A/N So...in case you, the readers, haven't noticed, FFnet has been less-than-stellar lately, in the matter of letting people post chapters, sending out alerts, sending out reviews, etc. If I haven't replied to LAST weeks reviews, I might have not gotten them yet. If I don't reply to reviews THIS week, it's because I'm gonna be homeless for the next few days, as I am moving. But more importantly, I am going to finally meet Super Beta In Real Life! That's right, Super Beta is flying across the continent and across borders, and we are going to see what sort of trouble we can get up to in New Orleans. If NEXT week's chapter doesn't get posted, well, you'll know we got in to a little TOO much trouble!

There. If you know me In Real Life, you now know my Alter Ego, and what I do in my spare time.

Last week on Chaotic Dynamics (I really like posting these little reminders, but I'm crap at remembering to do it most of the time):

Jasper sighed. "I know, babe, but you've drawn some attention to us. We gotta get out of here – now! Are you gonna be all right?'

"No..."

"Well, are you gonna be all right enough to travel and keep your shit together?"

"Yes..."

She didn't sound very sure of her answer. "All right…well, let's head east. See if you feel better after you get some blood in you, then maybe we'll go back to the hotel. How does that sound?'

She hesitated, her head turning in the direction of the sirens, which were now probably only a mile or so away. She nodded. "Yes. I want to hunt."

"That's my girl. Let's go hunt!"

He took off at a run, grabbing her hand as he went by her. She didn't hesitate to grab it and run with him. It might not have been much in the way of tension relief, but even the few minutes that she'd been able to engage in some good old fashioned destruction had been an immense help to her, Jasper could tell. Now, if he could just get some blood in her and then take her back to soak in a hot tub, then maybe she'd be ready to talk.

Chapter 11

Once they reached the open rangeland east of town, where ranches and game farms blurred together across the landscape, Bella broke away from Jasper and took off into the darkness. He hesitated, trying to decide whether to follow her or hunt on his own. He finally decided to follow her and so took off at a run. A moment later a growl drifted back to him through the dark letting him know she wanted privacy. Again he hesitated. There was no vibration on his phone, which would indicate a message from Alice telling him what he should choose. He shook his head. Once again, they - he - had become dependent - too dependent - on her visions. Bella's shield was down still, so if Alice had seen something dangerous in Bella's choice to hunt alone or his decision to let her, she would have certainly let him know.

He veered slightly away from her trail until he was running parallel to her, a couple miles to the south - near enough to hear, theoretically, if she needed help, but far enough away to give her privacy on her hunt. He himself wasn't too thirsty, but he took down a couple of javelinas when he ran across a small herd, just in case. The taste reminded him of the stench from the bacon on his plate that morning at breakfast, and he had to force himself to finish the second animal, wishing with every pull from the vein that he'd decided to go for a deer instead.

When he was finished, he headed back towards the north, finding a large pile of boulders where he perched and waited for Bella to finish feeding. Using the pull that connected them, he could feel her in the general area, although she'd moved out of range of his other senses. He lay on the rocks and stared up at the southern stars from the first century of his existence, both alive and dead. They were like old friends, still much more familiar to him than the northern skies, which were so often cloud-covered and hidden.

It was almost like falling asleep, the peaceful silence he relaxed into, as he continued to feel the pull of his mate moving back and forth as she hunted in the distance. Her movements were almost hypnotic, lulling him into even more of a relaxed state. Her movements would still for a bit occasionally, and he pictured her taking down her prey and draining it dry. She seemed to be stopping quite a bit and he wondered if she was actually drinking that much or if her prey was consisting of smaller game…or if she was engaging in some more 'destructive therapy'.

A few hours later, though, she began moving toward him, the pull between them bringing her to him almost as if he were reeling her in. He felt her emotions first. She was sated, and while not happy, she was certainly calmer than she had been earlier. Her scent hit him next, her normal scent overlaid with that of her recent kills, and he hoped she wasn't covered in blood - smuggling a woman covered in blood back into the hotel would be no mean feat. He heard her flitting through the underbrush, and then the almost silent sound of her bare feet as she crossed the rock and grass next, followed finally by the sight of her breaking through the trees. She made a final leap, landing silently on the rock beside him, and he sat up to look at her. Her clothes were clean, if a bit rumpled, and she was carrying her shoes.

"Good hunt?" he asked quietly as she collapsed next to him.

"It was...good," she said, sighing and lying back on the rock while reaching for his hand. He grasped it tightly and rolled on his side to look at her. He sniffed the air, then leaned over to sniff her face and neck, and then leaned in closer still to lick at a few drops of dried blood on her chin.

"Bear?" he asked, puzzled, pulling back again to look at her face. She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Yeah," she answered vaguely.

