Title: A Winding Destiny
Author Penname: NCChris & SparklingFae
Rating: M
Summary: Sometimes eternity doesn't go as planned. Destiny can offer many twists and turns. When Charlotte is murdered in an act of revenge, can Peter recover enough to claim what destiny has in store for him? Will Jasper have the courage to help? AU, Non-canon.
Warnings: Character death, some course language, no lemons
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Banner Designer Name: NCChris
Jasper POV
It was a quiet late afternoon in southwestern Montana, nothing out of the ordinary about it. It was just one more day with Alice sketching a new design while I read a biography of Carl Jung, the latest in a line of many since we'd left the Cullens without a backward glance after Alice had a vision in mid-September of 1986, insisting that it was time for me to live differently. I'd been confused. Hell, I'd urged her to stay, argued with her, but she'd made up her mind that this was the best path for us. In the end, she'd simply kissed my cheek and told me she'd be coming back to the family when it was time for me to move on again. I'd finally shrugged, bid the coven goodbye, and followed her out the door. We stayed in touch from time to time. Esme sent cards at Christmas and we occasionally visited each other's homes, but it was easy to see that they didn't understand why I'd gone back to a human diet; they just didn't understand that I worked better that way. Feeding on the dregs of society and the evil-doers, while not perfect, allowed me the peace I needed; and my control was now ironclad. For whatever reason, Alice had relentlessly worked with me on this point over our decades alone.
Alice was my companion, my confidant, and my friend, but not my mate or lover. It had just never happened for us, a fact that we were both relieved and regretful over in equal measures, I believe. She assured me that she had a mate waiting for her and that he would be ready for her soon. She said my road was more difficult, but that the reward would be worth the sacrifices. It was comforting to know that even as lonely as we sometimes were, our existences would not always be without the intimacy we both needed. What we were to each other was complicated, but it worked for us. We were each other's saviors. She woke to her vampiric life with a vision of my face, every other memory a blank. I wished for the relief of that kind of fresh start when she found me in a diner in Philadelphia only half a decade later.
However, I digress. That day was like all the others, comfortably boring. The sun was just beginning its descent behind the Tobacco Root Mountains when I felt Alice's absolute terror. Leaping from my perch in a tree near our large cabin, I quickly surveyed the area, using my heightened vampiric senses as well as my empathic gifts, sensing and smelling no one but Alice for miles. I ran the quarter mile back to the house in the blink of an eye and found her in the grip of an obviously horrifying vision; she was staring wide-eyed at whatever was unfolding and an awful keening noise of terror was spilling from her parted lips, even as waves of crushing devastation rolled off of her. I staggered under the weight of the onslaught and had to practically crawl the final feet over to where she lay crumpled beside her drafting table.
As I struggled to calm her, using my gift, every bit of our decades together, and our unique bond, she uttered three words that would change my existence forever before she fell into my arms, sobbing inconsolably.
"Charlotte's dead, Jasper."
Peter POVWe had just finished hunting, so I was eager to get back home with my mate and have my wicked way with her. Seeing her hunt and lure the men in like flies to honey always gave me a hard on. I couldn't help that my Charlotte was so damn sexy, she just was.
We started running to make our way back to our home. My need for her was far too great to take our time getting back. We had just left the city limits when I caught the scent of someone I never wanted to see again in my entire existence…that fucking bitch Maria, she had found us. I crouched and pushed Charlotte behind me.
Snarling, I waited for the bitch to come out of hiding, ready to end this once and for all. I should have known better than to think that she would be alone though. She had backup and they were coming out behind us, surrounding us. I was going to fight to the death, if that is what it took. I felt Charlotte turning so that her back was against mine. I knew she would fight alongside me.
Something felt wrong, something was off. I tried to figure just what that was while eyeing Maria with an icy glare. I tried to take a step towards her, but I couldn't move.
I whispered to Char, "They have a physical shield, Sugar."
