Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.

Rated M for several reasons.

Chpt 28 Aeroplanes

BPOV

"Where is he Pete?" I demand.

"He's here." Pete says soothingly. "Like I said. The fight was quite intense. Elise an' Sergio got 'emselves in trouble an' The Major went to help 'em out."

Yet another time tonight my substandard vampire knees give out an' I collapse into the dirt beside the runway.

"How bad?" I whisper.

"Aw now sweet thing it's no worse than Kentucky. He's just not quite himself at the moment, he'll be okay in an hour or two."

"Put the phone by his ear." I order.

"Lil' sis." He whines. "Are you sure about that? He might take my fuckin' hand off. He's feeding."

"Peter!" Char snaps behind me.

"Alright." He grumbles.

A savage snarl rips down through the connection which immediately brings a small smile to my face.

"Jesus fuckin' H Christ." I hear Pete mutter quietly, but fervently, in the background.

"Jasper?" I ask tentatively in a triumph of hope of experience.

Another snarl, slightly quieter.

"I'm okay. We're okay. Rutilio's dead."

Silence.

"We'll be home soon."

A low growl.

"I love you."

Quiet noise of movement an' wind whistling past the phone.

"Are ya happy now?" Pete hisses. "I'm too beautiful to die."

"Thank you." I breathe with a genuine smile on my face.

"Yeah well." He huffs. "You can thank me my by bringin' my good lady home safely, now put her back on the line before you do somethin' else to recklessly endanger my awesome existence."

"I love you too you know." I tell him.

"Whatever." He huffs again, but I can hear a smile in his voice.

Smirking I give the phone back to Char an' close my eyes while she fills him in on the situation with Rutilio an' Alice.

I really need to get home.

After they've finished making with the lovey dovey I climb back to my feet an' focus on the task at hand.

Gracelessly, if I'm unwilling then somehow in my mind it can't be so bad, I help the others select a 'plane' from the dangerously unsafe looking collection in the hangar an' push it out onto the apron so Simon can top off the fuel tanks.

I don't know much about it but from what I can dimly remember from film an' television a pre-flight check is a long drawn out affair which is done with complete concentration.

The vampire version is slightly different.

Demetri kicked the tyres. Very manly.

Simon ran his hands over the metal skin an' tweaked the wires. No, I have no idea what they're for.

Char started the 'ignition' an' tsked over all the dials, switches and levers.

Demetri pronounced us good to go.

I know a plane crash isn't going to kill me, but really? Sixty seconds, if that, from start to finish. On something that looks like one of the Wright Brother's rejected prototypes.

Supressing a shudder I climb aboard after the others an' strap myself in.

Within moments we are careering wildly down the ratty concrete strip with an ecstatic Char at the controls. They played 'rock, paper, scissors', she won.

While she's flying Demetri quietly leans back in his seat, closing his eyes, an' Simon uses Char's space age cell phone to check flights back to the states from Mexico City airport before announcing that if we're lucky we'll catch Alice before she can board anything.

As they speculate on why an' how Alice did what she did I grip the arms of my seat like the big girl's blouse that I am. This tiny little tin can is bouncing around in the sky like a child's kite, suddenly rising an' falling for no good reason and swaying slightly from side to side. Nobody else seems worried so I keep quiet. But honestly? I'm more than a little terrified right now.

I want Jasper.

Eventually Simon stretches out in the seat next to me casually observing that flying in small planes is a whole different experience to passenger jets an' sometimes takes some getting used to.

It doesn't do much to ease my fear of a sudden inconvenient plummet into the inky blackness but I am grateful none the less.

A few hours later he ruins his previous efforts by informing me that, one, we have nowhere near enough fuel to make Mexico City an' two, as we have no flight plan or permission to land we are going to have to 'ditch' the plane somewhere.

One of the arm rests comes off in my hand an' my growl temporarily drowns out the sound of the engines. Even the knowledge that with vampire eyesight Char will easily be able to pick out a good landing site does nothing to calm my fear. I'm going to be in a plane crash. I'm going to be in a plane crash. I'm going to be in a plane crash.

Oh Jasper. I'm so scared.

The others ignore me as they lean over Char's shoulder to peer through the windshield. I refuse to look out, whatever is coming I don't want to see it.

