Title: Fly Girl

Rating: T

Pairing: Jasper/Bella

Notes: All copyrights and recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Fly Girls is a nickname for the women who were members of Women Air Force Service Pilot program during World War II.

Chicago, 1941

Jasper pulled his fedora low across his forehead and raised his suit's collar, hoping to blend in with the others spilling out of the jazz club. Many of the humans around him were doing the same, trying to keep warm in the frigid November night.

The heat in his throat grew with each person that dared to walk close to him. Hunching his shoulders, he walked as fast as he could without giving away his true nature.

Jasper cursed under his breath. Peter had warned him not to leave the safety of the isolated cabin on the outskirts of the city, claiming that Jasper wouldn't be able to handle it.

For a moment, Jasper had reconsidered his decision, knowing he might not be ready yet to interact with humans, but he loathed the thought of Peter's smug face if he admitted defeat. He wouldn't hear the end of it.

Jasper wasn't the kind of person to yield to his emotions. He prided himself in being a methodical and analytical type of man. Peter, on the other hand, was the type who made split-second decisions based on what he referred to as gut instinct. Jasper suspected that Peter was gifted with insight, but Peter adamantly denied it. Whatever Peter wanted to call it, it was he that saved Jasper from the nightmare of a life that he had lived when he was with Maria. And for that, Jasper would be forever grateful.

It'd been three years since he left Maria. Three years since he had had a taste of what it was like to be normal, if you could call a vampire's life normal.

It was during these years of relative peace and normalcy that Jasper began to remember bits and pieces of his life as a human. It disturbed him at first because he'd heard that vampires typically didn't have memories of their human life. When he was with Maria, he didn't recall anything prior to the change. There were times, however, when he would come across a family during one of his food raids that would prickle something in the back of his mind. His mind was much too chaotic to concentrate on anything but the feeding during those times. But with each passing year, he found himself pondering over the emotions of the families he feed on. It disturbed him and he couldn't understand why.

When images of humans flickered through his mind during the past couple of months, he didn't know whom the faces belonged to. It wasn't until the day he heard Charlotte humming "Dixie's Land" while dusting the cabin that a vivid memory of an older blonde-haired woman crooning the same song began to bubble up inside of him. The ghostly faces began to solidify, and it was then he realized that he was remembering his family, and he'd ached with longing.

The memories become more frequent, especially when Charlotte was singing. He bought himself a record player and old records of Civil War era music, hoping to recover more of his memories. Eventually, his music interest spilled over to other types of genres, but the one that moved him the most, that made him feel almost human, was jazz.

So, when he found out that Louis Armstrong was playing at the jazz club nearby, he brushed off Peter's warnings and Charlotte's look of apprehension. For just one night, he wanted to feel normal.

Even though the smoke-filled room had masked the scent of blood that pulsated through the hearts of the people in the club, he found his mouth filling with venom. His eyes scanned the audience and the room, looking for exits, and he began strategizing his attack, forgetting the reason why he was there in the first place. The humans sat, laughing and drinking, not noticing his presence as he sat alone in the back corner. To him, they were like ripe apples on a tree, waiting to be plucked and devoured.

And then, it happened. The sweet jazz sounds of Louis Armstrong filled the room, making him forget where he was and what he had been about to do. He no longer remembered the burning in his throat, and his craving for human blood had all but disappeared for that one brief moment.

It wasn't until after the music ended and the crowds started to spill onto the Chicago streets that he felt it again, the gnawing thirst growing by the second. He quickened his pace as much as he dared, trying not to run at the risk of exposing himself as something other than human. The delicious scent of blood engulfed him, and it was almost too much to bear. He held his breath and prayed that he could hold on until he found a lone drunk and a dark alley.

From a distance, the voice of a man slurring his words caught his attention. Jasper's eyes darted around the area, searching for the source in anticipation. As the voice came closer, he saw the man's arms around two young women. Dark blonde-hair waves framed the face of the women under his right arm. Her bright red lips pursed as if she was trying not to laugh.

Jasper then heard the soft, musical tones of the other girl. He was curious to see this woman because he had only heard such voices coming from others of his kind. However, gleaming waves of mahogany spilled out of the girl's hat and shielded her face as she struggled to help keep the man upright.

