A/N Hey This is my first real attempt at fanfic, any feedback / genuine critique is appreciated! =]
Plus the obvious, I don't own any of the characters etc - just borrowing them for a while!

A Familiar Hand

Alice looked out the diner window and swallowed a sigh. She was not going to start feeling sorry for herself. Her vision hadn't changed, he was going to come here and she was going to be waiting. The waitress came round with a fresh pot of coffee; "No show again love? Are you sure this fella's worth it?"

Alice just smiled patiently at the woman, "I've got a good feeling about today!"

Jasper glared at the storm as he stalked down the street, trying to use all his emotions to somehow manipulate the weather. He knew it didn't work, but it didn't stop him trying, he hated being so exposed in the day, in the city and so thirsty. A small diner caught his eye and he ducked inside.

"Ding…"

As the bell above the door chimed, Alice caught a scent that intoxicated her. He'd arrived, finally. She hopped off her stool and skipped smiling towards him, slowing only as she saw his blackened eyes and defensive stance. She kept smiling though and stopped a few feet in front on him, "You've kept me waiting a long time."

Jasper felt an abundance of emotions he couldn't understand emanating from this small, pixie-like vampire and stuttered, "I'm….sorry ma'am".

Alice held out her hand as she'd seen herself do so many times before and needlessly held her breath. Jasper stared at the small hand being offered to him and let the emotions rolling off the female in front of him wash over him. It was better than being basked in sunlight, her entire being seemed to be happy, playful, calming and hopeful. Without thinking he claimed her tiny hand in his own and allowed her to lead him to a booth at the back of the diner.

Jasper took a seat opposite Alice and was stunned by how much he was affected just by her letting go of his hand. He wasn't accustomed to feeling vulnerable and he certainly wasn't used to the sheer amount of unusual emotions radiating from the woman opposite. He took time to take in her extraordinary appearance; her short scruffy black hair, her delicate frame -though he knew he could never underestimate another vampire no matter what the size, and her beautiful golden eyes. Alice watched Jasper as looked at her, she could feel him analysing her and suddenly felt nervous. What if he didn't feel the way she'd seen? By now Alice realised that her visions were subjective and could change as easily as the weather. She had staked her whole existence on the man before her, but who was she to ask the same of him?

Jasper was pulled out of his mental catalogue of Alice by a sudden sense of nervousness and a touch of despair. He looked up and caught her eyes, trying to extract from them any knowledge about her.

"Coffee?"

Both looked up at the waitress, shocked that they had been so engrossed in each other, neither had noticed her heading for their table.

"No.."

"Yes please, that would be lovely."

The waitress raised an eyebrow at Alice who smiled so innocently and radiantly back that Jasper wanted to laugh. That was a shock to him, he hadn't known he even possessed the ability to laugh. Who was this stranger?

"I'm Alice", she said as soon as the human had left, "Never hurts to accept a coffee. I know you have a lot of questions and I will try and answer them as best I can. And in the order you've decided to ask them if you like?" She winked and it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. She giggled, "Well that's a start Jasper, I was afraid that maybe you were going to stick with the poker face." He felt the edges of his mouth want to curl up and bit his lip, nodding at Alice to continue.

"Ok, so….well, here goes. I wonder where I should start, of course the beginning, but who's I wonder, mine or yours or ours or…" Alice gasped and grabbed her chest and Jasper grabbed her left hand that still lay on the table,

"Alice? Alice, what's happening?" Jasper was confused by his sudden and overwhelming concern for this creature he had met less that an hour ago but something deep within him knew that he never wanted to see her face contort in pain, ever.

"I don't know, I just….it was like I'd just had the biggest shock of my life! If I was human I'd swear I'd just had a heart attack." She gave him an impish grin and entwined their fingers. Jasper growled realising what had happened.

"It was me," Alice stared, "Well, I have this, I guess you could call it an extra ability." Jasper wasn't quite sure why he felt so comfortable telling Alice something he had never told anyone before but there was something in the way she looked at him that made him feel at peace. "I can sense emotions, control them too to an extent. Problem is if I loose control of my emotions they seem to fly off everywhere."

Alice never broke eye contact but her eyes turned mischievous as she replied "So that shock was you? Your shock at what I said? Wow! That was intense!"

Jasper couldn't disagree, however there was no need to inform her that the shock was mainly due to the use of the word 'our' in Alice's start. How could he have a future with someone like her, someone made with pure light even if she was a damned creature?

"It won't happen again, I promise ma'am."

Alice squeezed Jasper's fingers, "I dunno, I do like to shock…" She grinned and it took all Jasper's effort not to grin back. "And please, call me Alice."

"Ok Alice, please continue."

