AN:

Hi everyone! I know, I know... it's been years since I last updated, hasn't it? I don't know what brought me back to this fancic but I just can't let go of Twilight. After finishing Renfield and absolutely failing in making any sort of decision on where to take Renfield 2, I re-read Defying Destiny and I remembered all those awesome plans I had for it. Then I discovered oh look, I actually have a half finished 10th chapter still waiting there. It would be a shame if it never saw the light of day.

This is sort of the start of a second arc actually. We move away from musing on the past and look into the future. Bella is so badass in this story, I thought... It would be a shame if she just hid in her flower shop and nobody ever got to see how awesome she is!

So let's show the world some girl power!

XxX

BPOV

It took barely a week after Alice phoned the rest of the Cullen clan for them to pack up and move to Haine, into a house that would normally be too small for their tastes but that Esme fully intended to add another floor to to make it fit. Their reunion was a mixed bag of emotions. For Carlisle and Esme it was heartfelt and full of relief. Emmet was elated and curious and eager to have his favorite wrestling partner Jasper back as well as try out a scuffle against Bella and Will. Rosalie had, maybe not unexpectedly, done a 180° turn when it came to Bella. Bella remembered her as being standoffish and cold. However, the first time she met her as a vampire, the gorgous blonde actually hugged her, pink tears in her eyes and told her how sorry she was Bella had to suffer so much.

For Bella, all of this was just awkward. Her memory of the Cullens, like all her human memories, was fuzzy at best and she had no emotional connection to them whatsoever. She felt a bit like being greeted by overly enthusiastic in-laws.

At least they'd be mostly staying in their own house.

Luckily Alice had warned them about Chelsea and what she'd done so the Cullens came prepared to have to make new memories from scratch. It turned out easier than expected. Bella had been a bit worried about their reaction to Will when her son first came to visit. However, Will immediatly hit it off with Emmet and him and Jasper were soon often found engrossed in one video game battle or another.

The twins were met with a bit more reluctance. Esme was the only one who managed to not show any signs of suspicion towards them from the start. Carlisle's professional curiosity caused him to ask about their gifts a few times, which they were quite closed off about. Emmet was disappointed that Bella wouldn't let him fight them and had a hard time finding other ways to connect to them. Bella was pretty sure that Rosalie was very much against them being part of their family. She overheard her complaining that it would draw unwanted attention to them, that enemies of the Volturi might show up and so on. However, she never said anything to Bella or her children directly so she decided to overlook it.

And then there was Edward. Bella did her utmost to avoid him however possible and after a few failed attempts to talk to her, he seemed to get the memo. He was still around, having moved in with his parents and he was there whenever the two families met as groups. But he respected Bella's wish not to be alone with him. He had become background noise to her, always there during their get-together's but never saying much, barely participating in any activity unless specifically invited. Whenever he came to visit, Bella made sure to cover her children with her shield to protect their privacy. It was straining her but it was also good practice. At least Edward was kind to the children. The first time he'd met them again after Bella had told her story, he had thanked all three of them individually for keeping Bella company and being there for her and he continued being kind and politely interested in them afterwards. Bella even had to reluctantly give him points for enduring Will's occasionally quite rude behavior towards him.

Her son was conflicted about Edward. A part of him felt that he was that asshole vamp who hurt his mom. Another shuddered at the thought that this boy who looked younger than him might've been his father if things went differently and was even more horrified at the idea that he might one day become his step-dad if him and Bella ever got together again. Thanks to Chelsea, Will had no connection to his late father anymore but that didn't mean he wanted to see him replaced. On the other hand, he knew and understood that Edward's feelings for his mother were magically induced. He couldn't help them. From sharing a headspace with Seth, Will knew what a soul bond felt like. He could imagine what his actual sort-of second father would feel like if Justine ever decided she wanted nothing to do with him. Honestly, it surprised him sometimes that he wasn't more of a depressed, bitter asshole to be around.

