AN: Hello everyone! I apologize for such a wait between updates. I have been trying to find a job (surprisingly writing doesn't pay the bills, who knew?) so I have been a little frazzled and distracted. However! Everything is on the upswing so I am back, my lovies.
As always, I do not own Twilight or its characters.
It was easy to remain still for long periods of time as a vampire. Any vampire would tell you that sitting stock still felt just as comfortable as fidgeting did for humans.
This is why it was so strange that Jasper was pacing the length of the cramped hotel room.
"Dam'it 'Bella. I told you to stay home." He muttered towards the sleeping human on the stiff hotel bed.
He had wiped the blood away from her face and fingertips, yet he could still see some crusted under her fingernails. He turned sharply with a frustrated growl and continued his pacing. There was a soft knock at the door, and with a deep breath, he knew exactly who was on the other side.
"Come in." His voice was like a rough bark rather than words, but the other vampires slipped inside regardless.
"Is she still not awake?" Charlotte's voice, sharp and uncaring to anyone who didn't know her. Jasper could feel her undercurrent of worry, though if it was for Bella or for himself he would never know.
He swung around to stare at Bella's form on the bed, at the steady intake of breaths.
"No change." He muttered under his breath before returning to his pacing, his body feeling restless.
"Have you thought about calling the Doc?" Garrett this time and his concern was palpable even to those without Jasper's gift.
It seems even he had fallen into the allure that was the mystery of Isabella Swan. For fuck's sake, she picked up vampires like stray cats.
"He won't need to." Peter chimed in, leaning against the tv stand and lighting a cigarette. "Jasper's phone is about to ring."
Before anyone could say anything in retort, Jasper's phone began to ring. With a growl that was born more of frustration rather than anger at his Lieutenant Jasper answered.
"Alice."
At the sound of that name the vampires in the room seemed to get impossibly still, even Peter who let his lit cigarette dangle loosely in between his lips.
"She's going to be fine, Jasper." The bell-like voice on the other end of the line sounded tired, or as tired as a vampire can sound. Jasper felt a swell of emotion towards his ex-wife, even as he remembered that it was her that led them down this path in the first place.
"Ya can't know that. Ya ain't been able to see her clearly for a while now." He knew it was true, even before he heard her sigh softly.
"It's still there."
The tension in his shoulders drained and the others looked at him confused. But Jasper knew what those words meant. The proverbial 'It'.
Alice still saw the vision that started it all. She still saw Bella as a vampire, still saw her as part of this life.
He ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the venom there that clumped a few strands together.
"Am I suppos'd to change her now?" He whispered into the phone, "Is that how she makes it through this, Ally?"
It was Alice who sent Bella to Seattle, Jasper knew that now with a sick sense of certainty. She's the reason Bella was there when no one expected her to be, the reason why Jasper was still in one piece and not still struggling against that bizarre newborn. If Bella was to be changed right now so that she made it out of this mess a selfish part of Jasper wished it was Alice who had to get her hands dirty for once.
"No." The answer came resolute, and Jasper felt relief and disappointment all at once.
"No, Jasper. She's still too young, it's not time yet." Alice had a way of saying things that made you think there was no other outcome; that yes, of course, what she's saying is right, it all makes sense. Jasper had listened blindly for years to that voice, to the certainty it held. It was a comfort as much as it was a curse. "She'll wake up soon, make sure she calls Charlie when she does."
"How can you know that?" He couldn't help the words, they were out before he even finished thinking them. Alice laughed, soft and sweet on the other end of the phone.
"I saw Charlie answer the phone, don't worry Jazz, I still can't see you two. Not clearly anyway." Alice trailed off, and Jasper could hear the soft sound of her picking at her nails even through the crackle of the phone line. She was nervous, but for what, Jasper couldn't know. "Could you…"
Alice paused, and the only sound was her picking at the polish on her nails. She would have to repaint them tonight, Jasper could tell by the scratch scratch coming over the line.
"Could you tell Bella I'll call her tomorrow? Tomorrow should work." It was a rush of words only decipherable because Jasper was a vampire, and Jasper found himself once more feeling conflicted towards his ex. It seemed years of tenderness were not so easily forgotten.
"I'll tell her Ally. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from ya."
A sigh then, relieved probably both at his answer and his soft tone.
"I am sorry Jasper." Alice murmured, yet before Jasper could answer the line was dead.
