A/N: Honestly, I'm surprised the Twilight crossover has more readers than the Artemis Fowl crossover - you guessed it, this story's winning but the other isn't far behind. Huh, you're all probably tsundere.

I admit... I don't like this chapter. I feel like I'm taking too many creative liberties with Britannian!America. At least this is slightly less contrived than Bella-tachi miraculously being the first people in Forks that Lelouch-tachi meet...

Zero Gravity
by N. Silvutra Mayhem

Advent 02: A Not-So Pleasant Encounter

Lauren frowned, and stopped in her tracks. It took one second for Tyler to notice his conversational partner no longer stood beside him. He slowed and jogged back, messy brown hair flopping as he did so.

" 'sup, Lauren?" he asked.

She didn't answer, at first, not even looking his way. She'd missed her curfew a few days ago, even though she could have sworn she would've been on time, all because of some stupid block on the highway that had to be removed.

And that truck across the road was familiar, too familiar—

"—auren?"

She blinked, and felt the beginnings of a flush tickle her cheeks. "Yeah?"

"I didn't think you were so interested in trucks."

His tone was light-hearted, and she sent her retort easily without too much thought. From the truck, she saw a door open before a slim, dark-haired man stepped out, calling something to the others onboard. Lauren felt her frown appear again... there was something familiar about the guy, but no matter how hard she thought she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

...But she did know one thing, evident even from her distance.

"Britannian bastard," she muttered.

Tyler blinked. "What?"

"I missed curfew because that empty truck blocked off the highway," she replied easily, because that was what happened, but why did it feel so wrong? "Can't go out anymore."

"Ouch."

Lauren nodded, and re-shouldered her school bag. Struck by impulse, she walked to the edge of the road, looked both ways for traffic, and then ran across. Tyler's heavy footsteps followed behind. Something changed in the Britannian's expression when she approached, instantly smoothed back to normal. That change was more than enough to be an admission of guilt.

"May I help you?" he asked, smiling softly.

Without hesitation, she slapped him. Later she would reflect upon why, and come to the conclusion that years of annoyance at the Britannian Empire, and the frustration from her internal confusion all accumulated into one single output. Behind her, Tyler whistled.

The man brought a hand to the reddening mark to the side of his face. When he spoke, his tone was slightly disbelieving. "What was that—"

"Your face," Lauren replied. "And for blocking the highway."

The man blinked a few times, making her think he'd never been slapped before. But now she could think a little clearer, she noticed he was good-looking (—for a Britannian), his hair as soft, inky strands falling over high cheekbones. He was pretty and pale enough to be a Cullen, were it not for his striking purple eyes.

Maybe in different circumstances she would have liked him.

Then she scowled.

Maybe in different circumstances she would have liked freaking Bella Swan, as well, if the affections of her Tyler hadn't been stolen away.

"Lelouch, you said she wouldn't remember us!" Another voice from inside the truck called.

Lauren could only see a shadowy figure, due to the glare caused by the reflection of the glass windows, but it was definitely masculine. Then the figure descent the stairs to stop beside the Britannian. Though his skin was darker, his sun-bleached hair and the sheer sincerity in his eyes made him attractive in his own way. They also screamed of a foreign ethnic background.

The two men stared at each other, a silent conversation. The man with the purple eyes – Lelouch, presumably – adjusted the cuffs of his jacket and shook his head at his companion, then turned back to her.

"My face shouldn't be reason enough for you to slap me," he said.

"There aren't Britannians stupid enough to come here – other than you," Tyler said, answering for her.

"Yet you live in Britannia," Lelouch replied.

"We don't consider ourselves that." He rubbed his hands. "You're lucky it wasn't me doing the hitting, but if you don't leave..."

He left the threat hanging in the air.

The unnamed man stepped forward. "I won't let you hurt him."

"Defending your Britannian friend, Number?"

"I'm Japanese," he replied. "And he's my friend!"

"Hah, as if a Brit and a Number could be friends!"

"Hit him, Crowley!"

"Show the Britannians what we're made of!"

Lauren glanced around to see a crowd had slowly formed a circle around them, as if some gladiatorial match was about to begin. All had furious faces and bloodthirsty cries. All cheering Tyler on.

Just as Tyler lost the battle between his conscience and the pack, bringing his arm back to punch, the shrill shriek of a siren stopped him launching his blow. A police car appeared around a corner, and the pack dispersed as quickly as they appeared. Lauren tugged at Tyler's sleeve, edging backwards.