It was in that exact moment that we were attacked from all sides. I lunged for Maria and whomever else I could get my hands on. My first thought was to protect my mate. I managed to rip limbs off of at least two vampires before I was taken down and held in an ironclad grip.
Unable to move, I snarled, spitting venom angrily, as I watched Maria smirk at me. Her dark chuckles fueled my anger, especially when she had one of her minions bring Charlotte before her. Her twisted smile told me that I was going to pay for taking her precious Major away from her. The lackey forced Charlotte to kneel in front of the twisted bitch. All Char could do was stare at me helplessly.
I felt my heart rip in half as I was forced to watch the bane of my existence destroy my beautiful mate & quickly toss her limbs and head into a fire. I couldn't do anything, but scream in agony.
She was gone, my very reason for existing had been ripped away from me and I was helpless to stop it from happening. Maria just laughed wickedly.
"That was for taking my Major. I have a message for you to pass on to him. Tell him his Mistress is coming and will reclaim what is hers once more."
With her final words she turned and left, taking her minions with her. Helpless to do anything else, I collapsed beside the dying fire. Only one thought ran through my jumbled thoughts, 'She's gone.'
Jasper POV
It took almost an hour to get Alice calm enough to tell me everything. Eventually I had the whole vision from her and I knew the definitive truth; Charlotte Whitlock was dead. My sister, the one I had spared from Maria, had given away at her wedding, had watched exchange vows with my dearest friend, Peter, was gone forever from this earth.
The shock of the news was heavy on us both as we packed our things. We packed lightly, just clothing, cash, and a few personal mementos that we couldn't bear to leave behind. Alice assured me that we could return here in the future and collect anything else we needed or wanted, so we simply weather-proofed the house, contacted our agents to make sure that the utilities were disconnected promptly, packed our car, locked the doors, and left the ranch that had been our home for 18 years.
I didn't pause at the time to ponder the strange irony of the date, September 13, 2004, but you had better believe I would do so in the years to come. Fate, it would seem, had a plan for us all. My only regret is that Charlotte had to die for it to come to fruition.
Alice and I drove through the night that first night after the vision. We both felt an immense sense of urgency to reach Peter. Alice couldn't see him now no matter how hard she tried to force a vision. I tried to reassure her that it simply meant that he was in shock, so devastated by Charlotte's murder that he was incapable of making a conscious decision for her visions to pick up, but the reassurances sounded hollow even to me and every time I uttered one, I pressed my foot more firmly against the accelerator, hurtling us through the inky black night.
I think we both let out unnecessary relieved breaths when we finally crossed into New Mexico in the wee hours of the next morning. Alice had pinpointed the location of the attack to the deserted scrub desert outside of Albuquerque. We managed to find a small rental cabin in the area and utilizing Jenks' resources had a key waiting under the welcome mat when we arrived. Alice elected to stay at the cabin, saying she'd seen that Peter would do better with just me coming for him initially, so I left her to setting up the cabin for us to stay in and, following her sketchy directions, set out to track my friend, who had no discernable scent. Venom tears clouded my vision at times when the cool desert breeze brought me the sweet white oleander of my sister, Charlotte.
I had just crossed out of the city limits of Albuquerque when I was slammed by the cloying scent of vampire incense. I had to center myself as rage unlike anything I'd felt in decades boiled up in my veins. Rage at the bitch that had done this, Maria, rage at a God who had allowed it to happen, rage at the world, it poured from me until my body twitched and growls as savage as that of any predator spewed from my lips. Amid the haze of anger, I began to reach out with my gift, trying to find the one person whom I needed to comfort. As I began to reach out, the rage abated. I caught the tiniest tremor of Peter's emotional signature to the south of me and began running that way.
As I got closer, the scent became stronger. There was no mistaking the overpoweringly sweet scent of burned vampire flesh. It is cloying; the hint of decay underneath the sweetness is enough to make one's gorge rise. In this instance, it brought me to my friend.
