Reuniting with Rosalie had been bitter sweet.
Alice didn't have to have Jasper's ability to feel the pity radiating off the blonde when she and Edward found her in an office, and when Rosalie did another uncharacteristic move and stood up to embrace her, Alice was scared that her feeble composure would crumble right then and there.
"Let's figure out a way to finally kill this bitch."
That though, had been an invigorating sentiment that Alice could get behind wholly.
Retelling the vision had been a horrible but necessary thing to do. Especially since it hadn't been spoken out loud between Edward and herself, his mind-reading finally coming in handy. But as she and Edward took turns detailing the scene and the circumstances surrounding Jasper's captivity, it was like ripping a barely-healed wound right back open.
Alice had also been a touch bit hesitant at the presence of the two vampires that Edward insisted were "highly trustworthy." The blonde, Kate, worked alongside Eleazar up on the council apparently, and the tall, gangly man was Garrett. Edward introduced them to her as 'newlyweds' but the way he said it, combined with the humored look the couple gave one another made Alice wonder just how 'new' that meant their marriage was by vampire standards.
"We were in the area by chance during the attacks." Kate spoke, leaning her hip against the table of the conference room. "If our flight had landed an hour earlier we would've been out of the city and too far away to help."
"A real bummer that would've been," Garrett half-grinned. "It's always fun to go back to your roots. Civility can get so boring sometimes."
Storing away the hundreds of questions Alice found herself with upon the statement, Alice and Edward had dove right in, recounting the vision, opening the discussion up to try and figure out what they could do next to help.
"What will you do now?" Kate asked, a sad look on her face as she met Alice's eyes. Surely she'd been aware of the public nature of her and Jasper's odd relationship, and working in the Council—the Protectors 'cousins' in a way—Alice was sure she knew better than most what that entailed.
"She's staying here," Edward answered for her, prompting Alice to raise an eyebrow at him. He'd been the one to tell her that she needed to be the one to speak up, and to leave the comfort of her mind now more than ever. "Sorry." He spoke to her, keeping up with her irritated train of thought. "Habit."
"This is the safest place for her," Rosalie nodded, agreeing. "Even if Maria showed up with her army of fifty, or even a hundred, we'd be ready for her."
Kate nodded along, "Yeah, I doubt there's a safer place on the entire Western Hemisphere, especially right now. Don't know why you guys insist on basing yourselves in the middle of nowhere."
"I'm heading down to New Orleans tonight or tomorrow," Edward continued, ignoring the jab at their home's location. "They'll be executing a few plans this week that I'm going to assist in."
"Oh, count us in for sure," Garrett grinned. "The gulf is where all the action's at."
Kate rolled her eyes, "Maybe later this week. We still have things to do."
Garrett didn't seemed put out by that. "All I'm hearing is that we'll go eventually. That's good enough for me."
"Emmett should be back soon, I'm expecting a call at any time." She turned to the couple, "If you two decide against New Orleans I'm sure he could use your help in Philly, and especially in Maryland."
Garrett made a noise that implied he was thinking hard. It was so strange for Alice to witness this scene. The way he deliberated over his choice reminded her of Josie when she was choosing what to eat for dinner on any given night. Like it was a mundane thing, choosing which city you wanted go to to help fight of radicalized vampires and frenzied newborns. A casual choice.
"Hm, I did hear that Baltimore's been a bit of a tug-of-war lately," he rubbed the stubble on his face. "I did always want to see Fort McHenry in action…"
"We'll talk about this later," Kate spoke sternly, as if sensing Alice's confoundment at his offhand remarks about their war. "Of course, I'll go where you guys think you need me best."
"Just no more office shit. I'm begging you."
The woman raised an eyebrow at her husband. "You know, you're allowed to hit the 'battlegrounds' without me." She lifted her fingers and make air quotes. "I'm not forcing you to follow me around."
"And leave you alone in these medieval chambers?" Garrett gestured toward their surroundings, shooting a scowl at the fake plants in the corner. "Trapped in these torturous surroundings with all this ungodly paperwork?" He spoke the word like a curse.
Even Rosalie smirked, "I think any center—or any city—would be grateful to have you with them."
Kate grinned wide, lifting her fingertips and wiggling them. "I am pretty good at lighting up a room, aren't I?"
As the two blondes shared a look, Alice's eyes fell on Edward, who was shooting Garrett a small grimace. It was nice to see she wasn't the only one wondering about the strange man.
