Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Twilight.

A/N: I started this story almost a year ago, but then I reread Midnight Sun and remembered how Edward talks about Maria visiting the family while they are in Calgary years before. Therefore, a big section of the story had to be rewritten. I struggled with ending it, but I am satisfied with the way this story turned out. I hope you enjoy it.

Visiting Ghosts

Alice was sitting in our room at the family home in Calgary. The whole household had been very peaceful that day. This was why Alice's feelings of anxiety had me running from the living room to our room. I threw open the door and found her sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. "Alice, what is wrong?"

"Nothing really," she answered and I could feel her trying to fake a sense of cheer.

"Alice, I can feel what you are feeling," I said, as I sat down next to her.

"Maria is coming for a visit," she replied. I felt my stomach drop, and if I were human it was possible my heart would have stopped beating.

"I want you out of this house," I said suddenly. "Edward, Emmett, I need you."

"What are you talking about?" she said, and I sensed her feelings of hurt.

"She is dangerous Alice. I don't want you anywhere near her."

"Is that the only reason?" she demanded.

"Of course it is the only reason."

"You had a relationship with her," she spat.

"That was a relationship of convenience. I love you. I don't want her to hurt you…"

Edward cleared his throat from the doorway. I looked up at my brothers, as Edward started to speak. "What is going on?"

"Maria is coming. She is dangerous. Alice, Rosalie and Esme need to go somewhere safe…"

"What?" Alice said and I turned to look at her. "Don't you think that is awfully sexist?"

"Alice please…"

"NO," she shouted. "Jasper this is not 1863. We are vampires and we can take care of ourselves." I could sense the anger and indignation rolling off of her in waves. "The women are not leaving."

"Alice, she would go after you just to hurt me. She knows how much I hated hurting women and she will use all of you to get to me. You should all go."

"I want to meet her. I can take care of myself." I felt like screaming and looked to my brother's for support.

"Alice, Jasper isn't doing this so that he can be alone with Maria," Edward offered. "He really perceives her to be a danger. He needs to know you're protected."

"Well I'm not going anywhere so you may as well just accept it," she said, as she sat down.

"I am stronger than you," I muttered, as I turned again to look at her.

"That only works if you're there to hold me back. She's coming to see you not the house. Anything that you try and tie me down with you know I can break."

"Alice, please don't be difficult."

"Jasper I am not leaving my home. I have a right to be here. You can't make me leave. How do you think she's going to get away with hurting me with seven vampires living in this house?" I considered all the ways she could hurt Alice, some of them were emotional. Edward looked away from us, obviously seeing everything in my thoughts. Alice caught the motion and looked at me even angrier than before. In my mind it was better to have her mad at me, than hurt from anything Maria did, or said.

"There are a lot of ways she could hurt you. I can't stand the thought of it. Could you please just stay away from her?"

"I am not going anywhere Jazz," she muttered.

I growled and Edward and Emmett disappeared to assemble the rest of our family in the dining room. "Alice, can you just do this one thing for me?" I pleaded.

She shook her head. "She is just as much a danger to you and I don't want to be away from you. She is part of your past and the thought of her taking you away from me is unbearable. Just let me stay. Rose and Esme can go if that is what they choose, but I am staying."

"Alice, she won't hurt me. Edward, Emmett and Carlisle can stay. She will not take me away from you."

"She could hurt you by hurting any one of them, it won't necessarily be me."

"She is going to focus on you. You matter most to me. I'm sure she'll know that."

"I am staying," she said forcefully and then she went downstairs to where the rest of our family was waiting. I followed after her, feeling absolutely sick at the prospect of Alice and Maria facing off.

I explained the situation to my family. Everyone said they were staying, all ignoring the string of expletives I released. I hated the thought of Alice staying, but I felt safer knowing that at least Maria couldn't physically hurt her with everyone else here.

The day she was going to arrive, everyone was on edge. We were all sitting around waiting. Alice was sketching in a book but I could feel that she was the most nervous.

The knock at the door was deafening, as it if were the warning sound of my impending doom. Carlisle stood to answer it, Esme only a step behind him. "Hello," he said, keeping his tone as calm as possible.

