First off can I just say that I'm so grateful for the response this has gotten. I'd love to respond to more comments but get weirdly anxious about it so please know that even if I didn't thank you in person, I'm still so thankful.

A few orders of business:

1. I realised I never did a disclaimer so let me just disclaim now. Consider this whole thing disclaimed. No suing me, ta.

2. I'm not entirely sure if the rating of this is going to change, I don't think there'll be any sex scenes since I can barely write kissing scenes without cringing myself off the planet. But Bella is joining a rather brutal war and there's going to be violence and dark themes in places, so please let me know what you think.

3. It may be clear from the overabundance of U's in my writing, but I am very much not American. This fic is going to take place all over America and since this is a stress reliever for me, I've decided not to do in depth research for every place Bella goes. I only have very basic knowledge of US geography and might make some glaring errors. Almost all specific towns I mention will be completely made up. I'm sorry if this breaks anyone's immersion!

4. I want to confirm that this is a JasperXBella story. It's going to be a slow burn and I don't intend to do any Edward or Alice bashing. Everyone in the family is good in this, just like in the books!

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. Fun fact, it was actually the first one I wrote. Sorry for the long author's note and thanks again to my boyfriend and best friend for reading everything I write despite never having read Twilight!

Chapter 3, Carlisle

Bella's world came back into focus a few moments later. Her phantom heart stuttered as she desperately looked around her. Where her family and her home had once stood was thick with trees, there was nothing to show where the clearing had been, nothing to show anyone had ever lived there. Because no one had, yet.

Bella took a deep, steadying breath and looked at the items in her bag. In the leather bag Carlisle had given her were letters from all her family, photographs of them, she couldn't risk them all when her bag could be damaged.

She pragmatically sorted through them and took the letters, the maps, the cassette player, batteries for it, and two pictures; the polaroid of her, Carlisle and Jasper; and one of the whole family together. They had gone to a wedding, one of the Denali sisters had fallen for Carlisle's old friend, Garrett. They looked pretty as a picture, dressed in all their finery and laughing at something said off camera. Her eyes lingered on Edward's arm wrapped around her shoulders and Alice's hand resting on her elbow. This was love, this was home.

And this would have to do for now.

She placed everything else in the sturdy metal box, including the jewelry her sisters had given her, and then returned her diminished cargo back into the bag. Then she realised she had forgotten her most precious keepsake of all. Her wedding ring.

Bella stared at it for a moment. It would be a tragedy if she lost it, and she was arguably coming up to the physically hardest part of her journey at the very beginning. What if she got in a fight and it was damaged? Or if she had to jump into water and it fell off? She would never forgive herself, it was smarter by far to take it off and bury it in the box for safe keeping.

Yet every rational bone in Bella's body was not strong enough against the part inside of her that was screaming. This was her last piece of Edward, the last thing she had that held his touch, his love. The ring that he had put on her finger and promised to love her forever with. She could not leave it behind, at least not at that moment.

Bella slipped the ring off and put it in a secure pocket inside the lining of her bag instead. She could come back and bury it someday, but until then she would keep it with her.

With her organising done, she shut the box with a click and set the pin code to 7509, her wedding date. She squeezed her eyes tight shut, unable to part with the box containing her heart for that moment, and opened up Carlisle's letter instead. She hungrily absorbed his words and the comfort they offered, then folded the letter back up and neatly placed it back in her bag.

She had work to do, so much work, and step one was to find Carlisle.

She rose to her feet and looked around herself for a specific tree. She had not moved from the spot she had been sent from yet, and turned to where she knew it would be. It was 20 feet south east of her, much smaller than she remembered, but still larger than the ones surrounding it. When she was first turned she climbed it herself, and marvelled in her new found strength. When her eyes first turned golden, Emmett made her climb that tree with him and they howled at the moon like her friends of old. When she and Edward returned from their honeymoon, he carved their initials into its thick trunk. 'So we'll truly live forever.' he joked. This was the house they ran to when she was turning, her first home in her new life; and it was gone.

