82. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Insisting on taking Bella hunting had been a good idea. It had given our little family some precious time together, and I knew I felt better for having fed. It was bound to make Bella stronger, and she certainly seemed to feel refreshed and ready to begin anew this morning.

It wasn't every time, and it was yet to be muted entirely, but when Bella was able to wrap her shield around me, it was an achievement worthy of praise, and I made sure to give it. They weren't empty words. Absolutely, I needed to be the supportive husband I was supposed to be, but more than that, what she had achieved so far truly was astounding.

And yet…

And yet…

I still couldn't hear her!

Whatever it was that protected her, even when I was included, she was still completely hidden. The frustration ate at me and made me want to laugh at myself at the same time. That even now, with everything else hanging in the balance, it would be Bella's silence that could still drive me mad with curiosity.

"Hey," I said with relieved surprise. "That one barely stung. Good job, Bella."

Bella inhaled slowly through her nose, and then exhaled in a long breath, frowning deeply the whole time. Her gaze was turned inward. Focused on the shield I couldn't see, or feel, or sense in any way!

It was maddening.

"Again, Kate," Bella commanded through her teeth.

It was also a game of Russian Roulette. Would I be shocked? Or no? I only knew the gun was loaded - or charged, as it were. Kate intended to make Bella work for my protection this time.

Foreknowledge was difficult. How Alice would laugh if I could complain to her. I didn't want to react to Kate's thoughts, to warn Bella in any way, but it was hard not to hold my breath and tense away from Kate as she pressed her hand to my shoulder.

"Nothing that time." The breath I hadn't meant to hold came out in a sigh.

Nothing! I hadn't felt Kate's power at all! All I felt was Kate's hand. None of the effort in her thoughts came through her fingers.

My own astonishment was echoed back by our audience. Only Kate feigned a grudging approval.

"That wasn't low, either," Kate said.

"Good," Bella huffed. Clearly she'd been putting forth effort to… do whatever it was. I wished I could see!

"Get ready," Kate warned.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Bella chanted in my ear a half-second later.

I felt her slump in my arms as if in defeat. That wouldn't do.

I hugged her tighter and said, "You're doing an amazing job, Bella. You've really only been working at this for a few days and you're already projecting sporadically."

Perhaps corroboration would convince her, since my words alone didn't suffice.

Fully expecting Kate to back me up, I released Bella just enough that I could turn toward my cousin and say, "Kate, tell her how well she's doing."

While Kate did agree with me, she felt Bella needed to be challenged not consoled. "I don't know. She's obviously got tremendous ability, and we're only beginning to touch it. She can do better, I'm sure. She's just lacking incentive."

It was good that I could read Kate's mind, that I knew the intent behind her rather disparaging appraisal of Bella's efforts, else I would have reacted with angry shock just as our audience did. Just as Bella herself was doing.

Why did I have to fight the urge to whisk Bella away to our cottage when her lips curled back to expose her gleaming teeth and a low, threatening growl rumbled in her chest? I could feel it against my own, like the purr of an idling engine, waiting for the lightest breath of fuel to spring to action.

Any other newborn wouldn't have bothered waiting.

I should have been concerned for my cousin.

I wasn't.

I should have secured my hold on Bella, anticipating a lunge that must surely be imminent.

I didn't.

My Bella was better than that.

Kate analyzed Bella's expression and stance, the way her body inclined against mine, her fingers resting lightly on my arm and gripping my waist. We were lovers, husband and wife, drawing strength and comfort from the other's simple presence. Yes, Kate was using her gift to cause me pain, but we all knew that I wasn't really in danger.

Emmett's accusations of my masochism came back to Kate. Until Bella's change, every second I'd spent in her presence had been accompanied by pain. My pain was quite obviously not enough incentive.

But if it was our daughter who suffered…

Kate, shocking my daughter the way she had been shocking me? I would be a smoldering pile of ashes before I allowed that to happen!

"Kate…," I started.

Don't worry. I would never. Bella only needs to think I will…

I supposed Kate's bluff wasn't as bad as an outright lie, but holding my tongue felt dishonest all the same. Hadn't I promised myself that I was done with lying to Bella? I didn't like it, but I couldn't argue, and anyway, I was too late to stop her. Kate's thoughts of reassurance came to me when she was already putting her plan into action.