Peter lay beside an obviously fresh bonfire. It still smoldered, though the flame was now extinguished. He appeared dead; his eyes were staring lifelessly and without blinking. He neither moved nor spoke as I approached. He lay as no doubt he had fallen, clothing ripped and venom staining the ground beneath him from where he had fought for her. His hand was outstretched toward the fire, grasping at what no longer was there.
He emitted no emotion. Peter was as close to dead as a living being could be. I was terrified that not only had I lost my sister, but my best friend as well.
Peter POV
I was dead, well okay, I had been dead long before this, but metaphorically speaking I was dead again. Charlotte had been my reason to continue on and now she was gone. I had nothing anymore, so I just gave up and laid there. I had no concept of how much time passed as I stared into nothingness. I could not tell you where I was anymore or what was going on around me. I lay as I had fallen, nothing touched me, not the sting of foreign venom from the bites I'd sustained, not the thirst that was beginning to burn the back of my throat, nothing registered. The day passed; the sun set and the moon rose. Stars twinkled overhead. I took no notice of them. Eventually, that too passed and the sun began to climb into the sky again.
Early in the day, before the sun could gain enough strength to turn me into a disco ball, I became aware of another's presence. I couldn't be bothered with who they were or why they were here, I did not care if I lived or died any longer. Hell, if they tossed me in the smoldering ashes and lit me up they'd be doing me a favor.
Whoever it was felt vaguely familiar as they sank to the ground beside me and suddenly I could feel agony, not my own…theirs. The Major, Jasper, my friend had come. I let him mourn beside me, feeling and broadcasting what I was incapable of releasing from the prison my body and mind had become.
As the sun began to climb higher in the sky, he pulled himself together and I welcomed his power as it settled heavily over me, I could feel his worry, but was powerless to do anything to reassure him. I was dead; the rest of me just hadn't gotten the memo yet.
I sank back into my mindless oblivion as he bustled about the scene of my Charlotte's murder. What he did, I would be forever grateful for later when I could feel and function again, but at the time, I just lay there motionless as granite.
When he went to move me, speaking softly like you would to a child or maybe an injured wild animal, I hissed and bared my teeth, desperate to stay with her ashes. I couldn't leave her! How would I find her when I managed to figure out a way to join her?
He must have used his power to knock me out after I landed one too many bites to his arms and neck, because when I became aware of my surroundings next, all I could process was that Charlotte's white oleander scent was gone. I broke completely then, sobbing so hard in my friend's arms that venom ran from my eyes, nose, and mouth, scarring my skin until there was nothing left in me to flow.
Alice POVI paced worriedly as I waited for Jasper and Peter to return. Peter was my friend as much as he was Jasper's and seeing him loose Charlotte like he had terrified me. I could not let either of them get hurt...fate had bigger plans for them. I knew what their destiny held but I could only reveal so much. They had to do the rest themselves. I would do my best to set them upon the right path but I could not interfere too much or their destiny would go askew. I continued my pacing, hoping they returned any moment now.
It wasn't much longer before Jasper arrived, carrying a prone Peter. My eyes widened and I gasped at how broken he truly looked. I could feel my heart tearing for the man who I thought of as a brother and my poor sister, Charlotte, fully gone from this world.
I felt Jasper pushing a large amount of calm over me and I offered a small smile, my eyes peering over at Peter. I flicked my gaze to Jasper, emotions flitting across my face, worry at the forefront.
" Is he going to be okay, Jasper?"
I wanted to curl into myself and wrap my arms around my chest at how destroyed he looked at the loss of Char.
I trembled slightly when Jasper whispered quietly to me, "He has to be, Ali. He has to be."
I made that my mantra from then on.
I knew he had to be, not just for himself, but for Jasper and their destiny.
