Disclaimer: You know the routine. Thank you, Stephenie, for allowing us to play in your world. Thank you, readers, for not stealing my little story without permission. I have the best fangirls and Twiguys in the world! Thank you, changed_by_Edward, for undercover beta'ing and helping me see past the gauntlet that is my life lately. More than Romeo, bb.

A/N: My girl readingtime's awesome story Dark Cravings has been nominated for an Indie Twific Award in the Love Conquers All--Novella category. If you read and loved this original story as much as I did, go vote for her now! Link for both the story and award sites are on my profile.

For those of you on the critique readers list for Manhunt, a new chapter was posted last week and another one will be posted this week, hopefully tomorrow.

Chapter 5 - Edward's POV

"So what's up with Alice?" I asked Adrian as we walked outside the club, needing a little fresh air. "Her thoughts have been rather disjointed lately. I was surprised she was so excited about tonight."

"Man, I'm beside myself. I don't know what to do. She can't see a damn thing about the future right now, because I'm in it, and it's frustrating her to no end. If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't bear to leave her and Bells and the rest of the family, I would consider bailing, just to give Ally a break."

"I got the impression back home that, once she got used to the idea, she actually liked not being able to see the future when you're around. Like me with Bella, the block of her powers is actually freeing, soothing. It allows her to live in the moment, be surprised and take joy in things she hadn't been able to before."

"Well, that's all well and good back home in Scotland, but here in Italy, with the wellbeing of the entire planet hanging in the balance, it's pissing her off. Royally. She wants to help Bella, just like the rest of us, but without her visions she feels handicapped."

"Well, I can understand that, I suppose. She's not blaming you, though, is she? It's not your fault."

Adrian sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands in frustration. "Yes and no. Logically, she knows it's out of my control, but still, it is my fault, you know?"

"It's not, although I can understand you feeling that way. So why was she so gung ho for tonight, then?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I dunno. Excuse to go shopping? Chance to feel like she's helping Bells, even if it's just by doing her hair? Needing to burn off some steam of her own?" I nodded silently.

"The fact that you two are here supporting Bella in her time of need means so much to her, to both of us, really."

"She was my Bells-n-Whistles long before she was your Bella, even, Edward. She's my best friend, my sister, my family. If it wasn't for her, I don't know where I'd be right now."

"You'd be twenty years older, with a receeding hairline and a pot belly," Emmett teased as he appeared to my other side, slapping me on the back.

"Naw, man. I'm serious. And I don't mean the fact that she introduced me to Ally and all of you, even though that's the best, and craziest, thing that's ever happened to me. I mean before that. When we were growing up and things sucked at home...none of my friends understood. All they saw was that my family was rich and I was good looking and a quarterback. As far as they were concerned, I had no room to be complaining about anything. Bella was the only one who ever took the time to listen, to understand, you know? I don't know what I'd do without her." Adrian hung his head and sighed, shaking it a little before lifting it back up again and laughing it off. "Alright, enough of the downer bullshit. Where's the girls? I want one last dance with my Ally-Angel before we blow this popsicle stand."

"What are the girls doing?" I asked Emmett as we turned to head back inside.

"Oh, you know, dippin' low, grinding up against one another, and laughing at the guys droolin' over them. Doesn't seem like Bella's mojo magic is coming out tonight, though. Plenty of guys lusting after them, as usual, but no cupid's arrows or cartoon hearts for pupils as far as I can see."

Just then Marcus exited the club, Heidi in his arms. "Don't worry, my dear. It'll be alright. Yes, he loves Bella. But Heidi, it doesn't mean he loves you any less because of it. The bond with you is just as strong, if not stronger, than most married couples I see. Yes, his bond with Bella is stronger, but still..." I came to the conclusion then that for all Marcus' years, he never learned how to comfort someone. He had a knack for saying the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time. I would almost call it endearing, if it weren't for the fact that Heidi was sobbing louder than ever as he helped her into the passenger seat of his car and drove away. And listening to him talk about Jasper's bond with Bella being stronger than Heidi's, which was stronger than 'most married couples'... I just really didn't need to hear that and couldn't avoid doing the math in my head. I took a moment to calm myself down.