To Bella, Edward seemed very much unhappy, quiet and distanced. She'd mentioned it to Esme once, if it wouldn't be better for him to be away, to not have to see her every day. Though if she was honest to herself, she couldn't tell if she suggested this out of compassion for Edward or because just having him nearby made her uncomfortable. However, Esme assured her that she hadn't seen Edward this happy and open in twenty years. He showed more interest in Alec's geode collection now than he'd shown to his own favorite hobbies like music or cars in the recent past. One day Esme had to flee to their house and curl up in Jasper's arms to cry and be calmed down because Edward had, out of nowhere, started playing the piano at home. She hadn't wanted to risk distracting him from his good mood with her thoughts and presence.

One day Bella scourged up what little empathy she could muster for the man who broke her heart. She told him that she appreciated is effort in getting to know her family as well as the distance he still kept to her. After all Bella was very well aware how hard this must be for him. That day, Edward smiled again for the first time in twenty years. That was it - he made no further move towards her, wouldn't push or ask for anything. He was content to just be allowed near her. And eventually, Bella got used to his silent presence among the family and wasn't bothered by it as much anymore.

Three months passed.

The twins were now firmly established in their new school. Carlisle had managed to snatch up the position of chief doctor of the nearest hospital. Esme had finished her desired additions to her house. The Denalis came to visit once to welcome Bella and the twins into their extended family. Seth and Justine had a little pup on their way. Will had found a job as a cashier in a little local store and was super proud of his first salary.

Life went on.

And Alice started keeping secrets.

It took Bella a while to notice, despite the fact that she spend more and more time with her pretend-sister. She actually noticed the change in Jasper first. The little worried glances he shot her, how he kept hovering protectively, always on the lookout for... something. Once he came to Bella and asked her if Alice had mentioned anything to her, something that might be on her mind. She hadn't but now that it had been pointed out, Bella started to notice it too.

Alice was too quiet. She kept having that vacant stare that signified a vision but wouldn't say anything about it, just purse her lip and go on with her day. When they went to meet the Cullens, she was her usual cheerful self though.

Then one day Alice took Bella aside and asked if she could include her mind under her shield like she did for the children when they went to visit the Cullens.

That's when she knew for sure that something was wrong.

"Alice, what is going on? I know Jasper is worried for you and you're starting to scare me too. What are you on the lookout for?" Bella wanted to know.

"It's nothing! Well, it's probably nothing", Alice reassured her quickly. "I only catch flashes here and there. It's not even affecting any of us directly and it's all still in motion. There's no need to worry anyone, it'll pass over and we'll all laugh about it and-"

"Alice", she said firmly and held her by her quivering shoulders. "Please. Even if it's nothing and even if it doesn't affect our family, it affects you, right now. And you are part of our family. You're nervous. That makes Jasper nervous. And having both an empath and a seer be nervous makes all of us nervous too."

Then Alice evaded her gaze and started biting her nails and now she really looked like she was about to explode from sheer nerves.

"Okay. Okay - fine. I'll tell you. I'll... It's probably nothing but you're right, you should know, just in case... Just in case. Let's just, let's just wait until everyone is here. Like, let's wait until the twins are home and then I'll tell the four of you."

Bell wasn't sure if it was a bad sign that Alice was calling a family meeting over her visions or if it was a good sign that she didn't call for a full extended family meeting.

Jasper was mostly just relieved when he heard that Alice was ready to talk and the twins hadn't caught wind of where the tension was coming from. As soon as they were out of the school, Bella sat them down in the living room. Alice was standing in front of the TV, wringing her hands in a very human-like gesture. Bella mentally prepared herself for a disaster and sat down next to Jasper.

"So, uhm. Uhm. Thanks for coming. I mean. Yes. So, I was having these visions", Alice started and even the twins looked worried now.

"They're probably nothing. They come and go and change all the time. But I had a really big one a few days ago that kinda... yes. It was gone very quickly though. So then I started watching out more closely, trying to see where it came from, how it came to be and..."

"Just tell us what you saw", Jane said with a scowl.

"Right. Yes. So. I saw. Uhm. I saw us... on the news..."

"Like the news channel? On TV?" Bella asked. Would any of them slip up and be connected to a murder case?

