The Orbiting Meteor

by IdreamofEddy

Three and half years after escaping from the mythological and heartbreaking world of Forks, Bella is moving on with her life. What happens when a mysterious stranger catapults her back into the world she so desperately wanted to leave behind? AU/OC/OOC.

25. Chapter 24 Reckoning the Final Goodbye

Chapter 24. Reckoning the Final Goodbye

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*S*E*T*H*

Jasper was a sly and coy son of a bitch, but I put him up there with the likes of angels. With the likes of Peter. The adversity and the challenges he faced throughout existence honed him in a way, however, that made the bloodsucker the worst kind of angel. He knew exactly how to use the temptation and greed in one to his advantage.

In a way, it made him his own worst enemy.

What he wanted, he got; and most of the time, Jasper didn't have to manipulate shit. Besides, it was just as beneficial using the power of suggestion to influence someone into making a decision as it was to fuck with someone's actual feelings. Because in the end, that 'someone' could only blame himself.

Or herself.

Jasper was a thought provoking motherfucker.

The control that both Peter and Jasper exhibited over gifts they were given was awe-inspiring. It was the same for Alice.

But she was still going to kick her husband's ass and do it again a week later, if she felt the need. In fact, I was pretty sure we all wanted to do it at one point. Even Jasper would acknowledge the error of his ways, but he'd do it when he was alone. When no one could feel it. It would rip a person apart.

He took an extreme risk. It messed him up, but he didn't let it show.

Jasper had something to prove, and it wasn't just Peter he needed to make things right with. He realized however that he just might be ruining any ground he made with Peter. He didn't want much, he just wanted his family. He had one, but after one terrible mistake and just the tiniest glimpse of the future, Alice and Jasper had to say goodbye.

Jasper wouldn't fail to protect Bella, but he would tell me he prayed he wouldn't, either. It was the first time he prayed in a long time. He never thought he had a right.

Bella was just as important to him as Peter was, but she wouldn't see it that way. Placidity generally ruled over her. Different experiences had taught her focus and tenacity. Jasper would tell me that she was just like him, once upon a time. But she was more charismatic, because she was a woman.

Bella wasn't just a magnet to vampires, she appealed to everyone. Of course he liked her. Even loved her, to a point.

She hated his guts.

They had made a choice not to interfere. They had kept the truth from Bella. And they stayed away from her for Peter. She was entitled to her bitterness, even her hatred. If he had to take the brunt of it, that was just fine.

Jasper's bottom line was no one ever treated Bella good enough. He was right, of course. But sometimes Bella let people walk all over her, especially the men in her life. She was too kind, too forgiving, and generally a calm soul. She was a woman who didn't know how to let go unless someone forced her to.

Jasper would make up for all the ways he wronged Bella, a hundred fold. But he had to coax Bella and Peter to get what we all wanted. Even Bella understood that, it had ultimately been her choice. Still, the risk had been a dangerous one; and he had never been so frightened in his entire existence.

It was difficult for him to say goodbye, and that was understandable. But it was okay. He knew there would come a day when it would all come together for him. A day it would come together for all of us.

Alice told him it would.

********Prelude End**********

It was difficult to ignore that which I was running away from, but not difficult at all to know that he needed me up there on top of the canyon. The wind was on my side pushing me as I ran downstream; leaving a very distraught Bella in the distance.

"No matter what you see, no matter what you hear, you run as fast as you can."

And I saw quite a bit, before and after I followed his directions. But while I was running down the sandbar, I turned to look. And that had given me pause.

After we had killed the four bloodsuckers, Peter had moved up the canyon on the Mexico side about two hundred yards. He used the wall; every crevice, divot, and shadow within it to advance upstream.

He stayed low, close to the river. His knees and arms went to the sides instead of underneath when he bent them to move. He moved slow and silently while sometimes coiling himself up, to blend in with the shadows. Peter wasn't a gigantic motherfucker, but he was still a class of brawn. It took patience and focus to move like that.

One foot forward and then a pause. Another foot forward and then a pause. I didn't need to look that hard to know he wasn't even breathing. Grace, power, agility, he had it all.

He was a prowler. A cold blooded, fucking prowler. By the time the hair raised on the back of your neck because he was above you or beside you, you'd be dying.

When he finally stopped, he was twenty yards away from a sharp bend in the canyon. He hung on the side of the wall and he did not move until Jasper called me out of my position on the sandbar. And at that, he had only turned his head.

Alice had climbed up the wall, and had taken position thirty feet above the cave. She had been on a small outcropping of rock where she stayed crouched down. She was looking for Carlos, and she was looking for the future.

I had been on top of the sandbar, watching everyone. Watching Bella and Jasper.

It was like being in one of those Hallmark Christmas movies, like looking through the window as loved ones reunited while it snowed on me. Except my snow was sand and grit that the wind blew in from the desert; and the chestnuts roasting over an open fire were dead vampires.

Alice had gathered driftwood and set the fires for the dead, before she climbed up the wall.

It was obvious that Jasper had given Bella the lowdown on what happened back in the desert with Debbie and I. It was all fine and dandy. It was empowering and bittersweet to see how it was all coming together for her. The tears had never stopped, but they were tears of relief. They had been trapped inside a nice little bubble of security, where Jasper could whisper truths to her and ease her pain. And her eyes spoke her thoughts when she would look at me.

Why are you here?

There was nothing I longed for more then to tell her that it was alright. That she didn't need to look at me and ever worry about a thing. Her eyes however scared the living hell out of me, because there was death in them. One had to wonder if it was indeed sneaking up on Bella, or maybe someone up above was looking over her after all.

Every little word, every little touch of comfort Jasper gave her seemed to give her eyes just a little more spark of life.

And boy, did she spark. What looked like the fucked up Walton Family Christmas Reunion turned into the Clash of the Titans almost within the blink of an eye. The Cracken and Perseus were going to get it on, and not in a good way.

The Cracken being Bella, because she was sporting ugly. And Jasper actually looked like he wanted to fly away from her on a horse with wings.

Bitterness, sympathy, tenderness, and hostility. It had all been in her and in a vampire who at one point looked like he just noticed someone had taken a gigantic shit on his boots.

They spoke in whispers none of us could hear, but two of us could see. Granted, Alice was really seeing it.

It was easy to see that Bella wanted to fight the world and run away from it all at the same time. Her lips quivered, and her body shook. She had blood in her eyes, and that blood brightened with the tears the more furious she became.

Bella was the same, yet she had changed. She was a slight shade of pain and crazy sitting next to one nasty motherfucker who looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to slap her or eat her.

I saw him looking at her throat.

My eyes were only for the both of them.

I didn't know what the fuck was going on. All I knew was she looked like she was she looked like glass about to shatter from whatever argument ensued after Jasper assisted Bella to her feet. All the tenderness just seemed to fall away with one whisper in his ear.

I was on my way into that cave a second before he called for me. No matter what, no matter what she was bitter and hateful for, Bella was still my sister. And nobody was going to back her up against the wall and get in her face like that.

The fear of God was already in her eyes, and she was already beaten to hell; on the inside and the outside. Her skin was smeared with blood and dirt, and the shit was in her hair too. Plus she had a skinned up leg that probably could have used a few stitches. She had also soiled her shorts, and she was freezing her ass off.

Her face was ruined. It was tragic in a way.

All I wanted was to just get her back to Peter so he could put her back together again. Something told me that no matter how fucked in the head he was, he'd take care of her before he'd ever take care of himself.

There was no way however, I couldn't not do as Jasper asked. It was in his eyes. It was doing something because even I had thought we were stuck in a stalemate. That bitch was either going to cut and run or attack when she had a well thought out plan.

We all wanted her dead. Bella had willingly climbed onto his back, and I knew it was just as much her decision to move as it was his.

"What the fuck are you doing!?"

I could not count the seconds it took for Peter to reach them, because there wasn't any. I had to look back. It was the worst thing I could have done, because it stopped me in my tracks.

A crash into the cliff, and a kick to the side of his gut. Jasper had been ready for him. Bella let go of Jasper like she had been kicked herself, but Jasper had been ready for it.

"Run, Seth! Get the hell out of here!" I couldn't move. She had been dangling in the fucking air eighty some feet off the ground.

"Oh, God! What did you do?!"

They came around the bend, slithering down the goddamn walls, just as Jasper had her pulled up and secured on his backside. Three of them.

He shot up the wall with Bella clinging to him for dear life, leaving a wake of devastation in his path as he tore into the rock with his hands.

The fire had already been lit up my ass. Everything was instantly clear. 'Get the hell out of here' all of a sudden meant 'get the hell up there.'

I ran. I could feel nothing but panic. It surged inside my heart and down into my legs weighing them down. I prayed for a catharsis that could take the feeling away so I could make my legs move like they hadn't before.

Her cry followed me on the wind. It would be Peter's catharsis, too. In this place, in the gloom of the night with no civilization in the distance, even dying with your friends and loved ones would be a goddamn tragedy.

