A/N: Thanks to jilburfm for rocking the beta. OCD_indeed for the twilighted beta, pastiche_pen for general hand-holdery and encouragement.

Carlisle POV

By Tuesday, all of the necessary preparations had been made. We'd arrived early Monday and taken the day to look at blueprints, the area around the compound, the personnel that would likely be present, to make a plan. Without the tracking device, Garret was crucial. He was able to provide us with the exact location of the facility, as well as most of the vital details, such as the cell in which Edward was kept and what we would need in order to access the lower levels of the compound, but wasn't able to give us the exact room where Bella would be held.

Every time Alice searched, she shriveled into a ball and came out of it screaming, writhing in an agony that terrified us all, until she refused to look any further. She gave us a basic description of the room where we'd find Bella, but the visions were leaving us all on edge.

Garrett told us, based on the drawing Alice provided, that Bella was in the eastern wing of the compound in one of several identical rooms.

When we overtook the compound, we'd split up. Emmett, Rosalie and I were set to retrieve Edward, Emmett's physical strength being our greatest attribute, and Esme, Alice and Jasper would begin the search for Bella. We could only hope that we'd not be too late.

The time constraint was certainly an issue. Alice had confirmed on the way to the airport that Number Thirty-one was definitely Bella, and that if we moved too soon, she'd still be in the in-between state, which harbored its own set of dangers. If we arrived too late, the Volturi would beat us there. If that happened, while I had no doubt that they would be successful in ending the laboratory, I worried that little care would be taken in ensuring Edward and Bella's safety.

So for the moment, we were coming to an impasse. Provisions had been made, but we could not yet make our move. Aro certainly realized by now that I intended to go in, and on the unlikely occasion that we were captured alive, it would be a short lived victory for the humans. One way or another, this facility was taking its final breaths. Reinforcements were on the way.

Garrett assured us that these men did not have the means to capture vampires, only contain them. It offered some hope, however small, of us taking our family back alive.

My phone rang as I went over the blueprints for the tenth time. "Hello," I said, as calmly as I could, dreading what I knew I must do. Charlie was on the other end, and he was frantic.

"Have you heard from them?" the chief of police asked, his voice breathless. He'd called almost every hour since Sunday evening, when I'd told him that both Edward and Bella had disappeared in the night. Her face was all over the news, which I couldn't blame him for. Similarly, a description of Edward was painted for the entire state of Washington. When he'd asked me for a picture that I couldn't provide, Charlie had grilled me mercilessly, getting every detail of Edward's appearance to a tee. My heart ached for the man.

As hard as it was to lie to him, I knew what I needed to do. I'd told him that we'd gone searching, that we'd gone to Chicago, in hopes that Edward would return to his family. He bought it, desperate, and filed a missing person's report at once.

Now, he said, "Bella has been researching this — this man, in Ohio. Do you think that has something to do with it?" His question was full of hope, of maybe being on to something. I hated every second of every phone call, knowingly driving Charlie away from the truth of his daughter's whereabouts.

"I don't know," I responded, pain leaking into my voice. I ground my teeth, forcing the words out. "She hasn't mentioned it to me."

"I know he has to do with it. She had me pull a background check on this lab guy. I'm going to make some calls."

"I think that's for the best. I took a leave from the hospital; we'll be here for the time being. If you hear anything, please let me know immediately."

Just as I was about to hang up, I heard, "Dr. Cullen," and froze.

"Yes?"

"Edward… you'd tell me if he were… dangerous, right? You wouldn't let him hurt my daughter?"

I closed my eyes and rubbed them, too hard. "Wherever Bella is, I'm sure she's safe. I can't… I don't know what's going on with them. But I do know that Edward loves her, and he'd sooner die than let any harm come to her." I hated myself for the truth of the situation. "I'll let you know if I hear anything."

The cop had no response. He whispered, "Okay," his voice emitting waves of terror and despondence. I hung up before I decided to tell him everything that I knew.

"Couple hours," Alice said from behind me.

"Any predictions on how this might all play out?" I asked warily.

"With a bang," she said, her smile not fitting the rest of her expression.

I made one more phone call that morning, praying it would be enough. He answered on the first ring.

"Aro," I said into the receiver.

"Carlisle." There was a smile in his voice that put me on edge. "I do hope you've decided to heed my advice," the old vampire responded automatically. "We've got this dealt with."

"You have a location?" I asked, dumbfounded. I anticipated it taking them longer.

