The Edge of the Forest

There's a faint rustle... then James, Victoria and Laurent emerge. As they near, Bella and Harley sees their bare feet, then the deep burgundy of their eyes. Laurent holds up the baseball.

"I believe this belongs to you." He tosses the ball, his casual toss is still blindingly fast, to Carlisle who easily catches it and smiles politely.

"Thank you."

"Could you use three more players?"

Carlisle nods. "Of course."

"I'm Laurent. This is Victoria. And James."

"Would you like to bat first?" Laurent picks up a bat. The Cullens take the field. Carlisle is catcher, Edward is on first, with Bella behind him, near the Jeep. Emmett is still holding onto Harley to the side of the games, watching. Rosalie with them, pretending to be uninterested but is still watching them with caution.

Bella sees that Edward's eyes are locked onto James. Laurent is at bat first.

"I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us."

"Our apologies. We didn't realize the territory had been claimed."

"Yes, we maintain a permanent residence." The three newcomers exchange a look of surprise.

"Really? Well, we won't be a problem any more."

Victoria smirks. "The humans were tracking us, but we led them East-" Jasper pitches the ball and Laurent slams it but Alice is up a tree is a flash and the ball slams into Alice's hand with a thwap. Laurent is pissed, but James smiles ever so slightly, delighted at the discovery of worthy opponents. James is up next and he power-slams it with amazing force... He runs past first, past Edward, past Bella...

As the wind from the ball ruffles her hair, carrying her scent, which floats to James, Harley being blocked by both Emmett and Rosalie doesn't get her scent flown into the air, suddenly screeches to a halt. His head whips around at her and he lurches into a crouch, his nostrils flaring, excitedly, eyes locked on Bella.

"You brought a snack."

Edward springs in front of Bella, baring his teeth. A truly menacing, feral snarl rips from his throat. James growls back. In a flash, the Cullens rush into position behind Edward, Emmett putting Harley behind him but next to Bella, Laurent and Victoria line up behind James.

"The girl is with us." Carlisle doesn't mention Harley when he realises they only smell Bella.

Laurent tries to defuse situation. "We won't harm her."

Emmett is hungry for battle, especially when his human mate is within area.  "Just try it."

"I think it best if you leave." Carlisle suggests.

Laurent nods. "Yes, I can see the game is over. We'll go now. James?" But James' eyes don't leave Edward's. Laurent puts a hand on James' shoulder, and finally, James backs into the woods with his cohorts, disappearing. Once they're gone, Esme immediately gathers up the bats--

"Get Bella and Harley out of here, they may not have smelled Harley but we don't want to risk it. We'll follow them." Carlisle, Jasper and Rosalie race off after the three vampires. Edward scoops Bella and runs to the car.

Emmett picks Harley up and takes her to his Jeep, she lets out a squeal. Once he straps her into her seat he hops into the driver's seat, starts the car and speeds away. Harley lets out a huff and turns to him.

"Well, that escalated quickly. Didn't it?"

Emmett releases a small laugh. "I guess you can say that." He looks to her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She nods. "Yep." Harley smirks at him. "I found it exhilarating."

He shakes his head with a smirk. "Nothing can bring you down, can it?"

"Nope." Harley says, making the 'p' pop.

He sighs. "Well, I'll take you home. You can stay with Charlie while we sort out this entire mess."

Harley looks to him with worried eyes. "Will you and Pumpkin be okay Puddin?"

Emmett reaches over and laces his fingers with hers and gives a squeeze. "We'll be fine, we're badass Vampires."

She lets out a laugh. "Yeah you are!"

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Swan House - Outside

Emmett pulls up into the Swans driveway and parks, he leans over and gives Harley a mind blowing kiss. He pulls away to see Harley trying to catch her breath, her smile reaching to her eyes.

"Wow, that was one hell of a kiss."

Emmett let's out a laugh. "You bet it was."

She laughs before calming down, going serious. "Make sure you and pumpkin call me, okay? Keep me posted."

He nods with a grim face. "We will, Rose will make sure we do."

She nods, kisses his cheek and hops out. She walks up to the door, waves at him, he waves back and reverses from the driveway. She opens the door and walks in to see Charlie in the lounge room watching tv. He turns when he hears the door close.

"How was baseball?"

Harley smiles, but not as brightly as she usually does. "It was great, I got a home run."

He smirks. "That's great sweetheart, what about Bella?" He looks behind her but doesn't see Bella. "Where is she?"

Harley shrugs. "She was the umpire and I think she will be here soon."

He nods. "Alright, why don't you get cleaned up and when Bella gets back we go out to eat."

She nods, already heading for the stairs. "Okay." She walks up and to her room.

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"James is a tracker. I saw his mind. The hunt is his obsession, and my reaction set him off." The tires spin as Edward whips the jeep around. "We're a large clan of strong fighters all protecting one vulnerable human." A dark with disgust passes his face. "I just made this his most exciting game ever." Bella blanches with the dawning realization of what she has just brought up on them all, little smugness seeps in when she thinks about it, a coven of Vampires protecting just her before confusion sets onto her face.

"What about Harley, didn't they smell her too?"

He sighs angrily. "No, Laurent was suspicious about her but no. Plus when they saw both Rosalie and Emmett protective of her, they realised what she was to them and ignored her."

"Why?" Jealousy seeps through her voice, Edward looks to her in confusion.

"She is a third mate, the important one. It's incredibly rare finding your third mate so vampires know to avoid polygamy couples." He pauses. "Emmett would probably take her back to your house where he would know she would be somewhat safe until he can go back and retrieve her."

She huffs. The car speeds down the dirt mountain road, a jolting, death defying ride, splashing through creeks, until they reach the road.

"The first place he'll go is your house. He'll track your scent there."

Bella looks to him horrified. "What?!? Charlie's there. He's in danger because of me. Because of us!" She leaves out Harley's name but Edward doesn't notice.

He talks to her calmly. "Then we'll lead the tracker away from him. Somehow." He angrily whips around a bend, mud flying everywhere.

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Disclaimer- I do not own Twilight or Harley Quinn, I do however own her story lines, so please don't steal or copy. Thank you.