about we actually work together to make these decisions, Alice," Edward shot her an annoyed look from where he made himself comfortable against the windowsill behind Carlisle. "And Jasper," the blond lifted his head, "shut up."

Alice had to resist the childish urge to turn toward Jasper and stick her tongue out at him. Instead, she glanced over at him, only to see him glaring at Edward with unconcealed anger. This was ridiculous. "You too, Alice." Edward snapped. "Deal with your issues on your own time. I'm sick of it."

Carlisle seemed content to ignore their bickering. "Now I've drafted a few ideas we can run through, all agree with, or"—he eyed Jasper—"pretend to agree with, and make a decision on. If we can get through even a handful of these and if Alice can see even a little bit more information, it will be good enough. These are not official, concrete plans." He shot Jasper a pointed look. "It's just for Alice's sake."

Alice nodded, ready to try her hardest, avoiding any thought of her last vision and the terror it had brought her.

"First plan. Organized assault. We put a few teams together. One to take her down south, another to stick with her as she attempts to get close and potentially make contact. We contact Gerardo and get it set up, requesting any help he's willing to offer us."

Alice got swept up in a quick vision before coming back, and frowning. "Nothing yet. He'll want to cut a deal," Alice muttered. "We'll be in negotiations for weeks."

"We lift the restrictions then," Carlisle jotted something down on a paper, "send them people, allow our Containers to help."

Alice focused, but no visions came to her.

"Jasper," Edward sighed, "it's just for the sake of her visions. Just go along with it. I don't care how much you hate it, just pretend for a moment that you'll relent."

Jasper sighed, but the moment he made a decision—reluctant, but still made—a vision flowed through her, just as vivid as the last one.

"Let go of her!" she couldn't see him, but Jasper's voice was all she could hear, "get off—ALICE!"

It was then that Alice realized there was something over her head-a bag? A hood of some sort—and she was on her knees, her arms restrained behind her back.

"Cálmate," Maria's voice purred, standing somewhere off to Alice's right, "if you are good, I will not dispose of her."

"Get off of her," Jasper snapped, and Alice could hear the sounds of struggling. He then growled something in Spanish, his voice low, threatening. Then, more yelling in English, "Let her go and I'll go with you willingly."

"No!" She felt the sob rip from her as Jasper relented so quickly. "No, you can't!"

"Do not be so rude," Maria clicked her tongue, "she is coming, too."

"If you don't release her safely I won't do a damn thing for you," he threatened, his voice angrier than Alice had even imagined it could get.

Maria only laughed at his threat, her voice sounding far away from Alice, much closer to Jasper, it seemed. "Yes you will."

And with that, she was back in the present.

"No," Alice croaked, reaching out and grabbing Esme's hand tightly, forcing herself to remain calm despite her fear nearly blinding all of her senses, "she's gets us. She gets Jasper and I." Gripping the woman's hand, Alice forced herself to concentrate solely on that, but the sound of Jasper's terrifying screams—begging with words that pleaded on behalf of her life, not his—were still fresh in her mind.

"Did you see anything new?" Carlisle asked, trying to keep his tone nonchalant.

"Nothing, I—they had me blinded somehow. There was a bag. There—" she paused, trying to force herself to collect herself before speaking. It was hard. It was so hard not to cry. "I didn't see a thing. All I heard was—" and her eyes found Jasper's quickly before she averted her gaze, trying to ignore the anger, the pain she saw in his yellow eyes.

"It doesn't work," she said, a sense of failure washing over her, adding a keen sense of disappointment to the awful collection of emotions she was already experiencing.

"Alright," a few quick pen strokes later, "Scrap it. Next plan. Now," he offered them all a semi-apologetic look, "they get more questionable as time passes. Morally, that is."

"Jasper, one of your old plans," Edward spoke, pulling the blond's attention away from Alice. "You go, we make Emmett stay and Alice goes in his place. You work alongside Gerardo and come up with some strategies, then you both join the action."

It was a long moment before the vision came to her—Jasper was hesitant to decide to go along with their hypothetical situations-—ut when it did, it was quick.

The field was riddled with vampire corpses. Alice couldn't even decipher who was a newborn and who was one of their own—limbs and heads and torsos were strewn about—so every time she encountered a new vampire, not knowing what side they were on, she only focused on what she was good at: evasion.

