A/N: You guys are all so very sweet! Thank you so much for all of the kind words and support, they have meant so much to me over the past few days. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

B~E~L~L~A

Exactly as he had promised Jasper was by my side before I could blink, he wasted no time in wrapping his arms around me, whispering that it was going to be alright. We both watched as Carlisle came back into the room, Jasper was the only thing that kept me together. He smiled that reassuring doctor smile before speaking.

"There was no visual evidence of penetration, your hymen is no longer intact but it did not seem to be a recent occurrence or due to penetration of any kind. It was obvious from my examination that you have not had intercourse." His smile turned brilliant. "I am confident that Edward did not take advantage of you in that way, at least."

"Oh, thank you God!" I exclaimed; clutching onto Jasper as our combined happiness and relief coursed through me. "Thank you, Carlisle. I'm sorry that you had to…you know."

Is there an appropriate thing to say in this situation? 'Thank you, father for delving into my girly parts to make sure that my cherry remains up-popped.', yeah, I don't think so.

"Please, my daughter, think nothing on it. I'll leave you two to it now. Jasper, can you and Bella meet us outside within the half hour?" He accepted Jasper's nod and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Can I just say that it feels like the house itself has lightened? Everyone was so worried for you Darlin', you are well loved by everyone here." He kissed my forehead, clutching me tighter.

I took a deep breath. "So I guess I had better get sorted. I feel like I need another shower."

"Hop to it then, Sweetheart." He swiftly set me on my feet and swatted my ass.

"Hey! I'm moving, I'm moving!" I laughed out, heading for the shower.

It was quick, of course, with no need to wash my hair again, but I did take advantage of the hot running water to get rid of the last of the stress I had been holding in. All that was left at the end of my shower was the anger that I was storing up for when I'm face to face with the two little bastards. I grabbed a pair of sweats and a tank top, paranoia got the best of me and I checked over everything for any hidden razor blades. There was none. Jasper appeared as soon as I opened the door, picking me up and zooming outside.

There was a large grove, given privacy by the surrounding huge trees and foliage. Everyone was there, chatting to each other and then smiling at me. One after the other I received hugs from the family, but I almost died of shock when Rose followed the others example. She pulled away, without looking at me and flitted off to stand by Emmett, resting her head against him as he laid an arm on her shoulder.

I just muttered a quiet "ok" and turned to where Jasper was standing with Peter, Eleazar, and Kate. "So…what are we gonna be doing here?" I asked, more than ready to get on with it. The relief from before had left me with one hell of a high.

"You, my little human, are going to find your inner Jedi and expand that shield of yours to protect someone others as well as yourself," Peter said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"And how am I going to do that?" Not that I was sceptical about my abilities or anything. Honest.

"That's where I come in." Kate said, reaching over to Jasper and lightly touching his arm.

Jasper jumped, snatching his arm away.

"A little warning next time please, Kate," he grumbled while rubbing his arm.

She laughed "That was nothing, Jas, don't be such a baby. Bella, my power is like an electrical shock. It's an illusion, but it lay out a vampire when I want, or need, it to. I can control the intensity of the shock, as well as induce it from any bare skin that an enemy comes in contact with. " She flitted over to me and had her hand on my shoulder before I could blink. "See? Illusion." She smiled down at me, "I have no effect on you whatsoever.

I nodded, "Well, that's good. But how am I supposed to shield someone else when I don't even know how this shield thing works?"

"It is a tangible thing Bella, a part of you in the same way as your arms and legs. To me it is as if your skin shimmers, like warm air on the horizon," Eleazar explained, he obviously caught on to my confusion. "I can sense the power in others; name the gift if you will."

"Ah, ok." Still not seeing how I would be able to do what they're asking.

Jasper spoke next "To start with, we're gonna help you to find and get a feel for your shield. The rest should follow after."

"What do I do?" I asked.

"Close your eyes Darlin'," Jasper said softly. I did as he requested. "Concentrate on feeling your body, your fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, and legs. Listen to your breathing, your heartbeat. Listen to your body."

Eyes closed I regulated my breathing, concentrating on the motion, the feeling and the sound. My heartbeat sounded loud in my ears, slowing as my breath became slower, more regular. I imagined that I could hear the whoosh whoosh of my blood as it pumps through my veins, to my arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes. After, I don't know how long, I was more aware of my body than I ever had been before.

