It should have been impossible for Alice and Jasper to fly back to Pennsylvania undetected. It should've been a complete disaster with every step: the booking, security, chartering a jet. Their picture should've been by snapped a group of over-attentive teens, vlogging about their flight as they walked toward baggage claim. Jasper should've been recognized by the back of his scarred hand alone by a TSA employee exiting the plane.
But thankfully, Alice was a psychic. So for the several hours they travelled, none of these events transpired. Instead, she carefully wove the night the way it needed to occur in order to keep their traveling entirely under wraps.
When they jumped into an unmarked black SUV, Alice breathed out an audible sigh of relief.
"How'd it go?" As he accelerated, weaving in and out of airport traffic effortlessly, Carlisle turned around to face the both of them as they deflated into their seats.
"Fine," Alice reached over and squeezed Jasper's hand once before releasing it. "No one saw a thing. For all they know I'm still in Winnipeg and Jasper hasn't even left the house."
"Nice work," Carlisle complimented, leisurely turning back around as he merged onto the freeway.
"I didn't know Esme wouldn't be back yet," Alice commented, keenly disappointed that she'd overlooked this tiny detail in her survey of the day.
"She had to stay behind for another couple of hours," Carlisle explained simply. Spoken with the calm of someone so used to their partner's quirks that they didn't even question them anymore. It was the way Carlisle said it that forced Alice's follow-up question to die on her lips.
Because if they asked 'why' Carlisle would only say 'she had to', and that would be that.
Sometimes Alice wished that she could see the things Esme was also seeing. Or 'knowing', she supposed.
During the almost two-hour long drive back to the estate, Carlisle explained what had happened while the two had been disconnected and in the air.
The news had gone live not long after Alice and Jasper had departed for the airport and now every major news source had picked up the story. Some sources were downplaying the threat, but others were very much on the money with expressing how dangerous this could be.
Carlisle voiced his hope that people would land on a conclusion somewhere in the middle: that there was the potential for danger, but that things were likely being blown out of proportion currently.
Alice stayed quiet as she knew that most people weren't going to fall under that safe conclusion. Most would be terrified and angry and rightfully so.
By the time they were back on the property Alice was fighting back a full blown panic attack.
"It's okay," Jasper whispered to her, pulling her close and running a hand up and down her back, "breathe. Focus on something physical. Tangible."
She very distantly heard Carlisle ask Jasper "Is she okay?" as she sorted through vision after vision in her head. People knew something happened in Winnipeg. They knew Alice had been there. They were piecing together pieces from the whistleblower's story with what was on Victoria's public record. People weren't just frightened, they were frantic.
They wanted Victoria dead. They wanted this strange James character dead. They wanted someone—Alice, mainly—to be held responsible for the escape. Some even accused her of being a co-conspirator in the woman's eventful break-out. Others wanted Jasper dead, but the reasons for that were mixed: because of his past crimes, because of his more recent ones, because he was the last remaining link between the Protectors and the Radicals that was still allowed to walk free.
Their citizens wanted so much, and Alice knew there was no way to please all of them. It was just another impossibility. Usually, doing the impossible was well within Alice's abilities. But this time, Alice couldn't find her way around it all.
"We have to do something," she whispered, feeling helpless. "We have to find them."
If they could at least prove that neither of them—not Alice nor Jasper—had anything to do with Victoria and James' actions, then maybe the tides would turn. It wasn't anything her visions provided her an answer to, but it had to be the first step they could take.
There weren't any other options for them.
"We will," Jasper assured her, pulling her tighter against him, his words quiet. And then his ability began to soothe over her violent anxieties.
"Will you two be alright while I'm gone?" Carlisle eyed the two in the rear view mirror, concern in his gaze and across his handsome face. "I can send a driver from Scranton to bring Esme home from the airport?"
"No, no." Jasper shook his head. "We'll be fine." They were barely a mile from the driveway at that point. "We'll settle ourselves while you get Esme." Jasper's unspoken words were clear to Alice even as she struggled to control her panic: Give me some time to calm her down.
It was after Carlisle had shifted into park and Jasper was helping her out of the backseat when she gasped at a vision.
Kate was the only vampire in the room Alice recognized. But very quickly she realized that the other two blonde women in the room had to have been the two members of the council that Carlisle had been long-acquainted with. Tanya and Irina. The 'sisters' that weren't biologically related.
Kate stood on the edge of the room watching the television with an icy glare. On the couch directly across from the news report sat one of the blonde women, and at her side sat a man, his dreadlocks just barely darker than his pallor. He was the first to speak, his voice heavily accented.
"This is not good."
The third blonde, who was sitting on the arm of the couch next to him turned toward him, an eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Astute observation."
Across the room Kate's fingers flew across the screen of her phone. Whether it was an email or a text she was sending, Alice was unsure, but she somehow knew it was heading for Eleazar.
The man shook his head, finally ripping his eyes off the TV to face the sarcastic woman. "You don't understand." With his right hand he reached over and laced his fingers with the unnamed blonde he was sitting hip to hip with. "James. He's dangerous."
All eyes were on him now as he shook his head slowly, inhaling deeply.
"How do you know that?" Kate asked, approaching slowly, her eyes trained on him but her fingers still flying across her phone.
"Because," with a deep breath collected, he sighed. "I know him."
Alice gasped as the world fell back around her. Jasper was directly in front of her but she quickly leaned around him to call toward Carlisle. "Call Kate. They have information."
The vision she saw of herself and Jasper flying out to Alaska was rock solid in her mind suddenly. As the two men exchanged quick looks Alice elected not to mention that for now. That was an argument she could postpone for a few hours probably. At least until after Esme was back home and after Carlisle spoke to the council members on the phone.
"Do it now," Alice pushed the subject, but when Carlisle went to turn the ignition off, Alice lifted her arm. "No, don't waste time. Just talk to them on the way to get Esme. It's important and it can't wait, but you also need to get her back here, too." Before either one of them could speak up Alice cut them both off. "Everything is fine. No one is in danger"—well, not any more than they currently were—"but it's important you hurry."