But there were four people pursuing her. Every time she dodged an attack, another one was in their place. She had a few burning bite marks, but as she moved and twisted her body, jumping away and out of reach quicker than she could think, they were easy to ignore.

It was when a newborn hit her full-on, nearly knocking her head from her shoulders, when she finally came to a halt. But before the newborn, a tall woman with a ferocious look on her face, could rip into her any further, Jasper was there, twisting her head from her shoulders before reaching forward and grabbing Alice roughly by the shoulder.

He grabbed directly onto a bite mark and she nearly yelped, clinging to him as they ran.

"We survive," Alice let out a long breath, adrenaline giving way to relief as she faced everyone back in the present. "But Maria isn't there."

"But," Edward leaned forward, scanning the chart of faces, "one," he circled a face, "two, three, and four are." Alice watched as he circled a photo of a woman with straight, long hair. The image of her deadly face, teeth ready to rip her head off, was fresh in her mind, and as Alice leaned forward to look at the picture of the young woman, smiling, happy, human, her chest ached.

"That one isn't completely off the table, then," Carlisle muttered, writing a few things down.

"You said this was just for the sake of her visions," Jasper accused, unhappy.

"If we find something that works," Esme spoke for the first time, turning to face the angry man, "we need to do whatever we can to help."

"Here's another questionable one," Carlisle eyed Edward and sighed. Clearly, Carlisle didn't like this one.

"Not my idea," Edward shrugged. "Remember when you wanted to play her own game against her?"

"Our newborns against hers," Jasper nodded, very quickly knowing what he was talking about. "That next?"

Carlisle nodded, and Alice watched the hesitance in his expression. "We gather a few dozen newborn volunteers. You work with them for a few weeks and then we devise a careful route down south. It would need to be a larger group because we'd need a convoy to help keep them in check. But—"

Carlisle hadn't even finished describing the plan before everyone was in agreement and the vision fell over her:

Running across the parking lot Alice couldn't help but swear mentally.

This wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't—

As the sounds of screaming reached her ears, she was devastated to know she wouldn't be able to come to their aide. The burn in her throat was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Holding her breath, she had to try hard to ignore the fact that her shoes were covered in still-warm blood.

Human blood.

But flickering through her visions she knew she had to find Jasper before Maria did.

But when she skidded to a stop, turning and evading another pair of hands, she knew she wouldn't be in time to stop what she'd seen from happening. So when she found him—amongst overturned burning cars on the freeway, three separate vampires working to keep him restrained—Alice opened her mouth to gather the breath to scream, only to fall to her knees, gripping her throat as she held back a shriek.

The air was thick with the scent of blood, and she didn't know how much longer she could hold on…

Alice watched with desperation when Maria suddenly sauntered forward, dragging a half-conscious human behind her—her eyes were glued to the smear of red across the pavement beneath the man—before yanking him up, hand at his throat as she approached Jasper.

No words were exchanged as he struggled to shake off their hold. She lifted a finger and, quick as can be, ripped the front of the man's throat open.

His blood hadn't even hit the ground before Jasper was released and Alice watched, helplessly, as he caught the body before it hit the ground, his teeth sunk into the man's throat.

Back in the present, Alice leaned forward, hand ripping out of Esme's as she gripped her throat.

"Ah," Edward also gripped his throat, cutting off a pained groan. Even he was hurting, having experienced the vision right along with her.

"No—no," she gasped, "it fails."

"A disaster," Edward agreed, inhaling the fresh air of the room deeply, letting it soothe his sudden, painful thirst.

They'd have to drink again after this meeting.

Alice mirrored Edward's breathing, inhaling her own lungfuls of air. Quickly, she shot a look at Jasper.

He was already staring back at her, an indecipherable expression on his face. He still looked angry, but seemed to be internalizing it well now, watching as she reigned in her sudden thirst, a hand at his side, opening and closing slowly. When she met his eyes, finding them still bright gold, she felt relief cool the fires of panic she was slowly extinguishing inside of her.

One of her greatest fears was to look into his eyes and see red staring back at her.

"No new faces?" Carlisle asked curiously, glancing between Edward and Alice.

Edward shook his head, still wincing as he took slow, steady breaths, also reminding his senses that the vision had been nothing more than that: a vivid hallucination. No scent of human blood lingered now, except for in the memory of the vision.