"Nessie," Kate called as she neared the group by the river. "Would you like to come help your mother?"

I saw in Zafrina's thoughts that they had been waiting for such a summons. She had been occupied with entertaining Nessie, and I hadn't exactly been paying attention to anyone but Bella and Kate, or I might have seen that our guests had discussed Bella's gift at length while we were not around to hear.

"No," Bella said.

I hugged her tighter - she must realize this was just another kind of practice - but Bella shoved me away. It seemed an absent motion, as if I were a minor irritation, worthy of neither her attention nor her wrath. Both were focused on Kate.

"Absolutely not, Kate," Bella spat as the group darted across the yard toward us. Renesmee headed straight for Bella and jumped into her arms. Bella held her protectively close, golden eyes locked on Kate.

"But Momma, I want to help," Renesmee insisted. She pressed her little hand against Bella's neck, sharing her desire to join in the defense of her family.

Nessie was brave enough to help in the way Kate implied, but there wasn't a single one among us who would have let such a thing happen. Apparently, the only one who didn't know that was Bella.

I thought our daughter still felt responsible for the threat we were all under. All Nessie felt she'd done thus far was endanger more and more people. Convincing our friends to stay meant convincing them to risk their lives, not to mention all the people they were murdering. She wanted to do something more.

I disliked feeling useless too. Much as I hated being Kate's target practice, at least I was actively helping.

Kate stopped several yards short of her original position, as if Bella's glare had erected a physical barrier she didn't dare cross.

Who could blame her? Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned, or so it was said. The man who coined the phrase must never have crossed paths with a mother whose child was threatened.

Zafrina, Senna, and Jacob joined our audience a second later. If Bella had been paying them any attention, she would have known from Jacob's expression that Kate's threat was empty, but Kate held her focus as if she, Bella, and Renesmee were the only three in the world.

Kate's expression shifted to something a little more sly and slightly playful, as if she looked forward to what she was planning. She extended a hand and took a single, deliberate step toward Bella.

"No," Bella said as she took a quick step back. "Stay away from us, Kate."

"No," Kate responded. Her smile broadened and she began to stalk slowly forward. Bella matched her, step for step.

All the vampires I had watched hunting Bella, and never had I experienced a thrill like this. Not of fear, but something else. Pride? Anticipation?

Bella shifted Renesmee to her back, freeing her hands, which she immediately held at the ready. I could see her applying what she'd learned from Emmett and the others without seeming to think about it. My pride in her swelled. If the stakes weren't so high, I could almost welcome the possibility of a fight. Let our enemies come. It was their lives to throw away if they so chose.

Nessie looked at me from over her mother's shoulder, a serious expression on her little face. We'd tried to protect her, and Zafrina had tried to distract her, but still, she'd known what we were doing, and what her mother was now protecting her from.

I gave her a quick wink.

Of course Bella's daughter would know. She was too like her mother to be oblivious to such things.

Nessie was silent as she watched Kate stalking her mother.

And then it was more. She wasn't simply watching silently; she was completely silent. There was nothing from her at all. Nothing. Renesmee's usually open mind was as hidden as her mother's. If Kate were to touch her, I was sure nothing was what Nessie would feel, too.

Frozen, not daring to distract them, only my eyes moved as I followed Kate's slow pursuit and Bella's steady retreat.

Bella's earlier display of anger was as nothing compared to the fury on her face now. I wasn't sure how much longer she would maintain either her inexplicable self-control or her shield, but I thought Kate was pressing her luck. It wasn't wise to antagonize a newborn under normal circumstances, and Bella's maternal instincts had already proven stronger than her vampire ones.

A sound escaped Bella, threatening and vicious, full of barely suppressed fury and the promise of a quick and decisive death for any who dared to cross her.

"Be careful, Kate," I warned. Angry as she was now, I was sure Bella's fury would turn to remorse if she were to actually hurt Kate, who was simply trying to help us.

