Sadie and Mark were seated on the couch, sipping hot chocolate. There was a slightly awkward silence in the room.

"So," Sadie said, "where's everyone else?"

"The Cullens and the other vampire family are talking about something outside, and the rest of my pack arrives tomorrow."

"Oh, they're coming too?"

"Yeah, duh! We have to protect you, remember?"

"Oh, right, ok."

Another seemingly endless silence stretched between the two friends.

Finally, Sadie sighed. She set her mug on the table, and leaned closer to Mark, her head on his shoulder. She felt a lot better when she was near him, as her body absorbed his heat.

Mark, slightly surprised, leaned his head against hers.

"Mark," Sadie said quietly, "I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of the Volturi, of what might happen."

"Nothing's going to happen to you."

"No, not what might happen to me, but what might happen to you." Sadie sat up, and stared into Mark's eyes, her own glistening on the edges. "I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me," Mark answered, putting his arm around Sadie and pulling her closer to him. "You're not going to get rid of me that easy."

Despite herself, Sadie smiled slightly. "Why would I ever want to get rid of you?" she asked him.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I have something against girls who like action movies?"

Sadie giggled as she remembered the first time they watched a movie together. It seemed to be such a long time ago, like almost a lifetime.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Eleazar and Carlisle walked in.

"We have something important to tell you," Eleazar said.

--------------

A while later, Sadie was sitting, stunned. Mark's arm was still around her, but she could barely feel his presence.

"So, I can absorb powers?" she asked tentatively.

"And give them to others," Eleazar completed.

Sadie leaned back, still trying to assimilate all the information.

"We know it's a lot to take in," Carlisle said, "but it's important that we begin teaching you how to use your abilities."

"Why?"

"Because the more you know now, the less the chances of you losing control if you ever become one of us."

"One of you?"

"A vampire."

"Oh."

"But isn't this more of an overreaction?" Mark interrupted. "I mean, what are the chances that Sadie might not make it human?"

A look from Carlisle silenced the young were-wolf, and he glanced worriedly at his best friend.

"Ok," Sadie said, trying to decrease the tension in the room, "when do we start?"

"Right now."

--------------

"Concentrate, Sadie, concentrate," Eleazar urged the young girl as she tried to absorb some of Mark's energy.

Sadie didn't feel like she could take it anymore. She had tried and tried to suck in her friend's energy, as she had been instructed, but she didn't seem to be able to.

With an exasperated sigh, she lowered her head. "I can't do it."

"Yes you can, you just have to concentrate!" Eleazar answered.

With another sigh, Sadie tried again. She breathed in and out, staring at Mark, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Um, could you close your eyes?" he asked nervously. He hadn't minded being the one they experimented on, but Sadie's persistent glares were making him anxious.

Sadie did as Mark asked, and was suddenly aware that she was a lot more perceptive of her other senses. She concentrated on her sense of touch, which had felt the blare of Mark's heat a lot more than before.

She could hear Mark's even breaths, and if she listened closely, his heart beating against his chest.

Sadie shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts, and instead thought of Mark's warmth.

Almost unconsciously, her hands raised themselves, and got into a position about three millimeters from Mark's body.

As she inhaled and exhaled, Sadie imagined her body's energy current flowing through her in a bright yellow color, and she could picture Mark's as a vivid red.

She imagined her hands taking in Mark's energy slowly, until her yellow strands blended with the red, forming an orange color.

Mark gasped slightly, and Sadie opened her eyes.

"What?" she asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Mark said, "I just felt cold for a moment."

Sadie turned to Eleazar, and was surprised by the look of happiness on his face. Puzzled, she turned to Mark, who shrugged.

"You did it!" Eleazar said excitedly. "It was so amazing, I could almost feel it myself!"

"Really?" Sadie said, amazed. "That was it? I thought it was going to be a lot harder."

"That's it, that's it," Eleazar repeated.

Mark stood up and stretched. "Well, I'd love to stay some more, but I think I should transform and talk with the rest of my pack. They'd like to know what's been going on."

"Oh, yes, by all means," Eleazar agreed.

"Won't you be cold?" Sadie asked.

"Nah, Sadie. I'm a were-wolf, remember?"

"I thought you said you weren't."

"Ha-ha. No, seriously, I have some advantages against the snow." And with that, Mark left the room to go outside.

"Maybe now we can try something more difficult," Eleazar suggested.

"Ok," Sadie agreed. The whole situation indicated that there would be a battle soon, and Sadie wanted to help her side as much as she could, not only for herself, but for the entire vampire race.

--------------

Mark stepped into the bitter cold and smiled. He barely felt it now, unlike when he had been inside. He shivered slightly as he remembered the sudden drop in temperature in the room.

Mark took of his clothes and transformed. He began to run through the drifts and snowflakes.

He was worried about Sadie, but he would never tell her. She felt like she had an important role to play in the future war, but Mark knew that he would rather die than let her get close enough to even watch it.

He didn't exactly trust Sadie's power. Truth to be told, it rather freaked him out. Now, whenever he imagined Sadie's abilities, he imagined a huge, swirling vortex absorbing all the energy and powers it could. It was scary to imagine that such an innocent looking girl could hold such deadly potential.

Mark felt the threads that connected him to the rest of his pack.

Hello Mark, Jacob said through their united conscience.

Jacob, Mark nodded mentally.

So, how's it going?

The vampires are training Sadie to use her powers.

Whoa, seriously?

Yeah, they think that if she knows how to use them, she won't go berserk when she's turned. Mark's mental voice sounded reluctant as he thought this. He wanted Sadie to remain human forever, he liked her that way. He couldn't imagine her as a vampire. How would they hang out?

How soon will you guys get here? Mark asked, quickly changing the subject.

Jacob, knowing that Mark would rather not talk about what he was going through, answered him, In a couple of hours, and we'll be ready for the battle. Jacob growled a mental challenge at the vampires who had threatened his true love's family for too many times.

Hearing Jacob's reply, Mark cut off their conversation and transformed back into himself. He pulled his clothes on, and headed back to the house.

No matter what happened, he had to protect Sadie.

(A/N) Yay! Another chapter! Aren't you guys all happy? Ok, I didn't like the last chapter, so I wrote this one to make it up to you. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Catty - You forgot to write the disclaimer again.

Oh, how silly of me! Why do I always forget?

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, X-Men (mentioned in last chapter), Alaska, etc.