After the meeting and later that day, when the two weren't around, Alice spoke up about it. "He seems a little odd for a member of the council."
"He isn't one," Edward didn't seem surprised by her inquiry. "Just Kate. Her and her 'sisters' met Eleazar and his mate Carmen before the Protectors were established. When Carlisle offered Eleazar the job, the whole coven took over." He didn't even look up as he flipped through some papers. "Kate, Irina, and Tanya are the only vampires Carlisle knows about that started on a diet of animal blood before it was law."
That was an interesting piece of information. It was a bit disappointing that of course when she finally met a council member it was during a war, and she wouldn't be able to sit and talk with them, or even get to know them, until things were a bit less chaotic.
Alice stayed alert though, keeping busy as best as she could to try not to think about the fact that Jasper was still in grave danger with every hour that passed where he was in Maria's custody. The tasks she was given were a bit on the mundane side, but Edward was right, they were certainly keeping her busy and in the moment.
When Bella and Edward's reunion solidified itself in her head, the vision clear as day as it flickered through her mind, she looked over to see Edward pause where he was working. He closed his eyes and inhaled before slowly exhaling, as if the proof that yes, he would have his wife safe and in his arms soon, suddenly set him free of weeks worth of tension and worry.
It made her happy and sad at the same time to witness it, and quickly she found herself moving onto her next task, refusing to be trapped by the hopelessness growing in her chest.
Edward left late that night with a fairly large group of containers and civilian volunteers alike. It seemed that despite their aversion to encouraging civilian involvement, it wasn't going to stop regular vampires from insisting they be put to use, and Alice knew centers weren't going to turn that offer down. Still, it made her worry about whether Maria knew or not.
The last thing Alice wanted was for the indiscriminate killing to begin. And she had enough uncertain, unclear visions about that nightmarish scenario happening…
Before he left, Alice had embraced him tightly, and then stood aside, shocked when Rosalie also hugged him, a tight-lipped frown on her face as they both said goodbye.
Alice knew he was eager to get moving. And now that he was gone and en route she could see it now: Bella wouldn't even know Edward was on his way when suddenly he'd be there and she'd be swept up into his arms.
It was sweet, but most sweet visions left Alice with a sour taste in her mouth, wishing that she could see any sort of vision of her and Jasper like that. But they were all gone now; dust in the winds spiraling around her frantic, fickle mind.
Her second day in New York was… odd.
In an attempt to take Edward's advice she kept busy, seeking out Rosalie every other hour for new tasks and for more things to do.
It worked for nearly the entire day; Alice simply performed a lot of side work. Not quickly, of course, as her attention would sway here and there as another suspicious vision would fall over her. Then, she would pause what she was doing and seek out Rosalie. At first, she would pull her somewhere more private before telling her, but after the third time Rosalie just instructed her to write it down, that way it would save them the effort of having to find a quiet place to talk.
After nearly nineteen hours of doing, what Alice was beginning to call 'basic assistance'—tasks that even half-way trained cadets could perform—she found herself without anything productive to do. After wandering the halls for several minutes, wanting to get a better idea of the layout of the massive main building, which was so much more intricate than any center she'd been to yet, she decided to seek out her blonde friend. She waited for the woman to exit a crowded meeting before approaching.
When Rosalie waved a dismissive hand toward her, telling her to "sit and check some futures or something" before going back to whatever directory she was flipping through, Alice realized that Edward mustn't have told her about his plan to keep Alice busy and out of her head.
She could've simply told her friend that no, she really, really shouldn't do that, but old habits were hard to break, and as she walked away with heavy feet, she knew Edward would be pissed if he knew she was about to fall right back into her own mind, only willingly this time.
Despite the busy state of most of the building, it didn't take long for Alice to find an empty room to fill. She stood in the empty office for a moment, looking around, taking in the fake plants in the corner, and the photos hung and framed on the walls and on the desk, wondering about the person who worked out of that particular space.
She found herself hoping they were still alive.
Sitting herself down in a chair, Alice rested her hands on her knees, trying to ignore the fact that she was physically shaking. Eyes flickering to the clock ticking away on the wall, she let her eyes fall shut, reminding herself that she didn't have to do this for very long. Only twenty minutes, max, and she'd be fine, and maybe even have more information. Helpful information that could save lives.
Or save Jasper.
She focused on the even ticking of the clock as she opened up her mind and let visions fall over her, one after the other.
