30STM / I'll Attack
Title: Caged (one-shot)
Characters/Pairing: Edward/Bella, Jacob, Charlie and various Cullens
Rating: PG-13 for a some language usage.
Spoilers: Twilight, NM and Eclipse. BD hasn't happened.
Summary: Jake finds himself in a position that Edward, Bella and Carlisle may have to extricate him from.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, it's all the creative genius of Stephenie Meyer.
I awoke confused. I was inside some sort of cage, and it wasn't comfortable. Everything hurt, which didn't improve my mood, and the metal bars were digging into my sides. It was unbearable. My vision was blocked by the bars. I recognized that there was a light source and realized I was in the back of an industrial style van. I turned and saw the windows. Blue sky, daylight still..well, at least there was that. What the hell was I doing in here, and why did I hurt so badly. My nose itched and for some reason, trying to move so I could scratch it caused me more pain. The fact of being in pain was mystifying because ever since I'd begun phasing, I healed instantly.
As I lay there getting madder and more annoyed, I heard voices and footsteps approaching.
"So you found him where again?" that was a familiar voice, Charlie, Bella's Dad.
"He was lying across a crumble of rocks at the bottom of a cliff by the beach. He's a little bloody and looked as if he'd taken a really nasty fall, his nose is gouged across the top, deep cut, like that. Poor fella, his furs matted, and I just thought he'd be better of if we brought him into town to the station, because he's pretty damn big if you ask me. Here, let me open the back and you'll see what I mean.."
I heard the sound of the van's door handles and the light streamed in, blinding me for a moment as they exposed me to the daylight outside.
Chief Swan was talking to a big, white haired, leather skinned older guy with a large moustache that still had a decent amount of darker hair in it. He was wearing a heavy fleece lined flannel and something about it, and him seemed familiar. I had a dim memory flash of seeing him against a back drop of trees, no surprise there. Forks was full of trees, but looking down on him had felt strange. That was all I remembered, and even that was hazy.
"You're sure he's a he, Ed?" Charlie asked the man, apparently Ed. I cringed, I was phased, which meant to both of them I was a wolf. A massive wolf, larger than most grizzlies, but a wolf. If he knew I was a he, he'd looked. There was definitely a negative trade off for all the cool stuff that came with being a werewolf.
"Yeah I'm sure Charlie, checked, but even if I hadn't - do you really think a female would grow that large. This fella's a behemouth. I'm 68 years old son, and I have never seen a wolf that damned big in my life!" Ed said, throwing out an arm in my direction.
Charlie was eyeing me more closely, and my eyes must have conveyed something, because Charlie suddenly frowned and turned back to Ed. "How'd you get him back there Ed, he is big, no doubt, how'd you manage to get him caged and crated?"
I growled low, and both men looked at me with their eyes a little wider, wary. Good, damn it, they should be wary. A cage! I shut myself up, because I wanted to hear Ed's answer too.
"Well, I got my nephews to help me, they're up front if you want me to call them around to help you get him out, anyway, he was unconscious so it wasn't too difficult. He was just awkward to carry." Ed said.
"That's probably a good idea. Listen, why don't you call them around, I'm going to go find Stan, the station's supplies guy. He has a dolly for big shipments, like cabinets and stuff. Give me two minutes." Charlie turned and walked away, towards the station I assumed. Ed walked out of my sight as well, but I could hear him talking and two new kids' voices. One of the kids looked about the same age as Seth, he came out and grabbed a broom lying on the side of my cage and poked me with it. I snarled loud and viciously, well, that's what he heard, I actually swore pretty heavily at him. Ed came back into my view with another kid, older, probably an adult already.
"Leave him alone Jared, (shut UP Liz! and stop laughing.) he's been through enough..he doesn't need you pokin' at him on top of his injuries. Dolt! Where's your compassion? Must be stuck in your ass with your brains. You do a pretty good job of protecting both, sitting on your ass around Uncle Ed's house all day." the older kid said, smacking the younger with his hand across the back of the head.
