Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her Twilight Saga series of books

WARNING: This story will contains scenes of domestic violence, strong language and other forms of physical violence, up to, and including death.

Chapter 16

Dance Steps

"She's fifteen," Mark piped at Thane. "It's long over-due. I can group her in with my girls. Say she's a cousin from out of state. No one will know."

"She's never been outside," Thane hissed at Mark. "It would be too much for her. She is a delicate flower. The stimulation could be disastrous. Too many people. Too much risk. I will not have her frightened, or injured." Thane faced off the orderly in his room. He had closed the heavy door, to prevent Alice from hearing the discussion. Thane was due on duty in an hour, so Alice was still asleep. He could hear her slow, steady breaths, that indicated the depth of her sleep.

"It's a dance, Thane. A chance for her to dress up, and show off. You know she would want to go." Mark pleaded with Thane. "At least give her the chance to decide for herself. She's old enough to begin making some decisions about her life."

"You know she will want to go. But others will touch her. What if she has an episode? A vision overload, as you two have begun calling them. What will you do then? With her? With your own girls there?"

"My wife will be there, as well. If Alice has any problems, at all, I will bring her right back here." Mark took a deep breath, and worked to calm his voice. "I know you care for her, but she is growing up. She needs to see something of the world."

"Why?" Thane did not understand Mark's point of view. "They will never let her leave here. She has not been a part of your world, since she was almost four years old. Why does she need to start now? Why would she want to? Your world has no place for her."

Mark sighed and lowered his head, looking at the floor. "I understand that. I hate it, but I understand it." He looked at Thane's red eyes again, an anomaly he had gotten use to. "I just want so much more for her. She's such a joy, such a treasure. I just want her to have some fun."

Thane said nothing for several minutes. In fact, he had been quiet for so long Mark was getting ready to turn and leave the room, before he finally spoke.

"Say nothing to her concerning this. I will think on it." Thane told him.

Mark's smile spread across his face as he nodded, then turned and left the room. Thane shook his head slowly, as the door to his room closed behind Mark. During the five years the human had worked at the hospital, he and Thane had become closer, due to their mutual love for Alice. Between the two of them, Alice wanted for nothing. Mark had even started bringing newspapers and magazines in for Alice, to introduce her to current events in national politics, local issues, and life on the surface of the world in general. Alice had become a knowledge sponge. She simply devoured any and all information she was presented with, but her favorite was still fashion.

Thane never understood how a child that never saw anyone, but Mark and himself, could possibly be so concerned about her appearance. But she was. Every new dress was an opportunity to dance and show off for the two men in her life. Alice reveled in the attention lavished on her, but she was never catty or wicked. She was just very happy with her life. This was all part of the reason Thane resisted telling Alice about the dance that Mark wanted to take her to. He was worried that she would become discontent with her life with him. And, although he refused to consider or even acknowledge the fact, he was terrified of losing her. A part of him realized that she was a human child, and she would grow into a human adult, but he still saw her as hischild.

Thane was sitting in his reading chair, still deep in thought, when Alice woke and crept to his room.

"Surprise," she bounded to his lap and hugged him around the neck.

"You are getting too old for these games," Thane chastised her, getting up from the chair and setting Alice on her feet.

"So you keep telling me." Alice laughed, as she swiped the apple from his reading table. She took a bite from the apple, then plopped into his wing-backed reading chair. "Good morning Thane," she smiled at him, as she chewed.

"What have I told you about talking with your mouth full?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not to," she laughed as she swallowed.

Thane sighed and shook his head. "You're almost due for another six-month check." He took her file from a small pile, and looked through it. "We need to come up with a reason for you to avoid that chair, again."

"You've disabled it, twice," Alice chuckled, "I've had the flu, a head cold twice, a broken arm and a broken leg, both of which hurt." She gave Thane a wicked look. "Pneumonia, and chicken pox." She thought hard for a while. "I'm out of ideas." She looked at Thane.

He sighed deeply. "You could try to touch every one on your way through to the treatment room, and have a vision over-load?"

"It's better than that chair." Alice agreed. "I'll tell Mark when he comes for me."

Thane smiled down on her, and felt that familiar, but peculiar warmth, when she smiled back at him. Suddenly he frowned. Alice instantly jumped out of the chair.

"Is someone coming?"

