"Gamóto."

17 hours of painstaking effort went out the window in a single moment.

Through vigilance and common sense, Demetri had been able to avoid a newborn attack for a very simple reason... he didn't allow said newborn to see the objects of her hatred. All the different transitions between transportation, including a 14 hour flight on a private jet, he and the other Elites had been able keep the coven intact.

Everything they did was for not when Aro decided to see the Cullens at the same time Bella was present, and the only one that was surprised by her response was Aro.

You can only be so ready to prevent an attack by a newborn, and when one was in the state Bella was in, it was even harder to judge the kind of restraint that would be needed. Injured or not, however, she was still less than two weeks into this life, was still exceptionally strong, and not one to be underestimated. It didn't matter if she was underfed. Her strength came from the blood in her veins, not the blood in her belly.

The fight she put up to get at the three she knew were responsible for the death of her sire wasn't unexpected, but it was a different kind of fight. This wasn't like her trying to take a snap at Demetri in defense of her meal; a newborn will literally fight to the death if necessary to avenge their sire, and go through whoever they had to, to do it.

That was the kind of fight it was, and it left Felix in one hell of a spot. He knew if he harmed the infant Demetri would kill him, hands down and without thought, but her damaged arm was barely hanging on by more than a thread, and it wouldn't take much at all for there to be a very devastating accident. So, in order to keep his head, he took the kicks and nips, because it was the far better option.

While Felix struggled with the infant that had lost her damn mind, Demetri was barking out orders to the other guards present, telling the unneeded ones to get back and submit while he called to others to push back and get in front of the coven to hide them from the newborn's line of sight. Nowhere in his orders did he tell anyone to guard Aro, Marcus, and Caius. He didn't have the authority to tell those three what to do, but they were too close to allow a group of guards without catching Bella's attention and shifting her fight from offensive to defensive. It was much easier to calm a pissed off newborn down than it was to comfort a terrified one, so when a few tried, Demetri growled at them, which stopped the guards in their tracks.

Once the floor was as clear as he could get it, Demetri reached under his jacket, popping open the leather parcel he took out of his bag back in Washington he hadn't needed until then. Pulling out the mesh and elastic bite mask that was inside, he took the handkerchief from his back pocket, and set it in the the cloth in the mask. Staying just behind her, he ripped the hood off her head, which exposed her face to everyone present. Ignoring the gasps at the scars, in one swift motion, Demetri set the mesh mask in place over her nose and mouth, clipping it place behind her head.

Felix wrinkled his nose at Demetri's choice of tools. He would admit the bite masks were extremely effective, they were just really fucking uncomfortable. He would know... he's worn one before. They were actually quite simple, but he had never been able to figure out how they worked so well being something a newborn could break without even the slightest bit of effort. They were literally nothing more than two pieces of elastic and some net mesh. Any guard that spent time with newborns had one, and it's purpose was to, as the name suggest, prevent the vampire from biting.

This particular newborn, however, was unable to open her mouth wide enough to bite anyone. All she could do was nip at someone with her front teeth. That itself was more annoying than painful because not only did she not have a bite radius, she also didn't have the strength to close it with enough force to break the skin, leaving what was little more than divots that itched something awful.

Demetri, however, wasn't trying to stop from getting bitten. More times than he could count he had been on the receiving end of a newborn's teeth, and was no longer bothered it. It came with the territory of his job description. The mask, though, wouldn't stay on longer than it took to remove her from the room. He was merely using it to stop her from being able to smell anything other than him. It was his hope that if she couldn't smell the Cullens, he could get her to calm down.

Moving from beside her to in front of her, Demetri crouched down to her level, taking an unseen moment to assess the situation and formulating a plan to deal with this without venomshed. She didn't stop her struggle against Felix, and the nails on the arm she could move dug gouges out of the stone tiles. There was a literal river of venom running down her chin, pooling on the floor before her. The noises that came out of her held only about half the effort she was putting into making them. It was her eyes, though, that were the most concerning thing about the ordeal. They were out of focus, distant, and held no understanding.

Clicking his tongue as he sighed through his nose, he brought a hand up and cupped her scarred cheek, and her reaction was instant. Her eyes snapped to him, and she snarled something he was sure was meant to scare him, but it just made him grin. "Yes, Neos; you are an adorably ferocious little kitten, but I can't allow you to do that."

She did, actually, understand him, but she didn't like what he had to say. "But they..."

Demetri cut her off, but kept his voice level and soothing to her. "I know. I still can't let you."

Her black eyes glazed over, and her voice was covered in a heartbreak very few in the room could understand; Demetri included. "But they deserve it."