"Yes", Alice said quietly. "And when I say 'us' I mean vampires in general. I saw it on the news, how humans were talking about vampires being real."

Deafening silence fell over the small group. It took almost a minute for anyone to say anything to that kind of revelation.

"Well shit", Jane made and with that she probably spoke the mind of everyone in the room.

"How could that happen?" Jasper asked, his sharp mind no doubt already going through a few dozen scenarios.

"Well, the channel I saw was a French one", Alice said. "So I looked at France and there's... There's this war going on. A newborn war."

"Yes, Caius against the Romanians, we've heard of it", Bella said.

"You did?" Jasper said sharply.

"We've met a recruiter once, before we settled down in Port Angeles", Alec explained quietly. "Obviously, after the Volturi broke apart there was a power vacuum and it was only a matter of time before a war broke out."

"Of course Caius hates our guts", Jane added. "He'd rather see us dead than ever work with us again. But Vladimir and Stefan apparently hoped they could get us to work for them and send an embassy to try and lure us in. We refused and they didn't push too much, though we still technically have an open invitation."

"That was almost five years ago now", Bella remembered. "We haven't heard anything of them since."

"We've followed the war as much as we could when we were still with the others in Scandinavia. Of course news were hard to come by but I always kept a third eye open, just in case they moved further north", Alice explained. "At first it looked like the Romanians would just sweep in and continue where the Volturi left off but..."

"They were ill-prepared and too arrogant", Jasper continued for her. "Not to mention their... community has been quite insular for centuries. They're not well enough connected to put out the same kind of pressure on a global scale. And when Caius started a counter-offense and they lost many of their talents, they didn't know how to replace them quickly enough and resorted to using newborns. But they did manage to hide their activities so far. So what is going to tip the scale?"

"Well, like I said, things are still in motion. People change their minds all the time", Alice replied. "But... I've narrowed it down to three things. One is Benjamin, a member of an Egyptian coven. He's powerful but above that, he's flashy. He can manipulate fire, water, earth and wind and cause massive amount of damage that is really hard to explain away outside of a natural disaster. Even with the newborn armies, the war has come to a stalemate. Both Caius and Vlad are stepping up their recruitment to replace their losses and bring in fresh blood. When one of them manages to get Benjamin to fight for them, that will raise a significant amount of attention.

The second factor are the refugee camps. Plague, war and natural disasters have driven more and more humans from Africa to Europe since 2020. Now, seven years later, there are refugee camps all over the place. Vampires use those as feeding grounds. The Romanians don't care all that much about hiding. They want dominion. If the war goes in their favor, they may take over the camps, make one into their base and basically start a cattle trade with the refugees in order to draw more vampires to their side. The problem is that they are not exactly familiar with the modern possibilities when it comes to cameras and the internet and their activities will eventually be leaked.

The third factor is..." Alice trailed off.

Bella, already imagining the horror of people being traded like cattle for their blood, felt her mouth go dry. Why was Alice hesitating about this? What could possibly be worse?

"What is it, dear?" Jasper asked softly.

"It's not certain", Alice repeated, "but... Well, you did notice the tensions between the USA, NATO, China and Russia?"

"Oh please don't..." Bella just made.

She took a deep breath. "It's not certain. But, the thing is, this wouldn't be the first time that a government learned about vampires. The Volturi's usual way of dealing with that problem was through bribery. But if that happens, the humans will be less interested in their money and more in... other things."

"You can't be serious", she made.

"Does it really surprise you?" Jasper asked bitterly. "How many of us were created sorely because of our abilities? If the humans fight this war the way they did the last, there'll be nothing left of the world and they know it."

"There are two ways this could go", Alice whispered. "Either they try using vampires as weapons, offering... food... in exchange for them using their abilities to cripple their opponents. Or, the second option..."

Why did she keep hesitating!?

"The second option, they portray us as a common enemy to try and close the ideology gap and prevent a larger war from breaking out."

"Another witch hunt", Jane concluded darkly.

Alice nodded miserably.

Bella closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. She would never regret leaving the Volturi but maybe she could admit that she hadn't considered all the possible consequences of her actions.

