Gang agley

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: February 17, 2018 - Edward fans, are you here, still? Remember that warning in chapter 1? This is why.

January, 2018: I confess, there were tears when I wrote this. The title of this chapter is from Robbie Burn's poem, "To a Mouse," and means, 'to go awry.'

Jasper was grateful that they had assembled early, planning to review strategy, but there was no time.

Alice's gasp brought him up short. "Now!" she said, "They're coming now!"

They moved quickly into formation.

It wasn't the first round of faces that startled Jasper. It was the second.

Grace.

And Bree.

They stopped, mid-track, between the tree-line and the Cullens, stunned.

When Emmett ripped the head off the first of the attackers, their two faces stretched wide in horror. Grace looked at Jasper, and Bree at Grace.

"Run!" Jasper mouthed to them, repeating Emmett's actions on another of the attackers, "Now!"

They did, their hands joined in their flight. The battle progressed, the silent swoop of the wolves making quick work of the remaining assailants.

Up on the bluff, Edward had backed Bella up to the rough rock face.

He was talking to Riley, deftly unpacking the lies Victoria had told him. It was unnerving the boy, but he still stood, ready to attack, loyalty shaken, but firm enough to do damage.

"Mind games, Riley. I warned you," Victoria cooed.

"Could care less," Ben said. "As long as I get what I want."

Edward could very clearly hear what it was he wanted. It hadn't changed from when he was human.

Ben's tone unlocked Bella's voice, and she found apt words for him.

"Fuck you, Ben. As if." She snarled it at him.

He only grinned. "I think I will."

Then they all moved closer, daring Edward to attack.

"You know," Victoria said softly, "I wouldn't have known she was still yours, if you hadn't stopped poor Ben here. I thought you'd given up on her."

Edward growled, a low sound that Bella could feel in her heels, but held his ground.

Ben took another step closer, then Riley, and finally, Victoria, each of them intent on what Edward protected.

None of them heard Jacob and Seth, but Riley and Ben certainly felt the impact.

Seth landed his mark with Riley, taking off his hand with a shrieking clunk. Riley turned, his one good hand still ready to claw, but Seth kept his distance, dancing back and forth, moving Riley further away.

Jacob's choreography with Ben was more animated, and loud, their hatred long-fermented.

Victoria took one look at the wolves, and turned, running.

Edward screamed at her. "You won't get this chance again Victoria!" She had paused, just short of the trees, turning back to look at him, lip curled in anger. "Won't get the satisfaction of ripping my mate to pieces, like I did yours," he offered darkly. "Not that he cared for you. You were simply a convenient tool."

She turned, roaring, and leapt back. The swirl of her and Edward's movement so fast as to almost be invisible.

Bella stayed pressed against the rocks, watching, heart pounding, terrified.

Seth was holding his own, but it was Jacob that was flagging. Ben was missing a bite-sized chunk of his side, but was otherwise unharmed. He had managed to get one hand on Jacob's back, and she could see him begin to squeeze.

"Jacob!" she screamed, and Edward turned, seeing what was happening. He lashed out with his foot, detaching Ben's hold.

But it gave Victoria what she needed, and with a sound that Bella could not understand—nor describe—brought her lips to an unguarded moment at Edward's neck.

Jacob rallied, and Seth had finished with Riley, but there were two vampire bodies in the clearing, neither of which belonged to Victoria.

Bella was breathing. Great big sobbing breaths that wracked her body.

She did not see Jacob finish with Ben, or both them finish with Victoria, but only heard the sounds, their repetition reinforcing what she saw on the ground before her.

Edward lay in two distinct pieces. His face, if it hadn't rested so far from the remainder of his corpse, would have looked tranquil.

She was on her knees, her hand shaking over his head, when she felt Jacob's fingers on her shoulder.

"We have to go, Bella. Now. There are others coming. The—the Volturi?" he looked towards Seth, and then back at Bella, "Alice said we have to go." He was pulling her, lifting her, putting her on Seth's back. "Can you hold on? Bella?"

She nodded, not sure what else she could do. She watched the world go by, everything a painful clench in her chest, her throat.

The spruces, the cedars, the pungent firs—their friendly scents were embedded with Edward's death, and they taunted her as she clung to Seth. It was only the fear of what the Volturi would do to the wolves that made her hold on. Jacob wouldn't leave her to die, but she wouldn't drag him to his own.

No, not now.

It was the smell of the sea that made her realize where they were, and when she felt Jacob pick her up, she didn't resist.

When he set her down again, though, she promptly fell to all fours and vomited.

"Come on," he said, "we're almost there."

Did it matter? She wondered.

But she also wondered if Edward would like it that Jacob was picking her up again.

She couldn't hold on to what had happened.

He was dead, but her mind kept telling her she was going to go see him soon.

He was dead.

She kept repeating that to herself, sitting on Jacob's couch.

Didn't Jacob always say vampires were dead, anyway?

Then she laughed, at her own, horrific, and profoundly unhumorous joke.

Jacob watched, alarmed. Was she going into shock? Should he do something?

The knock on the door made them both jump, and the smell made him grow tense.

He reminded himself that an attacking vampire would likely not knock, and moved to open it.

He was not surprised to see Carlisle standing there.

"Where's Bella?" he asked, without preamble, stepping inside.

Jacob blew out a nervous breath and gestured to the couch.

"Did she see it happen?" he asked, much more quietly.

Jacob swallowed, closed his eyes, and nodded.

Carlisle nodded in acknowledgement, moving towards Bella.

"Bella?" he said softly.

She stood, shakily, and turned into his arms, loud, and broken sobs making her chest convulse.

Carlisle's own face distorted into its own, tearless grief.

Jacob stood watching, full of his own grief, seeing her hurt. Knowing he'd survived, and Edward hadn't.