Rosalie stood in a hallway, the nervous faces of three cadets staring back at her as she flipped through a stack of papers at high-speed. Quick as lightning she shot a paper toward each of them.
"Your assignments," her voice was hard and her tone was commanding. The three simply nodded in synch and disappeared. When Kate approached and held out her hand, Rosalie sighed overdramatically and tossed the stack of documents toward her.
"You can delegate now," she frowned and began walking away, "I need a drink."
Kate laughed in reply before approaching another group of idle cadets down the hall.
Bella stood with her hands braced against a table as she frowned, eyes scanning what appeared to be a map. Edward moved to her side, brushing her hair over her shoulder before pressing a soft kiss to her temple.
"Already done?" she asked, still not looking up or removing her eyes from the table.
Edward half-laughed. "Dean does not need my help teaching anyone to fight."
Bella nodded. "Could probably train a deer to take one of us out."
Edward grinned, his arm wrapping around her waist as he also studied the map. The smile slowly fell from his face. "It will work."
"Unless you want to call Siobhan and have her tell me, I'm not buying it."
"Always a pessimist." He pulled away and sighed.
"A realist," she corrected, finally turning to face him. She pecked him quickly on the lips before turning to exit the tent. "Come on, I want to make sure people are paying attention. Don't want any more civilians dying on my watch."
Esme stood, nearly unrecognizable against a group of both vampires and humans alike, watching with sad eyes and a dirtied face as people shuffled by. It was unclear at first what she was doing, but when Alice noticed the long line of approaching humans, Esme standing by a large pile of crates and boxes, vampires stationed every several yards, she realized it was a supply line.
"Please, please tell me you have medicine this time," and older man pleaded with her as he approached the end of the line, a young woman trailing slowly behind him, peering around him with untrusting eyes.
Esme did not smile. Instead, she shook her head. "I have a group trying to run it through on foot, but it's not here yet. I'm so sorry."
"My wife can't ration her insulin for much longer," the man's voice was desperate, pleading, "if she doesn't get more soon, she's going to die."
"I'm sorry," and Alice knew more than anything, and more than anyone could, Esme meant it. "If you would just leave your address—"
"I'm not—" the man began to yell but quickly collected himself, running a hand over his tired face before shooting his daughter a frustrated look. "I've already told you. I'm not giving any of you people my address. I'll," he started walking away, shaking his head, "just come back again tomorrow."
Esme watched quietly, heart on her sleeve as the pair walked away, the man hunched over as the girl tried to comfort him.
"Mama's right," she heard the girl mutter as they walked away, "these people don't care about us."
"I cannot offer you asylum unless you put her down," Carlisle shouted, his voice startling. Carlisle wasn't one to yell, and Alice was certain he'd probably only done so a handful of times over his existence.
He stood amongst a group of containers, all of them crouched down lowly, poised to attack. With her back to a brick building stood a feral-looking woman, eyes red, crazed, watching as the circle of vampires closed in around her.
In reply she shrieked, the hand that was gripping the arm of the unconscious human man tightened, the sound of bone and flesh being crushed causing a horrifying reaction to course through Alice: primal delight.
A few of the containers looked away, a couple even taking several steps backward. Of course, Carlisle held steady, eyes frowning as he studied the human's arm, likely already calculating ways to try to save the man's life when they got him out of the woman's grasp.
"Put him down," he spoke sternly, voice still carrying over her shrieking and hissing, "and we will be able to help you."
"NO," the scream was so loud it frightened one of the containers, who stumbled backward at the sound. "Go away! He's mine!"
And in and instant she'd torn into the man's neck, and Carlisle lunged for her.
Josie sat in the same chair she'd been occupying for a couple of weeks now, her stern dark gaze watching as the young neighbor boy rushed through the room, grabbing things.
"Rocky, stop! Don't do this!" His mother, a small, gangly woman followed close behind, tears in her eyes.
"And let you all starve?" He scoffed, examining a flashlight before clicking it a few times. He stuffed it into his backpack along with a handful of batteries. "Seven cans of soup and a half empty liquor cabinet isn't going to sustain six people." He zipped the backpack swiftly. "I'll be back."
"It's not safe," the woman implored, her voice reaching a pitch that caused the window's in their china cabinet to rattle. "Rocky, are you listening? You'll be killed—"
"By who?" He turned, finally yelling back. "There's no one here! No one is left! They all left when they had the chance. I stayed because you and Aunt Kelly weren't going and I wasn't going to leave you behind." His eyes flickered to Josie and another neighbor that Alice didn't know the name of. "You old people and your weird fucking obsessions with your 'family homes'. It's just a house! You sitting by stubbornly isn't going to keep whatever house you're in from getting crushed to the ground."
