OK, here's Chapter Three. Please read and review!!! Metaphorical cookies for anyone who does! And eternal gratitude!

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. But I hate myself for not coming up with it first. :)

Edward

How can I stop Bella from going to fight the Volturi? I asked myself again. Her stubborn nature was partly what made me love her, but it would be useful to have the power to make it disappear occasionally. I ran through possible arguments in my head, fully aware that none of them will work. She'd just argue that Alice's visions can change, or that Aro will find her even if she hides, or that they'll harm me to get to her… the list went on. I drummed my fingers on the windowsill absentmindedly, wishing I'd been chosen to go and find the others. Anything would be better than waiting at home for people to turn up, or for something to happen, or for Alice and Jasper to come up with a brilliant plan that I had to help with. I growled quietly in frustration and paced to the wall and then back to the window. I heard Bella walking up the stairs and counted her steps to calm myself.

"Everything all right, love?" she asked, rising up on her toes to kiss me as she joined me at the window. I kissed her back, distractedly at first, but my love for her made me forget all my other worries after a second. As I pulled away, I struggled to remember her question.

"Yes, nothing's happened," I answered. We looked out of the window for a second.

"Is that what the problem is?" she asked.

"What?" I said, turning to face her.

"You're nervous because nothing's happened yet." A smile appeared on her face. She knows when she's right. I nodded reluctantly.

"That's supposed to be good," she reminded me, reaching up to kiss me again. She pulled back this time. "No being overprotective and telling me not to fight," she warned me before I could say exactly that. "You know and I know that I'm needed and that nothing you say can dissuade me, so you might as well keep the peace and not mention it."

"But…" I began to protest, but she silenced me with a kiss. When we reluctantly pulled apart, I looked down into her golden eyes. "What was I saying again?" I asked, and it was worth it to hear her laugh.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go and find Alice and ask if anyone's called."

I followed her obediently down the stairs, only slightly less worried.

Alice's mind was filled with changing futures, but she looked up and smiled when we entered the room. Jasper was sitting on the arm of her chair protectively, thinking of hundreds of different battle plans if it did come to a fight.

"Any ideas?" Bella asked them.

"A few," Jasper answered. "Of course, there are so many possibilities to consider. Aro's still undecided as to how many people they're sending, so it's a bit difficult to plan for every different combination."

Alice nodded in agreement.

"He's considering the first combination again now," she informed Jasper. I saw the "first combination" in her mind and didn't like it. Would it be too much to ask to just send unskilled vampires who couldn't fight? I supposed it would.

"They don't want to openly pick a fight for no reason," Alice continued, "but they really want revenge. If they can persuade us to join, that'll be an added bonus for them. That's probably why…" she trailed off, but I saw what she had been about to say in her mind. That was probably why they were holding Bella in Alice's first vision and not simply trying to kill her. The thought of him forcing her to stand by his side while Chelsea tried to whittle down our relationship and bind Bella to the Volturi repulsed me. I put an arm round Bella's shoulders. If I were still human, I would have been unsteady.

"That's probably why what?" Bella asked, looking first up at me, and then at Alice for answers.

"Nothing," Alice and I answered together. It pained me to lie to her, but I didn't want her to decide there was less risk. The way her mind worked, she'd probably see it as good that they wanted to enslave her rather than imprison her. But they didn't just want to do that. They wanted to change who she was, and I liked her as Bella.

We were saved from Bella pestering us when the phone rang. All of us leapt up at vampire speed in our desire to find out the news, but Bella was closest, so she got there first.

"Hello?" she said while we all stood and listened impatiently.

"Hi, Bella," I heard Rosalie say. Bella's face lit up.

"Rose!" she cried. I shook my head. I knew that both of our relationships with Rosalie had improved infinitely in the last few weeks, but she still wasn't usually that delighted to hear her voice.

"Hi," Rosalie repeated. "We've found all the people on our list and they're all coming. We're going to drive back at full speed now, so we'll see you there. We haven't heard from Carlisle and Esme yet though. We've tried calling them, but their phone's off. It's probably nothing, they've probably just forgotten about it or something, but…"

My concern was reflected in my siblings' and my wife's expressive eyes.

"Okay, if you do hear anything, call us," Bella said, struggling to remain calm. I felt her panic through Jasper and held her in my arms.

"Will do," Rosalie said shortly. "See you."

"See you," Bella mumbled, hanging up the phone.

There was a long pause.

"It'll be fine…" Alice began, but she broke off and stared unseeingly at the wall. I watched her vision as she did in horror. She soon looked back at us, staring into all of our eyes in turn.

"It might not be fine," she amended, her voice even higher than usual. "But it probably will…" She ran out of the house and towards the garage, the rest of us at her heels.