Disclaimer-not mine! Yay Stephenie Meyer!

Many thanks to cullen818, my fantastic beta. PS-she's an official Darlin now! Woohoo!

Bella's POV

Edward pulled me close while I tried to process everything he told me. But the pieces didn't make sense. I couldn't believe that Jasper would leave me, not like that. And I wouldn't believe that he cheated on Alice. She was not the kind of woman you could hide that from. Nor was she the kind of woman to lay down and take it. I had no doubt that she would have ripped him limb from limb and danced around the pyre as he burned had he pulled a stunt like that.

"I'm here for you, Bella," Edward crooned, stroking my hair. Something was off. Not right. I tried to put this new-found gift of mine to work, pulling Edward's emotions to me while his hand brushed my cheek.

Smug.

That really pissed me off. It pissed me off because he had the nerve to feel smug right here in this moment with me. When he just broke my world, he told me he was sorry? But he wasn't? How many times before this? He had placated me in the past-how many times was he secretly happy? And it struck me that he didn't know about my gift. I was vibrating with anger; I still couldn't grasp my emotions in enough time to stop them from parachuting out of control. Those eyes of his I had lost myself in so many times were lying to me.

"How many times?" I asked, still cradled to his chest. He pulled back to look at me, frowning.

"I'm sorry? How many times what?"

"How many times have you lied to me like this?" I removed myself from his arms completely and glared at him, doing my best to fight my rage. Jasper was teaching me how-I tried to put his lessons to good use. But thinking of him sent another wave of panic through me.

"Bella, I know you're upset, but I'm not lying. I'm telling you the truth." Oh, the bullshit was practically radiating off of him. I wondered how I never noticed before.

"I know you're lying. I can feel how smug you are. You're keeping something from me-something about Jasper. What did you do to him?!" I cried, clenching my fists. I saw a grim realization come over him. About time. "Turns out I'm actually good at something, being a vampire. I've got a gift. And my gift is telling me that you're spouting bullshit."

"What kind of power, Bella?" he asked, still trying to be formal and polite. Oh, he's a fucker. Another attribute I got from Jasper-I cursed like a Texan.

"Well, I'm kind of like Jasper in a way. I can feel people's emotions-but only when they touch me. When you were stroking my face, I could tell you were happy about this. Smug. You did something to him, I know it. And I will find out, or I will kill you." I growled, giving up the control I had on my emotions. I was raw and ready to go. He was wisely backing away, but he was stupid to think he could outrun me. Before I could pounce and force the answers from him, I heard footsteps coming from behind. I wheeled around, but it was Emmett.

"What's going on here? Why are you in attack mode, little sis? Why does Edward look like he would wet himself if he could?" I was too tightly coiled to laugh, but I was glad he was there. He could hold Edward down while I beat him.

"This fucker knows something, and he won't tell me what. He's lying-he knows where Jasper is! He did something to him, Emmett! I know it!" I screeched. This was important-he had to understand. Edward was growing increasingly frustrated, but he made no move to disagree with me anymore. That was confirmation enough.

"Is this true?" Emmett moved closer to Edward, no doubt asking him in his head as well. He didn't respond.

That's it. I had officially breached pissed and entered the realm of bat-shit crazy. I would not wait for answers. I couldn't. I lunged, but Emmett caught me around the waist. "Chill, little bit! If you kill him, you won't get any answers out of him. So you should probably wait for Alice."

"If I wait, he will run." I grunted at Emmett, still trying to squirm from his grasp. Damn it, I was losing my strength. I could have taken his arm off when I first woke up. I was surprised that he hadn't tried to run yet, as a matter of fact. He was just standing there, dumbstruck as I struggled to gain access to his throat.

"What did you do?" Alice! She made it! Oh, I have never been so happy to see her.

