AN: Yay! We've reached Part two! There's a small lemon in this chapter ;)
Enjoy!
Stephanie Meyer owns twilight.
PART TWO
THE FOUR HORSEMEN
CHAPTER 1
BPOV
It had been two weeks since Peter handed me my new car and explained our promotion. My new job title scared me, but I was slowly getting used to it after several philosophical conversations with Peter and the others. "For the last time Emmett, we aren't going to end the world." Pete and Em were having their own philosophical discussion.
"But you're going to bring about the Apocalypse!" Em said. Pete shook his head and sighed. "Forget about what you know of pop culture and human society. This isn't a battle of good against evil, fate isn't good or evil. We will bring change and aide in the unity of the supernatural world. Apocalypse really means 'lifting the veil' not the 'total destruction of all life.'"
"But you said fate was neither good nor evil, what your describing sounds good. It doesn't make sense."
"Yes, the future will be good. But think on it; think of all the pain that has been caused in the past. Those were bad times, man. The pendulum of fate swings both ways. Bad stuff happened and now the pendulum swings in our favor."
"Does that mean there will be bad times ahead as well?"
"Yes, but not for a long time. Everything in our existence belongs to the balance of fate and the cycles of good and bad. Every action has consequences, both good and bad. Embrace the idea of a good future and appreciate it. Learn from the bad, grow and adapt. That is our purpose Emmett. Vampires have remained in stasis for too long, the world has changed and now it's time for our species to catch up."
"So, you're not evil?" Emmett said. Pete sighed, "none of us are truly good or evil, Emmett. Our job description doesn't make us one or the other. We work for fate, we are instruments of fate; we are impartial guardians."
"How were you assigned your rolls? Why is Bella Death? Char Famine? You Pestilence and J War?" Emmett asked. This was something we all wanted to know. Why us? Why now? Pete explained. "I didn't assign them, remember when I collapsed?" He nodded at Peter "the ancestors passed on the message. Believe me I wasn't happy with my assigned name, traditionally my name would be Conquest, but the Ancestors have a sense of humor and called me Pestilence. I can kind of understand the others though." I could understand too.
"What do you mean?" Emmett asked. Pete answered. "Take Jasper, he lived and thrived in war; both human and vampire-"
"But he was broken!" Em said. Pete nodded "And he was healed, that fracture gave both sides of him time to focus and grow stronger. Fate guided me to help him, Bella's love brought his two halves together and Charlie bound him, making him whole again."
"What if Jazz breaks again, you said he is War-"
"He's stronger now and protected. Those who serve fate have fate on their side. There is no master more powerful than fate. Unlike J's past with Maria and Alice he will have freedom, he will make his own decisions and fate will guide him, just as it will guide us."
"Well, what about Char?" He asked, few people knew Char's gift. She explained; "I have a gift. I can control and manipulate bloodlust like J can manipulate emotions."
"Blood lust isn't an emotion?" Em asked. Char shook her head. "Not in the strictest sense. Blood lust is closer to the hind brain function, like instinct. Emotions are more cerebral."
"What about Bella?" He asked. J answered him. "You've seen her power, it cut through the strongest of our species like a hot knife through butter. You see Emmett, death isn't evil or bad. Death can mean change or a new beginning, look at our transformation from human to vampire. We died, but it wasn't the end of our existence. The problem is you're attaching human ideals to universal phenomena. Forget how you saw things as a human, put aside what you learned and look at the big picture." Emmett nodded and left to ponder. He had been the most troubled by our promotion.
I headed to dad's room and knocked. "Come in" he said. I gently turned the handle. I'd finally gotten some control over my strength, but I still made some mistakes. "Hey dad. How are you?"
"I'm good. Are you okay?" He asked, he had heard the conversation downstairs. I nodded and sat down next to him on the bed, he was looking through the binder Pete had given him a while ago.
He looked over to me "don't worry about Emmett, Bells. He doesn't mean anything by what he says."
"I know, I'm just getting used to my new job title."
"You know Pete's right, this doesn't mean the four of you are evil. I think that's what is causing Emmett's confusion; he knows each of you very well. Unfortunately fate decided to give you titles that the western world associates with fear."
"What about you dad? What do you think?"
"I'm lucky, Oona taught me well and explained the spiritual side of fate." He paused. "I think I'll go talk to Emmett, Pete doesn't seem to be succeeding." He said. He patted my shoulder and headed downstairs to hunt him down.
