I'm not abandoning Vanquished. It remains my top priority. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'll see this particular story through to its conclusion. Nevertheless, the idea came to me like a trainwreck, and I felt I had no choice. It had to be written.
This fic could actually be construed as canonic, in that it follows canon events in the third act of Breaking Dawn. It could also be construed as anti-Twilight, and can certainly be considered anti-Jacob. Which is funny, because I've always adored Jacob. Well, if I can write a pro-Edward fic, I suppose I can write an anti-Jacob one, right?
As always, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.
Chapter One – The Ruse
It was a burst of inspiration that struck me as I was on my way to destroy the demon-thing that had ended Bella's life. What if Edward was actually able to save Bella? So she wouldn't be human anymore. She would still be Bella, wouldn't she? At least, there was a chance of that. I could kill the demon-thing that she had willingly sacrificed her humanity for in a fit of rage and vengeance. That would sort of put a damper on my intention of usurping Edward's position as her life-partner though, wouldn't it? Somehow, I didn't think she'd be okay with me killing the very thing she'd sacrificed so much to save. How, though, could I possibly explain my continued presence in her life now that she was married and had given birth to the spawn of Captain Wonder Sparkles?
The answer was so simple.
All I had to do was lie.
If I could get Bella (and, by extension, the creepy thing she called her husband who was upstairs trying to keep her "alive" through his "gift" of vampire DNA) to believe that I was no longer hanging around for her, but for her half-dead successor, I could insinuate myself into her life as much as I wanted to.
And I wanted to. A lot.
Fooling the other leeches would be easy. Fooling Edward would be more difficult. Fooling the Clearwaters would be the trickiest part of all. I couldn't let anyone know that this was all an elaborate ploy to be near Bella, because if anyone thought of it around Edward, it would be game over for me.
Game over, in my case, was permanent. I didn't have a stockpile of extra lives stored up. Those were for cats anyway, not wolves.
Well, let's consider this for a moment. If I wanted Bella to choose me, I had to be ready to accept the very likely possibility that I would have to play Daddy to that thing that had Blondie so preoccupied with her oohing and ahhing. Hell, maybe I could talk Bella into pawning Satan's seed off on the one that really wanted her. In any case, it wouldn't do for Bella to know I cared nothing for her offspring. All I really had to do was put myself in the mindset of the caring and protective father. I could keep that up. It wasn't too differently from how Quil thought of Claire. If I could force myself to think of the demon-thing that way, I should be able to fool Edward and the Clearwaters easily enough.
I thought back to the memories that Quil, Sam, Jared, and even (ugh) Paul had shared of the moment they imprinted. I didn't enjoy being forced to think of my own sister in that light. As a matter of fact, I didn't enjoy the fact that anyone thought of her in that light. Least of all Paul, the vulgar-minded oaf who, in addition to any number of other offenses, had nearly maimed Bella. Had it really only been a year and a half ago?
Focus, Jake. Focus. I had the basic idea of the thoughts that spun through their minds at the moment they saw their imprint for the first time, and I could mimic their facial expressions easily enough; I'd seen the way they made sappy goo-goo eyes at the girls hundreds of times. I could do this. I had to do this. From now on, I'd have to be in compete control of my thoughts when I was around Captain Wonder Sparkles too. At the moment, he was too focused on the task at hand to pay much attention to what I was thinking. I disgusted myself by being momentarily grateful for the actions he was taking to save my Bella's life. Those actions would never have been necessary if he hadn't been such a selfish ass. Thinking only of himself. Not even bothering to protect Bella in the most simplistic of ways because all he cared about was his own physical pleasure. This was the guy she chose over me?
All right, no more delays. It was showtime. I was going to pull this off or die trying.
I stared at the thing in Blondie's arms—no more thinking of her as the thing from here on out, I chastised myself—and forced myself to think ooey-gooey thoughts about how wonderful and perfect and amazing and adorable she was, and how my entire world was being transformed. That was true enough. My world had been transformed from a lifetime of banishment from Bella's life to a lifetime of being near Bella and trying to win her over through her daughter. I let that thought take me over for just long enough that a slow, goofy smile spread over my face, then forced my thoughts back to how terrific and incredible the little girl was. Renesmee. I'd have to come up with a nickname for her or something. Renesmee was a stupid name.
I kept the ridiculous expression plastered on my face. It was easier to maintain if I let my eyes unfocus so I didn't have to look at the posterity of my Bella and Satan himself. Just as well. Keeping my eyes unfocused added to the illusion of sappiness that I was trying to create.
