Confronting Jeb

correction; last chapter I said Carlisle is the oldest, but Esme is actually 3 years older than him. She's 26 and he's 23.

Moving on- I've never done Jeb's POV before, but I'm going to try. Read and enjoy.

-Going back in time to right after Max got off the phone with her mom aka Dr. Valencia Martinez:

Jeb

I jumped as my cell phone rang. The ringtone told me it was Valencia and I flipped my phone open.

"Yes?" I asked politely. I closed the file I had been looking at and leaned back in my chair. I could tell it was going to be a long day.

"Jeb, hi. Listen, Max called-"

"She did? Is everyone alright?"

"She said everyone was fine..." I heard the hesitation in her voice. Not a good sign.

"But?" I prompted.

"But she didn't sound fine to me, Jeb. She sounded almost scared." For a moment, I was just a concerned father. But then, the scientist part of me kicked in and I immediately turned on my laptop and started to open the tracking program.

"Did she tell you where they were?"

Valencia sighed, "No. She just said 'Can't tell you where we are but we're with friends, don't worry about us.'

It was definitely something Max would say. "Alright, I'll see if I can find them." I paused while the program on my laptop came up and I typed in the search parameters.

I waited impatiently as the program searched for the tracking device's location.

"You have chips in them don't you?" She asked in outrage. "How could you? They trusted you, Jeb!"

"Valencia please, have a little faith. Yes, I'm using a chip, but Itex doesn't know about it. It's an old one that Itex thinks malfunctioned. " In reality, the malfunction was me tampering with the signal and redirecting it to my laptop. "I just wanted to keep tabs on them."

"'Keep tabs on them?!' They aren't animals, Jeb! They're human beings! They're children!" She exploded in fury.

"I know. That's why Itex doesn't know about it." Yet. They will surely find out about my deception eventually. And I'll probably regret it when they do.

"You're tracking them without Itex's knowledge?" She was calmer now.

I didn't answer that one. She shouldn't be involved with my problems. The computer beeped and I smiled. "I know where they are. I'm going after them. Don't bother trying to convince me otherwise. I'll call you when I get there. Bye, Valencia."

She said goodbye reluctantly and I hung up and grabbed my coat. I printed off the three pages of results, closed the lid on the screen, and shoved the laptop in its case. I took the printed pages with me also and read it while I left the office building. The offices were a cover-up ,of course, for the less-than-legal dealings of Itex and other companies like it.

I looked down at the pages in my hand.

Search results: 1. Location: United States of America. Forks, Washington.

I ignored the other information on the pages like latitude and longitude, satellite imagery of the area, the closest Itex branches and the like. My eyes focusing instead on this: Known Itex observations: werewolf sightings- samples pending.

Werewolves, I snorted. Sometimes Itex's "observations" were ridiculous. I got into a large black SUV and started the engine. There are some benefits to working where I did, one of which is a nice ride.

I entered the latitude and longitude from the tracking chip's location into the GPS on the dashboard. There was no address given. The directions appeared on the screen and I started out on a very long drive.

I almost missed the turn because the driveway was so hard to see through the rain. Only my GPS's directions kept me from driving right on by without noticing it. I drove slowly up the winding path through the trees. Max sure knew how to find an out of the way place to stay hidden in.

I yawned, I'd been driving all night and it was almost noon. I needed to sleep, but I had to be sure the flock was really doing as good as Max had made it out to be.

I looked over at the page of satellite photos of the area. According to them, there was a house back here somewhere.

And then I went around a curve in the path and it was there. A huge white house out in the middle of nowhere.

I slowed and then stopped when I spotted a group of people standing in front of the house. They were expecting me, it seems. Max, Fang, and the rest of the flock were there, standing in the middle of the driveway leading up to the house. I shut off the car and got out, watching Max's face.