"Did you already look to see if there is anything we can do?" Jasper wanted to know, looking the least fazed out of them.

"There may be ways to prevent the individual triggers", Alice replied slowly. "But there's little we can do if a government that has known for decades already suddenly decides to talk because their pockets aren't being filled anymore, is there?"

"Almost every human in Europe has a smartphone with a camera on them at all times", Bella realized. "And it only takes one video to go viral. The Volturi didn't just control vampires, they were also very... profitable. I know that Corin was occasionally working with the Vatican and Aro once mentioned having very good friends in the Italian secret service." She snorted. "Of course they would just love him. Without a functional vampire government, there's no money flow and without money, there's nothing keeping the humans in power from ratting us out."

Jane scowled. "So then what? We don't prevent it? Do we try and leak it ourselves in a more positive light or... what?"

Bella snorted. "The only way I can see that working is if we can find a vampire that's miraculously capable of single-handedly reversing climate change or something."

"Could we find someone like that?" Alec asked Alice seriously.

"I'm afraid that's not how my gift works", Alice replied gently.

"How much time do we have?" Jasper asked.

Alice shrugged helplessly. "Like I said - it's not certain! There are too many people with too many decisions to be made involved."

"Okay, crazy idea", Bella said and held up her hand as if she was in school. "Caius hates our guts and without Chelsea doesn't have what it takes to rebuild the Volturi anyway. The Romanians are obviously even worse. But what if we formed a third side? What if we - calling together all of our friends and family - formed a new, vegetarian vampire government? What if we took out the entire mess in France and then started to slowly reveal ourselves to humanity. Starting with just positive abilities - like superheroes, working partially with the governments but appealing to the public? Our nature would eventually come out but we might not be immediately universally hated."

Alice floundered a bit. "I - Bella, I have no idea. How would that even work?"

Bella stood and crossed her arms in front of her. She focused on her impulsive desire to see this through, for her family. "I'm going to do it. I have friends I can call. You do to. We'll go and recruit this Benjamin for ourselves first. Alec, you go book us some flights to Cairo, Jane, go call Will and tell him he has to move to La Push for a while..."

Alice' eyes went hazy for a moment and Bella stopped, looking at her expectantly.

The seer gasped as she came back to the present.

"Well?" Bella made, motioning for Alec to sit down again who was about to actually follow her orders.

"I'm sorry Bella. I don't know. I can't see that far ahead, there are too many factors. We could convince Benjamin and we could gather enough numbers for a sizable army but when it comes to war... There is no telling who lives and who dies. Not like this."

Bella's eyes softened. "I know, Alice. But that's not what I was asking. I've run away for so long. Vampires have hidden for even longer. And just like the humans, we've ignored the fact that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. But I am a mother now. My son is going to have to keep living in this world and so will my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. If the world is going to learn about us eventually anyway, why wouldn't we take the chance to change it in our favor while we still have it?

Sure, we could just sit this one out. We could just stay behind and watch and do nothing. If World War IV breaks out, we have you to warn us in time so we won't be caught in the middle of a nuclear blast and we can survive anything short of that. If the polar caps melt completely and the earth becomes hotter and hotter, what does it really mean for us other than maybe that real estate becomes cheaper in the south? If humans start going with shotguns after everyone who looks a bit too pretty, we can just retreat on a nice private island, can't we?

But you know what else it would mean? It would mean no more shopping trips and no more fancy theater. No more Carlisle saving lives in the hospital and no more high school, ever. No more fancy cars for Rosalie and no more flower shops for me. No more partying and seducing human males for the Denali sisters. The world will never be the same again. And when all the forests are burned down and the earth is poisoned with nuclear waste, there won't even be any more mountain lions and grizzly bears to hunt. Then we're all gonna feed on chickens and pigs from factory farming, just like the humans do."

"Bella..." Alice made, shocked at her outburst. Bella felt Jasper tugging at her shield, trying and failing to grab onto her emotions to calm her down.

