Chapter 3: Lifesavers

January 21st, 2003

Bella's POV

I yawned, waking slowly as dawn peeked through my curtains. Last night had been hectic, even after the Cullen boys had left. We had stayed up for another hour or so, talking over all the problems the treaty brought up.

Rose had been adamant that we test it out and see just how far this treaty would go, but I wasn't about to watch my sisters kill themselves for a fruitless experiment. Even if they had been lying, it was a big enough threat that I wasn't going to risk their lives. I couldn't do that again.

Eventually I had sent them to bed saying we'd go about this like we'd planned: ignoring them—even if the petty side of me wanted to make their lives hell. The plan had been to drop the note and see the Cullens run around like ants in a burning ant hill. We'd even prepared for an all out attack, but their peaceful drop by last night had sent everything into disarray. And as much fun as threatening them had been, it changed things.

I sighed, rolling out the kinks in my neck and pulling myself out of bed. As much as I wanted to beat down the Cullen door, I had to look out for my sisters, and that meant a new plan. A safer plan. I shuddered to think what would have happened if we'd gone with our original plan, without knowing about the treaty.

I shook my head. There was no point ruminating on the what ifs. I needed to keep moving forward. It was the only way to keep us safe. With a quick look out the window, I could see a thin layer of ice already covering the ground, so rather than dress in one of my cuter outfits, I threw on a pair of jeans and a long form-fitting sweater. I paired them with my favourite fur-lined boots and wool gloves.

With a final glance over everything, I headed downstairs to prepare some extra protection charms and check the wards before everyone else woke up. Eventually Rose and Alice trumped downstairs, barely awake and I smiled at their pouts.

"Good afternoon!" I grinned at their groans—my sisters were not early risers. "I thought I'd need a marching band to wake you two up!

"Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee," Rose muttered, eyes not even open as she headed for the kitchen. She sighed happily when she found the fresh mug I'd already made for her.

I wrapped my arm around Alice as she grabbed the keys and she leaned gratefully into my side. She might have been faring better than our sister, but that was from the years of practice. Alice slept less than I did most days.

After draining her cup, Rose looked at me with hope in her eyes, like she'd expected me to change my mind.

"Nope. We're still ignoring them," I said as we headed for the door.

She pouted. "But we can still make them miserable, right?"

Alice rolled her eyes at our antics, as we headed to the truck. "I am not awake enough for you two."

Locking the door behind me, I glanced at my sisters, making sure they were dressed warmly enough. Should I get another jacket for Rose?

Rose frowned at the truck bed and then glanced anxiously at the snow around us. "Maybe you should let me ride in the back today, Bella. You did it yesterday—I can do it today."

I smiled softly at her worrying. "I'll be fine, Rose." Glancing around to ensure there weren't any nosy neighbours nearby, I quickly cast a spell to rid the truck bed of snow. "Get in the cab—it's not that long of a ride anyway." There was no way I was going to let Rosalie sit in the bed of the truck while it was so freezing out—Rosalie hated the cold.

"No, Rose. I'm not letting you drive! Especially when the roads are so dangerous," Alice said with a roll of her eyes. "You drive like a badger on steroids—and that's on a good day!" As she and Rose headed into the school, hurrying in to escape the cold, I heard her mutter, "I have no idea how you even got your licence."

I snorted—I did: Rose had spelled her instructor to give her a perfect grade, all while practically drooling over her. I had spelled mine too, but Alice didn't need to know that!

~Scene~

As I jumped down from the truck, something shiny on the tyre caught my eye. An odd lump formed in my throat as I noticed the snow chains on the tyres. Charlie must have put them on before he went to work while I was in the yard checking the wards. I had found it odd that we'd driven so easily to school, but perhaps I shouldn't have—Charlie was clearly a better parental figure than Renee. I blinked away the odd moisture gathering in my eyes.

Growing up (in both lives) I did everything myself—I'd had to—so seeing someone doing something for us, without even being asked, was enough to make my chest tight. Maybe living with Charlie's not going to be as awful as I'd thought.

Just then, a horrific screeching filled my ears and my head snapped up at my sisters' horrified screams: "BELLA!"

The world seemed to slow and go quiet as I saw several things at once. First was Alice, looking terrified with her arms around Rose who was screaming and struggling to get to me. Second, was the large van, sliding uncontrollably across the ice, and heading straight for me. The third thing—the oddest thing—was Edward Cullen's look of absolute horror.