"Alright," Carlisle moved his hand back onto the steering wheel, frowning. "I'll call you after I get off the phone with Kate."
"See you soon!" Alice called toward him, and suddenly was dragging Jasper out of the car.
Jasper barely had time to shut the back door of the truck before he was being yanked away. "Are you going to explain what's going on?" He asked as Carlisle drove away, Alice's bag slung over his shoulder.
"Yes, but not right this second." Even after they were in the house, Alice's grip on Jasper's hand was unrelenting as she dragged him across the foyer and up the stairs.
It wasn't until she retrieved a second backpack from her closet and began to fill it when Jasper finally interrupted her manic movements.
"Alice," hands on her shoulders he turned her around until she was facing him. His grip on her shoulders was firm as he squeezed tightly. "What are you doing?"
"Don't kill me—and I'll explain more later, once Carlisle and Esme get home, I swear—but it looks like you and I won't be home for long."
To his credit, Jasper seemed suspiciously unbothered by the information. "I wasn't planning on being here for long anyways," he confessed, almost looking relieved that Alice was already taking the reigns to their inevitable abandonment of the Rickett's estate. She knew he just wanted to keep her safe, and that he feared it wouldn't be the best place to do it; after all, James and Victoria could be on the way there now. There were only so many places Alice could hide out, and most of them were Containment Centers.
She'd seen, in her mind, the various places Jasper had wanted to take her. All of these places were unfamiliar to her, meaning they were wholly unrelated to their line of work, but that meant they would also make it harder for James and Victoria to track her down.
Even still, Skye's words of warning were prevalent in her mind.
Alice couldn't underestimate him again.
One little detail struck Alice's confidence down instantly.
"Josie…" Alice's fear and panic suddenly erupted anew. How was she supposed to keep her old, fragile mother safe if she was going to be running across the continent attempting to avoid and, at the same time, track down the dangerous duo?
"Don't worry," Jasper's hand moved from her shoulders, wrapping around her back and pulling her into a firm embrace. "I'll make some calls. Get her a security team set up. She'll be safe, okay?"
"I don't know what I'd do if… if they did anything to hurt her."
Alice would go properly insane if James got a hold of her mother.
"Shh," Jasper ran a hand up and down her back, holding her against him. "Nothing will happen to her. I'll make arrangements and the second I'm done I'll call her up and we can talk to her. Okay?"
Alice nodded against his chest, still terrified at the idea. Josie had never been placed in this amount of danger back when Alice was simply an attic-dwelling seamstress. She couldn't help but feel entirely responsible for the dangers that were now in their lives now.
No matter what she did to stop the chaos that inflicted itself upon her every waking hour, it seemed that she was powerless to control anything. And the idea of having the future entirely out of her control was something that didn't sit well with Alice.
"Relax," Jasper whispered, sensing her escalating emotions and the inevitable breakdown. "I've got you. It's okay. It'll all be okay."
Alice closed her eyes and focused. During moments like this, Jasper would breathe in and out steadily, holding Alice closely as he set a steady rhythm for her to focus on and casted a thick layer of peace over the room.
It was advice from Carlisle, Alice knew. There still wasn't a lot that they knew from Alice's human days; details and specifics at least. But she knew that there was speculation that past trauma had carried over from her human life, altering her brain's reactions and responses to stressors in a way that mirrored human PTSD.
Alice knew that Jasper had sought him out a few months back, asking for some type of medical advice—anything, he'd pleaded in the vision Alice had accidentally eavesdropped on—that could potentially help Alice out of her fits.
After witnessing that conversation, Alice had ran to the woods to cry privately, still overwhelmed over the fact that Jasper not only loved her, but cared so much that he'd seek out advice from a human's physician to attempt to ease her own strange 'symptoms'.
Minutes passed quietly, Jasper expertly calming her down in a way only he could achieve as they stood silent in Alice's room, her half-packed backpack forgotten by their feet.
"No matter what happens," he whispered after several more minutes, "I've got you." He pressed a firm kiss to the top of her head and expelled a near-overwhelming amount of affection for her to experience. Alice was in a near-blissful state, and when he whispered a firm, "I love you," she could almost forget about everything in the outside world, and everything outside of this room.
But, all too quickly, the harsh reminders of what was going on beyond them were present, slapping Alice across the face with another vision.
One she didn't see coming.
"Jasper," suddenly, shock shattered the peace of the room, and Alice could feel Jasper's arms tighten around her. "We're about to have company."
He hissed under his breath, pulling back swiftly and forcing Alice to look him in the eye. "What is it? Is it James?"
"No," she whispered, stunned and unable to mask her surprise as her eyes slowly drifted toward the window that lead to a view of the front of the yard. "It's not him."
The minutes passed slower than Alice thought possible. Jasper stopped talking to her after a few minutes of interrogation. The questions started off gentle, and then when she was unable to articulate proper responses the urgency in his tone transformed his careful prodding into frustrated demands.
Now, as they stood in the foyer, facing the door side by side, neither of them spoke.
It wasn't until the sound of several cars driving toward the house reached their ears that Jasper moved closer to Alice, placing himself ever-so-slightly ahead of her.
Alice knew he was still confused, but his guard was up so high, his mind likely racing through thousands of scenarios a second, that all Alice had to do was stand by and wait for him to put the pieces together.
It wasn't until the first car parked outside and the sound of the first door opening and closing echoed through the silence, where Jasper inhaled a gasp and exhaled a hiss.
Before he could control himself, Alice could feel his terror as if it were her own. She was unable to prevent the whimper from escaping her, but the second she forced herself into silence he had reached out, gripping her hand tightly in his own and pulling all his own emotion back inside of himself.
Alice saw him fumble for words, but she knew that he knew that it was too late for a verbal exchange now. When he turned to look her in the eye, Alice saw fear there that she'd never seen before. Not even before he'd surrendered himself to Maria. This was a completely separate brand of horror, and Alice didn't know what to do.
