Chibi-Kari: Hey all...here is Chapter 1 of my new story. I will be updating Let Go if not this week next week after my finals! I just wanted to get this out in celebration of Bobby Bowden's retirement! Anyway, I don't own and for this story AN will be kept short to keep with the flow. It will eventually be Bella/Jasper. Just wait for it!

Broken Lights on the Freeway

The night air was dry and harsh, normal for summer in the Mojave Desert. The sky an inky black marred was scarred with specks of light. It was almost three am and two vampires were running to their current residence north of Mount Charleston, just off US95. They had once again run down to Las Vegas for their meal.

Disappearing in Vegas was natural. People don't keep track of time in Vegas not to mention casinos don't keep clocks on the walls. It's one drink to the next and casinos galore. Confused patrons in the streets were easy pickings to lead astray. It was the second best place for vampires to pick and choose victims. The best would be the border between the US and Mexico, their blood was only marginally cleaner there and they were illegal anyway. It wasn't like any of those people would have a missing report sent out on them. It wouldn't have taken much longer to run down to the border maybe thirty minutes depending on what was going on around them. No vampire wanted to be spotted by border patrol or a passing car. That was the best way to get the Volturi on their asses. Although the food would have been better and just as easy, they didn't want to go too far tonight. So, Vegas was the only real answer.

"What are you thinking about?" Her musical voice cut through the still night air as they started to turn towards US95 just west of Las Vegas. It was their chosen track, although a little longer than running straight through the desert. She just didn't like the idea of scorpions, even though they could no longer hurt her. The idea that they can kill even though they are that small creeped her out, but if you asked someone that knew her they could describe her the same way. Small. Deadly. She was around five foot and at first glance looked as fragile as they came. Being scared of dangerous wildlife suited her. She had always vocally refused to go that way and he wouldn't fight her on that one.

"I dunno know, Char. I feel like something important is gunna happen." His muscles flexed as he picked up his pace. "I'll be glad to be home in about twenty minutes. I swear to God I'm not leavin' the house for three days. Whatever the fuck this is, I'm not gunna to be involved."

She nodded her head, her white blonde hair bouncing with each stride, "I feel it too, Peter." Even if she hadn't felt it she would have listened. Her husband always had a way about him. He just knew when things were going to work or not. She always thought that it was his venom flowing through her that allowed her to feel it sometimes too. Tonight she felt it. It chilled through her already frozen skin to the bones. They ran for a few more minutes with only silence as their company. The heavy feeling had been affecting them both for days. She would be happy to just sit at home and weather whatever storm was going to come with her husband by her side. All she wanted was peace. She had lived through one too many storms in her afterlife. "The state really needs to send someone out to fix these lights. Some poor human is gunna run right off the road into the desert and get themselves killed."

Peter nodded slightly before slowing, "Do you see that?" He gestured, his arm slicing effortlessly through the air in a move dancers would be jealous of.

Even with the enhanced vampire sight Charlotte still needed to squint to see what Peter was talking about. It was several miles ahead and slightly to their left on the main road. "Do you think it's an accident? That's a person in the middle of the road, right?"

They came to a stop about one hundred feet from the still body. It was just far enough that in the dark night, the human wouldn't be able to see them, if they were still alive that is.

"She's alive, Peter. She's just layin' there." Charlotte took a step forward before Peter placed his hand on her arm, stopping her.

"There isn't any blood. The car doesn't appear to be damaged. Obviously she's okay. Let's just keep goin'." He pulled on her arm slightly before she shook her head.

"When is a person layin' in the middle of the road at three am okay?" She wrenched her arm from his grasp as she stepped closer. Arguing with Peter was never something she chose to do, but she was compelled today. This was it and it wasn't anything she had expected. "Hello, are you okay?"

Charlotte stopped about fifty feet from the fallen girl. A heavy silence engulfed the area as she waited for a response. Not getting one, Charlotte walked closer. Peter joined her as they closed the last of the distance. Her mahogany hair pooled around her shoulders as her brown eyes stayed focused on the depth of the sky above. She didn't even flinch as they walked closer to her.

Peter looked over at his small wife before glancing down at the young girl on the ground, she wasn't more than 19, "Sweetie, you alright?"

Brown eyes snapped to Charlotte and then moved over to Peter, focusing on their eyes, "Will you kill me?"

Charlotte's eyes widened as she looked between her husband and the girl, "'Course not! Why would you say those things? We're just passin' by and saw you out here."

Peter nodded slightly, "Not safe for a pretty young girl like you to be out this late. 'Specially not in these parts. Desert's dangerous at night. Never know what kinda creatures are roamin' about."

The young girl sat up, glancing over her shoulder at the couple before standing and walking towards her orange truck, "Truck broke down on my way to Arizona."

Charlotte started to walk towards the girl, "Don't you have a cell phone? If you don't, I do. We can call you a tow truck. Mount Charleston isn't that far. You'd be there in a flash. Too dangerous out here with the rattlers, you don't wanna go walkin' down the road or layin' in the middle of it."

The girl placed her hand on the side window of her offensively orange truck, sliding her palm down it almost affectionately, "I don't have to worry about snakes or anything. You're the most dangerous thing out here."