"No. Nothing like that." Thane took a step toward her, and indicated for her to sit back down. He clasped his hands behind his back, and began to pace the small room. Then, suddenly remembering, he left the room, saying, "I've forgotten your breakfast." He returned shortly with a tray laden with fried chicken, potato salad, cold milk, and orange Jell-o. He set the tray on his reading table, and indicated for Alice to go ahead and eat.

"Thane?" Alice looked at him expectantly, as she very neatly began to eat her breakfast.

"Hmmm?" he raised his head, his hands, once again, clasped behind his back.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked sweetly.

"Nothing, child. Nothing." He continued to pace.

"Thane?"

"Hmmm?" His eyes lifted, but not his head.

"Thane!" Alice became insistent.

"What is it, child?" Thane became impatient.

"Exactly my question. What is wrong? You're worrying me."

"Oh," and he went back to pacing.

"Thane!" Alice called sharply. "Tell me what is wrong, or I'm going to go find Mark and have him find out for me."

"What, child?" Thane stopped pacing and stared at Alice.

"Tell me what is wrong, please." Alice was pleading with him.

Thane took a deep breath and moved to the other chair in his room. He sat down and looked at Alice, then got a peculiar look on his face and motioned for her to get out of his chair. The two quickly switched chairs, Alice laughing all the while. She moved her tray to the bedside table, and continued to eat her breakfast, as she waited for him to talk. Thane made himself comfortable, with his right ankle over the top of his left knee. When they were both settled, he looked up at Alice and floundered on where to begin.

"Mark and I...We were talking...He suggested...It has been years..." the thoughts shifted so swiftly through his mind, he finally gave up and simply looked in her general direction.

"Thane," Alice started.

"Yes, Alice." He looked down into his lap, his arms outstretched on the arms of the chair, with his fingers, claw-like, gripping the ends.

"You and Mark were talking about something for me?"

"Yes."

"You are not happy with whatever it is he talked to you about?"

"Yes."

"Why are you not happy about it?"

"It is dangerous for you." Thane looked at her, pleading for her to understand.

"It must have something to do with being around people." Alice thought out loud. She looked back at Thane. "It is some sort of event on the surface?"

The look of horror in his eyes was all she needed to confirm her suspicions.

"What sort of event is it?"

Thane looked to the wall to his right.

"Don't avoid me, Thane. What sort of event is it?"

He looked at his left hand, as he used his thumbnail to clean his other fingernails, as he mumbled his answer. "It'sadébutanteball."

"You wanna try that again?"

"I don't "wanna" try anything." Thane glared at her.

"Would you care to try that one more time? Perhaps slower?" Alice purred to him.

He took a deep breath, sat up straight and looked her in the eyes.

"It is a Débutante Ball." He finally spit out the words.

Alice launched herself out of her chair, and onto his lap, squealing with joy.

"A Ball?" she squealed. "Me? At a Ball?" Her arms were squeezing Thane's neck tightly. Suddenly her arms began to relax. "Me," she whispered, the joy gone from her voice. "At a Ball." Alice swallowed hard. "With all those girls, and parents...and boys, and people." Thane pulled Alice onto his lap, holding her head to rest on his shoulder. "All those people." And he felt the tears begin to fall to his shirt.

"Hush, my child." He tried to comfort her, as best he could. "Perhaps we can find a way?"

"I don't even know how to dance," Alice told Thane.

"Yes. I have been lacking in some phases of your education, but it is nothing we can not remedy. Mark has knowledge in this area. He has taught his girls. And they will be there, as well. Hush, my child, and eat. There is plenty of time to consider all these things, and to develop plans to cover all contingencies. As for now, you have not finished your meal."

Alice returned to her tray. She picked it up, and headed toward the door to Thane's room.

"I'll finish this in my room," she whispered to Thane. "I want to be alone for a while."

Thane watched her leave his room, his heart breaking at the sound of her voice. He listened as she entered her cell, slid her tray onto her desk, then collapsed on her bed, quietly sobbing. He sat and only listened. He did not understand how to comfort her. He never had grasped the concept of comfort. Eventually Thane had to leave his room, but he listened for her, throughout the evening. He made his feeding rounds, then completed any chores set for him, for the night. They had placed number three in the chair, earlier in the day. His cell would need cleaning, as well as his clothes and his body.

When Thane had completed his tasks, he stood outside Alice's cell door, and listened for her to call to him. He didn't have to wait long. He stood waiting for 12 minutes and 27 seconds, before he heard his name whispered by Alice. When he did, he was instantly at her side. He pulled Alice from the bed, her long black hair falling all around her face, as she curled into his chest.