"Uncle Tony, give me that bottle. I think you've had enough for tonight," Bella said, grabbing the bottle of vodka and handing it to her best friend, Rosie. It was not the first time that Bella had to help get her favorite uncle back home, to the chagrin of her father, and it most likely wouldn't be the last.

Bella sighed. She didn't know what she'd do without Rosie. Bella's mother had insisted that Rosie be called by her full name, Rosalind, even though Rosie hated the name. Bella complied with her mother's wishes, at least in her presence. Bella suspected that her mother was hoping that a fancy name could increase the social status of a factory worker's daughter. Her mother was funny that way.

Bella's father and his brother, Tony, emigrated from Palermo, Sicily, to make a name for themselves and the rest of the di Prima family. While her father grew wealthy from the demise of others during the stock market crash of 1929 and quickly climbed the social ladder, even marrying the daughter of a Chicago congressman, his younger brother, Tony, struggled. Too much booze and too many flappers gave him a reputation that made him the "black sheep" of the family. It was his thirst for life and love of aviation that earned him a special place in Bella's heart.

"Ew, it stinks." Rosie scrunched her face as she took a whiff of the bottle.

"Now, you give that back to me." Tony stopped and reached out toward Bella's hand. "Wait a minute, where did you hide my bottle?" he slurred. "Oh, right." He turned to Rosie. "You give me back my bottle."

Rosie slipped the vodka in her purse. "I lost it, Tony. See?" She showed him her empty gloved hands. "There's nothing in my hands."

Rosie winked at Bella.

"Rosie, Rosie, Rosie." Tony hiccupped then burped. "When did I eat cannoli?" He shook his head, trying to remember what he was going to say. "Oh, yeah. Rosie, Rosie, Rosie. If you weren't sixteen, I'd marry you right now."

"Tony, if you weren't such a loser, I'd marry you right now."

"Rosie, why did you have to say that? You'll get him started." Bella scowled as she struggled to hold on to Tony, who was batting Bella's hands away from him.

"Loser? Loser?" Tony stopped and took a step back, removing himself from under the girls' arms. "I'd have you know, signorina, that I'm famous."

Tony took turned to Bella and place a hand on her shoulder. "Bellaaaa." He breathed into her face.

She grimaced.

"Bella, did you know I was a Barnstormer?"

"Yes, Uncle Tony. I know. You went from farm to farm, performing aerial stunts. You gave me a ride on The Jenny once. Remember? Father was furious when he found out." That was the best day of Bella's life; well, minus the part when her father forbade her to get on another plane with her uncle ever again. Soaring through the air gave her such a rush it was like nothing she had ever experienced before, and she was hoping to do it again soon. She wanted to be a member of the Women Air Force Service Pilots organization.

Jasper was amused by the friendly bantering between the girls and the man they called Tony. As he drew closer to them, he decided that he wouldn't be able to draw him away from them and decided to look for his meal elsewhere. He remembered a recent news article in the Chicago Tribune about a rise in violence on the north side due to a new gang called the Latin Kings. That seemed like a logical choice to find his next meal since, fortunately for him, the death of one or two gang members would not draw too much attention.

Jasper was about to pass by the threesome when Tony tried to walk again and instead stumbled into Bella, accidentally causing her to lose her balance.

Jasper instinctually reached out to catch her arm. A jolt of electricity stunned him, and he gasped at the touch. That's when a captivating scent filled the air, making him feel heady. It was not like anything he had ever experienced before. The mixture of lavender, myrrh, and amber swirled around him so thick that he could taste it, and he wanted to taste more. He found himself leaning into her, lured by her scent, her heat, and confused by why he was suddenly drawn to this girl, who probably wasn't any older than seventeen.

He'd never felt the kind of pull as he did at that moment, and it took all of his will to not bury his head into the thick waves of hair and sink his teeth into the silky white skin that was only inches away.

He immediately cut off his breathing again when he realized what he was doing. He quickly drew her up and turned his face away from her before she had a chance to look into his face and see a pair of hungry black eyes.

"Pardon me, ma'am," Jasper mumbled as he gently pushed her away and fled.

