It took a moment for the others to realize, but even if they hadn't remembered who Maria was, Jasper's face would have given it away. He was paler than ever as he stared ahead at the woman who had come upon their group. She in turn was small, thin, with long dark hair and a pink mouth that was slowly curving up into a smile.
"Hello, Jasper," she murmured softly, her voice lilting and tinny, almost like a little girl's. Though she wasn't sure why, it made a shiver go down Bella's spine, and she frowned to watch her blond-haired brother able to do nothing but stand there and stare in shock.
"Maria," Sulpicia interjected smoothly, "I take it you know our guests?"
Maria turned her smile to the woman. "Only Major Whitlock, I'm afraid." The reference to Jasper, so casually made, only made the sudden appearance of her seem more painful and bizarre to the group, even moreso as she went back to eyeing Jasper. "Though it's been quite a while since I've had the pleasure of being in his company."
"Jasper and his family are guests of ours," Sulpicia went on, a graceful hostess. "This is Carlisle Cullen, his son, Edward, and daughter, Bella." Each one nodded in turn but kept a wary eye on Maria. They had all heard the stories about her and had absolutely no reason to be comfortable in her presence. What was worst was that Jasper's feelings of shock, anger, and upset seemed to be trickling into their consciousness, almost as if he had lost control and wasn't able to help himself any longer, not as he stood staring at his former commander.
But Maria only smiled that smile, a grin that was more devilish than sweet, one that made another shiver run from Bella's toes up. "Then I very much hope we can find some time to…catch up." Something in her words carried a not-too-hidden meaning, and she let her gaze linger on Jasper as she walked past and around another corner, leaving them alone with Sulpicia once more.
"How, er, long has Maria been part of your clan?" Carlisle asked, attempting to sound casual as they began walking forward again.
"Just a year or two," Sulpicia replied. "Aro insisted on wiping out her army after they exposed themselves one too many times, but he offered a position here for her."
Carlisle made a little noncommittal noise in reply and glanced over at his son, and everyone's eyes followed. Bella could see that Jasper was not well; his jaw and fists were both clenched and his eyes were hollow, staring blankly ahead even as they walked. Sulpicia paused in front of a wooden door, and still Jasper walked, not noticing they had stopped until Bella reached out to grasp his arm and tug him back. He seemed to shake himself awake then, giving her an apologetic look as Sulpicia opened the door.
"Your quarters," she said as she gestured them in. "Aro will send for you once a decision has been made."
"Thank you, Sulpicia," Carlisle replied.
The room was an incredibly large bedchamber, with two double beds against the far wall, nightstands and armoires for each on the side. Closer to the door was a sitting area with a large sofa, an overstuffed loveseat, and two wingback armchairs, all in the same shades of rich, dark red – all in the same shades as the eyes of the Volturi. There were no windows, merely stone walls, some covered with thick tapestries to keep out the cold they could not feel. Once they were all in the room, Sulpicia bid them a good night and left, leaving the door open behind her. It was Edward that shut it, likely on silent orders from their father that Bella couldn't hear. Nor could she hear whatever was going on in Jasper's head, though she so desired to, just so she might help him. He had moved to the sofa but hadn't sat down, just stood staring, saying nothing. She glanced over at Edward, hoping he could hear and give them some clue as to what to do, but the man merely shrugged his shoulders. Whatever Jasper was thinking was beyond his control.
"Jasper?" Bella asked gently, stepping towards him.
The man snapped out of it then, his eyes finally meeting hers, sending a shot of stress through her bones she knew he had created and accidentally passed on.
"Sorry," he said breathlessly. "Just…it's a little harrowing. I…I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," she urged him, easing him down to the sofa and sitting next to him. "You didn't do anything wrong."
He winced. "I lost my head. One look at her and I'm a statue."
"It makes sense, Jasper," Carlisle said as he sat in one of the wing chairs. "You saw awful things when you were a part of her army."
"Saw…did," he corrected hoarsely. "I did awful things."
"Things she made you do," Edward brought up from where he stood behind the couch.
