Lils POV

Stay in the marines and face a hearing or leave and start a new life? The question swirled in my head as I thought about the consequences to each decision. I surveyed my bags, already packed, a tear slipping from my eye. No. I would not cry, nor feel sorry for myself, not now. After today's events, I knew that I was no longer welcome at the Rez, so decided to go up there to collect my stuff. For now, I could store it in my car, until I decided what to do with it, and myself. I was still covered in dried blood and ejaculation, so had a scalding hot shower, trying to rid myself of any evidence of him. Though the bruises and cuts remained, I felt marginally better, changing into a comfortable set of civvies before cloaking myself to any senses and setting off back to the Rez.

I crept up to my room, and began sorting through things as quietly as possible, packing the things that mattered into boxes. As I worked, I cried silently, tears spattering onto everything. I sunk so deep into my rage, guilt and grief that I did not notice Paul until he was standing by my shoulder.

"Lils." His voice cracked, and I mistook it for anger, throwing away my invisibility immediately.

"You have every right to be angry. I am so very sorry for not being honest, and, with your permission, I will pack my things and leave." My tone shook with suppressed tears and I kept my back to him, not wanting him to see that I had been crying. Luckily, the hoodie that I was wearing hid the bruise on my neck well enough.

"Wait, you have it wrong." Paul told me inhaling deeply through his nose. He stiffened, the smell of Brent becoming clear. "What happened?" He breathed. I shook my head.

"Nothing." I replied, unwilling to open up, when I knew that I was most likely leaving anyway.

"Look, I know that it wasn't just sex with some guy, or you wouldn't smell like blood and tears." He pointed out, causing my control to snap. I whirled to face him, tears still streaming down my face.

"Has it crossed your mind that I have other feelings, outside sex? Have you considered how guilty and ripped apart I am by what happened? Did you stop to think that the men I am mated to have just played you, and put you in danger? I am fucking 2784 years old, and I have no idea what to do!" I yelled, anger sizzling. Jared came running into the room, completely naked, and looking to be in the middle of some very passionate sex.

"Get out, you traitor!" He roared, taking a step in front of Paul. I flinched, my mangled senses unable to process what was going on. Jared took in the swollen bruise on my face, and the scent coming off me, taking a step back. "Oh god, I'm so sorry." He rasped. I just shook my head.

"I'll take the stuff and go now." I managed to force out, grabbing the few boxes like they were feathers. In a flash, I was running off, oblivious to their cries.

Jared POV

I ran a hand over my face, Lils' petrified, forlorn face branded into my mind. The salty smell of tears was heavy in the room as I sighed, sinking to the floor.

"Oh fuck." Paul's face was a mask of sorrow.

"Yeah." I agreed, not knowing what else to say. I knew the guilt that he was undoubtedly feeling, that I was feeling too, and knew that there was no way to pull him out of it. I rested my head against her bed, letting tears slide down my face. Beside me, Paul's shoulders shook.

"Those bastards. And we turned her away." He rasped. "It's not even her fault that she didn't tell us." I sat up a bit.

"No. God, will we ever see her again?" I asked, more to myself than Paul.

"Yeah. She's gonna come back, because she doesn't run away. She's giving us space." Paul told me, his voice hard.

"We should tell Sam, and Jasper." I mused, and Paul nodded.

"Wait 'til the morning." He replied. Cody came padding in, looking like he had seen a ghost. He sat next to me, wrapping his arm around me.

"I promise it's gonna be okay. Lils is a fighter." He reassured me. "I remember when she knocked that boy, Oska, on his ass for trying it on with her. And you said that Bailey's with her, right?" I nodded. "She's got people to reach out to."

"Telling Jasper will be a fuck-fest. He doesn't know what she is yet." Paul said darkly.

"Yeah."

Lils POV

I stowed my things in the back of my jeep, tears still falling. Bailey came up behind me, looking concerned.

"Lils, you can't go." He tried.

"Bailey, I can. I am going to come back, though." I replied.

"So you're gonna take it to court?"

"Yeah. The Military Police will take a couple of weeks to collect evidence and until they require my statement, I'm going to have some time away, if I can convince Chapman, which I'm sure I can." I told him.

"Are you going back to your brothers?" He questioned, sending a jolt of pain through me.

"No. I don't know. Maybe." I tried to restrain my tears.

"Oh, well if you need somewhere to stay, I've got a small apartment in Forks that's empty." He offered. I smiled a bit.

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Anytime." Bailey looked as if he wanted to give me a hug, but stopped himself. Although my nerves screamed at me, I put my arms around him.

"I'm gonna be okay, I promise." I said thickly.

"How can you... How do you know?" His face held only pain.

"I've been through worse." I assured him. He tightened his hold.

"Oh Lils." Bailey whispered.

"Don't. I don't want your pity." I rasped, even as tears threatened to fall once more. We stood like that for some time, until the warm jungle night began to fade. "I'm gonna go and fill in that form." I pulled away, giving him a weak smile.

"See you later, Lieutenant." He smiled back.

