Disclaimer: If I were Stephenie Meyer, I wouldn't be this rude and wait so long to update.

Chapter Eleven:
Where Enemies Appear in the Form of Both Vampires and Crosswalks

Emmett fiddled with the radio, sighing at the results it brought about. He was behind the wheel of his giant jeep, driving through a Canadian forest with the dexterity of one who knows that, if they should find themselves in a situation where the road is no longer under their massive tires, they could easily plow over anything in their path. He was attempting to find a suitable station for the long drive to Forks, Washington that he was undertaking. As the leader in the procession (Alice's not so subtle Porsche behind him and the moving truck that Esme and Carlisle had commandeered taking up the rear), Emmett felt that he should set the tone of this journey correctly. The only problem was that there was no good, tone-setting music on the radio.

Oddly, Emmett wanted to ask Edward about it. This rather shocked Emmett because, when the odd, silent boy had been brought home halfway into his change, Emmett had taken a territorial stance toward the newcomer. Though he would never admit it, Emmett could remember feeling jealous when Rose would laugh at his dry humor or help him with his difficulty in abstaining.

As the weeks turned into months, though, Emmett's rigid stance of rejection took a turn when Edward had approached him with a request. He had wanted to be driven into town, to a record store, and he trusted Emmett to keep close enough of an eye on him so that if he did have trouble with the people, he could be pulled back. "I know I shouldn't risk it," Edward had said, "but I miss the music."

Not knowing why he agreed, Emmett took him to the small shop in town, surprised when he saw some light return to the boy's normally empty eyes as familiar band names and beloved albums were plucked off the shelf with reverence. The boy had found himself in those dusty stacks of CDs.

Edward was a fountain of musical knowledge, being able to recall minute details of a song's production and anecdotes of bands' performances without hesitation, and Emmett was fascinated by how it changed him. Though there was still that heavy sadness with Edward's every move, Emmett could see a glimpse of what he had been like before whatever nameless thing had come and altered his life forever.

They had become brothers, Edward and Emmett, and the latter missed his new friend.

A cold, professional ring broke through Emmett's music-less reverie. It was Carlisle's cell phone, entrusted to Emmett while he was taking up residence in the back of the moving van that Esme drove, making sure that the beautiful antiques didn't smash into each other (Something that Emmett thought Carlisle would get generous thanks from Esme for).

Throwing a quick grin to Rose, who sat in the passenger seat with a book on classic cars, Emmett answered the phone in a supercilious voice, exaggerating the faint British accent that Carlisle could never get rid of. "Good day. I am afraid that the doctor is out, so if you would please leave a message with me, the trustworthy nurse Emmett, I'd be more than happy to pass on the information."

"Emmett?" The tone was soft, but Emmett could easily recognize who owned that rather tense but musical voice.

"Eddy!" Emmett exclaimed. "I was just thinking about you! Hey, do you have any CDs hidden around here? When I ventured onto the radio, the only things I could find were talk shows, so I gave up. Now I'm desperate for some decent tunes and I would owe you my life if-"

"The Volturi know where we are and are coming for us, Emmett," Edward interrupted.

Flabbergasted, Emmett couldn't stop the outburst of "What, you suck that much at hiding? What'd you do, send them a postcard with your address on it?" A sharp punch in the ribs from Rosalie brought him to his senses and he tried to babble out an apology.

Rosalie, her face already set in the calm, distant expression she donned in times of stress, said into the phone, "I'll tell Carlisle, Edward. Don't worry, we'll think of something."

"Thank you, Rosalie," replied a grateful Edward, but she was already out the still moving car and into the passenger seat of the moving truck. Emmett could hear Esme's gasp of shock from where he was.

Emmett, uncomfortable with the grieving, frightened (but only frightened in the I'm-scared-shitless-but-I-don't-want-to-worry-anyone-by-showing-it way) silence on the other end of the phone asked, "How is Bella handling it?"