She shook her head. "I've been hiding and running because I have children to protect. But Jane and Alec are not getting any older and Will is starting to learn how to stand on his own two feet. I could do this, if it's necessary. I honestly can't imagine a better way to spend eternity and if I die trying, then I die trying to save the world." She turned to look at the twins with a sad smile. "I think that's something my children could be proud of."

Jane looked at her with a burning in her eyes. Her jaw was tense and there was something like a skip to her step when she stood and grabbed her hand. She looked up at her and opened her mouth a few times as if to say something, but then closed it again. In the end she just looked at Alec and reached out a hand for him.

Without a word, Alec too stood and held his sister's hand.

"Family sticks together", he muttered without looking at anyone and Bella felt her chest swell with pride.

Alice gave a tiny sob and Jasper was next to her in the blink of an eye, holding her.

"You're a seer, Alice. If the worst does happen and you do nothing, could you endure it knowing you could've stopped it?" Bella asked quietly.

"Stop it!" Jasper said harshly and glared at her.

But Alice shook her head and laid her hand on her mate's chest. "No, Jazz, she's... she's right. I can't see what's going to happen clearly but... If the worst does happen and I didn't even try... Then I don't deserve this power."

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked concerned.

She nodded and wiped away the beginnings of tears. "I will be able to see clearer once we know who will join the effort though. I could never do this on my own but we all together... You gave a great speech Bella, really, but I'm not even sure if Carlisle would agree. It's a war. He's the most pacifistic person I know. And most of the people I could think of recruiting that would be useful are his friends."

Bella nodded seriously. "You try to convince the Cullens and the Denalis. I have another coven I can ask. I'll hold off on asking the wolves till we know our tally as they would block your vision. Once we know how many we are, we can make a plan of attack and you can tell us if there's any point to it."

"Are we really doing this?" Jane asked a bit incredulously but also excited. "Are we really going to take over the world?"

"We are", Bella confirmed, feeling more determined than she had in a long while.

Jane and Alec exchanged a glance. Her brother shrugged. "It's not like we've never done it before."

The twins smiled at each other. They could imagine Bella as a leader. She might not have Aro's natural charisma but she was a mother protecting her children in everything she did and her determination was contagious. More importantly though, where Aro had had to rely on talents like Corin and Chelsea to inspire loyalty, Bella had won their hearts over by adopting the twins into her family. They knew that for her, they were her children, not her weapons.

"We are with you. Alec is right, family sticks together", Jane decided.

"Thank you two", Bella said and hugged the children. Then she motioned for Alice to join them, who did so tearfully, wrapping her arms around the group.

Jasper growled softly, not at all pleased.

"Jazz?" Alice made pleadingly.

Her mate groaned. "I think you're naive if you believe you can win over the humans, much less the vampires, with love and good intentions. It would be much smarter to look for a save place to sit it all out. But it looks like you're going to ignore what I think anyway so I suppose I'll have to come along to make sure you don't kill yourself with this madness."

"I don't think we can do this without you, Jasper. We need you all in", Bella said softly. "Out of all of us, you have the most experience leading vampires in battle, giving commands, building group dynamics. Not to mention your gift gives you an advantage when it comes to convincing people to join you. If you'll only join us for Alice, it won't be enough. You have to believe that we can make a better world, together."

Alice let go of them and danced over to her mate, putting her hands on his chest. "She's right, Jazz. Oh, I wish I could share my visions with you! The times are changing. The world is not what it was a hundred years ago and the world a hundred years ago was not the same as the one two hundred years ago. We both only ever lived in one where vampires were hidden but that was not always the case. When Carlisle was young, most humans knew about our kind. When you were young, there were still communities out there who believed we existed. It's really only in the last centuries that we've become myths to them. We've gotten used to the freedom that grants us but it was never going to last forever. I've had visions about the end of the secrecy before, just never this often and this persistent."

"Alice..." Jasper made.

But she didn't let him talk.