The world seemed to suddenly snap back as I turned back to the van. I pressed my back up against the side of the truck and gathered my energy to cast a spell. I began mumbling the spell, barely moving my lips as I did: "Ice and fire—"

Something hard struck me from the side before I could finish—my head cracking against the icy blacktop—and I briefly wondered if the van had already hit me, but the van was still coming. I tried to push myself up to prepare another spell when a pale hand shot out in front of me, stopping the tyre inches from my face.

My head snapped around so quickly to look at my rescuer, the world blurring for a second and darkness flickering at the edges, that I almost missed who it was. My eyes widened in shock as they focused on the topaz eyes of my rescuer.

Edward Cullen had just saved me from an oncoming van, potentially exposing his family and his kind. All to save me—his enemy. And for the life of me, I couldn't think of one damned good reason why.

There was a pounding in my head as I tried to focus on him and what he was saying. I could see his lips moving, his brows furrowing, but the sound was just out of reach. I groaned, pressing my hand to the side of my head, and suddenly everything came rushing back in.

"Bella! Oh my god!"

"Call 911!"

"I'm so sorry, Bella! I panicked!" The driver of the van—Tyler something—leaned out the window, frantically.

The voices crammed in, swirling around as everyone rushed towards us, but all I could focus on was Edward as he leaned impossibly closer. "Bella. Are you okay?"

Why did you save me? I stared at him as he pulled me into a seating position. What could you possibly get out of it? I narrowed my eyes at him. Do you think that we'll give up our revenge for this?

I was still staring at him when they eventually moved the van, trying desperately to come up with why he'd saved me. Because if I couldn't figure out his motive, then I couldn't plan ahead, and if I couldn't plan ahead, then I'd lose my sisters again. And I couldn't do that—not again.

"Are you okay?" he asked me again, but I ignored him, stumbling to my feet, only to groan again as nausea strangled me at the movement. "Hey, don't move. You probably have a concussion."

"Don't tell me what to do," I groaned, trying to shove him away, only to grab onto his shirt as the ground shifted under my feet. "I'm going to be sick."

In that moment the EMTs rushed in, and Edward guided me to the gurney. As they strapped me in, I frowned at Edward who was trying to get into the ambulance with me, only to be shoved aside by Rose.

One of the EMTs tried to stop her, but Rose snapped at them, "I am her sister. Back off!"

I let my head fall back to the gurney with a groaned sigh. I squinted over at Rose as she huffed into the seat next to me. "Where's Alice?"

She pointedly didn't look at me as she answered, "She called Dad."

I gave her a look. "And said what, Rosalie?"

She was checking out the ceiling of the van now to avoid looking at me. "That you were being rushed to hospital after being hit by a van."

"Hekate help me! Tell me she didn't phrase it like that!"

"I can't." She shrugged. "You taught us never to lie."

"Rosalie! Why didn't you stop her?"

"I was busy yelling at the teachers."

The pounding was back and I covered my eyes with my hand to block out the awful light. "Why were you yelling at the teachers?"

"They weren't moving the van fast enough!"

"They—Rosalie Catherin Swan! You are completely unbelievable—you know that?"

She finally looked at me with a smirk on her face. "Thank you. It's a talent!"

~Scene~

"Enough!" I growled at the attending nurse as she tried yet again to check my vitals. The pounding had stopped, and I no longer felt like I was going to pass out or throw up if I moved too quickly. "I'm fine!"

In the ten minutes since I'd been admitted, three separate nurses had tried examining me, and I was close to snapping. Rose had already been kicked out for nearly biting a nurse's head off. That had been the one good thing about Renee—her 'flighty' nature had made it easy for us to skip over things like doctors appointments.

The nurse scowled at me, but she was cut off by a smooth voice entering the room from behind me. "It's okay, Janice. I'll take it from here."

I turned slowly, my insides curling with hatred as I recognised that voice. It was smoother now, softer, kinder than three and a half centuries ago. I had dreamed of hearing that voice again, of making him beg for my forgiveness for the hell he'd put us through. I'd had nightmares of him sentencing us to burn forever. I'd imagined every possible way I'd make him pay, but I could have never imagined the fear I felt seeing him again.