There was a pause and an exhale of breath. Emmett could almost hear him running a hand through his messy hair, signaling the tried and true frustration, worry, and overwhelming panic that Emmett had seen Edward display many times during his abstinence training. "She… she's out scouting a good place in Forks to meet them, so that no people will be in harm's way." He paused before admitting, "I'm real worried about her, Emmett. She's just kind of shut down and it's like there is nothing but a need for closure driving her."

"Call me stupid for bringing this up, Eddy," Emmett began tensely, "but why don't you just run away?"

Again Emmett was greeted with silence. But this was not the leaden quiet brought on from weariness and emotional uproar; no, this silence was filled with the electricity of expectation. Emmett realized that Edward, for his entire automatic plan making and thinking, didn't quite know why they were staying. If Emmett wasn't so damn curious he might have been embarrassed at his intrusiveness.

"I suppose…" Edward started, still searching for the words to describe the resolute need to stay, "I suppose I want to know what it would be like to want for nothing; to be perfectly content. Never have I just enjoyed something without a nagging worry tugging at the back of my mind. And to know that Bella felt the same way… She just deserves so much more than what has been thrust upon us."

Resolute protectiveness stole over Emmett at his brother's words. "We'll be down as soon as possible," he assured, pressing his foot down even further on the gas pedal.

"Thank you Emmett. And, if you're still interested, I distinctly remember keeping a Clash album underneath the passenger seat."

After Edward hung up, Emmett couldn't help but feel that AC/DC would have been much more appropriate. With his frantically helpless disposition and the looming destination of Forks in his mind, he felt as though he were on the highway to Hell, and there were no exits in sight.

000

In Forks, Susan Perry was undergoing the serious and grave task of crossing the road.

To her, crosswalks were not something that reminded her fondly of the Beatles, but leering tribal markings that caused nothing but paranoia and dread. This irrational logic was founded on the summer day decades ago when her pink Schwinn was run over due to her childhood belief that crosswalks were parking spaces for bikes. Boy, was she proved wrong. The memory of its shiny pink parts flying through the air still haunted her dreams.

Today, she carefully prepared for her dangerous journey by looking to the left and the right six times each in her own OCD manner. She was about to take a step when a loud squealing and the smell of burning tires reached her frightened senses. Backtracking with speed that none would suspect to arise from those aging limbs, Susan Perry threw herself back on the curb and clutched the street sign for dear life.

The traffic violator ceased in a sudden and well-executed manner at the stop sign. It was a glossy black SUV, with windows so dark, Susan couldn't see the driving demons until they lowered. The driver was a pale and thin man in his early thirties wearing a suit like the kind men in the FBI wore. His skin seemed to reflect the clouds above as he leaned his head out the window and sniffed the air with impatience. After a few seconds, he leaned back in, closed the window, and sped off.

Though none of this was as off-putting as the sight Susan witnessed in the back seat. The window had rolled smoothly down, displaying one of the loveliest children Susan Perry had ever seen. The girl, though, instead of laughing angelically like she expected, glared at her with wide red eyes and pulled back her lips to display lethal looking teeth. But then the car was speeding away, to the empty fields a half mile or so away.

Susan sat down on a sidewalk bench and promptly tried to forget it all.

000

The wind had kicked up when Edward was finished checking the perimeter of the meadow for any innocent hikers that could stumble in during this catastrophically horrible meeting. Luckily, there were none, but he still looked west, where Forks was. It felt too close, too vulnerable. Turning his back away from this worrisome problem, Edward saw Bella returning from her rounds.

As he had said to Emmett, Edward felt anxious about Bella's behavior. She went through her actions with a detachment that made her robotic; her answers to his anxious questions were monotone, her movements jerky and hesitant. As much as he racked his mind, Edward couldn't find a single thing to say that would somehow ease her mind. He hated to see his love's eyes filled with tragic withdrawal.

Silently, Edward reached for her hand and placed the palm on the side of his face, gently kissing her wrist as he did so. It was a simple, but decidedly tender and intimate gesture. In it, Bella saw that the undeniable devotion that she felt was returned inch for inch. If she were capable of tears, they would be running down her alabaster skin right now.

