AN: Aaaaannd we're back. Told y'all it would be quick.
As always I do not own Twilight.
If you asked Bella how she got in this position, well, she wouldn't be able to tell you.
At first, it seemed like for once in her life things were going to go in a positive direction. Charlotte had walked up to the camp of the rogue vampires, the brunette named Rebecca right beside her. Outwardly, they looked like the least threatening duo Bella had ever met; Charlotte with her long blonde hair and sweet smile, Rebecca looking almost like a mother having been changed at the age of thirty-seven.
The rest of them had hidden on the rooftops of nearby warehouses, or in cars in alleyways, watching for the first sign that things could go south.
Bella had watched intently, barely able to see the shapes at the entrance of the warehouse, but unable to look away from her friend. First, three smaller vampires had creeped from inside the warehouse, their postures defensive towards Charlotte and Rebecca but easing up as it looked like Charlotte spoke with them. In fact, it had been looking like they were actually going to be able to talk sense into the vampires instead of fighting it out.
But then, in the great parody that was her life, the wind had changed directions. And someone had snarled, a vicious noise that echoed in the empty air around them, and Bella watched as the small vampires launched themselves at Charlotte and Rebecca.
Then it was hell.
A cacophony of snarls, growls, and loud crashes echoed around her, and she watched as Jasper leapt right into the fray from the rooftop, a smile on his face.
Peter was crouched defensively in front of her, and Bella could see the tenseness of his shoulders and the way his head was cocked slightly to the side as if listening for anything that could come their way. Slowly she inched her way over so she could peer over the ledge to watch the chaos unfold below.
Chaos was really the only way she could describe it.
She watched as vampires flowed like waves out of the warehouse doors, getting picked off before they could even make it twenty feet, or in some cases, fighting desperately against the strangers who surrounded them.
Naturally her eyes went searching for Jasper's tall frame, but she caught glimpses of other people she knew as she searched for him.
There was Emmett, picking vampires up like they weighed nothing and chucking them in Rosalie's direction where she effortlessly flipped through the air, taking heads off as she went.
The heads went flying through the air, and Bella followed the trajectory of one to see it being caught mid-air by Charlotte of all people. Somehow she had managed to escape the front of the fray and was on the outskirts, making a pile of what could only be heads behind her.
She found herself thankful that she was up here, and not close enough to see what was sure to be a ghastly collage of faces staring up at her.
But there.
There was Jasper, and once she spotted him she nearly asked herself out loud how she could have ever missed him. He was moving effortless through the fray; vampires dropping to their knees right in front of him, either clutching their heads and screaming or scared still. His movements were elegant and fluid as he removed heads and tossed them without looking towards Charlotte.
Every once in a while one would attempt to go at him from the side, catch him unawares, and Bella's breath would get caught in her throat.
But Jasper would simply side-step them, catching their arm, or leg, as they flew past him. He would rip them towards him almost casually, the screech of tearing flesh barely audible through all the other noise around them, and Bella would watch the opposing vampire stumble. After that, well, the vampire would be missing a limb, and soon after their head.
It was poetry in motion, and Bella shifted side to side trying and failing to hide her sudden arousal at her mate's display of skill.
Peter shot her a wry grin over his shoulder, no doubt well aware of her predicament.
"It's hot as fuck watching him, ain't it? This is nothing for him, and boy does it show." He winked at her then turned back to watch the scene before them, never letting out of his defensive position.
Bella was captivated by it all, finding her eyes catching the display of gifts in action.
It seemed almost easy for her; to know which vampires had a gift that lended well towards a fight. Almost every time she would watch them go in confident, not bothering to show any display of defense. And she would watch the better trained vampires simply parry with them for a moment, as if to get a feel for what they were dealing with, and then take the opposing vampire out.
It was this habit of looking for gifts that gave her a clear view of what was about to happen, only seconds before it did.
Jasper was closing in on the end of the group, nearly everyone on the opposing side down for the count, only a small group of three remained untouched. They were clutching at each other, two males and a lone female, looking impossibly young surrounded by amass of bodies all around. Bella watched them critically, noticing how the male's stood firm when Jasper got closer, knees barely buckling at what Bella was now sure was a cocktail of emotions he sent their way.
Mates, she thought, or something close enough to it that they refused to leave the woman's side. She wondered if it was gifts that let them stay upright for so long, or if it was just tenacity.
Wait.
A flicker of light by the woman's fingertips, and Bella watched in horror as it grew to a bright flame.
Fire, the woman could manipulate fire.
Bella watched as it swelled over the heads of her companions, growing in size as it swept forward. Towards Jasper.
Panic like she had never felt consumed her and she nearly fell off the rooftop's edge as she threw herself forward.
"NO!" The screamed ripped out of her chest, so loud that she could barely hear Peter trying to talk to her, could barely feel his arms wrapping around her torso and dragging her back.
It seemed as if time slowed down as she watched the fire race closer and closer to her mate, infinite seconds stretching out like lifetimes.
She saw the moment Jasper realized he couldn't move out of the way, couldn't jump or else he would risk being consumed by the fire that much sooner.
He turned, his face tilted up as if looking at her, and even from this far away Bella could feel a swell of love and lust and everything that she associated with the mating bond rise within her.
All of it, and at the very end of it, the bittersweet feeling of regret.
She could barely feel her fingertips shredding against the brick underneath her as she tried helplessly to fling herself closer, but she felt something snap deep inside.
Yes, something snapped, as she watched as fire consumed Jasper's body.
AN: I feel like I can hear the screaming from here. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really really not. This is the peril of reading an on-going fic, sometimes you can't just click next.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed, leave me your thoughts. I'll be waiting.