Kate took another step and measured Bella's expression and posture. Short of actually trying to touch either of them… If this hasn't done the trick by now, not much point in carrying on.

Kate looked away from Bella to meet my wide eyes. "Can you hear anything from Nessie?"

The instant Kate took her eyes off her, Bella coiled to spring. If I waited even long enough to speak, Bella would be airborne and Kate would have a real fight on her hands.

Quickly as I could, I placed myself between them with my back to Bella. The others would see if she moved, and I could catch her before she could get past me. I'd learned my lesson with Seth. It was my job to keep Bella from doing anything she might regret, and she would never hurt me.

"No," I answered, "nothing at all."

I was aware of an elation, a shared sense of triumph that spread through our audience at my words, but Bella had yet to relax. A celebration was premature until she was able to join in.

Keeping my voice deliberately at ease, I said, "Now give Bella some space to calm down, Kate. You shouldn't goad her like that. I know she doesn't seem her age, but she's only a few months old."

"We don't have time to do this gently, Edward. We're going to have to push her. We only have a few weeks, and she's got the potential to - "

As if Bella didn't know the stakes! In the eyes of our audience, Bella was still poised to pounce. If I let her continue, Kate's words might be all it took to tip the balance of Bella's restraint.

I cut her off, speaking firmly this time. "Back off for a minute, Kate."

If you insist… sure, stop now that we're getting somewhere… why not…

Kate frowned at me but held her tongue.

"Kate," Bella said, her voice still seething with anger.

I felt a brief moment of surprise that she was even capable of speech, but then I felt her hand, gentle against the small of my back. Her breathing sped, and in the eyes of the others, I could see Bella's look of concentration and effort.

And then there was another set of eyes watching me from over Bella's shoulder and a familiar mental voice ringing with certainty that her mommy could do anything.

In attempting to protect me, had Renesmee lost her protection, or was Bella managing to shield us both? I couldn't tell, seeing as I could still hear everyone. Everyone except Bella, of course. The only difference was that now I could once again hear Nessie.

"Again," Bella commanded breathlessly. "Edward only."

Kate rolled her eyes at Bella's reaction to what had been an empty threat, but if it'd had the desired effect, and even if it had not, who could fault Bella for her protectiveness?

I didn't tense or hold my breath as Kate came close enough to touch me. I knew she was trying, I could sense the effort in her thoughts, but all I felt was her hand on my shoulder.

"Nothing," I announced as a grin spread across my face.

"And now?" Kate's thoughts hardened as she increased her power.

"Still nothing."

"And now?" Again Kate tried, with as much force as I had yet to see her put forth, but there was nothing. No sting, no jolt, not even a tingle. Bella's shield was impenetrable. Perfect.

"Nothing at all." Could Bella hear the pride in my voice? The hope and the joy?

Kate, impressed at last, grunted in acknowledgement of her defeat - or success - and took a step back.

"Can you see this?" Zafrina asked.

I could tell she intended to show me her rainforest once again, but the image was only in her thoughts, not mine.

"I don't see anything I shouldn't," I said, feeling that a simple no would not suffice.

"And you, Renesmee?" Zafrina also wondered if Bella had us both under her protection, or if Nessie had lost hers.

Nessie flashed her brilliant smile and shook her head.

Both of us! Bella was protecting both of us! And she'd kept it up for several long minutes now. I wanted to whoop with relief and pride. I wanted to punch my fist into the air, to jump up and down, and swing Bella and Nessie around in circles until they grew dizzy, as if such a thing were possible for vampires.

I kept still and silent instead, not daring to distract Bella, whose breaths were coming faster the longer she kept her shield around us.

Strange that her human instincts were still showing. We didn't need oxygen. There was no reason for Bella's efforts to cause her breathing to change other than lingering muscle memory. I'd seen Kate, Jasper, and others using their gifts with what I could only guess was a similar amount of effort expended, but none of them had felt the physical strain that Bella apparently did. Even for Benjamin, whose gift operated solely within the physical world, there were no physical costs for using his ability.

"No one panic," Zafrina said to our audience. "I want to see how far she can extend."

And then everyone saw nothing. Quite literally nothing. A blackness so absolute it was almost as if they'd never had eyes at all.