"Do you think I would be able to go?" she sniffled as she asked.

"We can try, my child. We can plan for as many possibilities as there may be."

"I would like to go to a real Ball. But I don't have the proper clothes for it. I've seen the magazines. Those dresses are very expensive." Her sniffles continued.

"Fear not, child. If you wish to do this, then I shall find a way to provide everything necessary for your evening out." He smiled at her, as she looked up into his bright red eyes.

"You do too much for me," Alice palmed one of his cheeks, while kissing the other. She laid her head in the crook of his neck, and let the sobs and sniffles fade. "I love you, Thane." she whispered.

"Well," he placed her back on the bed, and stood in front of her. "Time to get back to work. Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes." Alice chimed, and they began the day's school work.

#

Alice had worked day and night, to learn the needed dance steps. Mark had promised to dance with her, often, so she would not have to tempt fate by touching others. They also hoped that the arm length gloves, that she would be wearing, would prevent some of her visions, but there was no way to test it to be certain because she no longer had visions with Thane or Mark.

"Why do you think I stopped having visions of you and Mark?" Alice asked, as Thane did the final measurements for her dress.

"I don't know, my child. Perhaps there is nothing in our near future, that will be of significant change to warrant a vision. Now, lift your arms, and hold them straight out."

"That tickles," Alice giggled and wiggled as the tape measure was held under her armpit, then moved down her side.

"Hold still, child." Thane chastised her. "The Ball is tomorrow night. If you want your dress to fit properly, I must finish with these measurements."

"Thane?"

"Yes child."

"Will I be as pretty as the other girls?"

Thane stopped dead. His head slowly turned toward Alice, and his eyes bored into hers.

"No." he said in his most deathly serious tone. "Your beauty shall far exceed all others at this event. For there is no girl child as loving, intelligent, and poised as you." He stood, to look down at her. "Your hair is as black as night, and as long as you are tall. I have studied the styles and fashions of the times, and shall prepare it for this event, up on your head, and around your shoulders, with pins and flowers. Your complexion is a rarity in it's perfection, as it is unblemished and the color of fine oriental alabaster. I have sought out the most adept dressmaker, and have ordered only the finest of materials for your dress. Your shoes are the latest fashion. Something called a Bar shoe, made of white leather, with a delicate strap and small silver buckle. The heel, a simple two inches, is a small half inch more than the boots you now wear."

Thane took a step back to admire Alice. "You shall be a vision in white. As lovely as a dove on a winter branch."

Alice gave him a hug, then stood still, with a broad smile across her face. She could withstand anything, to hear her Thane talk like that. He was just finishing the measuring, when Mark made an appearance.

"They want her upstairs," he told them from Alice's cell door. "Another treatment." A look of disgust plain on his face.

Alice quickly changed into an old dress, that was too small and very dirty, that she kept for these events. She messed her hair, and dirtied her face. Mark took her hand and led her up the stairs, and sat her into a wheelchair. Remembering the plan, he pushed her through the most heavily populated parts of the hospital, giving Alice the greatest chance at a vision overload. As she passed the other patients and staff, she reached out and touched everyone she could.

The visions came fast and hard. Alice screamed and writhed, as Mark pushed her toward treatment room four. She was nearing convulsions by the time Mark knocked at the door with the big black '4' painted on it.

"What happened to her?" the treatment nurse demanded to know.

"The halls aren't exactly empty on the way here." Mark looked helpless, as he feared the plan would fail.

"God, she's tiny. File says she's 15?" She continued to examine Alice's file, as she considered the screaming child. "I can't do this." She gave them an absentminded wave and turned back to the room. "Take her back to her cell, and bring in the next one."

"Yes, ma'am," Mark tried to look indifferent, as he turned the chair around and took Alice back to the cellar. This time, he used the emptier hallways.

By the time Alice was back in her own bed, the visions had nearly stopped. Mark was smiling down at her, when she came out of her vision overload. She took several deep breaths, as she cleared her mind of the unwanted visuals that had incapacitated her.

"Better?" Mark asked.

"Yes. Much." Alice still had her eyes closed, as Thane entered the room.

"It worked," Mark turned to look over his shoulder, at the pale night attendant.

"She should rest. It is long past her bed time." Thane motioned for Mark to follow him out of the cell.

Alice curled up into a Ball, and pulled the sheet up over her. She saw thane pass Mark the paper with her final measurements, just before her eyes became too heavy to hold open any longer. She smiled as she fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about the next night's dance.