The day we had been dragged to our deaths, I had been terrified. Terrified my sisters were going to die, and there was nothing I could do to stop. I had wanted to curl into the ground and cry, to beg them not to hurt us, but my sisters had been looking to me for how to react, and so I'd screamed. I'd screamed and I'd cursed. I'd raged against all of them and made us into something to fear.

But underneath that, I had been scared, and as I turned to look at the face of the man who'd murdered us, everything came surging back. Just the sight of him was enough to bring it all back, and I hated him all the more for it.

I glared at Carlisle Cullen as he stopped in front of me, smiling politely, warily. "Good morning, Isabella. It seems as though you took quite a spill."

"I've had worse," I snarled, feeling only a touch of satisfaction at seeing his face drop at the inference. Just being in the same room as him was worse than any spill.

He waited until Janice closed behind her, leaving me in the consult room, alone with a monster. I curled my lip at him. Good thing I have just the spell for dealing with monsters.

"Miss McKinnon, I cannot begin to tell you—"

"How sorry you are?" I snarled, leaning closer. "Don't give me that bullshit!"

"I can understand your feelings towards me, but please, my family—" He looked so sincere, so genuinely apologetic that I saw red.

"Should know what kind of a monster you are!" I leaned closer, nearly shoving my face in his. "Besides, you never gave a damn about my family—why the hell should I care about yours?"

There was a kind of remorse on his face, and suddenly, the room felt too tight, like the walls were closing in—I needed to get out of there. I shoved myself off the stretcher, but the room swayed as my stomach dropped. Carlisle reached out to steady me, but I lurched away, stumbling back into the stretcher.

"Touch me and I will end you!" I snarled, heart-pounding and magic swirling under my skin.

"I can understand your fury—" There was a look of compunction in his eyes as he held up his hands "—but if you kill me, you'll die too."

"As long as I take you with me, I don't care," I growled, ignoring the flicker of doubt I felt at his words. Fear and anger curled in my gut as my magic rose within me, so swiftly the air nearly crackled with it. Even if the treaty took me, as long as I could keep this monster away from my sisters, then I was okay with dying too.

Carlisle didn't step away, just levelled a steady, if despondent, look at me. "And what about your sisters?" he asked quietly. "What would your death do to them?"

There was no judgement in his words, but I reeled back like he'd slapped me. "How—how dare you! You don't even have the right to mention their—"

I cut myself off as the door opened and Charlie and my sisters walked in. As much as I wanted to rip into him, I had to keep my sisters safe. I shot one final look at him, promising a continuation of this conversation, before wiping the hatred from my face.

"Bella!" Charlie darted over and wrapped me in his arms, relief obvious in his hug. He pulled back enough to scan me for injuries. "Are you okay? No broken bones? How many fingers am I holding up?"

I couldn't help but smile as I put his three fingers away. "I'm okay, Dad. Really."

He frowned before yanking me in for another hug, and a tightness enveloped my chest at his obvious concern. It had been so long since any adult had shown concern for me—I blinked away the strange wetness in my eyes and smiled through the lump in my throat.

After a moment of shoving the strange emotion away, I rolled my eyes and aimed for something to lighten the mood. "I really am fine, Dad. All ten fingers and toes—I counted." I wriggled my fingers until he finally smiled.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Alright. Well, I'm glad you're okay, Bells."

Do all parents care like this—or is it just Charlie? I shook my head and looked at my sisters over his shoulder. They were still standing by the door, frozen, staring at Carlisle with wide eyes and furrowed brows. Rose had shrunk into herself, her shoulders hunched and her arms crossed as she pressed up into Alice's side, while Alice curled her hands into fists to hide their trembling. This was the first time they had seen him since our deaths, and I could feel their fear rolling off them in waves. I fished for something—anything—to get their attention away from him.

"Alice—" I narrowed my eyes at my younger sister playfully, waiting for her to glance at me, "—does your brain see a relatively minor accident, panic and then think 'hmm, how can I word this in the worst way possible'?" I teased, smiling when she looked finally back at me, her wide eyes turning to a sheepish grin.

I shook my head fondly. Honestly, for someone most considered the more reasonable sister, Alice always seemed to make news sound far worse than it actually was. One time Rose had fallen out of a tree and I'd tried to catch her, only to miss and end up breaking her fall instead. I'd ended up with just a small cut above my eyebrow, but Alice had blown it up and told Renee that my head wouldn't stop bleeding.