"We're safer indoors," his mother's voice was quiet, but seething with anger and frustration. "What part of 'shelter in place' doesn't make sense to you?"
Rocky laughed again. "Like they can't smell us." He strode over to a painting on the wall and batted it away. A safe was behind it. "Like they won't be able to just push your dead-bolted door open with a flick of their finger." It only took him a few seconds to open the thing. "The only thing keeping us alive is luck and complete apathy on the red-eyes' end."
"Rocky William Thomas! Put the gun away!"
"That won't do you any good, boy," Josie kept her eyes on the fireplace, but her voice was stern. "You know that."
Rocky grinned toward Josie as he tucked the gun in his waistband. "It's not the vamps I'm worried about."
It was when her mind flickered to Emmett's future, only catching glimpses of him walking down oddly familiar hallways, when Alice gasped, eyes opening as she shot herself out of her chair. The thing didn't even finish wobbling before the door was open and Alice was shooting through the halls.
It took her seventeen seconds to find Emmett and fling herself into his arms. He had enough time to step back slightly and brace himself, but Alice was sure even if she were trying, she would never be able to move his mountainous self.
"It's a good thing you're a pipsqueak," his voice sounded so good to her ears, "if you were any bigger you would've knocked me flat on my ass."
She wanted to laugh, but when she pulled back and finally looked at his face, noting the new, horrid scar that stretched from behind his ear to just under his chin, she felt pain pulse through her.
"I'm fine," he rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair; it was obviously apparent what her gaze had shifted to. "How're you?" He paused, noting her reaction. "Or is that a stupid question?"
She frowned, fully pulling back from his embrace then. "I'll be better when we get Jasper back."
"I dig the honestly, kid." He threw an arm around her shoulders and started walking, just about pulling her with him further down the hallway. That's when Alice noted that his clothes were almost in tatters. She didn't know how his sleeves were still attached, and the bottoms of his pants were worn and frayed, singed at the edges. "You don't have to tell me about it. I can just make Rose fill me in. Speaking of, have you seen her?"
Alice checked for a moment, "She's in the caf."
"Taking a break?" Emmett seemed stunned by the revelation. When Alice nodded, she swore she watched Emmett's impossibly pale face whiten further. "Uh oh."
Alice furrowed her brows. "And that's... not good?"
"Rose only takes breaks when she's at her breaking point." He grimaced. "We may have to get out of this building before it drives her crazy."
"I don't want anyone else hitting the front lines," Alice confessed quietly, not caring how silly or selfish of a statement it was.
"We're good at this, Alice." Emmett emphasized. Then, he gestured to his newest, most obvious feature, "The reason you don't see vampires with scars like this—besides the fact that we're 'civil' and shit now—" he rolled his eyes at the term, "is because most vampires don't survive this type of shit. I'm proud of this ugly thing right here," he pointed to his jaw, and then gestured to a few other new scars, and a couple of old ones, "all of these are just proof that I'm good at my job, and that I can handle myself in a fight. Like little kick-ass badges."
"Has anyone ever suggested that your thinking is a little backwards?" Alice muttered, tearing her eyes away from his ragged scars.
He simply grinned and continued pulling her along the hallway. "Only every day of my life." They entered a stairwell and began to descend. "I suggested something similar to Jasper a few decades ago—about how the scars were cool and all—and he didn't talk to me for almost six months." For some reason he found the story funny and laughed. "Such a stick in the mud. I hope he's been giving Maria hell." He looked down at her, as if expectantly waiting on an answer.
"I've only seen him once."
Emmett's grin was replaced with an almost comical frown. "Downer. So you can't see her?"
"Only when I see him." Which, again, wasn't as often as she preferred.
But at the same time, would she prefer to see every waking moment of his capture and his time spent with Maria? Did she want to know every gruesome detail and see all the ways in which they were interrogating and torturing the man she loved? It was a hard thought to consider, but even though her heart screamed a stern, certain 'no,' she knew that seeing Maria could end the war, and that was what mattered above all currently.
"Ah, so that's why you're here," Emmett nodded to himself. "I was wondering why they were keeping you locked up here like Rapunzel." He paused, and then looked at her.