Bella POV
I huffed as I lit a joint, a bad habit, but it kept me from going crazy. My coffee finished percolating as I sat at the table, remembering the dream from last night. It was always the same with two red-eyed men who captivated me. I knew they were something to me, something so profound that I could not comprehend it in my conscious thoughts. They were always the same, one with shoulder length blond wavy hair and the other with slightly darker, much shorter hair. I had been dreaming of them since I turned 19. I was 21 now and you might call me a psychic. I sometimes had visions, not all the time but enough to make me feel as if I was losing my mind more often than not.
I questioned myself frequently when I began to see the red-eyed men in my dreams. Was I truly crazy? I had asked myself over and over, but I knew I was not. There had to be a reason for these dreams and something told me that soon destiny would be leading me down a path I could never return from.
To be honest though, I was looking forward to it. I knew that this was going to bring great things. I just had to bide my time until I saw it was time to leave. Where I would be going, I had no idea, but I was ready. My life, such as it was, had no ties to keep me here. I was an only child, orphaned and alone in the world. I wouldn't be missed if I simply paid my rent and then canceled my lease.
Saving that train of thought for another time, I raked a hand through my hair and snuffed the joint out. Fixing myself a cup of coffee, I stared at the newspaper. The news had nothing to report except that the murder rate for Seattle had begun to rise and something told me that there was more to the deaths than what was being reported. Sighing, I put the paper down and began my day, the same old routine, in and out. I decided then and there that I officially had no life.
Alice POV
"He's not going to understand this, you know."
I jumped guiltily, even after two years together I'd never gotten used to Peter's ability to sneak up on our kind. His lack of a scent was what had made him so valuable in reconnaissance for Maria and he could get right up behind you without a single sound or scent if he desired.
"I know. You'll have to help him get through this, Peter. You know, don't you?" I replied calmly, hoping my visions of him lately hadn't steered me wrong.
He remained quiet, a strange emotion flickering across his face.
"Peter, she would want you to find happiness again. This is the ticket to happiness for you…and for Jasper."
I spoke gently, knowing he was struggling with a sense of disloyalty to his dead mate. Peter, for all his bluster and brashness was a good man. He was loyal and steadfast. Once he made a commitment he stood by it. For him, death didn't necessarily end his commitment to Charlotte. I had to get through to him or everything would be lost and not only would Peter be alone for eternity, so would Jasper and I could not allow my sweet Jasper, who had been so damaged by war and strife, to spend his eternity alone and yearning for the peace of a mate…or mates.
"I know she would, Alice, but I also know she'd detach my dick and hide it for a week if she caught me cheatin' on her. This feels an awful lot like cheatin', even though my intuition is screaming at me to do what I know you've already seen in that pretty little Magic 8 Ball you call a brain."
He sighed and moved to stand by the window, rolling his shoulders. I took a moment to study him. Peter had changed. He wasn't the same man he'd been when Charlotte was alive. He grieved for her and it had sobered him, but as the years had passed, glimpses of the old Peter had begun to shine through. I knew if he would just give destiny a chance, he would find that part of himself again. She was going to be so good for both of them.
Making a decision, he spoke again, "Go on, Tink. You need to be gone when he gets back from his hunt. You call us when you get to Forks and you watch yourself in Seattle. Maria's camped just outside there. You warn Carlisle and head to the Montana ranch as soon as you can get them to pack up all their shit. I will not lose another person to that vindictive bitch, you hear? Don't you worry about The Major. I took care of him before you found him and I'll take care of him again now. We're gonna ride this ride 'til the end."
"I'll see you in Winnipeg in six months Peter. You know the route to take. I left the first stop in Jasper's letter. Don't call me. You both need time to be on your own."
I flitted to my car before he could reply and gave a little wave as I drove away from the dilapidated New Mexico cabin we'd called home for the last two years. Glancing over at the cuttings I'd taken from the white oleander we'd planted in Charlotte's honor, I whispered, "They'll be fine. They'll realize what they are to each other and what she is to them soon enough. I promise, Charlotte, they're going to be happy again."