I could run a mile in seventeen seconds as a wolf on flat land, but I could not run a third of that mile through sodden sand and dirt that stuck to the pads on my feet in the same amount of time. I could not run it when the canyon narrowed, yet the walls of entrapment descended.

The river swallowed the riverbanks, and I jumped into the middle of that bitch. But she didn't impend my speed. Her current pushed me forward.

It was a count in my head. A count in my head that I could focus on to move and move fast. To keep the momentum and the power focused in my legs and in my steps when I hit the bank along the river, and the mouth of the canyon.

Nine one thousand, ten one thousand, eleven thousand...

The walls ended. I climbed out of the water, up a flat bank, and into a thicket. Full with desert grass, sagebrush, and blooming succulents.

And I was going to give Jasper plenty of shit later, if we fucking managed to live at all. Because his 'gully' was actually a ravine, whittled out from time and torrent rainfall. With steep edges and small hills, that ascended to the top of the canyon.

A ravine! A ravine with hills made of fine sand and desert dirt that wasn't packed in and wasn't solid! It gave way under my feet and sucked my legs in! It was like stepping into a motherfucking mud hole! How the fuck was I supposed get there when I couldn't even fucking run?

No one wanted to die here! No one wanted to die in a place where the buzzards circled over your head in the heat of the day waiting for their chance to pick at a sinew in your foot because the coyotes were busy eating your guts; or the scorpions were crawling inside your mouth!

Fifteen thousand, sixteen thousand, seventeen thousand...

All it took was one good whiff of the air blowing down at me. All it took was one burst of thought that said, 'Hey, try the other side, you stupid fucker.'

I was stuck on the outer edge of the ravine, close to the river. The other side gradually built up to be part of the ridge. The ridge behind the crash site.

When I jumped the small divide, I met nothing but ground that didn't give away so much. Ground that my feet did not sink into.

Twenty two thousand, twenty three thousand, twenty four thousand...

I was going to bite Jasper on his goddamn ass!

I couldn't fail. Jasper was probably well aware of just how fast I could run. And I would not question whether or not I made the right decision to leave Peter and Alice to fend off the two that were going to impede their time. I would not question it because Peter himself would want me there with Bella.

The air was filled with the new smell of rotten. Fresh scents, blowing on the wind which was already saturated with the scent of sweet death. All I wanted to do was rip into them and tear them to shreds.

I would learn later that Maria smelled like pomegranates; and Carlos smelled like sage. They all smelled fucking rotten to me.

It was like the worst fucking nightmare of my entire life. It was just another problem we didn't need. It was just another threat that had obviously stuck around and only came out when we were put down, or we were weakened.

Maria, and Carlos.

Had we been put down?

I jumped off a crest of the mesa to the top of the canyon. I went down on my chest when my legs gave out, but there was no pain. I could feel nothing but desire and need to tear those smells to shreds and burn the pieces so it could never permeate the air again. I ran in on the rim of the canyon, and I ran like I hadn't run before.

The glow from the fire lit up the sky over the Comanche pits of Boquillas. It was the light in the darkness that you could never reach in your dreams. But I wasn't dreaming. I was alive, and I was running for all our lives.

Thirty one thousand, thirty two thousand, thirty three thousand...

I would not notice the lightning to the south. I would not see the torrent rain behind it. The orange glow was closer. I would leap jagged rock, and the adrenaline would keep my legs strong. And I would hope to kill those smells blowing in my face.

I would hear words on the wind I could not understand being screeched out by a bitch that had no right to walk the face of the earth. I would hear the weakened voice of a woman who had been wronged in so many ways, it was understandable she had some less than stellar thoughts about the man she loved, and those that at had forsaken her.

I would hear the shrill keen of a death below, echoing down the canyon as it traveled on the wind.

I was all teeth, and the fury at the crash site rendered me unseen, and unheard. I would see that son of a bitch six seconds before he lunged at Jasper and Bella. He would not see me, or hear me. The wind was on my side and my feet were barely touching the ground.

I was the ghost. And I didn't have to count anymore.

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*B*E*L*L*A*

That moment, the moment Jasper kicked Peter off the canyon wall, nothing could have been more horrifying or heartbreaking. He had hurt him, when he was already hurt and confused.

Nobody deserved to be kicked when you were already down, and it just made it worse because it was Jasper that had done it.

Jasper shot up the wall like a rocket, tearing into the rock with hands that were claws. I kept my eyes closed. There was no way to express how much hate I had for him in that moment, so I just cried.

My stomach twisted and bile rose in my throat. My heart was about to explode right along with my head. It seemed to be the story of my life. One moment I was falling up, the next moment I was falling sideways. I kept my eyes closed, until amber light invaded the darkness behind my lids.

Jasper whipped around and pushed my legs down roughly, tearing my arms away from his neck. I fell to the ground in a heap, bruising my tail bone. My leg landed on a rock that was superheated. I scrambled off of it, but it seared the skin on the outer portion of my right thigh.

Too many things happened at once.

The light made my head throb behind my eyes. My thigh tingled and burned painfully. Flying up the canyon wall left me dizzy, and I had to fight for focus. Passing out wasn't an option.

We were back on top of the canyon, in the midst of the devastation that had carved a partial crater into the land.

Twisted and tortured metal lay scattered about; still burning hot. Steam made the air thicker as the wind blew it in my face. Part of the plane's tail was still intact, but her guts were smoldering away. The tail was back by the wall of the ridge. Walls that seemed to surrounded us. There was no way out.

Brush on the rim of the canyon was lit with fire, and the wood pile that they used to light their fires was already turning to ash.

We were up by the pit that the newborns had stayed. Twenty five feet away from the ledge. One of her rocks had burned my leg, but the pit itself had been blasted away.

To the left and down, was the pit I had a share in with Charlotte. It had survived. It had a history. It was burning anew, like someone had stacked it with dry and dead wood.

But it was all sideline. No sooner than Jasper had forcibly removed me from his back, was the ultimate enemy attacking him. Maria came over the ledge with her claws out.

Unleashed frenzy and viciousness filled the air, snarls and short growls rattled my ears. They were frightening noises that only made me focus on staying awake even more. For just a moment the fight was on. And it was all a blur.

Tangled bodies, snaps, and a punch that only sent her back a few feet. Maria was on him again.

She went for his legs, diving at Jasper to knock him to the ground. He fell forward, twisting around to land on his back as he reached and grabbed her leg, because she was coming for me.

All she needed to do was touch me once, and that would be the end. I felt it coming. The terror as I looked into her eyes—as she reached for my neck—was a surge through my head. It was all I could feel. It was all I could think. I was going to die.

I screamed.

It would be quick. Maybe even painless. There would be no time to say goodbye.

It wouldn't happen.

Jasper grabbed her by her hair and threw her back as hard as he could. She twisted rapidly and landed in a crouch on the rim of the canyon. Her foot broke off a piece of the ledge, and she almost fell off of it.

Jasper was standing up in front of me in an instant, but he was slammed down into the earth face first, from behind. Carlos must have been waiting behind us, on the ridge.

"Jasper!"

Carlos only pissed Jasper off, to the extreme. Carlos was straddling him, snarling as he tried to get a hold of Jasper's head. But Jasper twisted his upper body underneath him. He snagged Carlos' head instead with his right hand, pulling him down as he lifted his own body up. I made it to my feet, and backed away.

Jasper bit into and took a chunk the size of a lemon out of the side of Carlos' neck. Jasper twisted himself again, grabbing Carlos' head and slamming it into the ground.

He was on his feet an instant later, backing up and running into me, knocking me back to the ground.

Jasper's voice was thick with venom and laced with anger as he yelled. "Carlos! You fucking piece of.."

But Maria was on him again, cutting him off and biting into Jasper's right shoulder. Carlos was on him again too, but they were all fluid in the air. They moved so fast I couldn't make out who was who. Jasper's skin blended with Maria's pink shirt, and Carlos' green windbreaker.

It was like an unreal nightmare, so terrifying it cloaked all you senses and paralyzed you. I couldn't tear my eyes away, when I so desperately wanted to. They had him!

I scrambled back to my feet, just as Maria was thrown or kicked back towards the ledge of the canyon again. A banshee shriek later, Carlos was knocked back with a punch that sounded like a wreaking ball colliding with a concrete wall. He was away from Maria, standing off to the left about fifteen feet to the left of Jasper, who backed up towards me.

Carlos was favoring his right side, and his hand flew up to feel the wound in his neck. Part of his torso was misshapen; like someone had taken a bite out of him, or had hit him so hard his rib cage was now a body cavity.

Jasper reached back and grabbed a hold of my shirt. He pulled me against his backside, his arm wrapping awkwardly around my waist and back.

He was breathing heavily. His nostrils flared, and from his partial profile I could tell he was smiling at them in a daring way. His shoulder was oozing, and he shuddered in pain.

Maria's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her goddamn head. There was so much fury and pain in them, she didn't even look human anymore. She looked like a monster, and the screeching hiss she let out made her monster even more so. Part of her face was misshapen. Her left, lower jaw.