"Ow! Knock it off Jamie, Jerk! You sit around just as much, you're just quicker at moving off it when Uncle Ed gets home." The two boys grappled with each other until their Uncle came around again, "Both of you knock it off or I'll make you scrub every inch of the woodshop tonight." They both stopped, and Ed turned around as we all heard the sound of the cart coming out of the station. I growled low, and the kid, Jared, turned around to look at me. I snarled softly for his benefit and he stuck his tongue out at me and I reached a paw out to swipe the look of the little numb nuts face, but was assaulted by a sudden and incredibly intense shot of pain through my shoulder and across my back. I yelled out and my howl made all of the men turn towards me, eyes wide again. Their fear-filled faces were my last vision as everything went black.
I awoke inside the station in what looked like a warehouse. There were shelves of stored things, bins, file cabinets, and an inch of dust on everything. Ed, Charlie and the two kids were standing around a table, well the men were both standing, the older kid was kneeling at one of the shelves, and Jared my young friend, was sitting at the table. Ed and Charlie were still talking;
"...so I figure he must have been roaming around and somehow got into trouble, maybe with another animal , and lost his footing and fell down that cliff. I gotta tell you Charlie, it's pretty damned sheer down there, just north of La Push. That animal took a hell of a fall and I'm surprised he's still alive. Take good care of him, will ya Charlie."
"I will Ed, thanks for bringing him in, and for the help. Jared, Jamie, thanks for your help. Tell your Mom I said hello." with that, Ed and his nephews walked out.
Charlie walked over to me and eyed me cautiously from a foot or two away from the cage, he was leaning over to put himself at eye level with me.
"Got yourself into a hell of a mess, didn't ya boy?" He asked me, I chuckled and his eyes once again went a little wider and he stood up straight, still eyeing me warily. Bella had told me I sort of snorted when I laughed in my wolf form. Charlie must have thought I was threatening him somehow.
I whimpered in frustration and laid my head across my paws.
Suddenly a loud voice called in my head, it startled me and I yipped as Charlie began walking away. He turned back to see what the matter was, then shook his head and walked out mumbling something about crazy.
Jake! Jacob? Is that you? We've been looking all over for you. Where've you been? It was Seth
Another voice popped in right then, Seth, back off. I need to speak with Jacob. I heard Seth's grumbling as he did as told. Sam's voice continued, Jacob, where are you? Seth was correct, we have been looking for you for hours.
Forks police station. I thought, sarcastically.
You phased in the station? Sam's voice replied in an angry tone.
No! I'm injured, I can't phase back to human. I was brought in phased. I countered.
I could hear Sam's confusion, we couldn't hear you?
I was unconscious, I fell off a cliff north of La Push, apparently outside of the reservation line.
Sam's surprise wasn't any stronger than mine, but his was louder. Fell?!
Yes, fell. I don't remember what happened, so don't ask me questions.
We'll be there in a minute, we'll get you out of there. Seth, Embry, Quil, meet me. You heard where?
Three voices joined his, Yes Sam.
When they arrived at the station, I could hear the commotion through the walls. Charlie's shock at Sam knowing he had a wolf in the back and where he held him had Charlie completely freaked out. Sam and Seth were loudly arguing with Charlie that he needed to let me out, and Charlie was just as vehemently disagreeing.
"I can't do that, Sam! I don't know how you got word that he's in there, but he's big Sam, he's huge. I can't release him, he'd endanger all of Forks and the reservation."
"He's not a danger to anyone Chief Swan, trust me."
I could hear the garbling sound Charlie was making and could picture the face he must have been making.
"Is that beast your pet?" Charlie asked, incredulously.
"He's our brother Charlie, and you can't keep him locked up." Sam argued.