"Alright," Carlisle leaned back in his chair. "Next, we negotiate."

"It already isn't going to work," Jasper sounded annoyed.

"That's not the point of this exercise," Alice reminded him, barely able to keep herself from snapping at him.

"If the point of this exercise is to find the missing Mexicans—humans we have already suspected had fallen victim to Maria to some degree—then I'll agree, you're having mild success there. But so far all that has happened is that we've determined that all of these ideas are doomed for failure."

"Not the second one," Alice retorted stubbornly, "where we go down a join up with Gerardo."

"Which we aren't doing," he supplied firmly. And just like that the vision of her and Jasper fighting down south disappeared from the potential visions in her sight. Alice couldn't keep the glare off of him then, her frustration slowly beginning to morph into depression. There really was no way he was going to let her help.

It made her so angry at him.

"Negotiating," Carlisle spoke again, raising his voice only slightly. It seemed that her and Jasper's bickering was beginning to wear on him a bit.

Before much else could be said, two consecutive visions struck her.

"We don't want anymore bloodshed," Carlisle spoke, his arms at his sides, his palms outward as he stared across the wide clearing. Alice couldn't see his face where she stood, just a couple steps behind him and off to the side. At her side was Emmett, and beside him was Bella. Next to Carlisle stood Edward, arms crossed and completely still, focused on the minds of the vampires across from them, Alice knew.

A feminine laugh caused shivers to run up her spine, and when her eyes fell upon Maria, standing amongst equal company—the blonde boy, Kyle, stood at her side—Alice almost found herself shaking in fear.

"Bloodshed is our livelihood, Carlisle," she laughed, "without blood we do not live. And end of bloodshed is an end of all of us." She flashed a patronizing grin. "We can't all be satisfied with such a futile existence."

"You will never achieve what you desire," Carlisle's voice was sad. It was so easy for forget that they had once been old friends. That he had been the first to propose to her that she help lead her country. "Your path only leads to suffering. You know this."

"Our definitions of suffering have always differed greatly, Carlisle," she purred, her red eyes flickering to each of the Protectors and then beyond, no doubt knowing about the dozens of containers that waited several hundred yards away, just in case. "To exist is to suffer. Only through our own creation is life unbearable. But," Alice felt her body freeze when her eyes fell upon her, "there are ways to make it... better."

When Maria stepped forward, only slightly, eyes looking Alice up and down, she felt the urge to step behind Emmett, and let him shield her from that crimson gaze. "If you're here to make a deal-"

"No," Edward cut in, "we aren't trading lives."

But a vision struck her, and suddenly she found herself moving forward.

"Alice no," Edward snapped the same moment Emmett reached out and grabbed her arm, confused at what was happening.

But, and she had no idea how or why, it was clear as day. If Alice went with her, the killing would stop. The disappearances would cease. She would go with Maria and they would disappear into hiding. Their eyes—the eyes of Maria's newborns—would golden. She didn't know why, but she saw it vividly, and she knew she had to go.

But she could also see that her fellow Protectors would not let her go easily

"Trust in Esme," she whispered, meeting eyes with Edward, then with Carlisle.

This is what she was chosen for. For this Protector life. She was there to stop the slaughter. To cease the violence. To win the war. Esme knew it. And now Alice knew that if she left now, and went along with Maria, all would calm.

She pulled her arm out of Emmett's grasp, his face shattering with sadness as she began to walk away. Eyes flickering momentarily to Bella, she felt her own sadness begin to bloom within her.

"Tell Jasper I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, knowing that her friend would relay the message. Jasper hadn't known that they'd be meeting with Maria. Jasper hadn't been given the chance to even say goodbye. The last time they'd all seen him they'd all been standing upon a lie, and now when they returned without her, he'd know.

"Yes," Maria purred, rocking back on her heels, "do give the Major my regards." The look on her face was relaxed, pleased.

The next vision was nearly identical, yet slightly different in setting.

The darkness surrounding them made Alice glance skyward for a moment, unable to tell whether the last of light was from the storm or simply due to time. The rain ravaged them, soaking them down to the bone as they stood on opposite ends of the clearing. Before her still stood Carlisle and Edward, but on Carlisle's left now stood Jasper.