Just because Demetri didn't know what it felt like to lose his sire at such a young age didn't mean her loss didn't have an impact on him. As a matter of fact, it had such a profound effect on him, unknown to him, his own eyes lost every ounce color under the weight of his charge's soul crushing emotions. He didn't say a word as he cut his onyx orbs to Felix, but that didn't mean the man didn't know what Demetri wanted and released the newborn without hesitation.

Gently running the pad of his thumb across Bella's cheek bone, his own voice lowered in response to her upset, but the edge is now held was full of a very dark promise. "I agree, and on my life I swear you will get your owed pound of flesh, but that will be not today, Agapiménos; not while you're so grievously injured." Leaning toward her, he touched the tip of his nose to her mesh covered one, and lowered his voice so no one but her could hear him. "You just have to trust me."

He didn't back off, allowing Bella to search his eyes for whatever it was she needed to see to believe him. It took her a moment, but finally, she nodded slightly, her voice barely there. "Okay."

Lightly butting his nose to her's, he voice again was just for her. "There's my good girl." Pulling away, he gave her a half smile. "Now..."

Before he was able to do anything more to calm the situation and leave the room with a much more relaxed newborn, said newborn reacted to something over his shoulder. Her eyes went wide, and a whimper slipped past her lips, sending Demetri into a protective overdrive.

Without a single ounce of thought, he snapped around, his elbow slamming into Aro's sternum while the momentum of his forearm sent the other vampire flying across the room. Shooting from his spot, he caught up with the body before it hit the ground, and he hook one of his arms around Aro's, defying the laws of physics as he twisted his body, slamming the head of his coven face first into the floor with a crack.

A knee in Aro's back, Demetri caught Aro's other arm and shoved both up so Aro's hands were between his shoulder blades. The sound of cracking stone put the other guards in an uncomfortable titsy, but a levelly spoken 'stand down' kept them all in their place.

Aro, however, spoke through a pained growl. "You have just made the biggest mistake of your life."

There was a snort that did not come from Demetri and set all eyes on the youngest of the kings. Caius just sat on his throne, a smirk on his lips and his temple propped against the back of his knuckles. His voice was amused and cynical as he chuckled. "Oh, please allow me to be the one to point out just how ridiculously idiotic it is to threaten the one who currently holds your life in his hands. Honestly, even a blind vampire could have seen how utterly stupid it was to sneak up on him. Besides, you scared his already traumatized female. You deserved it." When all Aro did was growl, which was answered by a much darker one by the tracker, Caius grinned wider.

There was still a high level of amusement in his voice when he addressed Demetri, saying his name and not continuing until the vampire's pitch black eyes were on him. "While to my knowledge there are not currently any humans around, I do not believe a few helpings of bagged blood will harm her. Why don't you take your charge upstairs and get her something to eat while we see to this... mess."

Growling low in his chest, Demetri looked at Caius for a moment longer before he dipped his head, whispering in Aro's ear so only he could hear him. "Let us not forget who really runs things around here. Your intrusional bullshit doesn't hold a candle to my ability of stomping your ass into the ground. You have very few allies, and none that stand a chance against me. Get near my girl again, and it will be the biggest mistake of your life."

Shoving Aro once more into the floor, Demetri released him with the intention of that being that. He said what needed to be said, and was willing to let everything else go. However, one look at Bella, who was still on her knees where he left her, only now half hidden behind Felix's log of a leg, he hadn't made it more than four feet away from Aro before her eyes went wide again, and she cried out "Behind you!"

A snarl slipped past Demetri's lips. No one saw him move, but the impact of his foot as he kicked it up behind him and caught Aro under the chin was certainly heard. There was so much force behind the defensive attack that Aro was once again sent flying across the room. This time when Demetri went after him, it was for a completely reason. Before it was a warning to keep his distance from Bella. Now it was because the stupid bastard tried to attack him from behind, and that wasn't tolerated by anyone. He was acting in self defense at this point, and that's what put the rest of the guard in such a shitty spot.

The lower and mid-level guards present knew they didn't have the training or the experience to take on the Head of the Guard. Sure, they had numbers on their side, but Demetri had a very well earned reputation of walking away the victor in situations where the odds were stacked insurmountably against him. It wasn't until they looked and saw the other Elites hesitate getting involved did the other guards feel a little less guilty about being scared shitless.

Even Jane, who was one of the allies Demetri knew Aro had, thought twice about coming to his aid. She could certainly use her gift and bring this to an end, but she had seen what happened to those that used their gifts on the tracker, and it never ended well. So, as she watched Demetri snag Aro out of mid air by his ankle and throw him like a rag doll back to the floor, she looked at her brother. "What do we do?"