"Oh, Edward," Bella whispered softly as she ran her other hand through his bright hair. Understanding that this could be their last few moments with each other, they grasped the other with their hearts on their sleeves. Simultaneously, they leaned in, seeking that comforting contact of the lips and feverishly wrapping their arms around each other.

Time stopped; allowing this small pocket of bliss for the distraught lovers. No matter what happened next, there would always be this one perfect and shimmering moment where they had no doubt or question of their love.

It ended when the wind shifted, bringing with it the sound of an approaching SUV and the smell of their own kind. Breaking apart unwillingly, Edward and Bella clasped hands and faced their oncoming enemy and the uncertainty that came with it.

000

Susan Perry sat on a sidewalk bench, clutching her gasping chest. Though it was over ten minutes later and there were telltale signs of a storm beginning to brew, she couldn't bring herself to once again brave the treacherous crosswalk. She jumped every time she heard a car but winced when thunder tolled far off in the distance.

These two hateful things battled in her mind. Should she stay on this bench and get soaked, or should she risk the chance of getting run over, like her pink Schwinn?

Another wheeze of thunder made up her mind for her and she stepped tentatively to the curb. Susan looked left, then right, then left again, the right again before glancing to the left, then the right, then the left. Having secured in her mind the fact that the streets were clear, she promptly checked to her right and left, then jogged bravely into the street.

She was halfway across when grinding gears belonging to a powerful engine shrieked in her ears. The biggest car she had ever seen – a cherry red Jeep of looming proportions – came to an immediate stop at the stop sign in front of the crosswalk. Behind it, there was a yellow sports car and after that was a moving truck. Susan Perry swallowed in terror as she saw how close the glinting grill of the first car was.

Before she could make up her mind as to whether or not she should run or faint, a man with a thatch of curly brown hair leaned out of the driver's window in a manner similar to the pale man from before. He sniffed at the air for a second, then looked at Susan with serious golden eyes. "Would you mind moving?" he asked her with clipped urgency. "'Cause if you don't, I'm in no mood to have qualms about running you over."

In the swiftest jerk of movement Susan had ever managed to make, she was back on the street curb, sprawled on the bench, her clammy skin pale with horror. She saw the procession go in the same direction as the SUV before them and felt a chill go up her spine that wasn't at all brought on by the weather.

Her heart sank when she realized that she was still on the sidewalk she had begun on. Looking at the crosswalk with a reverent fear reserved for only the most vicious of gods in Grecian times, Susan decided that a little rain couldn't hurt anyone.

000

Though the little bit of rain that was now falling onto Edward and Bella couldn't hurt them, the figures approaching them surely could.

Bella began to expand her shield, pushing it over Edward as well. With dread, she counted out eight Volturi, not the dreadfully large amount her mind had been expecting, but still outnumbering Edward and her. Two menacing men that she had only glimpsed in the throne room were leading the procession as Aro was flanked by Jane and Alec in the middle and followed by two women and a man. The amount of unknown faces worried Bella; with people you knew, weaknesses were easy to pick out, but she didn't know anything about these people. They, on the other hand, knew all about her.

She looked toward Edward, who stood tall and firm at her side. His chin was raised in unflinching and cocky self assurance and his eyes stared straight ahead blazing ferocity. If Bella didn't know him so well, she would only assume that he was completely confident of coming out of this the unscathed victor, but she saw the panicked anxiety about the lines of his mouth and eyes. As he squeezed her hand more tightly, Bella saw that this worry was not for his own welfare, but for that of her, his love. She returned his gesture with just as much love.

Not turning his head or showing any sign of speaking, Edward muttered out of the corner of his mouth: "They're confused. They expected to surprise us and catch us off our guard, not see us completely prepared for them."

Not a move was made after the Volturi came to a stop twenty feet away from Edward and Bella. Not a sound was made except for the howling wind. Not an emotion was displayed as they watched each other with apprehension. The thunder rolled overhead and a gentle rain started to fall. They all ignored it.