Prone to dramatics and always ready to play the doting mother, Renee had rushed us to hospital, thinking I'd split my head open or some rot. Sometimes I wondered if Alice didn't half enjoy the drama she stirred up each time.

I pulled back a little from Charlie's hug with a smile. "Honestly, I'm fine, Dad. Really. And you should know better than to believe Alice's worst case scenarios."

Alice shrugged with a grin, only half guilty as I gave her a look.

Charlie wrapped his arm around my shoulders with a sigh. "I'm just glad you're not too hurt, Bells." He brushed his thumb over the bandage on my temple and growled, "But that boy can kiss his licence goodbye."

"You know," Rose said slowly, tearing her gaze away from Carlisle and coming over to join the hug that was somehow still happening. "It could have been much worse if Edward hadn't been there." There was a gleam in her eye that promised hell as she glanced back at Carlisle. "And he got there so fast."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her hair, hiding my smile. Even terrified she could still wreak havoc. We might not be able to take our vengeance as planned thanks to the treaty, but that didn't mean we couldn't make their lives an absolute hell. Frankly, it was the least we could do for the bastard who'd burned us.

"She's right, Dad," Alice tilted her head, eyes hard and assessing as she grabbed my hand and joined the hug. "He got to her before we could—honestly I have no idea how he got across the parking lot so fast."

"Edward? Your boy?" Charlie turned to Carlisle who smiled uncomfortably.

I nodded before he could reply, eyes innocent as I jumped on the same train as my sisters. "You should have seen him, Dad! I swear I blinked and he was right there!"

I smirked, hard and dangerous at Carlisle behind Charlie's back, daring him to contradict us. He nodded uncomfortably. "Yes, well it sounds like you were both very lucky."

I clucked my tongue. "I guess you're just a family full of lifesavers, aren't you?"

I was probably pushing it, but I couldn't help the final barb. Charlie turned to look at me curiously, but I was already smiling gratefully. "I am so thankful. Really."

"Well, Bella," Carlisle interjected before I could start waxing poetic about his life-saving capabilities. "You're free to go. Just make sure to take it easy today. Chief Swan, if you'll come with me to sign some paperwork?"

Charlie nodded, before turning to us. "When we get out of here, we're going to go to the diner and have some decent lunch. I don't want any of you girls cooking today—not after what's happened." He didn't wait for our response, just headed for the door.

The moment they were both out the door, my smile turned to a snarl. "That boy is the singularly most confusing individual I have ever had the displeasure of meeting," I hissed.

"What the hell's he playing at?" Rosalie agreed with a frown. "If it had been him in your place, we'd have left him to be crushed!"

"Exactly! I already had a spell ready to stop the van! He didn't need to save me!" I huffed, standing up slowly and heading to the door gingerly.

Alice remained silent, a confused pucker between her brows. It was the look she always got when she was itching for her scrying bowl. Like something was just out of her reach and she couldn't wait to grab it. She was definitely going to scry for answers when we eventually got home.

As we exited the consult room, I spotted Edward talking to Jasper down the hall. They were out of earshot, but I knew a lecture when I saw one—Jasper was definitely chewing him out. I scowled at them, stalking closer. I was going to get answers—even if it killed them.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded when they looked up, twin expressions of wariness on their faces. I didn't have to look to know my sisters had my back.

Edward blinked at me, confusion and bewilderment in his frown. "I beg your pardon?"

"Don't be obtuse!" I snapped. "Why save me from the van? Why not let it hit me and take out a third of your problems?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself—you're more of a problem than a third," Edward snarked back automatically, before realising what he'd just said. Jasper closed his eyes like he was praying for patience.

I shoved my finger into his hard chest and snarled, "If you think you can use this to dissuade us from our revenge, then you're more stupid than I'd thought!"

Edward narrowed his eyes. "You think I saved you to blackmail you?" he asked furiously. "What kind of person thinks that?"

"Then why else would you save me?" I curled my lip, waiting for whatever nefarious reason he'd had.

He clenched his jaw and looked down the hall, muttering so low I almost missed it, "I don't know." He turned to me with a growl, "Can't you just thank me and get over it? That's what nice people do—maybe you should give it a try?"

Fury so hot overtook me and before I knew it, I had grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to snarl, "I don't need some demented knight in shining armour, asshole. I was perfectly capable of saving myself before you gave me a concussion." I gave him a hard shove and he stumbled back a little, surprised. "I will give you one last warning. Stay the fuck away from my family."