She finally took a step forward, away from where she had been sent back and towards the tree that held so many memories, unblemished and unknown. It was there that she buried her box, nestled in its roots, deep in the ground. Once she had found a stable residence she would come back for it, but for now it was safe.

When she was done, she rested her head against the rough bark of the tree. She was done, she was ready. She now had to face this strange new world that she had been sent to.

She turned, but was faced with a strange and unexpected sight. Selina stood there, puffy dress and oversized cloak intact, but completely transparent. She looked back at Bella, right in the eye, with three times as much expression in her face as she had had before. She reached her hand out, as if to touch, but disappeared again before Bella could make contact.

Bella stared at the empty space in front of her, shaken. Of all the insane things to happen to her in the past two hours, that was the icing on the cake. She shook herself, the world still appeared as it had been, she hadn't moved back into the future. The forest stood around her, creaking in the wind with not a sound or sight of humanity for miles.

She couldn't dwell on this. She had to run east.

Bella,

I hope this message finds you well. This situation is so beyond anything we have ever imagined and I truly fear for you, my child.

Bella tried to ignore her shaking hands as she silently scaled the garden wall of a nearby manor house. She had run for a couple of hours already, sticking only to dense woodlands, and estimated that she was somewhere near Minnesota. Soon she would need more specific directions and would no doubt struggle to ask for them while wearing jeans.

Her hands did not shake because scaling the wall was physically difficult, even though it was ridiculously tall for a simple wall. She was a police officer's daughter, and stealing was most definitely not something that had ever been encouraged. Still, needs must, and when she reached the top she grabbed the simplest looking garment hanging on the line.

She didn't want to steal someone's corset, especially when she knew how expensive they were. She had chosen this particular house because she assumed the inhabitants could afford to spare some clothing, but still she worried.

She listened again to make sure nobody was nearby and took off her shirt, then slipped the dark blue dress on over her head. Thankfully it was full of fabric with ties at every opening to adjust the size. It didn't look like she was wearing someone else's dress, although it fit very strangely in places and the back trailed on the floor in a way that didn't look intentional.

Bella peeled her jeans off under the skirts and kicked them over to where her shirt sat. There were obviously no shoes drying out in the cold November sun, but she hoped the leather boots she was already wearing would pass, even if their soles were a chunky rubber and their laces topped with plastic.

Mindful of the cold weather, Bella stole an old looking black coat from the end of the line, so she hopefully wouldn't attract too much attention as she walked unaccompanied across the country. She picked up her abandoned clothing, and with one last apologetic look at the manor, jumped over the steep wall.

She clutched her clothes to her chest and took one last long breath of them. She smelled Alice's scent from when she had presented her with the shirt that morning. 'I think you should try purple more!' she had said. She prayed a silent sorry to her unborn best friend and shredded the shirt and jeans to confetti, unrecognisable to any human but hopefully useful to a bird making his nest.

Bella brushed herself off of the remnants of her clothes, then checked where east was and once again began to run, mindful of her skirts this time.

I have never enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle, until I found Edward I spent my life jumping from city to city, treating those who could not afford other doctors' rates until my immortality drew suspicion. I spent my existence alone. Afterall I had no other choice, while I had many friends it was impossible to stay in contact without a permanent address.

Bella continued to run in an eastwardly direction, but the woodland was becoming more sparse and the area much more populated as she came nearer to Lake Michigan. She eventually had no choice but to walk alongside the road at a brisk human pace, trying not to make eye contact with people she passed.

"Excuse me, miss!" A passing man called from his horse, "do you require assistance?"

Bella smiled tightly at the man, trying to figure out what the etiquette was for this. "No, thank you sir!" She called back, then reconsidered. "Actually, you don't know exactly where we are, do you?"

"Where we are?"

"Yes! For example, how far away is…" she struggled to think of a city on her route. "...Chicago?"