"As you certainly know by now, we've been tracking Edward for some time."

"Tracking? How?" Immediately my mind scanned through the possibilities. "New talent?"

"Oh, no, nothing so complex. Alec placed a tracking device in the blood. Fantastically cunning, that boy. As I said, we have it under control. No need to worry, it's almost over."

My eyebrows knit together as I walked to the window, looking out over the smog-infested Ohioan city. It wasn't something that surprised me. It was exactly what one could expect out of the Volturi. Lies, deception, trickery. Cunning, indeed. What surprised me was how we'd missed it. Someone had been present with Edward the entire time the Volturi visited, and the only time the guard was left unattended during their visit was when…

"When we were upstairs," I said out loud, piecing it together. "You had your guard spike my blood while you tortured him upstairs." It was an accusation.

"Come now, Carlisle, it wasn't torture." I recalled the exact moment that Jane had put her eyes on him. Those deceptive little fingers. "I thought you'd be pleased! This will all be wrapped up, your hands clean."

"And Edward? Bella?" I wasn't sure I was prepared for his answer.

"Carlisle, you know how it is." There was a pause while he considered his words. Already, I felt my body poising for action. If they knew where Edward was, they would be close by now. "Casualties of war. I told Jane to spare them if possible, but alas, it was not. Certainly you realized how this would end…"

I dropped the phone then, and ran. I felt the family spring into action behind me.

Bella POV

The agony was infinite. I felt that, time permitting, it would go on for a million years. In the recesses of my mind, I knew what was happening. It'd been explained to me once, the pain of being turned. The process the human body undergoes to become unhuman. To become undone. And I had.

I tried to see Edward when the pain was at its worst. I tried to picture my vampire, the small laughs and half-smiles. My memories were interrupted by screaming, though, and I realized it was me who was making all the noise.

I wanted to tell myself to shut up, that I couldn't focus and I needed to focus if I were going to survive. I really didn't think I was.

But then slowly, it faded. And as it became manageable, I started becoming more alert. Warm fingers pried my mouth open, and I let them, because I had no control over myself. I felt a liquid flow down my throat and I wondered if it'd grant me any respite from the pain. It did not. The other one left. Left me alone. Painstakingly, I became more aware of my surroundings, of where I was, of who I was. Who was I?

And the agony faded, mostly. Almost everywhere, but not quite. It centralized, hurt and misery and a million stabbing knifes, all at the hollow of my neck. I sat up, testing my strength. I took a deep breath and smelled everything. Smelled humans, I realized, wanting them. I was no longer a part of them. They were them now, and we were us. Interesting.

Come closer, I wanted to say, but I didn't think my throat would allow such petty uses. The world was suddenly clear to me, like I'd been living with fog covered glasses on and finally they were taken off.

The walls, covered in filth. The air, the smells, the sounds. I heard screaming from every direction. Not necessarily pained screams, but screams of madness.

I knew implicitly that this was their plan for me, too. I'd go mad, just like the rest, unless I put a stop to it.

And I would. My brain conjured an image of a man; a man whose throat would be the first of many that I tore out. I'd tear every throat out, and maybe it would dull this ache.

I stood experimentally, intentionally slow. A cat, stretching her haunches after a long winter's sleep. I was in a new room, different from before. In this one, the walls were silvery, smooth but for the occasional dent. Thick. I could barely hear beyond them, and I figured that meant very, very, strong. I put my hand against it, fully palmed the thing, and pushed.

It didn't give. So I pushed harder. Still nothing.

And I did something that I didn't understand nor did I care to understand: I smiled.

I imagined the life of my captors running down my throat and into my belly. It would be magnificent.

I heard a new scream and listened intently, trying to swallow back some of the pain. No blood for now, my new mind said. Even my inner voice had a newfound clarity. I was no longer prey.

The noise from beyond my cell was definitely female. Not Edward, then. Not my vampire. My vampire. I toyed with it. He was my vampire and I was his, and I'd kill everyone who ever laid a hand on him.

I closed my eyes and inhaled, deeply, taking in every scent that I could possibly smell. My throat stung like a mad crazy bitch, but I ignored it, because in the distance, I realized with alarm, was smoke.

Every nerve in my body coiled, ready for action. Fire was my enemy, and I felt that with every single fiber of my being. The screams outside of my cage became desperate, and I found myself pushing harder, slamming my body against the cool metal door. Against any surface within my reach. None of them were giving, though. I wondered if maybe the fire was contained. If maybe I was overreacting?

