Damsel in Distress
Summary: He had taken that newborn on. She had said she could handle it. And even if she couldn't have, it wouldn't be a tragedy if she was gone. She hated being the damsel in distress.
The war was just about over.
Except for one more newborn.
"Leah! Don't!" one of the Cullens warned.
But she dove for him. She writhed around, trying to make sure he didn't get her around the neck, just like Jasper had said, but she could feel her control slipping. This kid was like a professional bronco rider or something. She bucked and threw her head, frantically trying to turn it around so she was in control. She needed some control. Some balance.
Suddenly, just as quickly as the newborn had grabbed her, he was gone. She stopped bucking and looked around. And then she saw it wrestling with Jacob. Her anger filled her chest.
Jacob, I had it! she screamed, quickly brushing away the thoughts of defeat from earlier.
CRUNCH!
Leah stopped, her expression softening before her eyes widened at the sight in front of her: The repeated crunches, growing louder and louder as the baby leech tore apart an entire side of his rib cage. He howled loudly in pain. Slowly, she breathed in and out, trying to control her own thoughts of pain as the others felt it, too. As they all started panic, her breaths got quicker.
They all ran into the woods and she followed suit. She quickly phased back and got dressed, running into the field.
"Jacob, I told you I had him!" She screamed the words over his howls of pain, trying to regain her composure; trying to think about why he would have done that.
"Leah! Enough!" Sam snapped, glaring at her coldly. The whole pack gathered around Jacob as Doctor Leech gave the diagnosis. Leah stood back, her arms around herself.
She had made herself a promise this morning; she wouldn't get in anybody's way, and she'd do everything she could to improve everybody's opinions of her. To prove them all wrong. Just because she was a girl didn't mean she wasn't as strong or as courageous.
But as she watched them carry Jake away, she knew that nobody would ever see her as capable of anything ever again.
Leah went straight for Sam and Emily. Her heart throbbed and stung, but the dominant reason was because of Jacob's howls of pain inside the house, not because her ex best friend and her ex boyfriend stood hugging each other closely. She stopped right in front of them, letting her breath out. And then she felt the wave of pain as they both glared at her. Even though she loved to hate them, she still loved them. And she didn't like it that her old best friends were disappointed in her.
Sam nodded his head and they walked to the edge of the forest. He turned and shot her daggers.
"Leah, what the hell were you thinking, going out there like that? Nobody else was busy! Somebody else could've gotten that newborn…"
"I was thinking," Leah snarled, "that I hadn't gotten enough playing time, Captain, because everybody else had taken all the tough vampires!"
"The guys took the tough vampires so you wouldn't have to!"
"It wasn't supposed to happen this way! I knew what I was doing! If Jacob hadn't butted in…" she seethed.
"If Jacob hadn't butted in, you'd be dead, Leah! I saw your thoughts! You were panicking! You didn't know what to do! He saw it too, and he saved your goddamn life! You should be thanking him! In fact, the first chance you get, you're going to go thank him for saving your ass!"
With that, Sam stormed off. Leah's shoulders slumped. She shook her head and sat on the ground, putting her head in her hands. It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
Jacob stopped screaming for half a second, but somehow the screams echoed. He shook in pain as he listened harder. Sam and Leah. Complaining. Again.
"It wasn't supposed to happen this way! I knew what I was doing! If Jacob hadn't butted in…"
"If Jacob hadn't butted in, you'd be dead, Leah! I saw your thoughts! You were panicking! You didn't know what to do! He saw it too, and he saved your goddamn life! You should be thanking him! In fact, the first chance you get, you're going to go thank him for saving your ass!"
Jacob screamed again. "Dammit! Doc, don't let her in here! Please! I don't want to see her! Do whatever it takes! Make an excuse! Don't let her in here!"
He screamed in pain this time, his back arching, more bones breaking.
"Jacob, please sit still!" Carlisle begged. Jacob sat as still as he could breathed heavily, seething, thinking of Leah. Jacob, I told you I had him! Her words of stupid overconfidence echoed in his mind. He screamed again, in anger. Slowly, the pain subsided, and the screams were put on hold. Carlisle sighed. He looked Jacob in the eyes.
"Jake, when the time comes," he said as softly as he could, in a soothing voice, "hear Leah out."
Jacob shook her head. "I don't want her stupid false apology! Who was she kidding? Did she really think she could just play the part of underdog out there and pull a stunt like that! She makes it sound like she planned it out! What she did was stupid and immature and you know it! She's a goddamn rookie that'll never hit the big time!"
Carlisle sighed and stood. He thought a moment. "Maybe her idea of victory is different from yours, Jacob. She comes off strong. She's been through a lot so far. Maybe she saw this as a chance, and she decided to take it." He sighed and thought more carefully about his words. Jacob's sweaty face looked remotely interested to what he was saying. "Your idea of winning is defeating the opponent. Maybe her idea of winning is the opposite."