Peter stepped forward, once again joining his wife's side. He placed his arm around her waist as he looked on, "We already told you we mean no harm. We can call the truck to come get you and then leave if it makes you feel safer." He looked down at Charlotte as she beamed up at him. She loved to help people when she got a chance. It was a quirk he let her have. It made her feel more human for a few moments and tonight there was no harm being this close. They had both just hunted and the human shouldn't think twice about their eyes because of the dark. And every bone in his body was telling him to help her. Just to stop and help this girl. Peter didn't normally go against his intuition.

The movement was quick and Peter wasn't sure he would have been able to stop it. The girl spun around, holding her bleeding arm out towards them. Bits of the broken glass still embedded in her flesh. The blood started dropping on to the ground like rain sprinkling before she started to speak, "Will you kill me now? Can you control it?"

Charlotte took a step forward and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. His bloodlust was always harder to control than hers had ever been, "We can stop the bleedin' sweetie. Then we'll get you to a hospital."

Her brown eyes widened and she started shaking her arm around causing the blood to create a violent pattern on the dry road. It had been several days since it last rained and the pavement soaked up the blood almost immediately like water from above. She staggered a few steps toward them, "I know what you are! Why won't you kill me? Don't you want my blood?! You're a vampire! Kill me!"

Charlotte stopped and looked back at Peter who gaped wide-eyed. The girl flung her arm a few more times before grabbing her head and folding into herself, squatting near the ground. She let out a heart wrenching scream before falling silent. The only signs of her life were the quiet shakes that took over her body and the sound of her blood falling on the pavement.

Charlotte let out a sob before starting towards the girl.

"Char, don't."

She quickly threw her arms around the young girl, pulling her close to her small form. "You're alright. We aren't going to hurt you. Everything's alright right now. No matter what, it's alright right now." She leaned back, ripping a piece of her shirt and setting to work on a bandage for the bleeding arm in front of her.

Charlotte held her for a few minutes before turning towards Peter, "She's asleep."

He looked around blindly before focusing on his wife, "Should we leave her here?" He had wanted to help her. He was compelled to help her, but his brain took over. This was dangerous and bordering on absurd. The girl was obviously unstable.

Her red eyes narrowed at his, "What do you mean leave her here? We can't leave her here! She's not stable. She knows about us. And her damn truck broke down! What part of this situation screams 'leave her here' to you?!"

Peter threw up his hands momentarily and gestured to his wife, "What do you suggest? Bringin' her home with us?"

She stayed silent a moment before answering with a quick nod, "That's a great idea."

Peter opened his mouth a few times, his dirty blonde hair blowing in the wind, "Hello, remember me? Your husband with not so great control! Let's bring a bleedin' suicidal human into our home. Oh, she'll last all of two days!"

"She was bleedin' right in front of you, Peter. And you did just fine. She knows about us. You wanna bring the wrath of the Volturi down on your ass that's fine and dandy, but me no thank you."

His left hand came up to his face as he rubbed his forehead before pulling it down over his eyes, "You're right, Char."

"Aren't I always? You get her bags or whatnots. I'll take the girl." She turned and started home with the small brunette in her arms before he could even turn to the truck.

"What's gunna happen when someone sees her truck? Didn't think about that did you?" Peter mumbled to himself as he made his way to the truck pulling a single case from the bed. "Keepin' your stuff out in the bed is about as smart as layin' in the middle of the road, sweetheart."

"Vampire hearing, Peter." Charlotte's voice whispered in the wind about three miles from him.

"Sorry dear." He took off behind her towards their ranch style house in the desert.

By the time Peter had made it through the door, Charlotte was sitting on a kitchen chair facing the young girl who was now standing still in the center of the room. Peter dropped her bag by the kitchen door and made his way around the floating counter to his wife.

They all stared at each other for several minutes before Charlotte broke the silence, "What's your name?"

The girl rolled her shoulders in a half shrug. Peter couldn't be sure if she was stretching or failing at a nonchalant gesture, "Bella."

"Bella what? Do you need to call someone to tell them where you are?" Charlotte looked on the poor girl in front of them and Peter had to admit her small human form was something to take pity on. Her clothes were slightly torn and dirty, probably from laying in the road and it looked like she hadn't been eating properly for months. Her hair hung in stringy clumps over her face. It was obvious the girl hadn't been taking care of herself.

"Bella Swan. And there's no one to call." Her voice was monotone and she had stopped trying to make eye contact with the two vampires in front of her.

Charlotte's eyes started to glisten, "What do you-"

Peter cut her off, "How about you stop this little fucking blasé act you got going on and tell me how you know about us."

"Peter! Why are you talking to her like this?" Charlotte's eyes had narrowed as her red eyes bore into her unflinching husband.

"This is more important, Char! No one should be walking around knowing these things! There are rules and she is proof someone is going around breaking them! We should have just killed her. Bringing the Volturi on us like this!" He almost roared at his wife as she glanced back at the young girl in front of her. He slung his head back towards Bella before roaring at her also, "Answer me, girl, how do you know about us?"

"I think there is a better question, Peter." Charlotte's gaze stayed fixed on the young girl in front of her.

He sighed looking over at his wife, "What could that possibly be?"

"How she's still alive." He arched an eyebrow, not quite following her train of thought. Peter's eyes followed her finger as she lifted her petite hand and pointed at the crescent scar contrasting sharply with Bella's ivory skin.

"Fuck." It was probably the least intelligent thing he could have said, but it was the only thing fitting.