The female agent was startled out of her mind until she noticed Jasper looking apologetically at her from just a few yards away. Clearly, the clingy seer must have been aware that Bella was changed because the chokehold she called a hug would have crushed her windpipe by now if the brunette weren't a vampire.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Bella asked finally in a forced calm tone. She felt betrayed and confused, and definitely not in the mood for close personal contact. They were supposed to have been best friends, yet the pixie-like girl left six years ago without a word and now was here acting like it had been mere days.

"I caught the red-eye from Syracuse when I saw Jasper meeting you, had to make sure you were really you. I haven't seen your decisions for so long, I thought you were dead," her voice sounded like she was sobbing, despite the fact the agent knew cold ones couldn't cry. Not really. And the tiny girl was still not releasing her. But that was an interesting piece of information.

Not their place of residence, although she groaned internally in frustration, having expressively stated that she didn't want to know.

"When was the last time you saw my decisions?" the hybrid inquired coolly, standing like a frigid statue until finally, Alice got the message that her embrace was not welcome. So much rode on this answer, Bella's mind was reeling. The tiny cold one looked at her hesitantly as she recalled the exact time.

"I think it was mid-January, almost five years ago. You were here in that town just southwest of us then too," she replied, taking a step back, trying to gauge her best friend's reaction.

"That was right before my transition then," the brunette noted with a faraway look in her eyes.

She should have guessed this much based on the fact that Jasper had no clue about her. Alice would have told him – even if no one else – if she had seen that outcome. But how could she have seen it? It was Damon's decision, not hers and Alice had never met him, nor was in anyway attuned to his future. For all Bella knew maybe all vampires were immune to the Cullen girl's powers. This revelation lessened her resentment some, but just barely. The brunt of her suffering came before that point in her life.

"Jasper said you were a vampire," the psychic stated with tentative curiosity. Her mate had joined them now, standing close to Alice.

"I am," Bella confirmed, still distancing herself from her emotions that threatened to bubble up with every passing second as she stood there. Jasper must have been aware of her inner fight because he tried quieting the pixie-like girl's incessant nature by calmingly placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But you are nothing like us! Although admittedly you don't smell like food anymore," Alice dubiously pointed out, crinkling her nose. It must have sucked to be the one out of the loop for once. But the agent couldn't get herself to sympathize.

"Yes, because you are what we call cold ones. Different species. But what I haven't yet told Jasper is that I am also like you guys in some ways, because of this," the hybrid detachedly showed her scar to them. Proof of their many failings at protecting her.

Even if it had been her choice – although admittedly a foolish one – to ditch them at the Phoenix Airport when she thought James had her mother, she never would have been put in the position to make such choices if she hadn't met Edward. Or if he hadn't brought her along to watch his family play their version of baseball in the thunderstorm when the nomad coven of three had been so close to town. So many little points in time where her fate was ultimately decided. Back then she wouldn't have minded dying in his stead if it meant to protect him, his family, her family, everyone. And look at how that notion was repaid to her…

Alice visibly flinched back at the memory but didn't comment on it further.

"I should be able to see you then. I have no problem seeing our kind," she quietly remarked with the creasing of her brows.

"Alice," the agent authoritatively called her attention back to herself. "Jasper can't affect me anymore either. If my assumption is correct, I'm immune to anything working through the mind. My emotions – even if there is a biological component to them – and decisions are definitely part of my mind. Just like my thoughts. That's why…" she paused, unable to say his name out loud. "He couldn't read them even when I was human. It has evolved, I think."

"She's a shield," Jasper amended, and that seemed to clear everything up for Alice. Bella had heard that term used by the gang too, but she had no idea it held any significance in general. But she had more significant problems to think about now, so instead she began a different line of questioning.

"Have you told anyone else that you are coming to see me?" Bella inquired with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. Rosalie was in the room when I had the vision, and I cried your name out before I saw that Jasper agreed to keep it secret for now. I tried to divert her by saying that I was coming to meet Jasper early, but she didn't buy it. She called Edward the minute I left the house. He has been calling my cell non-stop ever since, but I'm not picking it up. It's driving him crazy," the psychic explained apologetically. She had a pretty good idea why this was bothering the brunette. Edward started asking around her family since he couldn't get the information out of Alice.