There was a collective gasp, but no one moved. The sightlessness was disconcerting, just experiencing it secondhand, as I was. I couldn't imagine what it must be like for them. Absence of light had never meant much to me. Whether in full daylight or complete darkness, I'd always been able to see.

If Alec had his way, this was only a sample of what was to come.

But if Bella had her way, at least some of us would stand protected, and it would be up to us to keep the rest of them safe.

"Raise your hand when you get your sight back," Zafrina instructed. "Now, Bella. See how many you can shield."

Bella blew out a heavy breath. Zafrina watched her, but as everyone else was blinded, I couldn't help but to turn, just enough to see with my own eyes, as Bella clenched her jaw and glared at Kate. One would think she was still furious, and perhaps she was, but Bella's emotions didn't control her.

I believed in her, of course I did, but even so, when Kate blinked against the sudden sun in her eyes and then focused them on Bella, I felt an instant of surprise.

A powerful latent talent, Eleazar had called it. An understatement if I'd ever heard one. Bella was projecting, without contact! Covering Nessie and myself, and now Kate as well. Without, so far as I could tell, negatively affecting those she protected or losing any of her shield's protective power.

"Fascinating!" I couldn't help myself, but if all went according to our plan, she would need to shield us while ignoring the conversations we were having anyways. Or fights, if it came to that.

Either way, the advantage would be ours.

"It's like one-way glass," I said, so everyone, and especially Bella herself, would understand just how incredible Bella's gift was. "I can read everything they're thinking, but they can't reach me behind it. And I can hear Renesmee, though I couldn't when I was on the outside. I'll bet Kate could shock me now, because she's underneath the umbrella. I still can't hear you…"

I paused, trying without much hope to catch a whisper of her thoughts, perhaps an image of Garrett, at whom Bella was now glaring, but as always, Bella's thoughts were hidden.

"Hmmm. How does that work? I wonder… are there other layers to your gift? It's only worked on mental gifts in the past, but if you tried hard enough, could you have blocked Jasper? Or Renesmee? Not that she would ever want to," I assured our daughter quickly, "but I am curious."

I grinned at Bella, but she didn't seem to be listening.

"I wonder too… Is it an umbrella? Could you choose to shield Garrett, and leave Kate exposed? If our enemies came between us, would they be affected at all? Or can you pick and choose?"

And then, amazingly, Garrett blinked and found he could see again.

"Very good," Zafrina said when he raised his hand. "Now - "

Bella gasped, and in the same instant, I experienced the full force of Zafrina's power. Renesmee too, who had previously enjoyed Zafrina's pictures, cowered against the familiar firmness of her mother's back. Renesmee knew herself to be safe, but that didn't stop her from being afraid.

I wasn't particularly frightened. This sightlessness was uncomfortable to be sure, much more so than refraining from breathing, but Bella's hand was still resting against my back, solid and real, and Zafrina couldn't stop me from seeing what she, herself, saw. Nessie's thoughts were abruptly silent in the same instant that Zafrina watched my daughter blink and then meet her gaze with wide eyes.

"Can I have a minute?" Bella asked breathlessly.

Zafrina agreed and abruptly we could all see again.

Nessie, however, remained hidden. Though we were no longer under immediate threat, Bella kept our daughter protected and her hand against my back, making me wonder if she feared another assault would appear, unannounced, to test her strengths in some new and more disturbing ways.

The others had not been as frightened as Nessie, but they had lacked my advantages, and had found the blindness more disturbing than I. They were all quite relieved to be able to see again and several of our guests shot the wild Amazon woman furtive looks full of newfound respect.

Garrett, though, only had eyes for Kate. I had to laugh. Any excuse for an adventure.

"Kate," Garrett called.

"I wouldn't," I warned, knowing as I said the words that he would ignore them.

"They say you can put a vampire flat on his back," he continued as if I hadn't spoken.

"Yes," Kate said, returning his smile and wiggling her fingers in invitation. "Curious?"

