WRONG DECISIONS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she brought them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

This angered Aro to the degree of being wordless as he turned and slammed the door as he left the room. Aro knew what his brother had told him, but he didn't really think that Marcus meant it; that he was only being his stubborn self like normal until he was really needed.

However, this time it seemed that Marcus had abandoned him.

CHAPTER 16: DECISIONS TO BE MADE

Marcus had an idea of who had slammed the front door before the visitor appeared at his office door. And the yelling from the said visitor before he came into view only confirmed what Marcus knew: his brother, Aro, had come uninvited to demand why Marcus was refusing to aid them in their impossible scheme to retrieve the Cullen children.

"Marcus, what the hell is the nonsense about you not answering my call to help plan how to get a of hold those brats? I'm the head of our family and when I give an order, I don't give a damn who you are or how you're related to me, I expect you to obey the command." Aro continued raging as he finally came face to face with Marcus.

"Aro, I told you from the very beginning not to count me into this stupid ass scheme that you were wanting to do. I refused and I still refuse to be involved in this nonsense. What you're plotting to do is a sure path to death for many including Caius and yourself.

"No, I have a daughter to consider, and I refuse to throw away her life or mine because of your bullshit. So, count me out; I refuse once and for all time to be involved with you and your absurd plan." Marcus firmly told Aro with just as much anger sounding in his voice as Aro had shown upon his arrival to face Marcus.

"In the past you have always bowed out until the last minute when your input and presence were really needed. So, why should I assume that it would have been any different this time?" Aro demands to know.

"Brother, never have I declared that I wasn't going to be involved before you ever had all of the information or started planning. However, this time I knew that as soon as you had a hint that you might be able to dominate the Cullen family through innocent children then that was my signal to completely withdraw from a situation that had nothing but my disapproval.

"So, don't be coming here in a manner like I have betrayed you in some way. I meant what I said then and have continued to say, I'm not going to get involved in this current maneuver of yours because it is wrong. It's the wrong way to go. I have to put Victoria, even those children, before you or anyone else. What you're planning to do with them is wrong in every way and I'm not going to contribute to the mess that you're about to stir up." Marcus told his brother and then turned to walk out of his office.

Once he reached the door, he turned back to Aro and said, "Don't count on me in acting with you or Caius in this matter in any way, shape, or form. Now, if you don't mind seeing yourself out of my house since I do have other matters to take care of that does require my attention." Then without another word being said Marcus left his office with Aro standing there staring into the empty space where his brother had been standing.

Aro was fuming at Marcus's attitude as he stormed out of his brother's home, slamming the door so hard that it rattled the windows along the front wall of the house.

Marcus watched Aro stomp down the drive a short distance as he reached his car. He got in, slammed the door to the car, started up the vehicle, and revved the engine as he left squealing the tires all the way down the drive, out the gate and onto the main road.

Marcus wanted to talk with Carlisle Cullen to see if the two of them could work together to get the children and return them to their mother while still preserving as many lives as possible. The one person that he didn't give a damn about was James. He was determined that something had to be done about James in a manner that would still allow him to keep his promise to Tori.

In his opinion, if someone else killed James and it wasn't by his hand or his order, then he felt that his promise to his daughter had been kept. Of course, he could appear to try to keep his promise to his daughter by attempting to have James's life spared while knowing full well that if the Cullen's got a hold of him James was a walking dead man.

He decided to call Bella again with the request that she let Carlisle Cullen know that a meeting was requested, making sure that she knew to phrase it as a request and not as a requirement or a demand so that everyone could talk and hopefully come to some kind of agreement to be able to work together to get the children back.

So, with that in mind he reached for his phone to make the call.

XXXXXX

As the private jet landed at a small airfield outside of Seattle, all of the Cullen family turned their phones back on and received the message that Bella had sent to them.

"What the hell is this all about, Edward? Do you have any idea what Bella is up to?" Carlisle demanded an explanation, but Edward didn't have one.

"Dad, you know damn well that I know as much about what this means as you do. I mean since when have I spoken to her after we lost track of her back in Chicago?"

"Well, try again to get in touch with her and tell her that you'll let her know where to meet us once we get into Seattle.

"You know, son, her behavior is really starting to piss me off. I don't have time to be pussyfooting around with her imagined hurt feelings just because she didn't like what was said or the way it was said to her by members of this family. She knows that what she did was wrong and it's time to get over herself.

