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OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, CALLIE THREW HERSELF INTO TRAINING. She had finally finished studying the journals Billy and Old Quil had given to her, and began delving deeper into her abilities. It was discovered that her reflexes were just as fast as the shifters', and she was very agile. Her physical strength was more than just a simple human's, but lesser than shifters― most of her strength lied within her photokinetic abilities.

As her training went on, Calliope grew more at ease with her powers. She was able to fuse her light manipulation with her combat skills, thus making her a better opponent when facing enemies. She had asked Sam and Jared to help her train physically, and they were more than happy to oblige. Paul and Jake were both a bit offended that she didn't ask them, but Callie knew they would both be too easy on her. She didn't want them to be easy on her; she needed people who were going to push her limits, to make her test herself, to work her to the bone. If she wanted to be able to protect the pack and anyone else that she loved, she needed people who would train her vigorously and not take it easy on her. 

Sam and Jared just so happened to be those people. There was no one else she could think to ask, really. Paul and Jake would be easy on her, and Embry didn't feel comfortable fighting with her― which was something that was necessary for Callie to build her strength up. Quil, Leah and Seth were all way too new as shifters, so they were out of the question as well. When it boiled down to it, Sam and Jared were the only logical conclusion.

They had agreed to it the second she showed up at Emily's one day, asking if they would help. From then on, Callie went straight to Emily's every day. She had built a routine: get up early in the mornings, go jogging with either Jake or Paul― whichever one wasn't on patrol that day― and then go to school. After that, she'd go to the diner and work until seven, and then she'd go straight to Emily's from there to meet with Sam or Jared, depending on whose day it was. They'd take her out to a clearing a few miles out from Emily's house, and that was where they did their training.

It was a lot of very hard work. Most days, Callie struggled to drag her tired bones out of bed. It was easier in the mornings that Paul didn't have patrol― he had started staying over more often, and he was a big help motivating her to get moving for the day. While he still didn't like the idea of Callie joining the efforts in hunting down Victoria, he struggled to accept it because he knew this was something she had to do. And so, he resorted to encouraging her to keep up with her training; although, if Callie ever worked past midnight, he threw a fit about it.

Eventually, it was decided that they would never train past eleven at night; and on Wednesdays, Callie would have the day to relax. Wednesdays were always her day off from the diner, so once she was finished with school, she'd either head to Emily's or go home. 

On this particular day, fatigue had caught up to Callie and she decided to go straight home. Kim drove her, since she had yet to take her driver's test still. The two girls gossiped for the entire drive, with Lana Del Rey's sultry voice drifting out of the radio's speakers. As they pulled into the Black household's driveway, they were laughing at a story Kim had told about Jared― but the moment they saw Chief Swan's cruiser, a Seattle Chief's cruiser, and another unrecognizable vehicle, the laughter stopped. "What's going on?" Kim asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know." Callie pushed open the passenger's door and hurried out of the vehicle, rushing into the house with Kim following closely behind. She skidded to a halt upon seeing Billy and Charlie sitting in the living room, along with a Seattle police offer, a middle-aged woman, and a boy that Callie never thought she would see again. "Evan?"

Evan Sanders had grown since the last time Calliope had seen the boy, about a year and a half ago. He must have been about 10 years old now, and his dark hair grown out a bit longer, making him resemble his older brother even more. 

"What's going on?" She asked nervously, her gaze flitting between Evan and the woman he sat with, over to Charlie and the Seattle officer, and then to her uncle. He was looking at her with such a sympathetic look in his eyes that made her sick to her stomach. "Uncle Billy?"

Billy opened his mouth to answer her, but his words fell short. He was concerned for how his niece would take the news; Callie had such a big heart, and despite all the horrible ways Micah Sanders had treated her, she'd always want the best for him.

Charlie, seeing his best friend's hesitancy, cleared his throat and spoke up. "Callie, this is Seattle's Chief of Police, Roger Dawson," he said, gesturing to the police officer next to him. Then he glanced toward the woman with Evan. "And this is Estelle Mariotti. She was the foster mother who took Micah and Evan in."

"We just wanted to ask you a few questions, Miss Black," Chief Dawson spoke up.

"About what?" Callie asked. Her hands began to shake; a sure sign of her anxiety spiking. Kim frowned and grabbed her best friend's hand, squeezing it tightly in an effort to comfort her.

"We wanted to talk about Micah," the chief explained. "He's missing." Callie felt like the air had been sucked out of her chest and the ground was quivering beneath her feet. Her head was underwater. Surely she had heard him wrong. Micah was missing? Missing? "We wouldn't have came here if it wasn't our last lead. Officials are under the impression that Micah simply ran away, now that he's eighteen and legally an adult― but with the recent disappearances that keep happening in Seattle... Estelle didn't want to leave any stone un-turned, and I agreed with her."

