This is an awkward chapter. I don't really have a clear Alice voice but certain things needed to be shown. Next chapter we will be comfortably back with Bella. Thanks for the reviews and anyone interested in this old story! Keep reviewing and leave any questions or suggestions you have.

"Son, what's wrong?" Carlisle asked. His eyebrows were pinched together in concern. Was that the face his patients saw?

"Alice's vision is off. I couldn't see it clearly! It was murky, like she tried to block me out." Edward's handsome face was marred by a deep scowl.

She had no idea what he was going on about. "I'm not sure why you wouldn't be able to see it. It was clear for me."

"You had to have been doing something! My gift doesn't just not work!"

Rosalie decided it was time to interrupt and waved her hand dismissing Edward's complaints. "Am I the only one that wants to know why that woman recognized Edward?" All attention shifted to the copper-haired boy standing awkwardly on the side near the window.

"Yeah, bro, what's that about?" Emmett questioned, eyebrows pinched together, dumbfounded.

Edward was unworried by the interrogation. "You all know about the period of my afterlife that I left the family and lost my way. I did a lot of regrettable things during that time and one of them was staying with the Volturi. I wasn't a member, just a guest, but the brothers made me do small tasks. I did guard duty a lot and she was imprisoned. Alice," Her brother paused to focus all his attention on her. His golden eyes were smoldering with sincerity. By her side Jasper flashed Edward an odd look. "I promise you that if I had known she was in any way connected to you I would've told the family a long time ago."

"I know that. I trust you." Alice reassured with a smile. Edward seemed to relax; she noticed Jas look at him curiously.

"Ally has some crazy old evil lovesick vampire that can't take a hint after her; what are we gonna do about that?" Emmett cut in, rolling his gigantic shoulders. "You should've let me at her!"

"I'm not sure that there is something to be done." Carlisle surmised. "Attacking her would be reckless when she's been non-hostile so far."

"But she's going to get hungry and eat people! I thought we weren't cool with that."

"Dammit, Emmet I don't like it any more than you do." Carlisle spat out before recovering his perfectly calm disposition. "What do you want me to do? Order us to a battle that I'm not sure all of us will make it out of? If it's not clear that woman Isabella is an incredibly old vampire close to or maybe even older than the Volturi brother's themselves. Vampires that make it this long without joining the Volturi or being killed by them are either incredibly strong or smart enough to avoid the Volturi's reach. We will just have to be neutral and urge her towards discretion if we ever encounter her. Maybe we could even attempt to befriend her, if that's okay with you, Alice?"

Suddenly all eyes were on her and for once she didn't want it. She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand and looked up to see the comforting familiar honey gold of her husband's eyes shining down at her with a gentle smile. She didn't know if it was his eyes or his gift, but she regained her usual ease and confidence.

"I'm okay with it. I'm not sure if I fully believe her yet but the only way to find that out is to talk to her."

In a house filled with seven vampires, all with the ability to hear the soft thumps of a mouse's run a mile away, it became necessary to purposefully (and sometimes violently) stake out a place of your own that others knew to avoid on the bad days. For Alice, it was the small studio she kept for those times when the only way to calm her visions were to draw them out. Jasper and Carlisle shared a study that also functioned as the Cullen's family personal library. Esme had her garden and Emmett his den. Edward had to go farther than the others, as usual. His private place was somewhere she'd only seen in an unsolicited vision (sorry, Eddy). The garage was firmly Rosalie's domain.

It housed six vehicles, all extremely expensive, but ranging in personal taste on flashy luxury looks. The walls were covered in neatly arranged tools and certain car parts her sister kept on hand just in case she got a little inspired or a car needed some quick repairs. It was here, lying amongst oil grease and screws and bolts, that Alice found Rosalie.

"Rose?"

Said woman rolled out from underneath the Volvo she was working on. The blonde's hair was uncharacteristically pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing old overalls that Alice definitely hadn't bought or approved of with a cheap tee. It was an unfortunate outfit that only Rosalie had the looks to pull off.

"What do you want?" Rose asked as she wiped her hands and arms relatively clean with a rag.

"I wanted to tell you that it's going to snow this week, so we simply must go shopping for winter clothes." Alice beamed at her sister. Rose didn't look fully convinced.

