A/N: Hello everyone, I'm back! This is just a short prologue and I'm hoping to get the first chapter out before the end of the weekend (hopefully tonight, but...) So, again, this story will contain Edward/Jasper slash, adult content, and infrequent updates. I just started a seasonal job as a customer service rep and I hate it and it's exhausting because I seriously suck at it, so whenever I return home, I'm too tired to write. But, hopefully I'll get better. Or they'll fire me and it won't matter... Is it bad that I'm hoping for the firing?

Summary: Passing through Maria's territory, Edward meets Jasper and immediately knows they are mates. Jasper, however, is trapped; fighting a war he desperately wants to get away from. Edward is determined to save him, but Maria doesn't want to lose her greatest weapon. Vampire, Slash, Adult Content.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series and all recognisable characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. Only this rather lame plot is mine.

Prologue, 1923

It had been months since Edward had left Carlisle and Esme, desperately seeking some kind of identity and understanding. He wasn't trying to be rebellious, though it certainly looked that way. What he wanted was just a place where he belonged.

He was tired of being the other person between Carlisle and Esme, and he was frustrated with this stagnant, stifled life. Every place they went they had to hide what they really were. It was an entire life revolving around pretending to be something – someone—else.

That wasn't good enough for Edward. If he had to live a cursed existence, he at least wanted to live it how he chose. It was for that reason that he set out on his own. He had promised Carlisle and Esme that he would return home someday, but he hadn't been sure if he was lying or not. Where was home, anyway? And if home was a place where he had to pretend to be human, refrain from their natural diet, and suffer daily to resist what his body naturally longed for, why would he want to go back to that?

Despite what he had told Carlisle, he wasn't leaving because he wanted to taste the blood of humans. Sure a part of him was curious about what it would taste like. It must be exquisite compared to animal blood – not that he minded animal blood, either. Edward hadn't been much of an eater even in life, and that appeared to be something that had carried over in death.

But it was easier to explain that to Carlisle than to tell him that he felt trapped and forlorn. Edward had always been the type of person that had to know all the options available before he could settle into the best fit for him. So that was what he was doing: exploring all his options.

They had been living in the mountains of Montana when Edward left, and it was agreed that Edward would keep a post box in a town a few miles away. That way if Edward weren't back before Carlisle and Esme left, they would have a way of letting him know where to find them.

Edward left at night and went straight east. He had always wanted to see New England, and he spent several weeks travelling around and studying the history. He tried human blood, but found that reading his victims thoughts was too traumatising for him, so he usually stuck to the animal diet unless a particular bastard came along that he didn't feel bad about killing.

After New England, Edward travelled south to see the Gulf of Mexico and the beauty of an ocean. New Orleans was a particularly wonderful place, where Edward encountered other vampires, like himself.

It was in New Orleans that Edward learned of the Southern Territory Wars.

The wars between feuding covens were brutal and seemingly never ending. When Edward had told them that his next stop was Texas, he was warned against it. The war in Texas had gotten so bad that humans and vampires alike could enter a territory and never be seen again. Rumours differed on whether they were killed outright or forced to participate, but all agreed that unless one had a death wish, it was best to avoid Texas at all costs.

Usually Edward was cautious and obsequious, but Texas piqued his dormant curiosity and newfound adventurous nature. He left the next morning and thanks to vampire speed he was in Texas by nightfall.

It was days before he noticed anything odd. He had paid for a room at a motel in a small town, because even though he was 'finding himself' and 'being rebellious' he still wasn't one for roughing it outdoors. Not to mention that even though he didn't sleep he did need somewhere to go at night when everything was closed.

Three nights after he arrived, Edward was out late hunting when he picked up the scent of other vampires. Heeding the warnings, he cautiously followed the scent into a heavily wooded area. He hid behind a rock and watched what looked like a battle being fought. Edward could recognise the newborn strength in most of them, and he could only assume that these were the humans that disappeared. They had been turned into monsters, their soul purpose in existence only to fight and inevitably die. A pang of sympathy went through Edward as he watched them battle.

It would have been bloody had any of them had blood to lose. Instead when the battle was over and the severed parts and dead bodies were swept into a pile and burnt, it was like nothing had ever happened. Edward stayed hidden behind the rock for hours, unable to process the horror that he had seen.

He couldn't imagine anyone actually wanting this to be their life. Did they know any better? Had anyone given them the option to not fight in this battle? Edward doubted it and in many ways, that made it worse. They were merely pawns in some general's thirst for power.

He raced back to the motel when he heard others coming his way, but the image of the tragic battle stayed with him. Had he been smarter, Edward would have left town immediately. This certainly wasn't his war and he didn't want to stick around long enough for someone to make it his. But he didn't.

It would become the best and worst decision of his immortal life.