"That young woman needs to grow up."

And with that said Carlisle turned to the rest of the family as Edward was reaching for his phone to make the call to Bella.

XXXXXX

When the phone rang Bella checked to see who was calling and immediately recognized the number as being that of her strange helpmate. She answered and listened as he made his request for her to let Carlisle Cullen know that he wanted to meet with Carlisle so a working agreement and plan could be put into place. "If Cullen doesn't want to meet with me then, I'll do all of this myself. However, it would be easier and better if we all could work together so we aren't tripping over each other in the process to get the children back."

"I'll send a text message to Carlisle as I'm not sure when they will be arriving in Seattle."

"That will be fine. Let me know as quickly as you can if he is willing to meet with me or not. Time is important." Marcus told Bella before saying goodbye and hanging up.

So, Bella, not being aware that the Cullen's were landing at that very moment outside of Seattle, sent the request to Carlisle with a small explanation of the request.

As she sent off the message the phone began to ring and Bella, checking the number, saw that it was Edward calling. She declined the call and waited to see if she would hear back from Carlisle.

XXXXXX

Carlisle felt the vibration in his pocket and reached in to pull out his phone. Seeing that he had a text, he opened it and had a stunned expression on his face as he read what had been sent to him. "What the hell is going on with her?" He questioned aloud before turning to see if Edward had managed to get a hold of Bella.

He saw that Edward had disconnected his phone, so he showed the message to his son. "Dad, the time on this shows that she must have sent it as I was trying to call her." Edward remarked as he continued to look at the message with a frown.

Carlisle read the message to everyone and each of them were just as puzzled as to what Bella could be up to or had stumbled into.

"Before we discuss this further to make any decisions, let's all get out of the open and to a more private setting to decide how to respond to this." Carlisle told his family, further forestalling any comments that the others might make that could be overheard by unwanted ears.

Everyone got into the SUV's that were parked off to the side that had been waiting for their arrival. Arrangements had been made at one of the Cullen owned hotels in downtown Seattle and that was where they would be staying until this current matter was completely resolved.

XXXXXX

Victoria had returned to let James know about an out of the way place she knew and had checked out before mentioning it to him where no one would be able to locate them. It was an unknown safe house that was known only to herself and her father. "Before you say anything, no, my dad won't think to look for us there.

"In fact, I do know that he has refused to work with Uncle Aro and Uncle Caius in coming after the kids. This isn't the sort of thing that he's comfortable dealing with." Victoria told James as she knew that he was getting ready to make some comment about the location she was suggesting. However, James didn't know, and Victoria didn't give a clue by word or deed that she had been to see her dad and that he was the one suggesting for them to move the children to that location. She knew that James would freak out if he could determine even a hint about how she had come about recommending the place to him.

"What is your dad going to say or do to me if he finds out that you're helping me to gain control over your family's territory? My life isn't going to be worth opening your mouth to even say my name." He mentioned to her in response to the mention of her father.

"Dad isn't going to do anything to you because he knows how important you are to me."

"You can't be sure of that." James retorted with total disbelief at what she was telling him.

"Yes, I can because I've discussed it with him before and he has promised me that he won't bother you because of how we feel about each other." She quietly told him. Then continued by suggesting that they get the kids ready to make the move.

After about two hours, making sure that no clue was left behind, that would indicate that no one had been at the last location then moving the kids; everyone was settled at the safe house.

XXXXXX

Bella made herself something to eat while waiting to hear any word back from Carlisle about the suggested meeting. Not knowing when he and the family had left Chicago or would be arriving in Seattle, she knew that everything was now a waiting game.

From what the stranger had told Bella the original kidnappers had been dealt with by the person that now had the children and was the one making the demands to Carlisle and the other Cullen members. So, now the original time limit that had been given was no longer in play. Everyone had a little breathing space.

The stranger was also able to reassure Bella that the children were being treated well as he explained that he had someone close keeping an eye on things.

AN: Will Carlisle agree to the meeting being requested by Marcus? Bella is feeling a bit more reassured to know that her children were no longer with the original kidnappers and that the three-day time limit no longer applied. Marcus knows what's going to happen to James once the Cullen's get a hold of him and there isn't a thing he could do to stop it.

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