They went on for quite awhile, I would have told them to lay off Charlie, but since they were in human form, that wasn't possible. Eventually all five of them stepped through the door into the room I was held in. I whimpered to Sam who walked over and stuck his arm through the cage and laid a hand on my head.
"Sam! Don't put your hands in there, what if he bites?" Charlie warned.
Sam glared at Charlie as he walked around the cage looking at my whole body.
"He's hurt Charlie, he needs to rest and he needs medical attention." Sam said in a distracted voice as he looked at my back.
My back legs weren't hurting I realized as he stood staring at the top of my back. I tried to move one and nothing happened. I shot a look at Sam and whimpered again. Sam's eyes widened, as if he understood.
"I'll go call a vet Sam, you boys wait here-" Charlie began
Sam cut him off, "He doesn't need a vet, Charlie. Call Carlisle Cullen."
Charlie looked at Sam with his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Car-...you want me to bother the Doctor for an animal? I don't think so Sam."
Sam took the few steps to cross the space between where he stood by my cage, to stand face to face with Charlie. He was literally in his face, his hands clenched at his sides. His jaw was locked tight and he spoke to Charlie in a hiss through his teeth.
"He's not an animal Charlie, that is Jacob Black!" Sam stood eyeing Charlie.
Charlie went beyond shock into something unidentifiable, and spoke the first curse I had ever heard from him in all the years he'd been hanging around my Father.
"Bullshit Sam. That's enough, I understand as a tribe member you have a fondness for animals, but you are not going to stand there and convince me that that massive furball is Jacob Black. I'm sorry."
Sam didn't back down one bit and now that Charlie had become defensive, they were nearly nose to nose. I sighed in annoyance. Suddenly there was a call from down the hall, a woman's voice, "Chief, Bella is on line two for you. She says she needs to ask you something."
Charlie glared at the still challenging Sam, and stepped sideways and picked up the phone receiver with one hand and turned and punched a blinking light with the other, never taking his eyes off Sam.
As he lifted the receiver to his ear, Sam said, "Ask her...she'll convince you."
Charlie froze, his face softening slightly in surprise again. "Be..." he began to say her name, then disbelief washed his face, "No. I don't..." he put the phone to his ear. "Bells?"
I could hear Bella's sweet voice even from across the room. "Hi Dad, I'm sorry to bug you at work, I have a question about.."
Sam's voice suddenly interrupted, "Ask her Chief Swan. She knows. ASK HER!" he was loudly whispering.
"...so Alice wants to know if you could get Renee and Phil from the hotel and bri-" Bella was saying when Charlie cut her off.
"Bells, I'm sorry, I have to...I have a question for you. Is there anything about Jacob Black that is unusual that I should know?" he asked, nicely sidestepping a direct tip off.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Bells?" Charlie said after a moment.
"What do mean by unusual Dad?" she asked.
"Well, this morning someone brought in an injured wolf that had taken a fall down one of the cliffs north of La Push, and well, Sam Uley, and a couple of the Quileute boys are here insisting I release him, and I just wondered-" Charlie stuttered until Bella cut him off.
"I'll be right there!"
The phone went dead and Charlie stood looking at the receiver as if it had hit him. He mumbled, "She's coming down here."
Sam walked over to the single window in the room and was looking out of it. Embry and Seth walked over to me and stood looking at me. I looked at them for a minute, then put my head back down, and closed my eyes. My shouler was aching again.
No one spoke during the fifteen minutes before Bella arrived. She came in with Edward's brothers behind her.
"Hi Dad." she said as she walked in the door and looked straight at me, she was visibly trying not to react to the state I was in, but I looked at her and grinned, crossing my eyes an lolling my tongue out. She chuckled, and turned to Charlie, opening her mouth to ask him a question. Once she saw his expression her mouth closed and her eyebrows shot up.
Charlie was glaring at Emmett, who was grinning at me like he'd just rediscovered his favorite toy, and was planning ways he was going to play with it. I realized that Embry, Quil and Sam were standing just behind and to the left of me, all poised for defense.
