Not Without a Fight
Annaleise Marie

Round Twenty-Three

AN: So I'm starting to see a bit of increase in feedback since my return, and people are still adding this to their faves and alerts and just, wow guys, I just can't tell you how absolutely awesome I find that as a writer. Thank you so very much!

This chapter is going to be a sort of filler chapter – a little something light to serve as a break from all of the absolute CRAP I've been flinging at the characters lately! I hope you enjoy it and don't hate me too much for not progressing the storyline AT ALL. Haha.

Oh, there is a lot of listing of people in this chapter (ex: "Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and I…") so I feel the need to mention that I honestly could not give one real fuck about the changes in the rules of English grammar regarding the use of the Oxford comma. I will continue to use commas the way teachers insisted I do through fourteen years of formal education until someone gives me a good reason that I should actually give even a single fuck. Just to put it out there.

I don't own Twilight, but then again, neither did EL James. Fuck copyright law! No, but seriously, I don't own Twilight. That would be Stephanie Meyer.

X

"Seven in the morning shouldn't be a thing that happens on Saturday," Alice grumbled sleepily from the backseat of the Jeep. Rose, Jasper, Alice, and I were all piled in it, with Edward and Bella following behind us in the Volvo. Alice was apparently not a morning person, having been pulled forcibly out of bed by Jasper and put into the Jeep just five minutes earlier, still in her pajamas. Jasper had brought out a stack of clean clothes and her makeup bag out with her.

"It's easier this way, trust me," he had said when I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly. "By the time we reach Port Angeles she'll be bouncing off the walls, but it would take an act of Congress to get her to do anything right now."

So she was currently curled up in the back, her head on Jasper's shoulder, grumbling about how early it was.

"I don't get it, Alice, it was you're idea to leave this early," I said.

"Don't throw your facts at me like they mean anything, McCarty," she grumbled. Jasper smirked at me in the rearview mirror.

True to Jasper's word, about ten minutes before we reached Port Angeles, Alice was completely awake and back to her normal exhaustingly energetic self.

She leaned forward, her head between Rosalie and me, giving block-by-block instructions as she peered eagerly out of the windshield.

"Alice, you have morning breath to rival a dragon," Rosalie finally said, and I was relieved that she had said it, because I was thinking it but just didn't have the heart to say it.

Alice gave a little squeak and dove back into the backseat, rummaging through her purse and finally pulling out a pack of gum.

"Oh, here! Park here!" she said, leaning forward again and pointing at a metered spot in front of a small boutique. The inside of the car was suddenly filled with the tang of watermelon gum.

I pulled into the spot and Rosalie, Jasper, and I piled out of the Jeep, standing to block the windows so that Alice could change as Edward and Bella pulled into the spot behind us.

"Have you figured out what you're going to do about them, yet?" Rosalie asked, nodding towards the car.

"Not a fucking clue," I admitted, searching my pockets for my cigarettes. I was completely stumped. Edward had obviously held up his end of the deal, but I could not for the life of me come up with a plan for mine. Which was fucking stupid. I was Emmett Fucking McCarty, panty-dropper extraordinaire. I had gone to great and sometimes downright ridiculous lengths to get a girl in bed before – like the time I arranged a private showing of Top Gun at the local movie theater in Manassas because it was "just the absolute most romantic movie she had ever seen". That was a ridiculous statement in its own rite because the flagrant homoeroticism between Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards was like a palpable smog in that movie, but I digress.

The point is, once I had put my mind to it, I had experienced very few failures in that department.

But for Edward and Bella, I was drawing a complete and total blank.

Alice emerged from the Jeep after a few minutes, looking stupidly well put-together for someone who hadn't even been fully conscious a half hour ago, and without preamble she grabbed Bella and Rosalie and marched them towards the boutique.

Jasper, Edward, and I stood there for a moment in dull surprise. Finally, Jasper cleared his throat.