This—Jasper's terror—Alice's hadn't seen coming. And guilt sank itself low in her belly when she realized that she had made a grave mistake in not communicating this with him.
When the door slowly swung open, Jasper moved further in front of Alice, blocking her view entirely as he continued to grip her hand fiercely.
"Apologies," a smooth, accented voice spoke. "I did not mean to intrude."
"Or knock apparently." Despite his fear, Jasper's sarcastic words were steady. Alice gripped his hand so firmly she was scared she might hurt him. Even still, he didn't react.
Alice attempted to step around Jasper and get a look at their visitor, but Jasper's grip on her own hand was so firm that she merely tugged once before giving up. It was only a matter of seconds…
She'd only seen Aro before in pictures and paintings. Art depicting him from centuries to millennia ago. Even Alden—the oldest vampire Alice had ever met—hadn't been as old as this man was. Alice was curious to see what he looked like in person as opposed to in her mind or printed on paper.
Of course, Aro was not alone.
Their visitors moved into the home silently. It was then that Alice saw them. Dark flowing cloaks, varying shades of grey. The first member of their group she saw was a man with short, light brown hair, a stark black suit beneath his dark grey robes. He took several steps to the side of the doorway, purposefully putting himself in a position where he could see Alice.
Alice stared back blankly, noting the way his golden eyes looked her up and down.
Jasper shifted in that moment, moving to the left to block Alice from the man's gaze, a low growl emanating from deep within his chest. It was a warning, and it was a terrifying noise for Jasper to make in the presence of what were supposed to be their allies.
Alice heard a responding chuckle before Aro intervened, drawing Alice's eyes to meet his for the first time.
His skin was sallow in a way Alice had never seen before in a vampire. He was pale and his skin so closely resembled paper that he nearly looked breakable; like something a rainstorm would wash away. His eyes were a dull golden color, and it took Alice a full second before she realized there was a thin film of… something, glassing over his eyes. Was it due to age? Or was this simply a feature unique to the ancient leader?
His lifeless eyes fell upon her and a grin slowly stretched across his face.
"We mean no harm, friend," he spoke his words to Jasper as he kept his gaze trained on Alice. "It has been a long time, has it not? A few decades have passed since we first were acquainted." As he spoke Alice's attention fell upon the Emmett-sized man that stood directly behind Aro, towering over everyone else in the room. "Of course," he looked back to Jasper, then, "you were still new to your title back then, Jasper. Not quite as comfortable in your role and your responsibilities as you are now."
"Does Carlisle know you're here?" Jasper's words were curt. Immediately Alice knew that he wasn't about to entertain this small talk.
These were the first Protectors Alice had met outside of the ones she lived and worked alongside. And not just that, they were the true, first Protectors that still resided where they had for a millennia in Volterra, Italy. Alice had heard stories about them from plenty of people, and she would've been intimidated in their presence no matter what; whether she would have had time to prepare for this meeting or not.
Even where they were now, standing in her home, Alice felt fiercely unnerved.
It was Jasper's coldness toward these people—who were supposed to be their peers, in a strange way—that made Alice freeze entirely. She had never seen Jasper act like this before and frankly, it scared her.
"This was something of an impromptu visit on our part," Aro smiled then, appearing bashful over the fact that they hadn't informed anyone of their appearance. "I was just being caught up on the news on the way over here. If I'd known you were dealing with something so serious I may have post-poned our social call."
"Of course you would have." Alice was sure the bitterness in Jasper's tone could be heard, and felt, by everyone in the room.
The sandy-haired man scoffed and Jasper turned his cold gaze back toward him. Alice pulled at his hand helplessly. There was a painful gap growing where they stood now, the conversation devoid of all niceties as the two groups stared back at each other. And in an instant Alice knew that if she didn't do damage control now, it wouldn't bode well…
But before she could speak up, a humored cackle filled the air.
Aro clapped his hands joyfully at Jasper's remark, looking bizarrely delighted at his combative nature. Alice had heardvague mentions of the head of the European Protectors being strange, but even Alice—who'd had to study and learn normal behaviors with the help of Josie years ago—knew that this was outside the realm of normalcy, even for vampires.
"Oh, I had thought you had calmed over the years," Aro grinned widely, as if speaking to an old friend and not a distant-coworker he'd only met once before. "Clearly love has not dulled your fire as much as it appears." With laughter still erupting out of him he began to walk forward across the foyer, slowly approaching. And as he moved, the rest of his crew moved as well. It was magnetic, the way Aro's companions filled the spaces around him, as if they were his Protectors.
"I must admit, I was skeptical over the news coverage last fall," in a sweeping motion, he held his arms out as two of the men at his sides helped him out of his cloak. A sleek black suit lay underneath the satin cover. "But when I got the official reports, and the unofficial one, I was even more baffled. I would have assumed you would have taken down your creator. But," Aro sighed, clicking his tongue as he spoke to Jasper, "I suppose it wasn't for a lack of trying."
As Aro spoke, still slowly approaching, Alice maneuvered her hand out of Jasper's vice grip, quickly looping her arm through his as she stepped forward slightly. She could feel the way he wanted to turn toward her, or yank her back further behind him—and she could see in her mind how he almost did both of those things in quick succession—but thankfully he stood in place, allowing her to stand solidly at his side as the ancient vampire approached.
"The hero of Maria's war, a girl from a small town with nary a flaw as far as I've come to understand." He stopped just a feet away from them, smiling down at her. "Alice," he sighed her name, still smiling with dull eyes fixated. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
Then, he extended a gloved hand toward her, and Alice completely froze as she thought back to a conversation she'd had over a year ago.
"Aro," Esme had told her, "asked me to stay and join his coven after using his gift to read my every thought."