Max walked slowly towards me, determination and anger etched on her face. Why was she angry at me? Oh that's right, she blames me for the voice in her head and for Itex wanting them all dead.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Max snapped at me from a few yards away. No 'nice to see you, Jeb,' or 'I missed you, Dad.' Just blunt and to the point. She must get that from me.

"It's good to see you too, Max." I said. "How-"

"Answer the question."

I took a deep breath and put up my hands in surrender. "Your mother called me, she said you'd called and that you sounded strange. She was worried that something had happened to you."
She glared at me from where she was standing, "Did you tell them? You told them where we are, I bet."

I didn't have to ask who "them" was, it was only to obvious. Itex. She still didn't trust me. "No. No one else knows I'm here."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

I looked over her shoulder and saw Fang coming towards us. Max turned around and shot him a glare, "Stay out of this, Fang. You're not healed yet."
Healed? What had happened to Fang? I should have known that something would happen.

"What happened?" I asked the two of them.

Fang's eyes met mine. "I think you know damn well what happened." And suddenly his fist was coming towards my face. And that's when it got crazy.

Edward

I saw the punch in Fang's mind before it was thrown and reacted immediately. My family and I had been watching the confrontation from the forest, well out of Jeb's sight. Of course, we could hear and see everything perfectly regardless of the distance.

But I wouldn't let Fang's temper cause bloodshed. I leaped out of the trees and managed to catch Fang's fist in the air, still a foot from Jeb's nose.

"Don't. We can't afford for blood to be shed." I said calmly. Fang winced, but I didn't let go of his fist until his thoughts changed from revenge back to more rational things. "I know you might think it's worth it, but trust me when I say it wouldn't end well." My eyes flickered briefly to my family, still standing at the edge of the forest, and then back to Fang. He nodded, and I let go of his hand and stepped back. He flexed his fingers, Ow.

Jeb's eyes were closed in anticipation of the punch and he didn't open them.

What if others follow him? Knock him out. What happens now? I hope we won't have to move because of this. I can't believe he found us here. How? Why? The thoughts of the other people around me swirled through my head in an unbroken stream. Knock him out, Edward. Before he does something stupid, Emmett thought again.

I sighed and stepped in front of Jeb, "Sorry about this." I murmured as touched a pressure point on his neck. I reached forward and caught him as he fell, unconscious. I had learned a few useful things about pressure points while getting my medical degrees.

"Just a pressure point. He'll wake up in a few minutes." I assured the nervous flock as their thoughts reached me.

I picked up Jeb and carried him into the house with the flock and most of my family following close behind.

Jasper stayed outside and searched through the SUV, looking for anything that might indicate that others might be coming. I knew he was also doing it to stay away from the human.

I was just laying Jeb down on the couch when Jasper ran through the door holding some papers and a laptop.

He's tracking them with a computer chip. The papers have the location and his GPS system led him right to our house. And there's something else...

"What is it?"

"Read this." He handed me a print off of something and my eyes scanned the page. "Look," He pointed out a specific line. Everyone crowded around me, trying to read it.

Known Itex observations: werewolf sightings- samples pending.

"Ha! Werewolves? Thats..." Gazzy looked around at our faces, no one else was smiling. "impossible." He finished.

"Yeah, like finding a coven of vampires in the woods." Iggy pointed out with a wry smile.

Emmett chuckled, but at the same time Jeb groaned.

Everyone fell silent as his eyes blinked slowly open. "Ugh. What happened?"

Max

My anger flared at his question, only to be replaced by Jasper's calm. "Well, lets see... You tracked us here, probably alerting Itex to where we are, we had a touching reunion, and Fang tried to punch you in the face but Edward stopped him. And then Edward knocked you out and brought you inside. Which is a total waste of time because obviously, you're not staying." I said coldly, looking over at Edward during the last sentence.

"Thanks for the recap. And I don't plan on staying, I just came to-"

"No, you're staying all right. In fact, we really can't let you leave, considering what we found in your car." Alice interrupted lightly.

"You searched my car?" He didn't sound surprised. Working for Itex does that to you.

"Yes. And found some incriminating evidence." Jasper answered.

"Incriminating-? Oh, no wait, I can explain-"

Rosalie sniffed, "What did you expect? He's with them," She inclined her head towards me and my flock.

"He. Is. Not. With. Us." Fang growled between his teeth.

"Please. His tracking device is honed in on Max's leg. Are you saying it's a coincidence that just days after you show up, he comes after you?" I watched as she flounced off upstairs. Bitchy much?

Her comments freaked me out nonetheless. My leg? I don't have a chip in my leg, it's in my arm. Unless I had another one I didn't know about.

"Ignore her. She tends to overreact." Edward muttered in apology. The corners of Bella's mouth lifted in a smile and she rolled her eyes, I heard her say something under her breath that sounded like "overreaction runs in the family."

My mind was on other things. Tracking device. From Jeb's car. Focused on my leg. My fault. I led him here. Flyboys and erasers will follow, they always do. And it's my fault.

"Don't blame yourself. I think he really is just concerned for your safety." Edward told me quietly.

"You think? You don't know? How can you not know for sure?" I asked him with a frown.

"His mind is... blurry. It's hard to get a good read on it. It shifts away from me before I hear everything."

"Oh god. I'm going to pretend I did not just hear that." Jeb choked out. He leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes.

"I still can't read Jeb's mind at all." Angel whispered from beside me. I tried to comfort her by squeezing her hand and putting on a brave face.

Thanks Max, She projected her thought into my head.

"Interesting..." Edward murmured distractedly.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand? What're we going to do with this guy?" Emmett, getting right to the point as usual.

"I think I'll just be going, if you don't mind." Jeb stood up quickly, but was pushed back down to the couch easily by Alice.

Edward leaned over to Jasper and whispered something in his ear. The next second, Jasper was gone. Edward muttered something, but it was too low for me to hear.

Alice leaned forward, her face close to Jeb's. "Sorry, I'm afraid we can't let you do that. You see, you know too much." She whispered in a quiet but threatening tone with a grin that revealed her unnaturally perfect teeth.

(A/N: If I was evil, I'd end the chapter here. But I'm not that evil. )

"For heaven's sake, Alice! You'll scare the poor man to death!" Esme exclaimed with a sigh. "Don't listen to her, she's just being dramatic. I'll get you some food, dear. I'm sure you're starving by now." She glided away into their huge kitchen. Why vampires need a kitchen, I don't know. And why one of said vampires acted so motherly was yet another mystery.

"Warn me next time you want to give him a heart attack, Alice. It's hard enough being in the same room as him." Jasper said from where he stood in the open doorway.

Do all vampires talk in riddles? Or is it just the ones I stumble upon? Because they seem to do it a lot.

Blood makes him thirsty. Jeb's heart rate made it worse, Angel thought projected into my head.

Oh. Thanks, Angel.

I saw Jeb's face relax as a wave of calm swept through the room via Jasper.

Despite the calm, Jeb's eyes stayed glued to Alice with a look of undisguised horror and admiration plastered across his face.

It was tempting to comment on this, but I didn't.

"Well, it's not much but it will have to do for now. I'm not much of a chef." Esme came back into the living room and handed Jeb a plate with a large sandwich and a coke. The sandwich looked like it had come straight off the pages in a gourmet cooking. magazine, naturally.

"Naturally," Now that's ironic, coming from a genetic mutant like me and talking about vampires.

Jeb took it, nodding his thanks to Esme before digging in.

Anticlimactic chapter ending, I know. But at least it isn't a cliff hanger... right?

Reviews are appreciated!! (even though I almost never reply because I'm lazy. sorry)

And if you've not already- you must listen to the Mitch Hansen Band! This music is AMAZING. Look him up on itunes or myspace or youtube and listen to his album Twilight Hour. I'm listening to 'The Last Thing' for the billionth time as I type this. I love this song.