She couldn't hold back her small smile, "That's a reference I understand."
He smiled back at her, all teeth and dimples. "Cool. Fairy tales are our middle ground. Good to know." They kept onward down the stairs. "You're not so much of a Rapunzel though," he continued, now happy she understood one of his references. "More like a Mulan, maybe. Just don't go running off to save China without me, 'kay?"
Alice's smile widened and she wrapped an arm around his back. Or, as far across his back as she could reach. "Thank you," she sighed, knowing that this was the first time in many days where she hadn't felt entirely weighed down by the world around her.
When she felt her arm begin to involuntarily slip from Emmett's back, her surroundings beginning to fade, she felt her fear creeping back up on her before holding her tightly with a vice grip.
And suddenly she was thrown right into another nightmarish scene.
Maria was nowhere in sight but Kyle was there, and every time Jasper ignored a question the hulking newborn would take a finger and tear. As Alice watched the boy twist and rip fingers from the man she loved, she couldn't ignore the thought that it was the first time she'd heard the blond speak, her mind struggling to cling to any information that wasn't the fact that she was right: they were hurting him. Horribly.
"What's she capable of?" There was silence for a few seconds before Kyle barked out another question. "What is the access code to the emergency line at the Pentagon?" Still, Jasper remained silent.
All the fingers of his right hand were on the floor before he let out his first low growl.
Kyle asked more questions; his voice was higher than Alice would have thought it would be. The same two newborns stood behind Jasper, one with an arm around his neck, the other with Jasper's opposite arm in his grip. Alice watched in horror as Jasper seemed to offer up his unrestrained arm every time he was asked a question, as if offering up digits as adequate answers.
The scene was absolutely sickening. Jasper would ignore another question. Kyle would break another finger off of his hand. Jasper groaned only a few more times. Kyle grew frustrated. Alice could see the boy's hands opening and closing, the rage forcing him to start pacing.
"Just answer the fucking questions!" He screamed, venom flying when Jasper remained silent after all ten fingers were on the ground. "If you don't comply we'll kill you, then the girl!"
Jasper just laughed. It was a tired, dry sound. "You want me to take off my shoes?" His voice was so tired, even as he taunted his torturer. "I've got ten toes, too."
A frustrated growl is all Kyle could verbalize before he reached over and grabbed Jasper by the face. But before he could tear into him, he froze, stumbling backward before collapsing, his hands then flying to his own face.
The scream he let out then was absolutely bone-chilling.
"Skye, stop." One of the newborns restraining Jasper spoke. And that's when Alice took note of the three vampires on the perimeter of the room. Two of them stood, wide eyes silently watching the scene before them. A third was sitting on the ground, knees pulled up. Their arms were wrapped around their knees and their head was buried in the space between, curled into themself.
"Maria said not to kill him," a feminine voice snapped, a temper hidden along with her face from where she sat against the wall.
Suddenly Kyle gasped, on his feet in an instant and eyes glaring daggers at the curled up girl. He started pacing again, shaking his head as if trying to physically work himself out of a haze. "You're not supposed to do that without orders."
"Fuck off."
"Skye," and suddenly Maria was in the room. "Try not to put him in a screamer. It only attracts the nosy neighbors." The girl didn't see the glare Maria was shooting her, and she didn't bother lifting her head as the olive-skinned woman spoke. "If you're going to act on your own, at least use your head."
"Do it again," Kyle gasped, still scratching at his face, his eyes darker than the rest. "Please."
Maria was by his side, and smacked him quickly upside the head, her Spanish words that followed quickly sounded like a scolding. "Can't get a single answer out of him and now you think you can be put under just like that?" She snapped her fingers, glaring. "Go feed before we move. Now."
Letting out a low growl he scurried out of the room, hands still itching at his face and neck.
"Skye…"
"I'm sorry, okay! It wasn't working anyways."
"Would you like to try again?" The girl didn't lift her head but shook it firmly, arms tightening around her knees as she buried her head further into her own lap. "Then don't interfere. You," she gestured to the man standing against the wall at Skye's side. "Put his hands back together. Skye, put him under. We have to leave soon now that Kyle just woke up half of the neighborhood." She grinned kindly, but Alice could see the fury hidden behind her eyes.
"You're not getting anything out of me," Jasper finally spoke up. When Maria didn't acknowledge him, he shouted after her. "Maria. Mírame!" Venom flew from his mouth as he lifted his head to glare at her. That's when Alice took note of his dark, black eyes. They still hadn't fed him. "Talk to me! Don't just walk away from me. Maria!"