There was so much that Alice didn't want anyone to know. There was so much that had happened, this week alone, that Alice didn't even want Jasper of all people to know. And the idea of having this man—this stranger—know her every waking thought, frightened her to bits. Because he wasn't like Edward. He wouldn't simply read what she was currently thinking. And he wouldn't just see every thought she'd ever had.
He would also have access to every vision she'd ever seen.
It wasn't until Aro chuckled once more that Alice realized she was still staring at his outstretched hand, unmoving.
"It seems you know more about myself than I, you," he only seemed amused by her hesitance, and with a handful of quick visions Alice was relieved with the knowledge that the glove served a very specific purpose. He wouldn't be reading her every thought; not today, at least. He lifted his hand a bit higher. "Trust, ally."
Alice took one step forward, removing her arm from Jasper's, and firmly took Aro's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," she spoke as she found her voice, her words thankfully steady despite the very real nerves she was battling.
"Strange timing for a social call," Jasper's words were unkind as Aro released Alice's hand and turned toward him. But despite his sour mood, Jasper still firmly shook the man's hand when it was presented to him.
"Or perfect timing," he mused, stepping back once more. That's when Alice noticed that only his right hand was gloved. His left hand, which was entirely bare, lifted slightly, and suddenly the sandy-haired man was standing at his side. For a barely a second their palms brushed, and there was distance between them again.
It was a motion so smooth and subtle that if Alice weren't already aware of Aro's gift she wouldn't have known that anything was out of the ordinary; after all, she still hardly understood customs in her own country.
But she was too aware of the fact that an exchange of information had just transpired.
"After all, it seems we might be of some help now that we're here." As he spoke he turned to his companions, looking at all six of them before returning his gaze to the pair. "Help we'd be happy to offer."
"We could've used some help last summer." Jasper remarked.
"And I'm certain Mexico could've benefited from some aid from you, last spring." Aro quickly retorted, as if still humored by Jasper's foul mood. When Jasper didn't reply, he continued. "You know that we don't make it a habit of interfering with the business of other countries. This is your jurisdiction, after all. Besides," his eyes locked back onto Jasper's. "If we'd stepped in the first time around, you would certainly be dead."
Stepping backward, Alice slipped her arm through Jasper's again, knowing that comment was currently festering in his mind. She knew he could feel her concern for him, but even her worry did little to ease the growing tension. And if Jasper wasn't going to be the one to break tensions (with words or ability) Alice knew that things were just going to get worse from here.
"I am excited to see my friends again," Aro sighed happily, clapping his hands and turning toward the door. "It has simply been far too long since I've seen dear Carlisle, and the lovely Esme."
Barely seconds after he spoke Alice could hear the quiet sound of an approaching car, signaling Carlisle and Esme's arrival. Either Aro's timing was impeccable, or Alice had been too distracted to focus on the sound of Carlisle's rental car turning down their long drive.
It was a tense, quiet handful of minutes where they all stood waiting for the couple to arrive. Alice eventually allowed Jasper to step ahead of her once more. The staring from the sandy-haired man was beginning to unnerve her; and whatever Jasper was feeling from the man was enough to force him to, once more, not-so-subtly, remove her from his sight.
And when the sound of car doors slamming reached her ears Alice found herself so thoroughly disappointed she feared she might cry.
She was finally going to see Esme again after all these difficult months, but she wouldn't even get an opportunity to enjoy her presence. It was so acutely upsetting that when Jasper lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes, she only shook her head. It was too embarrassing of a thing to admit out loud: the fact that her childish need for affection (and attention) was effecting her this horribly was shameful.
Alice had more serious things to worry about then spending time with Esme.
Still, knowing that she wasn't going to get any one-on-one time with her, after looking forward to it all day long, was painful.
There was laughter and smiles and hugs as Carlisle and Esme eventually stepped through the door, stunned but happy to see Aro and his companions.
"I must admit, I'm shocked to see you here," Carlisle spoke after greetings were exchanged and suitcases were placed at the foot of the stairs. "I thought you were aiming for a winter trip."
"By then, you'll likely have things under control," Aro spoke of their nation-wide crisis dismissively, as if it were a passing issue. "And if that's the case then I wouldn't be sure when I'd be able to see you all in one place!"
"We haven't been in one place for many, many months," Esme smiled at Aro as she walked across the threshold, holding her arms out toward Alice as she approached.
Alice would've felt silly for embracing Esme the way she did if she decided to care what any of these European Protectors thought of her. But she didn't. So when she buried her face into Esme's shirt and let out a shuddering breath, she was thankful for Jasper for quickly expelling an air of peace and calm into the atmosphere.
If it weren't for that, Alice would've been crying in seconds.
Instead she was able to breathe slowly, as Esme rubbed her hand up and down the smaller girl's back.
But when Aro spoke again, Alice's mood almost soured despite Jasper's influence.
"How refreshing it is," he hummed, his milky eyes closed, "to feel the power of your gift again, Jasper."
Jasper ignored him entirely, placing a hand on Alice's shoulder before muttering to Esme to excuse them.
Before she could mourn the loss of contact between Esme and herself, Jasper's arm was around her shoulder and he was quickly moving them back further into the house. In seconds they were walking through the den and out the back door. The instant Jasper closed the sliding door behind them he grabbed her hand and they were running straight into the woods.
Between the grip he had on her hand, the intensity in his face, and the speed at which they were fleeing the house, Alice's mind immediately was catapulted back in time to last August. The last time they fled their home like this was hours after Maria and her people initiated attacks on Centers across the continent. So when her fear began to skyrocket, Alice couldn't control it.
Jasper immediately slowed his pace. "Breathe with me," he instructed, inhaling deeply and purposefully before exhaling slowly, all the while still moving at a steady pace deeper and further into the woods. "Focus on me. It's okay."
Alice nodded as they ran, gripping his hand back fiercely as she focused on matching her breathing with his. But despite her obvious distress, Jasper didn't stop moving for several minutes.
"Jazz," she eventually found her voice, "please. Tell me what's going on?"
