Jasper followed Amelia out to the woods, trailing patiently behind her as she delved further and further into the trees until at last she stopped. He waited for what felt like an eternity for her to turn around and when she refused, he made the first move.

"Why didn't you tell me you were alive?" He took a step towards her and watched as her muscles tightened, then ever so slowly relaxed.

"Why didn't you tell me we have a daughter together?" He stopped just feet from her. The scent of salt permeated his nostrils; she was crying.

"I wanted to, god Jasper I wanted to so badly. For years I watched you and every minute we were apart I ached for you. I was going to tell you, I came to your hideout and I saw you with her"

Maria. Guilt surged within him. Then a sharp stab of pain wrapped itself around his unbeating heart and he gasped as it surged through him.

"I left. And if I wasn't sure you had moved on that day then I sure as hell was the day I saw you with Alice. The way your eyes lit up and you smiled at her like she was your whole world, that's how you used to smile at me. I knew you were gone from me forever" Her breath hitched and a sob poured out of her before she could stop it.

Jasper surged forward and grasped her arm but she shook him off and turned to face him.

"Don't Jasper, don't touch me"

"Amelia, if I had known you were still alive then..."

"What Jasper? You'd have chosen me over Alice? Abandoned your family for me? We both know you wouldn't, you love her, them, far too much for that"

"You're my family too"

Amelia wiped her tears away and stood straight, not the stance of a hurting woman but the stance of a warrior, an officer.

"No, I'm not. But Charlotte is and I won't take her away from you but the O.M.S has rules and so do I."

"Amelia..." She cut him off, reciting a bunch of regulations about how he had to behave around his daughter, how if rules were broken he would be denied access.

"Amelia god dammit stop!" He growled at her and her eyes flashed, her body readied itself for attack, it was only when he heard the low hiss escaping through her teeth did he realise that he held her against a tree, his grip bruising, but he did not release her.

"I don't care about rules and regulations she's my baby girl I'll protect her with my life, and I certainly don't care that some organisation says we can't be in contact. Jesus sweetheart, we were in love, you were going to be my wife, we made love in that barn and created a miracle and now your saying I can't be near you? I can't Amelia. I know how you feel about me, I can hear your heart, it's frantic."

"Alice" She said softly.

"This isn't about her, this is about us. We can make this work, for Charlotte s sake, and ours. We thought we had lost each other and now we're both here, can you honestly throw that all away?" He watched as her face softened, her body relaxed against his, but her eyes remained fierce, her heart remained frantic and a wave of something else hit him.

"Tell me you can be around me like this and still be faithful to your wife?" Amelia slowly released her hold on her emotions, she knew he was an empath and had kept her walls up but right now, with his hands on her, his face so close to hers, she began pulling out bricks and allowed her love, her excitement, her desire for him flow outwards enveloping him and turning his eyes coal black.

"Amelia" Jasper growled her name, his fingers digging into her skin but she didn't flinch, she just released wave after wave of her emotions until he fell to his knees, and she followed.

"This is how I feel every second I am near you, can you truly handle being around me like this?" Amelia didn't expect what happened next. Jasper slammed her into the tree, his hands around her waist, lifting her until she had no choice but to wrap her legs around him and dig her nails into his shoulders as he buried his face into her neck.

Desire, need, hunger. They slammed into her with such force that she cried out and clung to him.

"Jasper"

"Now you know how I feel. I want you now more than I have ever wanted anyone, but I can control it as long as it means I get to keep you in my life"

He was shaking, so was she as she nodded.

"I've missed you Jasper" She whispered into his ear and his arms encircled her in a loving embrace before he released her but he did not move more than a foot or so away, his golden gaze boring into hers.

"Tell me what he did to you"

For a moment he thought she would refuse, run from him, instead she nodded and allowed her jacket to fall to the floor, the camisole underneath exposed a web of bruises and cuts across her arms and torso.

With a steady hand she gently placed his fingers across her left collarbone, a faded bruise sat on top of her flesh.

"This is where he grabbed me and slammed me into a wall, these are from him restraining me" She whispered as she pulled his fingers down her arms, following a path of yellow and amber dots; finger prints.

He watched as she trailed her hand across her chest, her fingers skimming a dark, raw wound; James's bite mark. He growled, the fury building within him. More finger prints lay beneath the bite, they trailed low, dipping below her top; he whimpered in pain at the implication but Amelia continued, her grip on his hand never slacking even as she pulled up her top exposing her battered torso.

She shivered and hissed when he brushed over her ribs, the bruising thick and dark. His hand shook against her hip, the bite there dipping below the waist band of her sweatpants. Amelia laced her fingers through his but did not speak as he desperately tried to calm himself. Steeling himself for her answer.

"Amelia. Did he...were you..." A flash of shame slammed into him. He had his answer and a whine tore from his chest. Without seeking permission he pulled her too him, cradling her battered, abused body against his.

"I'm alright Jasper, he can't hurt me anymore"

Jasper gently cupped her face, avoiding the bruising that littered her skin and stared into her eyes.

"No one will ever hurt you again, I'll kill them before they try"

For a moment they stood, locked in an embrace that Amelia had waited for for so very long before she stepped back.

"We should go back"

Not wanting to push her, Jasper simply helped her into her jacket, zipping it up slowly for her, his fingers stalling at her throat for just a second before he released her.

Neither spoke on the way home both lost in their own heads, both desperate to say things that they knew they shouldn't, couldn't.