Hi all!

Welcome to the next chapter! Thanks for all the encouraging reviews, it's lovely to know that we haven't all abandoned the fandom just because the show has finished! Please keep letting me know what you think.

Thanks for the great betaing from JaneyGWF!

Enjoy!

Jane pulled Maura off her struggling victim and held her back as Betty clumsily rolled onto her side with a strained cough, her hand around her cracked throat. Jane had been taken aback by the strength of Maura's anger, and she was struggling to adjust to the uncharacteristic violent behaviour of her friend. Jane shared some of Maura's anger, especially about the ordeal Maura had been forced to endure. However, Jane wasn't angry about her transformation, since it had all turned out okay so far, whereas Maura was obviously still feeling guilty about it happening at all.

Maura was snarling angrily as she squirmed and yelled in Jane's arms. "Let me go Jane, I need answers. This could have all been prevented. You could have been safe."

Jane hauled Maura away a few metres, putting her own body between Maura and Betty before answering with a demanding and urgent plea. "Maura stop! Look, I'm mad too, we've obviously been played without even knowing the game. But we need all the information before we do something drastic here! We don't really know the full picture yet, and honestly it sounds like she wasn't the one responsible. She's here now, she's a resource we need to use. Please, calm down!"

Maura finally managed to twist out of Jane's grip and immediately crouched in an aggressive stance, inching around Jane to get a better angle to attack Betty. Jane blocked her line of sight with her own body, drawing an enraged snarl from Maura. Jane was baffled by the reaction she was seeing, and took a moment to try and understand even as she tried to stop Maura from finishing her assault.

Yes, Maura had just been through a horrific ordeal. Her sense of self had been completely removed, and she had been forced to live through the sensation of Jane clumsily putting her mind back together. It was possible that Jane had messed something up, that there was still undetected damage in Maura's head that was changing her behaviour.

However, as troubling as that thought was, Jane knew in her gut that wasn't the case. Maura had simply been through more than anyone should ever have to endure, and it had changed her. She had become a vampire against her will, and everything that had happened after that had only served to distance herself from her old life and the person she'd been. She had tried her best to resist her circumstances, remaining true to her values and beliefs, but every person had a limit.

With a pained sigh, Jane understood that Maura had finally reached her breaking point. Everything she had tried to do had backfired or been overruled by outside forces, and no matter how hard she tried to stay herself and do what she thought was right, it seemed to make things worse. She was accumulating a long list of things to feel guilty about, sins both real and imagined, and no matter what Jane said there was no easy way to forgive herself or forget what had happened.

Jane realised that Maura was at a tipping point, right here and now. Betty had said all her previous mental barriers were gone, so Maura could choose what sort of person she wanted to be, unfettered by her past hang-ups. If she allowed her emotions to override her brain, believing that nothing she did mattered, she would do something regrettable, and she would be set on a path to destruction. She would slowly give up on her morals, simply taking the easy path to get what she thinks she wants. Maura would still try to protect those she loved, but her methods would become violent and twisted, the ends justifying the means against everything she believed was right. Jane could see the path before them, as clear as if she had Alice's predictive powers. She knew she needed to make Maura see that there was a better way, before it was too late.

Jane stepped closer, grabbing her arms in an attempt to get through to her. "Okay, that's enough. If you want her, you go through me, understand?"

Maura growled loudly, the rasp in her voice making the sound even more threatening. Jane widened her stance, shock appearing on her face as she realised Maura was actually about to attack her. She felt a slight sensation of pain as Maura gathered her mental powers, about to launch a full assault. Jane couldn't help flinching in anticipation of the pain, even as she pushed Maura away and crouched in a defensive stance.

Then, at the last moment, realisation flashed across Maura's face and she stumbled back a step. Her expression crumpled into sorrow as she turned away, a heartbroken sob ripping from her chest as she fell to her knees. Jane breathed a sigh of relief before rushing to Maura's side, gathering her against her chest in a crushing hug.