"So. Man time. Let's do this," he said in a ridiculously deep voice, shrugging and starting off down the sidewalk.

We ended up sitting on the pier, our legs dangling over the edge, staring out at the Pacific in silence.

Or, it was silent for awhile.

"I am so bored!" Jasper suddenly burst out. "Why did we agree to this?"

"Love makes us do stupid things?" I offered, shrugging. Jasper snorted. "So, Edward, how goes it with Bella, anyway?"

"Awkward as fuck," he said grimly.

"Dude, have you considered that maybe you're just like… not ready?" Jasper asked. I bit back a sound that probably would have been a snort, sure that Edward wouldn't be amused. "I just mean, this seems to be a lot harder than it should be."

"That's what she said," I cracked. What can I say? When I'm uncomfortable, I develop the mentality of a five-year-old, and not laughing at Jasper's question had taken absolutely all of my strength.

"Seriously, though," Jasper said, ignoring me. Probably wisely, I might add. "No shame or anything."

"Except that it makes you a giant fucking pussy," I said helpfully.

"Emmett, adults are talking," Jasper said shortly and then his left hand was planted between my shoulder blades and I was being tipped violently forward, falling to crash into the water below.

Now, the Pacific Ocean is well-known for being extremely cold year-round, for some reason that no one has ever given enough of a fuck about to actually learn, with the exception of maybe some really bored marine biologists somewhere.

Add to that the fact that it was fucking January.

Add to that the fact that cold water is known to be a favorite for cuddly things like Great White sharks.

Add all of those things together and maybe you can understand why I hit the water in full panic mode and became immediately, dramatically disoriented as saltwater filled my mouth and I lost the ability to tell up from down in the dark, frigid water.

Finally, it clicked in my oxygen-deprived mind that humans float naturally. I quit thrashing, letting myself rise until I hit the surface.

"Swim, you asshat! I'm not coming in after you!" Jasper was shouting from the pier. I glared up at him.

"Your ass is mine, Hale!" I forced myself to yell back through chattering teeth and gasps of searing cold air before I started swimming for shore. One thing was certain – if I didn't get out of this water soon, I was going to go into shock.

"Now that is what she said!" Jasper shouted with a whooping laugh.

I was going to kill him. By the end of the day, I was going to kill Jasper Hale.

X

When I finally fought my way out of the surf, I was freezing, waterlogged, and missing a shoe. I was absolutely certain that my cigarettes were destroyed, and there was no way in hell that my phone had survived. Jasper and Edward had, rather wisely, abandoned the pier, and I was pretty fucking miserable.

I turned away from the pier and trooped back to the Jeep, figuring he'd have to come back there at some point. I ignored the shocked stares of the growing number of people out shopping, surely wondering why this angry-looking soggy guy was wandering around town with one shoe in the middle of January.

I reached the Jeep as the girls emerged from the boutique, laughing about something. Rosalie spotted me as they drew closer, her eyes growing wide with alarm.

"Oh my god, Emmett…" she began when they reached me. Bella was staring at me, her hand clasped over her mouth. Whether she was trying to stifle a gasp or a laugh, I couldn't tell.

Alice leaned towards me, sniffing my shirt. Her nose wrinkled distastefully.

"You smell like ocean water," she announced, taking a step back. I inhaled hard, trying to stay calm. "I mean, jeez, Emmett, you really stink. What did you—"

Her words ended in a loud shriek as I reached out and grabbed her before she could dance away, pulling her against me and soaking her clothes with mine. I pulled my shirt around her head for good measure, soaking her hair.

I released her and there was stunned silence as she gaped at me, looking like a drowned rat, her eyes wide and horrified.

Then Rosalie and Bella both burst out laughing, doubling over and hugging their bags, their faces turning red as they fought for air.

"I'll kill you, McCarty!" Alice howled. She took a step towards me but I darted away.

"Sorry, I need to find Jasper," I said, laughing as I hurried down the sidewalk.