The man frowned, "we are about 2 hours from Chicago by horse. Are you sure you do not need my assistance, miss? It will be night soon, you can't walk alone."

Bella smiled, at night she could move much more quickly without having to stick to the forest. With any luck, she would be in Pennsylvania by morning. "No, I'll be fine! Thank you for your help!"

She walked away from the dumbstruck man, glaring at the mid evening sun and daring it to retreat faster.

Finally night fell and she gathered her skirts up in her hands so she could run at top speed. The delicate material still ripped a little in her hands, but it was almost impossible to prevent. How female vampires could stay mobile in these clothes, she had no idea.

She passed very few humans out on the road, though one camp looked up startled as she passed them, their tent fluttered violently in the air she displaced. Within minutes she approached the looming dark mass of Chicago. She quickly hunted a passing deer and then ran right through, careful to stick to alleyways and rooftops, since there were far more people out than in the countryside.

She made better time than expected, by the time dawn broke, she was on the northern border of Pennsylvania and could slip into the forest again. She couldn't slow down now, she was almost there.

As for your instructions: in 1885, I was in New York city, working in the tenement slums. I had rooms on Clyde Avenue, but spent the majority of my time in my office in the Lower East Side. You are most likely to find me there.

Bella had no memories of New York. She and her mom had gone to see a Broadway show and all the touristy sights when she was a child, but that memory had faded into obscurity along with the rest of her human life. Still, when she finally finished her journey and stood in the centre of the busy city, it was jarring to not see what she was supposed to. There were no towers peeking out of the skyline, no cars in gridlock at every road. People were yelling constantly and yet it seemed quiet without heavy construction noise. When Bella looked out to where she knew the Statue of Liberty should be, there was only a half constructed plinth. This was not the city she knew.

Be aware that there will be a lot of sick and wounded. I trust in your control, but we have not tested it in such a dense city, and accidents were much more common at the time. Be careful. If the blood is too much for you, go to my rooms and wait for me there. I would return to my rooms every few days to change my clothes and was somewhat accustomed to vampire acquaintances dropping in.

Logic dictated that the Lower East Side would be south east of the centre of the city, so Bella headed that way. After asking some helpful and many not so helpful people for directions, she found herself walking down a street that was absolutely not fit for human habitation. It made sense that Carlisle would choose to work here, at every window and doorway there was a hungry child or a disabled parent. No one could afford a doctor here, there was no way. She could smell the disease and infection from the street.

Bella felt sure that this putrid stench of vomit and decay would stop her craving any blood she smelt, but then a labourer passed her. The dirty bandages across his palms did very little to disguise the smell of blood from his hard day's work. It was old blood, and mixed with sweat and dirt. But it was human and Bella needed it.

She held her breath and clenched her eyes shut. She didn't need to kill him, she could resist killing him. She purposefully turned around and looked back the way she had come. She had only walked ten feet, there was no way she could go to the middle of the slums to find Carlisle. No, she needed to find his apartment instead.

If you are waylaid, I will be in New York until 1888, after which time I relocate to Toronto. Addresses for my lodgings there, and for the next twenty years have been included in the envelope, just in case. I dearly hope you find me as quickly as possible. This is an unknown world to you, a harsh world, and I worry that I have sheltered you from those realities.

Clyde Avenue was a quiet, modest looking street. Tall townhouses lined the road and well to do, middle class pedestrians roamed. Bella finally wasn't so overwhelmed and could actually appreciate the sights around her. The red brick of the houses, the moustaches on the men, the canes and the hats and the bustles on the backs of the women. She got several strange looks, no doubt for her ratty dress and untamed hair.

She found the building; 125 Clyde Avenue, apartment 3B. The porch smelt like tobacco smoke and men lingered on the stairwell. They looked at her like she was an alien as she pushed her way past them.