If there were any sounds outside of myself, I was not aware of them. In that moment there was me and only me. Then I felt it, like an echo of my own skin, it wasn't what I had expected. When people talked about me having a shield I thought of it in terms of force fields. But it was more an extension of me, buzzing through, behind and just above my skin. I felt it ripple, it was such a curious feeling that I laughed. My laughter brought me out of myself, the shock of coming back to the real world was like a smack in the face and I would have ended up on my ass if Jasper hadn't caught me.

"Well that was a trip and a half!" I exclaimed, trying to get a handle on myself again. It was then that I noticed that the sun was high in the sky. "Whoa, how long was I standing here?"

Peter shot a glare towards Jasper before answering. "Almost seven hours, your man here had to be restrained at one point from trying to bring you back." He shook his head. "Honestly, he was like a mother hen the way he was fussing over you. No trust anymore, I'm hurt." Peter had a hand over his heart and false hurt in his voice, the silly fucker even mimed wiping tears from his face.

"Bro, you're an ass," Jasper pointed out, the laughter that followed it kind of negated his insult.

"Seven hours? Really? No wonder my stomachs screaming at me." And I really need to fucking pee. As soon as I acknowledged the need to relieve my bladder, it became a threat. "Jasper, get me to the bathroom before I embarrass myself!"

He laughed the whole way to the house, the whole time I was in the bathroom, and the whole way back to where we started. It got old after the first minute.

"Can it Jasper! I'm human, I pee. It really isn't that funny."

That just made him laugh harder. Jasper sat down with me on his lap, next to a plate of sandwiches and a glass of juice that had appeared during my emergency bathroom break. I ate like it was going out of fashion. I couldn't believe that I had stood there for seven hours, sure sore muscles and a full bladder helped to confirm it, but it still only felt like a few minutes. Ten at the most maybe. Soon enough it was Question Bella Time.

"I assume that you were successful?" Eleazar asked.

"Yeah, it was amazing. I'd expected something like a force field, a la Star Trek, but it wasn't. It's me, but me as if I were nothing but energy, the best way I can describe it is that it's like a filter. An echo of myself that…filters."

I could still feel it buzzing through me.

Peter snorted. "A force field, what did you think you were…the deflector shield?" He shook his head mumbling, 'force field, seriously' under his breath. I chose to ignore him. Cheeky fucker.

"Anyway," I dismissed him, choosing instead to carry on the discussion, "Is it likely to take that long next time?" I asked. I was going to be pretty useless if it's going to take me all day to get myself up and running.

Hey, dudes that want to kill me? Mind waiting a few hours until I'm good to go? Kthanxbai.

"I doubt it; you can still feel it can't you? You don't have to go searching for it again, not now that you're aware of it," Peter pointed out.

"How the hell did you kn...," I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. "Never mind. So what now, Boss?" I asked Jasper.

He smiled and kissed my cheek before whispering in my ear.

"I like it when you refer to me as your Boss, Bella. It makes me feel like I can do anything to you, have you do anything to me."

Holy shit, where did that come from and what the hell was I meant to say to it? Would I be undermining all the years of feminism and girl power if I swooned and said 'take me now'?

I came out with. "Uh-huh."

Epic. Lameness.

"Jasper, leave the poor girl alone. She needs her wits about her for the next couple of hours," Charley admonished him, followed by a Rosaliesque smack to the back of his head.

He didn't even flinch, just murmured a soft 'Sorry, baby' in my ear and let me go.

"Now for the hard part, you need to expand your shield to encompass Jasper. Give it a go. Jasper, get a hold of her, it'll be easier if she's touching you," Peter said that like he had told me to touch my nose with my finger. As if it wasn't going to be difficult in the slightest.

Alright, I could do this, hopefully without standing stock still for seven hours. I let out a breath and concentrated on my shield, it was vibrating around me, through me, same as before. Channelling every superhero movie I could think of I gave it a silent command. Expand. Nothing. I put a little more will behind the thought. Expand. Nothing, nada, not even a ripple like before. I scrunched up my face in concentration; I probably looked like I need to go to the toilet again.

