Chapter 9:

BPOV

For five days, Thor has been by my side as I hunt bobcat and deer in the woods of upstate New York. He's a quiet companion but offers helpful advice whenever possible and has the foresight to bring me a change of clothes for the inevitable moment when I get dirty from the hunt, and then filthy from the feed.

I'm a sloppy eater, but I've gotten a lot better during the week.

"How are you feeling today, Isabella?" Thor can fly, so when I take off running, I never feel as if I have a bodyguard or babysitter. I look up to see him descending with Mjölnir grasped in his hand.

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and finding no red traces, I smile at him. "I feel okay. I really want to see Uncle Tony though."

Thor bends over to pick up a palm-sized rock and tosses it in the air and catches it when it falls. "Do you think that is wise?"

Running my hand through a patch of clover and I look up at him. "I miss him. I know I can't see Charlie for some time, and I understand that."

"It's just too dangerous, Isabella." Thor sits down next me and places his hammer between us.

"I know." I sigh and run my hand over the gleaming surface. "But Uncle Tony built the rescue suit, so I want to see him."

"Have you fed enough? Cleaned up?" I nod at Thor as he rises. "Then let's head back to the cabin and speak to Steve about this."

I've lost count of how long I've actually been sitting in this chair, staring at the empty fireplace. I hear a door open in the back of the cabin and footsteps making their way toward me. There's a small knock on the door.

"You can come in." My voice startles me slightly. I'm still not used to the new tone of it.

Steve opens the door and peers into the room. He frowns when he notices that I haven't moved since he last came in, which was probably less than twenty minutes ago.

"You don't need to knock on the door every time you want to come in here."

He moves into the room and sits down on the other couch. "I don't want to startle you."

I roll my eyes and scoff. "I can hear you no matter which room you're in. You couldn't startle me even if you tried."

He tilts his head. "Bella …"

I hold my hand up. "Please don't."

"But I will." He stands up and comes over to stand beside me.

I flinch back from him. "I don't wanna hurt you."

He grins at me. "I don't think you could."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Do you wanna try?"

"If it'll cheer you up." He puts his hand on my shoulder, and I try my hardest to not flinch back from him again. "Bella, I'm trying to help you. You know that, don't you?"

I nod. "I know you're struggling with this …"

I stand up, and this time, it's Steve who recoils back from me, obviously at the speed with which I moved.

"You know that I'm struggling with this?" I fold my arms.

"I know how it feels to change into somebody different."

"The difference here is that you didn't change into something you didn't want. You chose to become different! And you didn't become a vampire!" I leave him standing there as I run out of the room and the cabin and into the forest nearby. As I get closer to animals, my throat burns more, but I do my best to ignore it and not give in to the need for blood. I climb a tree all the way to the top, and as I sit on the very top branch looking out over upstate New York, I break down into tearless sobs.

I walk back toward the cabin a few hours later. After coming down from the tree, I found a herd of deer. I still somehow managed to get my T-shirt ripped even though I wasn't hunting a carnivore.

Steve is waiting by one of the windows as I walk in, and he turns to face me with his arms folded. He smirks when he sees that I ripped my shirt … again.

I bite my lip. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier."

"It's all right."

"This is all still so … new and confusing …"

He moves closer toward me. "I know what it's like, you know."

I sigh. "I know. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

He takes my hand, and I smile. "I may not be a"—he stumbles over his words—"vampire, but I know how it feels to have what feels like a new body and having to get used to new feelings."

I smirk. "Will there ever be a time when you don't stumble over the word vampire?"

He grins.

I link our fingers together. "When I originally envisioned this happening to me, I thought I'd be around other vampires, and therefore, the transition would be easier. I'd have them around me to help me deal with the rush of emotions and all the new senses and everything else. And I know you're here with me, and I'm so grateful for that." I sigh. "I'm just … I'm so scared that something is going to go wrong, and I don't want to hurt you … or somebody else."

