In the short time they had known each other, Jasper Hale hadn't shown fear; not even the slightest bit. He was stone-faced and solid, never faltering when having to kill a walker and determined to prove his worth to the group. On a different wavelength, he was affectionate to Alice and made his dedication to her known through action rather than words. It was a side of him that balanced out the hardness that came along with his military background.

Now, they could all see it - the fear. It wasn't fear for him own life; it was a fear for Alice's.

Carlisle studied the young man's expression. He knew one thing for certain: James was bad; dangerous.

"Who is he?" Carlisle asked, pressing his eyebrows together.

"He's a killer," Alice said for certain, "He's... awful."

Esme looked at Carlisle and touched his arm. Concerned plagued her features.

"They raided the house," Emmett said, stating what everyone else was suspecting.

Everyone turned their eyes to him for a moment in the dark lighting of the lowest level of the Blacks' house.

Jasper pulled Alice to him and kissed her temple. She leaned into him, seeming to be spacing out.

"What do you think he wants?" Esme asked.

"Maybe just to take the supplies in the house," Edward suspected with a shrug, "He wouldn't have known Alice was with our group."

"Unless he was watching us," Jasper added, shaking his head, "I doubt it was a coincidence that they just happened to know when the house would be empty."

"He's right," Rosalie said. She looked at Jasper and nodded, "They had to have seen us leave."

"They had your backpack, Esme," Edward told his aunt.

She turned to him, looking almost startled, and then looked at Carlisle.

"We got it back," Carlisle assured her, motioning to the corner of the room.

Esme's eyes traveled to where he was pointing and felt him pull her up against him.

"Don't worry," he said, looking at Esme, but speaking to the group, "We have the numbers. They seemed to be scavenging. They're probably long gone by now, and we never go out unless its in groups."

"And armed," Emmett added.

"Maybe the walkers will get to them," Rosalie said, sounding callously hopeful.

Emmett turned to her and grinned, nodding as he openly liked the sound of her idea.

Jasper still looked concerned, and clung to Alice protectively.

"We won't let anyone hurt her, Jasper," Edward assured him.

"I'm not sure you know who you're dealing with," Jasper said, shaking his head.

"You don't feel like we could take him out?" Emmett asked, eyeing him.

"He's very manipulative," Alice informed them.

Emmett played with an arrow from the crossbow and ran his thumb along the tip. "This could be an easily solved problem."

A creak at the basement steps caused everyone to turn at once.

Bella took the stairs slowly, and put up her hands. "I'm... I'm sorry." She appeared confused, "Am I interrupting any-"

"No," Edward and Esme said at the same time. They looked at one another before Esme continued, "Not at all, Bella. This was your home before ours."

"I just... don't want to... impose." She searched for the right words and felt slightly self-conscious as everyone still looked at her.

"You're not," Edward assured her, sounding as if he were reading from a script. His posture was stiff and unnatural, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"There's this creepy ponytail dude roaming around with his red-head girlfriend and his Rastafarian friend," Emmett said, chuckling lightly to himself at his casual explanation.

Bella nodded, "Oh..."

"They might be dangerous," Edward explained, "You shouldn't go anywhere alone... no one should."

"They are dangerous," Jasper corrected him.

Bella nodded, still feeling a little out of place amidst their group, "I'll tell the others." She shuffled toward a couch off to the side that sat in front of a flat screen television on the wall before grabbing a hat and scarf out a bag that she and Charlie kept their few belongings in.

Edward watched as she went and Emmett nudged him with a smirk.

Rosalie eyed the boys and smiled herself before Emmett pulled her to him and squeezed her side flirtatiously.

"Um..." Bella began, "I think Paul is starting to cook out on the grill." Her eyes shifted to Edward and she played with the scarf nervously. "You should come up."

Everyone's eyes drifted toward Edward, except for Alice and Jasper's.

"Thanks Bella," Alice said in a perky tone. She looked at Jasper, who looked just as concerned as before. His posture made him seem almost angry. "Let's go enjoy ourselves."

Carlisle looked at Esme, who nodded and he took her hand and towed her toward the stairs with Emmett and Rosalie walking closely behind.

Alice looked at Edward and smiled, as she sensed Bella's nervous attraction to him.

"Edward's a great hunter," she said, shrugging.

He looked at her in confusion, as he had only been recently perfecting the art of killing larger animals.

"Have you ever shot a crossbow, Bella?" Alice went on.

She looked at Alice before a smile crossed her face and she looked down a little shyly. "Um... yeah, no. That... that's not really my forte. Not yet anyway."

"Edward," she said cheerily, "You should show her like you showed me."

Jasper looked at her, also lost at her feminine logic to try to link the two of them together.

"Alice..." Edward grinned, unable to help himself.

"Well, I'm just saying, she should know right? Just in case she ever needs to use it."

Bella snickered again shyly before she made a moment of awkward eye contact with Edward. She wanted to go spend time with him if it were possible, but she didn't want him to feel obligated. "You don't..." she chuckled again, "You don't have to. I mean, I'm sure Charlie-"

"I don't mind," he cut her off.

"Oh."

"Yeah," he went on, glancing at Alice as if he was looking for his next cue.

"Set up a target out in the back," she explained.

"Right." Edward nodded at her and then shifted his eyes to Bella, who seemed to be waiting for him to say something more. "Um..." He eyed the crossbow that Emmett had left, "Do you want to try?"

Bella took in a deep breath through her nose, "Sure." She nodded, "Yeah. Sure."

Edward looked at Alice, who winked subtly at him before linking her fingers through Jasper's. "Come on," she urged him, "Let's try to socialize." The two of them walked ahead of Edward and Bella, who stood staring at each other for a moment. Edward offered with his hand that she take the stairs first and he followed close behind with the crossbow.

Only in the apocalypse would a crossbow be a good ice breaker, he thought, adding in his mind. Thanks, Alice.

She turned around partway to look at him as if she could read his thoughts and gave him a small smile. Edward smiled back and couldn't wait for a little one-on-one time with Bella.