"That's something I've never seen," he explained. "Seems like it might be a bit of an exaggeration…"

In his thoughts was the fresh memory of me, taking one shock after another, with what amounted to little more than a few winces. And yet we'd claimed her powers rivaled Jane's! He doubted it was really as bad as all that.

Maybe Bella wasn't as strong as we believed. Maybe Kate was simply weaker.

Playing into his easy-to-read assumptions, Kate feigned a look of solemn concern.

"Maybe. Maybe it only works on the weak or the young." Her eyes flashed over to me, but I ignored her jab. Garrett would see for himself if he refused to give her the credit she deserved. "I'm not sure," she continued. "You look strong, though. Perhaps you could withstand my gift."

Kate wasn't evil the way Jane was, but she was thoroughly enjoying herself. She didn't enjoy causing me pain, or anyone else for that matter, but once was usually all it took for her point to be made. Those who felt her gift rarely returned for a second helping. To be invited to demonstrate it time and again was a novelty.

Kate offered her hand to him, palm up, much the same way I'd been offering her mine. Something in her smirk reminded me of school age children and playground pranks. Kate wasn't going to yank her hand away at the last minute, but if Garrett dared to touch her, as he fully intended to do, he was going to discover just how powerful Kate and Bella truly were.

Garrett saw the glint in Kate's eyes. The playful challenge he found in them was no deterrent. On the contrary, the more powerful her gift, the better. His answering grin was determinedly overconfident, cocky.

My eyes found Bella's face as she watched him approach Kate and touch a single finger to the center of her open palm.

Why would Bella seem so… appalled? He would be alright, and Bella surely knew it, seeing as how I had taken many more shocks than that one brief jolt, and I was no worse for wear.

Nevertheless, as Garrett gasped and fell backwards, Bella's lips curled and her frown deepened, and when his head impacted one of the smaller of the scattered boulders, she stared at him as if worried that it had been his head that had split, not the rock. It must be her human instincts, the protective, gentle side of her, that made her feel such empathy. Vampires were all but indestructible, as she knew first-hand.

not so weak after all… oww…

"I told you so," I muttered to him.

Garrett stayed where he was for another few seconds, prone on the ground, eyes closed and senses reeling. Then he moved, a statue come back to life. His eyes rolled beneath his closed lids before he opened them to stare at Kate in admiration.

"Wow."

"Did you enjoy that?" Kate asked, a doubtful expression on her face. Wow was hardly the exclamation she was used to hearing.

"I'm not crazy, but that was sure something!" he said as he took a quick inventory and found all his limbs where he expected them to be. He rolled onto his knees and eyed her with renewed appreciation.

"That's what I hear," Kate said, smirking.

Honestly! Anything for a new experience. What kinds of adventures would he be seeking in another century? What could possibly top taking on the Volturi? Petitioning to become the first vampire astronaut? Or would his adventures be a little more… tame, for want of a better word, though I doubted there were many who would describe Kate thus.

Whether anything further would have come of Garrett's little experiment or not, I would never know.

I wasn't used to so many new vampire minds, else I would have known the two streaking through the forest toward our house were completely unfamiliar, but it wasn't until I saw the newcomers' faces in Carlisle's thoughts that I realized we had newcomers at all.

The sight of them sent a chill through my stone heart. Almost, I thought the Volturi were here early, and felt a flicker of panic. We're not ready! But then I saw their thoughts more clearly and wasn't sure what to feel. They introduced themselves politely enough, but then, the Volturi were well known for their geniality. Civilized monsters were still monsters.

The gathering of vampires around Carlisle had the two newcomers exchanging bright-eyed glances of some significance that was too quick to catch. Whatever it was, they were eager, excited by our numbers, and unaware that most of our group were still gathered around Bella, behind the house, where they couldn't see.

"Did Alice send you?" Carlisle was asking.

An instant later, I was beside my father. As quickly, Emmett moved to flank him on the other side. Behind us, the room filled with the rest of our guests. The protection they had pledged was not limited to the Volturi. If these two meant any harm toward Renesmee, they would not be long for this world. It would be an end a long time in coming. Part of me wondered if they might be older than Aro. The rest of me was focused on their thoughts, which were excited in a way I didn't quite understand, and didn't like.