"Right, because ruining my life once wasn't enough for her," the hybrid muttered sarcastically. Meddling bunch, all of them, everyone in her life, past and present. Rosalie had it out for her from the day they had met. Of course, you could count on her to set things in motion that Bella specifically wanted to avoid.

"It isn't like that, Bella," Alice cried out, taking a step forward but the agent backed away instantly. The Cullen family had been broken up and distraught over Edward's decision ever since. Even Rosalie missed having the human around, although she would never admit that aloud to anyone.

"You mean to tell me that you thought that leaving me all alone in Forks without protection was in my best interest because of a little accident?"

Jasper winced at the memory as she scathingly ranted on, while Alice cast her eyes on the ground. Her reaction had Bella puzzled a bit. Then she recalled Edward's words regarding her supposed friend: She wanted to say goodbye, but I convinced her that a clean break would be better for you.

"I'm not sure what he…" the brunette almost choked on the words. She really had to get over this silliness. It's been years, long-long years. He shouldn't be affecting her so after all this time. "Not sure what Edward told you but I never wanted you to leave, much less a clean break. I wasn't angry with any of you for what happened at my birthday. It was my fault, I was clumsy, should have been more careful, or let you open the gifts for me."

"You shouldn't have to take precautions like that," her tiny voice was full of regret.

"Yeah, Edward said something similar too in the days before he left me in the woods behind our house too," Bella chuckled darkly. She wondered briefly if Edward ever told them about that. Or maybe Alice saw that too in a vision but never intervened. "I tried to follow him, you know. I tried calling out for him frantically. I got lost in the forest and almost died. Charlie had to send a search and rescue team for me! For months I lived like a freaking vegetable because I was so emotionally distraught that I couldn't bear to feel anything."

His words rang loud and clear in her head once again.

Bella, I don't want you to come with me.

I'm… tired of pretending to be something I'm not, Bella. I am not human.

You're not good for me, Bella.

Then he had the gall to make her promise to not do anything reckless or stupid. For Charlie's sake. Yeah, right! She could have gone motorcycle riding with Jake, cliff diving even, but she always refused due to this silly commitment she made to someone who had broken all promises made to her. Even his last: I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me. I won't come back. I won't put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I'd never existed. As if his existence could have been erased from her memory. Yet he was in Forks asking about her that very moment.

"I'm sorry, I never wanted you to go through all that," Alice looked at her with pleading eyes, begging for Bella to believe her.

One of Gibbs's many rules came to the agent's mind, almost making her laugh out loud: Never accept an apology from someone who just sucker punched you. It was debatable whether it applied to the situation given that the events weren't exactly recent. They still felt like they were. In any case, it was Edward who did the proverbial punching. Alice just did nothing to stop it.

"Then where the hell were you? Surely you saw my suffering. Why didn't you do something if you consider yourself my friend?" she accused, and the shame was clearly written on Alice's face. She had seen her depression and done nothing. "Or when Laurent tried to kill me in the meadow as a favor to Victoria…"

"Wait! What? When did that happen? I never saw anything!" the psychic exclaimed suddenly.

"Only to be saved by giant wolves! Who turned out to be the Quileutes. Not werewolves by the way as you probably think, but shapeshifters…" the hybrid pondered for a moment if she was supposed to keep that a secret and if she was breaking the treaty between the Cullens and the tribe.

Alice didn't seem to be paying attention anymore, probably trying to conjure a vision about them.

"I can't see them. At all. The wolves on the reservation," she told Jasper frantically. "Not even through the decisions of others like with Bella, they are a total blind spot."

"What about Victoria when she tried attacking me here in Mystic Falls right before I became a vampire?" Bella inquired mockingly, well past the point of trying to behave and rein her temper in.

"We were aware of her trying to make a move. Edward had been tracking her on foot, but she was really good at getting away. Her decisions were so erratic and spur of the moment that I was always too late to see where she would be next. Then I saw her finally getting destroyed in this area, but I presumed that she got to you before that because I never saw you again in a vision and knew you had been here too," the psychic cold one explained, going into more detail than necessary in an attempt to appease her almost-would-be-sister-in-law. They had failed her in more ways than one, but they had tried to keep her safe even if that wasn't obvious at first.