But Maria continued walking, back to Jasper, smile her face. When the man began to grind Jasper's fingers back onto his hand, the hunched over girl shifted, and things went black.
Alice couldn't hold back the sob that escaped her. She nearly fell forward, onto her knees, but thankfully Emmett was still at her side and had taken note of her mental absence as the vision played out.
"Alice? Alice," Emmett's voice was stern as he shook her shoulders, willing her to come back to the present and focus on her face.
Reaching almost blindly, her eyes only focusing on the stairs beneath them for some reason as her brain sent panicked signals to the rest of her body, she gripped his arms tightly, unable to reply.
And in half a second she was thrown into another vision.
Gasping, Jasper fell forward, landing on his hands, wincing when his fingers didn't extend to help hold himself up. Clearly they were freshly reattached, as he couldn't seem to open or control them yet. "What are you doing?" He asked, his voice raspy as he stared at the floor.
"Why the fuck are you making this so hard?" It was the girl's voice, Skye, who was demanding the information from him. "You have literally nothing to lose if you comply."
"I don't know what she's promised you," he was staring at his hands, the curled-in fingers that weren't quite cooperating, "or what you think you'll gain from this, but she'll kill you—all of you—the second she gets what she wants."
"Oh, shut up," the girl stopped for a moment and then reached forward with her toe, poking at his hand. It looked like she were contemplating kicking his unsteady arm out from beneath him, but she seemed to decide against it. "That would only matter if I gave two shits. You think I enjoy being around her?"
"Why? What do you want?" Jasper then lifted his head, taking notice of the fact they were the only two still down there. "Why are you doing this?" When he looked up at her, something about her face made him flinch back, quickly averting his eyes.
Alice didn't understand. She looked young enough; maybe fifteen or sixteen. Her face was soft, heart-shaped, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was small, too, and they were entirely alone in that room. Alice wondered why Jasper didn't simply kill her and escape.
"Your girlfriend can see the future, can't she?"
Jasper kept his eyes averted and didn't react. Slowly he began to move his fingers, opening them slowly and closing them, making a weak fist with each hand.
"You realize that I'm inside your head as much as you're in mine when I put you under?"
His eyes widened slightly. It appeared the information surprised him.
"Why else do you think Maria gives me security detail?" She turned toward the stairs and frowned. "Idiots didn't even wait for me. She'll probably kill them for that." Turning back toward him she sighed, nodding toward the door. Suddenly, the whites of her eyes were black. "Let's go."
When she came back to the present she was staring up at a bright, rectangle-shaped, fluorescent lighting fixture. It took her a second to take note of the talking going on around her, and another second to realize they'd laid her down on a boardroom table of all places.
"Edward said that just outside city limits a vision made her physically ill." That was Kate's voice.
"Should I—are there any trash cans in here?" She could hear Emmett begin to look around the room, eventually grabbing a wastebasket from the corner. "Why the hell isn't there a bag in this?" He muttered as he put it on the floor next to the table she was lying on. "Alice? Hey, kiddo." And suddenly he was leaning over her, his eyes showcasing his fear.
"What's going on?" Rosalie pushed her way through the door just as Alice slowly began to sit herself up, Emmett helping her move every inch.
"Alice saw something." Kate nodded from where Alice watched her standing at the end of the table, her arms crossed, a stern look across her face.
"Hey babe," Emmett shot his wife a quick smile. Alice almost forgot this was the first time they'd seen each other in a little while. "A couple of things, by the looks of it," he commented. "You're not going to clock out again, are you?"
She waited a couple of seconds before shaking her head. "There's a girl," Alice spoke, her voice thankfully steady. "She's his ticket out, I know it."
"You saw Jasper again?" Rosalie's voice was uncharacteristically quiet as she moved to her husband's side. When Emmett was confident Alice wouldn't get taken from reality by another vision, he backed up, his other arm wrapping around Rosalie's waist. He planted a quick, firm kiss against her head.
She nodded stiffly. "They're torturing him." She hated how calm she sounded as she shared the information, and for a moment she was glad it had been a few days since she drank anything. She really would likely be in danger of seeing another meal of hers again if she were freshly fed. "Trying to get information."
"What kind of information?" Kate asked, moving a bit closer to the group, her arms no longer folded.