"Yes we can run and we can hide and we can use our gifts to stay away and to stay safe. God, I certainly couldn't bear the thought of loosing you. My whole life I've been using my gift to keep everyone safe. But what's the point in knowing of a danger and being able to warn people, if nobody will do something about it? Even if people believe me, they just turn away? If I didn't have to hide, how many more people could I help? How often have I foreseen hurricanes and wars and plague and terrorists attacks and done nothing other than tell you to sell all of our stocks in that company or another that would be ruined by the consequences?" Her lips twitched in a half-smile. "I might not be able to single-handedly solve climate change but I could tell people exactly what methods would work. Humans are so short-lived, they grow up with one system and think they've got the best one. They can never imagine things could be different. But we've lived through changing times. We could bring them a perspective that could enable true change. Yes, the path will be dangerous but think of the rewards!"

"Alice, I'm not afraid of battle", Jasper told her gently and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I worry for you because you will have the greatest target on your back because of your gift."

"It will be no greater than the target on my children, or on you for that matter", Bella reminded him.

Jasper pulled his mate back against him, holding her close.

"That might be true", he spoke to her. The conflict was obvious on his face. "I... I've always been a fighter, a soldier. I've fought to protect my country, I've fought to protect my coven and I've fought to protect my mate and family. But while I was with Maria... I hated what all that fighting had turned me into. I felt less like a protector and more like a monster every day. And then... Times change and humans today vilify the cause I fought for as a human. There was a time I thought that I had spend my whole life on the wrong side. I never had to face war with the Cullens but I know that if I had, it would've been the only worthy war I ever fought. I..." He hesitated, looking down at his mate guilty. "I'm sorry but I can't say that the lives and comfort of humanity are all that important to me. They won't matter to many vampires. Their problems and squabbles hardly concern us. I know you thrive on helping others, my love", he told his mate softly, "but I'm afraid that makes you an exception to the rule. I will protect you till my final death but if you want me to help convince others of this cause, you're going to have to find other arguments."

Bella thought quickly. "What about this argument then: If Caius wins but lacks both a talent like Chelsea and a charisma like Aro's, the only way he can keep power is through fear, force and tyranny. He will recruit as many talents as he can and kill those that won't join him. If the Romanians win, secrecy definitely won't be an option and soon it will be a free for all. Before we know it, everyone will be creating newborn armies. The entire vampire world will fall into territory wars. The death toll will be immense. Covens and mates will be ripped apart. Maybe there are a couple of nomads who won't care. But anyone who lives in a coven of three or more or claims a permanent territory has every reason to be concerned about this."

"That's right. The Volturi where strict and power hungry and at times hypocritical. But I really do believe life for vampires in general has become more peaceful under them", Jane said.

"You may be right in that", Jasper conceded. "But wasn't your group the reason the Volturi fell apart in the first place? And that's not even starting on the idea of vegetarianism. You'll be hard pressed to find any vampires outside of our extended family who would chose that over free refugee buffets."

"You would be surprised", Bella countered. "But I'm not saying we force vegetarianism on everyone. Just that our group does so, that we make it a condition to joining us. We can make it a condition of being granted protection under our alliance. If we win this war, having us as a face to vampires worldwide will make it much easier to deal with human governments and media once the cat is out of the bag."

Jasper nodded slowly. "That could work, I suppose. It is worth a try. As Alice said, we can confirm more once we know how many we can recruit."

"Then you're with us?" Bella asked hopefully.

"I was always going to be with you so long as Alice believes in you", Jasper said, sounding a bit affronted. "But yes, I believe your cause to be beneficial and your chances of success small but non-zero." His lips twitched up into a small smile. "They may almost rise to decent with me at your side."

"Aww, how sweet of you", Bella made and returned his smile. She still had the twins in her arm and was now waving Jasper closer. "Come on then, join the hug."

"What? No", he protested even as Alice squeaked and returned into Bella's arms, tugging her mate with her.

"I don't-" the empath made but Jane glared at him and zapped him with her power.

"Group hug", she growled threateningly.

Jasper joined the group hug.

"We should get a name", Alec mumbled from where he was pressed against Bella's chest.

"Yeah... like... the power puff vamps", Jane agreed.

Jasper groaned.