"Can I help you, dog? Do you need some kibble?" Blondie snapped, cradling the child protectively to her chest.
"Renesmee," I murmured. Was she buying it?
"What the hell is the matter with you? Run along now and lift your leg on a tree."
Dammit, hadn't Bella told her anything about imprinting?
"Oh snap, no you didn't!" Emmett's voice boomed. He looked at my face, then the baby, then back at my face and burst into raucous laughter. And people thought he was the dumb one.
"No," Alice whispered, her eyes flicking frantically between me and the baby as if staring at us rapidly enough would stop what was happening. Not that it was actually happening, but I was a fine actor.
Jasper was looking at me with a confused expression. Right, empath. I'd have to become a method actor. Without taking my eyes off Renesmee, I made my heart swell with the emotion I felt for Bella and added to it, kept increasing it and building on it until it came close to resembling what the imprinted wolves felt for their imprints. The goofy expression on my face became even more ridiculous, but what did I care? I'd convinced the empathic freak.
"Is this... Is this why I couldn't see her?" Alice stammered. "Because her life is tied up with yours?"
"No idea," I answered honestly. I really had no clue why Alice couldn't see Renesmee, but if the fact that she couldn't would help me convince everyone, so be it.
"Well it's just fantastic that you've all figured out some mystical secret," Blondie growled. "Now would someone mind filling me in on the details?"
"Jacob imprinted on Renesmee," Emmett explained in between guffaws. "Bella's gonna love this."
"You—what?" Blondie spat. For a split second, she was horrified. Then a gleam of amusement overcame her. Funny, I didn't even think Blondie had a sense of humor, except when it came to humiliating me. "Well, it's only for three days," she laughed.
"Imprinting is forever," I informed her with conviction. That part, at least, was the truth.
"Perhaps, but in three days, Bella's going to find out what happened and tear you to shreds, and I certainly won't stand in her way," Blondie grinned.
"Bella won't hurt me," I said firmly. Would she? I hadn't even thought about that possibility. She loved me; that much was certain. Would she consider me to be good enough for her daughter? This was getting tricky. I wished I'd thought this through a little better.
"Don't be so sure about that," Blondie hissed. She turned her face downward to Rensemee and began cooing again. "Don't worry, little one. We won't let the big bad wolf get you. Mommy will get rid of him before he huffs and puffs and blows our house in."
My first instinct was to rip Blondie's head off where she stood, but of course, that would probably hurt Renesmee. I had to start thinking more like someone who had imprinted on the baby. I would never be willing to take a chance on hurting her if it had actually happened. So instead, I took a deep breath and sat beside Blondie on the couch, cooing over the baby myself. "Hi little Nessie-Wessie," I said, waggling my fingers in her face. The baby immediately stopped sucking on the bottle and grabbed my finger. Blondie made a disgusted noise, right up until the baby popped my finger in her mouth and bit down.
"Ouch!" I cried out, jerking my hand away. Aware of the eyes on me, I leaned in again. "Awww, Nessie-Wessie likes to bite Jakey-Wakey, doesn't she? That's okay. You can bite me. I just didn't realize you were going to. It surprised me." I hoped that had been a convincing enough save.
"Nessie-Wessie?" Emmett started laughing all over again. "Man, I thought having Bella around made our lives interesting before, but this just gets better and better."
"Nessie-Wessie likes her new name, doesn't she?" I grinned, more because I was irritating the living hell out of Blondie than anything else, but it helped with the act. The baby lifted her hand to my face and what happened next caused me to jerk back in surprise again.
She'd shown me something. Images, with an emotion behind them.
"She actually does like the name," I said in surprise.
"How could you possibly know that?" Blondie retorted.
"Show your aunt Rosalie," I coaxed Nessie, knowing that I had to at least pretend to treat her family with respect. "Show her what you showed me."
Obediently, Nessie reached for Blondie's face and showed her the same thing.
"Oh," was all Blondie said. "Well what Nessie likes, Nessie gets."
Nessie smiled up at me.
This was going to be trickier than I thought.
A/N: So, what do you guys think? Worth continuing? Let me know. I can take this to the end of Breaking Dawn if there's interest, but if not, I can leave it here. And no, I'm not holding the story hostage for reviews. I'm just not totally sure I'm in love with this story. Too much Jacob-love in me, I guess. =)