Jacob blinked at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Carlisle sighed and placed his equipment back in his medical bag before putting it under Jacob's bed. He was going to need it later, anyway. "Maybe her idea of winning is letting her opponent defeat her. I'm no psychologist, but I do know, just as all of you know, that she's gone crazy with grief. Her old life is dead, and she's still trying to live it. The only way she could live it…is in a world that isn't where we are."
Carlisle looked at Jacob to make sure the message had clicked. Jacob seemed to be pondering what he had just said. Good.
Carlisle walked to the door, but turned swiftly. "Remember Jacob. That's just my own theory. Maybe your theory is the right one. Maybe she was just being young and immature. But we all know one thing she's lying about: She most certainly did not have that newborn under control."
All the guys crowded in around Jacob as Emily fluffed his pillow, helped him into sitting position, and set his huge bowl and steaming soup and rolls on the table next to him. Emily weaved her way through and closed the door behind her.
"Wow. Whatever happened to only 2 in the room at a time?" Jacob asked teasingly.
"That's hospitals, man. This is your room. No rules here," Quil retorted. All the guys nodded.
"Well, my room is a lot smaller than a hospital room, so if half of you could go and come back after the other half is done, I'd appreciate it. I'd rather not be in such close proximity to…" he eyed Paul up and down. "Certain breeds of moron."
All the guys hooted and hollered as Paul scowled at him. But then he smiled.
"It's good to have you back, buddy." Paul ruffled his hair and Jacob smacked it away. Paul looked at Jacob's head in disgust. "God, you have enough sweat on you to have given birth!"
"Ugh, thanks for the mental picture!" Embry shouted out. All the guys groaned in agreement and half of them left.
Jacob spoke to both halves quickly. Finally, there was a knock on the door. Sam, Jared, Paul, and Jacob looked towards the door as Leah walked in, her head down, arms around herself. She pushed her hair from her face.
"Can I talk to Jacob alone a sec?" The guys all looked at Jacob, Paul muttering a 'good luck', Jared rolling his eyes, and Sam giving a subtle nod. Jacob nodded back and looked over at Leah.
As Jared and Paul walked past her, they both shoved her shoulders with their own, snickering as she looked down like a young girl trying to avoid bullies. Jacob looked at Sam's back. He noted how he turned his head away from Leah and raised his chin in superiority as he walked out the door. Jacob could see the pain in Leah's eyes, but she ran her fingers through her hair and held her chin up as well after the door closed behind Sam. Leah grabbed one of the chairs and straddled it.
They sat in silence for a moment; not exactly comfortable, but not uncomfortable either. Finally Leah cleared her throat.
"Jake, I'm sorry this happened to you. That's not how it was supposed to turn out…"
"Oh. So this was supposed to be you here?" Jacob scoffed and rolled his eyes. Then he narrowed them at her. "Did you really think you could do it? Kill that newborn? And don't you dare lie."
Leah closed her eyes and swallowed. "Yeah, of course I thought I could do it. I mean, it was all adrenaline, so of course I was thinking highly of myself, telling myself I could do it."
Jacob stared at her. She glanced at him but looked away quickly.
"Okay, so you're telling the truth. But I want the entire truth. You owe me that much." Jacob looked down at himself. Leah did the same and sighed.
"It was something that I had been daydreaming about since we heard about this army, and when I saw it being played out, of course I jumped at the chance to participate. It was a win-win for everybody. If I defeated the newborn, I thought it might give me a little more clout in the pack; it'd make me look a little more equal. And a newborn would be destroyed in the process. A win-win."
Jacob waited, but Leah said no more. He nodded. "Go on."
She looked up at him a moment, and sighed when she realized he meant it. "There was another win-win. I did the math. If I couldn't pull it off, if I couldn't do it, I'd die. Nobody would have to put up with me anymore. Me and my constant complaining. And maybe, just maybe…" Leah bit her lip as it trembled, she turned her face so her hair shielded her. She took a deep breath and said, "Maybe I'd get a chance to see my dad."
The words were whispered. He knew she'd break down if she said them any louder. He had a feeling that this was the first time she had ever admitted to herself that her father really wasn't among them anymore. Jacob sighed and realized that stupid Doctor Leech was right. She had an ulterior motive.
"It was a chance at a quadruple whammy." She chuckled to herself with no humor. He closed his eyes and leaned forward, brushing his fingers against her cheek since that's all he could manage. It had the desired effect, because she looked at him with heartbroken puppy-dog eyes. He felt a tug at his heartstrings. She really was serious about this. She really thought that all those things were good.
"Lee, the second one wouldn't have been a win for anyone. It would've been a tragedy. I don't think it would've been right away, but the one time we'd need someone to bug us or to race us to get rid of some energy, we'd all feel something. You don't think so, but it's the truth." She closed her eyes and bit her lip again. "And I know that some of the guys aren't very good to you, but it'll get better, okay? Trust me. It has to."