I could hear J in our room, I decided to join him. He looked up as I entered, he was reading one of my books. We'd hardly had anytime to ourselves since we'd gotten together. "Where is everyone?" J asked "Char and Rose are in their room, Emmett's outside with dad and Pete's in the lounge room." I took the book from him and lay it on the table next to him. "Lay with me for a bit" I pulled him over to the bed, we hadn't done anything beyond kiss a couple of times, nor would we be able to until we got some time to ourselves, but cuddling on the bed would do for now. He tucked me into his side and I undid the buttons of his shirt. I loved tracing his scars with my fingers.
We lay side by side for a bit. J rolled towards me and kissed me. My hands travelled around his chest, the slight bumps of his scars brushing against my fingertips. He deepened the kiss and brought me closer to him, my lust spiked and his eyes turned black. "I love you" he whispered in my ear, I shivered, overwhelmed by our connection.
We kissed for a little longer, J's breaths were heavy like my own. He looked deeply into my eyes and spoke softly "I know we're limited in what we can do in a crowded house, but we have a little privacy now, would you like to try something?" Heat rushed through my veins "what do you suggest?" He shrugged "we'll go slow, see what you're comfortable with." He knew how inexperienced I was, I loved how he didn't see that as a barrier to overcome.
He started kissing me, I kept my hands running over his chest. His hands moved under my tank top, his fingers lightly grazed my sides. I groaned into his mouth, the feel of his hands against my skin tingled. My hands slid down to his sides. I lightly gripped his hips, pulling him even closer. His hands moved up, barely skimming the bottom of my bra. I felt him hard against me and shuddered. I needed him so much right now. I vaguely heard Peter come up the stairs and order Rose and Char to go out with him. I felt a burst of gratitude from J and realized we were now alone in the house. I felt a flutter in my chest, not a heartbeat, but hope.
J broke the kiss and started nuzzling my neck and kissing my collarbone "can I take this off?" He tugged on my tank top in question. I sat up slightly and let him lift it off me. I pushed his shirt off his shoulders and let it slide on to the mattress. We started kissing again, I pushed my chest into his, desperate for the friction of our skin. His hands danced up my back causing me to shiver and moan.
He reached the clasp of my bra and tugged gently in question, I nodded slightly, careful not to break the kiss. The slight pressure of my bra loosened as he unclasped in, his fingers moved to my shoulders, brushing the straps off me, I lifted my arms slightly and he pushed the bra off me. I pulled him on top of me and groaned at the feeling of his bare chest against mine. He moved his mouth away from mine and whispered against my skin "anytime you want me to stop, just say it. I won't hurt you."
"I know" he kissed me again, it became more passionate and my hands moved down his back, I loved the texture of the scars against my skin.
His hands moved up, slowly edging towards my breasts. My own hands moved down his back and I dipped my hands into the back of his pants, pulling him closer. He nudged my legs apart and leaned into me. I wrapped my legs around him, pressing myself to him. He moved against me, his hands moving over my nipples and his mouth sucking lightly on my neck. I could feel pressure build up inside me as I moved faster against him.
His thrusts met my own, our pants were a barrier between our skin. He lay his forehead on my shoulder and groaned, the sound of his voice made the pressure inside me grow. We moved more frantically against each other, J started to grunt, my moans mixed with his as I became desperate, fevered.
I pushed harder against him, I could feel him against my clit. Electricity shot through me, sending me over the edge. He continued to thrust against me, moving faster and faster and I rode the wave of pleasure, I felt him twitch against me and still. I was coming down from the euphoria, but I took over thrusting against him and he panted against my neck. His sudden low moan spurred me on, I kept moving as his twitching grew. He stilled, growling as I felt a wetness seep through to my skin.
He slowly rolled off me and faced me, lying on his side. His armed moved around me and he brought me to him. Our breathing was heavy and he whispered "holy shit" I giggled feeling a sense of pride mix with satisfaction. We lay together, topless, our clothed legs entwined on top of the covers. It was peaceful. We kissed occasionally, smiling widely at each other.
We heard a car approach; Pete, Char and Rose were on their way back. J kissed me once more and whispered "will you shower with me?" I nodded, feeling confident. He grabbed my hand and led me to the bathroom. He tugged down my pants and underwear, I let them fall to the floor and stepped out of them. I kissed him as I undid his fly, his pants tore under my strength. The remains falling to the floor. I felt him smile against me and he hooked his thumbs under the elastic of his underwear slowly moving them down. He stepped out of them and moved to turn on the shower. I looked over his naked body, he was covered on scars everywhere. He left my spike of lust and smirked at me. He was a cocky fucker, but he had good reason to be. He guided me into the shower before stepping in and joining me.