Maura gasped as her whole body trembled with awareness, her hands clutching desperately at Jane's arms. "Jane, I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking!"

Jane rubbed her hands over Maura's arms soothingly, again wishing they could both shed a few well deserved tears. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

Maura tried weakly to pull away from Jane in protest. "But you don't understand, I was about to attack you! I almost…"

Jane pulled her back into her chest with determination, her long arms capturing Maura's struggling hands and holding them still. "I know, I get it. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, and I don't think you really meant to hurt Betty either, but you just needed to hurt someone. You're hurting so much, and you haven't had any real outlet to deal with it."

Maura nodded dumbly, still obviously in shock over her actions. Jane loosened her arms and tucked Maura's chin into her shoulder. She felt Maura's hands find their way around her bicep, their tense grip signalling Maura's agony and fear.

Jane held her for a few long minutes as she trembled and gasped, as close as a vampire could physically come to openly sobbing, wanting to give her all the time in the world. She could feel her own heart breaking as she felt the sorrow, guilt and anger Maura had been suppressing for months shake her tiny frame and leave her helpless in Jane's arms, desperate for comfort and guidance. Jane wanted so badly to provide it, but she had no idea how to help, other than being there to listen.

Jane managed to turn her head and glance back at Betty, who had taken the opportunity to drink one of the blood bags she'd been carrying. She looked shaken and frightened at the abrupt display of violence. Where her manner had previously been somewhat cocky and pretentious, she was now hunching her shoulders and cringing away from Maura as she desperately chugged the blood. She had lost her mature, all-knowing visage, seeming as young and innocent as she physically looked.

Jane let out another harried sigh in resignation, knowing from Betty's veiled clues over the last few days that their time was short. She knew they had to deal with whatever Betty was leading them towards before they could deal with their own issues, but it was just so unfair. She couldn't stand to see her friend suffer, and she felt powerless to stop it happening.

Frowning at the injustice of it all, Jane carefully pulled Maura away from her chest, feeling resistance as she tried to move her. "Look, I know we haven't had a chance to process any of this. And I promise we will make time once this is over. Whatever this is. Do you think you can hold it together for a while longer?"

Maura took a shuddering breath, her hands tightening around Jane's arm before loosening slowly. She nodded minutely, her expression sad and withdrawn as she pulled away from Jane.

Jane stopped Maura's miserable retreat, putting her hand under her chin and forcing her eyes up with a worried frown. "Talk to me. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Maura stared into space for a few long moments before giving Jane an exhausted and resigned look. "I'm always okay, Jane. I have to be."

Jane felt a huge weight settle over both of them with Maura's words, and stammered in protest of that somewhat bleak response, wanting to reassure her friend and take some of the burden off her. However, before she could find the words to make the situation better, Maura had already moved away and approached Betty. Jane groaned in defeat, resigning herself to make the best of the situation and watch Maura carefully for any sign she was about to lose herself completely.

For now, Maura seemed to have found yet another source of internal strength as she moved to confront Betty. Her posture was calm and non-threatening, but Betty seemed to take her approach as a threat, immediately throwing the blood bags away and shouldering her pack.

Betty lurched to her feet, her hand still clasped around her healing throat and her tone subdued as she tried to regain her poise, but she was obviously fearful of more reprisals if she chose her words poorly. "Look, I've been nothing but honest with you since I turned up. You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me. Jane would be still trying to get you to the Cullens, who would be able to do nothing. You would be dead within a week, and you would have spent most of that week an empty shell."

