Bella was no longer sure if it was the spot itself that was her favourite, or the company she was keeping there. She regretted not getting to know Jasper before now, finding they had a lot in common, and that which they didn't she found it easy to both listen to his explanations, and provide ones of her own.

Her favourite stories were definitely those few he had of still being human, living on a ranch, coincidentally, not too far from where they were currently. She could always imagine the tales he spun perfectly, as if she was watching a movie created specifically from his words. It wasn't even necessarily the stories she loved, it was the look in his eyes as he told them, the easy smile on his face. Jasper wasn't necessarily a miserable man, but he rarely showed his emotions on his face. Bella couldn't deny he was handsome, but on that chance occasion he'd smile he was heart-breaking. She'd only ever seen his smile here down by the river, a heady part of her felt that it was reserved just for her.

"Lost in thought there, Darlin?" Bella startled at the interruption, just like every other day after training, practically without asking now, they had ended up at the interruption. She felt the familiar feeling of blushing but was glad it no longer showed so obviously on her face.

Jasper had contemplated for a minute to comment on Bella's obvious lack of attention. Her emotions were full of a pure affection, maybe even love, and contentment that was pleasant to be around. But in the end his curiosity had won over and he was asking the question practically without realising it. At his question a flood of embarrassment assaulted his companion, he was sure, had she still been human that she would have been blushing, the thought brought a grin to his lips.

He felt more than saw Bella glancing at him, a funny mix of the embarrassment and pleasure. His curiosity was not satiated in the slightest. He pushed more curiosity at her, with her ability to resist his gift, they could almost use emotions as a form of communication.

"Y'know, the usual, just that your smile makes you look more handsome…" She bit her lip, a habit she hadn't lost from when she was human. Jasper felt a warmth he wasn't sure he'd ever felt before, starting in his soul and settling in his heart. He didn't think anyone had so honestly, with such open truth, complimented him so.

"I don't think I've heard someone say that in years, thank you." And then there was just warmth.

Bella wasn't sure what came over her, but what had started as affection had bubbled over into something, she could neither describe nor ignore. Something about the soft, honest earnestness as he had admitted he couldn't remember a time of simple validation had called to her, and before she'd even thought about it, her lips were over his.

Almost as soon as she had started, she went to pull away, both because of her own surprise, and Jasper's she could feel wrapping around her. Before she could fully disentangle herself however, his hands wrapped into her hair, pulling her back, deepening the kiss. She might have gasped, or maybe she was drowning as she melted into the man before her. She hadn't kissed many people in her years, but she could say with some certainty that none had felt this right.

Kisses in the past had been nice, but this felt like coming home, and yet it wasn't the kiss, the kiss was just a kiss, it was the man, it was Jasper. She'd lost track of time before, of course she had, with a good book, or a repetitive task, but never with a guy, in a situation like this, and yet when Jasper finally pulled away she couldn't say if minutes or hours had passed.

A lot of thoughts were passing through her mind, but mostly she was just running on emotion, running on the warmth that she knew her companion, maybe even lover now, could feel with his gift. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew that it felt right. There would be a time and place to question what was between them, but that wasn't for today, instead they both dipped in for another kiss, and then one more after that. Never more than kisses, but she did not feel she was missing out for their simplicity. The night passed around them, the moon warm and highlighting them, glittering off the river beside them, and with a hint of disappointment the sun started to peak through, the skies dancing with reds and pinks, brightening but not overwhelming.

As the last ray of pink faded and the sun shined, Jasper pulled away for a final time. She could see the disappointment in his eyes, as he pulled them back down to earth.

"Peter will kill us if we're late, Darlin'." Despite knowing it was childish, she pouted just slightly, she didn't want to leave this moment, this magic she felt when it was just her and Jasper. He laughed, a warm honeyed sound, before standing up. As he stood, he held out a hand to her to give her an unneeded help up, unable to resist the contagion of his happiness she laughed along with him, letting him pull her up. Her laughter settled into contentment as he maintained their contact, running back towards the ranch hand in hand.