"Sorry Dad, Edward wasn't home, or he would have come with me, and Emmett and Jasper felt it necessary to accompany me here." she looked at the two brothers balefully. Emmett's grin relaxed, and he stuck to just letting his eyes twinkle with amusement. I could feel the fur between my shoulders raising in annoyance.
Emmett wasn't talking, but it was pretty plain that he was really enjoying the fact that I was caged. I looked at Jasper next, Jasper was obviously struggling not to drop into a defensive crouch, and was looking directly at Sam. The tension was heavy.
In the middle of this, Bella walked over to my cage and leaned against it, Charlie seemed to come back to himself as he saw this. "Bella, get away from that cage! He could attack you." Charlie called out, tensely.
Bella didn't turn around, she just looked at me with a sad expression on her face. She looked at Sam, the question in her eyes. Sam answered, "He's hurt. Somethings happened to his back, he can't-" Sam stopped, his eyes lifting up to Charlie's face. "You need to tell your Dad the truth Bella. He needs to understand, and he doesn't believe me." Sam nearly growled. He was offended, no one ever questioned his word on the reservation.
Bella nodded her head and looked back at me. She reached through the bars and put her hand on my cheek, "Dad he'd never bite me, he'd protect me from anyone who tried." She pulled her hand out and turned around to Charlie, "you have to let him out Dad. He needs help, and you can't keep him in here." She looked over her shoulder at Sam, who dipped his head just once before going back to locking his eyes on Jasper and Emmett. "Dad, this wolf is Jacob Black."
Charlie's face was set, and I could tell he didn't believe her, or more specifically, didn't want to believe her. I started yelling at him, and then whimpered when I realized it was coming out as barking to him. He was staring at me in surprise. I closed my mouth, dropped my head back down on my paws again, and huffed loudly. This was so irritating, and Emmett's obvious glee at my situation wasn't helping me at all.
Sam spoke then, "I've asked Charlie to call Dr. Cullen so he can come take a look at him. I think his back may be broken, but your father seems to think he should call a vetrinarian." Sam said, the last word dripping with sarcasm.
Bella turned to her Father, her mouth gaping open and her expression shocked, "Dad!" she then turned to Emmett, "Emmett how long do you think it will take them to return from..."she glanced nervously at Charlie..."their hiking trip?"
Emmett finally turned his gleaming eyes away from me to answer Bella. He shrugged his shoulders, "He could be back by now I guess. Should I call him?" Emmett asked. Bella nodded her head and Emmett pulled his phone out of his pocket. I heard Carlisle's voice on the other end. "Emmett? Alice has been telling Edward and me you're at the police station and that Bella's father has Jacob locked up. What's happened?"
Emmett grinned in delight, making me growl lightly and causing Jasper to flick his attention to me, he reached out and pulled Bella back behind him. Emmett still smiling, answered him "Oh he's locked up alright. But he's injured, so he's stuck in his wolf form. Bella's Dad doesn't believe he's Jacob and won't release him, we're just standing here having a face off with a few of the dogs and waiting for Charlie to believe everyone."
Carlisle sounded dismayed, "Emmett, please don't antagonize the pack. Relations are still tense, and they were of great assistance during the battle with Victoria and the newborns. We should be respectful." Emmett's grin faded, and a frown pulled his eyebrows together. I huffed in agreement, as Carlisle continued, "Now, what are his injuries? I assume they must be relatively bad if he's unable to phase."
Emmett looked at Sam, who looked back at him questioningly, "His backs broken I think. Want me to check?" Sam asked. Bella gasped and pushed her way past Jasper and leaned in to put her hands on my head again. I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes. She worried too much about me. Emmett conveyed the question to Carlisle, then looked up at Sam and nodded.