Jane noticed Maura flinch, but Betty continued with frantic speed, desperate to explain herself. "Also, we didn't know what would happen once we brought the network down. Everything we know about the future is based on a very accurate statistical prediction, which requires both the combined brain power of the entire human race's subconscious plus a sound knowledge of all the variables. Basically, because of the way the network was created and developed, it acted like a giant organic supercomputer, well before supercomputers were even invented. We could tap into that well of information, and so could people like Alice, only she didn't realise where the information was coming from. Whenever we encountered something new, like a hybrid, or a werewolf, or changing of the entire fabric of the world's consciousness, our predictions got a bit thrown off. We could only guess how you'd react to things after the active subconscious suggestion was gone. For example, the BPD bombing could have gone a few different ways, but we thought the most likely result would be the two of you causing an evacuation before Alec got there. We underestimated the residual effect of the 'don't tell, ever' suggestion. It still exists in people's mind, even though we're not actively reinforcing it. It's been there for hundreds of years, and apparently it takes longer than a few days to get past it. Turns out, it was strong enough to stop you from warning your friends, on the off chance they might find out. By the time we realised, it was too late to do anything. We could only try to contain some of the damage, and support you after your confrontation with Alec ended, one way or the other."

Jane could see that Maura was still processing, both Betty's words and her own actions, so she jumped in with the first question that came to mind. "So why send only you? It sounds like there are hundreds of vampires in your coven, where are the rest of them?"

Betty scoffed at the faint accusation underlying Jane's words. "They are all trying to repair the damage we did when we dropped the network. People have no idea how much they rely on it without even knowing about it. There has been a marked increase in violence and intolerance across the world. People who depend on what they think are their natural instincts have been blinded, since what they were actually listening to was a faint connection to the people around them. Psychologists, doctors, cops, politicians, peacemakers, lawyers, they all have lost the ineffable thing that makes them great at their jobs. Parents suddenly can't connect with their kids. People from different races can't even try to understand each other. The humans will never know why, but their whole world has changed for the worse. We're trying to reconnect people before the connection fades altogether, and the damage becomes permanent. We've got more varied powers in the coven now than we did when the network was first created, so we're hoping we'll be able to patch it back together without losing anyone. There are a lot more people in the world now, so it may be an insurmountable task. We're just not sure. But it seemed like our only option. At the time, the direction Aro was taking the world in looked worse than any fallout from our actions. We may have been wrong."

Maura looked at Jane with apprehension, which she returned with an edge of panic. They suddenly realised how big the stakes were, not just for them but for everyone, and Jane felt once again like that helpless ant. Even when she found out who the players were, the game got more complicated and she felt even more out of her depth.

Betty saw the exchange of looks and took a moment to calm herself, her indignation lessening as she concluded her explanation. "We honestly didn't know what would happen throughout all of this. We went in blind, just like you. We tried to do the best for everyone, and we won't know if it was the right thing until it all plays out. We almost couldn't spare anyone at all to come and help you, but we realised making sure you two had this information was of vital importance, so we took a risk and made time for me to talk to you. I'm the youngest in the coven, so I'm the least helpful in fixing the network, but I need to return to the others as soon as possible. Now, if you're done attacking me, we still need to be somewhere."

Maura closed her eyes and concentrated for a few moments, before turning back to Jane with a contrite grimace. "She's telling the truth. About all of it. I saw some of the trouble she was referring to, Jane. The world is heading for a new era of war and conflict unless they can fix it."

Betty nodded seriously in accompaniment to Maura's dire statement. "Exactly. And the two of you can help, but we need to go right now."

Without waiting for a reply, Betty turned and shot into the trees once again, and Jane and Maura immediately followed. Jane guessed that Maura had used some combination of Edward and Jasper's powers to read Betty, and the severity of the situation had obviously come through clearly.

Jane started to appreciate Betty's attitude and demeanour since her arrival. She was still young, possibly younger in actual years on this earth than the both of them, and she had been changed when she was around twenty. She had somehow joined this coven of vampires with thousands of years' collective experience and knowledge. That had to be intimidating, and had most likely led to the tough and arrogant persona they had seen. Under all of that, however, Betty knew the magnitude of the challenges they were up against, and was doing her best to help them as fast as possible. She hadn't rushed Maura's healing process, she hadn't bullied them into doing anything, and in fact she had given them a choice at every turn. Jane knew that there could be more going on, that Betty could have more inside information that she was using to fool them, but it honestly didn't feel that way. Betty had actually handled the whole situation with poise and dignity under the circumstances, and Jane felt a bit guilty for all the accusations and distrust she had gotten from them. A brief burst of empathised regret from Maura told Jane that she felt the same.