She laughed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "Y'know, for someone who's all banged up and is losing his possible girlfriend to a bloodsucking vampire, you're pretty optimistic." She let out another laugh and he smiled.
She tilted her head back and fanned herself with her hands, attempting to dry her eyes before any real tears could fall.
"I don't think it is, though. I mean…" She looked at him again, her eyes back to normal, though her voice was still slightly weepy. "I killed my dad, the one person who ever put up with my bitching. Besides Seth. My mom is taking Emily's side on everything. Not only the wedding, but she tells me to shut up when I start to say anything about Emily or Sam or something back in the day. Seth…well, I've never deserved Seth. He deserves better. Someone more like him. Someone sweet and upbeat. Not me."
Jacob shook his head at all this. "You didn't kill your dad. He was just surprised, Lee. Nobody could've stopped that. And your mom…er, well…your mom sounds like a piece-of-work-in-progress right now, but I'm sure she'll come around. And Seth loves you even more than me, and that's sayin' something'."
Leah laughed. A real laugh. Jacob laughed a little, too. Then Leah sighed. "It's just ironic. My dad always called me his little heartbreaker." She paused and smiled. It was a good memory, apparently. "Do you think he ever considered it? Me being a wolf? Do you think…do you think he would be ashamed that I'm a wolf?"
Jacob instantly shook his head. "No way. Knowing your dad, I think he'd be proud as hell that you're kicking ass and protecting La Push." He grinned and Leah smiled, as well. Then he paused. "Leah…if your dad were still alive, do you think you still would've done what you did?"
She thought about it before shaking her head. "No. Probably not. It's just…I realize now that I totally took advantage of the fact that I complained about absolutely everything. I think that hurt him, too. Complaining must've been hard to take all the time. But he never told me to stop. Because I'm his little princess. Or, was his little princess."
Jacob reached for her hand, trying not to lean over too much, afraid of the pain. When Leah saw what he was attempting to do, she reached forward and took his outstretched hand. "You're always gonna be his little princess, Lee, whether he's here to tell you that or not."
She smiled at him. "Thanks. That means a lot to me. But why'd you save me like you did?"
He leaned back and placed his hand on his stomach. "Instinct, I guess." He looked at her reaction.
"Oh." She looked deflated.
"And because I care about you. Yeah, you're annoying, but there are always reasons. So you've had it pretty tough. That doesn't mean you should take it out on everybody else, though, Lee. I care about you just as much as I care about all the guys."
Leah winced and groaned. "I hate being considered 'one of the guys'."
Jacob chuckled a little. "Oh, trust me. We can all tell."
They laughed together as a comfortable silence settled in. Then they heard a roar. Leah looked out his window.
"I didn't know there was gonna be a storm tonight. I mean, sure, there's a storm almost every night, but it looked fine out there today…"
"Leah? That's my stomach. I'm starving." Jacob grinned as she blushed a light pink, embarrassed.
"Oh. Right. I knew that."
Jacob laughed again. "Of course you did. Now this has been real nice and all, but you did help me ruin the entire right side of my torso, and I'm right handed. I know that princesses don't usually do the dirty work, but I think it's just fair that you feed me."
Leah sighed heavily, rolling her eyes and pretending to be annoyed. "Fine. I guess you have a valid excuse." She grabbed the bowl of cooled down soup and almost dropped it. "Woah. Emily put everything but the actual fridge in here, didn't she?"
Jacob laughed and nodded. "Well, we'll see how it tastes, considering there was mostly fruit in that fridge."
Leah furrowed her brow as she lifted a spoonful into Jacob's mouth. "What, your dad stopped buying the party snacks? Doesn't he know that most of the guys eat here? Why would he want to buy fruit for guys?"
Jacob rolled his eyes. "He thinks that if we're going to be eating so much, we might as well eat healthy. Whatever. I tried to tell him that it doesn't really matter what we eat, it just turns into muscle anyway."
He wrapped his mouth around another spoonful and winced, his face twisting into a grimace. Leah quickly shoved a roll into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed before whispering, "I think Emily through some dish detergent in there while she was at it." He pretended to cry. "She's trying to kill me."
Leah laughed. "Okay, well, when you're all healed. You can come over to my house. We have a lot of really good food."
He opened his mouth for another scoop. He still didn't like it, but he was too hungry to care. "Brand names, girl, I need brand names."
She told him all the food they had in stock and he imagined each bite of the stew was what she listed. He finished the whole bowl.
Leah Clearwater might always be Daddy's Little Princess, but she'd always be Jacob's damsel in distress. And he had dibs on saving her.
A/N: I saw Eclipse today. So good. I've had the idea for this fic for a while, but seeing the actually scene today pushed me into doing it. This one is for one of my best friend's; because she always loves what I write. Sofia, this ones for you, girl! Imma miss you!