Peter POV
I finished nailing the final sheet of plywood over the hole in the front wall of our cabin and made my way back inside. By my reckoning The Major was just about ready to calm down and listen to me now. We knew from Alice's letter that we should be pullin' out of here in the morning for Flagstaff. If we didn't, then our little Wildcat would be in a world of hurt when that piece of shit she called a truck gave out on her there. We couldn't let our girl want for nothin' now that we knew she was ours. She'd need a place to stay in Flagstaff and a reliable truck for the next stop on our little road trip.
With a sigh, I steeled my spine and headed inside to face down Jasper or The Major…I didn't give a good goddamn which asshole was inhabiting his body at the moment, I could handle either.
Jasper POV
I just sat there after my hurt had run its course. Peter, of course, would have said my tantrum had run out of steam, but really I just needed an outlet for the grief of losing my closest confidant and friend. Alice had been there with me through so much; I wasn't sure how to get through a day without her.
I still had Peter and I was glad, but it wasn't the same. Peter was my friend, but he was also more than that. There wasn't the easy uncomplicated comfort with him that had always existed with Alice. An undercurrent of something else, something I had never put a name to, kept us from being more to each other. When he'd found Charlotte, it had almost been a relief. I'd been able to slap a cover on that strange miasma of feelings and shove it deep. With her gone, it had begun to resurface and I knew he was feeling it again, too.
Alice was the buffer we had used over the last two years to keep the awkwardness at bay, to keep from having to examine too closely how we really felt about each other. It hurt that she would go without anything more than a letter and a vague explanation that it was time for me to discover my true path and her to go to hers.
"Are we going to Flagstaff?" I asked, feeling Peter's emotional signature as he came inside, "Sorry about the wall."
"You bet your ass. Get packed and don't worry about it. That wall needed to be knocked down anyway."
He slapped me on the back and then wandered back to his room to pack his things. I looked down the hallway after him for awhile and then slowly got up and started packing.
Bella POV
Flagstaff? What the hell was in Flagstaff? Rattlesnakes and cactuses, that's what! And apparently my two red eyed dream men. At least, they were. I saw it as plain as I was looking at my fat hairy neighbor walk down his driveway in his filthy bathrobe to get his newspaper. Um, Gross.
I surveyed the bare white walls of my little two bedroom house. It wasn't me…nothing here screamed Bella Swan. Thank goodness, cause if my house started screaming at me, I'd really think I was losing my mind. Psychic visions were quite enough to make me doubt my sanity, thank you very much!
Sighing, I got up and tightened the belt on my own bathrobe, clean thank you very much, and walked down the short hallway to my bedroom. I dragged out my battered suitcases and proceeded to start packing up my life here in Crestone.
By this time tomorrow, I'd hopefully be in Flagstaff and if I was lucky and the timeline of my vision wasn't all fucked up, then I might even be in the arms and bed of my mystery men.
Peter POV
Jasper and I walked into the Motel 6 on Lucky Lane in Flagstaff. He'd argued that the place was a roach motel, but I knew this was where we needed to be. Wildcat's truck was gonna crap out on her about two miles down the road, so this was the closest motel for her to come to and our Wildcat didn't have much money, so she'd look for someplace thrifty while she tried to figure out what to do next.
The slob behind the counter smelled like moldy cheese and I wouldn't have ate him if he'd had the last beating heart on the planet. I'd have switched to deer, no shit. I let Jasper work on him and get our girl's room taken care of while I took a moment to do a little more recon around the area.
I didn't smell any vampires apart from Jasper, so that immediately made this crappy motel better for Wildcat. She didn't need to have to fight off any of our kind before we got the chance to meet her. Just as I was stepping back outside, Jasper walked up with a room key.