Betty started speaking as soon as they cleared another highway, all trace of joviality gone under a grim tone. "So, now you understand the history and the players. The other thing you need to understand is the current situation. Now, I already explained that vampires, like all people, try to find new and better ways to kill each other. The latest discovery is hybrid vampires. The coven has been aware of hybrids for a few centuries, but the possibility of their existence was only revealed to Aro and the general vampire population a little over a year ago. I believe Edward and Bella mentioned their daughter when you met?"

Jane remembered how Bella's whole demeanour had changed when her daughter had come up in conversation. She had been reluctant to broach the subject, and with her new understanding of vampire politics Jane began to understand why. "I'm guessing Aro wanted her when he found out about her. Another power to add to his collection."

Betty nodded grimly. "He could barely contain himself when he understood what he was seeing. A hybrid child, born of two gifted parents, that was also unmistakeably gifted. Yes, he wanted her, and the other gifted vampires in the Cullen coven, but once he realised he wasn't going to get them, he conceived a new plan. He was going to breed his own gifted brood of hybrids."

Jane groaned as realisation struck. "The births in the cities."

Betty nodded again, but her answer was a disagreement. "They were hybrid births, yes, but the ones you became involved in had nothing to do with Aro. You remember I mentioned the Romanians, Stefan and Vladimir? They are bitter enemies of Aro, and would do anything to defeat him. They were also present at the almost battle between the Cullens and the Volturi, and they came to the same conclusion about the value of hybrids. They managed to convince around thirty other vampires to join their cause, insisting that with hybrids on their side they could bring down the Volturi. They, however, lack Aro's restraint when it comes to maintaining the secrecy of their activities.

"Aro carefully abducted human women with a genetic predisposition towards vampire powers and had his gifted male guards impregnate them. The Volturi then cared for the mothers to be, giving them blood and adequate medical care, eventually turning them when they delivered their children in order to gain a new member of the guard. While these actions are obviously vile and reprehensible, they were at least subtle and not obviously vampiric as far as humans are concerned."

Jane almost tripped in shock as she realised what Betty meant by impregnate, and what those women must have endured. She glanced at Maura, who was looking disturbed at the revelation but not overly surprised. Jane realised her genius friend must have already realised how the mothers had become pregnant, but being confronted with the reality was a challenge to both of their composures. Despite years of seeing the worst humanity had to offer as part of her job, this was one aspect of violence that Jane had never been able to accept as just part of humanity. It was completely inhuman and unacceptable, as was any human or vampire that was a part of it.

Betty sounded like she was struggling to continue with this horrific part of the explanation. "The Romanians and their allies simply mated with as many human women as they could find that wouldn't be missed, leaving them to fend for themselves before coming back to retrieve the hybrid after it was born. They chose five American cities, and divided their forces amongst them, only banding together to defend themselves when the Volturi came to investigate. They managed to kill a few of the guard, but the Volturi grew cautious, and decided to wait until their own armies were ready before returning to the U.S. The small force you encountered were supposed to investigate the status of the Romanian hybrids, but not engage. They actually disobeyed Aro's commands in order to come after you, to their own detriment."

Betty sighed sadly. "Unfortunately the Romanians showed no compassion towards the women they used for their purposes. The mothers were left to die alone and in great pain, with most of them never figuring out that their body needed blood in order to sustain the pregnancy. Many hybrids died before being born, as their mothers could not survive long enough to carry them to term."

