"What have you gone and done, Whitlock? You are seriously up shit creek now. Carlisle is going to kill you. Fuck!"

The youth rubbed his forehead as he paced in the little clearing that he and Alice had laid claim to as their own private little hide-a-way. He had hoped that being in this relaxing friendly place would have helped calm him down, but it appeared to be having the opposite effect. Jasper was just as agitated as ever and he was swiftly running out of options.

"Stop it. Just stop. You know that Carlisle would never destroy you. He'll be a far cry from happy, but the worst that he would do is whip your sorry ass. It's not like you didn't know you already had that coming after that little scene you pulled. What in the hell were you thinking? You know better than to act like that. What's wrong with you? This isn't the first time one of these stupid kids at school did something to piss you off, so why did you have to fly off the handle like that this time? Because you haven't got the sense God gave a billy goat; that's why."

Jasper ran his hands through his tangled blonde locks and shook his head sadly.

"At least I didn't hurt him. I had to have had some control since I didn't clobber him into the next century. Hopefully that will be worth something in Carlisle's eyes. I mean it really could have been worse."

Sinking down to the ground at the base of a tree, the soldier propped his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands as he sighed.

"It is worse. You just had to go and make things even worse by running away, didn't you? Carlisle isn't going to take kindly to that, but I had to get out of there. I'm not really running away from my just desserts. Doesn't take a genius to know what I have coming when I get home, but I will go home and face it. I just couldn't deal with it right then. I had to get out of there before I screwed up more. Surely he'll understand. Well, that is as long as he gives me a chance to explain."

Jasper huffed as he violently shook the thought from his head.

"What are you talking about? This is Carlisle. Of course he'll let you explain. He'll let you explain ... and then he'll tear your tail up. I mean, hell, it's not like you were exactly respectful towards his mate and you sure as hell weren't being respectful to the school authority. You hit a teacher. Accident or not, you already know that there is no excuse that would be good enough to let that be a wash. Damn it, Whitlock. You're supposed to be smart, but a body don't get much dumber than this."

Jasper let out a long low groan before knocking the back of his head against the thick loose bark that encased the trunk of the towering pine sending fragments raining down around him.

"It will all be alright, Jazzy."

Opening his eyes, the boy spotted his pixie-ish mate standing a few feet away carefully watching him with concern reflecting in her amber eyes. He could feel her disappointment, but she was trying to be supportive just the same. His sweet Alice. What would he ever do without her? If everything else crumbled around him, he knew that she would still be right there by his side until the bitter end. Their love was truly eternal. He would do anything for her and there was no doubt that she would do the same for him. This right here sure proves...

Suddenly his brow furrowed as a disturbing thought interrupted his thoughts.

"Alice, what are you doing? You shouldn't be out here. You're supposed to be in class. I think one of us in trouble is already one too many. You need to get back to school before you get caught."

Drifting over to her anxious mate, Alice knelt next to him and cupped her slender fingers against his cheek.

"It will be fine. It's not like I could let you sit out here and brood all alone. I needed to check on you and make sure that you were alright. We're just having a bio lab anyway so that's no big deal. No one will miss me. I'll be able to slip back in easily enough. You, on the other hand, need to get home right away," she offered a little more forcefully.

"Right now you're in trouble with Momma, but if you don't keep her waiting it will end there. She won't say anything because she doesn't want to see you end up in trouble with Daddy. You'll see. You have to get home soon though or that might change. The longer you make her wait the more likely it is that she'll have a change of heart because she won't feel that you respect her enough to listen. Esme really wants to keep this just between the two of you, but you need to show her that you respect her authority, Jazzy."

Jasper lightly caught his mate's hand and brought it to his lips. After kissing her gently, he shook his head as he cleared his throat.

"It's too late for that, Alice. I seriously made a mess of things this time. I showed my ass to Momma and Greene and then I up and ran off. There's no way I'm getting out of this one without a trip to Papa's study. Believe me, I've been sitting here trying to think of something that I can do to make it not quite as bad."

The soldier turned his face away from his mate so she wouldn't see the humiliation in his eyes.

"I don't know what got into me. I took the coward's path when Momma threatened to soap my mouth at school. I know how wrong that was, but I just couldn't stand to be saddled with that sort of humiliation. Now it's for certain that Papa will see to it..."

"There wouldn't have been anyone around, Jazzy."

The Major raised a questioning brow as he watched his pixie pull slightly away. "What?"