"Hello. I am looking for Jasper Whitlock," she said, her eyes searching the room and landing on me. "Oh Jasper, it's been too long," she trilled, as she stepped inside. I stood to greet my old partner and Alice stood with me.

"Maria, this is my wife Alice."

"You have a mate Jasper. That is so sweet," she replied condescendingly. "You have quite the coven here," she said, her eyes sweeping around the room and taking in Edward, Rosalie and Emmett.

"Yes, we consider ourselves a family."

"A family? How adorable." I could sense her feelings of malice and I stepped in front of Alice to protect her.

"Has Jasper told you anything about me?" she addressed Alice.

"Yes, he told me of your past," Alice replied, her little tone sounding no where near as threatening as she wanted it to.

"We were together for a long time, him and I. I couldn't have done what I had without him. I missed you when you left."

"That's too bad Maria. I can't say the feeling was mutual."

"Come now Jasper, our time together wasn't all bad," she crooned. I could sense Alice's feeling of discomfort and wanted to knock Maria's teeth out. I knew Carlisle would not like it, but Emmett sure would.

"There wasn't a whole lot of good about it either. Why are you here Maria?"

"Can't an old friend stop by?"

"What is it that you want?"

"Why is it you think I was motivated by anything other seeing you again?"

"You are always motivated by something Maria. That was the reason you changed me after all."

"You know we made a great team. Do you ever consider returning to our old life?" I heard Alice's intake of breath when Maria had said "Our" and once again I felt like hitting her.

"No Maria, I don't have any desire to return to that."

"That's a shame. You were a lot of fun. Especially when you weren't guarding the newborns." I knew exactly what she meant by that, as did Edward who was reading her thoughts and Alice could decipher the meaning just as easily. It wasn't as if Alice didn't know I had had a relationship with Maria, but before this it was just an abstract thought about my past, now Maria was making it real.

"Well I still say no to your offer. If that's all you wanted I guess you should be on your way."

"Jasper, I came all this way to see you. Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"We're not friends Maria. We were partners once, but I left because I don't want any part of your life."

"Remember that one night in the hammock?" she started asking. Unfortunately my memories as a vampire were all perfectly intact and I knew exactly what she was talking about. I would not admit that to her though. I didn't need to give her any more ammo to hurt Alice with.

"No I don't recall it. If that is all you came for than you may as well get going. Emmett here can escort you out," I said, as Emmett stepped forward menacingly. She took a moment to take Emmett in and then turned back to me.

"That time was my favourite," she sighed. "That was the time you…" Rosalie hissed.

"ENOUGH," I spat viciously. "Emmett please take her out."

"I'll go Jasper. Just remember, I can provide for you so much power and access to human blood. You would never be without it."

"Just go," I growled. She finally walked to the door then. I turned around to look at my wife and the look of hurt in her eyes made me feel like the worst person in the world. She backed away and ran up the stairs. It was like watching the sun set on my life, as my world ran from the room.

As I started to go after her, I saw the looks of sympathy my family members were giving me. None of them really knew what to say; instead they just looked at me with pity in their eyes. Esme opened her mouth to speak but I had run out of the room too fast to hear what she had to say.

I opened the door to our room and found it empty. I could smell Alice's presence though and I followed her scent to the closet door. I slid it open to reveal her sitting on the floor with her arms around her knees. Seeing her in this position broke my heart. She looked so little. I momentarily wondered if she had spent a lot of time in this position when she was a human girl. Knowing that I was the reason she looked like this made me feel completely sick.

"Alice, I really wish you hadn't heard that."

"It's my fault for staying. I'm being silly Jazz. I knew you had a past with her."

"No Alice, you're being human." For a moment we both smiled at the joke of that statement. "Just because you knew about it doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt to hear about it. However, Maria was just a part of my past. You are my everything. I hated my life when I was with her. I would have rather had no existence. You gave me a reason to live; a reason to hope. My life began when I met you."

"I love you Jasper," she said, as I extended my hand to help her up.

"I love you too Alice. Forever and always."

She smiled and I pulled her closer to me, needing to feel her in my arms and know that she was still mine. She laid her head against my chest and sighed in contentment. I could feel her calm energy wash over me. She was no longer hurt because she knew that I was still hers and Maria could never take me away from her. My past could never pull me from our future.