I adjusted the taps, the water steamed against us. He grabbed a face washer and soap, lathering it up. I stood still and let him wash me, he paid particular attention to my chest and I laughed "they're clean now J." He shrugged "I'm a guy" and moved to wash the rest of me. I took the other face washer, lathering it up to return the favor. I moved it between his legs and he looked at me in amusement "it's clean now Bella" I shrugged nonchalantly "I'm a chick." He laughed and I moved to clean the rest of him. He pecked my lips and opened the shower door to get two towels. I turned off the taps, monitoring my strength so I wouldn't break them.
We dried quickly and tucked the towels around us. I got him to help me put on my bra, something he took very seriously. He spent quite a bit of time tucking me into the contraption before handing me a clean tank top and yoga pants. He dressed himself in clean, intact jeans and grabbed a singlet. I grinned, I love seeing his scars.
The sound of the front door opening signaled the return of the others. Their voices carried upstairs, they were discussing the return of the Volturi guard. We headed downstairs to meet them. Pete grinned at us and nodded at J's attire while the others were absorbed in conversation. They turned their attention to us and stared at J, he rolled his eyes.
I looked for an explanation, Rose explained "we're not used to seeing Jazz without long sleeves." She turned to him "it looks good" she nodded in approval and turned back to the conversation. A quick look of relief flashed on J's face, he leaned down and whispered to me "I was insecure about my scars, the others used to feel scared." I shook my head "philistines, I happen to like them" I ran my fingertips down his arms and smirked as he shivered slightly. Char gave me a sneaky thumbs up and returned to the conversation.
Pete led us all to the lounge carrying a large package. He set it down on the coffee table, Char sat a smaller package next to it. I looked at both of them, they were stamped and postmarked from Italy. He tore open the larger box and handed bundles of material to each of us. J unfolded his and draped it around him, it was similar to the cloaks of the Volturi guard. I unfolded mine gently and put it on. It was thick, dark blue, almost black, material lined with dark blue silk, I looked at J's and saw the same colors. Pete and Char put their cloaks on as well, they matched ours; navy with dark blue lining.
Em, Rose and Charlie had deep green cloaks lined with white silk. Char opened the smaller package, it clinked as she moved it. She handed out heavy looking chains which held large pendants. Pete, Char, J's and mine were made from a dark grey metal, I looked at Char "anodized titanium." She said. My eyebrow barbell was made of the same metal.
Our pendants were dark grey, a large V with a sword down the center and a sapphire in the hilt of the sword. The pendant was as long as my pinky finger. The black chain holding it was the same thick, dark grey metal. It was long enough to pull over my head and didn't have a clasp.
Char handed out the other pendants to Charlie, Em and Rose. Theirs were a light silver color with a similar design. Each of their pendants were in the shape of a V with a delicately woven caduceus symbol in the center and a vivid green emerald in-between the wings of the caduceus. Pete grabbed a piece of paper from the bottom and began to read.
Dearest Friends,
We thank you for your assistance in the investigation and elimination of suspected Newborn Armies. Please find enclosed cloaks and pendants which will identify your alliance with our guard. From the information Peter gave us we specially designed the cloaks and pendants to reflect your roles. Please wear these while on your mission, they will show your authority and protect you from those of our kind who may feel inclined to interfere with your mission. It is law that any attack against one who wears our identifiers must immediately be put to death for treason.
Our guard will arrive shortly after you receive this package, they will brief you on what we discovered. We will keep you informed of the upcoming trial.
Best of luck to you all.
Warmest Regards,
Caius, Aro and Marcus
I brushed my fingers lightly over my pendant. Dad and I looked towards each other and smiled. Shit just got real.
We each removed our cloaks, but left on the pendants. Peter notified us that the guard would arrive at three tomorrow afternoon, we stayed in the lounge room and discussed the upcoming mission. "Will we all be going?" Rose asked, Peter answered her; "in a way yes. You, Em and Charlie will travel with us, but you won't see any battle. We'll set up a secure location to act as headquarters. The three of you will have to stay there, this will keep Charlie protected and you can work on your knowledge." Pete turned to dad "do you have any healing recipes in your repertoire?" He asked, dad nodded "a few, different recipes for different injuries."
Em perked up after hearing that, he may have enjoyed fighting but he wasn't stupid enough to get tangled up in a mission like ours without serious back up. Protection duty served him well and he was glad his nephew and Rose would be away from enemies, but able to help. He knew better than the worry about me, he'd seen me with Maria's newborns. "Do you foresee any casualties, Peter?" He asked. Pete shook his head, "Emmett, we'll be scoping out each search area and we'll be careful. I don't see anything happening, but we must plan for every eventuality."