X

RPOV

"Absolutely not," Alice said stubbornly, eyeing a bright yellow pair of sweatpants. I thumbed through the rack, trying to find something in a slightly less violent color.

"Come on, Alice, you smell like salt and fish. Not a very flattering smell for a girl. Besides, they're on sell," I said. Alice glared at me mutinously.

"The Pink line is for whores who like to advertise what underwear they're wearing on their clothes. I might as well buy a pair of Daisy Dukes and a tube top and wear my thong pulled up on my hips," she said. I rolled my eyes and Bella laughed, earning her own glare from Alice.

"Listen, we do not have time to look for the perfect outfit. At least this stuff matches. Here, what about this?" I held up a navy blue set and a gray tee shirt, all free from the tell-tale logo. "It's not pretty, but no one will know it's Pink."

Alice huffed and took the clothes from me, tearing off the tags and handing them back along with her bank card.

"You pay. I'll go change," she said gloomily.

"Atta girl," I said before making my way to the register with the severed tags, Bella trailing along behind me. I supposed it must seem safer than staying with Alice.

I handed the tags to the little blonde girl working the till, causing her to raise a perfectly-sculpted eyebrow at me.

"Our friend has the clothes in the dressing room. She's going to wear them out," I explained. She shrugged and started scanning the tags. After she read the total I handed over Alice's card and she glanced at it before scanning it through.

"You're Alice Brandon?" she asked as she handed the card back. Before I could answer, she produced an envelope from behind the register. "A guy left this for you."

I took the envelope and looked at Bella, puzzled. She shrugged. I turned it over. There were no markings, but it wasn't sealed so I opened it, peering inside.

There were three Polaroid photos inside, each on a lanyard, and a folded piece of paper. I unfolded it to expose crosshairs, carefully drawn in red ink. Below it was the message: "It begins at noon."

I checked my phone. It was 11:30.

"What does that mean?" Bella asked, dumbfounded. I shook my head. I had no clue.

"What did this guy look like?" I asked the clerk. She shrugged.

"Tall, blonde hair, cowboy hat… And this really weird shirt that said…" she trailed off, trying to remember.

"There's no penguins in Alaska?" I supplied, remembering Jasper's Chiodos shirt from that morning.

"Yeah. I thought it was weird cause like, everyone knows that penguins come from Alaska," the clerk said.

"No, they don't," Bella said, shaking her head and blinking incredulously at her. "Penguins are indigenous to the southern hemisphere, unless in captivity."

The clerk just stared at her.

"Okay…" I said slowly. "Let's get Alice."

We found her just as she was leaving the dressing room. She was in full-pout mode, looking down at the sweatsuit in great distaste.

"Jasper left this for you," I said, holding out the envelope and the note. She read it, her brow furrowing, and then pulled the lanyards and their attached photos out of the envelope. I saw now that they were each a picture of us, and a grin spread across Alice's face.

"Assassin," she said. "Excellent! I can kill Emmett!"

X

EPOV

I was familiar with the game of Assassin, having taken part in a camp-wide game that one summer in Colorado, so I wasn't as confused as I could have been when a lanyard and accompanying photo of me came sailing under the door of my fitting room while I was trying to find new dry clothes. I was less surprised by the note slid under the door with the carefully-drawn crosshairs and announcement that the game would start at noon.

The problem was, without my phone, I had no idea what time it was. I didn't wear a watch.

Still, I felt a grin spread across my face. This may not have been exactly what I meant when I said that I would kill Jasper, but it would work.

X

AN: Originally this chapter was intended to be written to include the game of Assassin and the rest of the trip, but it would have been RIDICULOUSLY long. I mean, I know I said I wanted to start writing longer chapters, but we're talking like 7,000 words. Plus, it's been about three days since my last update so it seemed like it was about time.

So, I think with this chapter I may have finally gotten my funny back on track. What do you think? Reviewers get to play a game of Assassin with me in the event that we ever come across each other in real life. But I warn you, I'm crafty! :D