"Carlisle, what is going on?" Aro angrily demanded.

"Fred seems to have… how do I say this… disappeared?" Carlisle answered rather sheepishly. I guessed he hadn't exactly told Aro about that part of Fred's ability.

"Disappeared? Demetri!" Aro commanded. "Is Fred still in the room?"

Demetri was trying to locate him, but started doubling over soon afterward, as result of trying to think about him. All he could do was shrug and as soon as he stopped trying to find Fred, he was able to right himself.

"Bella, is Fred still here?" Carlisle asked.

"She can see him?" Caius exclaimed, standing for no apparent reason.

"Yes, he's still here," I answered.

"Well, where is he?" Caius shouted.

Fred looked at me and shook his head, silently asking me not to reveal his location. Of course, everyone followed my eyes, so they had a general idea of where he was, but he quickly moved to another part of the room. I didn't follow his movements.

"I can't tell," I dodged.

"You don't know, or you won't tell us?" Caius asked more directly. So much for dodging.

"He doesn't want me to tell you."

I made the mistake of glancing in his direction again. He buried his face in his hands and shook his head.

"Sorry! Jeez!" I said to him a moment before he moved again.

"Who are you talking to?" Aro asked.

"Fred, of course."

"Would you ask him to reappear?" Aro suggested.

I had to giggle a little. "It's not like he's in an alternate universe or anything. He can hear you."

Aro actually had the decency to look a little embarrassed before he gathered his pretenses about him again.

"Fred, you will make yourself visible. Now!" Caius ordered.

"Ummmm… I don't think that's going to work," I said quietly, fighting the urge to shift my eyes in Fred's direction again.

"Carlisle," Aro addressed his friend sternly, "make this stop. Make him see reason."

"As you've clearly witnessed, I don't control him, but I'll try. Fred, you're not making this any better right now. I'd like for you to stand next to me and make yourself visible again."

Suddenly Fred was a few feet in front of Edward and me. I couldn't help but jump a little, which I'm sure everyone in the room noticed. I quickly focused on an empty spot across the room, just over Fred's shoulder so I could see him in my peripheral vision.

"Fred wants me to tell you what he's thinking," Edward piped up. "He says he didn't mean to make everyone in the room feel sick, but when Aro told Jane to attack him, he lost control. Her power somehow magnified his and bounced all over the room. He thinks you're going to kill him because you're all so angry. He wants me to remind you that he wasn't trying to hurt you; if he'd been in control, he wouldn't have attacked his family, too."

I knew who Fred was really worried about and fought like crazy not to look at her. If the Volturi knew he had a love interest, they could use her to control him much more effectively than using one or even all of us.

"Nobody wants to kill you, Fred," Aro said almost soothingly.

"Actually, Aro, that's not entirely accurate," Edward corrected him. "Caius wants to kill him. He considers Fred a threat more than an asset. Jane definitely wants to kill him, after she tortures him for a decade or so, and Demetri, Felix, and Alec have all been doing some of their own creative thinking on the subject. Renata, surprisingly enough, wants to kill him more than everyone else combined because she wasn't able to shield you from him, and Marcus is still on the fence. Would you like to know what everyone else is thinking?"

Aro glared at Edward. "No, that will be quite sufficient."

"Considering the overwhelming sentiment in the room," Carlisle spoke up, "one could hardly blame Fred for wanting to remain hidden. At this point, my advice to him would be to stay where he is!"

"Would he come out if I assured his safety?" Aro asked, raising his eyebrow.

"He's listening," Edward answered.

"I can decree him 'off limits' to everyone in this assembly. Anyone who so much as looks at him wrong would be punished accordingly."

"What about Caius? And Marcus, if he also decides Fred is a liability?" Edward asked.

"Is that Fred's question or yours?" Aro answered the question with another question.

"That was mine," Edward admitted. "But if I may say so myself, it's a valid one."

Aro pondered this for a long moment. "I must confer with my brothers. Please excuse us."

Apparently this was equivalent to having recess in school because everyone broke into little groups, making conversation, laughing, whispering and pointing, and possibly someone telling someone else they like liked them.

I saw Amanda approaching Carlisle, smiling and extending her hand as she met Esme. Fred was watching her intently, a dreamy look in his eyes. If she could see him, she'd never again wonder how he felt about her. It warmed my heart.

"She wants to meet you," Edward whispered directly into my ear and so quietly, I barely heard him. He took my hand and led me to where the other Cullens were loosely gathered.

"And last, but not least, my first born, Edward, and his fiancé, Bella Swan," Carlisle announced with a smile. Edward shook hands with Amanda, and I reached my hand out to do the same.