Sam looked at Charlie and said, "I'd rather not do this Charlie, but I need to talk to Jacob. Please block the door and make sure no one comes in." Charlie looked at Emmett, who leaned his back against the door effectively insuring no one would come in, as well as blocking the view into the room through the small window in the door. Sam walked around to the front of the cage and faced me in his wolf form. Charlie stumbled back and fell into a chair one of the boys from the morning had left out.
You've got to stop shocking the hell out of Charlie like that Sam, it isn't fair to him. He's just doing what he thinks is best. None of this is his fault. I said to him as soon as he phased.
I know, but he wanted to call a vetrinarian, and I'm not accustomed to being questioned Jacob, now, is it your back as I suspect? he thought, questioningly.
I'm pretty sure it is. I can't move my back legs, my upper back is killin' me. I thought, stretching myself up as far as I could and yelping when it hurt. I looked wide eyed at Sam. Sam, I won't live like my Dad. I'm not kidding. If I won't heal, I won't live.
His eyes clouded with pain, I won't accept that Jacob, we'll get Carlisle here, something can be done. Having said this, Sam phased back.
He turned to Emmett immediately, "It is his back." Emmett nodded and let Carlisle know, while Sam turned to Charlie, "Charlie, we have to get him out of here. He says if he doesn't heal, he refuses to live like his Dad." Charlie, who still hadn't stood up after falling over the chair in his shock at Sam's transformation, stood finally.
"Fine, you can take him out. We'll have to leave him in the cage, and get him away from here before you get him out of it. I'll say that you're taking him to the reservation to preserve the local pack." Charlie said.
Sam laughed, "That's not far from the truth Charlie, we are the local pack."
Charlie glared at the cage, looking into my eyes. "Why didn't any of you tell me?" his eyes penetrated mine, "Why didn't you tell me Jake?"
Sam spoke, "They're under orders not to, so they couldn't. We don't share the information with anyone, only this situation could have convinced me to share it with you. Bella learned of it last year."
As Sam said this the door opened, Emmett was thrown several steps forward as the person behind the door pushed a second time. Emmett turned around surprised, and then his face mellowed to understanding as Edward and Carlisle came in.
Edward walked over to me. Bella who'd been leaning over and crying by me, keeping her hand on my cheek, stood and Edward wrapped his arms around her. She leaned against his chest, but kept her eyes on me. She whispered so Charlie couldn't hear. "Find out if he's in pain Edward." She said to him. He raised an eyebrow at me.
Yeah, I hurt like hell, but if you tell her that, I'll kill you. Just let Bella think my shoulder's a little sore but I don't feel anything else. I thought. Edward grinned, and leaned down towards her ear.
"He's fine love. He says his shoulder is a little sore, but unfortunately he's still got his usual sense of tact." Edward glanced up at me and grinned conspiratorily. I couldn't forgive him for much, but causing me to feel a bond between us was the most unforgivable of all. I huffed again in frustration.
Suddenly I felt something sharp poke me, I yipped, startled. "He has a disalignment of L2, and his left shoulder is dislocated. I can definitely repair his shoulder, and I think I can realign his spine, which should allow Jacobs natural ability to heal to take over. I don't wish to leave him in here, but moving him is going to be a tender procedure." Carlisle looked at Edward, Emmett and Jasper each, separately. He settled on Edward, "Edward, I'm going to need a sedative. I can work here, but I'll definitely need the sedative." Edward ran out, and was back in a few moments, carrying the stereotypical black bag.
I watched as Carlisle pulled out a small bottle of some liquid, and then a syringe. He filled the syringe from the bottle, and then turned towards me.
I looked back at Bella and our eyes met. Her pain was written all over her face. I hummed a little to try to soothe her nerves, and Edward hearing it wrapped his arms around her again. Edward looked at me, "Be well Jake."
Charlie's voice came from my right as I felt the sharp bite of a needle pierce my skin. "Bella, this is all true? Jake really is a...a...wolf?" and then reality dissolved around me as the sedative stole me away.