Guys I'm so excited. Like I'm so excited omg. Guys. GUYS.

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are on me!

The only reason that Bella wasn't dead was because she was useful. She knew it, Jasper and Peter knew it, Anton knew it; even the newborns knew, if the looks they had been giving her meant anything.

Maria had realized that she was up to something. Their battle of wits had grown into an all out war. They were in a standoff. Bella sat to the side, slowly deconstructing the foundations of Maria's operations. Maria stood at the head, cutting off Bella's access to blood until she slipped and showed her hand.

In the week since Bella's last meal, the camp had had two feeds. Particularly generous. But, because Maria was feeling so 'generous' they had taken place in human settlements. Bella had managed to justify drinking human blood to herself. She could disassociate from it when the victim had been clinically brought to her, but hunting humans in their own homes? Watching the carnage and the pain and the screaming as parents were forced to watch their children be cut down in front of them? Families torn apart, homes burned down. She couldn't do it. She also had a feeling that Maria knew that.

It was a challenge. If Bella wanted to feed, she had to do it on Maria's terms.

At least she still had the control to stick to the few morals she had left.

One week of holding her shield up and extending it to Jasper and Peter meant that she burned all over. It didn't matter how controlled she was, if a human came within hearing distance of her they would be dead in an instant. She couldn't comprehend anymore, she couldn't focus on anything but the burning and the vague outlines of the two beings her shield was stretched over. She was so far gone she couldn't even understand that.

She didn't even realise Jasper was saying her name until he shook her arm. His ruby eyes were wide, terrified; and she couldn't work out why. What could possibly scare him so much?

"Oh fuck, Bella. What are you doin' to yourself?"

He scooped her up off her branch, bridal style, and held her close as he ran away from the sound of the rabble. Her satchel was left behind in the tree. Bella frowned, not used to movement.

"Wait, I need to keep track of Peter…"

"He's goin' out to feed, don't worry."

Jasper carried her to a clearing a small distance away. Bella could still hear the rabble of the newborns behind them faint in the distance. He set her gently on the floor, guiding her back to rest against a wide tree trunk.

He murmured, "Stay there." Then he was gone.

Bella let her eyes slide shut again, and focussed on his energy under her shield. He was darting around in circles like he had no idea what he was looking for. Eventually he left the reach of her shield and it snapped back to her.

So she sat there alone, waiting for something. Or nothing. She almost lacked the energy to ponder what was happening; why she had been moved to a clearing and what she was waiting for, or why she was waiting for it.

When Jasper finally came back he threw something large and heavy at her feet. Her brain wasn't cognizant enough to understand what it was, but what she could understand was the smell of rapidly cooling blood.

She pounced before her brain could register the movement. Although she gagged at the rancid taste and the unpleasant feeling of fur in her mouth, her body sang for finally receiving sustenance.

The blood was gone in a matter of seconds and she could finally see clearly again. She pulled back and took note of her surroundings; the animal was a coyote, they were a mile away from camp, it was just past noon and drizzling, Jasper stood in front of her; his nose was wrinkled.

"I don't know how that takes the place of human blood." He said. "I tried some when I caught it and it was disgustin'."

Bella stared at him. Sure enough his eyes were that little bit brighter, as if a hint of amber had been injected into the deep red. She was struggling to believe that he actually tried animal blood without being asked or even encouraged to. She had been so careful with her diet, never extolling the virtues of it or really mentioning it unless she had to. She had been told that nobody would appreciate being reminded of the immorality of drinking from humans and took it to heart - she never mentioned it. Other than the time that Jasper asked, of course. To think that he voluntarily did it, while catching something to help her. She looked at him and finally truly saw the Jasper she had always known.

"It used to..." She eventually stammered out. "... take the place of human blood, I mean. But I don't think it does anymore."

A wave of emotion hit her from his direction, her head hurt and tears pricked at her eyes. Sadness. He understood what this meant to her, he understood that she was forever changed.

"I know I've said this before… But I hope whoever you're lookin' for it worth it."

She met his eyes and felt the prickle of fear he was projecting. Some part of him had worked it out, she could tell. She understood him as he understood her. He knew how important he was to her, he had a feeling he'd worked it out.

She held his gaze and spoke clearly, and with as much conviction as she could muster.

"He is."

He looked to the sky, gulped (actually gulped) and exhaled a shaky breath.

"I'll get you another one."

She thanked his retreating form and was gifted with another, much larger coyote thirty minutes later. This one was alive, with its legs carefully broken so it couldn't struggle so much. Although Jasper's shirt was practically shredded from the effort. She greatly appreciated the thought and tried to project that to him as she latched onto the creature's neck. It tasted so much better than the last one that she could almost ignore that it wasn't what she really wanted.

