Animal Control, a twilight fanfic

Disclaimer: While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Carlisle and other medical personnel are not to be regarded as authoritative.

Do not post without permission. Do not copy/print without including the above disclaimer in its entirety.

A/N: In my alternate history (for which the date of this story is correct), Bree survives and is adopted by the Cullens. See my profile for more information on her power over animals. Barbie

Summer 2006

Nessie one A/E five

Carlisle

I frowned at the day's weather report; "Early clouds, giving way to partial sun this afternoon."

"I thought you said it was going to be cloudy all day today," I commented as Alice appeared in the doorway of my study.

"It is," she said blithely.

I hesitated. Nessie would be disappointed if I had to postpone our promised trip to the zoo, but she understood that I couldn't take a chance of exposing myself.

Alice laughed at my indecision. "Weather's easy, Carlisle."

I had to admit, she had a better track record than the local meteorologist. "Nessie doesn't affect your vision?" I questioned.

"She has nothing to do with the weather."

"All right, then. Just keep an eye out and call me if something changes."

"Of course." She sighed. "Honestly, Carlisle, why were you looking at the weather report…don't you trust me?" She looked up at me, her expression so woebegone that I had to chuckle. My Alice, the queen of drama…

"I wasn't looking at the weather, Alice; I happened to see it when I was looking at the news."

She smiled slyly. "Bet you a shopping trip it stays cloudy…"

"No, Alice," I said, laughing. "I trust you too much to bet against you…especially on something as 'easy' as weather."

She grinned and spun around. "Better get downstairs," she said over her shoulder; "Nessie's getting impatient."

Sometimes when she made factual statements about Nessie, I wondered if it was a cover-up for her annoyance at not being able to "see" her. Of course, it didn't take a psychic to know Nessie would be getting impatient… I smiled to myself as I hurried down the stairs.

Nessie was bouncing with excitement, and Bree burst into the room just as I entered from the other side. "Daddy, I want to come, too!"

Of course. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it; we all knew how much Bree loved animals.

Nessie crossed her arms. "No," she said, pouting. I bit back a smile; she looked adorable scowling like that.

"Renesmée," Edward said quietly, appearing in the room.

Nessie stared up at him for a moment, and Edward sighed. "Bree, she's afraid you'll control the animals; she wants to see them acting naturally."

"I won't," Bree said quickly. "I promise I won't even listen to their thoughts!"

Nessie's arms stayed crossed, and Edward dropped to one knee in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Renesmée. You can be nice and let Bree go with you…or you can stay home today."

"She can come," Nessie said sullenly.

"Be nice?" Edward prompted.

Nessie instantly put on a smile and ran to grab Bree's hand.

I chuckled softly as Edward got up and came to stand by my side. Nessie was spoiled, but it would have been worse if it hadn't been for Edward. When it came to resisting her charms, he had better control than I did; his quiet use of her full name was usually enough to make her stop misbehaving. I couldn't recall a time when he had had to resort to any type of punishment.

"Come on, Grandpa!" Nessie called, tugging Bree toward the door.

"All right, Nessie, I'm coming!"

"Be good, Nessie," Edward called after her. "Listen to what Carlisle tells you."

"I will!" she promised. "Goodbye, Daddy! Race you, Bree!" She dropped Bree's hand and ran toward the car. Bree turned to smile at me, then let Nessie win…or maybe she really did. Nessie was showing signs of being as fast as her father; she could already beat Bella.

By the time I got to the car, Nessie was in the front seat chattering to Bree in the back; it was obvious her friendliness was no longer just a show for Edward.

oOo

I let Nessie go up to the side of the animal pens, but kept further back myself; animals could sense what we were and would panic if I got too close. Bree didn't have that problem; even when she wasn't actively trying to make them comfortable, animals took no more notice of her than if she had been human.

"It's all right, Daddy," she called, seeing me keeping my distance. "They won't mind as long as you're with me."

Interesting…I had always thought she had to be actively controlling an animal for it to be comfortable in the presence of other vampires.

As I stepped closer, the monkeys began chattering and screaming with fear. Then I reached Bree's side, and the panic instantly stopped.

"You're controlling them!" Nessie accused, planting her fists on her hips and glaring up at Bree.

"No, I'm not; honest, Nessie! I'm just letting them behave as if we weren't here…and it's not something I'm doing; they just don't notice Daddy when he stands next to me."

Nessie turned away, only slightly mollified; sometimes there seemed to be a kind of sibling rivalry between her and Bree.

Soon the monkeys' antics had the two of them in gales of laughter, though Nessie still glanced sideways at Bree, suspicious that she was behind some of the crazier stunts.

"Come on, girls," I said finally. "There are more animals in this zoo than just monkeys."

Nessie grabbed my hand and skipped along beside me. "Let's go see the giraffes, Grandpa!" she exclaimed.