Cringing under the question, Alec lifted a shoulder. "I don't know. I do know I don't particularly want to deal with a pissed of Demetri; do you?"

While the Elites were trying to come up with some idea on how to handle the situation without it ending with them in the training field opposite their boss, Marcus and Caius sat in their thrones, watching as Aro got his ass handed to him. Neither one did or said a word at the sound of their brother's head cracking against the floor, or the noises of pain that came from his lips. In their opinions, he asked for it. However, it was the look on Demetri's face they found the more interesting part of things. There was literally no expression. It was as even and smooth as his movements, and they looked at each other, giving a nod of understanding. He wasn't out to kill, he would have done so by now if that was his desire. This was him teaching Aro the same lesson he taught the guards; he was in charge, no matter if the other guy liked it or not, and this would continue until Aro backed down. The longer Aro tried to prove otherwise, the more foolish he was going to look.

Felix, however, came up with the only option that would stop shit from going that far. Glancing over his shoulder to the newborn that was hiding behind his leg, he took in her wide, mesmerized eyes as she watched her rescuer lay waste to someone she didn't know, but knew attempted to attack him. Clearly, she knew Demetri was defending himself, but she didn't know just how bad the long term consequences of this would be, so he spoke in a quiet, but forceful, voice. "You're the only who can stop him, Bambina. He'll kill anyone else that tries to interfere, and he cannot kill Aro."

Though it was difficult, Bella was able to pull her attention from the full on ass whoopin' Demetri was giving the man, and look up at Felix, her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn't really want to stop him. In her mind, everything Demetri was doing was justified. He had been walking away; his back was turned and that guy went to attack him. It didn't seem fair to her that he wasn't allowed to do whatever he to to defend himself. Still, it also looked like to her Demetri was perfectly capable of doing exactly what Felix said he couldn't. Lifting a brow, she looked back at the 'fight'. "I beg to differ. It looks like he's about to do just that."

Looking back to the room, Felix grunted, seeing she was right in her assessment, and crouched, still keeping his voice down. "You don't understand this yet, but Aro is the head of our coven. If Demetri kills him, he'll be forced into the position, and currently, he cannot do that and take care of you because of the bullshit that goes along with the transfer of power. All of Demetri's time will be spent defending himself and our home from others that would think to try and takeover the most powerful coven in the world. The bottom line is, if you want his attention, you have to stop him."

Behind the bite mask, her nose wrinkling the best it could be as Bella grunted. Well, when it's put like that, it seemed like a good idea. Didn't mean she wanted to, but she did return her eyes to Demetri, watching and waiting. She might be being selfish, but she wasn't giving him up. He made her promises and like hell was she just going to sit back and be one of the reasons he was put in a position not to keep them.

Sifting from her knees to her toes, she set her hand on the ground, and the moment Demetri once again sent that Aro guy across the room, she bolted from her spot. She was slamming her body against Demetri's at the same time Aro was slamming into the steps that led up to the dias.

Demetri, though, wasn't even phased by the impact. He simply wrapped an arm around her waist and expertly maneuvered her from his chest to held against his back, ensuring he was between her and the object of his current irritation.

Bella made a face of annoyance, casting her eyes over to Felix, he simply flicked his fingers at her, telling her to get on with it. All that did was make her narrow her eyes. This was going to be completely up to her, and she didn't know Demetri well enough to know what to do to transfer his focus from the dude to her. Finally, she figured something out, but she wasn't sure if it would work or not.

All but becoming a contortionist, she snaked her way out from under Demetri's arm and slid from behind him to next to him. Wrapping both arms as best she could around his, she looked up at him. "My throat hurts." All she could now was hope she actually sounded as pathetic as she was going for.

At the sound of Bella's voice, Demetri glanced down at her. Though his eyes softened no small amount, they didn't regain a sliver of color. With another glance at Aro, who was using the steps behind him to hoist himself into a sitting position with his eyes to the ground, he grinned. With his point proven, he turned and reached behind Bella's head, unclasping the bite mask. "Then let's get you fed."

Caius watched as the adequately chosen Head of the Guard escorted his charge from the room, his chin between his thumb and middle finger. His legs were crossed and his other arm was draped casually over the other armrest. He still had a smirk on his lips as he lowered his eyes to Aro and his struggle to get back to his feet. He did nothing to hide how humorous he thought the last ten minutes were when he spoke. "Well, that was certainly enlightening. I suppose we can safely say we now know where Demetri's allegiances lie, can't we, Aro?" Grinning at the glaring Aro, Caius then lifted his eyes and addressed the room as a whole. "Might I suggest everyone pay very close attention to what just occurred and keep your distance from the newborn. I can personally guarantee there will only be so many allowances made before not even she will be able to stop him."