Peter was not looking forward to this training session. Not looking forward to passing along the news that Garrett had given to him, he knew something was coming, a battle, but never war. Like clockwork the Cullen's came back to the ranch, he could see the contentment on their faces, and he didn't want to spoil their good mood, but the alternative, ignorance, would be worse.

Bella and Jasper has been the last to return, and the sight of them almost broke his stoic worry, his theory was definitely right, and while he didn't know what exactly had changed he knew they were on the way to figuring out. Of course, while he was happy for his brother that wouldn't save him from the customary 'if you hurt her, you will die talk', in fact Peter would take great pleasure in it. When they got time of course. There were more important things at hand.

Once everyone was in the clearing Peter turned to them, a deadly serious look in his eyes. It was almost unconscious, but they all responded, straightening up, the laughter fading from the lips, stepping infinitely closer to their mates as if they could protect them from mere proximity alone.

"Garrett called with an update on the situation. Things have got worse, a lot worse." He realised he was being a little dramatic, but he just wasn't sure how to properly convey the situation.

"Garrett? Worse how?" The good doctor had clearly not asked the question out of ignorance to who Garrett was, more from a knowledge of his character and what could worry him enough to call Peter regarding it. In fact, the only person who looked confused at Garrett's name was Bella which was less than surprising. I didn't want to tell them, as much as they irritated me, I didn't want to destroy their worldview, I wasn't heartless.

"Garrett found Alice and Edward in France," The confusion lasted only seconds, "where they were amassing an army to stage a revolt.

He didn't need Jasper's gift to guess just what kind of horror the Cullen's were feeling at the moment, it was written all over their faces.

Garrett was more than a little shocked when he stumbled upon the little revolt. He hid at the back at one of their rally speeches, human and vampire stood together ready to take on the Volturi. Defeat the Volturi.

While Garrett would be first to admit he wasn't the greatest fan of authority, even he could see the necessity of the Volturi, despite people's opinion of them they had led fairly, when it was appropriate giving vampires the chance to atone for their mistakes, this fairness was what had allowed him to live as he did now.

Back in the day he had gotten embroiled in a vampire territory war, his superior fighting had led him there when usually only newborns were used as fodder. The war had not lasted long before the Volturi had descended, he had been young and still full of the vigour of the battles which had led to his change, had yet to really learn the rules. The newborns had been culled, so too had been the leader, but him and a few select others had been spared, given the chance to either go to Volterra and be educated or to die. Garrett had been battle hungry, undoubtedly, but he had been no fool.

So, while he would never sing and dance at the altar of the three kings, he had a keen understanding of their importance. And, because of them he had a special set of skills, those useful in espionage, mixed with his lack of sent and he had become a master spy.

Finding the Cullen children's secrets had not being hard, they were headily egotistic, between their gifts they believed themselves infallible, between that and their human engineered weapons and surprise. They could see nothing going wrong.

Garrett only stayed long enough to pass on important information before getting out of dodge. He knew that the hardest part of being a spy was knowing when to leave, but his gut told him now.

Once he had swum to England, far out of the revolt's jurisdiction, he started the phone calls. First Peter, just because he knew the man loved a skirmish, and then secondly Demitri. Maybe he should have called the Volturi first, but he wanted to gossip with Peter first. He must say he was surprised the Captain had reacted so badly, but guessed he'd had an inkling between his gift and his links with the Major.

Demetri had always been his favourite of the Volturi guard, probably why he had his number of them all to be honest, he was fair, and had honed his gift in time, working for his place on the guard rather than just relying purely on his gift like the Witch Twins. He could kind of see what point Edward and Alice had being making about complacency within the guard.

Demetri picked up on the second ring, his voice as gruff as always.

"General, what can I do for you?"

As he'd already mentioned, Garrett was battle hungry, and so as he spun his tale, a grin adorned his face, "Big trouble is coming, prepare the Volturi." He had managed to find the projected date from the fool's and so preparation would be easy.

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