Disclaimer: All characters belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I am merely borrowing them.

A/N : Thank you to Mbs Tnuccio who has again corrected my mess during work, and for showing me a few new ins and outs with MS Word. Hooray for her! Any errors missing are her doing, and errors still in existence are my fault.

Snow War No Peace

"Hurry up you two!" I scrambled to take the rock-hard ball of ice from Rosalie's cold, delicate hands. "We aren't going to have enough at this rate!"

Edward, Rosalie, and I were frantically making snowballs for the upcoming battle. It was assembly line production: Edward held an activated hand warmer in each hand under thin latex gloves. The packed snow would melt a bit in his heated hands and he would pass it off to Rosalie who then squeezed it for a second in her smooth icy palms causing the ball to harden into a solid projectile. She handed the frigid sphere of vampire pain to me to load up into backpacks. There was a modified pack for each of us; we wore them backwards so that we could easily grab the crystalline missiles and whip them at our poor, handwarmerless brethren. My job didn't require me to pay much attention and I let my mind run over my glorious evening so far.

Jasper's attempt to coerce me into revealing classified information had been a success; however he had no time to act on the information I had, rather willingly, provided him. I'd mentioned, as we lay sated amongst scattered shirts, that making good snowballs was incredibly hard when one's hands were the same temperature as the snow. He had groaned as his head rolled back against his shoulders, he then leapt up, hopping into an absolutely sexy pair of jeans. My fingers remembered tracing his washboard abs which were exposed by the flapping unbuttoned shirt. He'd leaned down, brushed a kiss against my smirking lips, grabbed his worn cowboy boots, and rushed down the stairs. I'd heard him yell for Emmett to meet him in the kitchen. I had been able to see that they decided to warm their hands on a heated stove burner. It would be incredibly ineffective, but I'd decided not to let that little bit of information slip, unless of course there was more coercion involved. From the wisps of hushed conversation that had gone on in the kitchen I knew there would be no further reconnaissance missions, so much for further coercion. I'd sighed as I stepped carefully over the haphazardly strewn clothing. Pulling on a pair of worn jeans and a lightweight smoky gray sweater, I'd snatched my well-loved pair of Dr. Marten boots from the cavernous closet. I'd padded silently downstairs and out to meet Rosalie in the garage.

We'd finished talking strategy as Rose had masterfully reconstructed my annihilated bed frame. She'd spoken quietly from behind a gloriously pink welder's helmet, and I'd perched, arms around knees, on her creeper, the wheeled board she used for sliding on her back under cars. Edward had arrived, silent as a cat, and had brushed the evidence of snowfall from his unruly hair. He'd been holding our packs, the hand warmers he'd purchased before the store had closed, and the gloves. The falling snow and glint in his eyes had been the only motivation we'd needed to get out of the garage and to the closest bunker.

"Alice! Earth to Alice…hello?? Are you going to be able to stay in the now with us?" Rosalie snapped her long fingers in front of my staring eyes and shocked me out of my reverie. I started and glanced down at my mittened hands holding two snowballs, and three more were piled up next to Rosalie.

Edward arched an eyebrow at me, and tried to keep a straight face. "Oh we're going to beat the pants off of those domestic gods." He starting working at an invampire speed, motivated by my memory. "Who knew they knew how to use a stove?"

Rosalie snorted, focused intently on keeping the growing pile next to her manageable. I divided the waiting ice-jectiles into our practically bursting packs as I hummed a few bars of the lilting melody from my vision earlier this afternoon. I felt the tug of a vision, but I managed successfully to push it away. I didn't want to see her now, pale, peaceful and disrupting to my happiness. I hope this wasn't something I was going to have to battle all night. My hands were going to be plenty full with war games; I didn't need 'Bella' Swan intruding.

I cringed as her name crossed my mind. Darn it darn it darn it! I shot a glance at Edward to be rewarded with his face emotionless; his clenched jaw and brusque movements packing the last of the snowballs into his pack were the only tell to his discontent. I slipped the remaining twenty hand warmers into the front of my pack, ignoring the new tension. Rosalie must have assumed that the edge in the atmosphere was anticipation for the upcoming battle. I did nothing to sway her from her mentality.