Jasper shook his head. "No. For the blood, for the power…whatever it was, I did it willingly."
"For a time," Edward continued what he didn't say. "You realized what was right and wrong and you left."
"And here she is, following me yet again." Jasper's voice was harsh and bitter.
"There isn't any reason you need to speak to her," Bella brought up. "We're here to see Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Not her."
Carlisle agreed. "Bella's right. We're sure to finish our business in a day or so. We'll be well on our way before you have a chance to speak to Maria again."
Jasper sighed and tilted his head back, closing his eyes wearily. "I hope so. I certainly hope so."
~*~
The night was long and tedious, and Jasper lost his patience quickly – much quicker than the rest of them. Alice was so far, far away, ill, perhaps dying, and he was in a beautiful castle being hosted by some of the most powerful beings he knew with his former leader…commander…mistress…in the very same building. Everything the others had said had been reassuring – at the time. Now, he felt as if avoiding Maria's presence was mere wishful thinking, that he would have to see her sooner later…and what was worse, he had the strangest feeling that she would be the only one able to help them. Had he been missing Alice too much to absorb some of her talents? He didn't know. All he knew that he missed her terribly, wanted her there more than anything in the world, and was edging on desperation, ready to give anything to have her well again.
He focused on his father for a moment, half expecting him to feel the same way. After all, they were nearly in the same boat – save for the person who changed them showing up randomly. But Carlisle didn't have a touch of desperation, nor of nerves. He was simply calm, steady, his normal self. As he if knew without a doubt the Volturi would help them.
Jasper knew otherwise.
While he hadn't lived with the Volturi as Carlisle had, he had seen them in their business dealings enough to know their modus operandi. They only helped in a situation if it was beneficial to them. They had never bothered much with Maria and her army until the fight got out of hand and they were in danger of being exposed to the humans. The last time Jasper and the others had seen them, it hadn't been for help; it had been retaliation. The Volturi had a grudge against them now, and Jasper worried that that grudge would be the one thing keeping his wife from being cured.
Even Edward was beginning to lose his patience by the time day broke; Jasper could feel his annoyance thrumming through his body until it broke like a dam.
"What is taking them so long?" he cried gruffly as he began to pace back and forth across the room. "It's a simple decision. They caused the problem; they need to help to fix it."
"It has to be a thorough decision," Carlisle explained. "Everyone must come to the same terms."
"You mean to say they're bargaining in there as to whether they save Esme and Alice?" Bella asked incredulously.
Carlisle winced. "Not bargaining. Just…agreeing."
Jasper snorted. "If it's taking them this long…" He trailed off, realizing what his pessimism was leading him to say. Even with Alice just asleep, he was returning to the cruel, cynical being he had been before her. With her gone…he didn't want to think what he would become.
"They're going to be fine," Carlisle said emphatically. "They have to be."
That was his mantra, and all of theirs, for the next few hours. It wasn't until well into the morning – sometime around nine thirty, they guessed, as there weren't any clocks in the room they had been left in – that Jane came in through the door, her face calm and stoic and betraying none of the secrets they wished to know.
"They're ready to see you now," she said simply, opening the door wide and gesturing them out. Jasper wondered for a moment if Jane would be able to handle all four of them should something go wrong – but no, sure enough there were three additional guards waiting in the hall, nondescript male newborns of a larger size and little distinction between them. They flanked behind and around them as they left the room and progressed down the hall, back towards the chamber where the decision awaited.
Aro, Marcus, and Caius were all seated in their thrones upon the dais, looking down as the Cullens entered the room. The robes they wore were almost ceremonial and placed them back a few centuries – more to serve as reminders of their lasting power than to make a fashion statement. Aro had his usual smile perking his lips upward, and Marcus was in his normal state of disinterest, but Caius, usually so sullen, had a look on his face that rivaled Aro's happiness. Whatever decision had been made, it had been swayed in the favor of Caius, so it seemed. Jasper could feel his smug satisfaction lingering in the air like wet paint.
"Welcome back," Aro called out as the foursome paused before their thrones.