As the smell of smoke grew stronger and the screams of vampires began blending with those of their human counterparts, I heard the first explosion, followed by a series of what I could only imagine to be chemicals combusting. And damned if it wasn't five minutes after I turned into a vampire that I went into full blown panic mode.

Jasper POV

The race was on. In a big way.

I knew before Carlisle did that things were becoming a shit storm and fast, as his anxiety slowly crawled its way up and up before it culminated in a move that left us all reeling.

Carlisle was out the door.

The rest of us followed effortlessly behind him. The hell if we knew where we were going, but we had a pretty damned good idea.

We ran at full sprint through the city, barely catching glimpses of trees, buildings and the people we plowed through. We were careful not to touch them, and mostly they would write us off as strong, perhaps strange, gusts of wind.

I knew we were in for a world of trouble before we saw it — we all did. We could smell the smoke from a mile or so outside the compound, and we ran impossibly faster. We reached the military-style gates in mere seconds. Carlisle didn't stop to think about how to break through; brute force worked just fine.

And just like that, we were in.

Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky and it was then that we all sort of lost it. We all knew that smoke: it was a sure sign that inside of those walls, vampires were burning. We charged in, Emmett and Carlisle going for Edward, Alice and I going for Bella. We had the blueprints memorized and were generally able to use our strength to knock shit down.

We weren't too worried about being destructive.

The humans throughout the building were in a state of panic, the alarms blaring loudly and water dousing everything in sight. On our way through the main floor, we grabbed the first worker we spotted. A gnarly man, mid-fifties in a lab coat, and dragged him with us. He coughed earnestly into the air, screaming and attempting to pry my fingers from his neck. It was futile.

"Please" he screamed, his voice muffled by the sounds of panic coming from within these walls. "We can't go down there! It's burning!" When we didn't stop pushing forward, he continued his fruitless plea. "I have a wife, kids! Please! We'll all be burned alive!"

Emotions were running rampant and I was starting to get a headache, but I dragged him forward. When we got to the first titanium gate, leading into the eastern corridor, I slammed his hand against the metal, right above the code box.

"Get us in," I growled, and in the one moment that he hesitated, I broke three of his fingers. Alice watched with what could have been awe or disapproval or a mixture of the two, but it wasn't a concern just then.

Several more doors went that way, but I only had to break three more bones for full submission. The other two fingers and his wrist on the same arm. He'd recover if he lived.

Finally, we reached where Garrett had told us that Bella would be.

"Where's Bella Swan?" I demanded, as Alice began systematically checking cells.

"Who?" the man, Larry (as his keycard told), asked breathlessly. His eyes were wide with panic and his weight fell against the wall. The smoke made it difficult for me to see, so I couldn't imagine how he was faring.

"Bella Swan. Number Thirty-one. Where is she?" The heat caused my skin to burn wildly, and as he choked on the thick, smoky air, he stumbled toward a room.

He opened it with no convincing necessary, for which I was immeasurably grateful.

As soon as the lock clicked, Bella burst out with a vengeance, and I had no choice but to run after her.

Bella POV

In the distance, I could hear his screams. I'd know them anywhere, in any life, super vampire hearing or not. The door opened and I bolted without a backward glance. I didn't breathe, didn't even think of it, but I ran. I ran toward where I thought my vampire might be and I ran with everything I had in me.

My throat ached painfully, and I wanted to rip it out, and every time I passed an unconscious human on the ground, I fought the urge to stop. The smoke permeated the air like death itself, stinking of burning bodies and acrid chemicals. There were loud explosions coming from somewhere, and I didn't care.

I found myself slowing, looking behind me at the woman who lay helpless on the cool tile and it would be so easy to bend down and take just one sip, one bite to quench this terrible pain.

But another urge pushed me forward — a force I had no control over told me to move on, to keep going, because Edward was somewhere in this prison and he was in danger.

As I passed various doors, I heard noises ranging from rage to panic to insanity. They were vampires, and they were dying. Somewhere, my vampire was probably dying, too.

I heard footsteps hot on my heels and my defenses kicked up a notch.

I could smell the vampire running behind me. I didn't care.

It wasn't making a move to get me, so it'd live. For now.

I was going further into the smoke, further into the burning flames, and I couldn't see much of anything anymore. I fell into the wall and listened for his voice above the others, moving along the cool edges and keeping contact for guidance.

"Bella," someone hissed from behind me. Jasper?