After embracing my wife for a few minutes, I heard a gentle knock on the door. "What?" I demanded from the intruder.

"Jazz, we have to talk about something important," Edward said, from the other side of the door. Nothing was more important to me now than holding my wife. However, something told me to give Edward a chance to explain.

"What's going on?"

"Can you come back downstairs?" he asked. I growled and Alice giggled. I looked down at her smiling face and felt mildly less agitated.

"Yes, we will be there in a minute," I said, before leaning down and kissing my wife until I felt her knees go weak. "Promise me, we can continue this later."

"You have eternity to continue this," she trilled, before kissing me back equally as passionately. For a moment I forgot about my agreement to Edward and considered all of the things I could do with Alice in that second.

"We should get down there," she whispered. I growled playfully and she smiled again, before tugging my hand to follow after her.

"Yes Edward?" I asked, as I came into the room.

"Maria left really angry. She wanted you to return and she has an idea of how to do it."

"How come I didn't see anything?" Alice asked.

"She hasn't made any concrete decisions. All she knows is that somehow she intends to use human blood to tempt you."

"She is going to spill a lot of blood. She always does," I sighed.

"You should hunt," Edward suggested.

"Can't we stop her?" Carlisle asked.

"I can try and take her down, but I doubt she came alone."

"Jasper no," Alice exclaimed.

"None of you are trained to fight newborns. You wouldn't survive and I don't have time to teach you."

"Jasper you can't go."

"I have to Alice. I have to talk to her. This has to end now."

"What if she kills people right in front of you? You aren't strong enough to abstain. She knows that," Edward replied.

"I can't involve you all. You won't survive."

"How can you survive?" Emmett demanded. "You need our help."

"No I don't. I just need to fight enough that she realizes she won't win and takes off running. If any of you are involved I will be distracted. Besides she isn't going to want to hurt me. You all need to stay together in case she intends to attack here."

"Dammit Jasper. You don't have to be so independent all of the time," Emmett roared.

"Emmett you aren't as strong as a newborn and you don't know how to fight one. I have to go and stop her, now." As I turned to leave Alice grabbed my shirt and pulled back. I felt like the biggest jerk in the world as I pulled forward and let her rip it off of me. Then I started running.

"JASPER," she yelled after me. I wasn't far enough that I couldn't hear the sob she released in defeat. I knew one of my brothers would hold her back. They wouldn't let her follow me blindly. I followed Maria's scent and kept running until I knew I was close.

"Hello Jasper," she said, as I stepped into a clearing where she was waiting for me. Two humans were on the ground struggling and two newborn vampires stood on either side of her. "I knew you'd change your mind."

"What's in it for me?" I asked, as I took a step towards her.

"These two humans are yours if you return with me." She grabbed the wrist of one of them and pulled a knife out of her pocket.

"Wait," I exclaimed, trying not to make eye contact with the victims. "I want more than that. I need an assurance that you will stay away from my family."

"Oh Jasper, as long as you are with me I won't bother your precious Alice. Otherwise I can't make that same promise."

"Then let's go," I offered. She looked at me curiously.

"What about your mate? Don't you want her to come?"

"She's not a part of our life," I said, making eye contact with Maria. I felt Alice's flash of pain before my family appeared in the clearing we were in. As much as Alice's pain had unleashed a fire of agony through me, I kept my face a serene mask.

"Doesn't look like she's willing to leave you," Maria said with a laugh.

"You need to leave," I said to my family. In my thoughts I begged Edward to get them all out of here. I couldn't fight off what she was doing if they were here. He shook his head and I bit back a curse.

"Jasper you could always bring them along," she said, her voice tainted with amusement.

"It's not necessary. I will return with you and they will stay here."

Alice growled. "I don't know Jasper. This little one could be feisty," she said, as she took a step toward Alice.

"Stay away from her," I snarled.

"Relax Jasper. I won't hurt her," she said, stepping towards my wife. As soon as I took a step towards her two newborns had me down on the ground. I fought them off, knowing exactly how to fight them after all these years.