Aro was the first to speak, breaking out in front of the two guards in front of him and looking at the lovers with the expression of a parent who is only trying to reason with their illogical children. "You two must realize the consequences of what you have done. I will, however, grant you reprieve if you accompany us back to Voltaire and join the guard."

Edward snorted with amusement. "Though that is a lovely offer, I'm afraid we'll just have to decline." He smiled mockingly, knowing that insulting Aro had to be on the top of the list What Not to Ever Do in Any Situation. All I need is some time, though, he thought. The others are almost here.

Aro clenched his old wrists in rage. It wasn't until now that Bella noticed how different he looked; his eyes were too dark and angry to be like the energetic and bright ones she had always seen before, his skin looked even frailer than it normally did, and he had an overwhelming sense of desperation about him. He tried to hide it under his haughty air and demanding tones, but he was acting as surely as Edward. "How dare you!" he spat. "How dare you insult me?" At his outburst, the guards fanned out, starting to surround the two. "You seem to forget, young Edward, that we can easily kill you. You're outnumbered."

In the most perfect of timing – saved specifically for movies and Saturday morning cartoons – a booming voice yelled, "Not anymore!"

It all happened rather quickly after that.

Emmett was the first to reach the group; hurtling himself through the rain that filled the air and tackling two of the guards at once. Rosalie was close behind, deftly pulling one of the two down by his face and unleashing a tornado of fists and blonde fury. Alice and Jane were whirling in a seemingly synchronized ballet, both of their tiny bodies just barely dancing out of the other's reach. Carlisle had dragged one of the guards off of Esme and was quickly making him regret choosing his wife to harm. Jasper was caught in a match of strategic feigning and attack with one of the more vicious looking female guards.

All the while, Aro was being closely watched over by Alec, who, like his sister, was frantic by the fact that his powers didn't affect anyone. His eyes madly searched the cause of this unusual phenomenon and they settled on Bella. She had her eyes closed, her mouth compressed tightly in concentration and her hands vaguely outstretched, as if she were manipulating some invisible fabric in front of her. Alec's eyes widened in disbelief and he quickly sought to remedy the situation.

Gesturing to a man from the guard who had just landing after being thrown across the field by Carlisle, Alec nodded his head toward Bella, signaling that she was the prime target. The man nodded once and quickly ran over to the brunette with his arms outstretched and ready to tear her limbs apart under the command of his superior.

Edward, who had been flitting across the field and assisting his family in any way he could, saw this thought in the man's mind and promptly grabbed his throat. The guard, for all his battles and wars, had never seen such fury and loathing in the eyes of anyone like he saw in this young man's golden ones. Feeling strong hands grip even more tightly around his throat, the man wondered if the Volturi were way over their heads to be going against people like this.

One of the women came out of nowhere and brutally ripped the two apart before delivering a vicious jab at Edward's ribcage while the man held him. The sound of four ribs breaking snapped Bella out of her trance and brought her attention to her Edward. He struggled as much as he could, but they had overpowered him. Soaked in rain, seeing his family being steadily overtaken by the guard, Edward felt the fear that had been creeping along the edges of his conscious take him over. His eyes met Bella's, and in them she saw his final goodbye.

Desperation took her over. Thinking that somehow, some way, she could help them, help Edward, she gathered her shield and mentally thrust it towards him without even thinking about it. All she could think about was that Edward was in pain.

This was the moment that Alec was waiting for. All of a sudden, Bella was out of the protection of her shield, having projected it toward the fighting group of family and foe in front of her. She was left defenseless. He pushed the slow buildup of his Novocain-like mist toward her with all the force he could manage.

All of Bella's senses were cut off. Numb from everything around her, she collapsed to the ground without feeling a thing. Blind, deaf, and dumb, she lay immobile in the cloying darkness.

Alec moved quickly; building up the nearly invisible mist to form a thick layer over her body, he crouched beside her and spread his hands across the bare skin of her face. Like elastic, her shield was trying to snap back into place, with only Alec's dense mist to hold it at bay. But still, it forced with a persistence he wouldn't be able to handle without direct contact with her skin.

