Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Twilight!

Leah knew that she should have probably been listening to Jane as she ranted, but she was bored, tired, and worried about her brother. She could see the blonde's lips moving, but when she tried to make out what she was saying, it was like Jane had suddenly morphed into the teacher from the old Charlie Brown cartoons. So she just nodded and smiled whenever she thought it was appropriate until Jane finally slapped her hands together in front of Leah's face, causing the teen girl to jump so hard she almost fell over completely.

"Are you even listening to me?" Jane snapped, narrowing her eyes.

The teen girl shrugged and decided to tell the truth, knowing it would piss Jane off. "I'm trying really hard not to, actually."

The blonde smirked as she closed Leah Clearwater's file. It wasn't like she was new to the case. She had been dealing with the girl since she was eleven, and she got worse with each passing year. "You really don't care what happens to you, do you? Do you have any idea, even an inkling, what kinds of shit I had to go through in order to keep you out of a juvenile detention center? You're not a child anymore, Leah, and pretty soon I won't be able to help you. What good do you think you'll be to your brother if you wind up in prison before you're twenty-one?"

"I'll only go to prison if I get caught, and that won't happen," she replied, looking at her nails for lack of anything better to do. "It was just a fluke this time. I let my guard down, but I assure you it won't happen again. Now, are you going to lecture me all fucking night long, or can we get on with this shit? Just tell me what weird family I'm going too, what I need to watch out for, and where my brother is. The sooner I'm settled, the sooner I can start planning my escape."

"Escaping may be harder this time around," Jane told her, knowing Leah wasn't going to be thrilled with her next statement. "I'm doing this for your own good, and I hope you'll try to remember that when you're fighting the urge to kill me. I care about you, Leah, and I care about Seth. I know what the two of you have been through, but you need to straighten out your life. You won't be going to a regular foster home, or a group home. I'm sending you to a Level Fourteen Detention Center that's run by a friend of mine. I told him all about you, and he thinks that he'll be able to help. He's been where you are, Leah and I feel you have a lot to learn from him. His name is Jasper Hale, and he'll be here shortly to pick you up. As for Seth, I can't tell you where is being sent until the paperwork has been filed. I can,however, assure you that he's safe, and as soon as everything has been handled, I'll make sure you are taken to see your brother."

"You have to be fucking kidding me!" The Native American teen curled her hands – shaking with rage – into fists and pressed them against her knees to keep from punching something or someone and getting in even more trouble. "A Level Fourteen Detention Center, are youserious?! Those places are for kids who light their parents on fire or have entire conversations with the voices in their heads! I know I've fucked up some, but I'm nowhere near bad enough go to one of those places. There has to be somewhere else I can go,anywhere Jane, please."

The social worker shook her head. "This is the best place for you right now. If I didn't think it could do you some good, I wouldn't be sending you there, but the fact of the matter is that I do think it'll be good for you. Jasper's a good man and he has great success in rehabilitating troubled teens. I think that you'll end up thanking me for this, eventually. It's better you go to this center now than end up in prison in a year or so."

"Whatever," Leah muttered crossing her arms and flopping back in her seat.

She was pissed for obvious reasons, but it wasn't like she could do anything to change the situation. She would settle for ignoring Jane until this Jupiter guy – or whatever his fucking name was – showed up. He was probably some forty-year-old dude with a beer gut and bald head who had a thing for teen girls – maybe he was that guy who hit on Leah the other day. Leah had met men like that before. They would pretend to give a shit when all they wanted was a nice piece of ass. Prison was actually looking like the better option in her mind. At least if she went to prison, she would know what she was dealing with. Maybe she should murder Jane, just to ensure a trip to prison instead of the Detention Center, but then again, if she went to prison, she would be unable to take care of Seth. It looked like she would have to deal with this new development as best she could in order to make sure that she'd get to her brother as soon as possible.


Jasper Hale was running late and he knew it. He'd had so much to deal with that day, and his younger sister Rosalie was making things any easier. She had not been happy to learn that she would have to share her room. Usually, she had a room to herself, but because her brother thought himself to be some sort of hero to the street kids of the world, he'd taken in another 'stray', as she liked to call them, even though the group home was full. Jasper had a thing for trying to save the underdogs, and when Jane had sent him a file on one Leah Clearwater, his hero complex had set in right away. He was determined to help this girl, and because of that, Rosalie had to give up some of her privacy. Sometimes having a big brother who cared about everyone could be a pain in the ass.

By the time the Southern male finally made it to DHS, he was about forty minutes late. He ran into the building, his honey colored curls bouncing with each step he took, and had no trouble coming across Jane and a Native-American girl who was seventeen. "Jane, I'm sorry so I'm late. This must be Leah Clearwater, I've heard so much about you. Are you about ready to go? We've got a lot to do today and not a whole lot of time to do. I'm Jasper, but I'm sure Jane had already told you that."

Leah raised an eyebrow at his small ramble before she stood up, nodded once at Jane, and headed towards the door. She didn't want to talk, and so she didn't. All she wanted was to get the hell out of there, get some food, and then get some sleep. A part of her was annoyed that she had been wrong about this Jasper dude being an old, ugly geezer. He was actually the opposite – he was actually pretty hot, if she was being honest – and if he hadn't been a part of the enemy trying to keep her from her brother, she might have a move on him.

After opening the car door for Leah and getting in the driver's side, Jasper decided that it would probably be a good idea to try and start a conversation, break the ice. "So are you hungry? We could stop somewhere to get something to eat if you want."

Keeping her gaze out the window, Leah answered him in a tone that made it clear she didn't want to talk. "I'm perfectly capable of getting my own food. I don't need or want handouts, especially from you. I know your game and I'm not interested in playing. Just keep your mouth shut and leave me alone."

Jasper sighed and glanced her way. She was only making this harder by being stubborn. "You know that's something I can't do. I know how you feel, trust me, and I understand why you're trying to keep me at arm's length; you've been hurt before and you don't want to risk it happening again. I won't push you, darlin', but I'm not going to give up either, so you may as well get used to me because I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Leah smirked and turned to look at him for a moment. "You say that now, but you're gonna end up just like everyone else. They all say that they're in it for the long haul, but they never make it for more than a couple of months at the most. Go ahead, take a shot, but it'll be fun for me to watch you miss. Since you mentioned food, I think I'll take you up on your offer. I want a bacon-cheese burger, no, wait, make that two, along with fries and a shake. Maybe if you feed me, I'll think about giving you the benefit of the doubt."

"It is a start, I guess," he told her, making a U-turn and heading to one of his favorite diners."If you're willing to talk during our meal, I might be persuaded to get you some pie for dessert."

TBC…