"No one sent us," the one who'd introduced himself as Stefan said.

"Then what brings you here?" Carlisle pressed.

"Word travels." The other one this time. Vladimir. "We heard hints that Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true. This is an impressive gathering."

This explained the Volturi's numbers. What I'd seen in Alice's thoughts couldn't be accounted for by the number of guards, even if one included their non-combatant mates. It was no accident that word of the coming battle was spreading. It was a call to arms far more reaching than Carlisle contacting a few old acquaintances. All who heard these whispers would know which side would win, and wasn't it better to be on the winning team?

So why, then, were they here?

"We are not challenging the Volturi," Carlisle corrected carefully. "There has been a misunderstanding, that is all. A very serious misunderstanding, to be sure, but one we're hoping to clear up. What you see are witnesses. We just need the Volturi to listen. We didn't - "

"We don't care what you did," Stefan cut him off, "and we don't care if you broke the law."

"No matter how egregiously," Vladimir put in.

"We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged. If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it."

"Or even help defeat them, if we think you have a chance of success."

They spoke in turns, as if reading from a well-rehearsed script, or rehashing centuries-old grievances.

I watched their thoughts, saw memories much like Eleazar's, but from the other side of the lines. The images were accompanied by an ancient ache, a grief that no passage of time could dull. Vengeance? At least it was an understandable motivation, and a common one in the vampire world. It wasn't exactly reassuring though. They didn't care what happened to us, and would abandon us without a second thought. They were here for the Volturi's defeat, and nothing else.

At least they were being honest about it.

But I couldn't be certain they wouldn't change their tune when they saw Renesmee. If these… Romanians… were truly the Volturi's enemies, breaking their laws might serve as an incentive to join our ranks. Trouble was, the law had a basis in fact. Regardless of their opinion of the lawmakers, would they see in my daughter those children of old, and abandon us out of simple fear?

Only one way to find out.

"Bella?" I called. She had not yet made her way into the room with us. And I still couldn't hear Nessie! It was immensely reassuring to know that our daughter had so many layers of protection. Bella, Jacob, every vampire here… "Bring Renesmee here, please. Maybe we should test our Romanian visitors' claims."

Rather than be frightened of her, when our newest arrivals caught sight of Renesmee, they were delighted. Any defiance of the Volturi was good in their eyes, and this was a crime worse than most.

"Well, well, Carlisle. You have been naughty, haven't you?"

"She's not what you think, Stefan," Carlisle said.

"And we don't care either way. As we said before."

"Then you're welcome to observe, Vladimir, but it is definitely not our plan to challenge the Volturi, as we said before."

"Then we'll just cross our fingers…"

"...And hope we get lucky."

I didn't like the way they spoke. As if they had some sort of weird telepathy of their own, but only between the two of them. It created an odd echo, with one saying precisely what the other was thinking. I supposed it came from being companions for so many centuries. It made me hopeful that one day, maybe I would be able to read Bella's mind in the same way. Perhaps not the way I read everyone else, but as eternal companions, lovers, our thoughts in tune.

We seemed to be in tune now, too. Bella stared at the Romanians the way most of our guests had first looked at Renesmee, with a mix of mistrust and fear and more than a touch of disgust, if I was interpreting her expression correctly. I couldn't be sure why, though. They did physically resemble the Volturi more than our other guests, with their skin seeming more like shale than marble, flaky and brittle-looking with age, but otherwise, they were no different from any of our other red-eyed friends.

I supposed, unlike the others, I really didn't want to think of them as friends. Even Carlisle seemed hesitant to allow them to join our cause, though of course he couldn't turn them away. All our other witnesses could be considered biased, their judgement clouded by their feelings for Carlisle, whom they all liked and respected.

But for any of us to claim friendship with these Romanians? Allies with a mutual enemy was as far as I could stretch it.

Our friends were committed to saving my daughter. The Romanians were committed to the end of the Volturi. Our paths might run on a parallel course toward a mutual goal, but our fate, my daughter's fate, was unimportant. So long as this ended with the end of Aro's rule, all else was incidental in their eyes.

I supposed it was true what they said. War made for strange bedfellows.