Her sudden fall caught the attention of all the Cullens. The highly trained and highly merciless Volturi guard took the opportunity to grab whoever they were fighting and pin them. Jane, now uninhibited by the disappearance of the shield, unleashed her special brand of torture on to the Cullens. They gamely took the excruciating pain without screaming.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten Edward. He shakily stood up, his ribcage mending and reworking, and looked up to see his family under Volturi control. He scanned their pained, sorry faces, heard the bitter screams inside their thoughts, and saw that they would have done it all again to help him. Edward slowly turned until he saw Bella, his lovely Bella, completely still on the ground.

A strangled cry rose from his throat as he staggered to her. He wanted to kill Alec, who dared to touch her beautiful face; he wanted to see this demon child suffer for the suffering he was bringing upon them. Edward growled lowly. Yes, the boy would pay, and then the rest of the guard would pay, especially Aro.

As he was about to make his vow a reality, though, a thought from around him caught his attention. It was little Jane, who had been sadistically taking pleasure out of the Cullens' pain when she realized that she couldn't get to Edward. How is this? They boy isn't a shield; he can't be immune, as well.

That stopped Edward in his tracks. It seems that Bella, so adamant to protect him, had used what little power she had left to do just that. Even though it was temporary, Edward had a valuable parting gift from Bella. If he acted out in vengeance to free his family, he would miss the opportunity that was so prominently before him. All of his family may be held back, but that meant that all the Volturi guard couldn't risk letting them go. Except the lone Aro, who had no protection.

Aro realized this at the same moment. He saw the young Edward stand up straight, ignoring the pain in his ribs, and turn his blazing gold eyes toward him. Aro hadn't felt real terror in ages, but now he felt to his very core. Running was useless and, due to the power that came with his position, he had not fought in countless centuries. All he could do was stand there, motionless with the fearful anticipation of what would happen next.

Edward took his time to close the space between them. Every step meaningful, he looked like an avenging angel as the rain ran through his now darkened hair and dragged at the hem of his t-shirt. Never had anyone looked so lethal, so furious, while wearing a thin cotton shirt that proclaimed him to be a fan of Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

With a sudden rush of speed, Edward knocked Aro down. He crouched beside him and splayed his hands across the fragile skin in an obvious mimic of what Alec had done to Bella. Forcing the man to see what he had seen, hear what he had heard, and feel what he had felt, Edward made Aro relive the past two years through his eyes.

Aro had never felt so suffocated before. His struggling was useless as the boy held him firmly down. All Aro could do was watch his tale.

His human life passed quickly before his eyes until his seemed to slow down, forced to take its time, when it came to a rain soaked beach and a beautiful girl on a pier. Aro could feel that instant need to help her, that timeless connection, as Edward had felt. The elated waiting for morning followed as Edward just wanted to see her face again.

Then the crushing disappointment at this beautiful girl's disappearance and the months of waiting that followed. The tireless planning that led up to the briefest, but most heavenly, minutes of contact before she left again. Resolve steeled over his heart but it wasn't enough to protect him from the bullets that came next.

Aro was helpless to avoid feeling the boy's pain after the good doctor changed him. And through all the practice for control and all the dizzying information that Edward was put through when he first became a vampire, all he had thought about was her. Only her.

And when she was seen in Forks in a vision of Alice's, Edward followed without a second glance. She had thought that he was dead, she had mourned him, and she felt the same. Both gave themselves to the other, freely sharing the love they had been safely harboring in uncertainty in the most beautiful and lovely of moments.

Then, once more, she left, unknowingly taking his heart with her. Edward's unexpected visit with his parents surprised Aro. The control and the respectful love he felt for them was evident in every facet of that beloved memory. The bittersweet sadness of that meeting shoved violently out of his mind when Carlisle said the word "Volturi."

Searching again. The plane ride was full of worry, and the meeting with Felix was riddled with false confidence as he told himself over and over again that they wouldn't keep them apart. They couldn't. No one was that heartless.

Edward forced Aro to linger in the crumbling world he had found himself in as Aro told him that Bella no longer loved him. Next was the zombie like complacency that came from being under Chelsea's power and the underlining confusion as Edward searched his heart for any feeling for Bella.