"One thing after another", Bella made soothingly while she stroked her children's hair lovingly. Alec gave a contented smile and relaxed into her embrace. It was a perfectly happy moment - maybe the last peaceful one they'd have for a long time.

XxX

After their meeting Alice and Jasper left to talk to the Cullen family and Bella called Will over to discuss Alice' visions. Will was both worried for his family but also a bit excited. He lacked the natural aversion to vampires that most of his kind were raised with. But he was convinced that his own family, with their animal diet, was leagues ahead of all the other vamps in the morals department. Bella took care to explain to him that she wouldn't see him anywhere near any actual battles for many years to come and that she didn't even want to involve his pack until after they knew how many vampires they could convince to join them. Will was disappointed but not surprised. He was still only sixteen years old, even if he had the physique of an adult and had his fair share of vampire fights when he'd been with the Volturi. The only actual life-and-death battle of greater size he'd taken part in had been when they'd fled Volterra.

Will did rely the news to the Clearwaters of course. Leah, who considered Will as much a part of her family as her own brother, immediately agreed to watch over Will and keep him safe while Bella sorted out her vampire problems but whether or not they would be willing to join in any war was not yet a matter up for discussion.

Over the next few days Bella took care to properly take her children out of school for some 'home schooling' and prepared to close her flower shop for the next two weeks. She planned to take the twins with her as she went to visit some old friends of her own while Alice and Jasper would remain to work on their own recruitment efforts.

The Cullen family was of course very concerned about Alice's visions and took the danger seriously but they were split on what to do about it. Edward, Emmet and Esme were on Bella's side: Emmet wanted to help his two brothers who'd already decided to fight and Esme was willing anything to keep her family together. Carlisle however was very reluctant to drag any of his friends and family into what could be an unnecessary danger and Rosalie deemed the danger of loosing someone she loved too great. Eventually though both could not say no to their mates and before long the entire Cullen Clan was on board.

It was Friday evening when Bella loaded up all of her luggage into her car, preparing for a road trip to visit her potential allies. The twins would be be traveling with her, both to protect her and as a show of strength. Unexpectedly though, Edward showed up as well with a duffel bag slung over his shoulders.

"Edward? What are you doing here?" Bella wanted to know.

"I want to come with you", he said quietly.

"That's not necessary", she told him. "I have plenty of protection with the twins."
"I know. I know you don't... need me", Edward said with a pained grimace. "The others don't need me either. Jasper keeps suffering around me and Alice... She is constantly on the lookout for worst-case scenarios. I..." He looked down to his feet. "I've watched you die five times just in the last three days through her eyes. I just want to be away from them for a while." He looked back up at her pleadingly. "I can be useful. When you go to negotiate with your friends, I can tell which arguments work and which don't. Please just... let me join you."

Bella hesitated for a long moment. So long that Jane, who was already sitting in the car, knocked at the window and made an impatient gesture.

At last, she sighed. Honestly, she would prefer to keep Edward out of this entire bushiness completely. She didn't doubt that his ability could be useful, especially when they were heading into war. But while Bella could be reasonably sure that the others would follow her ideas out of conviction, that was not the case with Edward. Edward would always do and say exactly what he thought she wanted him to because of his broken bond. He was cursed to forever try and please her. Bella could not in goo d conscience ask of him to go to war for her. He wouldn't truly have a choice in the matter. The only alternative she could think of, to keep him back and at her side as a bodyguard, would one, make her very uncomfortable and two, lead to the same thing when she inevitably had to enter a battlefield herself.

There was... one way on which she could see this working out. It had a chance of going horribly wrong but it was the only one she could think of in the moment. She'd thought about this possibility before but back then, Alice had made it very clear that it wouldn't work. But things were different now. Her reasons were different. Maybe... just maybe it would work this time. Hopefully Alice would warn her in time if she miscalculated.

"Fine, you can come with us", she said at last.

Edward looked ridiculously relieved.

"Thank you", he he said and took his place next to Bella as she took the driver's seat.

"Where are we going?"
"Seattle", Bella said curtly. "We are going to Seattle."

XxX

AN: Dun, dun, dun, dun... A cookie for the first person to realize who she's going to visit.

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