"Let's go troops…Rose you've got the east bunker, Alice HQ is yours, I'll take the west. If Emmett's thick head is to be believed, he'll be heading west. Jasper is thinking about flanking us from the east. What do you think girls?" Both looked pointedly at me.

"What?" I stared at both of them in disgust, "I told you I'm not giving any unfair advantages. You already have Captain Mindreader; you don't need his trusty sidekick Futurella as well. Figure it out on your own!"

I shoved my arms through the needlessly padded straps of my pack and stalked away in mock anger. I could hear Edward chuckling as he pulled on his pack. He was shaking his head with that amused crooked smile of his, and when he met my eyes he stuck out his tongue and ran off to the west bunker.

"Captain Mindreader, eh? I liked Captain Girlteam better." Rosalie smirked as she caught up to me. Then she tapped her first two fingers to her brow in a mock salute and she dashed off for the unprotected bunker.

"To the trees!" I whispered to myself giggling a bit at my stupid movie reference. I jogged towards enemy HQ to set the ball rolling.

"Three!" Rosalie shouted from my left, joyously calling out our first points of the night. Jasper's responding complaint from the other side of the field about us not having started yet brought a smile to my face. Everything was going as seen; I just had to hurry before Jazz circled back. I broke into a run veering left until the trees began to look familiar. A towering paper birch loomed ahead, its silver bark glowing in the snow-reflected moonlight. Oh Jazz. I shook my head. So predictable, silly rebel. You should know better than to get caught running reconnaissance unarmed. I glanced up and saw his pack hanging about thirty feet up right where I knew it would be.

"Five! Arrrgh, ow!" Edwards's triumphant yell was cut off by Emmett's bellow.

"Two!"

Time slipped away from me. This was never going to work, especially if Edward didn't engage with Emmett. Emmett was the rogue element; his blip hadn't shown on my earlier radar. I slipped out of my pack and set it against the base of the tree. I'd stashed a set of crampons in the shoe storage compartment at the bottom. I quickly pulled them on over my boots, and pulled off my belt to use as a stabilizing strap. I slung the pack onto my back this time and started the ascent.

"Here goes nothing." I muttered and started climbing. It didn't take more than ten seconds to get to the bag, but getting there wasn't what was going to take time. I leaned close to the tree and buckled the oversized belt around my waist and the trunk. Unzipping Jasper's pack without spilling all the rudimentary-shaped snowballs proved to be more difficult that I had initially thought.

"Ten!" Edward shouted jubilantly.

"No way, Edward. That wasn't a pin…oof"

"No, but that was!"

I closed my eyes to check. I was getting nervous, I hadn't heard from Rose or Jasper in a couple of minutes. I can see he's stalking her, silent as the snow itself. His focus is totally on her movements… I was safe for a bit longer. Jasper's bag gaped partway open like the backpack of an elementary student. I reached back and pulled out the first hand warmer, broke the plastic, and shook it to activate. I dropped it into the drooping pocket and reached back for another to open. I continued the repetitive motions until all twenty were in the backpack. If I were lucky, the heat generated from 20 eight-hour hand warmers would simply melt the munitions and not cause the bag to spontaneously combust, in turn, igniting the entire forest. Wait, when did I ever leave something to luck? A quick glance ahead told me that nothing would burn aside from Jasper's temper. Mischief managed; time to execute mission number two.

As I unbuckled the belt, the crash of two boulders colliding echoed through the forest. Rosalie's angry scream pierced the air.

"Seven!" Jasper exulted. I heard another thump and shout. He had stopped gloating, so she must have gotten a hold of him in return.

"Jasper, where's your wife?" Emmett roared his words were strained as he struggled with Edward.

"Jasper has enough problems on his hands without worrying about me Emmett." I sang sweetly, "By the way Emm, where did your wife learn that wrestling move?"

"I'm dropping back Jasper, she's behind our lines!"

The time for finesse was over. I unbuckled the crampons and left them to stick in the trunk of the tree as I let myself drop the thirty feet to the ground. I hit the ground running; I couldn't lose this opportunity to a retreating Emmett.

"11, 12, 13, 14…" Edward was shouting as fast as he pulled snowballs and whipped them at Emmett's withdrawing form.

"Edward." Emmett growled loudly, "I'm going to make you eat those when I get back."