Expand!

Cover, Jasper!

Get bigger? Still nothing.

By the power of Grey Skull!

Ok, now I'm just getting ridiculous. I concentrated on slowing my breathing and then went back to my shield. I knew I had felt it move, felt it shift, when I was entranced with it earlier. So why the hell was I having trouble with the damn thing now? A-ha! The light bulb went on above my head and I had an internal Eureka moment. I was trying to push the shield, I need to be the shield, become one with it again. I need to stop watching martial arts movies.

Ignoring my own thoughts, I let myself feel the buzz of the energy, and finally felt it respond. It was small, a breeze over a still lake, but it was something. I tried to get it to grow again; it was like pushing against stretched elastic with just enough give to allow you to move in a smidge. I was getting a headache. I suddenly felt Jasper shift, his thumb stroking across my knuckles. His presence shifted my shield, or maybe my awareness of it? Then I knew, I just knew what I could do.

I opened my eyes and stared at our joined hands, I could see my shield, see it shimmering around me. I guided and coaxed it to cover Jasper's hand, once it had purchase over his fingers it became easier and I slowly, but surely, covered him from head to toe. Then I grinned like a fool.

"Done!"

"About damn time, it's been another hour," Rose moaned from across the way.

I ignored her.

I turned to Jasper. "Can you feel it?"

He looked a little confused. "Not exactly, I feel like I should feel something, if that makes any sense."

I laughed "Not really." He just shrugged, what else was there to say?

"Kate."

One word from Peter and she appeared next to Jasper and grasped his arm. She looked perplexed, concentrated some more and then her face broke into a shit eating grin.

"I gave you my best there, Jasper, you didn't feel a thing?"

Jasper shook his head. "Other than your hand on my arm, nothing. Well done, Darlin'." He squeezed me tightly.

"Good, now let's do it again," was all Peter said.

Woo hoo.

We did it again and again and again. I managed to get it down to just over ten minutes for it to cover someone. They had me try it on everyone, even Rose. It worked on everyone, even Rose. Though the prospect of allowing it to fail was strong and so very, very real. Ten minutes is a lot better than it had started out, but it was still way too long. Peter and Eleazar were both convinced that I should just be able to cover any person or persons in one fell swoop. I was convinced that they're both cuckcoo and had way too much faith in me.

They even gave me homework. Yay me.

That night I was to meditate, the real thing this time, no hypnotism and no malicious intent. That, and to concentrate on my control. Jasper, being the wonderful male that he is, led me through my meditation as he'd lead me through finding my shield. It was all cleansing breaths in and cleansing breaths out; no stairs and no asking me for anything. He simply helped me centre myself. Very new age, my mother would've loved it.

I felt at pang in my chest at the thought of Renee, but her chipper-as-alwaysness during her emails allowed me to filed her away in to my 'worry about later' box. It carried on like that for the next week; training all day and meditation before bed. I was getting better, frustratingly slowly, but it was noticeable. Everyone was all excited at my progress, I was just dead tired. Exhausted doesn't even begin to cover how tired I was. I was constantly drained and I desperately wanted some alone time with Jasper. Or just some time to do something other than training.

Emmett found no trace of either Edward or Alice and neither did Jenks or his people. The Volturi had agents everywhere but they had also heard nothing. The Elders had issued orders that all guard members, operatives and allies are to at least pass through Volterra to have an audience with Aro and his gift. With everything that has happened, no one is taking any chances. The consensus is that Gnome and Firecrotch were using cash and lying low. Everyone would feel better if we knew their whereabouts, but we all took some small comfort that they're at least out of our hair for the time being.

One week after training started I was back outside with Jasper and Peter, everyone else was out hunting, but they still insisted that I practice. So there we were, Peter and Jasper were arguing over something and I was tuning them out. I was tired, the last thing I wanted to do was expend any more energy. To be honest I was bored, bored of doing the same thing over and over again. I wanted a breakthrough, something to spur me on. Instead I was stagnating, unable to overcome the problems that were keeping me from just expanding my shield instead of having it grow bit by bit.