"Hmph. And you didn't share? I had fuckin' pig." He snorted, disgruntled.

"It was a small one, anyway. You didn't miss much," she said, still not looking at him. A small amount of guilt trickled off her.

That was weird. "Yeah, well, the pigs sucked big time. Bear would have been nice. I'm surprised you found one…I mean, I realize these places 'stock' them, but I haven't run across a trail out here yet."

More guilt trickled out. "Yeah..."

Jasper narrowed his eyes, suddenly suspicious. "Where'd you find the bear, Bella?"

She waved her hand back in the direction she'd come from. "Out there," she said.

"A little more specific, please. You didn't find it just wandering around, did you?" Realization was dawning on him.

"No," she whispered.

"Where'd you find it, babe?"

"In a cage."

"A cage, huh? Just...sitting in a cage, out in the middle of nowhere in south Texas?" He wasn't angry, he was just curious - curious about why she obviously didn't want to talk about it.

"No. A cage…like, in barn."

That got his attention. "A barn? You went to one of their...holding facilities? What the hell, Bella? What the fuck were you thinking? What if there were humans around?"

"I was thinking I wanted a bear! And I made sure there weren't any humans around first," she said, getting defensive.

He let his breath out in a huff. "And did you drink the bear right there, Bella?"

"No! What, do you think I'm totally stupid? I...just opened the cage. It came out on its own. Once it was outside, I sort of chased it into the brush. Then I ate it. And then I carted it further away to bury it. Nobody is going to find it."

"And what about the cameras, Bella? Because I'm betting a barn full of really expensive animals is going to have some sort of surveillance system, recording some pretty little girl, dressed like a whore, letting the bear out of its cage - a pretty little girl that appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly, I'm guessing."

Her eyes widened. "Oh..."

"Yeah, 'oh'. You've got to start thinking of everything, Bella. We aren't in bumfuck Siberia here. We're in the U-S-fucking-A, and they have cameras everywhere."

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to..."

He sighed again. "I know, I know. I'll give Em a call when we get back to the hotel and get him started on seeing if he finds any signs of it. Really, I'm sure it will just look like some PETA nutcase letting the bear loose. Don't worry too much about it, Bella. Just...you've got to start thinking now that we're back in 'civilization'. It wouldn't matter if we were just nomads, out on our own, but we've got to protect the family, too."

"I know," she whispered. "I'll do better. I'll be more careful."

"I know you will, babe." He pulled her closer to him until she was lying across his chest, her head tucked under his chin. "So...did the bear taste good?"

He felt her smile against him. "It did."

"Good. At least one of us had something decent for dinner." He placed a kiss on her head and pulled his love around them like a blanket.

"It's my fault, really," he said suddenly.

"What is?" she murmured against him.

"The whole...bear thing. I let you go off to hunt on your own while you were still upset. I shouldn't have done that. I should have listened to my own advice. We're not in fuckin' Siberia any more, or Greenland. Even there, I never let you hunt alone. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. I wasn't thinking."

"I'm not a baby, Jasper," she said. "Although...I guess I really need to start thinking a little more. It's not just about not eating the humans, is it?"

"No, Bella, it's not. You know, the Volturi did one good thing when they made The Law. It's just getting harder and harder to follow it in today's world…and it's getting harder and harder to hide, especially for covens like the Cullens' that try to integrate, to an extent, with humanity. There's so much you have to consider with every action you take…"

"Sort of like thinking before you decide to climb the Empire State Building?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah, a lot like that. I guess it's hard to listen to me preach with that hanging over my head, huh?"

"No, not really. We both knew it was stupid when we did it. But it was so fun!" She rolled off him and giggled, remembering.

"It was fun. It's all fun and games…until you get caught on camera." He leaned up on his elbow and looked down at her, leaning over a bit to trace her face with his free hand. "It was a long day. We're both stressed and not thinking clearly - not that that's an acceptable excuse, but..."

"It is what it is," she whispered. "I'll do better. I promise."

"I know you will, baby." He leaned down to kiss her. "And so will I. I promise. And now, how 'bout a little more stress relief?"

"You don't want to wait until we're back at the hotel?" she said while giggling, breaking their kiss.

"No. I want to fuck like vampires," he growled, moving his mouth to nip at her jaw. "And a hotel room is not conducive to such a thing. There's no stress relief in trying to not break the bed or wake the neighbors..." He quickly moved his mouth down her shoulder, pushing her shirt aside with his hand before grabbing her with his teeth - not hard enough to break skin, but with enough pressure to have her writhing against him.

"Yes..." she hissed in pleasure, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt.

"Don't rip, don't rip," he whispered, releasing her shoulder and moving to push her own shirt carefully over her head. "We need to make it back to our room later..."