"I'm sorry to have to ask this," Amanda murmured, "but do you have any illnesses, or are you currently sick?"

My first reaction was to be caught off-guard. These weren't exactly customary greetings, but it only took me a second to remember why she was asking. "Not that I'm aware of…" I answered nervously. "I'm a little accident prone, so I do have some scars. Do those count?"

She took my hand in both of hers. "It's so nice to meet you, Bella. I've heard a lot about you. And you're right about being accident prone! You had 11 scars that are now gone. I'll send you my bill."

We laughed at her rather charming joke and I made a note-to-self to examine my skin later. "I hope that didn't wear you out. Carlisle told us a little bit about how that works."

"Oh, no. Something like that is a piece of cake, but it's sweet of you to be concerned," Amanda chuckled. She glanced around the room before quietly asking, "Is Fred nearby?"

I smiled, nodding my head to the side to let her know he was right next to us.

"So, he's listening?"

"Yes," I assured her, confirmed by Fred's vigorous nodding.

"Fred, I'm glad you're invisible right now because I never want to see you again, and I can't tell you that in person without having to see you," she spat. "Do you realize the position you've put yourself in? What is wrong with you? You talk to Aro and Caius like you're one of them, but you're not! They're going to kill you, and it's all because you're simply too foolish to shut your mouth. I can't believe I let myself think I might like you. I'm sorry, Bella… Edward… that you had to witness this, but I had to make sure he heard me, loud and clear."

Fred looked completely dejected. I was worried that he might become visible just to talk to Amanda, but she'd told him she didn't want to see him. He looked like he'd just been slapped , run over by a truck and then slapped again. "Yes, I'm sure he heard you," I confirmed quietly, tears forming in my eyes.

"I'm sorry I had to do this, Fred, but I don't know what you hope to gain from disrespecting two of the most powerful beings on earth, and I won't be party to it," Amanda shook her head sadly as she turned and walked back to her place along the wall.

"Oh, Fred. I don't know what to say." I wasn't looking at him because I didn't want to give his position away, but more importantly, I just plain didn't want to look at him. I knew he would look hopeless and probably devastated. It reminded me of how I must have looked when Edward left me. The thought made me go cold.

"Are you OK, love?" Edward asked, concern in his eyes as he gave my hand a slight squeeze.

"Just thinking about Fred…" I mumbled noncommittally. I certainly wasn't going to tell him what I was really thinking, especially not while we were in this particular room that brought back so many vivid and terrible memories.

"I have a feeling things are going to be OK," he said with entirely too much optimism given the circumstances.

"If you say so."

Aro, Caius, and Marcus broke up their little powwow and Aro called everyone to attention. The room was completely silent, but there was still a palpable sense of anxious anticipation in the air.

Aro was the first to speak. "My brothers and I conferred and have decided to offer at least temporary protection to Fred."

"How temporary?" Carlisle asked.

"That depends on Fred. You see, if he was willing to swear an oath of allegiance to the Volturi, he would be afforded the same protection enjoyed by all the guard here."

"And if he's not willing to do that?"

"My dear Carlisle, you know I care deeply for you and your family…"

Edward's jaw tightened.

"But," Aro continued, "Fred is much stronger than any of us ever imagined, and he hasn't even mastered his gift yet. We feel it would be… irresponsible of us to allow someone with his power and lack of control to roam freely in this world. The risk of exposure for our kind is too great. While we are loathe to take away anyone's personal freedom, we must consider the greater good."

"Are you saying 'join or die'?" Edward asked. He was now clenching everything that could be clenched.

"Ah, Edward. Leave it to you to summarize the situation so succinctly!" Aro smiled and clasped his hands together, like he was somehow overjoyed at what Edward has just said. "Not die, necessarily… Just not go back into the world with the rest of you."

"But if he doesn't want to join the guard, he would be expected to stay here, with no protection?" Carlisle asked.

"Of course I hope he doesn't choose that path, but we won't force him to join the guard. We are only insisting he stay in Volterra until we determine that he is not a risk. Surely you understand."

I surely didn't understand.

"What about him coming home with us? There are plenty of us to watch over him."

"Hmmm… it's interesting you say that when not an hour ago you were telling me you didn't control him. And after seeing what he can do, I don't think that you could control him if you needed to. If it weren't for Bella, we wouldn't even know if he was in the room with us or not, and if he decided to incapacitate all of you, you could hardly stop him."

"Fred would like to speak for himself," Edward announced, "but he needs to be safe to do that. Aro?"