She straightened in an instant. Carlos took a step back, but he lowered himself into a position he could spring from. Jasper shifted, lifting his shoulders and standing tense.

I would see the overlapping crescent marks on his back. Every single one was a testament to those he had killed, and I would think of him as a monster too.

Why!? Why did he hurt Peter like that!? Where was he?! What was going on!? All he brought to Peter's life was pain, and we were about to die!

And then it was all so clear. Peter, Alice, and Seth were nowhere to be seen. Alice and Peter were fighting two vampires below, and Seth was on his way. Jasper had split us up even more, and he used confusion to bring out the enemy. He fabricated our own, to draw her out.

He had done exactly what I asked him to do. Peter would have never agreed to it.

What have I done? Maybe all I brought to everyone's life was pain. Seth was never going to make it on time, and I didn't want him anywhere near Maria or Carlos to begin with. What had I done?

Maria took a step forward, practically foaming at the mouth.

Jasper backed up a step. My feet got twisted, but his right arm kept me steady enough. I latched on him so I didn't fall.

The air was turbulent, the wind was cold. It was filled with the promise of violence, and thick with ferocity. One way or the other, it was going to end.

Jasper vibrated and growled low in his chest. His nostrils flared as he smiled at her, but there was so much disdain and hatred coming out of him, it was a wonder that neither Maria, Carlos, or I crumbled away with just feeling it.

Maria's eyes were only for Jasper. Disbelief, anger, pain, she was feeling it all. Her arms flew as she screeched at him. She wanted to lash out, and she wanted to kill. But she was also afraid. Her left jaw was actually cracked, and venom dripped from the wound.

"¡Vóitelas! ¡zócalo! ¿Cómo pudiste? Está protegiendo a esa chica! ¡Está protegiendo que los mascota! ¡Te di todo!" She growled out the last part of whatever the fuck she said.

"Ella es una niña. Mija," Jasper answered calmly, but he was fuming, too. His eyes staying on her. His hand fell away from my back, and I stepped away.

Maria looked at Jasper as if he were crazy, drawing her upper body back a little. I expected her to say 'What?'

But she didn't.

"¡Esa perra se va a morir, y tú también!" Her mouth twisted in a sneer.

"¡Vete al carajo, you bitch. Speak English, both of you."

Telling her to go fuck herself was about all I could do. I lived in the southwest. I picked up a few words, but they were talking so quickly I couldn't understand much. It just didn't come out as strong as I would have liked it to.

"I will gut you, you little puta!" Carlos spat, and he stepped forward.

Jasper laughed, and took a step back. He yanked me forward by his shirt, and I stumbled while he pulled me in front of him. He wrapped his right arm tightly around my ribs.

"What are you.." I started. What the fuck was he doing? I struggled what little I could to get away, but he jerked me to a halt.

"Shut up," he said firmly, jerking me even harder.

And I did. I suddenly felt very lethargic, even though I was completely terrified and confused while my heart continued to shatter. For all I knew we were dying, and Peter was fighting for his life down below.

Jasper's free arm moved the hair away from my neck as he spoke to them.

"Go ahead and try, you both know you don't stand a chance in hell." He leaned down, and he kissed the right side of my neck, his eyes on both of them.

Some kind of surge knotted up in the pit of my belly as Jasper licked a path up the side of my throat. He shuddered against me, and he breathed out of his nose. Or maybe it was I that shuddered out against him.

Maria and Carlos were both unsettled, and Carlos sneered and bared his teeth. Maria was taken aback. Even she didn't know what he was doing, but she was also getting off on it. Her lip twitched, as if to smile. She was confused, mesmerized even.

When I told him to show me off, I didn't mean literally. All he did was make that bitch look hungry.

Jasper kissed the side of my jaw very lightly. His arm came away from my ribs. The fingers on his right hand trailed up my right arm, and he wrapped both hands around my biceps.

He was getting ready to move me.

Jasper looked directly at Maria.

"The only goddamn thing you ever did for me was turn me into a goddamn monster. This girl here, this woman? She's survived me before, and she'll survive me again. She'll survive you," he said evenly, growling in his chest.

A faint sound came out of the bottom of the canyon and blew on the wind. It was the shrill grind of strong teeth tearing through a body made of granite.

No! No! No!

Who was it!? No! No! No! What have I done!?

Through the tears, through the pain, I could only look at her. Maria was looking at Jasper as if he had committed or was committing the greatest sin. But she smiled when she heard that sound.

"Sounds like someone didn't survive," Maria said as she stepped forward. She looked at us sort of smug like, but the anger and the pain was still there.

Jasper tensed even more, but only for a second. He sighed out taking a step back, taking me with him. We were being herded back against the wall of the ridge.

Lightning crashed far to the south, and thunder seemed to roll over the land. I could feel the rumble in my bones, and underneath my feet.

"It was one of yours, I taught them both almost everything I know. No woman could be my mate and not know how to kill a cunt like you. You would never teach them that much."

He sounded so sure, I wanted so much to believe he was right.

But those words would put this entire experience with him into retrospect at some point; if I lived. All because of the look in Maria's eyes. It could only be described as startled realization.

One would think Jasper would be a fool to use that which made him weak and put it on display for her. And he would be. But even if I was human, I was not Jasper's greatest weakness, and Maria had always went for the weak spots. Always.

Until now.

Maria had forsaken the woman with Peter. Jasper's mate.

There was a vast difference from that which would make Jasper weak to that which would emotionally kill him, if anything were to happen to Alice. He could never live without her. His greatest weakness was down below in the dark, with mine. And the fact was, drinking my blood wouldn't weaken him at all, but taking my life would.

I was a human, and I belonged to Peter. We were the perfect bait. Maria had failed to kill me, and for Maria, Jasper had been the reason she failed. Of course her focus would be us.

The smugness in Maria's face faded away into complete rage. There was no way to escape her fury. Jasper had stalled her for as long as possible.

But time had still been on our side. To me, there was not much of it. To them, the seconds and every fraction of time were pieces of forever.

Maria crouched. I saw that jaw of hers open to growl or scream, but I never heard it. I tensed, expecting to feel death coming in the form of two pissed off vampires who had been tricked.

Carlos sprung from where he stood, hissing out as Jasper growled out loud and short. There wasn't even time to take a breath.

Jasper swept my feet right from underneath me, and threw me down on my left side. I hit so hard my teeth rattled and I bit my tongue. Something popped inside my shoulder, or maybe it was my neck. Agony like I've never felt shot into both, and even felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest.

Out of nowhere, amidst the screams and the growls, a loud, viscous, snapping bark announced the arrival of something awful. The next thing I knew Jasper crashed down on top of me.

Another tortured shrill would sound from below, but it would go unheard. Terror, fear, and pain encapsulated my very being, and it felt like death for all. The noise in the chaos was nothing short of being heart stopping.

But the threat hadn't touched us. It had touched them.

Carlos was on the ground, two feet away from Jasper and I. It took me a moment to figure out just what it was I was seeing, because when I looked up, all I could see was the colors of the desert.

The firelight only made him look larger as shadows danced and rippled across his coat.

Seth. Seth had Carlos' right arm in his teeth. He was dragging and pulling Carlos away from Jasper and I. Right in front of Maria.

He was viciously shaking Carlos back and forth, while crunching into right arm. The sound of Carlos' scream was a horror all in it's own. There was a savageness in Seth's eyes unlike anything I had ever seen. He almost looked rabid; or at the least, extremely pissed off.

His appearance rattled us all, even Jasper to a point. I glanced into his eyes as he put his hands underneath my arms to quickly lift me up, and in his eyes I saw fear. Carlos had gotten so close that Seth had inadvertently knocked him to the ground, on my legs.

One glance away from the savagery Seth was inflicting on Carlos and I realized what had stopped Maria's attack.

It was a couple of things, really.

Agony ripped through my shoulder and everywhere else, but heat surged inside me and filled my heart. Seeing your former best friend just kind of had that effect.

Alice was twenty feet away on Maria's right, crouched down and ready to attack. She was extremely disheveled; very dirty and wet. Her jeans were ripped down the seam on her left leg, and something—or someone—had tried to bite her foot off. Venom oozed from the wound, but it didn't seem to debilitate her in any way. Her eyes were as black as the night. The tank top she was wearing was untucking itself from the waist of her jeans.

Alice kind of looked like shit. It was a goddamn sin.

And Seth's arrival had shocked Maria. She had pulled up short while she watched her lover being dragged off to the side. She was speechless, and she wasn't making a sound.

Jasper slid me behind him as I clung to him. I was still coherent, but threatening to pass out. The pain in my head pulsed with the agony in my shoulder, and I couldn't help crying out.

Alice was maybe fifteen feet away, and off to Maria's right, by the ledge. Maria was seething as she looked at her. Alice smiled and showed her her teeth, biting down exaggeratedly. She was taunting her.

Maria's eyes were for nothing but Alice. She hissed at her and coiled to attack.