I glanced around quickly; no humans were in earshot. "Don't call me that in public, Nessie," I reminded her quietly.

She wrinkled her nose, then dropped my hand and ran ahead to the giraffe pen. "Can I feed them?" she asked eagerly. "Can I? Can I?"

I chuckled and inserted a coin in the little machine. A packet of crackers fell from the opening, and I ripped the paper off and handed them to Nessie. I lifted her to my shoulders, and she stretched her hand up eagerly.

The giraffe slowly lowered its head and used its long tongue to pull the crackers from Nessie's hand. * She giggled, but stared ruefully at her slimy hand as I set her on the ground. I chuckled; licking my fingers, I rubbed them over her hand. "Better?" Venom was an almost universal solvent and antiseptic. It would have been dangerous to use on humans, who might have small cuts in their skin, but for Nessie it was fine, and more convenient than carrying hand cleaner.

She nodded, then pointed to a crowd of people up the hill. "What are they all looking at?"

"Let's go find out," I suggested, swinging her to my shoulders again and striding easily up the hill.

The crowd was gathered around the polar bear pen. A zookeeper was inside the pen with the bears, feeding them and showing off their tricks.

"That isn't safe," Bree murmured.

I glanced at her in some surprise; she was the one who insisted that animals could always be trusted and would never betray you.

But a moment later, it appeared she was right, as for no apparent reason the bear took a swipe at the man with a giant claw, knocking him to the floor of the pen.

"No!" Bree exclaimed, springing a step forward.

I swung Nessie to the ground and tensed, ready to restrain Bree if the sudden strong scent of blood was too much for her.

She stood with her hand outstretched, not breathing, her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. The bear halted its attack and stood as if bewildered.

"Run! Run!" The cry was taken up by several voices in the crowd, and the man pushed himself to his feet. With his arm pressed to his bleeding side, he lurched toward the back of the cage.

Only when the inner door had clanged shut behind him did Bree release the bear. She stood stock still, her eyes wildly darting from the cage to me and back again.

"Bree!" I ordered sharply. "Go to the car and stay there!"

She gave a single sharp moan and ran, vanishing in an instant even to my eyes.

I pulled my keys from my pocket and pushed them into Nessie's hand. "Get my bag from the car!"

As she ran off, I made my way toward the back of the cage at a fast human lope.

The crowd had pressed forward to where the man would exit, and I was forced to slow my place. "I'm a doctor; let me through," I said quietly.

The crowd parted instantly, some calling out that a doctor was here. I reached the outer door of the cage just as the man staggered out, reeling and half fainting. I jumped forward to catch him. "Easy there; you'll be all right. Clear some room, there!" I ordered the crowd.

They moved back, and I lay the injured man down on the grass, ripping his torn and bloodied shirt away from the wound.

"It attacked me," the man gasped, his breaths coming fast and shallow. "For no reason…"

He was in shock more from the surprise of the attack than his injury, I was sure; the four parallel gashes were bloody and painful, but not especially deep or dangerous. "Easy. Breathe deeply; that's it. Relax; you're going to be fine." I glanced up at the sound of Nessie's approach; she was so tiny that the people barely noticed as she ducked and wove between their legs. My bag was nearly half as big as she was; she carried it with both hands.

"Thanks, Nessie. Go wait on that bench over there."

"I'm all right; I want to watch!"

"Nessie!" I said sharply. No doubt she was fine, but I didn't want to have to worry about watching her.

I caught a glimpse of her face as she turned away, and it was all I could do not to call her back, to apologize and assure her that I trusted her. But I forced myself to focus on the task at hand, stabilizing the man's heart rate and breathing, cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Some of them would probably need stitches, but I would leave that decision up to the doctor at the hospital.

Someone in the crowd had contacted the zoo management, and an ambulance had been called. The man would heal with only a scar to show for his adventure, but he was in danger of losing his job over the incident. He was young and new on the job; he had been showing off, violating zoo policy by entering the cage alone.

When the excitement was over and I had turned his care over the EMTs from the ambulance, I crossed to the bench and sat beside my granddaughter. "Nessie?"

She sniffed, her hair hiding her face.

"Nessie, sweetheart, I didn't mean to be harsh with thee," I said softly.

She put a hand on my face. I wouldn't have lost control!

"Of course not," I murmured. "I know thou has perfect control — better than mine!"

She giggled at the teasing tone of my voice. Well, I'm only half vampire, Grandpa.

"Forgive me?" I asked softly.

She nodded, her dimples showing as she smiled at me.

"Where are my keys?" I questioned, standing up.

She grinned wider. "In your pocket."

I chuckled. "You imp!" And I let her think I hadn't felt her put them there.

"Wait here, Nessie," I told her as we entered the building.

"Can I look in the gift shop?"

