A/N for 2020-06-19: At the start of last summer, I was sure I'd have this story all wrapped up and a whole novel written by the end of August. And now that I've given you all a good and very well-deserved laugh at my expense, please raise your glass in the direction of my beta Eeyorefan12 before you sally onwards to read this chapter, which will be the third-to-last of the regular chapters for this story.

Happy reading!

Erin

Edward paced the length of the bedroom, his worried expression reflected back at him from the window glass as he spoke into the phone. "Can we get the children out? Could Rose and Esme—?"

"Yes," Alice said. Her voice sounded tinny through the earpiece.

"Then do it," he said. "We'll need Carlisle there to . . . bargain, if we can."

It was the way Alice said, "Okay," that worried him. The pitch of her voice suggested terrifying uncertainties. Perhaps the Volturi knew of, and were playing with the holes in her vision, or their course of action was set to one that did not allow for hope.

He wasn't sure which was worse, and he wouldn't ask until he could see what she was seeing. Words never communicated the wholeness of her visions. He would wait to see her in person. Until then, they would have to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

"One of us should go with them, Edward." Bella's voice was high-pitched with feeling. She stood awkwardly beside the bed, one arm straight down at her side, the other gripping it so tightly that she'd ripped the sleeve at her clutched elbow.

He shook his head. "You're not ready yet," he said as gently as he could to take the sting out," and I have to be there. We're not sure why they're coming, and I need to hear what they don't say out loud."

The hole in her sleeve widened, and she pulled her hand away. She glanced at the ripped fabric, and then looked back at him, her expression troubled. "Where will they take them?"

"It's better if we don't know," Edward said softly.

Bella sucked in a loud gasp. "You think—"

At her side immediately, he cupped her face with both hands. "It's purely a precaution. We don't want the Vol—them near our children, ever. And if the worst should happen, we don't want them going after them, either." He kept his voice as soothing as possible. He could see how much she was struggling to keep her volatile newborn emotions in check.

Her voice rose with emotion. "But you said that one of them is a tracker, that he could—"

"It's the absolute worst-case scenario, Bella." And it was the one his gut dreaded, but he dared hope was wrong. "We're going to be okay." He prayed his words weren't a lie.

As with any gathering of vampires, there were no secrets that left anyone's lips, and the name he'd only whispered once had snatched up the attention of every single one in earshot. Tanya and Eleazar's thoughts were calling to him, summoning him to speak with them all where they'd gathered in the living room.

"We need to talk with the others," Edward said.

It took two gentle tugs at Bella's hand before she allowed him to lead her from the room. Her eyes were focused on him, but her thoughts were silent, as always.

The rest of the household waited in the living room. Jasper stood in the far corner of the room, as far from Charlie as he could be. His brother unnerved his father-in-law profoundly, and Edward did not fault the man. Jasper could be a fierce presence, particularly for one so new to their existence. Grant seemed less bothered by Jasper, and in listening to the two newborns' thoughts, Edward wondered again at the disparate methods and means by which Victoria had managed her two newborn armies. He was glad again that she was dead, because it had been the luckiest of strokes, and Charlie's well-timed escape, that had parted Victoria from Murray, allowing the Cullens to find and ultimately destroy her.

From Jasper's thoughts, Edward knew that Alice had texted him about their plans. After Rose and Esme left for the airport with the children, the rest of the Cullens would meet Edward, Bella, Jasper and anyone else who would join them near the Cullens' property. He deduced that this must be where she saw the Volturi arriving. The landscape there was distinct, two gnarled trees flanking a bend in the road.

"Why are they coming?" Kate asked. There was no doubt as to whom she referred. Every mind in the room, save Charlie's, was lit up with the word.

"Alice and I are promised to them," Jasper said. "And we're overdue."

All eyes present snapped towards him.

"We think that's why," Edward said. "But we don't know that's their only reason."

"Your recently-defeated foe has made enough of a visible mess to have attracted attention," Eleazar said.

Edward shook his head. "It's all speculation until they arrive."

"Alice isn't seeing anything?" Tanya asked. Edward noted she'd chosen to sit by Charlie. Or perhaps it was the other way around?

"No," Edward said. "But she can tell us more when we see her. They're getting the children out right now."

"Where to?" Charlie asked.