"You were the only person Evan could think of that Micah might contact," Estelle spoke up. She was a rather bodacious Italian woman, with striking hazel eyes adorned with laughing wrinkles at the corners, and tight curls of dark hair that she'd tied back into a ponytail. "Have you heard anything?"

Calliope blinked, the words they spoke ringing in her ears as she stood there in silence. Billy watched her with concern evident in his weathered features, frowning at the blank stare on his niece's face. "You know, maybe it's best if―"

"How long has Micah been missing?" Callie cut in suddenly, hardly processing her uncle's words. All she could think about was the phone call she'd received from Micah, when he had reached out to her for help with something he wouldn't talk about.

"About a year now," Estelle answered, squeezing Evan's shoulder as he sat and stared at Callie with the only hope he had left. 

Micah may have treated Callie rather poorly, but his little brother was the only person he ever really loved. Due to his mother's bad habits, Micah was the one that had to step up and start taking care of Evan. The brothers were close, and Micah cared about the younger boy very much. Evan didn't know what to do with a life that didn't have his older brother in it. In his eyes, Callie was the only one who could help find Micah and make everything better. And she knew that's what he was hoping for from her; but she also knew that she was only going to disappoint him in the long run.

"Well, he called me a few months ago," she admitted to everyone in the room.

Evan sat at attention, his brown eyes lighting up so much that it hurt Callie to look at him. Charlie sat forward in his seat as his eyebrows furrowed together. "What did he say?"

"He said that something happened," Callie responded honestly. "But he wouldn't go into detail― when I asked about it, he just said that he was fine, that he only wanted to talk to me."

"And what did you tell him?" Chief Dawson asked.

Callie shut her eyes as guilt swept over her features like waves crashing against the shore. "I told him not to call me anymore."

Silence filtered through the room like an air that was hard for her to breathe. When she opened her eyes again, she was met with the sight of little Evan standing up as he glared at her accusingly. The look on his face― the anger, the resentment, the hopelessness― it made her think of Micah, of how much the boy resembled him; of how she had let both of them down. "Why would you do that?!" Evan shouted at her. "You were the last person he ever talked to, and you turned him away! You were supposed to help! You were supposed to know where to find him!"

"Evan, stop that this instant," Estelle hissed at the ten year-old firmly, looking toward Callie with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry, he's just having a hard time." Grabbing the boy's hand, she towed him out of the house as she attempted to calm him down.

"We should get going," Chief Dawson said with a sigh, standing to his feet. He pulled a business card out of his pocket and reached it out toward Callie. "You're still our best lead. If he calls you again, try to find out where he is― or if you think of any places he might be, just give me a call, okay?"

"Why is that her responsibility?" Kim spoke up bitterly, scowling at the Seattle officer. "Micah abused Callie the entire time they were together. She doesn't owe him a damned thing and she's finally moved past all of it. It's not her responsibility to help find him― she's not his keeper."

But Callie reached out and took the business card from Chief Dawson, anyway.

× × × × ×

FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON, CALLIE SAT IN HER ROOM QUIETLY. Kim had left after a while, realizing that Callie needed some time to herself. In her hand was the polaroid of she and Micah at the late night beach party they had went to, the picture having been taken only an hour before Micah and Quil got into a fight. She wasn't sure why she kept it, especially given how insistent Jake was on why she should throw away anything that held a memory of him. Maybe it was just because not all of her memories with Micah were bad. Maybe it was because there were moments where Micah was amazing― where Callie would look at him and think, This is who you're meant to be. This is who you are when you're not letting your trauma rule you.

It had been months since he called her that night, and it had almost been a year since he turned up missing. Callie wondered why she never saw it in the papers like she saw reports about the other missing people, such as Riley Biers, whose face was plastered everywhere. The answer to that was simple, really, once Chief Dawson explained it to her: Micah was a troublesome foster-child who had turned eighteen, and the authorities assumed he had ran away, and that his disappearance wasn't related to the other cases. The only reason that Chief Dawson even bothered looking into it himself was because of Estelle. She was a very good family friend of his, and she was insistent that Micah didn't run away. Things had been looking up for him; he had gotten a job at a bowling alley, he saved up enough to get his car and license, and he had stopped drinking. Plus, he wouldn't have left Evan behind.

Calliope Black knew Micah Sanders very well; probably better than anyone else did, except for Evan. In her heart of hearts, she knew that Micah hadn't ran away. Something had happened to him, something that prevented him from going back home to his little brother... and maybe that was why he had called Callie for help. 

He called her for help, but she pushed him away.

And sure, maybe she was justified in doing so; because as Kim pointed out, Callie knew that she didn't owe Micah anything. Still, she felt horrible about it.

The sound of her cell phone ringing tore Callie from her thoughts. She answered when she saw that it was Jake calling. "Hello?"