His hands in fists as his entire body remained poised to move at any moment, eyes locked on the woman a hundred yards away. The woman who had brought him into this life. His creator.

The conversation that began was strictly in Spanish, to Alice's dismay. Jasper spoke in short, clipped words, and Maria replied at length, her tone almost-playful.

"No," Edward's voice chimed in over their conversation after a couple of minutes, "we aren't trading lives."

Fixing a curious look at the back of his bronze-haired head, she only wondered for a split-second before she felt Emmett turn his gaze on her. Meeting his eyes she mouthed 'what?' before Jasper was yelling at Maria, the words still incomprehensible to her.

"It is only fair that sacrifices be made," Maria spoke in English, and suddenly her eyes were on Alice and she found herself frozen.

"No," Jasper stepped forward, his word firm and his stance challenging. "It's not happening."

"So eager to die?" Maria seemed genuinely upset at his refusal. "You are willing to risk the lives of many for the life of one?"

And when Emmett growled low in his chest, stepping slightly in front of her, Alice realized that they had to have been talking about her.

"Mi unico pedido, and you say no," Maria's face hardened then. "Surely you haven't grown this foolish, Major. Let's ask her."

"No," Jasper snapped just as Alice moved to walk around Emmett. If Maria wanted her, Maria could have her. The vision came to her then, of the peace her departure would somehow bring. Shaking off Emmett's hand, unable to look at him or Bella, Alice walked up to Jasper.

"I'm going."

He reeled on her. "Alice. No." And when she continued walking, he grabbed her hand, gripping it so tightly it almost hurt. "It's a trap. No." And another vision then. Jasper would sooner initiate a fight between their forces and hers, losing countless lives in the process, than let her go peacefully.

She wanted to swear then. To curse Carlisle for refusing to keep this plan a secret from the blond man.

"It's the only way to save everyone."

He stared back at her with a desperate look in his eye. It was in that moment when she registered his fear. "You're not going alone."

And then the vision morphed. He would go with her.

She hated this path that was before them, mainly because the future grew muddled with his addition. Maria's relent was less clear. The golden eyes on the newborns she'd foreseen looked less vivid. But with more flashes beyond her, she knew it was their best chance at peace.

Gripping his hand back with equal intensity she said nothing as she pulled him forward with her, refusing to look toward Maria where she stood.

She knew she'd just find her smiling, her crimson eyes locked on their intertwined hands.

Back in the present, Alice immediately locked eyes with Edward, wordlessly imploring him not to say too much.

"It's fuzzy," she admitted. "Or," she shot Jasper a sideways glance, "it gets fuzzy because he doesn't let me go with her."

"With who? Maria? Of course not." He seemed affronted that she'd even entertain the idea. "No way in hell."

"See," Alice shrugs. "I don't trust it enough. But," she paused then, the realization of both the visions falling upon her and leaving her with an unshakeable sense of dread, "she wants me." She looked over at Edward and then Carlisle next, meeting his concerned eyes. "That's what she wants. Me."

She'd been right all along, she realized with mortification, recalling the way Jasper had dismissed her concern so easily when she'd voiced it to him. She did have a target on her back. Maybe everyone else did, too, but hers was the only one Maria had her aim on.

"She's right," Edward spoke carefully. "That's Maria's only condition. To have Alice."

"She doesn't know about her gift, does she?" Jasper asked, pushing off of the wall to step toward them. "There's no way she could know."

"Unless one of her newborns is gifted like Eleazar," Carlisle provided the idea, frowning as he spoke. "It would make sense."

"You have to stay here then," Jasper spoke, his words carrying such heavy finality that Alice was sure he was expecting no one to argue.

"They're subjective, Jazz," she whispered, staring at the wood grain on Carlisle's desk, trying to focus on anything except the realization that was now nearly drowning her. "The visions. If this is what I see now, that means this is what she's already decided. She already wants me. Nothing that we do now matters."

She hadn't realized she'd released Esme's hand until it gripped hers again. "She's going to get to me," she whispered, "no matter what I do."

This wasn't what she wanted. Joining the Protectors was supposed to be her last chance to find a way to be free of her vision. Instead, it seemed that it had only sped the process up. Perhaps her number had been up a long, long time ago, and she's been existing on borrowed time ever since.