Once I did, we made our way back inside, and immediately I was on edge. Alice and Rosalie had lost track of Bella and were searching for her in the crowd. Felix and Kelly were still making out at the table and Demetri and Gianna were still dancing. All four of them were completely unaware of Alice and Rosalie's state of panic. Jasper was nowhere to be found. I quickly began scanning the crowd's thoughts for any sign of them, with no luck. Emmett, Adrian and I started pushing our way through the throngs of people.

Adrian and I found them first. Bella was in Jasper's arms. He was holding her close and rocking back and forth, his hands moving up and down her spine while he kissed her face, her arms wrapped tightly around him as he did. I couldn't stop myself from feeling an overwhelming surge of jealousy and anger. For one, brief moment I wanted to tear him apart. That is, until I heard Bella thanking him for rescuing her, and heard his thoughts. There was nothing sexual or lascivious at all, despite the intimate appearance of their embrace. My anger dissolved into guilt when I realized the only reason Jasper was holding my girl was because I wasn't there to rescue her myself.

I thanked Jasper and Bella jumped out of his arms and came rushing to me.

"I didn't know what to do, Edward. I panicked. I was so torn between what I was capable of doing and what I should or shouldn't do that I just froze. If it weren't for Jasper..." she whispered as she pressed herself against me as tightly as she could. "It was my fault. I used my power. I felt it. He wouldn't have acted like that if it weren't for me. Jasper killed him to save me. He...he...he drained him. I'm sure he felt he had no other choice. God, I hope he doesn't hate me for it."

"Shhh, love, no worries. That man wouldn't have acted like that if it weren't in his nature, regardless of your influence. We'll get Jasper through it. We'll get you through it. It's going to be fine. The important thing is you're alright."

Emmett had the right idea when he suggested we get out of there quickly. Running into Francesco was an unexpected complication, to say the least. For the second time, he surprised me by following us so doggedly. Demetri sprung so fast I didn't even hear a thought in his mind planning it. He just got fed up and sprung. I didn't need to hear Jasper's thoughts to know Bella was pissed about it. He was about to find out.

The rest of us watched helplessly as Bella paced the war room, her anger at a level I was quite certain I'd never witnessed before. Jasper made the grave mistake of trying to use his powers to calm her.

"I believe you and I have had a conversation once before about using your powers against me without my permission, haven't we?" she asked him icily.

"Bella..." Jasper stumbled over his words, his hands up in the air in surrender.

"No. I'm pissed off, and I have a right to be. Leave my emotions alone." And that ended that. Jasper sank into his chair, as helpless as the rest of us to stop the inferno that was about to take place.

Carlisle came in first, eyeing Bella warily, but wisely keeping his comments to himself. "Francesco has begun the transformation. I gave him the option, and he chose our path." His mind replayed their conversation before he could stop himself.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I groaned, throwing my head back in frustration.

"What?" Jasper asked.

"He chose to become a vampire for no other reason than that Bella is a vampire. He thinks he will now have eternity to win her over." I couldn't suppress my growl

"Jesus Christ," Jasper agreed.

"Wait, isn't this a good thing? It means she really worked one over on him, right? He's totally hooked. Her powers worked!" Emmett enthused. I raised an eyebrow at him and he backpedaled. "I mean, it sucks for you, bro, totally. But good for the fate of the world, right?" Rosalie growled at him and he shut up.

Bella, meanwhile, had not paid any attention to the conversation. She was still pacing. All I could gather from Jasper's thoughts was that she was projecting fierce determination.

A few minutes later, Demetri walked into the room, followed by Marcus. Bella stopped her pacing, and Demetri froze in his steps as he met her gaze. They stayed that way for only a moment, but it seemed to last forever. Marcus gasped just before Bella started to speak.

"What the hell were you thinking? Did you not hear me screaming at you to stop?" she asked. It was the first time I'd ever thought, she looks like a vampire. She sounds like a vampire. I was honestly afraid of how the next few seconds would play out.

Demetri didn't react how I expected him to. His face softened and he looked at Bella, completely penitent. "I'm so sorry, Bella. It won't happen again. Please say you forgive me?"

"Am I the only one seeing the cartoon hearts floating out of his eyes right now?" Adrian quipped, drawing on Emmett's comment from earlier in the evening. He was right. Demetri looked like a love struck puppy.

I looked back at Bella and she looked smug. Her arms were crossed over her chest, one hip jutted to the side, and a full-on smirk on her lips.