#

"Hold still, child!" Thane admonished Alice, as she bounced from foot to foot.

He worked her long straight hair into a swirling bun, high on the back of her head. He was attempting to create banana curls along the sides, so they fell in front of her ears. He had found a large silver and mother of pearl comb, to help hold her hair in place. Baby's breath was weaved throughout her hair, the tiny white flowers nestled into the black terrain.

"Done," Thane told her. "Time to stand on the bed."

Alice jumped up on her bed, in her underdress, while Thane placed her dress carefully over her head. The white lace gown teemed with mother of pearl sequins, in a design of swirling fern frond bands. They were placed diagonally, to create a feel of motion even when she was standing still. Alice drew in a deep breath, and tried not to let any tears fall, as she felt the dress fall over her slight frame. The pearl beading of the bodice insert, and fringe on the neckline and short sleeves, created a tinkling sound at her slightest move. Her white silk underdress stopped at her feet, but the lace and beading continued to the small train of the gown.

Thane stood back from Alice, and looked at her, with a critical eye.

"Well?" Alice's anxiety level rising.

"Hmmm," Thane hummed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Thane!" Alice tried to stomp her foot on the bed.

"Incredibly beautiful," he smiled at her, finally.

"My God!" Mark whispered from her cell door.

Alice looked up to see him standing in the doorway, stunned.

"Is this truly the child that no one wanted? It can't be," he teased Alice. "Who would not want to claim such a ravishing beauty." He walked quickly to the bed, and Alice leapt into his arms.

"Be careful of the dress, and your hair, child." Thane warned her, as Mark stood her back on the bed.

"I'm ready to leave." Mark told Thane.

"I have arranged for a car to pick you both up, in about—ten minutes." Thane told Mark. "The car and driver will be at your disposal for the entire evening. Even if Alice must return early, you and your family may enjoy the comfort of the car, for the rest of the evening."

"On behalf of me and my family, I think you for your generosity. It is a wonderful thing you have done for Alice."

"You should leave now," Thane nodded to Mark.

"Will you carry me out?" Alice asked Thane. They had all decided that Alice would be carried while in the cellar. Thane did not want her shoes or dress ruined by the dirt floor of the home he shared with Alice.

Thane plucked Alice off the bed, and carried her to the cellar's outside door.

"Remember to watch your eyes," Thane warned her. "You have been practicing, looking out into the brightness of day, but it will be much brighter with the sun on your face. Do not look directly into the sun."

"I remember, Thane," Alice admonished him. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck,

"Are you frightened?" He whispered into her ear.

Alice nodded. "But I want to go anyway," she whispered back.

"Then enjoy the Ball, my dear child," and he reached into the car, that was pulled into the shadow of the building, and deposited Alice on the large leather seat.

Alice hung on to his, as he tried to pull himself back out of the car. She made him look her in the eye, before he could leave her.

"I love you, Thane. With all my heart." Alice then kissed both his cheeks and his nose, before smiling and letting his go.

"Wait one moment," Thane told Mark, as he turned to him. He disappeared into the cellar, but returned in the space of a few heart beats, with a fur stole for Alice. He handed it to Mark. "I purchased this for her, yesterday. It is an ermine stole. It should be sufficient for this evening. The weather should remain warm."

Mark nodded, as he accepted the stole for Alice. He was unable to hide his shock. "Why do you work here?" He finally had to ask Thane. "You obviously don't need the money. Why?"

"We all have our reasons for the things we feel we need to do. Now go. Keep a close watch on my child."

Thane watched as Mark wrapped the fur stole around Alice's shoulders, as the car pulled away. He waved, as Alice looked back, a broad smile across her face, as she waved good-bye to him. He stood in the shadow of the door, for a long time, after the car had driven out of sight. He wondered at the feelings that had surfaced the moment the car door had closed, and he had become separated from his Alice.

"Hmmm," he hummed to himself. "A Ball." He lowered his head, looked at the floor, as he returned to his room. He had agreed to work part of Mark's shift, so he could escort his family to the Ball. He began his trek up to the ground floor, to retrieve dinner, for the other members of his domain. He would feed them, and they would feed him, then he would sit in his room and wait for his Alice to return home. "Well, hmmm."

I've been having some problems with my tremors, again, so the next chapter may be a bit late.

Sorry about that. It seems to happen more, when I get my blood sugar under control.

Go figure!

Anywho! Please review!