He was acting like they were in danger, and his refusal to elaborate only continued to fuel the fires that were burning away at her already-fragile emotional state.
In the back of her mind she recognized that it was only suitable karma for her being wholly unable to talk to him about the European Protector's forthcoming visit. She hadn't been able to feel his fear the way she knew he could feel hers, but she had been aware of it's presence.
"You're scaring me," she cried eventually, "Jasper, please. If it's really okay, tell me what's going on?"
They both slowed to a stop finally, miles and miles deep into the woods and away from their home. Jasper released her hand then, spending a solid minute staring intently back the way they came, his nostril's flaring and his eyes scanning the horizon. Alice knew what he was doing: that he was trying to see if they'd been followed. But she knew better than to assure him even though she knew that none of their visitors had pursued them.
"I hope you'll forgive them," Carlisle smiled bashfully at Aro and the other cloaked individuals as he led them further into their home, "they've had a rough time of it recently."
"I completely understand. I know young Jasper is only trying to do what he feels is best for his new mate." And as Aro smiled warmly toward his old friend the sandy-haired man and the towering, dark-haired man exchanged an amused look. One that Carlisle and Esme didn't see.
The visions she received then were short, but telling. The one thing they didn't reveal to Alice was the purpose behind their visit.
After Jasper deemed the area safe, he was in front of Alice quickly, sweeping her into a tight embrace. When he exhaled a shuddering breath, Alice felt a twinge of relief.
"Talk to me," she spoke again, feeling more calm now that Jasper wasn't so hyper-vigilant. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," he shook his head, pulling away from their embrace, "I just had to get out of there. I'm sorry."
"What do you mean it's 'nothing'?" Alice felt crazy at his dismissal of their abrupt departure. "We just ran like our lives were in danger."
"Alice…" But even despite his warning tone, Alice was not about to let what just happened go ignored.
"No! No, you don't get to do this! You don't get to shut me out right now. Especially when you—I know you felt how scared I was just now. Like we were running from Maria and her Radicals again. That's what it felt like." She was fuming suddenly, her hands in fists at her side as she stared at the man she loved, furiously upset. "You owe me a reason as to why we just fled our home!"
He lifted his hands to press his palms against his eyes, shaking his head as he stumbled back toward her. When he pulled her back into his arms, Alice hardly felt comforted. It was a strange thing to admit to herself as Jasper held her, but it was the truth. Until he told her what was happening, she wasn't going to give in so easily.
"I'm sorry," his words made him sound miserable, and as he inhaled a shuddering breath, Alice pulled back slightly. "Just give me a minute," he spoke as she pushed his hair out of his face, taking in his heartbroken expression.
"Okay." And she wrapped her arms around him once more, resting her head against his chest as she spent the entire minute focusing hard on all of the love she felt for him. "I'm here," she whispered eventually, all while forcing herself to deflate, and to calm down. Surely, her mood wasn't effecting his very positively. "You've got me."
"I don't want to tell you," he whispered after a minute, his words tickling her ear. "Alice, please…"
"I need to know what you're so afraid of," she pleaded quietly, lifting a hand to run her fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him as best as she could. "Jasper… let me in."
Several minutes passed then, and with the lack of visions she received during those minutes Alice could literally see how badly he didn't want to tell her what was going on. One particularly interesting vision showed him trying to distract her by any means necessary, even going so far as to lie her down out there in the woods and finally fuck her.
She bookmarked that vision in her brain to talk to him about later…
Alice focused on her breathing, much like Jasper had instructed her to do while they fled, and when she felt his breathing finally even with hers, she smiled to herself. It seemed that Carlisle's tip for Jasper to help her was something that Alice could also use for him…
The instant he made his decision, after several long, agonizing minutes, the words began pouring out.
"This isn't good," he eventually pulled away, but not before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Aro being here is not good."
"I had a feeling a 'social call' was just a sorry excuse," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him step away from her. "But I don't understand. What could Aro possibly do here? He said so himself, this is our jurisdiction." She paused, her own mind trying to figure out the puzzle set before her. "Do you think he's going to try and take charge?"
Jasper was shaking his head before she'd finished her question. "No, he wouldn't want to inherit our system the way it is. Not by a long-shot." Then, he started pacing. "How much do you know about the European Protectors? Outside of what I've told you?"
"Um," Alice blinked as she recalled every conversation she'd had over the past year that mentioned the main three European Protectors. "They used to be called the Volturi. Aro, Caius, Marcus, and what used to be called their guard. They were the original peacekeepers back before integration happened." She listed things she knew in chronological order, feeling nervous that Jasper was about to correct or contradict some of the information she'd known as fact for the better part of a year. "Carlisle is an old friend of Aro's. I know he'd lived with them for nearly a century before he came here to America, and that he'd met Esme while staying in Volterra. I know about Aro's gift—and a few of the other's gifts—and Esme told me how living amongst humans became an obsession of his after he'd seen the reality in her mind."
"What do you know about the time surrounding integration?" Jasper asked her, still pacing, his expression pensive.
"Um," she thought hard again. "They spent a long time traveling the world, informing others about the changing laws, and cautioning them to either abide or face consequences." Alice stared blankly at Jasper as he paused, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes. And when he laced his fingers behind his neck, he shook his head. "Is that not true?"
The sudden anger that fell over her nearly knocked Alice off of her feet. Stumbling back a few steps she nearly lost control of her temper and started shouting before the emotion was completely gone from the atmosphere and Jasper was tugging at the hair by the nape of his neck.
"Fuck," he muttered softly under his breath, and when he fell to his knees he released his hair and punched the ground once, and then twice. With his teeth gritted he let out a frustrated groan, digging his fingers deep into the Earth with ease, his teeth bared as he struggled to control his sudden fury.
At first, Alice was worried, not knowing whether this was another episode or whether Jasper's anger at this conversation was bafflingly genuine. He must have sensed it the instant her fear began to tickle at the edges of her mind, because no sooner had she begun to worry when Jasper let out a haggard breath, pressing his forehead against the soft ground in front of him. "I'm sorry."