"Is that all?"

"Also, Emmett's jeep is going to break down on the way to school Thursday."

Rosalie leveled her with one of her trademark stares that let you know just how thoroughly unimpressed she was by your bullshit. "Get to the point."

"I just wanted to know if you've ever…felt something towards Carlisle?"

Rosalie's face scrunched up in disgust. "Alice! Do you have feelings for Carlisle? What about Esme!"

"No, silly! Feelings liiiike awareness! Of his presence. Think physical feelings." Rose's perfect eyebrows shot up again. Crap.

"I didn't want to say anything earlier because I wasn't sure what I was feeling but ever since the first night Isabella visited there's been this pull on my brain. I just know if I go this way – "Alice pointed out a precise direction east into the woods "that I'll find something. And that something is probably her."

"So, you think…?"

"Uh, yeah, she made me." Alice brushed a hand to bring a flick of her hair behind her ear. "And left me."

She was suddenly brought into a strong hug and she felt her lips curling in satisfaction. This was one of the better results of her decision to talk to Rosalie.

"Fuck that bitch. You're better off that you she left you. You found Jasper and your conscience. She wouldn't have let you do that." The words were said so forcefully that a spick of venom came from her sisters' mouth.

"I know." Alice murmured. "I just want to know why she turned me in the first place and if she can tell me more about my family. I know I had a little sister that I was said to be close too…, Oh! Don't even try to stop me from going; that ends with your leg turn off and Eddy's Volvo smashed in."

Rosalie glowered at her and growled a little before throwing her hands up in the air, rolling her eyes. "Fine. I know I can't stop you but please try to be careful. You can't trust her. Let her know that if anything happens to you she's going to have a coven of pissed off vengeful vampires after her."

Alice beamed up at the other woman and wrapped her arms around her neck, "Thanks! Tell Jasper I'll be back by midnight. And keep an eye on him for me, okay? I don't want him to stress."

Rose nodded before tilting her head towards the open garage entrance. "You better head out now."

Alice followed the pull until she found herself in the familiar food court of Saint Angele's mall. As usual the building was busy as it was the only mall of any decency around. The crowds of humans were thick, and the smell was a bit heady. She was glad that she'd decided to hunt before seeking out the new vampire.

She found Bella sitting at a round table completely immobile in spite was the humans' visible avoidance of her. The woman was dressed in a tasteful outfit of black fitted slacks, black wingtips, and a black polo with a subtle paisley pattern. The black was typical, but the outfit was made with high quality materials and Bella obviously knew the value of a good tailor. She trailed her eyes along Bella's wiry form purely admiring the work put into the clothes to make them cling to the woman's muscles and flat stomach just so. It had nothing to do with the woman herself of course. Yes, Bella was imposingly tall with a jawline straight from Donatello, but she wasn't beautiful like she'd come to expect from other vampires. Bella suddenly closed her eye in a clumsy jerky motion – was that a wink? – and grinned at Alice, who flinched away in surprise.

"What was that?" Alice asked as she sat down on the other side of the table.

"What, you didn't like the wink? It worked the first time we met."

"Bella, you looked like you were seizing!"

"That's ridiculous! I was showing off my roguish bad girl charm."

"Is there any to show?"

Bella shut up before breaking out in laughter. Her laugh was loud but breathy, as if she'd been a smoker, and completely endearing. Alice found herself repressing a small smile.

"Why the mall?" Alice questioned, running a finger along the table. Thankfully, it was clean.

"Why not the mall?"

"It's busy. The smell is so thick. Aren't these kinds of places hard for you red eye types?" Alice noted that the woman's eye was noticeably duller from the inhuman glow it held three days earlier.

Bella cocked one perfectly arched thick eyebrow up, the one over the eye patch, and her a corner of her mouth lifted to tease at a smile. Alice's fingers twitched with the need to find a pen to record the strangely endearing expression. "You feeling thirsty Al? Could be because that coven of yours is stopping you from getting a proper meal. I'm completely fine."

Alice flashed her a quick stiff smile in return. "So am I."