There was a beat of silence in the room until Tanya softly repeated the words Edward had just used with Bella upstairs. "It's better if we don't know," she said, her tone heavy with regret.

Edward listened to Charlie struggle with the need to ask questions, but he clearly understood that the conversation needed to move along. Edward hoped that his father-in-law would have time in which to voice all such questions in the future. To live, as he'd promised Edward he would.

"I'd say why they're coming is pretty important speculation, wouldn't you?" Irina asked, challenging Edward with her stare as well as her thoughts.

"Why is it—?" Grant started, but Irina smiled gently at him, silencing his question. She then returned her fierce gaze to Edward.

"I have no answers for you there, Irina. Nor do I expect you to stand with us. You have cause enough to be wary, and if this comes down to any kind of fight, we couldn't possibly win—"

"I wouldn't say that," Eleazar said. He eyed Bella intently, as she stood beside Edward, her brow furrowed with worry.

"No," Edward said. He would not risk Bella for foolish speculation. They would have to be insane to attack the Volturi unprovoked. And to do it using his newborn wife, who'd never shown deliberate control of her gift? He was angry that Eleazar had even suggested it. Even if they managed to succeed in physically overcoming the four Alice saw coming, they would face the much larger and more destructive remainder of the Volturi guard. No, there would be no escape, if it came to a fight. They had to find another way out of this.

"I think we are more bound together in this than you kindly suggest, Edward," Eleazar said, clearly reading his expression. "Speculative reasons or solutions aside." He shrugged then, his thoughts showing his suggestion about Bella was only that. Peace, Edward, he sent silently.

Across the room, only aware of part of the discussion, Jasper silently agreed with his cousin. There was no way the Volturi wouldn't know that the Cullens and Denalis had worked together to destroy Victoria, if that was the purpose of their business.

"At the simplest level," Eleazar continued, "they will know by scent alone of our association, and they can know more if they ask, despite what we wish to tell. You know this."

Yes, Edward did, with the kind of horrifying clarity of memory he wished he could forget.

"If you stand with us, it will make it much harder to plead your innocence," Jasper said softly. His heart, his kind, kind heart, wanted to spare his cousins this fate, or delay it. He was trying to think of a way to extricate them, unsuccessful as it was likely to be.

"We are not cowards, and we need no excuses. We've made enough of those," Tanya said. "You're our family. We'll stand with you." She eyed her sisters, turning her head to look at Carmen and Eleazar. They all nodded at her. "It may give the Volturi pause to . . . strain their relations with so many." Barring Grant's, their thoughts were clear for Edward. They knew the risks. Straining relations with the Volturi was the best outcome. Death was still more likely. Charlie was still trying to take everything in but it was clear he understood that there was a threat to his daughter's new family. Edward already knew what the man's choice would be in this.

Beside him, Bella squeezed Edward's hand, and his gaze locked with hers, finding something like hope in her eyes. And fierceness. "Thank you," he said to everyone, his eyes still on his mate's, his throat tight with emotion. He turned back to the group. "But we should go now. Alice expects them to arrive at our family's home tomorrow. If there's any chance of this ending . . . amicably, we need to make a plan."

As they all journeyed north, Edward longed to run at his full speed, but he was held back by the pace at which everyone else could travel. In addition, they were using the time to think and plan but also to share the ideas they came up with. Even at this pace, there was no doubt they would reach their destination well before mid-morning, when Alice had told him she saw the Volturi arriving. Edward found himself longing to speak with Carlisle, to share the weight of worry his shoulders carried, and to hear the calm wisdom he did not doubt his father could provide.

He pondered the Volturi's timing again. There hadn't been enough time for the guard to have travelled from Italy since their last warning, and it was a small contingent of the guard that Alice saw coming—the same powerful group that had visited them before. They must have already been nearby. Perhaps they were here on other business? Surely they had no way of knowing about the battle only a day before. He struggled to think of what might have triggered their imminent arrival. Turning his head back, he caught Jasper's eye, and his brother drew close. "Why now?" he mouthed, so that the others wouldn't see.

While they all took on some level of surveillance with monitoring news reports, Jasper was superlative in his ability to string together patterns the others missed, digging deeper into stories that others might disregard.