When Bella knocked on the door of apartment 3B and received no answer, she realised her dilemma. Was she supposed to wait in the hallway? Carlisle said he returned every few days, she couldn't wait for several days out here where people could see her. Plus, it seemed like only men lived in this building. The longer she stayed hanging around, the more of a spectacle she was becoming. She looked around the door and the welcome mat for a spare key, but found nothing. Of course, when had Carlisle ever lost anything?

A whistle sounded behind her, "what's a pretty girl like you doing hanging around here?"

Bella stiffened at the cliche. She turned to the large, pink faced man.

"Have you seen Dr Cullen lately?"

"You're looking for Cullen are you? He hasn't been around here for a while. Keeps to himself. Boring man, I'm sure we can scrounge up some better company for you, sweetheart."

Bella smiled wryly at the man, "thanks. But I think I'll wait for Dr Cullen."

The man leaned against the wall behind him. "I'll keep you company then."

Bella really did not want to spend any more time with this weirdo than absolutely necessary. Whispering a silent apology to her sire, she neatly broke the lock on the door knob and forced it open. "He told me to wait in his office," she lied. "Thanks for your help."

She shut the door on the man's large face.

In terms of making me believe you, you may have an easier job than you expect. In my time with the Volturi I saw the incredible amount of power they were able to collect. I doubt it would surprise me to find out that they had been able to reverse time. I also doubt it would surprise them, so you need to stay away from them at all cost.

Surprisingly, Bella recognised several things placed around the crowded apartment. It was tiny, more similar to his study at home than to an actual apartment. Full bookcases lined the walls, with further piles sat on the floor. A painting of Carlisle and the Volturi kings that she recognised from her human days sat leant on the mantelpiece, Bella took a moment to glare at Aro before moving on. The globe sat next to the desk was the one he had used to show her all the places he had been. His journals sat in a box on the ground, a smaller collection than the one she had seen before.

In addition, I should be able to tell that I sired you. A sire leaves a distinct scent on their children, one unchanged by time. Add in the letters, photographs and recording you have been sent with, and I believe you will find me ready and willing to help you.

When Bella took a deep breath she could smell him. It was different, a little less clean and sharp, muddied by the industrial air, but unmistakably Carlisle. She walked over to a dresser on the opposite wall and opened the wooden doors, crisp shirts, jackets and waistcoats were hung there. She realised how strange it would be to see a Victorian Carlisle in all this costume. She was half expecting him to show up in loafers and a sweater.

I know you aim to prevent our heartaches, and I love you for that. Just know that by finding me at all, you will improve my life immeasurably. All I ever yearned for was family, and you are my family. If this old version of me disappoints you, I am truly sorry. Just know that no matter what I am proud of you. Your burdens are my burdens, no matter what year it is. Do not hesitate to lean on me.

Bella noticed the pin board beside the window and went to inspect the documents displayed there. Her attention was caught by a fuzzy sepia picture of what she recognised as Carlisle and Garrett, whose wedding she had celebrated only two years before. Her heart tightened at seeing her sire's face, blurry as it was. He had a life here, as full a life as he had when she knew him. It was strange to think of him being so old, even though she knew she would most likely live to be that old herself.

She finally decided to stop snooping and settle down to wait, she took a book off the top of the closest pile and started to read, careful of the fragile paper. If she had to wait days, at least she would learn something while she did.

Bella, if you find yourself in a position where you are feeding on humans, whether it was a slip up, a forced situation, or by choice; know that I do not judge you. Our lifestyle is a difficult one to keep at times, and you are still so young. It would not change anything. You are still my daughter.

According to the mantel clock it was thirteen hours later when Bella finished her eighth medical journal. It wasn't exactly thrilling reading material, but she felt the need to know something at least a little useful for the times she had found herself in. Her head shot up as footsteps echoed in the hallway and the breeze carried the scent of Carlisle into her nose.

The knob rattled, literally, and she heard a light sigh as the door swung open with no resistance.

Stay safe my dear.

Carlisle

"Can I help you?"

Thanks again for reading!