The two vampires sat in quiet for a minute. The only thing uncomfortable about it was that it wasn't uncomfortable. Alice wasn't shy, but shouldn't she fear her creepy ancient stalker? She couldn't find it in her to be. Deep in her depths she knew that this was a person she was meant to know, and maybe even already had known. Bella hadn't stopped looking at her; she seemed to be studying, and remembering, every aspect of her appearance until finally she broke the silence. "What made you seek me out?"

"I believe you. That you made me at least. Speaking of that," She slapped Bella hard on the arm. "Why weren't you there? woke up terrified and covered in dirt! In the woods! I had no idea what I was or even who!"

"I'm sorry. It wasn't by choice. They had to, quite literally, cripple me to keep me from you." Bella defended vehemently.

"Cripple! What? Who are they? What happened to you?" Alice leaned forward and took one of Bella's hand with both of her own. She traced the hundreds of cuts, nicks, and scars with her eyes and her thumb. The woman's hands were larger than her own with long fingers. Bella's nails were clipped short and perfectly clean.

"I was ambushed and kidnapped by the Volturi."

"What?"

"I was ambushed an- "

"I heard you. Why are you saying that like it's a normal thing?"

"They've been after me for the last thousand years. At first, they were just trying to recruit me and would send their underlings to keep track of my movements. Eventually Caius got tired of Aro's puppy eyes not working and attacked me himself. After I dismembered Caius Aro couldn't justify trying to peacefully recruit me any further and started sending the occasional perfunctory sacrificial goons."

Alice raised a finger to her lips and shushed Bella before sending a pointed glance towards the brittle haired blonde woman with a bad, chemical tan who was hovering by the nearby trashcan and nosily listening in on their conversation. They couldn't risk any human hearing about vampires or the Volturi. Alice doubted any one would believe the woman who may or may not have been a meth addict, but she didn't feel like taking any chances.

Bella squinted at the woman before waving aggressively at her. "Hey, you going to sit down or what? Make a decision."

The woman's eyes popped open and she clutched hard at her purse and shielded herself with her shopping bags. Alice could hear her heart pounding and instinctively isolated a possible panicked prey's scent. It was incredibly sour, almost to the point of overpowering, but still attractive enough to stoke the fires of her hunger. "Do you need help?" She trilled, standing up.

Bella stood as well. The woman jerked and darted away, stumbling a bit before barely recovering. "You didn't have to be rude!" Bella yelled after her, smiling smugly, before cracking up. Alice hid her smile in her hair.

The two of them were standing side by side and a twitch away from touching. Bella turned towards her and searched her face for something before opening her mouth to speak, "How about we- "

Alice was in a future. She saw herself and she saw Bella. They were in the backrow of the nearby movie theater and ignoring the video. She, the future one, was having a good time and giggling her ass off and far too relaxed. She didn't notice when Bella went in for the kiss. She was proud to see future Alice slap Bella, a real slap that shook the humans to attention.

"-go see a film? I got lots to catch up on. I haven't even seen a color one yet."

"We can't!"

Bella tilted her head and she scanned Alice's face for something. "Bad vision?"

"How do you know about those?"

"I know you, Al."

"It was a bad one."

"Okay."

"That's it? You're not going to ask me what I saw?"

"It's not for me to know. We could ju- "

She saw herself and she saw Bella. They were in the same mall wearing today's clothes but in one of Alice's favorite stores. She saw herself with a big grin on her face as she modeled some prospective outfits to Bella who actually gave valuable advice but with a healthy side of leering.

"-st stay here and talk somewhere else?"

Alice shook her hands in the air as if she was wiping away her visions before glaring up at the other woman. Bella's one eye widened but her lips were just shy of a smirk. She stared back at her just as fiercely.

"Look, I need to make something clear. I. don't. like. You." Alice declared and poked Bella hard in the chest between her words. "I am not here to befriend you. I'm here for information. Keep your hands to yourself."

"I haven't touched you." Bella protested to Alice's back as she'd already started to walk away.

"C'mon. I know a good place for us to go where we don't have to be concerned about the humans." Alice didn't leave any room for another one of Bella's ideas and didn't bother to check to see if the brunette was behind her. She could feel that she was.

"Where you go, I follow." And so the two vampires left, running towards their destination.