"It doesn't matter what I did. He's gone, and you won't find him. One day you'll realize how bad he was for you, and you'll come back to me. I will always love you more. Don't forget that." And then, finally, he took off. Emmett still had me by the waist, but Alice took off after him. It was no use-she wouldn't catch him. And Emmett wasn't going to let me kill him.

"Why won't you let me go?!" I cried, struggling harder.

"I can't let you kill him. We need him to figure out what happened."

"But he won't tell us! He's lost it! Alice won't catch him, and then he's going to disappear. He's figured out how to get around her, and Jasper's GONE. GONE, EMMETT! I have to find him." I was irrational. Emmett didn't loosen his grip, and before long we could hear Alice's footsteps making their way back.

"He got away, of course. I knew he was planning something, or at least thinking about it, damn it! Why didn't I move faster? No matter-I've seen a few possibilities we can work through. But we're going to need everybody-I'm going to call Carlisle and get him up here with Rose and Esme. Emmett, take her back to the cabin-we can't let her go after Edward."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"

"Chill out, Bella. You have to get your head on straight if you want to find him. I know it's hard, and that you're pissed and crazy right now, but if you act irrationally then that lessens our chances. So please, calm down."

Calm. Okay. Right. Was she serious? In the back of my mind I knew I needed to calm down, but I couldn't. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I saw Alice whip out her cell and call Carlisle while Emmett carried me back to the cabin. I didn't fight, because I couldn't win (again, when I was brand new I could have kicked his giant ASS) and I wanted to get this going. I wanted to find Jasper. And then, when he was safe again, I was going to kill Edward. Oh, I would let him think I forgave him. Hell-I'd even invite him over for Christmas. And when he least expected it, maybe thirty years from now, I would destroy him for this.

"If I put you down, will you stay still?" Emmett asked. I thought briefly of running, but my rational mind was coming back and I knew that was a bad idea.

"Yes. I swear. I just want to find him." I was serious. Alice was my best bet right now. Edward may have confused her, but he couldn't completely stop her visions. She saw what he did; she just needed to sort through the farce. Carlisle would be the calm, rational one. He would know where to start. My family and I would find him. I had to believe that. Emmett finally sat me on the ground, and I kept my word. I sat on the floor and pulled my knees to my chest, and I found my stillness again. It wasn't long before Alice burst through the front door.

"The rest are on their way. Do you have something to write on, Bella? We're going to make a list of everything I've seen, and then we are going to work through each item on the list. Most of them are easily falsified, so we'll just start from the top. Don't freak out on me or I'll have Emmett hold you down. You have to trust us. We will find him." She was so serious. I've never seen her so serious. It actually calmed me down a bit, knowing that I didn't have to be in control.

"I do. I trust you. Just…just find him." And when she looked me in the eye, we shared a thousand words. This was the man that she still loved, no matter what happened between them. No matter if they weren't together. She was as desperate as I.

"The others will be here in a matter of hours, but we're going to get started now. Bella-paper." I pointed numbly to the drawer by the couch, which she immediately dug through and pulled out the pad of paper we would play tic-tac-toe on. Oh God. She started scribbling. The list was too long.

"Alice, my God…" I cringed at the list…so many options…

"Tell me about it. Edward's been a busy boy." Emmett moved to her side and watched what she wrote as she continued her frantic writing. After what seemed like days, she finally stopped and turned the list to face me. "I have them listed in frequency of appearance-the visions I've seen the most of are at the top, meaning he's thought of them more often. Considering the time frame he had to work with, I put the most time-consuming options towards the bottom. So let's start from the top." All business. She was trying to be as objective as possible. I needed to be like her right now. I forced myself to look at the top of the list.

Maria.

I looked at Alice for an explanation.

"I see Edward calling Maria a lot to come and, ah, retrieve Jasper. She would most likely enjoy having him back to work for her-what Edward seems to forget is Jasper's free will. She is older than Jasper, but not stronger. She couldn't take him by force. But I still worry-she has many associates." She explained to me exactly who Maria was to Jasper.