I was playing with a blade of grass when I saw it, a black streak coming from the opposite side of the grove. I had just about enough time to scream before Peter and Jasper intercepted what turned out to be a black robed figure. Well, vampire. They were too fast for me to follow properly; it reminded me of cartoon fights where all you see is a whirl wind and the odd arm or leg. I had never been so scared in my life, not with James, not when the van was careening towards me.

My mate was in danger and there was fuck all that I could do about it. The only solace I had was that it was two on one. But then there was another vampire with us and that solace went out the window. This one was also cloaked but small, early teens small. Then Peter was screaming and writing on the ground and Jasper was backing up, trying to keep a protective stance on both me and his brother. The first stranger dragged a still screaming Peter away before Jasper could do anything. I knew that help wouldn't be coming, they were hours away.

The teen sized vampire turned its attention towards us. She looked to have maybe made it into her teens before she was changed, and if it wasn't for the bright red eyes she would've looked like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Which, thinking about it, now that she's a vampire it probably wouldn't. Concentrate damn it!

"Do I have to demonstrate my abilities again, Jasper? I do hope so; you are exquisite when writhing in pain." Her voice sent chills down my spine.

"You can give me the illusion of pain but you would never be able to make me feel the real thing, little one." Jasper actually sounded calm.

It was impressive really; I was cowering and scared out of my mind for Peter. Wait a minute… Illusion, Jasper said the pain was an illusion. Meaning that I'm immune, if I can touch Jasper then he will be too. He was too far in front of me, and how the hell was he supposed to fight and keep contact with me. Not to mention getting the nice, evil vampire to wait a few minutes for me to cover him.

"No matter, you will hurt all the same and we will still have Isabella," she said with way too much enthusiasm for my liking.

She cocked her head to the side, as if contemplating something and then Jasper was screaming and writhing in agony. No! No, no, no, no, NO! I felt a rush and then the familiar buzz sprang forward and covered Jasper. It took all of two seconds. He was up instantly, I expected him to attack, but instead he turned to me with a huge smile on his face and started towards me. I wanted to rage at him, ask him why the hell he was showing his back to the enemy. Why the hell he's grinning like an idiot instead of going after his brother. But then I had a horrible thought, a thought that I shouldn't be having because surely they wouldn't do this to me. Not after everything. I looked back to the child and found her smiling what seemed to be a genuine smile.

"Impressive." She said. Fucking, impressive?

Peter came out of the trees then, looking unsure, hell Jasper had stopped coming towards me. No doubt getting a taste of my pissed off state of mind. The huge vampire that had 'attacked' Peter was just as tall as him and now that he had removed his cloak I could see that he was smiling at me. He apparently hadn't picked up on my mood. Then the best part happened, as it turned out the whole family was actually there. They were in the background watching.

Nice. Very nice.

Peter and Jasper were standing side by side and just watching me. I made a decision.

"Kate, my shields still up, wanna test it?" I tried to keep my voice light, but I think it came out more manic than anything else.

"Sure." She looked and sounded hesitant but came up to Jasper all the same.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, it was easy as pie to cover Peter with my shield as well. Kate touched Jasper and of course she had no effect.

"Touch them both at the same time, I have them both covered, so don't worry about hurting either of them, make sure to give it your full power," I said sweetly.

Jasper was frowning, Peter just looked resigned. Jasper turned a questioning look to his brother; Peter just shrugged and pulled his sleeve up so Kate would have skin to skin contact. She touched them both and when nothing happened, Jasper visibly relaxed. That was when I snatched the shield back and they fell to the floor, groaning and wracked with painful spasms.

"Don't you think I've been manipulated enough?" I shouted once they had collected themselves together. "What the hell did you think that I would do after this…this…this fucked up game? Well, well done guys, my shield is more responsive, kudos to both of you, now don't fucking talk to me until I say otherwise."

I stalked off, not looking at anyone, not hiding the angry tears that were streaming down my face, not caring about the worried looks I got from Esme and Charley, or the fact that Carlisle obviously wanted to talk to me. Once in my room I locked my door, then locked myself in the bathroom and drew a bath with way too many bubbles. I grabbed my iPod and a book before settling down for however long it took me to calm myself. After everything that Edward and Alice had done, all the manipulation that I endured at their hands, I just can't believe they would do that to me.

E/N: Leave me some love...