When he revealed to Edward his current speculation, Edward swore to himself. He'd been so deeply terrified by Bella's transformation that he hadn't even registered the final thread in that part of Bella's bargain with Victoria: Chelsea. Who but the Volturi would give credence to a child's wild writings, thrown out onto the internet in frustration? Chelsea's story had been largely dismissed by the human world as the hysterics of a traumatized girl lost during a family hike. Whatever explanation or warning Leah had provided had not been sufficient to keep her quiet. He thought of Bella and her attachment to the girl. She'd traded her human life for that of her young student. He couldn't torment her now with the possibility of the girl's death. They simply didn't know. If the Volturi thought Chelsea was incredible by virtue of her age, they would leave her alone, as her death would surely draw more unwanted attention. But there was no certainty.

And it didn't matter, ultimately. The timeline on which Alice saw the Volturi arriving would be unchanged by his worry or speculation. In the face of the four talented guard members, there was little to be done by way of preparation. If their sentence was set, Alec would immobilize them, Jane would torture them to extract any desired information, and Felix would dismember and burn them. If, by some miracle, one of them escaped, Demetri would find them. There was no escaping death with the Volturi, if that was their determination. Only Alice and Jasper would be spared.

And while they'd given Esme, Rose and the children time to escape this encounter, if the Volturi wanted them, Demetri would find them, too.

Please, Edward thought. Let this only be a show of power in collecting Alice and Jasper. Please.

If the Volturi wanted his family dead, the children would be included in that sentence, purely by proximity alone.

Hey, Edward, Can I ask something? Charlie called from nearby.

"Of course," he said, realizing he was replying to Charlie's thoughts, rather than his voice.

"Uh, do I need to say things out loud?" Charlie asked aloud this time. They were running, and while Charlie's mind was full of questions about the Volturi, part of it was also marvelling that they could run and talk without feeling the effort at all.

"Either way is fine. Go ahead and ask," Edward said. Bella had heard them talking and moved closer.

"What did you mean, the Volturi had visited you before? Tanya said they were your—"

"Law keepers, yes. They keep the one law."

"That we don't let anyone know we exist."

"Yes."

"So, why did they come before?" Charlie pressed.

Before Edward could form a reply, Bella cut in. "Because of me," she muttered.

Edward glanced her way and saw the twist of guilt in her face. He tried to think of how to frame an explanation that might alleviate some of the burden she still carried. "The Volturi visited us supposedly because word reached them that a human—Bella—knew of our kind and had openly spoken about us." he finally said to Charlie. "However, given Carlisle's friendship with Aro—"

"Aro?"

"One of the Volturi leaders."

"They're friends?" Charlie sounded surprised.

"Of a sort," Edward said. "At least, they were, a very long time ago. Out of respect for Carlisle, we were given a chance to defend ourselves against the accusations. Regrettably," Edward turned to check on Bella, still running by his side but not looking at him, "we had to use her medical diagnosis to discredit her so that they would spare her life."

Obviously hearing the remorse in his tone, Bella looked his way and reached out to him. "For which you were all forgiven," she murmured quietly, twining their fingers together. "As you forgave me."

They continued moving in silence for a while, as Edward focused on the comfort of his mate's hand in his.

Charlie continued to ruminate before speaking again. "But that wasn't the end of it."

"No." Edward became aware that most of the minds around them had now tuned in and he forced himself to concentrate only on Charlie's question. "As it turned out, they had somehow become aware of Jasper and Alice's gifts and they . . . extracted a promise from them to serve as members of the Volturi guard."

Edward listened to Irina augment this information for Grant's sake, which Charlie took in too.

Charlie's thoughts had snagged on the word 'extracted' and Edward's brief hesitation before using it. He thought of Edward as a smooth talker, and he suspected there was much more to that one word than his son-in-law had communicated. His words betrayed none of this. Edward wondered briefly how long it would take before Charlie learned to temper his thoughts around him . . . and if he would have that opportunity. He shook off the negativity of the thought.

"That would have been years ago," Charlie said, frowning as he considered the other implications of the Volturi's last visit.

"Yes," Edward answered. "They'd given Alice and Jasper time to put their affairs together, but they made it clear that their time ended in October."

Charlie looked towards Jasper, a respectful distance away. "I guess you stayed to . . . solve the other problem."

Jasper nodded at Charle.