He was saved from this when Bella could control her power, and the two ran away for what they thought would be the last time. But their happy and safe bubble was punctured abruptly with one call from Felix.

Then Aro saw himself; saw how cold and self-righteous and cruel and desperate he was as he set his drones to attack an innocent family. He heard the Cullens' thoughts as they fought to help their new son and brother, daughter and sister, without an inkling of blame. Aro heard what they each thought of him, from Rosalie's assertions that he was a heartless bastard, to Jasper's quick assessment that he had gone to far in his search for power, to sweet Esme's cold rage as she directed it toward anyone who would harm her family, to Carlisle and his wishful remembrance of a different Aro from centuries past.

But this was all miniscule to the thoughts of Bella that had been first and foremost in Edward's mind since they met. Happy Bella, sad Bella, angry Bella, sweet Bella, determined Bella, Bella just being Bella as she read a book and unconsciously chewed on her pinkie nail. Bella playfully swatting Edward's shoulder in mock anger, Bella laughing in delight as Edward twirled her around faster and faster, Bella being embarrassed when Edward said they had eloped in Las Vegas, Bella heartbroken as her dream was shattered by the Volturi, Bella standing on tip toes to kiss the love of her life, Bella being brave in the face of almost certain death. Just Bella.

And through it all was the unwavering love and devotion that Edward felt for her every second.

Edward took his hands from Aro's face and stepped back, ready to shred the ruler limb from limb if he didn't take this second chance that he had been given. He saw Aro slowly get up, rain plastering his white hair over his face and dragging down his robe to show his vulnerably thin frame. He said nothing as he looked in the pained eyes of the Cullens, who he had been so jealous of, not because of their power, but because they had the bravery to change and adapt, unlike him.

Shamefaced and stunned from seeing himself in this new light, Aro thought, Dear God, what have I done? Knowing his brothers had been right, he gestured for his guard to let the Cullens go and led them back to the forest and their waiting car, ignoring their confused looks and anger at being taken away from a fight that they were winning.

Aro vowed, with one last look to the Cullens standing in a semicircle around Edward and Bella, that he would find it in himself to change, even if it killed him.

000

Bella woke with a start when her shield pushed away the last vestige of Alec's mist. She looked around in horror, expecting to see her Edward and his family dead on the field, but instead, found herself in Edward's loving arms, his family surrounding them.

"What happened?" she asked.

Edward smiled. "You did." And she understood completely, without needing to ask.

He helped her up and turned her to face their new family, who were paired off and taking stock of their partners' wounds. Esme was helping Carlisle reset his shoulder with a loud crack, Jasper snapped Alice's wrist back in place as she told him what a bitch Jane was, and Rosalie cooed over the long gash that cut through Emmett's shirt and left a clean slice in his back. He looked proud as she told him that she thought scars were sexy.

Wanting to make this a happy moment, Edward cleared his throat to draw their attention and they looked up. Bella could feel their eyes on her and she looked down in embarrassment. "Everyone," Edward started with exaggerated formality, "this is Bella, my girlfriend." A smile spread across his face as he realized what an understatement that was before he continued, "Bella, this is Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett." He gestured toward each of them as he said their name.

Bella looked up, expecting to see their faces angry because of what she had put them through and instead seeing Alice and Emmett fighting to welcome her first before they both settled on hugging her enthusiastically at the same time. As Alice commented on how nice her hair looking even when it was soaked, Emmett pounded her on the back and said that she was too pretty to be with Edward. Jasper shook her hand politely and Rosalie smiled widely before Esme wrapped her in a tight hug and Carlisle welcomed her into the family. All this time, Edward stood back and watched with a face-splitting grin.

As the rain decreased and the sun could be seen through the thinning clouds, Bella caught his eye and returned his smile, feeling happier and more complete than she ever had been as her family enveloped her with all the love they had.

One more left!

And, in regards to Edward showing Aro his memory: Aro had seen it before, but only after Chelsea took control of Edward, making it different in the way he perceived his past and the people in it.