"It was during classes so there wouldn't have been anyone around to witness Momma washing your mouth out. She would never intentionally humiliate you. She never planned on doing that in the first place. Momma thought that the threat alone was going to be enough to prevent you from acting up, but then you got a little too upset and she knew that she would have to follow through. Even so, she would have made sure that there was no one anywhere near the bathroom at the time. She would never hurt you like that."

Jasper closed his eyes and mentally berated himself. He knew Esme and if he had only thought about it before reacting, he could have figured that out for himself. Of course she wouldn't embarrass him. She wasn't like that at all. Gawd! Ah made a mountain outta molehill fer no damn good reason.

Breathing deeply, he held his breath for a moment before slowly exhaling as he studied the ground around him before he muttered quietly."I deserved that soapin' and everything that should have come with it."

"You need to tell that to Momma."

"I don't know. I think I have a better idea."

An image flickered in Alice's mind causing her to smile and giggle softly.

"I don't know how she would still be able to go through with it after that, but she will. You know that, right?"

"I suspected as much." Jasper glanced up at Alice shyly as he offered her a faint smile.

Kissing her mate's cheek, the pixie quickly found her feet and pulled him up onto his.

"I need to get back to class before I miss it completely and you go get yourself home, mister. You and Momma will be okay and everything will be over with by the time we get home from school just as long as you hurry. You really don't want Emmy walking in on you."

Jasper snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I know that is a fact even without the help of your second sight. I'll make a quick stop at the store and then head straight home after."

"Promise?"

The blonde haired boy gave his mate a half smile. "Yes, ma'am. I promise."

"That's great, Jazzy. This will be so much better. I'll see you at home."

Alice hugged him tight before slipping from his arms to vanish in a flash leaving Jasper alone with his thoughts once again.

"This is just gonna suck like a Hoover. Still, Esme is the preferred choice over Carlisle right now. A crossed Momma bear aint nothin' pretty, but it's better to face the music and get it over with anyway. Suck it up, Whitlock. Aint like ya haven't been put in check by a female before. Aint pleasant, but at least ya know that with this one, your survival is guaranteed."

With his head low, Jasper made his way out of the forest and headed towards the little drug store at the edge of town.

Easily finding what he needed, the boy quickly made his purchase before he could lose his nerve then slowly headed towards home and the certainty of a most difficult afternoon that awaited him there.

Alice slipped quietly through the main doors of the school and stopped as she scanned the halls to make sure that the coast was clear. So far, so good.

After her last unscheduled absence, Carlisle had warned her of what would happen should she chance being truant again. That was something that Alice most certainly was not looking forward to. With their necessary sun induced absences, the patriarch didn't take kindly to his children skipping classes of their own accord at other times. He hadn't even acknowledged the importance of the major clearance sale that his little sprite of a daughter simply could not pass up. Apparently that hadn't been a good enough reason for her to take off and go into Port Angeles on the day of her Economic Mid-term exam. Even her explanation of how she was immersing herself in the subject had fallen on deaf ears.

Alice knew that she had managed to dodge a bullet that time, but it had still seemed harsh of Carlisle to take her credit cards away for an entire month. With a shudder the girl sighed at the terrible memory. Sometimes Daddy can be a real fuddy-duddy when it comes to understanding what things are really important.

Now checking on Jasper was even more important than any new clothes or shoe sale. Alice knew that Carlisle would realize that and it could work in her favor, but then he would know what her mate had gotten himself into and that would never do.

Nope. If Esme could keep this quiet then so could she and the first step in sticking with that plan was getting back to her class undetected.

Keeping alert to the sounds and scents of the humans behind the closed doors, Alice lightly padded along the hallways until she reached the science wing. There had been no one wandering the halls so with her classroom in sight, the pixie breathed a little sigh of relief seconds before a familiar scent tickled her nose.

Instinctively, the young woman's golden eyes darkened and narrowed while a deep growl of anger rumbled in her chest.

Lured by the scent trail, Alice stopped at the Chem lab door and listened intently to the students chattering away within.

"Bradley, Dude, you are the man. I can't believe Greene let you off with just detention."

"What did you expect him to do? All he had on me was fighting and that was really self defense. It was Hale who got up in my face after breaking my headlight. That thug was the one who started it all so he was the one to blame, not me.

You should have seen that dope whining like a bitch about his bike. Like his doctor dad doesn't have the funds to fix it up for him. He thought that I was going to feel sorry for his privileged ass and get that piece of junk worked on or something. As if. I don't even think that I hit it. Probably was already fucked up and he just tossed it under my truck thinking that my insurance was going to pay for the repairs. Like I'm going to have my rates go up because of that shit.