"How will we search? Will we be split up?" I asked. Pete gestured to J to answer this one. "We usually split up into groups of three or four. In the past we'd be separated and placed with two Volturi guards, the groups depended on gifts and skill. On the last mission the Pete, Char and I worked with the Volturi I was with Heidi and Demitri; Demitri would be able to sense the leader and locate them, then Heidi would perform the role of bait, she'd head out first and use her power of seduction to draw the leader away from the newborns. I would incapacitate them."
"What if the leader didn't fall for Heidi's bait?" I asked. He smirked at me "then I'd give it a go. Anyway, once the leader was incapacitated we'd dismantle him and pack him into duffle bags en route to Volterra. During our attack the other two teams would sweep in and destroy the army. Peter's group would attack from one side, his gift would be able to sense any curveballs-"
"Curveballs?" Dad asked, J's voice darkened "vampire newborns with a gift or skillset that would make the attack harder. We learned the hard way on that one, we encountered a newborn with the gift to drain energy, they were left vulnerable until Jane was able to zap him with her power."
J shuddered "the last time we worked together Pete was paired with Alec and Felix, Alec would cut off as many senses as possible while Felix and Pete would attack and kill. They would form the first wave of attack and distract the group from the rest of us. Newborns have the attention span of a kitten with ADD," he looked at me apologetically and continued "Jane, Afton and Char would prevent any escape and attack from behind. Afton has the gift of stealth he would start picking off newborns while Char amped up the bloodlust of the better fighters which would keep them from focusing on us and they'd break into a frenzy, they would sometimes start attacking each other, Jane would incapacitate some with her gift and we'd mow through them fairly quickly.
"That last army we took down was large, after incapacitating the leader I joined the other two groups to clean up the rest of the newborns. One managed to get past us, but Heidi took him down quickly."
"Will it be a similar set up this time?" I asked. He nodded at me "we don't know which of the guard will come, but we'll work on which teams we'll grouped into tomorrow. It should be fairly easy. Maria usually has the largest army, she's impatient and greedy. There's a chance that any armies we come across with be much smaller. Either way, our squad will be overkill."
"What about the Res?" Dad asked after the conversation died down. Peter thought for a second "they'll be fine as long as they don't leave. Have you keeped them updated on progress?" Dad nodded "I spoke to Theresa yesterday, I'll call her after we're done here and let them know the guard will arrive and we're all headed out together."
"Good, how are they for supplies?"
"They had an order delivered last night, they'll be good for weeks."
"Excellent, hopefully it won't take that long." Pete looked towards me "how's the blood lust training going?"
"Great, I think. Dad added some herbs to the blood you and the guard have brought here, it still smells great, but tastes like shit." Dad added "the people on the Res eat the same combination of herbs to make their blood unpalatable to vampires. It changes their scent, but when added to human blood directly it can be used as a taste aversion."
"To what extent?" J asked. Dad smiled at me and reported. "I put a drop of human blood on Bella's nose, her eyes didn't darken. We've incorporated a recording of beating hearts, clothes worn by humans, everything but the real thing."
Pete nodded to dad, "we'll need a practical test. I have every faith that Bella can handle herself." He looked at the clock display on the blue ray player "it's 16:00 now. J, Char, take Binky and do a drive through town with the windows open." Peter turned to dad to explain "living human blood has a more appealing scent" shit, the blood I'd been working with was hard enough to resist. Pete continued "Char can monitor and control blood lust, but she'll only intervene if Bella starts to lose it. Jasper can keep her calm if her emotions spike. When it comes to vamps, heightened emotions can exacerbate blood lust." Dad nodded "makes sense Pete."
Char got the keys to my car and led me out. J told me what to expect "we'll be driving very slowly, on top of dealing with your blood lust, you need to observe their movements. If you handle our trip through the back streets and still feel comfortable we'll go ahead with the second part of the drive through, we'll head to major arterials, by that time people will be heading home from work and many humans will be out in the open air."
"We'll remain in the car all time?" I asked, he nodded "the windows will be down so you'll hear many heart beats and smell a large population of them, but you won't be able to hunt them. The fact that Peter suggested the drive test means he thinks you're ready. It's a very good thing." He said, sending me his pride.
I looked longingly at the driver's seat "I guess I won't be able to drive?" Char shook her head "for your first contact with humans you must be focused, putting you behind the wheel could cause and accident" I nodded, I'd expected as much. Char continued with a smile "if you do really well we might let you drive back part of the way." I was going to do this, I hadn't been able to drive Binky since I got him, I had been too busy with training my strength, speed and fighting.