"Cal, can you please do me a huge favor?" Jacob asked quickly as soon as she answered. In the background, Callie could hear Bella cursing up a storm. She frowned. "I hate to ask, but can you pick Bella and I up at the beach? We were gonna walk back to the house, but she broke her hand, and she's trying to walk herself home because she's pissed at me, so―"

"She broke her hand? How?"

"By punching me in the face."

"Why in the hell did she punch you in the face?" Callie demanded, grabbing the keys to the Rabbit as she quickly put her shoes and jacket on. As Jacob quickly rehashed the argument he'd had with Bella on why he was better for her, and how he had kissed her without considering the fact that it wouldn't be okay with her, Callie began the short drive to the beach. She lectured Jacob about consent, annoyed that he had pushed the issue way too far even though Bella was adamant about her decision being Edward. Even though Calliope didn't like the Swan girl very much anymore, she could definitely understand why Bella was angry.

However, Jacob was still her cousin; her stupid, love-sick cousin who never knew when to stop trying, sure, but he was still family nonetheless. So when they arrived at the Swan household and Edward Cullen was there, Callie was quick to jump out of the car and stick to Jacob's side. 

The vampire was so angry he didn't even stop to think about anyone seeing the confrontation. He flitted toward them in the blink of an eye, grabbing Jacob by the shoulder roughly. Callie attempted to intervene, but Jacob kept her behind him, always trying to protect her and never willing to let her do the protecting. Bella used her good hand to grab Edward's arm, fruitlessly begging him to let it go and leave them alone. "If you ever touch her against her will again―"

"Don't do this here!" Bella pleaded with them, casting a worried glance toward the house, where she knew her father was. "Don't do this here!"

"She's not sure what she wants," Jacob snapped at Edward stubbornly.

"Well let me give you a clue!" Edward hissed angrily. "Wait for her to say the words!"

"Fine! And she will!"

Edward snarled, reaching out his arm as if to shove Jacob back in anger― but suddenly Callie was there, quickly stepping around her cousin to get in Edward's way. She fixed the vampire with a fierce gaze, raising up a hand threateningly. Bella stared in both trepidation and surprise when she realized that the palm of Callie's hand was glowing, emanating the same light she'd used to throw Laurent across the clearing. Callie wasn't using her powers, but she was definitely prepared to. Edward's posture relaxed slightly, his eyes wary as he watched the Luminescent with caution. 

Callie didn't say anything but the message was obvious, even to Jake and Bella, who couldn't read minds: Try to hurt him, and I'll hurt you. Edward could hear her thoughts loud and clear as she stared at him with determined brown eyes. He was surprised to learn that she agreed with he and Bella for being angry at Jacob― Callie didn't agree with how Jacob had handled things― but her resolve to protect the people she loved at all costs was obvious. If Edward were to make one more move to attack Jacob, Callie had not only decided to retaliate― she was also prepared to do so.

However, when the front door to the house behind them swung open, Callie lowered her hand as the light faded. They all looked over to see Charlie, rushing down the porch steps as he said, "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Easy, guys, easy― let's take it down a notch, okay?" Callie nudged her cousin to take a few steps back as Bella and Edward did the same. Charlie stood there with confusion in his eyes as he looked at all of them. "Alright. What's going on?"

Seeing his cousin turn to look at him pointedly, Jacob let out a frustrated sigh. "I kissed Bella," he admitted, already regretting the way he had handled the conversation that afternoon. "And she broke her hand. Punching my face." Charlie looked at his daughter in surprise as Jacob muttered, "Total misunderstanding."

Once that was cleared up, Callie led Jacob back to the Rabbit, tossing the keys over to him so that he could drive this time. "What were you thinking?" She asked as they drove off, leaving Bella to go see Dr. Cullen with Edward. 

"I just..." Jacob huffed, sadness evident in his expression as he kept his gaze on the road. "I want her to choose me, Cal."

Callie frowned. "It's not a choice, Jake. Whether we understand it or not, Bella and Edward love each other," she said to him. "We don't get to choose who we love."

"But I love her."

"And I loved Micah," she responded. A twinge of worry and guilt twisted in her gut, remembering the news about Micah's disappearance. Now wasn't really the time to tell Jacob about that, though. "But he was never the one meant for me. Paul is."

"So?"

"So," Callie continued, "You might love Bella now, but she's not the one you're meant to be with. You just haven't found her yet."

"I don't think I'll find her at all," he grumbled.

"You will," the brown-eyed girl assured him confidently. "You're one of the greatest people I know, Jay. Trust me― you'll get your epic love someday."

For the first time that afternoon, Jacob cracked a smile. "Thanks, Cal." He paused. "And by the way― that was pretty bad-ass, what you did earlier. Did you see the look on Cullen's face? Priceless." As Jacob started to laugh, Callie couldn't help but laugh with him. It had been quite some time since she really got to sit and have a conversation with her cousin, and she missed it. Things used to be so simple, only months ago.

Now, they would never be the same.