Carlisle bowed his head respectfully, though Jasper sensed his hidden pretention. "Thank you."
"I presume you found our hospitality sufficient?"
"Even more than that." Yes, Carlisle's responses were courteous, yet clipped. One didn't need to have Jasper's skill to feel his anticipation.
"And Sulpicia tells me your Jasper is acquaintances with one of our own?"
As Carlisle confirmed, Jasper saw Aro's eyes linger over him before going to a corner of the room – where Maria stood, wearing a tight, red wraparound dress and looking at him hungrily. The sight of her made the breath stop in his lungs, and he struggled to keep his emotions in check, half so the others wouldn't feel, half so she wouldn't see. She thrived on things like that, knowing the fear and upset in her victims. Yet fear wasn't what coursed through him; anxiety, regret, anger, and disgust all mingled within him as he looked away from her, and he focused his mind on the image of his Alice so he might remember why they were there. Even then, he could still feel Maria's ruby eyes piercing his skin.
"Perhaps you might join us for our three o'clock meeting? We'll be conferencing in the head of research," Caius was saying as Jasper refocused his attention on the men before him.
Carlisle gave a noncommittal answer. "We shall see. Would he be the one helping to cure my wife and daughter?"
"I believe Aro would best know that answer," Caius replied, glancing over at his brother.
Aro rose from his chair, stepping forward and down the dais until he was face-to-face with Carlisle. Jasper stepped closer to the men, feeling carefully for any deceit within the ancient's words.
"We considered your pleas for quite some time," he began, and Jasper already felt himself bristling, ready for a denial. "It was not in our knowledge that our little experiments would cause such a reaction in those already of our kind. Though, to tell the truth, we never thought one of our kind would seek another transition."
He grinned then, as if he had made a little joke. When no one responded, he continued. "That being said, though this is a new turn in our studies, we believe we know how to cure your family."
"You do?" Carlisle asked, the hope in his voice just barely held back.
Aro nodded. "We had only given those bears a chemical compound. Ephedrine, steroids, the like, all enhanced with venom. We, and our scientists, believe another simple compound is all that would be needed for a cure."
Relief washed over them all like balm, and Jasper wasn't sure if it was their own or just his overflowing through everyone near him. In that moment, Maria disappeared, the Volturi were like angels, and Alice would soon be his again.
But then he caught the devious streak smuggling out from the trio of vampires. Jasper's eyes narrowed and he almost had time to speak before –
"What is it?" Edward asked allowed. "What more do you need?"
Aro smiled. "Ah, Edward, you and your precious gift have been a step ahead yet again."
"Just tell us what the trade off is" Edward said through gritted teeth, his temper dangerously high; Jasper didn't make a move to calm him, too worried about his own anger to pay attention.
"Not a trade at all!" Caius interjected. "We'd give you what is rightfully yours, in time, so long as you give us what is ours."
"Yours?" Carlisle asked, his voice quiet and low, his own version of a dangerous tone.
"We are broadening our horizons, Carlisle," Aro explained. "We are becoming men of science so we might further our talents, perhaps benefit the world. A doctor yourself, surely you understand that research must be done thoroughly or not at all."
Edward growled low. "You don't mean –"
"Edward." Carlisle cut him off in one harsh breath.
Aro continued. "We only ask that you give us the women so we might continue our research. We cannot vouch for the verity of our findings without following them all the way through in a controlled environment."
Jasper felt his insides boiling, rage spilling off of him and into the others. He hardly cared. The idea that he would willingly hand Alice over to these high-blown murdering fools? It made him sick, made him furious…and he made the others feel the same way until –
"No!" Edward leapt forward, ready to throw Aro to the ground. But Jane moved quickly, stepping between him and the dais to concentrate on Edward alone, attempting to fill his body with pain that somehow did not reach him. She stared, her eyes confused and angry as she realized Bella was concentrating just as hard to block her waves of pain. Jane growled low in her throat and backed off, just as Bella smoothed her hands over her husband's shoulders, calming him down.