"Why do you keep apologizing?" Watching his shoulders deflate it was hard not to draw comparisons to the last time she saw him like this, hunched over and flinching back from Maria's touch, the smell of burning corpses in the air. "I don't understand, Jazz."
"The last thing I ever wanted was for you to get wrapped up in all of this," he spoke his words directly toward the ground, but Alice heard them clearly. "I never wanted this for you."
"What's going on?"
Jasper let out a humorless laugh. "I don't even want to tell you. Because if Aro finds out, it'll put you in danger."
"And how on Earth would he find out?" Alice wasn't about to let the unsettling man anywhere near her with an ungloved hand. "His power is just in his hands, right?"
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that everything I tell you here, you can't tell to anyone else." He pulled himself back onto his feet and began pacing once more, not even bothering to wipe the dirt from his hands. "Not to Esme. Not to Carlisle. Not to anyone else."
"What about Edward?" Alice knew that she had no way of keeping anything from Edward. Even with active effort it was very hard for her not to think about something she didn't want him knowing about, especially when he was within earshot. Emmett had laughed at her once, and informed her that it was likely a skill she'd be forced to pick up in order to retain her own privacy (and sanity, he'd chuckled) over the years.
Jasper swallowed thickly. "Edward is the only other one who knows. Not even Bella knows this. I don't want to tell you this, but I know that I have to."
Clasping her hands together tightly, Alice held them to her chest. She hated the secrets she already had to keep. But knowing that she would need to keep something from even her other Protectors made her bones feel like they were on fire. She hated the dreadful feeling that came over her then, and when Jasper paused in his pacing to wince and shake his head, Alice found herself unable to keep back her fear again.
"Tell me," she demanded, trying to muster up something closer to anger. Anger wouldn't hurt him. Frustration wouldn't pain him. Alice suddenly wanted to feel anything other than this terror that was seeping into her bones and traveling through her ice-cold veins like venom. She wanted to feel anything that wouldn't hurt Jasper. "Tell me!"
"I don't trust Aro," he snapped. "He knows this. Most of everyone knows this. Back when I met him in the seventies no one had thought to tell me about his gift. No one stopped me when I shook his bare hand and handed him over every piece of information he could have ever possibly wanted to know from me. Of course, I respected him. I even feared him."
As he talked Alice watched as he grew increasingly frustrated, and wondered if this incident was something that he had ever talked to their fellow Protectors about or worked through. Alice doubted it. From what she'd learned there'd been a huge absense of trust between Jasper and everyone else for a couple of decades. Trust that had been paper-thin even by the time she arrived last year. "But I didn't trust him," he continued. "And after we'd been in Italy a week, I knew that I was right not to; after Demetri's appearance I knew things weren't what they seemed."
"Who is Demetri?"
"He's the one who kept trying to get a good look at you," he growled the words as he resumed pacing again.
"And what's his gift?" Alice had quickly learned that Aro didn't surround himself with vampires unless they obtained a powerful ability. The only ones she knew off the top of her head were the twins, Alec and Jane, who she was certain hadn't been amongst their group (Rosalie had clicked her tongue when telling Alice how young the pair were), Corin, and Renata. She thought back to the black-cloaked woman that had followed Aro's every step as he'd crossed the threshold. Alice hadn't focused too hard on the woman; even now as she thought about it, it was strange how she'd been in such close proximity to Renata and not fully studied her, but Alice figured that was a part of her powerful shield ability…
"He's a tracker. Intensely skilled." Of course he was, Alice figured. The European Protectors appeared to only want the best of the best in their ranks.
"And you met him in Italy?"
"No," Jasper shook his head, "I met him in Mexico. Back before integration."
That revelation struck Alice like a physical blow. "How?" The word fell out of her like a gasp. Jasper had previously told her that he'd had no clue about integration prior to '64, but if he'd met Demetri in Mexico, then suddenly Alice was confused.
"A few years after Carlisle had tracked down Maria on her own, we met him."
He didn't speak it out loud, instead choosing to keep some words to himself, but Alice saw what he was going to say: "I should have killed him when I had my chance."
"What did he do?"
Jasper walked over to a nearby tree and rested his forehead against it. Alice watched, in her mind, as he contemplated ripping it out by it's trunk, just to be able to break something with his hands (his temper was really hard to control today, it seemed) but he decided against it, turning his back to the tree and leaning weakly against it. When he buried his face in his hands Alice strode up to him.
Reaching up Alice yanked his hands away, fixing him a stern look, knowing he felt her confusion and worry. "I don't want to tell you," he whispered, reaching out to cradle her jaw in his dirty, scarred hands. "Please, understand that once you know, you'll be in more danger."
"I took my oath the same way you did," Alice lifted her hands and draped them over his wrists, her grip far lighter than his, "I know that there are so many damn things I don't understand, and there are even more things I simply don't know." At his pained expression she leaned into his touch. "I know you have secrets. I know that everyone in the house has them." I have them, she wanted to say, but refrained. There would be time to tell Jasper about how she'd tried to set up James and Victoria, back when she thought they were still innocent victims, but now was not the time. "But the more things you keep from me—things that directly affect me—the more danger I'm in."
"That's not the case for any of this." Jasper shook his head, his gaze refusing to leave hers. "Why do you think Edward hasn't told Bella about this? He's known as long as I've been in custody. Since before I was a Protector." Finally, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her lips, "When I tell you how badly I don't want you to know, I mean it."
"Then why mention it at all now?" Alice found herself leaning upward on her toes as Jasper pulled back to his full height, hating how he was out of her reach now.
He grimaced. "Because, with your visions, I know you'll find out eventually. Because…" his grimace morphed and Alice could see the anger simmering, "now Demetri has a read on you, too."
"Meaning?"
"That if the worst ever happened, you wouldn't be able to run."