"Jasper, do not kill them," she commanded. I ripped the head clean off one and went for the other. This was the side of my life I never wanted my family to witness, as I went absolutely savage on the two men. I could feel Alice's fear and I wondered if she would fear me forever. That was like taking a dagger to my still and silent heart.

"Jasper stop," Maria commanded.

I ignored her again and so she did the only thing she knew would stop me. She sliced the wrist of one of the humans in front of me. The scent of blood took hold of me and I wasn't aware of anything but the burn searing down my throat.

"How long has it been?" Maria asked.

"Jasper don't," my family called towards me. I vaguely thought I heard one of them approaching me. I couldn't focus on it. I needed to stop the burn.

Then I felt Alice's absolute panic, and pain, and worry, and hurt. A slight wind shifted the scent away from me and for that brief second I cleared my head. It was in that moment that Maria had jumped onto my back, her teeth inches from my throat. It was a stupid move on her part, as I reached back and flung her over my shoulder. She landed on her back and I held her down onto the ground, my knee on her stomach. "After all these years you still underestimate me," I said as she hissed against my hands.

"Does your mate know how you like it rough?" she asked. "She doesn't look like she could deliver. Did you tell her how you liked me to do it?"

"That was because I never cared about you," I whispered coldly. I felt her shot of hurt, which surprised me considering she had never seemed to care too much for me either.

Carlisle was behind me trying to fix the young woman's wounds and I felt Alice's hands slide onto my back. "If I let you up, will you leave in peace, or should I just kill you now?" I asked, as I loosened some of the tension.

"What happened to you Jasper? This life has made you soft."

"I'm just no longer a monster," I said, as I loosened my grip a little more.

"Fine, I'll leave. Let me up."

"I won't hesitate to take you back down if you attempt anything. You don't have the protection of your newborns Maria and in the time it will take you train more I have the capacity to do the same."

She nodded solemnly and I released my grip on her. She stood up and when her eyes met mine I saw sadness in them. "I'll be going now Jasper, but if you're ever near Texas feel free to stop by."

"I won't be going back Maria." She nodded once and turned to leave. The rest of my family said nothing until Maria was long gone.

"Are you okay Jasper?" Alice asked.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry you all had to be exposed to that."

"That doesn't matter. We just want to ensure you're okay," Esme said, visually scanning me for signs of injury.

"You're not afraid of me?" I asked.

"Why would we be?" Emmett asked, looking at me like I was an idiot.

"You just saw me rip two vampires to shreds and then take down my old coven leader."

"What we saw Jasper was someone who was brave enough to take on three vampires alone in order to protect his family," Carlisle offered.

Suddenly I paid closer attention to the emotions swirling around me, pride, love, awe, excitement, and concern. It was the first time I felt that I was truly a part of the family. No one feared me. I actually belonged with them, not because I was tied to Alice, but because they actually cared about me. "Took you long enough to figure it out," Edward said, clapping his hand down on my back.

"Figure what out?" Emmett asked, looking between the two of us. "Aww, don't tell me you two are going to start having silent conversations too. It's annoying enough with the other two."

"Come on Emmett, I'll race you home," Rosalie offered, recognizing my need to be alone with Alice. I nodded my thanks at her and when she smiled tentatively I knew she understood. The rest of my family took her cue, except for Carlisle who was still helping the victims.

"We are going to have to move tonight," Esme said. "Come on Edward, we better start packing."

Carlisle had taken the bleeding victim home with him to stitch her up, and the other one had run off in terror. Alice looked at me once we were alone and smiled. "So you really aren't scared of me?" I asked.

"The only thing I'm scared of is losing you. I know what you did in your past, and I know what you are capable of, but I also know that you would never hurt me. Jasper you need to trust my love for you."

"I trust you, but trusting your love for me is difficult, when I don't believe I deserve it."

"I will spend every day of forever proving to you that you do. I've wanted nothing more in this world than you. You are everything to me Jasper. That will never change."

I kissed her then and shared with her the emotions I could never find the words to express. We spent the rest of the evening in the woods together, allowing our family to do all of the packing. We would be moving by nightfall. We always did. Although this was the first time it wasn't really my fault.