Carlos was being lifted and vigorously tossed around by a vicious Seth. His front paws dug into the earth, and with one hard yank he bit Carlos' arm off, just above the elbow.

Seth flung his head to the left to toss the arm away. It landed on a smoldering bush that sparked back to life; birthing a little more light into the approaching darkness.

Carlos screamed like a banshee, but he managed to get a leg around to deliver a swift kick to Seth's chest. Seth yelped out in pain, and he was sent flying off about thirty feet, smashing into the wall of the ridge.

I screamed.

Maria did not spring at Alice. She had taken her eyes off her, to watch her lover lose his arm. Jasper was still in front of me, but he was conflicted. He had to protect me, but he wanted to strike Maria.

Where in God's name was Peter!? Where was he! Where was he!

It took me a second or two to listen to what my heart was telling me. Pandemonium and terror kind of ruled over everything.

I cradled my arm against my chest and took a step back. I was shaking so badly though it was a wonder I didn't go back down. The pain was everywhere, and I didn't think my heart would be able to take much more.

Carlos was no idiot. He knew they were outnumbered; sticking around would prove to be fatal. He lost an arm. They had lost the advantage.

He was quicker getting back to his feet, of course. There was no looking back. Seth's collision with the wall only seemed to fuel the ferocity that encapsulated him, but the blow to his chest had stunned him. He lagged somewhat as he chased after Carlos.

Carlos made his jump, screaming over the canyon. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. But Seth was on his tail, and he had every intention of following him.

"Seth!" Jasper yelled his name and Seth slid to a halt, right at the rim of the canyon.

"Stay here." It was a firm command from Jasper, whose eyes were only for a breathless and furious Maria. And she was trying to figure out just what the fuck to do. Alice was no longer approaching her, and Maria's murderous eyes stayed on Seth as she bared her teeth.

Seth turned around. He trotted a few feet away from the ledge, before he slowed and started to close in on Maria, growling low in his throat. His eyes were pins, his short snout scrunching up to show her his teeth. Alice shifted back towards the ledge, leaning forward into a crouch.

Seth was as big and as tall as a horse. His spine was sloped in his stance, and the fur on his back stood up even more. His abdomen was pulled in taut. He was crouched down somewhat, his legs poised to attack. His ears flattened against his head, and points of light in those black balls only highlighted the viciousness within him. His eyes were only for Maria.

Seth's neck was pure muscle, thick and strong. He lowered his head, his shoulder blades twitched. His hackles raised even more, as he stalked forward. He moved slow, and deliberate like.

The low, constant growl coming from Seth only got louder. His doggy lips pulled back and up away from his teeth, his short snout scrunching up even more so he could show her all of them. He was salivating, it was dripping to the earth from the corners of his flews and from his canines. Canines that were almost as long as Maria's face. They were frighteningly opalescent in the light.

Then all of a sudden Seth just halted and whined a little. He sat down, almost casual like.

It grew very quiet, yet the wind still howled. Malevolence was thick in the breeze, and it seemed to grow thicker with every passing second.

He was coming. It was in my heart, and it was in the air. It was going to be wonderful and awful all at the same time.

Jasper was no longer growling, or posed to strike. He had relaxed into a more casual stance, and he was smiling at Maria.

The pain just suddenly went away. Maybe it was Jasper. Maybe it was me. Maybe even my body didn't want to miss this for the world.

Maria was seething. Her eyes darting back and forth between the three that had her triangulated. She was mad with desire to kill and so very furious. Still, the bitch stood there and weighed her options. She was still looking for some kind of victory.

Her eyes were meant mostly for Seth and Alice. Even then Seth was no threat to her, but she kept him in her peripheral as Jasper shifted a little more to the right. He only took one step, smiling at her even more.

Maria made the decision, she was going to run. She only had one way out, but it would be futile. She started slowly backing up to the rim of the canyon with her teeth bared and her head maniacally twitching between Alice, Jasper, and Seth. She was fading out of the light, fading away into the darkness.

There couldn't have been a more profound feeling of relief to be felt the moment I saw Peter. I had been in a thick and heady deluge of pain, terror, turmoil, and chaos for what had felt like a lifetime, but it was the pull to his heart that had kept me afloat.

It was his hands that I saw first. The only reason I looked for them was because the pull on my heart, the pull to my perpetual happiness was just there. In between the darkness and the light, a foot just below the ledge behind Maria.

His fingertips were pushed down into the rock. Long and thick fingers, with strikingly raised sinews in the flesh of his hands; and large knuckles. His hands had always treated me with the greatest respect. They loved my body. The man they were attached to loved me. They were rough when I wanted them to be, and tender when I wordlessly needed to just feel them.

Hands that could kill. Hands that have killed, and they weren't done killing yet.

Peter lifted himself up with deliberated slowness and silence. Maria was still backing up towards ledge. She was still seething, and looking at Jasper.

Who was still smiling at Maria.

Peter's head was down, and his body was coiled as he brought his feet up. He was wearing one of his black, long sleeved shirts with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He had on his black jeans, and his brown hikers. When his feet lightly found the ground, he un-tucked his head and torso, and slowly stood up.

He was on that edge of light and dark, in more ways than one. Two feet away from her, and she never even heard him. Not until he shifted his stance, to stand ready for when she realized it. And he wanted her to realize it. He towered over Maria, behind her.

Peter was wearing his stocking cap.

His clothes were caked in dirt, and his face was dirty too. His shirt was torn, on the left side just below his chest. He had been bitten, and the wound oozed. There was even a small tear in his jeans, right on his right hip.

The lies, the deceit, in that moment, none of it mattered. I loved that man. I stepped towards the pull and the very thing that I needed, without even really realizing it. Before I even really looked at him.

Jasper's arm in my peripheral was telling me to hold my ground; to stay back.

A burst of calm soothed the need to touch him, because surely if I moved another step forward, I would fall into a million pieces when I realized just what I was looking at.

My heart stopped. When it shocked back to life, every agonizing beat was one of agony.

Something was wrong his face. Something was terribly wrong! Someone had stuck a red hot poker into his eyes! His lower and upper lids were branded and tinted red. His eyes alone were black balls filled with nothing but hatred and pain. I was looking at the man in the field! I was looking at a man whose heart had shattered into a million pieces!

But there were some stark differences. He was strong.

Peter never asked for anything of this. This was not all his fault! It was all of ours!

What had Charlotte done to him?!

There was nothing but hatred and unsurpassed fury seeping out of him. The man before me wasn't starving for anything but vengeance, and his eyes were only for Maria. The man before me was incapable of smiling lightheartedly.

He was biting down. His jaw was tight, and his jowls had nothing on hers. His fit his face. His liked to be nipped at; and licked. They stood out even more, when he would smile.

His lips were frowning and sneering all at the same time. This didn't just effect him in a bad way, this had killed him!

It might not have killed him, but it certainly had ripped his heart out. There was nothing but devastation in his eyes.

And I still wanted to kill him. But I also wanted to ease his pain. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright, and I wanted to yell and scream at him at the top of my lungs and glue myself to him all at the same time.

I wasn't crazy, I was just sanely homicidal and in love.

I wanted it to always be like that. I never wanted to be one of those people that would say they just 'loved' their mate; or spouse, or their other half. I wanted to be one of those people that could always say they were 'in love.' I had that with Peter.

I could never leave him. I would fight to keep him. I would give my life to protect him.

Lightning struck behind him, off in the distance. We were in the eye of the storm, and she was sticking around after all.

There was so much death and heinousness in his eyes, it was impossible to believe he could love so strong, so unequivocally. Charlotte marked him in a way that he would no longer be able to look in the mirror and not remember all of it. He would never be able to forget.

I hated her for it.

It was that one little shift though, that made Maria aware. The realization was in her eyes, and she stop breathing instantly. He was towering behind her in strength, and his shoulders were tense. Everything about his body was tense.

The relief, the wonderful feeling that filled me to see him standing behind her like that, was strange in a way. The last thing I should have been was relieved, because all hell was about to break loose. Maria was about to die; we were all hurting, and my battle with the betrayal and for the truth hadn't even begun.

But for a moment, the air thinned and the wind eased, and I could breathe deep.

Maria stood there boiling. The rage inside Peter's eyes made me take a step back. It was going to be bad.

Across the canyon and in the distance came an inhuman noise. A furious and mournful roar, that broke the silence.

Carlos.

"Your mate just left you to die, Maria. But don't worry, he'll be joining you in hell soon enough." Jasper told her gently. "Go ahead, Peter. Put her..Seth!"

Jasper didn't get to finish his sentence, nor could Peter get his hands on her before she took off to go through the threat that she considered the weakest. And at that moment he was, because he wasn't ready for it. But any attempt at escape was just futile.

Panic and horror surged inside me once again.

Maria took off to the left slamming into Seth full bore, before Peter got a hold of her hair.

"No! No!"

Maria had rammed into Seth so hard, he tumbled backwards. The sickening pop that came from his body could be heard over the deep yelp that left his throat.