"You could have come and investigated." And you would have found that a really annoying douche of a vampire had destroyed Victoria but not before changing me, deeming it too dangerous for me to stay human. Something you probably should have done the moment James arrived on the scene, she muttered on inwardly.

"You are right. We should have," Alice agreed somberly. She was usually hyper and energetic, but at the moment she wanted to make herself even smaller than she already was.

"Obviously, Edward had really moved on if even my presumed death didn't move him enough to check," Bella remarked sullenly. For the longest time and against all the odds she kept nurturing that small sliver of hope that he might come around. But that had died away a couple of years after her transformation too.

"Actually… he is under the impression that you are alive and well," the tiny girl shifted from foot to foot, distinctly uncomfortable with the situation.

"How's that possible? He doesn't get into your head anymore?" the agent dubiously inquired, her voice creeping an octave higher.

"He hasn't lived with us since our departure from Forks. He sometimes calls me to check if I saw anything. And for the past five years, I had been lying to him that you were fine."

What Alice omitted to tell was that she knew that in the event of Bella's death Edward would have gone to the Volturi to get himself killed, putting a whole different spin on assisted suicide. She had seen him plan it out in about a thousand ways.

"Why the fuck would he check in about me? He told me he didn't want me," Bella roared in outrage. The whole thing just didn't make sense.

"That was a lie, Bella. He never stopped loving you."

And that was the understatement of the century in Alice's opinion. Edward had been a nervous wreck ever since leaving Forks, barely able to function, let alone be around his family and act like a normal person with emotions other than utter devastation.

Of course, I'll always love you… in a way. His words rang in her ear again. What was that supposed to mean? Bella had the sudden urge to punch someone… or something… really hard. So she did so. The young oak tree she had been standing next to shattered to splinters on impact. Good thing they couldn't penetrate her skin. She would have been in massive pain now if that weren't the case.

"Do you realize how fucked up this is?" she hissed through her teeth. Lies, lies and more lies, and deceit. What was the truth really? Actions spoke louder than words, and at the moment she didn't believe any of it.

"Trust me I do. I tried telling him that this was a bad idea. You know how stubborn he can be…" Alice agreed without hesitation.

"Like about my soul getting lost if he made me into a vampire? That I would be damned for eternity? Well, guess what? I became a vampire anyway! Not that I wanted to be one after he left! But who cares, right? Because no one ever asks Bella what she actually wants, just up and decides it for her!" Bella was beside herself with fury, letting all her pent-up frustrations air out.

"Bella…" Jasper murmured to her calmingly. He couldn't affect her but feeling her intense emotions bothered him, making him uncomfortable.

"No, I'm not going to calm down! I've had enough. I'd like you both to leave. And stay away from me," the agent stated. Just then the Cullen girl's phone started to ring, and both of them would have bet anything that it was Edward. "You can pass that message on to him too," she spat with venom in her tone and turned away from her former would-be-family to head back to Mystic Falls.

"Bella…" Alice took a tentative step towards her again, pleading for her to stay and work it out with them, but the brunette was having none of it.

"No, Alice, you don't get to sway me. You lost that right when you abandoned me," Bella stated with finality and began running.

When she reached the tree she had hidden her phones in, the psychic cold one caught up to her, and the hybrid reacted on instinct, whirling around and with practiced ease throwing Alice over her shoulder, pinning her to the ground with her arms behind her back. A move she learned at the police academy to detain arrestees.

"Don't ever sneak up on me again," the agent menacingly snarled in her ear as the other girl struggled in her hold, finding that she couldn't even budge her an inch. Jasper caught up to them and growled at Bella threateningly when he discovered his love among the dirt and leaves.

Bella let go before he could attack her, snatched her phones and took off again. She could hear from the distance that Alice finally picked up her phone that was still ringing. Well, the brunette's former love was nothing if not persistent.