"Of course, my dear boy. Come out, come out wherever you are! No one will harm you." The look he gave Jane caused her to cower a bit as she nodded in submission to her master.

It was obvious when Fred reappeared because all eyes were on him. Gone was his bravado, replaced with a much more humble spirit. Aro was probably pleased at this change in demeanor, but I knew it had little to do with Aro and a lot to do with the rejection of a certain female vampire.

Fred cleared his throat unnecessarily; I was pretty sure vampires didn't get gunk in their throats, and he already had everyone's undivided attention. "Today hasn't gone at all like I planned it, to say the least. I wanted to stay in control, like Carlisle's been teaching me. I know I've come a long way, but after today, I see I still have a long way to go.

"I'll admit, I wanted revenge on the four guard members who killed my friend, Bree, but I wasn't planning to actually take revenge… I mean, at least not today… But I let my anger get away from me, and hurt people I care about, and for that, I must apologize."

Fred looked longingly at the fair Amanda, who crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. Fred's head dropped a little further.

"You loved this Bree," Marcus said completely out of the blue. "You thought of her as a sister. When you speak of her, I can see your aura change."

Fred tilted his head as he regarded Marcus. "Yes, that's true. The sister part, I mean. I'll have to take your word about the aura thing…"

"I see strong tentacles of hate directed especially at Jane, but also toward Felix, Demetri, and to a lesser extent, Alec. These are the four who killed your Bree?"

"Yes," Fred hissed bitterly. "She wasn't even involved in the fight. She was just there looking for her mate. The Cullens tried to offer her immunity, but Jane wouldn't allow it."

"Is this true, Jane?" Marcus asked her point blank.

"She was part of the newborn army. Carlisle had no business offering her anything! She was a liability," Jane told Marcus, but her eyes had shifted to look at Aro.

I didn't have to be a mind-reader to know Jane was confirming what Edward had plucked from her thoughts after the battle. Her mission had been two-fold: Dispose of the newborn army, but do so only after some or all of the Cullens had been destroyed during the fight. Bree knew this, making her a threat to the Volturi. It had nothing to do with armies or violating laws and everything to do with maintaining power and image.

"I see…" Marcus added. I think he really did see.

Aro quickly changed the subject. "So, Fred, you've heard your options. Have you made a choice?"

"If it's OK with you, I'd like to take a little time to talk about this with my family. I mean, this is my entire future here, so… yeah…" Fred trailed off.

"Take whatever time you need," Aro said happily.

"I'm sorry to bring this up again, since you already said 'no,' but is there any way I can go back to Forks with the Cullens?" Fred asked apprehensively.

"I'm afraid not. The three of us are in agreement about that."

"I've changed my vote," Marcus blurted. Gasps followed from all around the room. "In light of what we've just learned, Fred's previous actions against Jane and the others is understandable. I don't agree with his methodology, but I now know why he did it. I don't believe he needs to be confined to Volterra. I think it will only make matters worse."

"I disagree!" Caius shouted. "If anything, he is even more of a liability than we'd originally thought. Now that we know he holds a grudge against members of our guard, he truly cannot be trusted. As the saying goes, 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!"

"I don't think he's our friend or our enemy," Marcus argued.

"If he's not our friend, how can he be anything but our enemy?" Caius bellowed.

"Brothers, please, let us discuss these matters amongst ourselves," Aro cautioned. "Carlisle, you and your coven may take your leave. And let it be known that no one is to harm any of the Cullens. Especially not Fred."

"Or Bella," Edward added.

"Bella is already under my strictest protection. That has not changed."

"Thank you," I whispered. While I reviled Aro, I really did appreciate knowing that I was as safe as I could be under the circumstances. I'm sure Edward felt the same, although I knew he wouldn't be taking his guard down anytime soon. Honestly, I'm not sure he'd ever taken it down since the day we met, so he certainly wasn't going to start slacking off now.

We walked back to our suite of rooms in silence. We had a lot to think about and even more to talk about. Carlisle ushered us into the parlor where it seemed a lifetime ago that Edward had played the piano a few hours earlier.

After Edward and Alice confirmed that the walls didn't have ears, sofas and chairs were moved so we could sit in a big circle. It wasn't quite like the family meetings back home, where we all sat around the table, but it would have to do. Alice pulled a small chair up in front of where she sat on the sofa so she could rest her feet on it, which I only noticed because she was usually a feet-tucker-inner, not a leg-stretcher-outer.

"Well, that was fun," Alice began.

"Yeah, remind me again why we don't live here, because I could really get used to this 'party all the time' atmosphere," Rosalie snarked.