Maria twisted around in a violent corkscrew to attack Peter. The lines of their bodies were blurred. The fingers of his right hand dug into the back of her scalp, and her jaw with his left as he lifted her off the ground.

"Jasper, get her!"

I lost what little grip I had on rationality. All it took was to see Maria hurt Seth and put her hands on the love of my life.

The love of my life.

"Peter!"

"Bella, no!"

I moved without thinking towards Peter and Seth, but I didn't make it two steps. Jasper grabbed me and picked me up. He darted us back towards the wall of the ridge, away from the fight and by the burning tail end of the plane. I cursed him.

Jasper planted me against the wall, turning to stand in front of Alice and I protectively. Alice had wrapped her arms around my waist. Her words were indistinct as she tried to console me.

An inhuman shriek sounded inside Maria's throat. She started to thrash about. She struck Peter over and over in the side of the head. Peter threw her like she weighed no more than a sack of laundry towards the wall of the ridge.

While Peter was throwing Maria, Seth was struggling his way back to all fours, scrambling for footing and coherency. He was favoring his right front leg, crying and whining in pain as he tried to find some balance.

Maria twisted before she collided with the ridge wall, landing five yards away and two yards up. She was grappling for footing to climb, and she found some. But Peter was right behind her, jumping and clambering up the wall with so much rage it would be easy to catch her.

He was a vampire, but had he have been human, there would have been nothing but ice running through his veins.

Peter grabbed Maria by the waist of her jeans to pitch her off the wall. But she wheeled on him and kicked him in the gut. He didn't let go, and they fell over twenty five feet as she went for his neck. They crashed down on the ground, Peter on his back.

"Peter! Jasper! Jasper, help him!"

But Jasper wouldn't. He was too busy acting like a goddamn cheerleader and protecting me while a very angry and ferocious Seth towered over both Peter and Maria. Seth was instantly there, snarling and barking loud and short barks as he snapped at Maria's head.

"He's doing just fine. You put her down, Peter! Put her down!"

She was an animal. She did need to be put down.

Peter got a hand around her throat and he squeezed as he pushed her away. She clawed at his arm, her fingers digging into his flesh. He kicked her in the gut and sent her flying back against the ridge wall.

While Maria was in the process of becoming one with the wall, I was on my way down. The blood running through my veins was cold; and my body could no longer ignore the pain like I wanted to. My head hammered behind my eyes. My entire chest ached and burned. My legs gave out. Both Alice and Jasper caught me as I fell. I was against the wall of the ridge, the tail blocking the wind somewhat.

Jasper straddled my legs and stayed crouched. Once he placed his hands on the sides of my face and neck, the pain alleviated somewhat; and I was able to focus again.

Maria didn't have time to react or defend herself. Peter was up and had her by the neck as soon as she crashed into the wall. They were fifteen feet away; she was dangling in the air and baring her teeth. Peter slammed her against the wall so hard there was a splitting noise coming from the rock underneath her. Then he did it again. Bits of rock fell to the ground.

She was trying to remove his hand with both of hers. She sneered and hissed out whatever remaining breath she had in her lungs. Peter slammed her in the wall again, his hand moving somewhat so he could grasp her jaw. He pinned her with one arm against the rock, and he got right in her face. Her legs stopped kicking, but she growled deep in her chest.

Peter spat in her face. It slid down her cheek and onto her chest.

His face was twisting in fury every capable way. His fingers were embedding into the flesh of her cheek, and her jaw. Venom seeped along his fingertips and glittered in the firelight. He was going to squeeze her face until it crumbled to dust.

He twisted Maria's head to the right violently.

"Look at her," Peter spoke firmly. His voice cracked in the air; and at what little sense of control I had.

She looked down at me with nothing but pure hatred, but I could see the fear in her eyes. He turned her head back violently to look at him. Instantaneously he drove his fist into her face. It sounded like a gun going off.

Then he did it again, just a little harder. He twisted her head back to the right.

"My God," Alice whispered beside me.

"Look at her now."

Maria's nose was gone. It was still crumbling away from her face when he turned her head. Her right eye was crushed inside her head, along with part of her cheek. They were ulcerous wounds; that seeped venom as bits and pieces of her face fell to the earth.

And then I realized what he was doing. She smashed my face, and he was eviscerating hers.

My God.

She might have been a woman, but she deserved everything she got.

Peter twisted her face back to look at Maria, and he smiled in the worst way possible.

Satisfied with his work, I suppose, but he wasn't done.

Maria was starting to flail against the wall with all the fight she had. Her high pitched cries and roars were eardrum splitting. She kicked at him repeatedly; but he held strong.

Peter let her down so she could touch the ground, and kicked her right knee hard enough to break it in a way that she wouldn't be able to use it. Then he did the same to the left. Only it bent back in a way no knee should.

He struck like a cobra, his razor teeth biting into the flesh on the left side of her neck as he twisted her head to the side. He bit out a chunk, and spat it out in her face as he let go of her neck. She dropped to the ground, her mingled cry of rage and pain echoed through the air.

The squelching sound of her knees splintering should have made me sick, but it didn't.

Peter breathed heavily out of his nose. Venom dripped from his lips, and down his chin. His face twisted in-between a smile and a grimace. I looked away as he crouched down over her.

Seth was pacing a few yards behind Peter, watching. He was limping badly, sometimes lifting his front leg completely up and using only the three that were still good.

Jasper was staring at Peter and Maria with a very severe look on his face, but it was his eyes that alleviated the hysteria. In his eyes I saw bittersweet victory. I saw such a profound feeling of relief, there was no way not to feel it.

My nerves tingled, and my heart felt lighter. Maria had 'touched' us all in different ways; and when she touched you she left her mark. But maybe Jasper's scars were the deepest.

Maria's legs still flailed just as wildly as her arms. Peter was crouched down over her left leg but he pinned her with his knee as he stretch his left arm out to grabbed her by the throat. He sighed long and deep through his nose. His lips were tight, yet they twisted in a sneer and a smile. Maria's hands flew up to his arm to try and beat away the crushing grip he was applying to her throat; her eyes lit with nothing but black and cold fire.

I expected him to snap and crush her neck to the point her head would just roll off. But he had a knack for surprising me.

Peter drew his right arm back and punched her in the chest. He punched through it. She bucked, and a dull cry left her throat.

When he pulled his hand out, he pulled out a mottled, slick, gray, mass of atrophied nothingness.

He pulled out her heart.

He rested his elbow on his knee, and he held up her heart to her face. Maria stared at it blankly. She knew death was coming. Or maybe she was already dead. How could anyone really live without their heart? She already looked lifeless. She had given up.

He pinned Maria with his eyes.

"Your heart for Charlotte's. I get to keep mine after all," he stated thickly.

He got to keep it, but it was raw, and scarred.

A sob the size of a fist left my throat. Jasper's cool hand palmed my cheek, but my eyes stayed on Peter. Seth limped and hopped up to stand directly behind Peter. He leaned his head down directly over Peter's shoulder, and growled at Maria.

Peter stared at Maria with nothing but hatred. Seth nudged the side of Peter's head with his snout. Peter turned his head to look at him. Some kind of unspoken communication passed between the two, and Peter opened his hand for Seth.

Seth took that ugly, mottled mass into his mouth; and flung it on a smoking piece of metal that was laying next to a patch of brush. It sparked to life; the flame deep violet with orange tips that whipped in the wind.

It was Maria that broke the momentary silence. Of course it was her. No one had a goddamn thing to say to her before her life was snuffed out permanently. What was said was said, and what was done was done.

But just like a bitch, she had to get the last word in.

"I will see you all in hell." Venom in her mouth made the words sound garbled, and the threat weak.

And I cursed God for giving a cunt like her such a beautiful dialect, because every word she had ever spoken belonged to the devil's tongue.

"No, you won't, you bitch. We're all going to live forever. Try and keep your hands to yourself on the way down. Just accept it."

She needed to keep her hands off my mother's pretty dress. And it was out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying, but I was a bitch that like to have the last word too.

Peter told me that, and he was right.

I could feel all their eyes on me for a moment, but hers was the only one I looked into.

Peter put his fingers inside the wound on her neck, and wove his hand through the hair on her scalp. He twisted and cracked her head off. It only took him a second.

Jasper stood up. Peter stood up instantly and pitched her head into the fire still burning her heart.

Maria was gone. Finished. Dead. On her way to hell. Her body was racked with spasms and her arms flew around looking for that which was lost. Seth sprung and landed on her body, barking as he bit into her. He would tear the rest of her apart and burn her.

But it wasn't over. And I was looking at man who had walked right through hell on earth. I looked at him and I knew, he would never be the same ever again.

Nor would I.

Jasper walked towards Peter as he turned around. And though he was on his way to me, he obviously couldn't just let Jasper get away with what he had done.

A kick to the gut deserved a punch. Or two.

I could almost feel it build up inside Peter, before he decided to just go ahead and release it. I had to give Jasper credit, because he walked right into it, and he took it.

Jasper had it coming, and it was best to just get it out of the way.