Edward couldn't help but smile a little. Despite Charlie's wariness around Jasper, Edward's brother liked Bella's father, and he liked his way of thinking even more. Charlie's mind was rich with logical speculation. He and Jasper would make good friends.

If they had the chance. He reminded himself how uncertain their future was at this moment.

Bella's hand brought a gentle pressure to his again, and he looked towards her, wishing yet again that he could hear her thoughts. That gentle pucker at her forehead told him she was worried, guilty, or both. Forgiven or not, he knew she still believed it was her own disclosures to the wolves that had informed the Volturi of his siblings' gifts. It didn't matter. What was done was done.

"I love you," he mouthed to her.

"I love you, too," she mouthed back.

"They don't seem to be the type to operate with transparent motives, then," Charlie observed, clearly unaware of their brief exchange. His mind was still fully focused on the problem in front of them.

Yes. He and Jasper would be good friends, Edward decided. He nodded to Charlie. "I think it's safe to say that the Volturi will be leaving with Alice and Jasper."

Charlie continued to think. "Tell me more about them."

"What in particular?" Edward asked. He thought of the Volturi attributes: vindictive, cruel, powerful, monstrous, unchecked—

"Who's in charge, for starters," Charlie asked.

"Aro," Bella answered for him.

"That's it? A one-man show?"

"No," Eleazar chimed in from behind them. "Aro, Marcus and Caius rule together. The guard serve them."

Charlie kept peppering them with questions: How many? How did it work? Who had what power? What exactly did they know of the Cullens? The Denalis? Charlie's questions were good ones. His age and experience before being turned were remarkably apparent. He was a rare creature in that, being an older vampire and one with decades of experience with people. It would serve him well.

Then one of his thoughts took precedence. "So they don't know you can read their thoughts?" he asked Edward.

When Edward shook his head, Charlie seemed pleased. "You can anticipate their moves, then. That's a huge advantage. You'll be able to see their true motives."

Edward almost laughed with bitterness. The Volturi killed what they feared. He only risked death, or lifetime servitude, exposing his own gift. But as he thought of this, he saw that such a movement might be worthwhile. If it served his family, then so be it. "Anyone with a gift they find useful becomes something to be coveted . . . or disposed of." Bella's hand tightened fiercely on his at his words. He hated that he was distressing her. "They really have only the one motive, Charlie: to preserve their power. Keeping our existence a secret serves that purpose."

"Well, they've done a shitty job of keeping things quiet then. I was more than aware of the disappearances that were going on all over the coast, and not just because I was a cop. It was all over the news. If I were them, I'd be coming to investigate that mess. Given that you pretty much solved that problem, I'd expect some gratitude for doing their job."

Edward amended his opinion of Charlie: aged and experienced, yes, but naive, too. Charlie and Grant were byproducts of that very trouble to which Charlie referred. The Cullens and Denalis were just as likely to be found guilty for unlawfully preserving the two newborns as they were for destroying the forty or so others that Victoria had made.

He smiled sympathetically at Charlie, "They are not creatures accustomed to expressing any kind of gratitude. Or mercy." Edward heard the agreement in the minds around them, particularly those of the Denali sisters.

Charlie "harumphed" before going back to his speculations, lighting upon the obvious disparity in numbers. "I know you don't want to pick a fight with them, but if there are only four—"

"Their gifts make them more powerful than their numbers suggest. Alec alone—" Edward let his words trail off. How could he begin to describe what that vicious boy could do?

"Who's Alec?" Charlie asked.

"Jane's brother," Eleazar answered, obviously aware of Edward's reluctance to explain. "He takes away peoples' senses—everything they see, hear, feel . . . ."

"I see," Charlie said, although Edward knew he really didn't. How could he? Charlie's mind considered a different kind of numbers. "Do the Volturi operate on consensus? Do you think they all want this, from what you heard before?" He was thinking about how his own experiences in leadership had been so fractured. How there was rarely consensus even in the smallest things, let alone in interfering with such a large group of people, particularly one that had typically been so compliant with—and helpful in enforcing the law. He was wondering if any of them would be more sympathetic to the Cullens' situation.

