A/N: Sorry, but work, vacation, broken ankles, and hospital visits wreak havoc on fanfiction plans. That being said, thanks for sticking with me and this story. I'm nearly finished with chapter 16 and will be on to 17 shortly, so expect more frequent updates. :D

A special thanks to HeartStopsBeating for the new nicknames of "Newly Dead Girl" and "Mystery Boy". Look for those names in future chapters.

APOV

While waiting for the plane to land, a second vision struck me. The male that was with Bella, standing in the middle of a clearing…a pillar of dark smoke…The man falling to his knees and looking at a head with a familiar face detached from its body…The man's tortured cry of a single name. My vision changed. Myself on an airplane. The scent of other vampires. The vision flickered to another time, another setting. Bella and her three companions, surrounded by thirty or more newborns, surrounding our home in Forks.

The plane touched the ground.

* * *

EPOV

"So, when will Bella get here?" Jacob asked, sounding stressed. After explaining the situation to him, Alice, Jasper, and I had returned to our seats to wait out the flight. Alice had found that, when in close proximity to the wolf, she could not see any visions. The farther she moved away from him, the clearer the visions became.

"I told you that it isn't certain that she will even board a plane, much less a plane from this particular airport in Texas. It's just…a feeling I have, that she'll be here," Alice replied unsteadily, unsure of her predictions. "If only I could get away from the werewolf, I could see more!" her thoughts shouted in frustration. I started to move closer to Jacob so that I could ask him to move away from Alice. "No, Edward! Let Jasper take him to find something for him to eat. I don't think that the situation would improve if I were to leave you two alone." I saw of flash of one of her visions: the wolf and myself, crouched into battle stances and growling at one another in the middle of the airport.

I cleared my throat, more out of habit than out of need. "Jazz, would you mind going with Jacob in search of some sustenance for him?" He looked at me quizzically for a second, but then followed my gaze to Alice's frustrated expression.

"No problem," he said, moving at a human pace towards the werewolf. "What sort of food do you prefer?" he asked awkwardly as Jacob compliantly stood and walked off with my brother. I waited for them to move a distance away before speaking.

"Is that any better?"

"Yes, but I'm still only getting flashes. It seems fairly definite that there will be at least two other vampires on our flight. I see myself catching their scent in all of my visions of the plane ride. That fact isn't changing."

"Only two others?" I asked, hope fading from my voice. "It doesn't seem very likely that they would split up."

"No, at least two other vampires will be there. I just can't tell!" She growled softly in irritation. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on her visions, sorting through to find any hints of who would be on the flight with us. "How's Jazz doing, with all of these humans?" she asked, distracting me from watching her visions through her thoughts.

"He's alright, but he's getting thirsty. We should feed soon. He isn't the only one that all of this exposure is affecting," I pointed out, looking at her eyes that were darkening from gold to black.

"Yes, I know, but we don't have time now. We need to board imminently. Could you please go find them? I'll continue to look for some glimpse of Bella." I left Alice sitting in a chair by the gate, and traced Jasper's thoughts to him like a homing beacon.

"Has she seen anything?" he asked me mentally.

"No, not yet. The vampires on the plane are consistent, though," I explained.

"What'd I miss?" Jacob mumbled, shoving one hot dog into his mouth with one hand while holding two more in his other one. I winced, both at the sight of him eating and at the smell of the vulgar processed human 'food'.

"Nothing. We need to go now," I stated curtly, waiting for him to follow me back to the gate.

"No!" he exclaimed, having swallowed the chewed-up food. "You can't leave me out of the loop, here. Bella's was my friend, not my dinner!" I glowered at him, resisting the urge to either snap his neck or to grab him and drag him back to Alice. Before I could take either action, Alice slid in between us, her nose wrinkling at the intense stench of the dog so close to her.

"Here is not the place for this," she hissed. Eyes darting towards her husband, she softly shoved us apart. Waves of calmness emanating from Jasper cooled down the tension before any humans could notice the almost-fight. "Now, the plane is about to leave. So, if we want to have any chance of recovering Bella from the other coven, I suggest we move." Alice took off, leading the way with Jacob following right behind her after glaring at me. Jasper dropped back to walk with me.

"I think we should call the others before we board. Let them know what's happening." In response, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and made a conference call to Emmett and Carlisle as we walked.

"What's going on, Son?" Carlisle was the first to respond.

"Yeah, what's happenin' on your end, Eddie? We haven't seen any sign of Bella here." Even though he could be a real pain-in-the-ass at times, I realized that I really missed having my bear of a brother around.

Skipping any pleasantries, I began with the pertinent information. "Based upon Alice's visions, we can surmise that approximately a week to a week and a half after she finished turning, Bella joined a coven of three nomads. The coven then traveled from New York to Texas, where they then met up with Maria. Shortly thereafter, they found Peter in pieces and Charlotte's smoking remains."

"How is Jasper handing this?" Carlisle asked, concerned. My eyes flickered to his face, but he stared ahead impassively. His thoughts were equally blank, except for one thought.

"Now is not the time for grief. I will handle this once we've finished what we've set out to do."

"He is focused on the task at hand. But that was not the worst of the news. Bella's coven leader plans on organizing a newborn army for the purpose of fighting our family for our territory." Carlisle's sharp intake of breath was the only reply for several long seconds.

"Bring it on, fuckers! We can take 'em any day!" I could practically hear Carlisle roll his eyes at Emmett's bravado.

"You may be stronger than most, Son, but the seven of us against an army of--"

"--thirty--", I put in.

"...thirty newborns, plus the other three and Bella do not make for good odds. It's too short of notice to ask any other covens for aid, and asking anything of Peter is absolutely out of the question," Carlisle reasoned.

"When is this all going down, anyway?" asked Emmett.

"Alice's vision is hazy, but is seems as though they, too, are in transit to Forks. Jasper, Alice, Jacob, and I are ready to board a flight back to Forks."

"Jacob?" Carlisle questioned.

"Yes," I sighed. The dog caused nothing but trouble for me. "We picked up a stray dog on the way. Literally. Alice smelled him on our flight and confronted him. He says that he knows Bella and that he, too, was trying to find her."

"Are you saying that you're traveling with a werewolf?" Emmett yelped incredulously.

"Pretty much," I stated, resigned.

"This is a...surprise. I'm proud that none of you haven't, well, killed him," Carlisle said bluntly.

"Honestly, it has been a struggle not to. Trust me," I growled in frustration. A quizzical look from a passing human caused me to return my gaze to the floor and speak more quietly. "I'll call you when we get home, but I suggest that the rest of you return, too.

"Alright, Bro. I'll pass all this on to Esme. In the meantime, good luck with the dog," Emmett chuckled as he hung up.

"Edward, never give up hope. I'll call Tanya and ask her if her clan would be willing to help us. And please remember, dogs are man's best friend, not food," Carlisle joked, lightening the conversation.

"I'll try to keep that in mind," I said wryly. Hanging up, I followed Jasper down the jet bridge and into the plane where a stocky blonde male flight attendant greeted us.

"Hello, thank you for choosing US Airways. May I see your tickets, please?" he asked exuberantly. Alice reached into her designer purse and pulled out three pristine tickets. Meanwhile, Jacob dug into his back pocket and extracted a crumpled one.

"There you go, Gabe," she said, noting his name tag. After glancing at the tickets briefly, Gabe directed us to our seats in first class. As Jacob stepped forward to hand over his ticket, Gabe's eyes widened a fraction as he checked out the dog's body.

"Oooh, your seat is in first class, too! I'm assigned there for this flight!" Wisely, neither Jasper nor I said anything about Alice's having bought a first class ticket for the wolf.

"Say anything about it, and you'll make the flight attendant suspicious. Besides that, you'll have a pissy puppy on your hands," she threatened.

As we walked away, I heard Gabe whistle and whisper, "I'd totally tap that!" to himself.

"He wasn't referring to you, was he?" Jasper asked, knowing how short my temper has been.

"No, not to either of us," I muttered, looking forward to seeing how Jacob would deal with his new admirer.

* * *

Shortly after takeoff, Gabe returned, bearing drinks. Approaching Jacob first, he asked, "Anything I can get--or do--for you, Sir?" Jacob glanced up, a look of surprise on his face.

"Did he just...no, he didn't seriously just offer to...why me and not those pale, freakishly handsome leeches?" "I, uh, no thanks. I'm good. But thanks." I had to admit, he did a fairly good job at covering his emotions.

"Ignorance is bliss, no?" I tried to joke after Gabe walked over to other passengers. Jake just glared at me in reply.

The first hour of the flight passed by like that: Gabe shamelessly flirted with Jacob, much to the dog's chagrin. I listened, amused by Jacob's uncomfortable situation, but Alice and Jasper just sat side-by-side, looking into each other's eyes. When Alice and Jasper had first joined our family, I had felt as though I was intruding on a personal moment by being near them when they did that. Now, it just made me sad to see them. Never had I ever really known love, and the prospects of that changing weren't too great at this point.

"We've been flying for just over an hour now. Most women have been to the bathroom at least once. To keep up appearances, I'll go in for a minute," Alice explained, standing up and sliding past Jasper, who had determinedly sat beside his wife, leaving me to sit beside the dog. Unsurprisingly, the dog had claimed the window seat.

I returned my gaze to the television screen at the front of the cabin. The in-flight video currently showing was "Marley & Me", which I continued to watch more for distraction than for entertainment purposes. Jacob, on the other hand, was avidly watching the film. I looked forward to seeing his reaction to the scene when Marley, a kindred spirit of his, died. Sighing, I realized that watching Jacob might be the most interesting thing to do during our flight.

A/N: This wasn't intended to be a funny story, but I couldn't help but put in a few little things, haha. Reviews? Please? I love you all!