Shouldn't even have it here. The parking lot is for cars not some lame ass dirt bike. He needs to keep that piece of fiberglass crap out in the woods where it belongs. Let him ride in his brother's jeep since he's too much of a pussy to get a car of his own."

"I don't know, Bradley," a different male voice spoke up. "I heard that he nearly took you down."

"Oh, please. Like I couldn't whip his scrawny ass? He's just lucky that Mrs Riley showed up when she did or I would have bloodied him up good. Hale couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag."

"That's not the story that's going around."

"Then the story is all wrong. I nailed that punk with a couple of good rights and had him stumbling all over himself. Since he knew that he couldn't take me in a clean fight, he tried to catch me with a sucker punch while my back was turned. That was when Mrs. Riley stepped in between us and he slugged her instead. He's in some deep shit now. After that I'll be surprised if they even let him come back to this school. Probably put him in some correctional institute unless his daddy pulls him out and ships his ass off to military school.

Yeah, that's what Hale needs. Maybe some military discipline will teach him his place though with foster punk kids like that it's often hopeless. There's always a reason that they aren't with their real family. Troubled is what they call them and he certainly fits the bill."

"I always thought he was pretty nice," a soft feminine voice offered. "Just keeps to himself most of the time. Kinda quiet."

"That's because he's anti-social, Lisa. Sociopath or worse. Probably a psycho just waiting to go off."

The door to the classroom flew open as Alice barged her way inside.

"Liar! Bradley DeYoung, you take that back! Take it all back right now! You've gotten Jasper into trouble. He made a mistake, but you are just as much to blame since you ran over his jet bike and started all of this."

"I'm not taking anything back. Just because he's your boyfriend, brother or whatever sick perverted thing it is that the two of you have going on..."

The normally easy going pixie leaped up on the lab table and kicked the boy in his chest sending him sprawling onto the floor.

The boy jumped back to his feet and struck out at the dark haired girl as she hopped down next to him and dealt a stinging slap to his face.

"Tell the truth you little weasel. You didn't look where you were parking your truck and messed up his bike. Then you tried to pretend that you didn't see him because you're a chicken. As least Jasper can admit to his mistakes because he's a man while all you do is sneak off and try to hide like some sewer rat. Coward!"

"I am not," he spat as he balled up his fists threateningly. "Your creepy geeky brother started it and he got what he deserved. Now you will too, you crazy bitch."

Bradley suddenly yowled in pain as his fist collided with Alice's cheek fracturing his ring finger and pinky.

"Serves you right, you little worm," Alice snarled in fury as the boy curled up clutching his injured hand against his chest.

Within moments Mr. Camden, the Chemistry professor, had a firm grip on the spitting hellcat's arm as he pulled her away from the injured boy, but not before Alice slapped him again dragging her nails across the soft flesh of his face raising angry red welts in her wake.

"Miss Cullen, I don't know what's going on here, but I insist that you stop this minute. What has gotten into you?"

The tall athletic teacher was amazed at the strength of the petite girl as he struggled to subdue her. "You're in enough trouble. Don't make it any worse on yourself."

"Alice, what are you doing?"

Edward cupped his hands around her face and forced her to look away from the target of her frustration and focus on him.

"Edward?"

"Yeah, Ali. It's me. I heard the ruckus and came to see what was going on."

Alice abruptly froze in the professor's grip for a few seconds before her breath rushed out in a low heart wrenching sob.

"Edward, the things he was saying about Jazz. They aren't true and I just couldn't stand it."

"Shh, it's alright, Ali. What he thinks and says doesn't matter. We know the truth and that's enough. You need to calm yourself. You're not going to do Jasper any good by getting yourself into trouble."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, Mr. Cullen. You're sister is just about to make a little visit to see Mr. Greene. Perhaps he can sort this all out."

Tears flooded Alice's eyes as she pleaded, "I'm sorry, Mr. Camden. I'm so sorry. Please just let me go back to class. You won't hear anymore from me."

"I can't do that Alice. You've caused too much of a disturbance and attacked one of my students. That isn't something that can be simply ignored."

"Oh no, please. I really need to get back to biology. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. This is all a huge mistake. I won't cause anymore trouble as long as I live."

Edward gave a little snort of laughter then turned grave as the teacher shook his head.

"Alice, you've left me with only one course of action."

With the girl no longer offering any resistance, the professor loosened his grip and watched as she fell into her brother's protective arms.

"Bradley, are you alright," Mr. Camden inquired as he quickly looked the boy over.

"That bitch broke my fucking hand!"

Edward ground his teeth, but it was Alice who snapped back at the trouble maker's comment.

