this hostage stuff is fun

Asking Mal to visit his ship had been easy. He was Mal and she was Alice, so she asked and he said yes. There wasn't much to it than that.

Getting there, without her family flipping their collective shit was the harder part. They wouldn't have wanted her to go on her own...if she took Edward, it would be yet another time she chose Edward and fun over the family and safety...there was something in the way Jasper glanced at her when she had almost asked him that made her think twice. She wouldn't want to torture him like this.

Esme, no. Rosalie, definitely not. Emmett...no.

So she mentioned it to Carlisle, her fingers twisting in her skirt as she explained the logistics, bounced on her toes and gave him a hopeful smile. He consented and that was that.





So now Alice stands on the cusp of Milliways and Serenity herself, looking into the metal and ornate hangings of a shuttle. Mal's on the other side, holding the door for them and she sends a grin over her shoulder to Carlisle before going in.

There's something so exciting about the new experiences...things haven't been new for a very long time.

After the family meeting was over, Alice had wandered off to sit outside, to get some clear, fresh air. Rosalie had hurt her and Jasper hadn't done much better. She knew she wasn't infallible, but the family trusted her so much that sometimes it certainly felt like she was.

Jasper was forgiven, easily. He was her husband, and she loved him and would let nothing come between them. She'd looked so long for him, that silly arguments about a bar at the end of the universe wouldn't be enough to tear them apart.

Rosalie however. The girls, for the most part, got along. They were fantastic sisters, loved each other, loved shopping, being around one another...for about ninety-five percent of the time. The other five percent was spent like this, fuming.

Her eyes unfocused for a moment and the second she came back, Alice flew up, gritting her teeth, before stomping back to her room. Her jaw was tight as she stared at her sister's back as she went through Alice's closet. The smaller woman placed her hands on her hips and growled slightly. "Rosalie. What are you doing?"

He was going to come up the stairs and into their room any moment. She saw it. He'd been in the garage, with Rosalie, but now he was coming to see her.

Alice smiled.

She dug out her travel books, fingers dragging along the worn edges, setting them on the couch. They were going to discuss this, she could see that much...of course, she had no idea where they'd end up going, but that was fine with her.

She sat on the floor, leaning forward against the couch's cushions, waiting.