"Sure." I went into the men's room and carefully washed every trace of blood from my hands. When I returned and tracked Nessie down in the gift shop, she was hugging a soft stuffed giraffe. She looked up at me with eyes that melted my heart, and I smiled and handed her a bill from my pocket.

"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed delightedly, running to the counter to buy the toy.

"Where's my change?" I questioned as she returned to my side.

She grinned impishly at me. "In my pocket."

And there it would stay…though I couldn't imagine why she needed it when any of us would give her anything she asked for.

When we first reached the car, I saw no sign of Bree. Then I spotted her, curled tightly into the space behind the front passenger seat. I sighed. "Nessie, I think I'm going to need a few minutes to talk to Bree."

"Okay. Can I go climb on the lions?"

I glanced toward the two stone lions guarding the front of the building. "Sure. Just don't jump off the top of them or do anything else a five-year-old human couldn't. Want to leave your giraffe here?"

She shook her head and ran off, the toy tucked firmly under one arm.

Before opening the car door, I pulled off my shirt, stained with blood from when I had caught the man as he stumbled out of the pen. I dropped it beside the rear tire and checked my skin carefully for traces of blood before sliding into the back seat and pulling the door shut behind me. "Bree?" I said softly.

She didn't answer, and I saw now that her shoulders were shaking…my little girl was crying. Swiftly I reached out and pulled her into my arms. "Shh. Bree, honey, it's all right," I soothed. "I know it was hard, but thou did well; thou resisted. We can go hunting right now if thou needs to, sweetheart."

She shook her head frantically, clinging to me with desperation. "It's not that!"

My arms tightened around her. "Then what is it, honey; what's wrong?" I questioned anxiously.

She only shook her head again, too upset to answer, and I found myself wishing for Edward. "Bree, what is it?" I coaxed gently.

"I — broke my promise! I — can't be trusted — either!" She flung herself against me with a fresh outbreak of sobbing, and I rocked her gently as I held her close. "Ah, Bree." Sometimes I thought Alice was the fortunate one, bringing no baggage with her from her human life. Bree had been betrayed again and again, by both humans and vampires; even now we were the only ones she trusted, and I didn't know if she was even sure about all of us.

I waited until she had calmed slightly before I attempted to say more than meaningless words of comfort. "Honey, thou saved that man's life." And without exposing us; my pushing the cage bars aside and snapping the bear's neck would hardly have gone unnoticed, but I wasn't sure I could have stood by and done nothing. Thank God Bree was with us.

"But I broke my promise!" Bree insisted.

"Bree, Nessie didn't want you controlling the animals just for the fun of it, but she never asked you to stand back and do nothing while an animal attacked a defenseless human. If you had had time to ask her to release you from your promise, she would have done it."

"But —"

"And if you had done nothing, and then claimed it was because of that promise, she would have felt responsible for the man's death. Do you want that?"

"No-o. But, Daddy, I want you to be able to trust me!"

"We do trust you, honey. The trouble with making promises is that circumstances can change so that it becomes wrong to keep the promise. That isn't the same as breaking a promise simply because you don't feel like keeping it."

Bree sighed, laying her cheek against my chest. "I shouldn't have said I wouldn't listen to them," she said in a low voice. "I would have known what it was going to do; I could have stopped it."

"You knew it wasn't safe," I reminded her; "I think when it happened you were ready. But I'm curious about that, Bree; I thought you said animals could always be trusted."

"They can," she insisted, "but you can't trust them not to be what they are. Those conservationist people have it all wrong when they say animals will never attack humans. They're wild animals; you can always trust them to be wild."

I wasn't sure I accepted her explanation, but I let it go; she would trust animals no matter what because she needed something to trust.

"Daddy," she murmured. "I thought…weren't you…aren't you mad at me?"

"Bree, what have I been telling thee?" I asked gently.

"I know, but…when you said to go to the car…I thought you were mad."

"Oh, no, Bree, honey!" I tightened my arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I wasn't sure how good your control was. I ordered you to the car so you couldn't smell the blood; I had to be stern to break through the blood lust."

"I did want him," Bree admitted softly. "I might have attacked…but then I was sure you were angry with me for breaking my promise."

"Bree, sweetheart, have I ever been angry with thee?"

"No-o."

"Not even when thou slipped," I reminded her softly. "And if I forgave that, did thou truly think I would hold thee at fault for saving a life?"

"No, Daddy," Bree murmured, cuddling against me.

I gently tipped her chin to look into her eyes. "Do you need to hunt?" I asked softly.

She shook her head. "No. I was so upset…I forgot I was thirsty."

"I'm sorry, Bree," I said quietly.

"It's all right, Daddy. You…didn't mean to be harsh."

But I had been…with both of them. I wondered if I fully deserved the trust Bree had somehow decided to give me. I could only pray that I would never break it.

The End

* Illustration for this scene can be found at femalechauvinist . deviantart . com [slash] art [slash] Tongue-Twister-704268092

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Twilight alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie