First, off, may I apologize for the long wait. I've been having major computer trouble and I've just bought a charger cable to charge my laptop, though I need to still buy a battery. But hey, at least I have a computer right? I have an older one but the older one doesn't allow me on . It's evil like that. So here you go: please enjoy and review! 3

One of the perks about being undead was the enhanced senses. One of the downsides to being undead was if one wasn't careful, these senses could overwhelm the person in question. And that was not a good thing. It took a strong amount of control to override instinct and this amount of control only naturally increased when a person was in placed in a dangerous situation, something Jasper liked to call the "Oh Shit Setting." Jasper carrying his foster mother's head in a bag qualified as an "Oh Shit Setting": he knew the forest wasn't safe and that he had to find Alice.

He also knew that Esme was gone forever. And Jasper would never forget that.

He slowed his run to a jog, trying his best to resist the urge to dry heave. Jasper Hale may be a vampire, but even a vampire had human instincts. After all, that was what a vampire was right? A human frozen in a state of enhancement and horror; driven mad by blood, aching from memories that as a vampire, one could never forget. And Jasper was sure he could never forget how light Esme's head felt in the sack, how she looked so worried the last time he had seen her alive. Jasper stopped jogging, looking down at the sack that he held. With his eyesight, he could almost make out features of her face pressed against the cloth: an indention of a nose perhaps?

Jasper held the bag close to his chest, blinking rapidly. It was just movement- as a vampire they had no true body fluids so he was denied even that: simple tears to shed. But it still made him feel better to go through the motions.

A snort off to his left! Jasper spun around, crouched and snarling until his eyes made out the shadow through the foliage. A lithe, small gray wolf, eyeing him. Leah. Jasper could sense no true ferocity directed at him. Uneasiness, yes, but considering the action Jasper had just taken…

Jasper forced himself to relax. "Sorry," he muttered and glanced down at his chest. He was still cradling Esme's head. He let it drop, the cloth knot hanging from his fingers.

She huffed, her tail twitching in what Jasper thought was a half hearted attempt at a wag. "What are you doing so close to my home," he asked, honestly curious.

He could have sworn he saw a gray eyebrow go up.

Jasper felt a tiny smile come across his face. "Stupid questions later then," he agreed and cast a glance around him. "BP was at my home. I don't suggest going that way. How 's La Push?"

Her tail dropped a fraction of an inch, eyes downcast. Had La Push fallen? If it had, then that meant the other Cullens were dead. Black Paradigm would be solely interested in any vampric threat; other mythological creatures could wait. With all the Cullens gone save for Jasper, then the hunt for La Push would certainly be on. And inwardly, Jasper had been hoping to form some sort of an alliance with the wolves. They would need all the help they could find.

Leah growled low in her throat, her hackles on end. The sound of her growl brought Jasper out of his thoughts and he barely had time to dodge as Leah leaped out of the bushes, her mouth open wide. The sound of Leah colliding with the Black Paradigm foot soldier was a loud sickening crack as the human went flying backwards, tumbling across the ground away from them. Leah clenched the human's head between her razor sharp fangs and Jasper saw the shudder go through her body before her mouth snapped shut. Blood spurted outwards: beautiful, tasty blood.

"Fuck," Jasper hissed as he stumbled backwards, averting his eyes. His stomach rumbled in protest, his instincts screamed rebellion even as he tried walking away from it all. But how could he deny such a lovely color, such a beautiful liquid? His throat tightened as he sank to the ground, Esme's head tumbling away from him. Jasper could almost see it now: such a beautiful dark red, flowing free. Two pinpricks on a pale, smooth throat. Bella's throat, his mind purred at him and Jasper shuddered but whether it was from the horror of the image before him: of Bella panting and writhing, heavy lidded eyes as he drank that delicious liquid, or from delight, he didn't know.

"Jasper? Fuck man," a deep voice boomed but from where Jasper wasn't sure. He closed his eyes to shut out the image, the smell, the idea of it all. The last thing he wanted to do was attack Leah.

"I told you he would go back! You, dog, get out of here!"

Leah snarled.

Rosalie? Jasper's mind squeaked out and he cracked one eye open. He was staring into Rosalie's own golden eyes, her irritation with Leah the most prominent thing about her at the moment. "See what happens when you munch a head off in front of the most troubled of our gang," Emmett said with a shrug, a goofy grin on his face.

"I'm not troubled," Jasper grumbled as he stood up, purposefully averting his eyes from the dark red calling him.

"Dude, I'm trying to help you out. Don't fucking argue," Emmett replied.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Are we seriously arguing right now? We've just had our asses handed to us by crack heads and both of you are acting like there is nothing wrong with a walking flea bag less than five feet away from us."

Emmett shrugged. "In our defense babe, they were drugged like hell."

"That doesn't explain her," she spat, pointing at Leah.

Leah looked like she wanted to take snap off Rosalie's finger but she didn't. She stared at Jasper, dark brown eyes drilling into him. She has a point Clearwater, he thought, just what are you doing here with me? Jasper nodded: just the slightest, tiniest of nods in thanks. In companionship? Jasper wasn't sure. Honestly, he hadn't thought of Leah as a friend. A potential person for combat, an ally. But a friend? What he had just done was something human: a memory of the past, something Jasper and many other vampires didn't do with others that weren't his kind.

He was trusting her.

And Leah nodded back.