Jane felt a massive surge of emotion swell within her, a wave of fury directed at the vampires responsible for so much wanton destruction. She remembered that they had thought of them as rogue vampires, out to bring down the Volturi and make the world somehow better, but they had been wrong to think of them as the good guys. There were no good guys here, simply two sides that had equally abhorrent ways of waging war against each other. She felt a sudden blast of revulsion and rage from Maura via her projected empathic powers, and almost tripped again at the intensity. Maura glanced over apologetically and the flow of emotion stopped, but Jane could clearly feel that their opinions on this issue were in agreement. Jane watched Maura for a few more moments, worried about how intense the emotions coming from her were, but returned her attention to Betty with a grimace as she realised there was still nothing she could do.

Betty had stumbled as well when Maura unintentionally used Jasper's power, but continued on doggedly, her speech speeding up as if she was hurrying to finish in time. "The deaths were mostly cleaned up afterwards, but their actions drew a lot of attention from law enforcement such as yourselves. It took a lot of direct mind control on our part to avoid discovery, including FBI agents, police lieutenants, coroners, reporters, random witnesses, homeless, even family members. We have been stretched to the limit trying to contain this war, even before we were forced to disable the network and then pick up the pieces."

Betty glanced back sadly before continuing. "The outcome of all this is simple, but bleak. Aro has managed to breed a small army of hybrids, around half of which are gifted in some way. He has also added at least ten new gifted vampires to the Volturi guard, his own personal vampire army, to replace the ones lost in conflict with you and the Romanians. We aren't sure exactly what their powers are, since he has been careful to shield them from our mental view by keeping his hybrids close. They are still unknowns, so they completely blocked our future vision whenever they are involved. We have no idea if being pregnant with a hybrid changes a woman's sense of self enough to alter the powers she has once turned, which means we have no idea what any of the new guard's powers are. We know that at least two of them are potential energy users, and the rest may have some sort of mental powers.

"Aro has used this army to great effect. They have already eliminated all opposing hybrids in Europe, Africa and Asia. The only continent with any remaining threat was North America, and he is here now, finishing off his campaign. There have been a great many casualties on both sides, but Aro is almost certain to be victorious unless something changes. He will have the army he needs to be able to oppose the coven, and we will be powerless to stop him. He will use his new guards to take control of the network once we recreate it, and he will effectively have control of the world."

Jane felt a surge of revulsion at the thought of that outcome. Despite having never met Aro, she had seen the results of his commands, the minions he had cultivated, and the cruelty of his goals. The prospect of him obtaining more power than he had was terrifying.

Unfortunately, Maura and Jane had no time to react to the hopelessness and inevitability in Betty's statement before they broke through the trees. They had emerged onto a large plot of land with a massive house in the centre. Jane mentally retraced their route and realised they had reached the Cullen property where they had taken the hybrid children and the newborn police officer.

The house was on fire. Smoke and flames belched from all the upper windows and doors, and part of the roof had already collapsed. Debris littered the pristine grass where it had exploded out of the side wall. Two hooded figures stood a safe distance away from the house, calmly watching it burn. The Volturi were here, and they were making sure nobody escaped.

Jane heard Maura whimper in fear when they both heard the sound of people screaming for help. Jane gasped in horror when she realised the voices were the innocent wails of terrified children. Betty grimly took in the scene, before turning to her two companions. "Aro beat us here. The Cullens were the last line of resistance between him and the remaining hybrids. From the look of it, he's already gone, taking anyone he wanted and leaving the rest to die."

Jane was torn between wanting to help and needing to ask more questions, but Betty took the choice away as she gently patted the pair on the shoulder before backing towards the forest. "I've told you all you need to know. You asked before what we wanted from you. All we want is for you to do what you think is best for the world. We aren't trying to set up a new warrior group, we realise it just won't work in the modern world. We are simply giving the two most capable people we could find all the information and hoping for the best. Now it's up to you to decide what to do. I'm needed elsewhere. If we all survive, I'll look you up sometime."

With a brief but sad smile, Betty turned and disappeared into the trees. Maura grabbed Jane's arm in desperation. "Jane, I can hear my mother in there."

Jane didn't hesitate, bursting into motion with Maura right beside her. They didn't pause as they crashed through the nearest wall and into the inferno.