From time to time one of them will point forwards saying "There!" or "How about that?"

Eventually the engines splutter an' die. I assume from lack of fuel.

"Oh goody." Char drawls happily. "I love glidin'."

Abruptly I start breathing. Deep heavy breaths.

Demetri glances back at me an' attempts a reassuring smile.

"Brace yourself Bella!" Char yells suddenly. "We're goin' in!"

Simon drops down an' straps himself into the co-pilot's seat an' Demetri throws himself into a seat across the aisle from me.

The only sound is the rush of air past the plane an' my ragged panting as we drop inexorably downwards.

I scream involuntarily as the wheels bump into something gently an' we rebound lightly upwards. Then we hit something again an' I realise we are rolling along the ground an' gradually coming to a stop.

Smiling broadly the others unstrap themselves an' Simon pops the door open flooding the cabin with fresh air. I take a huge gulp as I undo my own seatbelt an' follow them outside.

"It could have been worse Mistress." He chortles. "Someone might have thought we were drug runners and shot us down."

That's it! It'll be fuckin' centuries before he gets to drive any kind of car again even if I have to teach Jaws to pull a cart myself.

Char looks at me questioningly an' without thinking I rip off one of the wheel struts, hearing the plane groan an' protest as it thuds to the ground. I brandish it like a club. Squealing she darts into the trees bordering the grass airstrip we've just landed on an' howling like a banshee I start after her.

She's quick even with the excited squealing, I have to chase her for over half an hour before I start to overhaul her.

With a snarl of triumph I swing for her, only to realise that she's stopped at a chain-link fence overlooking a series of brightly lit runways.

"Nice flying My Lady." Simon says approvingly as he screeches to a stop beside me. "You got us almost all the way here on one fuel tank and under the radar."

"Thank you Simon." She demurs, looking up through her eyelashes at me.

While I'm still deciding whether or not to brain her with my severed aeroplane wheel I realise that the long fast run has worked off the excess of my anger an' disappointment over Rutilio. Crafty sister. Apparently I am more like Jasper than I realised.

Supressing a wild laugh I lower my unusual weapon slowly an' glare at her, just to let her know that all is not forgiven and there will be consequences for almost scaring me out of my second life.

"Well then." Demetri observes calmly from behind Simon. "Now we are here, and Alice is still here, I suggest we find some suitable clothing and lay our hands on her before she can escape."

Having raided a washing line or two an' dressed ourselves as best we can we are able to enter the main terminal building without attracting too much attention just as the first few flights of the morning are being announced.

Pete has already arranged a private charter for us so all we need to do is collect Alice an' we can head home. Trusting the guys to get our miscreant, Char an' I clean ourselves up in the VIP lounge an' then settle down to wait, we still have an hour before the sun comes up but we're anxious anyway. Too much delay an' we'll have to wait till nightfall to be sure of missing the blazing sun.

We hear them approach long before the humans do.

"But Simon." She is whimpering. "I thought we were friends."

"I am a great admirer of your of shopping ability and knowledge of couture Madam. However, I do not admire your instinct for self-preservation, or lack thereof. My Mistress requires an explanation for your actions." I hear his voice drop menacingly. "And Mrs Asturias, it had better be a good one."

They appear through the doors, Alice's face full of apprehension as Simon grasps her arm tightly above the elbow an' propels her across the floor. Demetri follows, his face serious an' forbidding.

"Sit." Simon orders, pushing her down into a chair opposite us.

"Bella, I'm sorry, what's going on . . . ."

With a quiet growl I hold up my hand. "On the plane, Alice."

We lapse into uncomfortable silence until our pilot arrives to escort us out to the plane.

Strangely nervous, thanks Char, I keep my own council as we follow the directions of the flight crew, strapping ourselves in an' preparing for take-off.

Once airborne an' we've all refused refreshments the crew withdraw leaving us in peace. Simon hovers near the door to the flight deck to make sure we won't be disturbed.

I regard Alice silently for a while, mentally working out what I want to say an' how harsh I need to be.

"You killed Rutilio?" I ask eventually my voice flat .

"Yes." She nods eagerly, seemingly pleased with herself.