I swallowed painfully and regretted it, but kept pushing forward. His screams got louder as I got closer, and I could hear his body slamming against the confines of his cell. The temperature was rising still, and I knew we were getting closer to both my vampire and to the source of the fire. I would make it. He would not die, he would not die.

I stepped on a body and doubled over automatically, seeking its neck to dull my thirst, but the vampire behind me had his arm around my torso immediately and lifted with no hesitation, keeping me moving. A hissing sound came from my body and he let go. I pushed forward.

When I finally made it to the room from which the noise was coming, I felt for the handle of the door. It didn't budge and so I went to slam my fist against it. The vampire beside me held me back, though, and keyed in a number that somehow worked to grant us entry.

"How did you know?" My voice was a croak, painful as hell and inexorable. I searched for his eyes but my vampire vision failed to make out his features through all of the smoke.

"Come on," Jasper responded. We pushed through the door, and I was grateful that the smoke was less inside. When I looked up, immediately I found myself staring directly at Edward.

At my vampire.

At last, we would make it.

But it was wrong, I realized at once, and Jasper tensed behind me.

My vision was obscured by the thickness of the air, my mind foggy, and in a panicked voice, Jasper said, "The wall."

Edward stopped fighting the cell that contained him then and looked in our direction. He wasn't seeing us, though, and instantly I knew why.

I threw myself against the clear barrier as hard as I could and nothing happened. It didn't even shake.

Together, Jasper and I hurled everything we had at the material, which seemed to act as some sort of two-way mirror. We were in an observation room, surrounded with computers and chairs and filing cabinets. It had been abandoned, probably when the fire started, but I could still smell the humans that sat here day in and day out.

We kicked and we screamed and Edward was there, standing right before us, calmly as I'd ever seen him. He could hear us.

The flames were not yet visible, but I knew they would be soon. They would find a way into his room and they would burn him alive. The chemicals and the explosions were constant. It was too hot; the metal wouldn't be able to fend off such temperatures. In a moment that broke my heart in a way that I never thought it'd recover from, Edward put his hand on what, to him, had to be just another metal wall.

I traced the outline of his fingers and fell to the floor, clutching my legs and feeling myself fall to pieces. I gasped for breath, even though I needed none, and my body shook with sobs. Jasper continued to fight the wall, but it was in vain. This place was built to withstand vampires.

I looked into Edward's sad eyes and he turned, seeing what I was seeing. Black smoke seeping through the various vents, the air waving ominously from the rising temperature. It wouldn't be long now.

He fell down, too, sliding against the wall as he went. I could barely see him through the thick smoke filling his cell, but I watched as his silhouette crumpled. The temperature in the little room that I was in rose just as quickly, black smoke heavy in the air, but I wouldn't leave. Not without him. Not without my vampire.

In the distance, I could feel Jasper fighting to get me standing, but I had Edward's attention now, his forehead rest against mine with nothing but a thick sheet of death between us. I wondered if he was seeing me through Jasper's eyes. How tragic our story had turned out.

And then he was gone. I could no longer see anything but darkness. I lost him, and Jasper still fought to get me up.

"Leave," I told him, my voice barely a whisper. "Find Alice. Find whoever is still alive. Just leave."

I wouldn't. I couldn't live in this world without him, and I refused. I sobbed as I heard my vampire scream from the heat inside of his cell, and it was then that I realized I couldn't cry. Never again would I shed a tear of grief or happiness or love.

My head fell back as the hot in our room became unbearable. We'd lost, but we'd be together, wherever we were. I was losing myself, swimming in a pool of tar, of black asphalt. I could hear nothing and I could see nothing.

I felt Jasper once more try to lift me and I think I fought him, but I guess I didn't do a good enough job. Didn't he know he was making it so much harder? Who would I have to ask the favor of taking my life, if they wouldn't let me go with Edward now?

"Where's Edward?," I heard someone scream, and I felt the ground beneath me.

I opened my eyes enough to see Jasper collapse to his knees, shaking his head. Alice's mouth dropped in a horrified expression of complete and utter disbelief. My throat was raw with smoke and thirst. My body ached, still from the change. And my heart was no longer beating, no longer there — shattered into a bazillion pieces that were burning inside that building.

Rain pelted my face and I felt someone lift my head, cool hands on very hot skin.

A/N: 1 more chapter (which is already written, hopefully will be able to publish really soon) + epilogue. Thanks for reading. As always, reviews are appreciated.