A/N: DxGRAYxMAN - You are a warrior my dude, but still a no. I gotta give you a win though. So my last and final clue (really you can just google this): The one and only Miss Ashley Greene was born and raised here (a fun fact I actually just found out not too long ago). So it has significance in the books, and in the life of the actors.

Anyways, again thank you all for your wonderful patience. It's been hectic, but in a good way :) Loving life right now

Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night

Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies

Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light

And if you don't love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the chain

Chapter 25: Well Thought Out

Alice POV:

Zoey was inconsolable, a complete and total wreck, and I couldn't blame her. The only sounds in the room were that of her sobbing and my trying to comfort her. There were a few movements in the background as time ticked by, personnel not knowing exactly what to do now. Carlisle tried his hand at calming Zoey, but it was a lost cause and I knew that. The only thing to do was to sit and wait for the worst part to blow over.

Colt began to give orders for everyone to clear out of the area sometime later. They were still in danger, and without Liam they were helpless.

Jacob was clearly shaken. He still held a bit of resentment in his tone as well, but I think he knew he would be dead if he had gone to help.

In the midst of getting everyone ready and boarded, Jacob swore loudly into his earpiece. It was a shocked and surprised kind of curse, so everyone seemed to assume the worst.

"What? What's wrong?" Colt nearly shouted into his radio.

"N-nothing. Um, it's… Liam."

"Sorry, what?"

"He's… uh. He's here." There was a stunned silence that greeted this. Surely Jacob must be in some kind of stress related hallucination. The smallest flicker of hope crossed Zoey's face.

"What do you mean he's there?"

"Don't worry, he's not having a mental breakdown." Liam's voice suddenly cut in and there was an audible gasp around the room. Zoey clutched her chest as her heart nearly exploded with joy and relief. The poor girl might suffer a heart attack with the varying emotions of the day. "I'm here. I'm alright."

"How did-? Why are your-? How in the hell did you get away unscathed?" Colt, like everyone else, was utterly flabbergasted at Liam's safety.

"It's a long story, I can explain when I get back. But right now my leg is fucking killing me and I just want to go home and see my girl." Exhaustion was laced in his voice and you could tell it had been an ordeal. Colt sighed reluctantly but nodded.

"Understandable. But I'll hold you to that explanation. See you soon." Liam responded in the affirmative and pretty soon they were on their way back home.

While almost all the tension had gone, a few of us were still on edge. Zoey refused to let go of my hand, Carlisle paced back and forth rapidly, and Colt looked like his hair might fall out with the stress it was undergoing. When the rest of the family heard the news they were just as confused as us.

How on Earth did he manage to get away?

Of course I'm relived as hell at his safety, but there was something in his voice. It was a kind of stress I've heard before in him, and it was never a good thing.

Liam and Jacob arrived a bit later, each one completely out of energy. Liam was hounded on right away for his story, but Carlisle waved them off until he had properly taken care of his leg.

"So? What happened?" Colt finally asked once things were settled.

"There was a manhole near me when I was about to give up. I made a last ditch attempt, got rid of all my gear, and jumped in. Had to wait some time in there before I felt safe enough to leave."

"A manhole? Liam you were mid-sentence when you cut out! You expect me to believe this shit?"

"Look I know I've lied in the past, but I'm telling the truth. There was no time to finish any sentences. I saw my chance and I took it." Colt sighed once again, but took it.

"Alright. Just get some rest. I'll talk to you more in the morning. I want a full debrief."

"Yes sir."

We left Liam and Zoey alone for a while, I'm sure they were overdue for some much needed couples therapy after the nightmare of today. I went back to my place and sat in my favorite armchair, thinking about this supposed manhole story.

Sure, I guess it could make sense. But it wouldn't explain the strain I could feel from him. There was also the fact that he kept side-eyeing me throughout. I didn't want to draw any ridiculous hypotheses, but something was definitely up. Something he would risk lying to his boss for.

My chest tightened at the thought of the only thing, or should I say person, he would do such a thing for.

Bella.

Something happened and it had to do with Bella.

Almost right on cue, there was a small knock on my door, and Liam's request to enter on the other side.

"Come in." The door opened and he gave me a small grin before limping his way over towards me. I got up to help him, but he waved a hand for me not to.

"It actually helps the healing process for me to do this on my own. Thank you though." He sat opposite of me and we both stared at one another. I didn't want to be the one that spoke first about this. Besides, it was his story to tell. "So I'm sure by now you have probably theorized that the manhole story is not true?" I nodded and he smiled gently once more. "Figured."

"Why did you lie?"