I left him to it. He was better at all the lovey-dovey romantic shit anyway. I got back in our truck and headed down to the local Dodge dealership. Our girl needed a good truck and I was just the man to get it for her.
Bella POV
"No no no no no! Come on, Baby! Not here…not now!" I cajoled as I coasted to a stop along a particularly seedy stretch of highway just before the "Lucky Lane" exit on I-40 in Flagstaff. Ha! Lucky Lane, my lily white ass!
I tried in vain to get the engine to turn over again, but it wouldn't even click for me, so with a sigh, I looked in the rearview mirror and grabbed my purse from the passenger seat, locking the doors as I got out and headed down the exit ramp.
I had only walked for a mile or two when I saw a Motel 6 ahead. They were advertising a $32 single room rate and satellite TV, so I figured I could get a room and then plan my next move in the morning. It was too late to get a mechanic that night anyway.
I walked into the office and pulled out my license to check in.
"Did your truck break down a couple miles down the road on the I-40?" the seedy looking clerk asked.
I was understandably hesitant. "Um…"
"It's just that a couple of guys were here yesterday and paid for a room. Said a friend of theirs was going to be in town today and her truck was real unreliable. They said she'd probably come in on foot with it broken down on the I-40."
My guys had been here. Even better, they'd paid for my room.
"Yeah. Yeah, that's me. Do you need my license or anything?" I asked.
"Nah. It's all taken care of. They left one of the keys in the room, but here's the other. Hey, they only paid for one night, just so you know."
I waved over my shoulder, already halfway out the door and on my way to the room, a little scared that they might be there waiting for me and a little scared that they wouldn't be.
Sitting in front of the room was a shiny new candy apple red Dodge Ram with all the bells and whistles. The parking lot was otherwise deserted, so I wondered briefly if that was their truck as I fit the key in the door.
I dropped my purse into the chair and felt around for the light switch as the door swung open, squinting in the sudden light before my mouth dropped open in surprise. I was definitely alone, but they'd been here.
Sitting on the table was a folded note card addressed to "Wildcat" in an old fashioned but manly script, a six pack of Mountain Dew, bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, take out menu for the Mexican restaurant across the street and a gift box with a shiny red ribbon.
I noted that the cheap polyester bedspread was also stripped off the bed and folded in the corner of the room. On the double bed was a replacement of fluffy down in a dark purple duvet cover. It looked heavenly and I really wanted to just order some taquitos and a pitcher of margaritas, smoke a joint, watch Jersey Shore, and curl up under it, but I figured I better see what the note said first.
I decided to use the bathroom first and found another surprise there. My favorite strawberry shampoo was sitting on the counter. I shook my head. Who the hell were these guys? They weren't normal. I already knew that, but this was just ridiculous.
Coming back to the small table, I opened the note and a set of keys fell out of the thick envelope. Dodge keys? No fucking way! I quickly read the note. I may have squealed. No one was there to hear it, so I will deny it until my dying day.
Let's just say at that point, what little dignity I still possessed was out the window. I hauled ass outside to that beautiful monster of a truck and pressed the little unlock button. The lights flashed. Yes! It was mine! I may have done a stupid little new truck dance. Again, no one was there to see it, so denial is the key.
I decided there was no sense in paying a mechanic to fix my old wreck if I had this new beauty, so I cranked her up and drove back to my old truck and grabbed my suitcases and a few other things from the glove box and then I headed over to the Mexican place for my celebratory taquitos and pitcher of Margaritas to go.
My plans were somewhat derailed however, Jersey Shore wasn't on. I settled for a Chopped marathon on Food Network instead and woke up the next morning to a pleasant vision of a moonlit walk on the San Diego Pier with my guys. I showered with my strawberry shampoo, returned my room keys, and headed toward the west coast. I wasn't sure when I'd finally catch up to them. This was my journey, and it was just beginning. I knew there may be trouble along the way, but I knew every step would be worth it.