"In a while, Corporal." I said, turning and heading back to my mess. I slipped my headphones on, playing a plethora of songs, from R.E.M. to Pink Floyd to Metallica. I filled out the form as if in a daze, and when my alarm went off, I had finished. Slipping into a clean uniform, I strode over to Chapman's office, depositing the papers on his desk, before leaving the silent room. I had made the right decision; Brent would spend time in prison and I could continue fighting. A man came striding up to me, saluting perfunctorily.

"Ma'am."

"At ease, soldier." I told him.

"You have three men asking to see you."

"Thank you, soldier. I will go down to the guardhouse now." I replied.

"Yes ma'am. I am under instructions to accompany you." He informed me.

"I thought so. Come on then." I began walking towards the entrance, with him following a short distance behind. I knew that it was my mates, and it was with a sinking heart that I regarded them.

"Aro, Marcus, Caius." I inclined my head at each of them."What do you want, because I am very busy right now."

"My love-" Aro began but I cut him off.

"I am not your anything, and you'd do well to remember it." I snapped. Caius' nostrils flared as he scented me.

"You slut." He growled, face contorting in anger.

"I had no agreement with you on anything of that nature. You do not own me, and I do not owe you anything." I told him, snarling. The soldier behind me stepped forward.

"Ma'am, would you like me to remove these men? If they are causing you distress..." He broke off as Aro grabbed his wrist, reading his thoughts.

"You bastard. Leave the man alone. Get out. I don't want to see you here again." I ordered, and they left, even as Aro gaped in sympathy and confusion.

"What the fuck was that?" The man asked, forgetting himself.

"What is your name, soldier?" I questioned in response.

"Haynes-Canham, ma'am." He answered. "Although most people just use Haynes."

"Well, Haynes, that was a fuck show. They are men who believe that my connection to them gives them a right to invade my life. Any more than that, I do not wish to know." I answered frankly, causing him to look at me with wide eyes.

"Yes ma'am." He managed to rasp. The world suddenly felt very cold, a hard place with very little love. I knew I had to find my absolution in the precious weeks that I could afford. Beginning to stride off, I caught sight of Major Brent taking drill, and my heart contracted, rising to my mouth. With some satisfaction, I saw that he had a large bruise on the side of his face, larger than mine. He saw me and had the good sense to look slightly worried. Even so, as I approached he looked me up and down with an appraising nod.

"Doesn't our Lieutenant have such a... fuckable body, lads?" He called, much to my disgust. I felt heat rise in my cheeks as I squared my shoulders, ready to fight.

"Major, I will take over drill now, as I am sure that after seeing me you are going to have to look after yourself, no?" I bit back. "Chertovski pizda." I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear the Russian: fucking cunt. He glared a bit, and strode off, as a couple of soldiers snorted. A wave of tiredness engulfed me. "We have half an hour until lunch. The timetable doesn't have fucking anything allotted for now, so I suggest you get done anything that needs doing. I want you back by 12:00, understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Came the reply.

"Fall out!" I yelled, walking off to get my guitar. I sat on the low wall and played, attracting quite a few soldiers who came and sang along to my music. It was relaxing to run my fingers over the metallic strings, familiar tunes wafting into the sticky air.

12:15

With all the soldiers eating, I was summoned to Chapman's office once again, going through the formalities before taking a seat in front of his desk.

"Last night, Lahote, I wondered why the fuck you did it. Why would such an excellent soldier abandon her post? I realized that I was too hard, not letting you explain yourself. Then, I had a visit from Sergeant Forster, who said that he had reason to believe that Major Brent had abused you. He would not divulge any more, but when your report appeared on my desk this morning, it all became clear. So, I would like to apologize for not trusting you to make the right call." Chapman explained, looking at me with a level of respect that I didn't expect.

"Thank you sir. I know that the investigation will take a couple of weeks, and I wish to have those in leave, so that I can... recover." I asked, voice emotionless. Chapman nodded.

"As long as you leave your mess the way it is now for evidentiary purposes, I will allow that. Go home, Lieutenant." Chapman instructed. I rose, wincing, saluted and left, heading straight for my jeep.

Paul POV

"What the fuck do you mean?" Sam barked at Jared. I sat, silent, as Jared fumbled to explain.

"Lils came back to collect her things, and we... she... she's been raped, Sam. And I told her to get out and she did." Jared's voice nearly broke. Sam's face darkened.

"Fuck! Where is she? What can we do? What do you know?" He gabbled.

"Why do we care?" Jake muttered from behind me. "She betrayed us."

"Lils has not had a chance to explain herself! She revealed her secret to save us, knowing that she was endangering herself, and her career. Without her we would be mindless slaves to the Volturi." I yelled, seething.

"Would you have told us straight away if you discovered that you were an ancient vampire?" Sam asked Jake, who stuttered a bit.

"No, I guess not." He conceded.

"And she found out because her mate tried to have her." Jared added.

"Oh god. She didn't deserve any of this." I almost whimpered, pain stabbing through me.