"Yes, yes…" she chanted, finally getting the last button undone before pushing his shirt down his arms. With a flick of both wrists, he sent it flying behind him. He started unbuckling his belt as she wiggled out of her shirt and panties.

"What, no Hello Kitty today?" he asked. He grabbed the panties out of her hand and held them up to get a better look at them. He had to bite back a laugh at the white cotton thong adorned with several colorful chili peppers and the word 'caliente'.

"I thought this was more on-topic," she whimpered, reaching for him, "what with our going to Mexico and all."

He shook his head and pulled her into his lap. "I love you, so much," he whispered into her hair, flipping the thong behind him, where it joined the pile of the rest of their clothing. Bella wrapped her legs around him, arching her back and rubbing against him. His hands slid down her torso until he was grasping her hips and moving her against him in a way that was sure to drive them both crazy. She braced her feet on the rock behind him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Love you too," she whispered, rolling her hips against him.

"Oh, babe," he groaned. "You're gonna kill me."

"Maria already did," Bella said, her voice catching.

"Not like you are." He leaned forward and tried to grab one of her nipples in his mouth, but she pushed away from him so he couldn't reach it. He growled in frustration and tried again.

"Nothing like me," Bella said, twisting her torso out of his reach again and causing her hips to grind against him once more.

"Nothing like you," he agreed. "Never like you." He paused, sampling her emotions, and felt flickers of jealousy and insecurity, recognizing their probable source. This, at least, he could fix right now. "Never like you!" he repeated, his voice stronger as he pulled her firmly against him and pushed all his love at her. "Maria was nothing to me, Bella. She gave me this life when she gave me death. She ruled my life for a century, but she never ruled my heart. I never had a heart until I left her. And now, that heart belongs to you. Only you…"

"Me…" Bella agreed, nodding her head. She shifted her weight and changed position until she was on her knees over him, pushing him until he was on his back on the rock. "My heart. My Jasper." She was growling now and Jasper wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. He wasn't going to stop to ask, though, because she was hovering over him in the most enticing way and he didn't want her moving away.

"Mine. All mine. My Jasper," she whispered again.

"Yours," he agreed as she lowered herself onto him, sinking down onto his length until he was fully sheathed. "Yours," he groaned in agreement again as she started to move.

Bella was rougher in her lovemaking than normal. She was surprising in her intensity, for she'd never been aggressive with him like this before – at least never while making love. In fact, Jasper decided, it wasn't really making love at all. She refused to let him change position when he attempted to roll them over at one point, instead grabbing his wrists and forcing them over his head.

Since that put her breasts in a strategically pleasing position, he didn't fight her on it. Besides, he'd been the one to say they needed to fuck like vampires, so he hardly felt it was his place to protest when she actually took him up on it. He did, however, direct her teeth to his other shoulder when she bent over to bite him as she climaxed. There was only so much pain he was willing to subject himself to in the name of stress relief - or for a satisfying, mind blowing orgasm, which it was.

Afterwards, they lay curled up together on the rock for a while, almost perfectly still and silent.

"Feel better?" he finally whispered.

"Yes. A bit."

"Wanna talk about it now?"

"Yeah..." She fell silent again though.

Finally, Jasper broke the silence. It wouldn't be too long before dawn was upon them, and he wanted to be safely back in the hotel before that happened. If anything they talked about set her off again, it was better it happen out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Bella, tell me what she showed you. Please."

"People, Jasper," she whispered, not looking at him. "Humans…in cages, in that big building back behind the house – the warehouse looking thing? It was full of people in cages."

"People in cages..." he trailed off thoughtfully. "Did you see or smell the ones she brought into the library earlier?"

Bella shook her head. "No, but there were so many that I might not have been able to pick out their scents. You know I'm not so good at that..."

"But there are other buildings too," he said. "At least three that I could see from the driveway."

"Yeah, there were three – the big one in the middle and then two smaller ones. She didn't take me into the smaller ones."

"Hmm...Heriberto took me to the one on the right. There weren't any humans being stored, just his soldiers..." He thought for a moment.

"What sorts of people, Bella? Why was she showing you? Did she say? Was she just trying to intimidate you? Impress you? Tempt you? What sorts of cages?" The questions were flying out almost as fast as his brain was working.

"Um...all sorts of people - you know, not just young and pretty, like what she brought into the library. No children, though. No real old ones, either. The cages were like…I don't know, like prison cages? Not like dog kennels. There were several people in each cage. They weren't stuffed in like sardines, though. All races. A lot more were Hispanic than anything, though."

"Hmm...did they smell?"

"Well, yeah..."

"No. I mean, did they smell like they weren't clean? Like they weren't cared for?" She turned her head to look at him, still confused by his question. He sighed. "Did they smell like they'd been pissing on themselves? Did they even have clothes on?"