"Edward," she sighed into the receiver, her voice shaking with fear. Without precognition, she really was a lousy fighter, and Bella had more skill than she had ever imagined. The psychic was still sitting on the ground, Jasper huddled in a crouch by her side trying to comfort her.

"Why haven't you been answering my calls, Alice?" Bella could hear Edward's impatient, clipped tone on the other end of the line.

"I was bound by a promise to not say anything," the tiny girl cryptically replied, glancing up at Jasper. What a mess really!

"Rosalie said you had a vision about Bella. What happened? Where are you?" he inquired fervently, only now catching onto the slightly distressed tone in Alice's voice, but attributed it to the entirely wrong reasons.

"In Charlottesville with Jasper. And you are in Forks even though you expressly promised Bella to never bother her again," the psychic chastised, guessing – correctly – that word had gotten back to Bella about Edward's questions, and that was partially the reason for her foul mood.

"Since my dear sister decided not to return my calls I had no choice but to go seek answers on my own," Edward muttered sardonically. "Why are you in Charlottesville? I thought Bella was in Washington, D.C. At least Charlie thinks so. Why didn't you tell me that she decided to become a police officer then was recruited by a federal agency? Can you imagine the danger she is in every day because of her job?" he accused, quite angry that he wasn't informed earlier about these developments in his lover's life. Just thinking about his hopelessly clumsy Bella – who couldn't walk even on a smooth surface without tripping herself up – with a gun in her hand, chasing criminals, made him shudder.

Hoping very much that she was far away enough that her very silent footsteps had gotten out of hearing range the agent stopped to listen to their conversation. She could barely make out Edward's side now.

"Well, that explains a lot," Alice huffed, recognizing the maneuver Bella had used on her earlier as something she would have learned at a law enforcement academy.

"What's that supposed to mean? Is Bella alright? Was she hurt on duty?" the mind reader asked frantically, cursing inwardly that they were separated by most of the continental US and he couldn't just hear Alice's thoughts that held the answers he was seeking, and which she seemed so reluctant to be giving him at the moment.

"Edward. Calm down," the pixie-like girl snorted at the ridiculousness of those questions. With a sigh, she told him the truth. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I haven't actually seen her in a vision for almost five years. Bella… well… she isn't human anymore. But she is not in any danger though. I was just with her."

"What do you mean she isn't human?" Edward warily asked after a moment. On the one hand, he was horrified of the implications. This was the very thing he wanted to avoid. He had wished for her to live out a happy, peaceful, human life, without his dangerous influence. On the other hand, maybe this meant that they could be reunited and his selfish side wanted nothing more than that.

"Almost five years ago she was turned into a vampire. A different kind from ours," Alice informed him.

"And why haven't you told me this before?" he snapped at her furiously. So much time had passed already, which he had spent suffering.

"Because I haven't seen it, and actually haven't seen Bella in a vision since then. She is immune to me as it turns out," the psychic indignantly retorted, not appreciating the accusation nor wanting to take on the blame for her brother's misery.

"So in the past five years, you had been lying to me."

Edward decided to go to Charlottesville and investigate, which Alice saw instantly and responded to him.

"She is not here anymore." At least she assumed she wasn't, or won't be very shortly, but had no idea where Bella was headed. Probably back to Mystic Falls. If Alice had to guess she wouldn't be sticking around for long there either. "And you know the reason why I didn't tell you about my suspicions that she might be dead. I didn't want you to go to the Volturi."

"Bye, Alice," the copper-haired boy coldly bid his farewell to his sister. He had been planning to go to Washington, D.C. to check on her anyway, but this gave him all the more reason to do so. If she wasn't in Charlottesville anymore, that would be next best place to start looking for clues again. Before he could hang up Alice started speaking again.

"She specifically asked to be left alone, Edward," she sternly cautioned him. "And I think you should heed her warning. Bella is much stronger than any of us. I have never been so afraid in my life before."

"Go home, Alice. This isn't your concern anymore," he said dispassionately then hung up.

Bella stood motionlessly for another few seconds after having listened to that exchange before heading back to Mystic Falls at a moderate speed, still wary of Gibbs tracking her phone.