Steve squeezes my hand. "You should try giving yourself a little more credit, you know. From what I understand, you're doing amazing."

I smile at him. "I just found you. I don't wanna lose you."

"You won't."

I feel like he's going to kiss me, but he squeezes my hand again and lets go of it. "Tony wants to come and see you."

I shake my head. "I want to see him, but am I ready?"

Steve tilts his head in confusion. "Just hours ago, you were ready to see him. What changed?"

"Do I really need to say it again? I just said to you that I'm worried I'm gonna hurt someone, and you wanna bring a human here?"

"Am I not a human?"

"You don't count." I frown. "And you aren't even technically human."

"I disagree, but you're changing the subject."

I try to stare him down and be as intimidating as possible.

"I already told him to come."

I glare at him, and a growl bubbles up out of my throat, and Steve takes a step backward. It startles me too, and my hand flies up to my mouth. "I'm sorry." I drop into the nearest chair and bring my knees up to my chest.

Steve is still standing back from me, looking like he's ready to fight me. He seems to come out of a trance and drops onto his knees in front of me and grabs my hand again. "If it worries you that much then I'll tell him to not come."

"Just make sure he brings the rescue suit."

He chuckles and kisses the back of my hand. I look up at him and smile as butterflies flood my stomach. "Whatever makes you feel better." He grins at me, and then his eyes soften. "You really do need to believe in yourself more, Bella."

It's a couple days later when Steve gets confirmation that Tony is going to visit. Clearly, there wasn't a break in his schedule.

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I hear a car roll up the driveway to the front of the cabin, and I immediately feel panic come over me. If my heart could still beat, I know it would be racing. "Are you gonna stay?"

Steve comes up to me and takes my hand. "Of course." He squeezes my hand. "It's going to be okay. You've known him your whole life."

I swallow the venom that's in my mouth. "Yeah, but I wasn't a mythical creature for most of that."

Steve chuckles. "I'll go and let him in." He squeezes my hand once more and walks off to the front door.

I rub my hands together while I wait for him to come back. The door opens, and they walk in together, talking about how I've been getting on. I roll my eyes since Tony obviously doesn't realize I can hear every word they're saying. Steve comes to stand beside me again, and Tony walks toward me rather slowly.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hi, Uncle Tony."

He tilts his head. "So I get 'Uncle' today?"

I dip my head and look at my feet. "I'm sorry."

"What exactly have you got to be sorry for, Bella?"

"I—" Steve starts to move away, and I reach out to grab his hand. I look up at him and shake my head. He squeezes it again.

"You'll be fine." He points behind him. "I'll just be in the other room." He lets go of my hand and walks away.

I look at Tony, who has one eyebrow raised. "We can talk more about that later on."

I can't help but smile.

Tony sits down on the couch and pats the seat next to him. I sit down but not right beside him.

Tony sighs. "Oh, Bella." He reaches out and takes hold of my hand. The temperature of them makes him flinch. "They're cold." I take my hand back and lay them in my lap, and Tony frowns at me. "Bella."

"I'm sorry I left the tower that night, and I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone where I was going." The tears would be gathering in my eyes if I could cry. "It was reckless and irresponsible."

"You might get that from me." Tony smirks. "Even if we aren't related by blood."

I reach out and grab his hand as gently as I can. When he laces his fingers with mine, I know I'm going to be okay.

"They'll be back, you know."

"Who?"

"Alice and Jasper."

Tony still looks perplexed.

"Alice is Edward's 'sister', and she's the one who bit me. They'll be back, and she said Edward will come soon as well."

"We should've killed them the night you went out there."

I shake my head, "No, I don't want that. I want to avoid as much death as possible." I sigh and stand up, leaving Tony on the couch behind me. "But I want to be ready when Edward does come."

I take a deep breath and turn back around to face my godfather.

"I need to learn how to fight."

AN: Can you feel it? We're getting close now!