His words struck fear in her now. Fear that she wasn't sure he'd be able to talk her out of. "You're confusing me again," she whispered.
"The Volturi don't rule the same way we do," he finally spoke after a long sigh. "I know you've heard that before, but it's true. Things are quite diplomatic here in North America, between humans and vampires. Despite our differences, we're on more even ground. But, elsewhere Protectors usually govern the way they find suitable. Aro's approach is… far less democratic than ours. You can't quite 'apply' to be a vampire over in Europe."
Alice blinked. "You can't? Then how do you… how do they increase their numbers?"
"They don't. Last I checked there were barely more than two-hundred registered vampires under their jurisdiction." He stared at her face, waiting for the realization to dawn upon her. "That's across all of Europe, Alice. They don't have hundreds of Containment Centers like we do, and their laws are entirely separate from human laws. It's just Aro, Caius, Marcus, and their guard. They take care of everything."
It was so incomprehensible to her, but the revelation floored her. "Then how… why did our population end up so massive?" Comparing two hundred vampires to nearly two-hundred thousand was so surreal. (Even with their population nearly decimated, two-hundred to sixty-two thousand was still a stark difference.) But it explained how she'd met so many different vampires over her last year. So many people from so many different countries and walks of life. The Americas were the one place these people could go to be immortal, and they had flocked there by the thousands.
"Aro, Caius, and Marcus lead differently. Like I said, they aren't as diplomatic as Carlisle and Esme. If there isn't a reason to turn someone, they aren't going to."
"And if you're not gifted, or don't have the potential to be…" Alice was slowly beginning to see their reasonings, and it was a hard thing to fully grasp. Eleazar's presence among the old Volturi guard, back in the day when Carlisle had lived with them, made so much more sense in that moment.
"They also view vampirism differently. To them, vampires may live amongst humans, but they are still superior. They believe that vampires are still the top of the food chain, even if we don't eat humans. Vampirism is a privilege to a lucky, deserving few, and the fact that we allow everyday, normal people to sign up for it is something that he hates." He paused, letting his words sink in. "That is something that Edward knows, since he can read Aro's mind, and it's something that Iknow, since I can feel Aro's emotions."
Alice already knew how good of a team Jasper and Edward made, but that confirmed it. While you could lie with your emotion or your thoughts, it was near-impossible to easily accomplish both.
"Then why let it happen in the first place?"
"I don't know. Edward thinks it was just to see what would happen. But there's a likely chance that because their concept of time is far different than ours, even though we're both immortal, it skews things a bit. They've been alive for thousands of years. So, to them, they blinked, and suddenly a few decades had passed and the Americas had a population of vampires that they couldn't comprehend. And since they'd given Esme and Carlisle control—who, in turn, gave Gerardo control, and others down in South America—suddenly they had less control over things. The Volturi's power became a thing of the past."
"And where does Demetri fit into all of this?" Her mind drifted to the smug grin on the man's face as he stared her and Jasper down, and she felt a strange shiver seize her.
Jasper sighed, but continued speaking. "Back even before integration happened, back when the Volturi were still the sole enforcers of the law, what Maria and I did down south—cultivating newborn armies for territory disputes—had already been illegal for a little while. Before she'd been changed the Volturi had already been forced to interfere across Mexico and the southern United States. The armies were getting unruly and the risk of being exposed was very, very high. But since Maria was smart and careful, we were able to remain under the radar.
"Despite what Maria told me about the 'dangerous yellow-eyed people' that threatened us by siding with the humans, there was a large part of her that didn't take Carlisle, or any of the Protectors, seriously. Of course, we were as careful as ever, even with the added pressure. Because as far as she knew the Volturi were going to be a separate, ruling entity. And the Volturi were the only people that scared Maria. They were the only thing that scared any of us. I didn't know that Demetri was a member of the Volturi. And I'm not sure Maria did, either. But…" he paused, his gaze landing somewhere in the distance as he stared, "maybe she did."
Alice didn't nod, or even verbally acknowledge his words. The scope of what Maria knew—and all the information she'd taken with her to the grave—was something that Alice couldn't quite comprehend. Even thinking about why Maria had done everything she had baffled Alice sometimes.
But a wise person had once told Alice not to waste time trying to find answers that were impossible to find…
"When I demanded to know who he was or what he wanted Maria was dismissive, telling me that he was a new contact that would prove beneficial to us. She never elaborated much more than that. I knew Maria kept in touch with plenty of people outside of our bubble. After all, she wrote back and forth with Carlisle for years before she took her oath in Monterrey. For the most part, I figured if he were an ally to the cause, I'd tolerate his appearances."
"And how many were there?"
"That I knew of? Seven. I only spoke with him a couple of times, and our exchanges weren't great," Jasper admitted reluctantly, shifting so that he was standing up straight once more, no longer leaning against the tree trunk. Alice could see the hesitance in his expression before he spoke again. "I suspected he and Maria had more of a physical relationship." He let that information sit for a moment. "Needless to say, I didn't like him. But I doubt he liked me very much, either."
It was a strange thing, to think of Jasper being jealous. Quickly, she pushed the thought to the side. "So, she didn't know he was Volturi? Even after she joined up with Gerardo in Mexico?" That surprised Alice. "Also, you would think that her experience there, and that seeing the scale of the Protectors' reach and power would have made her hesitate with her plans."
"You'd think. After I joined up in '68 and began to learn more about what her specific duties and tasks were, as a Protector, it made a lot of sense. While she was here, she already knew that the Volturi were still loosely linked to our Protectors over here, but she quickly learned that they were very hands-off. Which was perfect for her." He paused, "Whether she knew about Demetri or not, I'll never be sure. But once she saw the numbers alone that the Protectors had, both with the containers and civilians, it inspired her decisions."
"And this entire time, you thought that golden-eyed vampires were your enemy?"