Jasper put his phone back in his pocket with a bemused shake of his head, looking up at the others. Peter had ash all over his t-shirt, his cigarette a burnt end smoldering against his lips. Charlotte seemed to come back to herself at that moment, glancing at her mate and brushing the ash from him with a roll of her eyes. She plucked the cigarette butt from his lips and crushed it between her thumb and forefinger.
"Well, that conversation made absolutely no sense," Garrett muttered, scuffing his boot against the floor idly. "You seemed to know what it meant though, Major."
Jasper huffed a laugh.
"Alice is...an acquired taste."
"That's a damn understatement if I ever heard one." Peter huffed, another cigarette already between his lips. He paused to light it and take a drag before he continued. "That damn pixie is always in ya business, don't know how ya handled it for so many fuckin' years, Major."
Smoke curled out into the air with his words, and Jasper rolled his eyes before deciding to change the subject.
"The warehouse gone?" He asked, turning back to Bella. Were her breaths quickening? Or was that just in his head after hearing Alice say she'd wake up soon?
"Burnt to a crisp. Turns out vampire venom can melt steel beams."
"You and your damn conspiracy theories, Pete. Ya ain't half as funny as you think you are." Charlotte chimed in, snatching the cigarette from Peter's lips and taking a drag herself. Garrett looked on confused.
"I swear I don't understand half of the things you say, my friend." He said, causing Peter to laugh loudly before launching into some inane theory.
Bella shifted slightly on the bed and suddenly Jasper was there, his hands clenched at his sides so he wouldn't reach out.
"Fucking hell, is this what being hungover is like?" Bella muttered under her breath as she rolled over to bury her face in the pillow. "Why the fuck would anyone drink if it feels like this afterward, shit."
Jasper resisted the urge to laugh at her mumbling, instead deciding to speak up.
"Ya didn't have anything to drink, darlin'."
At the sound of his voice, Bella shot straight up in bed before clutching her head and groaning.
"Jesus fuck! Note to self, do NOT sit up so fast. Fucking hell." Bella rubbed her temples as she glared down at the ugly hotel bedspread. "You sure I didn't have anything to drink? This shit is gnarly."
"No one says gnarly anymore Bella." Jasper chuckled, even as he held out a glass of water and a bottle of pain reliever out to her.
"How else would you describe this pain then, if I can't use gnarly?" She grumbled as she dry popped two pills before chugging half the glass of water. "Gnarly is a perfectly acceptable word choice, I don't know what-"
She paused then, looking up sharply at Jasper even as she clutched the glass of water.
"You called me Bella."
It was a stupid thing to sound incredulous about, yet it was so on-brand for Bella that Jasper couldn't help the grin spreading across his face.
"I thought you 'don't make a habit of calling people anything than what they are'?" She mimicked his southern accent atrociously, and Jasper felt his grin grow.
"Well, ya saved my life, darlin'. I figure that earns ya the right to a nickname."
Bella's brow furrowed in confusion before her eyes lit up in recall.
"Holy shit, that wasn't a dream."
"It wasn't."
"I crushed a vampire with my mind!"
"Ya did."
"It was wicked fascinating to watch as well." Garrett chirped up from his new position sprawled in an armchair on the opposite wall. "Never in all my years have I seen a vampire's head pop like a champagne cork. Well done, Miss. Bella."
Bella moaned before her head fell forward into her hands.
"Oh god, I'm never going to live this down. I'm always going to be the weird human with a broken brain." She mumbled into her hands, and Garrett laughed boisterously enough that Jasper was reminded of Emmett.
"Do not fret so! Being normal is vastly overrated, my dear. Trust me." He gave Bella a fangy smile when she peeped at him through her fingers and Jasper decided to end the conversation before it got out of hand. He tossed Bella's phone into her lap, and the thud caused her to raise her head quizzically.
Jasper raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ya hafta call Charlie."
The fear and hesitancy in her face then would have been comical if Jasper didn't almost feel the same sense of trepidation.
Chief Swan would make an intimidating vampire if he was ever changed. With a defeated sigh Bella picked up her phone and called her house. It rang only twice before Jasper could hear the click on the other end, as well as the sound of Chief Swan's breathing.
"Uh...hey Dad."
AN: Another Jasper POV! I don't know why I keep making dramatic moment's where people wait to see if Bella wakes up and then Bella just ruins the suspense by being Bella. It's just fun I guess. Next up: Chief Swan and where Bella and Jasper go from here now that there isn't an active threat keeping them together.
This story is probably towards its closure, perhaps maybe five more chapters if that before it ends. Thanks for sticking around so long with it, you guys. You're the best.