Perhaps her first vision, the version of the scene that ended peacefully, and with only one departure on their end instead of two, was the one that they had to choose in order to prevent—or end—this war.

Again, she silently begged Edward to keep quiet. She'd talk to him about this vision at some other point, but if Jasper found out, it left them with no current options. He didn't have to like it, she reminded him sternly, refusing to acknowledge him as she bombarded him with her pleas.

Maria was her destiny, it seemed.

What confused her was that even despite the vision proving an unexpected peace with her departure, the first vision was still firmly there, reminding her that no matter what happened, her life would still likely end at Jasper's hands.

She struggled to connect how the two could be intertwined in any way.

When the sound of the door closing roughly pulled her from her thoughts, Alice turned her head only to find that Jasper was already gone.

"Let him go," Edward spoke quietly. Alice hadn't noticed that he'd turned to glance out the window until she looked up, watching as he watched something down below. Likely Jasper running off into the forest for some real privacy.

Despite the heartache she felt, she couldn't help but feel relief that he'd left. That way, she figured, as she held Esme's hand tightly and began to cry, the emotions wouldn't bother him any further.

"Either I go to her," she cried, turning to look at the brunette, feeling as if all her hopes were crumbling down around her, "or she gets me later."

Esme didn't hesitate to pull her into a hug, and the second she was in the older woman's embrace, Alice allowed herself to break.

She was scared. She was absolutely, entirely petrified of what lay ahead of her. And as Jasper ran farther and farther from the house, Edward and Carlisle still silent, she could only find herself wishing that these people—these wonderful people that she'd grown to care for so deeply—had never found her.

And as Esme held her, she cried.


A/N: I could have sworn that I'd posted this last night, but as I'm opening my laptop and this page is still open, I'm realizing that I have fucked up! Don't try editing while you drink, kids. In fact, don't drink at all. Posting now though, because I know that it's unlikely I'll have any time this upcoming week to update, and I didn't want you guys waiting until December for this chapter.

I know a lot of you were anticipating a happier reunion. What part of Angst Train don't you understand? You're lucky I don't lay you down on the tracks and run you straight over. Sorry. That was aggressive. I just don't want anyone upset with my lack of Fluff in this chapter. So take your sadness and GO. (jk please stay)

I know a lot of you are also probably shocked Jasper didn't straight-up run home. And don't worry—he definitely tried. Why do you think Emmett's so glad to be home? (Other than getting to see his hot wife?) Now someone else can take up their turn in keeping his emotional ass in check. Although now that he's back home with Alice he'll certainly be... calmer...

Reviews are my favs, and while we near the action feel free to recommend this story to others. It's the Twilight Renaissance baby! Fill the masses in! Let 'em know what awaits!

~*~review replies~*~

deltagirl74: as you can see above, nope! Jasper definitely tried to run home, but Emmett had to knock some sense into him. (both literally and metaphorically) and yup! I agree that just some better communication between the two could fix some issues, but since they're both being stubborn little asses and refuse to find a middle ground, talking things out certainly isn't within the realm of realistic options. hope you'll forgive me for not giving them a sweet reunion!

exceptionaldork: thank you so much! hope you liked this one.

clarinetgoddess62: oh yeah Jasper nearly lost his shit. Emmett is the unsung hero of this chapter for putting up with Jasper In Crisis Mode. because Jasper In Crisis Mode is a fucking nightmare scenario LMAO. poor Em. glad you liked it though, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too!

worldtraveller78: I like to jokingly imagine that Jasper is like... double frustrated with this entire situation between him and Alice. I mean the poor thing can literally feel what's going on between them, and he just can't seem to figure out a way to help them make it work—it's gotta drive him mad.

sorry I didn't get you that hug you wanted between them, but I promise you one in a future chapter! also hell yeah '92 babies! yeah I'm starting to be convinced that I'm always going to feel like a teenager just fucking... winging it through life... and that's fine honestly! LMAO. hoped you found their reunion adequate!

Orange butterfl: I love utilizing all the characters in this story, especially interesting ones like Edward, so I'm glad you liked that! and I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the story! hope you liked this last chapter!

: I'm so happy you found my story and are enjoying it! Jasper and Alice have been my favorites for ten years now. I'm so excited I get to write for them again. hope you continue to enjoy.