"Bella, take Edward outside," Carlisle advised quietly, moving his gaze from his angered son back to the man before them. Bella nodded and helped usher her husband to the doors that led to the waiting area. Jasper and Carlisle, two husbands without wives, were left before the Volturi, staring them down with looks as strong as steel.
"Do you honestly mean to tell me that you want to experiment upon my wife and daughter?" Carlisle asked slowly and carefully.
"Hardly experiment," Aro replied. "Merely observe before determining the best course of action. If that action might be more testing, then surely you wouldn't mind –"
"Of course I mind!" This time it was Carlisle's turn to thunder, but Jane didn't move a step.
Aro stepped forward, apologetic and grave. "Carlisle, come, let us discuss it in our private quarters. Perhaps we can even call our research head early."
Carlisle looked over towards Jasper. "My son –"
"Will do just fine out here waiting for you." Aro's voice had become tinged with a hint of steel, the meaning behind his words not yet spoken. But Jasper could feel the slight vein of fear in the man, knew that he worried he wouldn't get his way if Jasper came along too. Carlisle was strong, powerful, but Aro was counting on his former tie to the Volturi as a weak spot. Perhaps he was weak there, but that weakness was counterbalanced by the strongest point in Carlisle's life: Esme.
"Go," Jasper urged him. "I'll wait here."
Carlisle nodded, clasping his son's shoulder once more before stepping to where Marcus had pushed aside a small curtain, revealing a hidden door they hadn't been able to see before. The three men, along with Carlisle, stepped inside, shutting the door behind them. As Sulpicia and Jane stepped out one of the side doors, Jasper was left nearly alone in the throne room. But just nearly.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here," Maria drawled as she came closer towards Jasper's side. "If it isn't Major Jasper Whitlock kneeling at my feet yet again."
"Maria," he muttered through grit teeth.
She came to stand before him, crossing her arms over the swells of her chest. "They say you're here to save your little Seer. Is that true?"
He winced. "And my…Esme." That made him wince again, to deny his mother so. But here he was, standing before Maria, feeling things he hadn't felt in a good long while, and his tongue was tied so as a result.
She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "And you came to see what I could do. How very sweet."
Jasper glared at her then. "Hardly. The group you've joined up with is the one behind their illness."
"I joined up with?" she repeated with a sneer. "Have you forgotten so easily the power I have wielded? The Volturi asked me to come, to strengthen them, to rouse their forces. Do you not remember those nights spent in battle?"
"I remember."
"Remember the smell of burnt flesh rising, proving our victory yet again…remember the blood that was our reward." She smirked and placed her hand upon his shoulder, rubbing lightly. "What of the other nights…do you remember those? The ones spent at my side, your hands –"
He wrenched away from her then, feeling sickened. Of course he remembered. Those nights were burned into his brain, but no longer with the fire he had received from them. Now, it was with guilt and anger he recalled giving himself – all of himself – over to Maria.
But she was smiling, as if she knew exactly how he felt and was thrilled by his pain. "Oh, Major…don't act as if you're tortured by it. You came readily to my bed, don't you remember?" She grinned widely and reached out for his hand.
He yanked it away, spitting out, "I remember." Just saying that made him want to retch; it felt so much like a slap in the face, a betrayal towards Alice. She knew, they had spoken of it, and even still it hurt him to admit that once, long ago, he had been Maria's in every sense.
"It's been quite a while since we last spoke," she murmured, shadowing him with her steps.
"Yes, the last time you left me in a hole in the ground," he retorted.
"Which you obviously survived," she countered.
"Thanks to Alice."
Her eyes glowed ruby red. "She's saved you once? Twice? When it was me that saved you so many times before?"
"You are nothing compared –"
Maria's voice was low and cruel in his ear, cutting him off. "And you would be nothing without me."
Her eyes darted over towards the thrones then, focusing on where a sober-looking Carlisle, an agitated Caius, a sullen Aro, and Marcus in all his somberness were stepping out. Maria moved in front of him, suddenly all seductive smiles and down-cast eyes.
"Do let me know if there's anything I can do for you," she said softly, dragging her fingertips over his arm once more before stepping across the room and out the door.