Peter's right fist connected with Jasper's jaw. Jasper flew back about ten feet, and he didn't even try to twist out of it. He took the punch with a grunt, and he took the fall. He landed on his ass, sliding in the dirt. Alice yelped beside me, but she didn't leave me.

Peter was on him again, grabbing him by the neck and slamming his fist into Jasper's face once more. He let him fall to the ground, and he did not hit him again.

When he turned and looked into my eyes and his face fell, I knew I was done for.

"Bella." My name came out as a sob.

Fifteen feet was what had separated us, and the man I knew that could kill with practically a flick of his finger, who could clamber up rock walls with ease, couldn't walk it without his legs giving out. He landed in a puddle right on my legs, and crawled the rest of the way up.

"Oh, God."

He snared his arms around my back; and I laid his head against my chest. Every part of my body protested, but I needed it just as much as he had to have it.

We were still alive, and the relief was powerful. Breathing was just about impossible.

And there was no greater feeling I had ever felt, feeling his skin, feeling his heart next to mine. My heart beat strong inside my chest; and his smile flashed before my eyes.

He was the key to my happiness.

Every molecule in my body tingled by just touching his skin. He was cold, but he made my blood boil. In more ways than one.

I was holding the man that caught me when I fell off a slide when I was a girl. I was holding the man that had carried me out of the forest the day Edward Cullen broke my heart.

It was sort of funny how I could now recognize his arms. His hands ran all over me, touching every part of me they could. It was almost as if he were desperate to feel and to realize that I was still there. Still alive.

I was holding the man who was in the water that day at First Beach when Victoria was killed. I truly believed it.

I was holding the man that just saved my life again. He crashed a plane, and he killed Maria.

How many times did he save my life?

I was holding the man who was clinging to me like I was his life preserver. And the words had more meaning than one.

I was holding the man who always knew what was the right thing to say, because he knew me. I was holding the man who probably had years to get used to the idea of us.

I was holding the man who had lied and deceived his way right into my heart in record breaking time. Just to get what he wanted.

Me.

Still, I wanted and to rip his fucking heart out. Then I wanted to shove it back into his chest just so I could rip it out again. I was beginning to realize I probably could.

But that was exactly what Charlotte's death and Charlotte herself had done to him.

The lies, the betrayal, the blatant disrespect? It was a dagger that pierced my skin and stabbed at my heart. But his greatest fear was losing me, and that certainly put everything into perspective.

There was a reason for everything. There was a reason Peter, Alice, and Jasper kept the truth from me, and I needed to hear them all.

Peter was a child himself, in the eyes of God. Charlotte might have given him 'me', but a gift from an angel was a gift from God. What lengths did he go to? What had he done?

Was there any way I could see past the lies and see the miracle of such a thing?

I couldn't just put all the blame on Peter. I couldn't just put the blame on Charlotte, either. Not even she could force the decisions we had made. We were all to blame.

I had let him slide by without telling me the truth. There had always been something he had been hiding from me, from the beginning of our relationship. If I would have pushed hard enough, we might not have went through this mess in the first place.

I didn't push him, because I was afraid it would be too much. I was afraid I would lose him, and that I would think differently of him. I was to blame.

Someone was saying my name. It might have been minutes or hours that had past, I really didn't know. At some point I lost a little of the coherency and the consciousness I was clinging onto.

"Bella!? Bella, look at me!"

It was Peter. I opened my eyes to see him looking into mine. They were liquid pools of black oil; and I could see myself inside them. His face was drawn in a perpetual look of worry.

Everyone was talking at once.

"Peter,"

"Peter, you're hurting her," Jasper said quietly, and a little firmly. He was still sitting where he fell, but he moved to get up as he played with his jaw. It had only been seconds since Peter landed in my arms.

"You just sit there for a minute, Jasper Whitlock, or I'll knock you back on your ass myself," Alice hissed out, glaring at him. She was still beside me.

"What, it worked didn't it? It was her idea! What the fuck are you so pissed for? Don't tell me you didn't know," Jasper said more than a little aggravated.

I couldn't feel much pain anymore, but I felt incredibly loopy. It was like someone had hooked me up with some morphine. Which was really okay.

"Alice, what's wrong with her?" It was Peter, and his eyes were hardening in alarm.

Peter was sliding off of me, wrapping his arm around me to pull me into his lap and cradle me in his right arm. I winced and cried out as my shoulder came into contact with his chest. He palmed my cheek with his hand, and I couldn't help shuddering out. I was cold already. I felt Alice's fingers brush by my chin, and she tore Jasper's shirt at the neck.

"She's in shock, but she'll be fine once I get her out of here. Her clavicle is broken."

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I just feel really out of it," I told him.

Peter looked at Alice and spoke to her with hostility. "You knew what he was going to do and you didn't tell me?" Peter looked back down at me, frowning worriedly.

I looked at what was moving in my peripheral. Seth was limping and hopping his way over to Jasper. He sat down beside him. He lowered his head and sneered at Jasper, exposing his teeth and growled at him. Jasper put a hand up on him and pushed his head away. Seth just did it again.

"Don't be mad. It worked. Is Seth okay?" I asked. I lifted my right hand up and palmed Peter's cheek and shushed him. I felt the skin on his eye lids. It was red and rough. He was scarred.

"Seth's fine. His shoulder is just dislocated again. He's okay," Peter told me shakily as Alice answered his question.

"Yes, I did. But not until it was too late. It was Bella's idea, Jasper just...helped." Alice told Peter gently.

She turned her eyes on Jasper. "And you. You know why I'm pissed, you overbearing son of a bitch. Care to run off at the tongue about that?"

"What is she talking about?" Peter asked him firmly. He was playing a tennis match with his head. Looking at Jasper and Alice, but mostly looking at me. The fingertips from his left hand were lightly brushing over my face, and over my cracked lips.

Jasper looked at me, before he looked back at Peter. "She's talking about nothing where you're concerned. It's between Bella and I. If she wants to tell you, that's up to her."

Jasper looked at Alice hard, and it was a look I could understand. It had shut the fuck up written all over it. Even she realized her mistake. That conversation would just lead to another one, one that was going to need be had. Alice changed the subject quickly, but Peter was looking between Jasper and I, aware that something was going on.

Peter's face contorted in pain. "Goddamn it, Bella. You're in so much trouble, it ain't funny."

"Yeah, well if I'm in trouble, you're in deep fucking shit, you lying son of a bitch."

Alice interrupted, and there was an edge to her voice. Peter just seemed to caught up in my welfare to even care what I meant. He was almost frantic as he searched me over and touched everything that had been damaged.

"Seth, go ahead and let him get up. Peter, you need to say goodbye to Bella," Alice said, pausing. She looked at me with wide and worried eyes.

"She'll be safe, I promise you." She murmured.

She should have just punched a hole through to the center of his chest. And mine.

It wasn't over. Carlos. Carlos had gotten away.

"No, no! You can't leave! Not now," I cried. Peter's face fell, and it twisted in indecisiveness, sadness, and anger. But I figured out right away why he would have to leave me.

"Bella, they can get him. If they leave now, they can catch him and kill him before dawn in Torreón. He's running east to throw off his scent," Alice told me gently as she brushed my hair back.

She was looking at me with understanding, and there was promise in her eyes.

"Goddamn it, I'm not say goodbye. I'm not doing it," Peter grounded out thickly while shaking his head.

And I didn't want him to. But I could see the conflict in him. He wanted to go after him, but he was too worried about me. His arm was shaky on my backside. He was trembling. There was tears inside his eyes.

I knew I wasn't going to die. I didn't go through all this bullshit to die now. But God, I just got him back. It wasn't fair!

"Peter, you have to. Do you want to be looking over your shoulder for the rest of forever? Or over Bella's? Do it now while I can see him. If you leave now, you're going to get him. Bella is going to be fine." Alice told him gently, but there was exasperation and intensity with it.

A pang to the head. I felt a pang in my head not once, but twice. A knock at the door so to speak, and I looked at Jasper. Somehow I knew it was him.

He was looking at me very cautiously. Both of them were. But Alice seemed to be pleading. I suddenly understood.

Carlos had to be killed no matter what. He had helped kill Charlotte and he was just as responsible as Maria had been. He very well could drop off the face of the earth, or he very well could create a few newborns and seek vengeance for Maria's death. He had to die.

Alice had seen everything that happened in that cave, and no one would be holding back anything anymore. They couldn't. If I begged Peter to stay, he would. If he left, I could get all the answers I needed, and I could confront him with the truth when he returned.

I had no desire to send him off after Carlos worrying anymore than he would be, and I would worry enough. Nothing changed the fact that he loved me, and that he would do anything for me. But asking him for the truth would surely break him.

Plus he looked lost, scared, and so very furious. I would not hurt him anymore at that point because he had already suffered enough. I would not send him away on a bad note. I would not hold him back when he could go and murder the son of a bitch while Alice could still see him.