She checked her shield when she pulled back from the empty carcass. Yep, still up high above her head. Jasper stood a few feet in front of her, his lip caught between his teeth. He released it and straightened when he saw her looking at him.

"I know what you did." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"With Anton. You made him stop trackin' me."

"Did Peter tell you?"

"No, I knew the second you did it." He rubbed the back of his neck, the exact place where Bella's throbbed. "The pain went away. I'd been feelin' it constantly since he cornered me a couple'a months ago, accused me of bein' too attached to you and Peter. He thought I'd lost sight of what really mattered."

"... Maria?" Bella asked in a small voice.

He ignored her. "You didn't do it by convincin' him to track you did ya? Is that why you've got your shield up? It's killin' ya, Bella. You can't keep doin' this."

"I have to." She smiled a grim smile. "I'll keep it up as long as necessary."

"You're puttin' yourself in danger!" He snapped. "Maria has noticed the change in your behaviour, Bella. She's suspicious. It's too dangerous for you here, you need to get out while you still can."

She'd heard that before.

"You're right." She said. "I do need to get out as soon as possible. But I'm not leaving without you."

He glared at her, torment clear on his face. "I've been thinkin' about it. Havin' Maria's influence taken off me was a shock and I will leave one day. But I don't know what's out there, I don't know who I am outside of this place. I need time, Bella. Time you don't have."

"Then I'll wait."

"Bella…"

"No." She rose to her full height to stand with him on equal ground. "I will stay here for years. I will keep doing this until I wither away and atrophy. I don't care. I will not leave you here."

The anger drained out of him. They stood three feet apart, but with a step he closed the gap and slowly reached across to her. His hand hovered over her cheek, as if he yearned to touch it. She felt the shadow of his fingertips over her cheekbones and her eyes fluttered closed of their own volition.

"Bells…" He whispered. "You can't-"

"Major!"

Maria's voice came hurtling from the camp towards them, and Jasper stumbled back as if it hit him.

"We've been away for too long…" He murmured.

"Belle!" The warlord called. "Where are you my loves?"

"C'mon." Jasper grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a run towards the camp. "She can't think we're up to anythin'."

"... Are we?" Bella asked.

He spared her a glance. "Like I told you. I just need time… For your sake, I'll try to be quick."

Maria stood in front of her tent, statuesque in front of a crowd of newborns staring at her in adoration. Peter was among them, but gasped and ducked away once Bella pulled her shield over him.

That took her attention, until she felt that gentle push on her shoulder. She slammed the shield down so hard her vision flickered, Jasper jolted beside her like he felt it too.

She noticed Anton snarling in the corner of her eye, his glare trained on her. Doing that pissed him off. Maria too by the looks of things, she was frowning like she'd expected Bella to fawn over her again.

Her attention snapped to the Major. "Where were you? I needed you."

"I'm sorry Ma'am." He and Bella bowed their heads in respect. "I took Bella huntin'."

"You what?"

The venom in her tone was biting, her eyes burned holes into the two friends. She zipped forward and appeared before Jasper with a snarl, grasped his chin between her pointed fingers and pulled it down to her level.

"You smell disgusting." She growled. "And your eyes are different."

"I…"

"You drank animal blood. Didn't you!"

Before he could respond, her hand shot from his chin to his neck and she shoved him backwards. He went flying backwards into a tree meters away and didn't make an effort to land on his feet.

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but a warning glance from him shut her up.

He knelt on the ground and closed his eyes, his hands open palms up on the ground and his neck tilted far to the side. Maria could kill him so easily. That was the point.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am." He whispered towards the ground. "I was curious. What can I do to make this up to you?"

"Get up."

He scrambled to his feet and found his chin grasped by Maria again. She wrenched his head to the side, forcing him to look at Bella.

"She has corrupted you." She growled. "I will not put up with it any longer. We don't need her."

"Ma'am?"

"You want to make it up to me?" She squeezed his face hard enough for cracks to appear on his jaw. Bella tensed at the sight, he barely winced.

"Kill her."

"What?" He gasped.

"You heard me." Maria smirked and shoved him to the floor. "Kill her."

"But… but Ma'am please…" He stammered, fear projected off him in waves. "What about her shield? We can't kill Johan without her."

The warlord raised an eyebrow. "And that's your answer? How disappointing."

Bella was frozen to the spot, transfixed by Jasper's distress on the ground. When she met Maria's ice cold glare, it slowly transitioned into a smooth smile.

"It's been lovely getting to know you, Belle." She made a gesture behind her that had Anton trotting up towards them. "But I think our time together is at an end."

She turned to the rabble of newborns behind her. "Kill her."

Many things happened at once. Jasper screamed and was tackled by Anton. Maria ducked to the side away from the horde moving behind her. They advanced on Bella with snarling mouths and grabbing hands.