I balked. "So, what? You're going to call her up and ask if she's got Jasper in her evil little Latin clutches? How does that work?"

"Not quite. I happen to know that a friend of his, Peter, still roams the area from time to time. He would be very unhappy to see Jasper back with Maria-and he would also find it unlikely. If he is there, Peter will know." She whipped out her cell phone again and dialed rapidly. Was there some sort of vampire phone book I was missing? I heard an answer on the other line. Alice didn't bother with greetings.

"What is Maria doing, Peter? Has she left town?"

"Why? What's happened?" Oh, the Southern accent was strong.

"Jasper's gone missing. We know foul play is involved-she may have something to do with it."

"Let me make a call. I will call you right back." Click. Action! Yes! I stared at the phone in Alice's hand as if it was going to get up and walk away from me.

"Bella, I can feel your freak-out vibes from over here, and you can't even project. Be calm." At that point, her phone buzzed and I was lost again.

"Maria has not left. As far as my associate can tell, there hasn't been a whisper of Jasper anywhere near her complex. Nobody of hers has left the area. I think you can rule her out." I sighed in relief and frustration. Thankful Maria didn't have him, frustrated because we weren't any closer to finding him.

"Thank you, Peter. I appreciate your help. If I find out anything, I'll let you know." She tossed the phone onto the couch and grabbed at the list.

"What's next?" Emmett was all business too. Alice glanced down and hesitated.

"Maybe we should wait for Carlisle for this one." Oh, hell no.

"Why? What is it?" I was on red alert. It was bad. "It's bad isn't it, Alice? Really, really bad." She didn't disagree.

"Jane. He thought about Jane a lot." This name didn't mean anything to me. She saw my curiosity, and finally decided to proceed. "Jane works for the Volturi-you remember Carlisle telling you the story. She is part of their guard, and she has a very intimidating gift. Edward considered calling her and having her take Jasper to the Volturi. And she completely negates free will."

"What the fuck does that mean? Alice, what the FUCK?"

"Jane could completely incapacitate any normal vampire-she cripples with pain. All she needs to do is look at you. If she could get at him, he would have no choice. He probably wouldn't even be aware he was being moved."

If I was scared before, I was terrified now. I couldn't stand the thought of Jasper in pain. I jumped up because I didn't know what else to do.

Alice ran to me and threw her arms around me. I didn't know if she was trying to calm me down, or if she was trying to calm herself down. Her body gave a little shudder, and I knew she was doing her best to keep herself together. But she was in pain too, and she wanted me to know that. I could feel the raw terror course through her veins. It wasn't tainted with anything else-it was pure, unadulterated terror. It mingled with mine; I was amazed how similar the feeling was. I wouldn't let myself wonder what it meant.

The doorknob turned, and Carlisle and the rest of the family entered. The somber state was unified as they filed in and joined us. I felt Esme wrap her arms around us, and Carlisle's hand was on my shoulder. We were all together, and it wasn't until this moment that I realized this was what I wanted. I wanted this family.

My family.

"We will find him, Bella." The finality in Carlisle's tone was a lullaby for me.

"You have to call Aro, Carlisle. Ask him where Jane is." Alice pulled away, but her hand sought mine and we were united still.

I have a few things here. First- I'd like to give a shout-out to Jasper's Dark Angel for turning me on to some sexy slash and whose nudging finally encouraged me to enter the technical world.

Go and follow the Darlins blog-we rec and review and we're fixing to do some sweet stuff here soon. links on my profile.

Two stories in the Love of Jasper contest-one by myself and one as a collab with BamaBabe (who, as you SHOULD know, is writing Long, Tall, Texan which is superfantastic and opened up the world of AH for me.) the contest is blowing up in a big way, so get on that.

I have twitter now- twitter/kitty_cullen and a yahoo ID (hence the technological world I'm a part of now) so you feel like a chat PM me and I'll give you my ID.