Marcus decided to clear the confusion. "Demetri's bond with you just increased exponentially, Bella. You did it intentionally, didn't you? You knew what you were doing this time?"

Bella never took her eyes of Demetri. "Yes. I thought to myself that I wished he was higher up on the chart, because if he were higher up the chart, then he might have listened to me when I screamed at him not to bite Francesco. As soon as I had that thought, I felt that warmth in my chest again. I focused on it, tried to mentally picture pushing it outward, towards him. I guess it worked," Bella shrugged. Gianna stood up quietly and left the room. Part of me wanted to join her.

"Marvelous!" Aro clapped his hands. "Thank the gods!"

"Wait, though, not so fast. We need to dissect this, analyze it. I think it might have had something to do with the powerful emotions she was feeling, even if the emotions she was feeling don't correlate to the feelings she created with the bond," Carlisle suggested.

"You might be on to something," Jasper said. "On the baseball field, when we first met James, I felt Bella's emotions. There was an overwhelming fear there."

"I think it's more than that," I said, feeling as though a piece of the puzzle was still missing. "Bella, when you met James and he scared you, what were you thinking?"

"I kept repeating 'go away, just go away' in my head. I desperately wanted him to leave us alone."

"And how about...the first day of school. Jasper has said before you had some strong emotions running through you that first day, and it would seem as though you enchanted several guys that day. Eric, for example, what were you thinking when you met him?"

"I was thinking that maybe if I was nice to him, I could keep him from putting my picture on the front page of the school newspaper."

"And Mike?"

"I was thinking I wanted him to back off."

"And me?"

"I thought you were insanely gorgeous. I wanted you to like me," Bella said shyly. I kissed her forehead and she smiled at me.

"See what I mean? There was something she wanted out of every one of the men we just mentioned. I think that, coupled with her strong emotions at that critical moment, lights the match to her power."

"What did you want from me, Bella?" Emmett asked cheekily.

"I wanted you to like me, to approve of me being with Edward, I suppose."

"What about me?" Felix asked, needing some reassurance from her since he was not happy about being on the bottom of the chart now that Demetri had gotten promoted. I prayed he wasn't stupid enough to let Kelly know the direction his thoughts had taken.

"Easy. I wanted you to not kill me." Felix chuckled at that. I'm not sure Bella meant it to be funny.

"What about tonight, Bella? Did you consciously want something from Brandon that would have caused your power to engage?" I wished Brandon was still alive...so I could kill him again myself.

"I was feeling so incredibly frustrated and angry at myself. I saw Marcus leave and figured he gave up on me. That I failed. Brandon walked up just then and asked me to dance. My first thought was 'this is my last chance.' I've got to make this work. And then I felt it. I knew it worked before it even registered in his features."

"Well, there you have it. We seem to have our equation. Strong emotions, plus Bella's desire to control a situation or a person in one way or another, plus projection of her psychic energy equals enchanted individual. We will, of course, need to test this hypothesis to be sure," Carlisle stated, seemingly thrilled with his latest opportunity to explore the scientific method.

"But what if I'm not feeling strong emotions? I can't just fake that kind of thing," Bella interjected. Jasper considered volunteering to give her a nudge in the right direction, but changed his mind when he recalled how she had reacted earlier.

Aro, Marcus and Carlisle were determined to test this theory right away. Their sense of urgency precluded seeking out a human, so a member of the guard -- a young vampire named Evan, was brought into the war room.

At first, nothing happened. Bella looked determined, but apparently couldn't dredge up the fury she had with Demetri. After a few moments, she looked at Jasper pleadingly. "Help me, please."

"Oh, sure, NOW you want me to manipulate your emotions," Jasper teased. That was all it took. Jasper didn't even need to do anything. You could almost see the fire in her eyes as she turned back to Evan, who immediately melted into a pile of goo at her feet. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Evan turned to her, all confusion about his presence before the Volturi royalty forgotten. He dropped to one knee and took her hand in both of his to reverently kiss her knuckles before gazing up at her adoringly.

"What is your wish, my Queen?"

A/N: So tell me, are you happy Bella has learned to control her powers, or pissed at her for chosing to test them out on Demetri?

Edward has come to take his place at the Naked Cullen Boy buffet for my wonderful reviewers. Loving all things classic, Edward chose chocolate, strawberry, and pineapple sauces, complete with whipped cream and his, um...banana!