"Why not now, you hill jack!" Edward challenged recklessly, and I didn't need my visions to see that it stopped Emmett dead in his tracks. My eyes opened in shock at the insult. No one ever called Emmett any derogatory name for mountain people without incurring his wrath. That wrath, although rare, was terrifying. Edward must have picked up on my urgency and was buying me more time. I just hope he wasn't going to die for it.

"Run Edward, run!" I called over my shoulder as I broke from the forest's edge and sprinted to the large outbuilding. Dropping my pack at the door of the garage, I slipped in the dark building. I'd learned a lot about cars in the few days last week when Edward wasn't here and I'd kept Rosalie company while she tinkered around. Now was the time to exact my revenge for Emmett's bed-sabotage.…I kicked the obnoxious yellow used oil collection pan next to Rose's workbench under Emmett's hulking brute of a Jeep.

"11!" Jasper shouted as Rose screamed again, this time in anger and frustration. I shook my head. She should know better than to give him something to feed off of.

I crawled under the lifted chassis, not bothering with the creeper. I wasn't planning on spending a lot of time down here. The shadows made it hard to see, but I found the bolt on the Jeep's oil pan and twisted it off over the yellow collection container. Oil streamed out, silky-smooth and silent. After about two minutes I replaced the bolt and slid myself and the collection pan from under the car.

"ALICE! YOU HAD BETTER HOPE I DON'T FIND YOU!" Jasper roared as Rosalie practically laughed out "15, 16 and 17." His lack of a point response led me to believe he had finally found himself without a means of returning fire.

A rampaging Emmett flashed in my mind. He isn't going to catch Edward, but Jasper's threat tips him off that Edward was just luring him away. Damnation. Five more minutes! I carelessly dumped the collection pan into the drum for recycling, and grabbed the hose. With the hood popped and the oil cap off I filled the engine with water. Then I screwed the cap back on, dropped the hood quietly into place and snaked the hose back onto the rack. I could hear shouting in the distance, but no scoring. As I slipped out the door and grabbed my pack I noticed a lightening of the sky to the east. It was time to relieve Rosalie, and pay the piper for the soggy backpack.

I ran, looping around so that I would come in from the north. I imagined Jasper was retreating from an armed-to-the-teeth Rosalie making him easy to intercept. The trees flew by and the snow-muffled silence was broken only by my light footsteps.

"18, niiiiine…..teen! Ow, Hey! No throwing trees, Jasper!"

"ALICE WHITLOCK, JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL I GET A HOLD OF YOU!"

"Oh you couldn't catch me on your best day Jazz!" I taunted merrily as I ran, trying to get ahead of their voices. Where were Edward and Emmett? I hadn't heard a thing from the west side of the battleground in a while. Briefly I entertained the thought that Emmett had actually killed Edward for his comment. Then I considered the trouble he'd be in with Esme and Carlisle for killing the "favorite." I figured he was probably just holding him under in the river. Rapid footsteps pounded to my left, and a leaping Jasper burst into my mind. I dodged right without hesitation and felt the slight breeze as his outstretched form landed where my previous path would have put me. He was up and running in a flash.

"Oh Lis…" He whispered, his voice cloyingly sweet. "You are in soooo much trouble."

We were about equal in speed, but if I focused a bit I could be aware of when and where he was going to make a grab for me.

"Hurry Rose, make a run for their HQ and end this. Then try to get back here before I end up MIA." Jasper's low chuckle floated over the crunch of our feet on the snow and forest debris. He was gaining ground and I could sense he was tensing to pounce. I swerved hard right again as he leapt forward for a tackle. I held my new path, and the swerve caused me to double back. Jasper wasn't expecting me to come back towards him and I ducked his outstretched arm.

"She's heading back your way boys!" His tone mischievous, his gait increased to an all out sprint. Boys?? Plural?? They must have put on a side bet as to who would catch me first. The rats.

Edward, you had better not be in on this! His responding laughter was all the answer I needed. I heard a thundering rumble in the thick woods to my right as Emmett exploded from the tree line. I had only a split second to slow my momentum and drop to the ground, rolling backwards. Jasper had no chance to adjust for my abrupt stop and he tripped over my prostrate form. The crash of Jasper smashing into Emmett's open arms drowned out Edward's laughter. As I jumped up to run back towards Rosalie, I heard him behind me and ducked as his arm whistled above me.