One moment I wanted to kill him, and the next I wanted to try to piece him back together. Maybe I was just going to do what I needed to do because I didn't have it in me to break his heart anymore than it had already been broken.

Some people make excuses for the ones they love. I was one of those people.

I was weak. I loved him.

Jasper was still staring at me as he got up. He turned to Seth and wordlessly walked forward, wrapping his arms around Seth's neck. Seth laid his head over Jasper's shoulder and Jasper buried his face inside the fur at Seth's neck. His left hand sunk down in the fur by Seth's shoulder joint and he felt around. There was a sickening pop and Seth whined loudly, before he licked the side of Jasper's head.

"Knock it off," Jasper told him quietly as he pulled back.

I was still witnessing miracles.

"You said 'they'. Jasper is going?" I asked Alice.

Jasper turned towards me and both Alice and Jasper answered at the same time. "Of course."

Still, I was torn. I knew he needed to go, but I wanted him to stay. I didn't want him anywhere near Carlos.

"Alice?"

"They'll be fine. Do you think I'd let Jasper go if I wasn't sure?" Alice asked me, emotion thickened her words. She tried to smile through her own worry, but I could see that she was.

"We'll just head south. We'll run right into him. Carlos doesn't stand a chance, Bella."

Jasper was standing by my feet, with Seth beside him. Jasper was looking down at me with severity.

He could give it up already, I wasn't going to say anything. Not just yet.

My shoulder even protested as I lifted my good hand up. I palmed Peter's cheek. "Alice is right. You have to go. If you don't do it now, you'll just want to go after him later. Just get it over with. You know you want to."

He started shaking his head exaggeratedly and a sob bubbled out of his throat. "Bella, no."

"Yes," I told him with a hiss. "I'll be fine. I've been through much worse. You can go to a market on the way back. Bring me home something nice. Bring me Carlos' nuts in a blown glass jar. He touched me, you know. Don't let him get away with that. Don't let him get away with any of it."

I knew that would affect him, if none of the other pain Carlos brought to Peter's life didn't. And I was right.

Peter's face twisted as he looked down at my body. He was so beside himself it was amazing he was keeping himself as together as he was. "Did he hurt you?"

No more than you did.

"No more than Jasper did. But he didn't mean to. Don't be mad at him and don't hit him anymore. He did what he had to do. We both did."

Peter actually smiled a little before he frowned. "I gave up on you. I thought you were dead," he whispered as he searched my eyes.

It was an admission I could relate with. I nodded at him.

"I gave up too," I had to pause to swallow. "I thought I lost you. And Seth and Debbie."

Peter's eyes were pools of black liquid. Oh, God. "Deb's going to be okay. You know that, right? Garrett's at home with her. You'll see her when you get home." He told me thickly nodding his head a little.

"Jasper told me," I told him, crying. I didn't want him to leave me. I wanted to kiss him! I wanted to go to sleep! I wanted to wake up and know that this had all been just a bad dream.

But even if I woke up, I'd still see the truth behind the lies.

My love for him was something that would never end. But I had to find a way to deal with the betrayal I felt. The only way I could do that was to take it out on him. But I was going to have to wait.

His face was incredibly close. All I had to do was lift my head up a little and I'd taste his lips. All I had to do was squeeze my right hand into a fist and I could knock him in the side of his head.

Sensing the better half of my need, he touched his forehead to mine while angling his nose as not to touch the bad half of my face. He took my lips with his, and kill my desire to lash out.

So many kisses with him had been the kiss I had waited for all my life. This one was no different.

Something wet hit my cheek, and my legs. It was starting to rain. Thick drops, that almost stung as they hit my skin. I was cold.

Peter pulled back, sobbing. "You jumped off the canyon. You tried to kill yourself."

It was growing darker, but when I looked into his eyes I could see them searching mine for an answer.

And how could I explain it to him? How could I explain that I wasn't jumping to my death when I decided to make that jump, I was jumping for our lives. I wasn't ready to tell him. I wasn't going to, though every part of me wanted to.

"Yes." It was all I could say.

"Why?"

Goddamn him.

"Because Maria wanted to kill me in front of you. I couldn't let her do that. I couldn't let her put you through that again. I'm sorry."

Sorry I had to lie to you like you have lied to me.

Peter searched my eyes. I had to wonder if he could see through it. I had to wonder if Charlotte had given him what she had given me. A good old, heads up. But the truth was, I had thought about it before Maria knocked me into unconsciousness, where I dreamed the dream of a lifetime.

His breath washed over my face as he breathed out. "You think that taking your life makes you look weak to me. It doesn't. It wouldn't have. You're the strongest person I know, Isabella Swan. It's why I love you."

Of course he would see it like that.

He shifted me carefully so he could hunch over me some. The rain was really starting to come down. Seth hobbled forward and took Alice's spot to block out the blowing wind and the rain as much as he could. I hadn't even known she had left. But as quick as she was gone, she was back, carrying a backpack.

Jasper was squatted down beside Peter, and Alice was sitting on her knees by my feet. The rain quickly turned into a downpour. Peter bowed over me even more as he pulled back to look at me, and to look up at the sky as lightning flashed nearby. But I could hardly see his face anymore. The fires had almost been smothered.

"I know you love me. You crashed your plane. How did you manage to fly in this weather?" I had to keep it as light as possible. I could feel it building up. He was getting ready to say goodbye.

He didn't answer me right away, he just kissed and nuzzled my face. I winced here and there, but there was no place I wanted to be other than in his arms.

"I told you, there's an art to flying. It's knowing how to throw yourself at the ground to hit the target." Peter said thickly.

"What was the target?"

"You were. But a goddamn crosswind threw me off course." Peter sobbed out.

Somewhere beside me Seth groaned.

"Well, it's good thing you suck as a pilot, I guess."

"Yeah."

"Peter, we have to go," Jasper said somewhat loudly over the torrent rain.

"Oh, God. Peter," I started to panic. Everyone started talking at once again.

"Say the words and I won't go," Peter said forcefully with emotion.

"They'll be fine, Bella. There won't be anything to worry about at all."

That was the stupidest thing I had ever heard.

"Four thousand, four hundred and ninety seven. That's how many times Alice has said something stupid. She's actually surpassed the amount that I've got going for you. I could make you a list sometime, of reasons why you should live. But I suppose that won't settle things between me and you," Jasper said out of the blue.

He and Alice couldn't be seen. I heard Alice hiss at him.

"You're right, it won't. But get cracking on that list, you asshole," I told him.

I was not happy with Jasper, for many reasons. But I could understand it was his way of apologizing. We were going to have to have a conversation some time; especially about the fact that even then, he was fucking with my system.

Ever so protective of Peter. I respected it, actually. I could understand why.

I turned my attention back to Peter instantly. I could still see the outline of his face, and feel his breath. He was wiping away the rain and the tears, his hands shaking. He was tense.

"No, you need to do this, you need to kill him. Just promise me. Promise me you won't do anything stupid and you'll come home immediately. Promise me you'll be safe."

He would promise me. He would say the words I so desperately needed to hear. He would leave me with the promise to tell me the truth, and he would leave me.

*S*E*T*H*

I wanted beer, a bottle of Jack, and a bar of soap. I would share it all with Bella, because she needed a bath and a stiff drink, too.

Carlos' scent was all over me. His taste was rotten in my mouth. It was too sweet, and it torqued my ears.

I wanted to go home, and I wanted to tell Jake and the whole pack they could take their 'purpose' and shove it up right up their ass. Because their purpose would never be mine.

I would kill to protect my family, but I would never kill a bloodsucker that didn't deserve it. Peter, Jasper, and Alice, they didn't deserve it. I would never fight them. I would never harm them. I would protect them with my own life.

I wanted to put fresh flowers on my father's grave, where I could pray and hope that I made him proud. Because I did a good thing.

I wanted to strut my shit in front of the whole pack and tell them, 'Fuck all you assholes, I've done helped kill the baddest bitch around, and you won't ever be able to touch that.'

I might not have directly had anything to do with Maria's death, but I sure as fuck had a claim in helping to bring her down. I had the right to gloat. I had a severely fucked up shoulder to prove it. But Jasper was giving me a good dose of some high quality shit that was probably illegal in all fifty states.

This entire experience had changed me. It had changed us all.

It had already changed the two people that had my attention the most. They had Jasper and Alice's attention, too. It was what we were fighting for in the first place. Both Bella and Peter down by my side, and I was looking down right at both of them. It was dark, and she couldn't see.

Peter was fucked up. Even more so after Jasper and Bella's little stunt. It might have been Bella's idea, but Jasper took the brunt of it. And that was the thing about him I liked the most. He would put himself at the front of the line for someone he cared about. He knew Peter would go after him.

And if Peter had seen how close Carlos had gotten, he probably would have taken his head off instead of just laying into him with a couple of pussy punches. But their plan to draw her out had worked, and in the end, that was all that had mattered.

Of course, Alice had to go and ruin everyone's fucking day by mentioning the name of the fucker that got away. All the relief that Bella had felt—that we all felt—was just gone.