"I thought about telling the truth. I actually debated it the whole ride home. But in the end, I figured it was best to keep this to myself. And now you." My muscles were tense with anticipation. "Alice." He started, the humor that was almost always present on his face now gone. "It was Bella. Bella was there. She's the one that saved me."

Yes, I suspected it had something to do with her, but hearing it was another thing. I was a mix of being elated at her known safety, anger at the fact that she was still abandoning me, and sadness about how Liam got to see her and I couldn't.

"H-how is she?" Liam was silent for a moment or two, struggling to find the right words.

"I would say on edge. We argued for most of the time. I think right now she's so laser focused on her goal, that she's losing sight of other important things. She's in full soldier mode." I listened quietly, trying not to break down this time.

"There's something else, isn't there? You're nervous about it, I can tell." He nodded and bit his lip, now staring at his lap instead of me. This behavior painfully reminded me of how Bella acted when she didn't want to tell me something.

"H-her eyes are red Alice."

"What?" I wasn't sure I heard his words properly, because they made absolutely no sense. From the scene he just described, it sounded like Bella definitely still had her emotions on. Why else would they argue? Or why else would she be so focused on revenge? But then if her eyes were red, why would she want to hurt innocent humans? Did she fall off the wagon by accident? We had worked so tirelessly to get her back on track, why was it just thrown away? "Why?"

"I don't know. She seemed to be in control. I tried asking her but she just brushed me off." I sat there in shock, trying to think of any reason why Bella would do such a thing.

"Are you sure they were red? Maybe it was just a trick of the light or something."

"Alice."

"Fuck I know alright! I'm just trying not to believe!" I stood up angrily and paced the room, ranting all my thoughts that came to mind. "Why? Why would she do such an idiotic thing? She told me she doesn't like hurting people! Was that just another lie? Do I even know her at all?" I cried out and tugged on my hair, my mental breakdown was on the verge of rearing its head.

"Jesus Alice calm down. Of course you know her." Liam had to step in and catch me before I went any further in my accusations. "You married her for god's sake."

"That doesn't mean shit if she's not honest with me!"

"Hey easy. She is. I mean for the most part." He corrected himself hastily. "Alice, the way she feels about you, she's never felt about anyone. You are her number one priority."

"But I don't want to be!" I wriggled out of Liam's clutches and went back to my pacing. "I just want to be her partner! Her equal! I hate the fact that she thinks she has to protect me!"

"Give her a break Al. I mean, didn't you feel that way when she was human?"

"Of course I did." Quickly I reflected on all the times I worried about Bella's safety during her human days, even more so than Edward. Just the difference between us was, I gave her my trust. "But humans are extremely fragile. And you know Bella, she's a danger magnet." I rounded and pointed a finger at him. "But I never took away her freedom. I trusted the fact that she could take care of herself to some extent."

"I know. And Bella feels the same way. She isn't hovering over you, but she still wants to protect you. Physically and mentally." I huffed out my irritation and slumped back into my chair.

"I just wish we were more of a team. That's what I want." Liam's hand reached out and held onto mine.

"You will be. Just give it some time. "

We talked for most of the evening, I wanted every little detail of his encounter with my mate. I was worried sick about her state of mind, and this just proved my point.

Lashing out at Liam for trying to do his job? Switching diets? Only focusing on her plans and that alone? She sounded close to breaking. I didn't want my wife returning without the ability to express her emotions.

"So she had a plan? A plan to take down the entire Volturi in Egypt?" I asked for about the hundredth time, it just didn't seem possible.

"Yes. She was explicit about that." I grunted and closed my eyes from the stress. "Look I gotta get some rest Al. It's been a long day. Will you be alright?"

"Hm?" I had apparently zoned out. "Oh. Oh yeah. Go ahead Liam. I'm sorry for keeping you so long."

"It's no problem. I figured you'd want all the details." He got up and pat my knee as he did so. "Night Alice."

"Night Liam."

Once the door closed behind him, I shut my eyes again. I was trying to search for any futures or decisions the Volturi were making, but they had learned how to shut me out long ago. It aggravated me to no end.

"Dammit Bella! What are you doing?" Frustration was frying every nerve in my body. How can someone I love so much, make me this damn angry? Fucking passion. Pain in my ass.

I finally resigned to getting up and taking a shower, maybe that would refresh and jumpstart my mind.

About midway through, a sudden idea popped into my head. Something so idiotic I initially rolled my own eyes at it. But the more I thought, the more sense it made.

They say the longer couples are together, the more like each other they get.

Well that may definitely ring true, because this was something only Bella would do.