"Did you ask him who the traitor was?" I enquire conversationally.

"What traitor?" She asks, looking confused.

One, two, three, four, five . . . .

"The one who betrayed my coven to him." I enunciate clearly. "The one who informed him of my gifts an' suggested Chelsea break my mating bond with Jasper."

"Oh well." She murmurs a little unsurely. "I don't know who that was. And nobody said she was to break your bond, I don't even think that's possible is it?"

"Alice." I growl. "You said she was ordered to break our bond."

"Oh." She seems surprised. "I meant it as a figure of speech. You know, I meant your relationship, your um, love. Rutilio wanted her to break you up, he thought the fall out would make you guys weak, easier to attack. There's apparently been a lot of talk about how connected the two of you are, people trying to work out if it's a strength or a weakness."

I resist an' Edward like urge to pinch the bridge of my nose, she's making this very hard.

"What happened between you an' Rutilio?" I snarl.

"I surprised him." She smiles. "I knew he'd go there, that it would be my best chance of catching him unawares. So I did. It worked perfectly. I had his head off before he even had a chance to react."

"And?"

"And?" She asks.

"And. Did you talk to him? Find out his plans, who the traitor was?"

"No." She leans forwards. "Honestly Bella, I was terrified he was going to kill me. I was almost as surprised as he was when I got him. I started a fire an' burnt him as soon as I could."

"You didn't discuss anythin' with him?" I grind out.

"Not really." She laughs, the tinkling sound of it setting my teeth on edge. "I did tell him how much I was going to enjoy being a rich widow. I bet that stung, he was extremely tight with his money."

"So." I speak quietly an' slowly. "Let me get this straight. You knew how important it was to us to capture him alive? Because we needed information on his plans an' to know who the traitor was in our ranks."

She nods.

"An' you knew where he was?"

Another nod.

"But you decided not to tell us?"

"I didn't know how long it would be before he went there." She says with a little shrug. "I didn't think you'd all want to hang about waiting."

"An' having directly disobeyed us, you decided also not to bother seeking the information we required?"

"Um, well, yes. I suppose so. But Bella, you need to understand, I'm not like you, I couldn't have tortured him. I was lucky he didn't kill me."

"You're lucky I don't kill you." I snarl watching in satisfaction as she winces an' shrinks back in her seat. "He was our enemy. Now, thanks to your thoughtless actions we have no way of knowin' what threats to our safety he left behind. I swear to god Alice, if anythin' happens to Jasper I'll do everythin' to you I was plannin' to do to your husband."

"I'm sorry Bella." She whispers looking contrite. "I didn't think it through. I just wanted my revenge for everything he did to me, and to Edward. He wronged me as much as he did you."

"Your actions have potentially put my coven in danger." I respond, feeling she has a point. "I can't allow that to go unpunished."

I lapse into silence looking down at my hands.

I am still angry with her for beating me to Rutilio. He was mine. But as Demetri said, dead is dead. Now he's gone an' we've dealt with Seattle what else can he do to us? I can't think of anything an' it's a strange sensation, I've gotten so used to keeping a vampire's mental eye out for whatever he's going to throw at us next. An' what he did to her, to Edward, was despicable. Disgusting. On a par with his final crime against me.

A part of me wants to pat her on the shoulder an' tell her not to worry about it. The rest of me, the Mistress, knows that her actions can't be ignored. As Pete said, others are watching, gauging our strength an' resolve to rule.

And she had the temerity to tell me she was still in love with Jasper.

The pilot breaks my train of thought by announcing that we are thirty minutes from landing in Seattle.

"Demetri." I murmur, still looking down at my hands. "Push her out."

"Mistress." He responds happily, grabbing her by the arm an' ripping her, protesting, out of her seat.

There is a blast of sound as the door opens an' the plane lurches alarmingly. Then there is a long, fading scream an' the door closes again. Everything returns rapidly to normal.

"Mistress." Simon drawls adoringly. "That was very Volturi."

"Fuck me Bella." Char exclaims. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"You'd better watch the news channels for reports of a meteor strike." I huff sourly.

The cabin erupts in laughter. I can't join in. That was just mean. Gratifying. But plain mean.

I want Jasper.