"You're not the only one with an extra ability Jasper. I have visions, visions of the future, its how I am what I am, its how I found you. When I, I guess you could call it 'woke up' I was alone," Jasper tightened his grip on Alice's hand, what sort of vampire would do that? Turn someone then leave them?

Alice smiled at his gesture and continued, "It was dark and I was cold, I couldn't feel anything but burning pain and hunger. I tried to remember, to understand what was happening, what had happened, but nothing. I followed my instincts, I hunted and what else was there to hunt but humans? But that first day while I huddled in an abandoned warehouse I had my first vision. It was you of course, I didn't know what it meant except that I had to find you and that became my mission." Jasper nodded for her to continue. "After a while I realised that I could never find you that way, my visions only show me what's happening while that person is on that course and you Jazz, changed your mind so often I was beginning to wonder would you ever come looking for me?" She laughed a sweet, melodic laugh. "Of course you will say that you weren't looking for me at all but we both know better. Anyway, once I had decided to wait for you to come to me, the next part of our path became clear." Jasper started, there was that word again, 'our'.

Alice smiled, "Of course 'our', silly Jasper. Do you think I waited all this time for you to go my own way? No. We are going to our family – they don't know that's what they are yet but they are a special coven, different from vampires you know. It's the eyes that give it away. The golden colour comes from the animal blood, something to do with fluorescence."

Jasper stared incredulously at Alice, "Animal? Is that even, I mean…does it stop it?" "The hunger? No, not entirely, but it fills you up and keeps you strong even if its not wholly satisfying. I think my favourite is lynx at the moment but I haven't tried everything yet." She smiled her patient smile as Jasper processed everything she'd said. She had known he would be like this, quiet, pensive, thinking through every possibility before arriving at a hard-won decision. It was inevitable he be her opposite, the emotional calm to her overactive buoyancy, the responsibility to her spontaneity, the inner strength that had pulled her through her newborn years, her perfect other half. Though their path together was still up to him, she knew how desolate it would be without him especially now that they had met, but she also knew this was too important to influence but letting him know. The decision had to be his, made on his feelings today and not on the potential of a dozen possible futures.

Jasper was going through his mental list of pro's and con's; pro – to be in Alice's company for even a day longer would be amazing, the emotional warmth that he felt envelop him just by being in the same room as her, con – she did seem a little nuts, was it natural for a vampire to be so happy, was it allowed? Pro – to not have to hunt humans, to not have to feel their final emotions as he drained them of their blood, con – animal blood? And what if he couldn't do it? 100 years of instant gratification wasn't going to make it easy to kick the habit. And so it went on, for every pro he found a con to go with it. Alice sat patiently, though not without sympathy for the struggle Jasper was feeling. Though his face remained impassive, Alice could see his eyes moving so quickly a human would not even notice. She caressed his fingers, raising their intertwined left hands from the table so that she could inspect them. Jasper looked at her but she appeared not to notice and he shut his eyes to concentrate. Alice turned his hand over between hers, memorising every line, every crease, she took note of how her hand fit perfectly into his and how secure it felt there. Jasper had stopped his pro and con list as soon as Alice had moved his hand. He sat with his eyes shut letting her emotions wash over him, he began to think for the first time that this might not be a decision he could argue with logic. When she kissed the scar on his wrist Jasper's eyes snapped open and he snatched his arm back with a hiss. He was then assaulted with Alice's regret and disappointment, but still warmth. He looked at her confused.

"I'm sorry Jasper, I didn't mean to, I just wished I could make it go away for you."

"You're not scared?"

"Why would I be?"

"I could have hurt you, I could have…what if I'd lost control?"

"Jasper I know you wouldn't hurt me!" She sounded so sure of herself Jasper was stunned.

"How do you know that? I don't even know it myself?"

Alice smiled sadly, "I think you do, you just cant see it."

She stood up from the table and kissed Jasper gently on the forehead before heading to the till to pay for the coffees. The cold, still full cups of coffee that were sitting on their table. Jasper turned in his seat to stare at the girl walking away from him. He tried to make a hasty top ten of pro's and con's as she waited for the waitress to take her money. He tried to rationalise one way or the other, to go with her or not, he was annoyed that he felt so unsure, like in one meeting she had managed to release all these emotions he never knew he had and that he certainly wasn't ready for. And then Jasper smiled, as he realised that this was never a question of rationality, of responsible decisions, it was a choice of whether to trust his emotions or not. As Alice walked out the door Jasper ran after her, painstakingly slow so as not to alert the rest of the diners he only hoped that she was moving at the same snail pace. He didn't have to worry, as he stepped outside the door a familiar hand was extended to him with a bright, triumphant smile and Jasper clasped it, returning a smile or as near to one as he could get at the moment.