She couldn't fight them off. There were far too many and they were all stronger than her. She had to get some distance between her and the horde and run.

Keep a clear head, dodge, get to high ground.

The blood in her system and shield in her own head let her think so much more quickly. She turned on her heel and raced towards the tree line.

She had an advantage, but some of the faster ones still caught up. Clawed fingers reached for her back and hair, which in a moment of foresight she grabbed and pulled around to the front.

She doubled down on her speed but was reaching her limit. Hands connected to thick arms reached around either side of her.

Don't let them get their arms around you.

She abruptly ducked down again and plunged her elbow into the newborn's groin. A cheap shot that worked on vampires as it did on humans. The man stumbled back into the crowd of snarling masses, some fighting each other in the haze of the battle as they fought to get to her.

She shot up and without hesitating leapt away from the swarm. As she shot herself into the air she noticed Jasper was being restrained by Anton, he stared up at her in horror.

Some of the newborns jumped to follow her, but with her split second advantage she dove into a tree and sprang from branch to branch away from the camp.

Just running wouldn't work, they were too fast. Her mind was her advantage.

The newborns were confused. With the spring leaves they struggled to see her and the scents in the camp were so strong that they couldn't locate her by scent. They absolutely could not hear her through the racket they were making.

She focussed on running as fast as she could, not losing her footing. She got some distance from the camp before she found the tree she was leaping from was falling from under her, then the next one, then the next, then the next. Someone was felling them.

Bella couldn't move any faster. When the tree she had just landed on crumbled beneath her the only place to go was down. She angled herself to land on her feet and span as she did. Her legs tensed and knees bent and she sprang back into a run.

But something stopped her.

A shot of fire ran through her forearm as a set of teeth sank into it. She swallowed a scream and turned to fight off her assailant, but only served to give them leverage as they tore her lower arm off at the elbow.

Her mind went white in pain and rage. Her vision blurred through venom and she couldn't stop the growling cry that came out of her. The parts of her brain that weren't blinded by sheer panic noticed that she knew the girl who had ripped her arm off. She had turned the girl who ripped her arm off. The rest of her just focussed on backhanding that girl and sending her hurtling through the trees.

Bella made a split second decision and raced towards her arm. A one armed vampire did not survive very long, and she had a long time to go until her task was done.

It was a stupid mistake, she realised as the growling got louder and the horde came back into view. Her arm had been thrown directly towards them.

This was it, she could either lose her arm or lose her life.

It didn't matter. Strong arms clenched on either side of her and though she struggled she couldn't get out of his grip without both arms. She was pulled up to the man's chest, braced herself for a crushing death, then sailed through the air.

What?

She opened her eyes to look at the scene disappearing behind her. It was Peter. He had picked her up and thrown her. He was rapidly disappearing through the trees, but she could hear the advancing crowd of newborns behind him.

She had to land silently. She turned in midair and aimed towards a gap in the trees. She hit the ground and rolled without knocking into any trees. The assailants she could hear were coming from the south, so she recalled her escape plan and headed west.

Her shield had fallen from Jasper and Peter as soon as she was attacked, but she could still sense Peter behind her; running with a dozen newborns on his tail.

What if they killed him? Did he just sacrifice himself for her?

She resisted the urge to turn around and help him. There was nothing she could really do.

Venom was weeping from the wound on her arm and weakened her with every drop, but there wasn't time to dwell on it. She ran as fast as she could, even as that got slower and slower as time went on.

They were advancing on her again. They weren't quite headed in the right direction, but they were definitely getting closer. She couldn't outrun them, it was impossible.

Use your head, use your head...

She did what she did best. She jumped into the tallest tree she could see and clambered up to the tallest branch. It wasn't a perfect plan, anyone who knew what they were doing would easily be able to find her through scent alone. She was leaking venom everywhere. But this was all she had. She went statue still and deathly silent, waiting for the newborns to either find her or run past her.

Peter ran towards her, the newborns still on his tail. She clenched her teeth and screwed her eyes shut. This was her worst nightmare. She didn't dare think of what was happening to Jasper.

To her surprise, he stopped in his tracks and the group following stopped too.

"I smell her!" He announced. "Over there!"

They weren't chasing him, he was leading them.

For half a second Bella panicked. Maybe Maria had gotten to him while he was unshielded and he had turned on her. But when the newborns started running again, they ran in the wrong direction.

Bella climbed down from her perch on the tree to meet Peter standing below it. His hair was wild and eyes black with adrenaline. In his hands he clutched her severed arm.

"Come on." He grabbed her hand. "We have to run."

GUYS. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG OMG. I HOPE IT LIVED UP TO EXPECTATIONS!