Fred sighed. "Before we get started, I just want to tell you guys I'm sorry. It wasn't until Amanda verbally spanked me that I realized how much I was screwing up everything."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about what she said to you, man," Emmett said, wiping at the back of his neck. "That was harsh."

"I guess I deserved it."

"Ya think?" Rose snipped.

"Alright, everyone. Enough. There will be time to rehash all of this later," Carlisle interrupted. I could tell he was getting agitated and tense. Esme stroked his arm lovingly, causing him to visibly calm. He smiled at her before he continued. "What I meant to say is that we need to focus on what we're going to do next."

"Can they really make me stay?" Fred asked innocently.

Carlisle hedged. "Well, yes and no. They won't make you stay, exactly, but since they consider you a risk, they can and will make sure you don't leave, either."

"Oh…" The gravity of the situation seemed to be hitting Fred all of a sudden. The mood in the room was heavy.

"So, what are we going to do?" Esme asked.

"I'll tell you what you're going to do," Fred said quietly, but decisively. "You're going to go back to Forks and not worry about me. I've more or less made my bed here…"

"Fred… son, I can't walk away from you like that," Esme sighed softly. "None of us will abandon you to whatever fate the Volturi decide. We'll all be part of this together, because that's how families are."

"But we already talked about this. I don't want any of you to suffer on my account. If they demand that I stay, I will, but I'm not going to condemn any of you to this hell hole."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Carlisle warned. "We need to think this through and offer some options to Aro. Right now, he's settled on Fred staying in Volterra. Edward, what were you able to glean from Marcus?"

"He really did change his mind once he understood that Fred was reacting to the loss of a loved one," Edward explained. "And while I don't condone playing on the sympathies of someone who's experienced great loss, I do have to say that he is willing to advocate for Fred to some extent."

"But to what extent? Alice? Can you give us anything?" Carlisle asked.

"A little… when Marcus changed his mind, almost every possible outcome changed with it. Don't freak out, but before that, most scenarios ended with Fred in a bonfire… or wishing he was."

"Wishing I was? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Believe it or not, there are fates worse than death. For example, if you refused to join the guard, Caius was thinking about letting Alec and Jane play some little revenge games with you. Let's just say it wasn't pretty," Alice grimaced.

"But that's changed now?" Emmett asked, obviously concerned.

"There are still some potentially ugly outcomes, but more of them are favorable."

"What choices do I have that will work the best?" Fred asked.

"OK, guys, I'm not a Magic 8 Ball here!" Alice protested. "I can only give you so much. There are too many variables still, and not enough decisions have been made. All I can tell you for sure is that Marcus changing his vote is a good thing for you. How it plays out remains to be seen."

"I'm going to join the guard," Fred announced suddenly.

Choruses of voices rang out: "You can't be serious!" "Did he just say what I think he just said?" "No, I won't let you do that…" "Fred, you need to give this more thought…"

"Alice? Anything?" Fred asked.

Everyone focused on her. She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Fred, you can't pretend to make a decision. What do you think? That you can fake-out my gift? Yeah, because it doesn't know the difference between a real decision and bogus one."

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time…" Fred defended himself rather meekly. If the situation wasn't so serious, it would have been funny.

But it was serious and we were getting nowhere. "OK, as I see it, Fred has maybe three choices," I began, ticking them off on my fingers as I summarized. "He can stay and join the guard, he can stay and not join the guard, or he can try to get Aro and/or Caius to change their minds and let him go home with us. Am I missing something?"

"I believe Alice mentioned something about a bonfire…" Jasper added. The protests started immediately. He held up his hands in self-defense. "Hey, I'm not saying it's a good option, I'm just saying it was something that could happen. If Alice saw it, we need to find ways to avoid that particular outcome. Jeez, people. Take a pill!"

Alice ran her hand through Jasper's hair. They shared a sweet smile before Alice got that slightly glazed and distant look in her eyes.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Somebody's coming."

**-…-**

A/N: Who goes there? Friend or foe?

I wasn't expecting to get another chapter out so quickly, but I ended up with more time than I'd expected (read: my plans getting cancelled equals chapters for you!)

We're entering American Idol season, and for the past 6-7 years, I've been writing a review/critique of the performances each week. If you'd like to receive it, send me your e-mail address. What started as a fun thing for two friends now goes out to a couple hundred people.

A long time ago, in what seems like a past life, I was a singer. I still sing, mind you, but it's really true that if you don't use it, you lose it. What I'm trying to say here is: I coulda been a contendah! LOL