"Oh! Yeah... No, they didn't smell too bad. I mean, the smell of them all together like that was...overwhelming, you know? No, I don't think they were all that dirty. I mean…body odor, yeah, and I could smell urine. There were, like, toilets and stuff in the cages, but it wasn't as bad as it could be. And the building was air conditioned too. They had clothes on. Regular clothes."

"I didn't hear anything..." Jasper said thoughtfully. "You'd think they'd make quite a bit of noise. Did they have their tongues or had they been mutilated like those others?"

Bella shook her head. "No. I didn't smell...that. There was some...whispering...going on. They were just quiet. She – Maria – walked us up and down between the cages. She and the other vampire kept hissing at the humans when they'd get too loud. There was another vampire in there, male, walking around on a raised walkway, like a guard."

Jasper nodded. "Makes sense. Suck a few of them dry and the rest probably get the hint real quick to keep their mouths shut. Worked like a charm back in the day. She's storing them for food, Bella. Probably bringing them in from elsewhere, based on her little show yesterday. She brings 'em in and stores 'em - not that unusual for a coven of any size." Jasper nodded to himself, happy with his conclusion. "Draws less attention to themselves."

Bella was shocked. She had no idea normal vampires fed so...often. There were a lot of people in there. Edward had said that the Cullens needed to feed more often than 'normal' vampires did because of their diet of animal blood. And they only needed to feed once a week – less often if they caught a particularly large animal or were not going to be exposed to humans. She shuddered, imagining all of the horrible things Maria and her coven must be doing to go through that many humans.

Jasper felt a wave of disgust from her. He sighed. "Bella, I told you what life with her was like. We were an army, and an army marches on its stomach. You know this."

"I know," she whispered. "But it's one thing to hear about it and another to actually see it. Do you think...do you think she lied about building an army?"

"No, I don't think she lied. She felt like she was telling the truth. You never said – did she…um, offer you any of these people, like in the library?"

"No, she didn't. I mean, she talked about it, like 'Oh, if you were with me, you could just have your pick whenever you wanted'. Stuff like that. But she didn't actually try to tempt me with any of them. She didn't touch any of them or interact with them – other than the hissing. She just showed them off and talked about how healthy they all were...such fine specimens...like they were cattle or something."

"They are, Bella. To her and the others with her there in that compound, they are." Jasper stared at the stars, silent in thought for a while. "Seems like she's enjoying the good life - settling down like that, keeping a food supply on hand. But why show you and not me? I'm the one she called down here!"

"Well, that question I can at least answer, Jasper. She told me you had to talk to Heriberto because…you know, all that macho male bullshit prevented her from talking to you first. You had to talk business with Heriberto. She seemed kind of happy to have me there to show me everything so that I could pass it along to you and save her a little bit of time."

Jasper looked even more puzzled. "Now why the hell would she think I'd have any interest in her feeding habits? I know she feeds on humans. Carlisle knows she feeds on humans. None of this makes any sense. It's not a fucking social visit - Maria doesn't do 'social'. There is something going on here that I'm missing, damn it!" His fist came down on the rock, leaving a small indentation in the boulder.

"She was going to tell me more, Jasper, but Heriberto's call interrupted her and we had to come back to the house for dinner. And then, you know, we couldn't get away again." Bella laughed, moving her thoughts away from those that disturbed her. "Herbert the Horse. You've been replaced with Herbert the Horse, Jasper! I don't get that part, though – why is she hiding behind a human like that? Oh! Is he, like, her 'beard'? Her human 'beard'?"

Jasper ignored her jibes about Heriberto. "I think that is exactly what he is, Bella - her human beard," Jasper said. "And I can think of a lot of reasons why she's hiding behind him. If a vampire wants to settle down at all, they need some kind of cover story. The Cullens use Carlisle and his doctor cover, and we consequently use the cover of being teenagers in school. It's more difficult than ever to come up with convincing covers in this day and age. It doesn't surprise me at all that someone like Maria gravitated to someone like Heriberto. I'm sure his human...lifestyle...appealed to her."

They fell silent again, watching the sky above them as the stars faded. Finally, Jasper spoke again. "Look - it's starting to lighten up. We need to get back to town. I want to change hotels – those bugs are still there and I can't guarantee I'll find them all. I'm gonna call Alice and have her make us some reservations at a Red Roof Inn or something. Shit, I'll have to pick up the car, and we can't leave our stuff in that other room. Well, I'll take care of that after we're settled in a new room."

He stood up and helped her up, then started getting dressed. "Feeling better?" he asked again.

"Much. Not all better...but a little better."

Jasper nodded. "I'll take that. I don't expect there will be an 'all better' for a while. I ain't gonna lie, Bella, I think we have a real mess on our hands here."