It was a fair question. Edward recalled their experience of years ago. It had been Aro who'd wanted Jasper and Alice, according to Jane. And it was Aro that Edward had seen in her head, recognizing him from Carlisle's memories and the painting that once hung in his father's study. But he couldn't tell if Marcus and Caius had had any objection to what Aro wanted since they hadn't been there in Jane's thoughts. Only Aro had been. He shook his head. "I don't know, but I can't imagine Aro would be able to send any members of the guard without their knowledge or consent." Yet, that didn't mean Aro couldn't operate with some level of subterfuge. It wasn't like Caius and Marcus had access to the guard's thoughts. Unlike Aro.

Unlike himself.

They were almost to the Cullens' home.

It began to snow lightly, tiny flakes making soft journeys to swirl around them, landing on shoulders and dusting their hair. If they weren't running, they would soon be covered with it. For all his thinking, Charlie and Bella both were distracted by the accumulation they witnessed around them, Charlie's hand reaching out to catch a flake, and then examining it.

Carlisle's figure emerged first from the haze of increasing snow, Alice next and then Emmett, all three of them stopping some distance away.

Edward exhaled as Alice showed him a clear vision of Esme and Rose with the children, deplaning somewhere . . . warm. She stopped thinking of the vision there, and smiled apologetically at him. The children were safe for now, and Esme and Rose would be spared the horror of the Volturi's attentions. For the time being, at least. It was a small mercy, but he would take all such mercies. "The children are safe," he said to Bella.

She, too, breathed out in relief. "Thank you," she whispered to Alice.

"Bella, Charlie," Carlisle said, approaching them slowly, carefully assessing the newborns in front of him. They seem to be doing well, he commented silently to Edward, waiting for Edward's brief nod before coming closer. Charlie eyed Carlisle, who took a step in their direction, shrewdly assessing the newborns' reactions. Bella surprised Carlisle by walking forward to meet him, letting him take her outstretched hands in his.

"Thank you for taking care of them," she said.

"You're very welcome," Carlisle told her. "You look lovely, Bella."

Edward looked down to hide his smirk as he heard the rest of his father's comment directed privately to him. The video screen didn't do her justice, Son.

Carlisle released Bella then and turned his attention to Charlie.

"I'm sorry, Chief," Carlisle said with sincerity. It was an apology that covered a myriad of sins, some of which he was responsible for, most of which he was not.

But Charlie understood the intent, and offered a nod and a half-hearted smile in return. "It's been humbling, understanding just how much I didn't know about what was going on under my nose." He looked at Bella.

Edward marveled, as he had many times over the years, at Carlisle's composure in this awkward moment. To have Charlie reference the subterfuge and artifice with which the Cullen family operated on a daily basis could have been considered embarrassing, but Carlisle met Charlie's gaze unflinchingly. Any deception his father had employed had been necessary to protect those he loved as well as the humans around him. He would do any of it again.

"Just giving you a bit of a hard time, Carlisle," Charlie said, after a moment, displaying a tiny but self-satisfied grin.

Emmett barked out a laugh.

The others in the party chuckled more nervously.

Edward, however, remained straight-faced. Charlie's good humour was an impressive show, but it was still just that—a show.. He was desperately trying to regain aspects of his former self by acting as he once had, trying to resurrect these traits through imitation alone.

Carlisle turned his attention to the others, notably Tanya and the other Denalis. "I'm sorry we're meeting under such circumstances."

"As are we," Carmen replied, hugging Carlisle. "It has been too long, old friend."

They were silently recalling their time together in Volterra. Both were hoping their former acquaintance with the Volturi would spare them the worst possibilities suggested by this 'visit'. By this time, no one in the group thought the Volturi's arrival was purely to extract Alice and Jasper. There was something more, and those with experience feared Victoria's ill deeds would be attributed to them, or that their sparing of Grant and Charlie would be grounds enough for punishment. So much depended on the way the wind blew with Aro, Marcus and Caius' whims.

Their greetings finished, Eleazar spoke. "What do you see, Alice?"

Her, I'm sorry, Edward, was whispered silently, as she showed him her vision.

He struggled to maintain his expression of calm. Oh God.

Eleazar, a keen reader of all faces, drew his conclusions from the micro-expressions that traversed Edward's face. "I see."

The rest of the assembled vampires were not nearly so apt in reading him, and Charlie blurted out, "What? What does she see?"

"They're planning to kill us," Alice said.

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