Bella was fucked up. She was in shock. Her shoulder was broken and so was her face. Her heart was beating so strong and fast inside her chest, that you could see her shoulders jump slightly with every beat. Peter had her in his arms, holding her as carefully as possible as to not upset her shoulder. The rain was coming down in buckets, and the wind was relentless.

Tears rolled down her face. Peter wiped the tears and the rain away from her eyes, brushing his fingers lightly over her broken nose, and touching every part of her face. There was no way to express how torn up he was at the prospect of leaving her. It was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

But there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he was going. He wasn't going to chance this shit from coming back to bite him in the ass again. And Carlos did touch his girl, more than she should have been touched.

Devastation and loss had settled inside both their eyes, we could all see it. We could all feel it. But Peter was soft for her. The cold, relentless son of a bitch's entire demeanor had changed within an instant after he ripped that cunt's heart out; and it was amazing thing to witness. It was as if someone drove a pick ax down into him, and broke the block of ice that had formed inside his chest, just hours ago.

Nearly all the light was gone, the rain and wind had smothered and doused all the fires. The only light for miles came from cinders inside the tail. The swan's body had been marked and burned. Her wing's were all that was left.

"No. You need to do this, you need to kill him. Just promise me. Promise me you won't do anything stupid and you'll come home immediately. Promise me you'll be safe," Bella demanded as she cried.

His face twisted again, in turmoil. He didn't want to leave her, but he would. "I promise I'll be safe. I'll have Jasper with me. I'll be home before you know it. Seth and Alice will take care of you. They'll take you home. You'll be safe," he told her, thickly.

But it looked and sounded like he was trying to convince himself. Even Bella picked up on that. She just kept nodding at him as she tried to steel herself and stop crying. She failed.

Bella was running the fingers from her good hand all over his face, and over his lips. He closed his eyes when she started to softly run her index finger over the eyelids on his left eye. He took her hand in his and he kissed her palm.

Alice was crying. She whispered into Jasper's ear the finer details of the future. The mission would be easy enough to find. Torreón was a home for Carlos and Maria. They would find him in the courtyard after he had just killed an old woman. They would drag him out of the church and further out into the desert. Peter would beat the ever living fuck out of him, and Jasper would kill him to put him out of his misery.

Peter would not bring Carlos' testicles back in a jar.

A moment later, Bella was weeping softly as Peter nuzzled her face. Her good hand was balled up into a fist that she was pounding into the back of Peter's shoulder.

The rain was coming down in sheets. Peter looked like he was trying to turn himself into an unbreakable umbrella to get her out of the weather, but not wanting to move her at all. Moving her would mean he'd have to let go.

His right arm was around her back, keeping her shoulder pinned as he tried to bow over her, to keep her out of the rain.

A hand brushed the side of my abdomen, and then he squeezed my flesh a little. I moved in a little closer, until she was completely pushed into my side. Her skin was ice. Bella jumped a little, and cried out in pain before she said my name.

"Seth."

"Shhh, he's just keeping the rain off you."

"He's so warm." Her body started to shake as she wept anew.

"Yeah," Peter swallowed. "He is."

Jasper stood up with Alice. "Peter, we have to go."

He was looking down morosely at the two of them. The rain and the wind was beating them both in the face. Alice's eyes were filled with pity.

Bella turned her head to glare up and at where the voice came from. She couldn't see, and maybe Jasper could have given them another minute.

It wasn't just that, something nasty had happened between Jasper and Bella. Something that made the vamp feel shameful and defensive, and had made Bella resentful.

I hadn't missed one thing. Not one look exchanged. Something was going on between Jasper, Bella, and Alice.

Then it all just clicked. And I had no idea how I even failed to put two and two together.

"She's gonna find out the truth, one way or the other. Even if I have to fuckin' tell her."

Bella didn'tknow. Bella didn't know. But somehow, she did. Did Jasper fucking tell her? Did he tell her inside that cave?

I looked at Jasper. He didn't just have a knack for feeling shit, the fucker could almost read your mind. His eyes were filled with intensity, and it was just a little shake of the head and a twitch of the shoulders.

It explained everything. It explained the underlying bitterness that was indeed there, and Peter was so fucked up it was all doing a fly by right over his head.

Peter pulled somewhat away from her. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were desperate as she searched for his face. She sighed and steeled herself.

"Help me up."

He palmed her battered face in his hand, and just looked at her, desperate and lost. He let go of her face with his left hand and pulled his stocking cap off, and he put it on her head. He swallowed, and tried to smile.

Peter lifted them both to their feet, and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in pain. He did not let go of her, but she held her weight. He palmed her head with his free hand, and touched her forehead with his as he pushed her to lean into my shoulder. Bella wept, and she kept her right hand over his heart.

Peter was leaning down, kissing her lips languidly. She cried against his lips but tried to kiss him back fiercely.

There was something to be said about the way they were both trying to stay strong for the other, and both failing. Where as she was his greatest weakness, he was her greatest strength. You could flip flop the two, or you could leave them alone. You'd still have the best match there was.

A match made in heaven. It was some cheesy shit, but it was true.

"Peter," Jasper said his name, quietly.

Peter broke away from her lips to look at Jasper behind him to acknowledge him with irritated silence. He didn't want to leave her, it was all over his face in a sorrowful scowl. His eyes, still black globes of death, shimmered with emotion.

The rain was beating her in the face. He let go of her, and palmed her cheeks. He ran his fingers across her lips, and looked into her eyes.

"I have so much to tell you. So much to say," he whispered to her.

If she could see his face, she would have seen the intensity. She would have seen the fear starting to break through. But she could probably feel it. He was starting to shake.

She froze against him. She didn't know it, but she was staring right into his eyes. Or maybe she did know it. It was just too goddamn dark.

She sobbed and swallowed, and bit down. She wasn't able to keep her face from twisting, but she smiled at him. It was genuine.

"I know." She nodded. "I know. I have a lot to tell you, too," she whispered. "You come home and you tell me, okay? You..you come home to me."

Peter smiled at her, but the fear still showed. "I promise. I love you, Bella. I always have."

There was an air of reminiscence that settled on her face for just a moment, and her eyes became unfocused. They were still blood red where they should have been opaque and white, but fathomless just the same.

Her face fell, and all she looked then was sheer and utterly lost. She was shivering so badly she looked like she was about to crack apart.

"I love you too." It was just a whispered sob.

He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, and they both let their hands fall away from each other. Peter reached over her shoulder and ran his hand through the fur on my neck. He looked at me with nothing but devastation in his eyes, and on his face.

"Get her out of this. Please?"

He brushed a kiss across her lips, and stepped back.

In the next moment, he was gone, jumping over the canyon and not looking back. He wouldn't have been able to leave if he looked back.

Bella reacted to his departure. "Jasper!?"

Jasper hadn't left. He blurred over to her and palmed her cheek.

"I'll bring him home to you, I promise. We were here for you, too."

Bella nodded at him and broke down. Alice was directly behind him, and he released Bella's face to turn around and kiss her goodbye.

He was gone a second later.

Water and tears streamed down Bella's face, but the rain was letting up a little. She just stared straight ahead.

Alice walked up to stand in front of her. Bella was looking straight through her, utterly lost and heartbroken. She quit shaking.

"Bella?"

The pain finally took her, her legs giving out. Alice caught her before she could hit the ground.

AN: Okay, so after this there is one more chapter and a heavy duty epilogue. Some of you who read this story before might remember a short piece of Peter's POV that I had published before I pulled the story, but that piece is now a part of the last chapter because it was/is mostly prelude material and just sits better with the last chapter. I will not lie, I have had so much difficulty with the last chapter and how I've wanted it to play out that in the past it had driven me to just give up on this because it has irritated the living hell out of me. Right now as it sits the chapter is 75 pages long with viable material but I estimate it will take another 20-30 pages to finally call it good. The epilogue..well, that's another heavy duty subject that I'm not going to worry about for the time being, I am just concerned with the finality of this story at this point in time. So time wise? I just don't know. I am hoping to get it done and posted within the next few weeks. It just depends on how it goes, it could even be days but I don't want to set a time frame. Will I get it done? Absolutely, positively, yes. I didn't re-post it just to leave it without the ending it deserves.

Also, while I do work on it, I am going to also attempt to re-post Colliding Meteors just so I can give myself a break from the fucked up craziness that is TOM while I'm writing. CM was partially re-edited so the chapters will probably go up slowly as I read and make edits. Thank you so much for your support, your understanding, and above all, your patience...even if you don't have any. The responses to these stories when they were posted and even the last couple of years post-pull have been overwhelming and I thank each and everyone of you, even if you decided you hated it 12 chapters in.

Also, just in case this story does disappear from this site, I now have a profile and TOM posting over on FictionPad if you care to follow or read there. CM will be posted there as well. Thank you again. Soon, I promise.

AN/N: By the way, for those of you who are confused with the preludes at the beginnings of these last few chapters, they give you an idea of the chapter themselves, but they also contain glimpses of the future.