"I did not. You punched me and broke it yourself, you little ..."

"Miss Cullen!"

Alice swallowed her outburst as she ducked her head at the teacher's stern rebuke.

"I don't know what is going on here, but at the moment I really don't care." Turning to his desk, the teacher quickly scribbled two notes.

Handing one note to the boy at Bradley's side, Mr. Camden ordered, "Tom, please escort Bradley to Mrs. Hammond and get that hand checked out. If it really is broken his parents will have to be informed so they can take him to the hospital."

"Oh no," Alice glanced up at the instructor with wide frightened eyes.

Misinterpreting her concern, the imposing man handed the second note to Alice and curtly instructed, "Oh, yes, Miss Cullen. You may now report to Mr. Greene's office and explain to him what you were doing out of your class and why you felt the need to attack a student in mine."

"Mr. Camden, please I can ..."

"Explain it to Mr. Greene." Shifting his gaze to Edward he further instructed, "And you would do well to return to your class, Mr. Cullen. I'm certain that your sister is quite capable of finding the office on her own."

"Yes, Sir," Edward replied respectfully even as his jaw clenched in annoyance. "Come on, Ali."

Aware that her argument was falling on deaf ears, Alice bowed her head and allowed Edward to lead her past the teacher and out into the hallway.

"Edward, I'm in so much trouble."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. I don't want you to get into trouble for being out of class also. Jazz is already in trouble and now so am I. Someone needs to prove that we can behave." She gave her brother a weak smile as she brushed her tears away.

"Carlisle will understand."

"No. I don't want that. Go back to class. It's ... Well, it's not really okay, but eventually it will be."

Edward kissed Alice's forehead and gave her one last supportive hug before ducking his head to look into her worried eyes.

"I'll be checking in on you. If you need me..."

She nodded quickly. "I'll let you know."

With a explosive sigh, Edward let Alice drift away from him before turning back to his biology class where he knew that the current lecture would be the furthest thing from his mind.

Hearing the door to the classroom close, Alice sighed softly. As much as she appreciated her brother coming to her rescue, she couldn't stand the idea of him getting in trouble on her account. This day was terrible enough already without that added bit to round everything out.

With the tiny pink slip of paper clutched tightly in her hand, the pixie navigated the hallways once again with much less enthusiasm then just minutes before.

"Daddy is not going to be happy about any of this." This is so not good.

Passing the school nurse's office, Alice heard the words that she was dreading the most.

"I'm afraid that you are going to have to have this x-rayed to be certain, but they do appear broken to me."

"Not good at all," she remarked in a hushed tone before continuing on toward the principal's office. "Maybe Daddy will get off early so he won't end up treating Bradley. But then he would be home before Momma and Jazz have their little talk." Alice sighed. "Talk about your no win situations."

Pushing the glass door open, the pixie soon found herself standing at Ms. Cope's desk, fidgeting nervously.

"Can I help you with something, dear?" The secretary smile kindly as she took the pink slip of paper from the girl's shaking hand.

Without looking up, Alice replied in a whisper. "I've been sent to see Mr. Greene. I'm in a little bit of trouble."

The secretary glanced at the note before looking back at the clearly frightened child in disbelief.

"Oh dear. Two Cullens in one day. There must be something in the water." A sympathetic expression colored the secretary's face as she stood. "Have a seat, Dear. I'll let Mr. Greene know that you're here. I'm sure he'll get everything sorted out quickly so you can get back to class."

Alice nodded as she settled down in a chair the still bore the scent of her mother who had occupied it not more than a hour ago.

This is one of those days that we all would have been better off staying in bed even though we don't sleep. Momma is not going to be happy. I need to find a way to fix this before she gets involved.

"Miss Cullen?"

Alice turned her large sad eyes on the principal standing in the office doorway.

"Please come in. It would seem that we have some things to discuss."

Nodding slightly, Alice left her chair and slowly walked into the office with her head hung low as Mr. Greene closed the door behind her.

AN: Someone had to do something about Bradley and Alice was only too happy to step up and stand by her man. Sadly that loyalty has now landed her in some pretty bad trouble. There there is the fact that Brad had the gall to hit Alice. I don't see that sitting well with Jasper at all, but he and I already have plans for the little creep anyway.

Thanks so much for the likes, adds and such. You all are the best. My unending thanks to my wonder Beta Splinter who puts her busy life to the side to help me out. Her eyes bleed so yours don't have to.

The next chapter will be longer and more involved since Jazzy is going to have to face the wrath of Esme. The Major may very likely have met his match in Mama Bear.