"You're much more of a challenge than this silly game, little sis." He chuckled turning as quickly as I did. "I don't know why we just don't play Catch the Alice."

I didn't have a chance outrunning Edward and he knew it. I immediately began cubing numbers and took off into the forest. The only way I could get to Rose before he got me was to keep him out of my head. I zigzagged from tree to tree, running numbers in my head as fast as my footsteps. 1000, 1331, 1728, 2197 Edward's laughter came dangerously close behind me.

"Alice, you can't keep me out forever." His voice bubbled with amusement then dropped to the lowest of whispers, "Let me catch you, little sister. It's a good thing you haven't seen what Emmett was planning on doing to you. It involved your new clothing. He wants to know what you did to get him back for the bed."

Emmett shouted from the forest edge. "Did you catch her yet Edward? Jasper and I will draw straws over who gets her."

10648, 12167…argh…I couldn't focus on the numbers and block the vision of him jumping forward to tackle me. I tried feigning right, but he grabbed my wrist, seeing right through my feint. I slowed to a stop knowing it wasn't worth the struggle. If I was lucky, Esme would call telling us it was time to get ready for school. Edward smiled his crooked smile, trying to charm me.

"I have to turn you over to one of them Alice…" he stopped frowning, thoughts interrupted by something only he could hear.

"WE WIN! WE HAVE THE MOST POINTS AND I TAGGED BOTH BUNKERS AND HQ!" Rosalie's elated voice echoed through the breaking dawn and snow-shadowed trees. I heard both Jasper and Emmett groan as they anticipated her bragging for the rest of the day. Smiling, I jerked my wrist out of Edward's grasp and headed towards home. I saw that Esme would be calling to us from the deep porch, and from my vision Edward knew there would be no time to continue this new game of chase. He caught up to me and threw his arm around my shoulders.

"So, who's it going to be? The unarmed Major, or the raging hill jack?" Edward's face was as solemn as church, but his eyes danced.

I suppressed a giggle and made my face as serious as his. "I think I'll take my chances with the unarmed Major. I might have something that he would want to bargain for."

"As you wish." He winced, "Although I would have preferred that you chose the mountain man. Paybacks are hell, and I won amnesty only if I turned you over to him."

He paused, smiling that smile again. "What did you do to him anyway? I could tell you were anxious about time, but you were awfully good about guarding your intentions."

"Oh you'll see." I flashed him a devious grin and continued the sentence in my head. I'm not telling a soul…and just because you don't think you have one doesn't mean I'm telling you either!

He rolled his eyes, that easy smile unchanged by my refusal to cough up the details. I was subtle this time, but you'll know. Believe me.

"Edward, Rose, Emmett, Alice, Jasper! It's five o'clock." Esme's sweet voice rang through the crisp morning air.

"I'm going in now, I need to get ready. Coming?" I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway. I'm sure he was going to catch up with Emmett and attempt to weasel out of any retribution Emmett intended. Catching my thought, he looked me right in the eye and winked.

"I'll catch up to you later Alice. I've got business to settle." He turned and shouted towards the house. "She's all yours Jasper. Don't forget about all of that hard work you put into those snowballs!"

"Hey!" I punched his arm as I walked to my pending doom, "No fair reminding him!"

He snickered as he ran off to join Emmett then change for school. I meandered home, trying to step in Edward's footprints so I wouldn't create my own path and mar the perfect whiteness that surrounded the house. I had chosen the lesser of the two evils, Jasper would be so simple to distract, especially since the bed collapse had prevented me from using the "surprise" I had purchased from La Perla. He'd be singing my praises in no time. Thank goodness for expensive underwear, and single-minded men. I was practically skipping by the time I reached the door. Everything had gone exactly as I saw. Today started so beautifully: I had new clothes, I'd one upped Emmett, and now I was going to earn rank with the Major. Humming that little melody as I walked through the door, I made a mental note to tell Edward to transpose it into sheet music for me. It was such an inspiringly happy piece; I didn't want to wait until the vision fulfilled itself. I skipped upstairs to Jasper, beautiful clothing, and a perfect morning.