Bella brushed the hair from her eyes and turned to the stranger. "Thank you . . . where did he go?" She turned to Rosie. She was busy holding on to Tony who was retching into the street. "Did you see where he went?"

"Um, I'm kind of busy. A little help here, please?" Rosie pinched her nose with one hand and held onto Tony with the other.

Bella rolled her eyes and helped to brace Tony again after he finally finished decorating the street with his dinner.

As Bella drove the trio home, she couldn't get her mind off of the stranger. A tingling sensation lingered on the spot where he gripped her arm. There was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. If only she had seen his face.

After leaving Rosie and her father to carry a snoring Tony into the house, she went straight to her bedroom. When she took off her coat, she smelled an intoxicating scent. She pulled the coat arm to her face and inhaled. It smells like leather and musk.

"Isabella, your father wants to speak to you this instant." Bella's mother spoke from the other side of her bedroom door.

"Yes, mother." Bella tossed the coat onto the bed. There was no use in giving the man a second thought, no matter how divine he smelled. She'd probably be forbidden from stepping outside the house for the rest of her life for taking the car without permission.

On the north side of the city, Japer walked at a slow, human pace, well aware of the two men who were following him into the empty alley. Hunting was second nature to him, and it was even easier when the humans thought they were the hunter rather than the hunted. All he had to do was flash a few twenties as he paid for a pack of cigarettes at the corner store, and it was like drawing fish to a worm. Way too easy.

As he was waiting for them to rob him, his mind kept reflecting on the brown-haired girl. He mulled over what the feelings he was experiencing meant. It was more than just a thirst for her blood. There was something about her. The moment he touched her, he'd never felt so alive, so . . . human.

"Stop it right there, mister." A warm hand gripped his neck from behind. Jasper held back a chuckled at the object poking at this back. "Don't make any sudden moves, or I'll rip your throat out."

"Nice choice of words, amigo." Jasper grinned.

"You better watch yourself," the man replied as his partner closed in on them. "Carlos, search his pockets."

Jasper waited until Carlos was near him. Then, with one swift movement, he reached behind him and snapped the man's neck. Carlos froze with shock.

Jasper crouched low, baring his teeth.

Carlos eyes widened. "El Diablo," he whispered.

In the next breath Carlos took, Jasper was at his side. He tore into the human's neck and sucked on the sweet liquid until it coated his throat, cooling the burn in his throat. Even as he felt relief, he couldn't shut off Carlos' emotions: fear, regret . . . longing.

When he was done, he planted knives in their hands, staging a knife fight gone wrong. He couldn't help but think about what he had just done, and he wondered why it was bothering him so much.

Then he thought of her again, imaging how it would feel to have her hair entwined in his fingers, what would it feel like to have her warm body pressed against his bare chest.

He chuckled. He was obviously going crazy. His imagination was running away with him. It was probably the effects of trying to remember his human memories. What did he think he was going to do with her? Date her? Marry her? Yeah, right.

Jasper ran back toward the cabin. As he ran, he thought about the dead Carlos. He couldn't shut off his prey's emotions anymore. Even if he stopped trying to remember his human memories, he knew he couldn't go back to the way he was before. Something in him was now attuned to human emotions, and he just couldn't shake the guilt he felt after every feeding. It was making him depressed.

As he approached the cabin, he made a decision. He had to leave. He couldn't be with Peter and Charlotte if they continued to hunt humans. Besides, he didn't think they'd understand his need to stop feeding on humans. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to do it.

The smooth sounds of Bing Crosby singing Only Forever drifted out of the open cabin window. Jasper paused as he watched Peter caress Charlotte's cheek tenderly. She gazed into Peter's eyes, her face glowing. Her arms wrapped around his neck as Peter drew her body close to his, and they swayed slowly to the music.

Jasper buckled as the intense feelings of love mixed with lust swept over him. This wasn't the first time he'd experienced their passion for each other. But, this time, for a reason he couldn't understand, his chest began to ache.

He dropped his head into his hands. A faint scent of lavender lingered in them. He sighed. He knew that he was making the right decision, and he was even more determined to leave, to find another way of living.

There had to be another way.