"We killed them on sight. There was no room to learn otherwise." He looked tired then, and Alice wished she could somehow help ease his pain. "I'll never claim innocence," he spoke, more than likely feeling her pity, "and I don't enjoy using my ignorance as an excuse. I was well aware that I was doing awful things. Whether or not I thought I had a choice doesn't matter."
It was an age-old argument that Alice wasn't going to respond to. She knew how he felt about his past, and he knew how she felt about his past. They would have to agree to disagree.
"When did you last see Demetri?"
"About a year before we attacked. He came to see her a month before she spent her last stint in Monterrey. I don't know what they discussed fully, but he told me to be ready. I assumed it was in reference to the invasion that I knew was coming. But I didn't know what he meant, specifically. I didn't know that less than ten years later Maria would be 'dead', I would be a Protector, and I would run into him, walking the halls of their base in Volterra, standing at Aro's side, golden-eyed and grinning."
"What did you do?" Alice reached forward and took one of his hands in hers, running her fingers across his knuckles in a silent plea to relax.
"Besides stop and stare? Nothing. I didn't have anyone to talk to about it. But that night, Edward saw what I was thinking and he dragged me outside city limits for a hunt. That's when he told me about Aro's power, and Demetri's, and about the conspiracy that I had to vow to keep to myself."
"Conspiracy?" The word sounded foreign on her tongue as Alice replayed his words. "You think they had a hand in…" Alice couldn't even finish the sentence. Suddenly, she knew why this was such dangerous information.
James' words from a couple days before were ringing through her head.
"You're not the first person to grill me for information on Maria," he'd taunted her. "The only difference is, they can buy my silence. You, not so much apparently."
"That's why I'm telling you this now," Jasper spoke, unaware of Alice's sudden realization." With the way things are I don't believe they'd try to seize power from Carlisle and Esme; not at all. They don't want to inherit a mess. But if things ever grew dangerous I would need you to know to be aware, and I would need you to know what to be on the lookout for. If horrific things happen, even a century down the road, knowing that I've given you all that I can to help you protect yourself is… well, it's not enough, but it's all I can do."
As he spoke he lifted his hands to cradle her face once more, tilting her chin upwards and imploring her to look him in the eye. But even as she stared back at his golden eyes, Alice couldn't focus. The extent of what she'd learned in the past several minutes was beyond anything she had considered.
Looking up at Jasper, Alice knew that she should tell him. That she should recount every conversation and every word that had been exchanged between her and James. Alice knew that in telling Jasper all about what she had planned to do with James and Victoria—throwing their futures away in order to help him—it would be a tough conversation, but important to have.
But Alice also knew that letting Jasper in on the things that she was slowly realizing would only place him in harms way even more.
And suddenly his fierce hesitance to tell her anything about what he'd just divulged made perfect sense.
"I love you, Alice," he said seriously, pulling her out of her thoughts. "I would do anything to keep you safe, but I'm learning that arming you with information might be the best way of doing that." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before straightening up. "And that attempting to keep you out of the action is a pointless endeavor."
Alice cracked half of a weak smile at that, and tried hard to push down the guilt that threatened to rise up. No, she couldn't tell him. She wouldn't. Not yet.
When she reached up to wrap her hands around his neck, he leaned forward again to make it easier. Using him as an anchor to pull herself up, Alice sighed when he quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly against him while she wrapped her arms and legs around him.
"They have really, really bad timing," Alice eventually whispered, finally agreeing with the sentiment that Jasper had voiced to Aro back in the foyer. She rested her head resting against his shoulder. "I still don't know where we're supposed to begin in order to track down James and Victoria."
"I'm afraid that Aro and his crew will try to help," Jasper grumbled, his head turned so that his words were muffled against the side of her head.
"I don't want to be anywhere near them," Alice confessed, still rightfully frightened by what she'd learned. "Not that I think they'd do anything… bad, exactly. I'm just hesitant to trust them." She paused. "Esme and Carlisle have no idea, do they?"
"No one does. Edward is especially good at hiding things from them," Jasper sounded a little suspicious, but Alice figured he had no right to be. If Edward really was in on this entire thing, Alice thought she would have to give him heaps more credit than she currently did.
"I'm sorry this is happening," Alice spoke, lifting her head to place a quick kiss against his cheek. "I know this was the last thing you ever wanted to involve me in, but I need you to know that I love you, and that I trust you."
Jasper let out a shuddering sigh. "I didn't mean to frighten you so badly. But, Alice…" He lifted his head up, prompting her to do the same, staring back at hm. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, but nothing will ever keep me from worrying about you and your safety." He captured her lips in a deep kiss then, Alice reaching up and gripping his hair as they kissed. "I love you," he repeated, gasping as they parted. "Alice, you're everything."
And as Alice kissed him back, funneling as much love and peace as she physically could for him to take in, she knew that she understood. But even with that understanding, came a difficult fact: Alice would also do whatever she had to to keep Jasper safe.
Even if it meant lying to him.
As she kissed the man she loved, she decided that her initial plot against Victoria and James contained information that could wait. And if Jasper never found out…
So be it.
A/N: And there we have it. I know that was a lot of information. But it's #important or whatever. Thoughts?
This chapter was a day late, technically. And sadly, we're back to monthly updates now. With my life getting crazier and busier once more as things start returning to some semblance of "normal" for me, I'm only going to be able to post on the first day of each new zodiac season again, much like how I started doing last September.
Like always, you can find me on Tumblr at Flowerslut or on Instagram at shutupmaybe (because who needs to draw lines between online personas and real ones? Not me!)
Now that we're passed the 100k word mark, it's a race to the ending now... strap in!
REVIEW REPLIES:
ZileRacer: this chapter might have answered your previous question... or maybe it left you with more! also, as for the black market (the Underground, as they call it) it's less of a 'black market' and more of a world that still exists that closer resembles the way things used to be. vampires that never integrated, things of that nature... it's a tricky world out there! hope you enjoyed :)
LadyRhoswen: don't apologize for your English! It's great! I appreciate any words at all from you, thanks so much!