"Let's go," she muttered. "We don't want to be here."

"But—"

"Really."

The police car slowed, and Lauren broke into a run. She didn't check if Tyler followed.

No, they didn't want to be there. Not at all.

"Sorry I dragged you with me."

Edward smiled, then leant over to kiss Bella on her forehead. "Don't worry about it."

It took every ounce of will for him to not rip her to shreds. But he was used to the effort, having to suppress his urges so in order to fulfill his need to be around her.

"It's just a lunch, though," she said.

"A lunch for your father. Do you want me to check if he's busy?"

To her credit, Bella showed no reaction when he hinted to his supernatural powers. That was one of the reasons he loved her – one of his infinite, infinite reasons.

"That would be great."

Edward didn't need to close his eyes to concentrate his ability. He simply gathered up all the loose strands probing the minds of the people around him and concentrated them until he found the one that he wanted. It was easy to find Charlie Swan's mind; there was just something about it, something so Charlie.

It was a little unfortunate that trying to get Charlie's thoughts was like trying to see through bubble wrap. One could do it, it was just a little fuzzy, and easier to tell colours rather than detail.

Right now, Charlie was feeling concerned. Those two... unhurt, Eleven and Britannian... friends?

Bella's pace toward his office was slow, and Edward saw no rush in having her speed up. He didn't particularly mind Britannians. Forks was a place often left alone by the rest of the country, but there were some cells scattered around the town who disliked Britannia's treatment. Still, he preferred to keep his Bella away from a Number. She didn't need that influence.

"He's got visitors," Edward said finally, listening in a little more. "But they're finishing up, so we can wait outside the door."

"Sure," she said, and he felt his blood rush at her smile.

It turned out they didn't have to wait at all, because when they approached the door the Eleven walked out.

"Okay," the Eleven said to whoever was inside. Bella wouldn't have been able to hear either his words or his thoughts: Confirm lodgings, some motel on some boulevard... Lelouch, geez...

Then the Eleven was in front of them, looking to go past.

"Excuse me," he said.

Bella was staring. Edward knew without having to look at her, so he stepped aside to allow the Eleven though first.

"That was a Number," she said stupidly.

Edward heard the shuffle of cloth before the person's thoughts, and turned away from Bella to see another young man leaving Charlie's office. Impossible—could he block the ability to read minds so perfectly as well?

"Yes," the young man said, his voice smooth like silk. "An Eleven, to be accurate, miss."

Edward heard Bella's heartbeat falter, and he frowned. No boy should mess with her. Then he paid attention, and saw the black hair and pale skin, as well as his startling good looks. Could he have been a vampire?

"I—I see," she stuttered. "Is he your friend?"

"My first. You shouldn't be afraid of Numbers, they're still people."

"I'm not afraid." Just nervous. "But you're Britannian."

"Being Britannian doesn't matter. If you shoot a Number, they will die. If you shoot a Britannian, they will die as well. There's no difference."

"That's very morbid of you," commented Edward.

"It's the truth." He shrugged and walked past them, calling back: "Have good day."

Then he was gone.

Edward looked to Bella, finding her deep in thought. Not for the first time, not for the last time, he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about. He gave her a few moments that were long to his hyper-sensitive reactions and short to her human ones, then steeled himself and linked hands. As expected, he became more aware of the blood pulsing in her veins, and more aware about the strange(—beautiful) mix of lavender and freesia making up her scent.

Take her, his instincts screamed. Take her! She won't fight back—

—then Bella smiled up at him and he forgot everything, because she knew how much he cared and she knew how much the action hurt him, and he felt his heart lifting and nothing troubled him anymore.

She pulled away first. At that point, it didn't matter.

"He was nice, don't glare at him," she said.

Edward hid a wince; trust her to get to the point of the matter. "I can't help being protective of you, you know?"

"I know." Her heartbeat quickened, only slightly. "Do you think he was...?"

"I couldn't read him," he said. Her eyes widened. "Perhaps he was."

"But he had purple eyes."

Edward shrugged. "Maybe he's just a pretty human. Now, didn't you have some lunch to deliver?"

She smiled.

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A/N: It's hard for me to write the Twilight cast (Lauren and Tyler don't count, they're barely mentioned). I will do my best – it's part of this story's challenge, after all. Yeah, I'm not a Twilight fan, I'm just writing this because I want to show Twilight crossovers can be done and hopefully pull it off.

Reviews are love. :)

Next— Advent 03: Painting the Picture