That was a lot to take in. Edward would have gone to the Volturi, most likely to get himself killed, in the event of her death. He knew that she lived in Washington, D.C., and no doubt was on his way there. She had anticipated that much, which still meant a tight schedule but not impossible. A bit more time than she had initially thought since he was still in Forks.

She could be back in D.C. in about two hours. Another one for packing up her apartment and canceling her lease. Taking a flight to New Orleans and having her stuff shipped there was out of the question. She didn't want to make Edward's job easier by leaving her scent trail at the airport. She could probably fit most of her belongings on the back of her truck. The drive must be like fifteen hours or so, but with her way of driving she could probably cut it down to ten or twelve. Finding a permanent place in New Orleans was the trickier part, but she could stay in a hotel till then.

By the time she arrived at the Salvatore Boarding House she already had her whole plan worked out in her head. Now she just had to shake the Scooby gang's attempts at trying to butt in.

"Soooo… Bella," Damon greeted her the minute she set foot through the front door. "About this small world. I was thinking. It would be funny if your Jasper and my Jasper were one and the same, don't you think?"

The agent froze for a second. Right. Before Deus ex Alice appeared on the scene, she wanted to broach the subject to Jasper and ask him how he felt about meeting a long-lost war buddy. But that plan got quickly derailed into an emotional mess of fury on her part and she never actually got around to mention it. Did they stick around? Should she send Damon out there to find out for himself?

"I'm about 99% sure that they are," Bella decided to reply. Besides him – if she heard correctly – only Caroline and Stefan were in at the moment. The fewer people in the house were able to object to her exit the better. Sometimes she really wondered whether she was some sort of evil mastermind with the ploys she pulled because as Damon's face lit up at the possibility, she knew for certain that he would be out the door within moments of her uttering the destination. "I'm not sure if he is still there, but we met at the Charlottesville reservoir, maybe you could track him down by scent from there if nothing else."

That should keep him busy.

"Great, thanks!"

And as predicted he was out the door.

"Where did Damon go?" Stefan asked as he strutted down the stairs just as the front door closed.

"Meeting an old friend," the brunette answered nonchalantly. She doubted that either party would hurt the other, so no need to alarm the others.

"Didn't realize he had friends," the dark-blond haired vampire frowned with wry amusement.

Bella just shrugged indifferently, passing the younger brother on the stairs on her way to her room to pack her bag.

"Hey… about Klaus…" Stefan turned to her seriously, preparing to present the idea the gang had come up with.

"Don't worry, I have it covered. I'm leaving actually," Bella shot him down, turning to continue her way up.

"What? Why?– the younger Salvatore looked puzzled.

"I'm going back to D.C.," she stated coolly. With all these complications she pondered whether it would have been better to not involve them. But they were already aware of the Original's movements even before she got here, so that was a moot point.

"But wouldn't that be… bad? I mean, isn't Klaus expecting you to stay here?" he asked dubiously.

"No. We have come to an understanding. It's all fine. He is leaving too, so he is not your problem anymore," the agent reiterated. She didn't want to reveal that they both were returning to New Orleans lest they follow and try to meddle again.

"Bella… what aren't you telling us?" Stefan grabbed her arm when she tried to start again for her room.

"Nothing. But I'm kind of in a hurry here so please let go of my arm," Bella stated flatly, looking down meaningfully on his hand on her. She was starting to lose her patience.

"Bella?" Caroline appeared at the top of the stairs, hopping down to them in a fraction of a second. She looked between them with worry, noting that Stefan still restraining her friend. "What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on except that I'm going back home to D.C. Please say bye to Bonnie and Jeremy and everyone for me," the brunette yanked her arm free, Stefan not really holding her back anymore. She was finally able to go upstairs and kicked her room door closed with a loud bang.

The blond pair stood there in shock, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Do you get the feeling that something is off here?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"Yeah, very much," Stefan sighed, rubbing his face with one hand.

"What do we do?" she asked with a half whining high-pitched voice.

"I don't think there is anything we can do," he concluded finally.

A/N: Regarding the story a quick survey: Are you guys interested in seeing the Damon/Jasper reunion or should I just get on with Bella and New Orleans? The civil war stories aren't relevant to the plot, but if you want to read them then I shall deliver.