"Same stuff. They want access codes, security numbers, vital locations and passwords. They want to know what I'm capable of. They want me."
"And they're not going to get you," Emmett growled, growing angier with each piece of information she shared. "Alice, look at me," and she did, "don't go getting any ideas."
"What girl?" Rosalie spoke, stepping closer to Alice as she laced her fingers with Emmett's. "You said he has a way out?"
"Possibly. I'm not sure."
And so Alice recounted both visions as clearly as she could. Of course, she left out certain details. She left out how Jasper offered his hand each time a question was asked. She left out how it felt to hear him bite back the pain that they were putting him through, and the way his voice cracked despite how hard he tried to keep his face steady.
But she recalled every detail of the second vision, how the girl seemingly went against orders to talk to him. About how she was likely gifted, and she could put people 'under' with ease. About how the girl knew of Alice's talent, despite the fact that no one else seemed to know.
"Could be a trap. Deception is what Maria does, and she could be training this girl to lie to Jasper. Tell him things he doesn't think anyone else knows to earn his trust." Rosalie spoke.
Emmett nodded in agreement. "He's smart enough not to trust her."
"You said that you had a team who leaked information to Maria," Kate spoke again, her face pensive, "what exactly did your team say your talent was?"
"Teach never really said I had a talent." Alice swung her legs over the edge of the table and hopped down, pleased that she was steady on her feet again. "Or, not explicitly. Just that I was super peculiar and zoned-out pretty often. She made it sound like I could sleep almost, and that I was fascinatingly good at navigating."
"Vague enough," Kate nodded, "And the man?"
"Alden's message was a bit more blunt," Alice grimaced, "he didn't really beat around the bush in his message to Carlisle. He told Carlisle that one day he would have to tell him the story of how they found me, and then implied that I was some sort of oracle who could foresee people's deaths. That was what he left it at though."
"A little more on the money," Emmett huffed.
"Vague enough to make you sound like some sort of freaky demigod," Kate nodded, "but accurate enough to put some ideas in Maria's head."
"Yeah," Alice deadpanned, "I'm a real harbinger of doom."
"It wasn't your brightest moment," Rosalie muttered.
"Yeah, okay Edward." Alice ran her hand through her hair and ignored Rosalie's eye roll. "I don't know, I'm leaning toward trusting that girl."
"Which you shouldn't," Rosalie insisted, very decided on that topic. "Please tell us again when you see Jasper, but please don't let yourself get manipulated by Maria's cronies, too. It's bad enough that they're trying it on Jasper. Torture can and will wear away at even the most level-headed person's psyche—Jasper will not be immune to their tactics if it goes on for long enough."
"He would never work with her," Alice couldn't help her temper when she snapped, "I can't believe—how dare you think that—"
"Alice," Rosalie was stern in her reply, "I'm not saying he would ever willingly do anything to compromise any of us. But it's been five days and they're already ripping and reattaching body parts. And who knows what that girl is truly capable of."
"Sounds like mind control," Emmett mumbled quietly.
"No," Rosalie shook her head, "If it were they'd be able to get all the information out of him when he's 'under.' Whatever that means."
"Unless she's the only one who can extract information," Kate supplied. "Now, whether they know that or not is what's interesting. Because if that's the case then you might have an ally on your hands." Alice gave Rosalie an 'I told you so' look. "But if it isn't some weird mind trick then I don't know."
"It has to be," Alice insisted, "I don't know what else it could be. When the boy, Kyle, went down he screamed like he was in pain, he—" Alice frowned, "it looked like he was about to start ripping his own face off."
"Sounds like Jane," Emmett muttered with worry in his voice.
"Sounds like something you'd need a shield against," Kate looked at the trio pointedly. "You said Bella is in New Orleans, right?" She shrugged, "You might need her for when you guys try and find them."
"That might be a while," Rosalie sighed, reaching over and picking up the stack of papers Kate had discarded on the table. "Bella is apparently fully dedicated to seeing these missions in New Orleans through. We probably won't get her stubborn ass back until the last radical is gone from that region."
Alice reeled on them, "You just said it might not be long before he cracks! But we're not going to go after them yet?!" She laughed humorlessly, as if horrified by their idleness. "So we're going to wait for them to drive Jasper crazy before doing something about it? Yeah, great."
"Do not put words in my mouth—"
Emmett stepped between the women before the situation could get any more tense. "Alice, Jasper is the most resilient guy I know."
"But what is resilience in the face of regularly scheduled torture though, right?" And now Alice felt dangerously close to crying. "I—we can't abandon him like this."
"We're not abandoning him, Alice." Rosalie's voice was quieter now, as if also realizing how close the girl was to a complete sobbing fit. "If we go after her now, when we're not prepared and not even sure where she is, it will be a waste of our resources and our time. Even if we knew where she was right now, that would mean she sat still for too long which would mean she was likely setting up a trap."
"We have to do this the right way," Kate agreed, "even if that means moving a bit slower than a full-blown sprint."
"Yeah, well it feels like we're crawling." Alice ran her hands over her face, pressing her palms into her eyelids and pressing. Sometimes, she really wished she could physically shed tears.
"Next step is walking, and then we'll start running," Emmett soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. "I'm sorry you're the one stuck witnessing all the sick shit they're doing to him. I know that's not fair to you, and I can't imagine what that's like." Alice couldn't help it when a sob escaped. She pressed harder against her eyes and hid her face further from them.
Rosalie's voice was gentle when she spoke. "I'm serious when I say that we will get him back. We aren't abandoning him. Jasper knows this."
"He does," Emmett agreed, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. "Alice. Jasper knew this was a possibility. He knows he may have to wait a little while."
"And what if he doesn't have a 'little while?'" There wasn't any anger in her voice, just quiet misery. "What if they decide he isn't worth the trouble and they aren't going to get anything out of him? What if they kill him?"
"You're right," Rosalie spoke clearly.
"Rose—"
"His life is in Maria's hands right now. She could snuff him out like that," she snapped her fingers loudly. "But Jasper knows Maria better than any of us could pretend to. Even Carlisle, even Gerardo and all the Mexican protectors she lived and worked with. None of them knew Maria the way Jasper does." Alice didn't lift her head, but she did hear as Rosalie took another step toward her. "You're right, he's trusting us to get him out of there, but he knows that in surrendering he was taking a big risk. A worthwhile risk. He knows what he has to do, and we know what we have to do."
"We'll get him out, Alice," Emmett spoke up, his voice quiet.
"The smart way, not the fast way," Edward's previous words flickered through her head and she found herself nodding along. "I still hate this." Then, she turned her head toward the door. "Someone's looking for you Rose."
Rosalie huffed, grabbing her papers and heading toward the door. "I'll be right back. It's probably Kes again here to talk my fucking ear off," she grumbled before swinging open the door and exiting.
"I'm sorry," Emmett repeated his words as Alice finally lowered her hand from her face, "I wish this were easier, but I know it won't get any easier, even as time passes."
"I just want him back." Looking up she met Emmett's sympathetic eyes and Kate's shocked ones.
"Sorry," she explained, smiling sheepishly, "I was under the impression that there wasn't a… thing with," she then waved her hand in the air, as if that said it all.
"Oh, no," Emmett scoffed, sending Alice a grin as he squeezed her shoulder again, "they're as dramatic and insufferable as you've been led to believe. And they'll be even more insufferable to be around once we get that asshole back." He released her shoulder but didn't step away until he'd playfully ruffled her hair. "Don't lose hope."
"Hope," she nodded, agreeing with the sentiment despite the fact she still felt hollow. "Got it." And she knew, as she followed him and Kate out of the room and off to where Rosalie had gone, that even if she didn't feel confident in any of their actions, she knew she had to trust in Jasper.
She found herself praying that he could hold onto his sanity for as long as possible. But still, the sound of his pained cries played on loop in her mind, and she knew she had to do something.
A/N: Feels weird knowing that there are only five chapters left in this story. Feels very weird that a concept thought up at fifteen and started at sixteen is finally getting finished at the ripe old age of 26. Teen me would probably laugh at that. But she'd be really excited, too, I bet.
Thanks for the constant love and support. Your reviews mean the world to me and I get excited to see your reactions to each chapter every time I post.
Hopefully the next chapter will go up around this time next week. Now, let the final countdowns begin.
~*~review replies~*~
deltagirl74: ooooOoo an interesting theory! you're the first to propose that idea! very cool :~) and I know, poor Alice just can't catch a break! and I mean, neither can Jasper!
Meagan: ah, yes... together again... uh, sure... of course they'll be... why wouldn't they? :o)
Julia: I know I know our poor babies are just really going Through it! oooooo another good theory! don't ever worry about reading too much into everything—I WANT you guys to do that! it means you're paying attention and I'm so excited about that :D