A/N: Chapter 2! At 3 AM! Woo!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight!

Jasper sat under the shade of a wide oak, waiting on Edward to finish hunting. That was really the only reason he tolerated Edward - the hunting trips. Edward would leave him alone and let him hunt in peace. Any other time Edward was whiny and moody, but for some reason, he understood Jasper's boundaries when it came to hunting.

As he sat, back against the trunk, eyes closed, and mind wandering, a quiet whimper and the snapping of a twig came from within the forest. He was immediately on his feet, brought out of his trance-like state, ears and eyes alert. A much louder thud echoed through the trees now, as if someone had fell.

"Ouch," a soft, somewhat feminine voice sobbed. Jasper followed the sound. He peered from behind a tree at a young man in tattered clothing struggling to get onto his feet. He tried several more times, only to fall down again. He finally just gave up and sat sobbing on the forest floor, holding his head in his hands and letting his shaggy, unkempt black hair fall into his face.

The young man couldn't have been more than eighteen or so, and that was a generous estimate; he was quite tiny and childish in appearance. He probably wasn't much larger than Alice. Jasper repressed the automatic twinge of sadness that accompanied thoughts of Alice, not that he really missed her; it was just automatic. Trading Alice and Esme to the Volturi in order to obtain Shane had been a wise decision made by Carlisle, but sometimes Jasper missed the companionship that came with the pixie-like vampire.

He smiled to himself and shook off the feeling. Then, he returned his attention to the tattered young man. There was a large gash on his head, dried blood surrounding the wound and trailing down his baby face. Jasper felt a sudden twinge of pain in his stationary heart. There was something about seeing this frail young human cry that affected him. Jasper took a timid step from behind the tree, intentionally snapping a twig with his foot to signal his presence. The young man's head snapped up, and he stared at Jasper with wide pale green eyes. They were bloodshot, and tears were still streaming down his face. Jasper took another timid step forward. The young man tried to get up once more. When his legs failed beneath him again, Jasper rushed to catch him. He smiled softly at Jasper before his eyes fluttered shut, and he fell into unconsciousness.

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"Carlisle, he's been unconscious for four hours," Jasper said in a worried voice. His pale eyebrows were furrowed, and he was drumming his slender fingers impatiently on the railing of the hospital bed set up in one of the extra bedrooms. "Are you sure he's gonna be okay? Should we take him to the hospital or something?" Jasper crossed his arms across his chest and tapped his foot anxiously.

Carlisle sighed. He was annoyed enough that his henchmen had been unable to capture Cameron Carter earlier, but now the annoyance level he felt was nearly intolerable. Honestly, to have Jasper, one of his pets, come in with this stray human and beg him to care for it? That was almost too much, but he had grown fond of Jasper over the years. In truth, he had become less of a pet and more of a son to him. So, when he saw how concerned his "son" was about this human, he had to help him out. After all, he hadn't used Jasper in the way he usually used his pets for years. It would be too disturbing to do that with a son, even if they weren't truly related.

"Jasper, even if we did take him to the hospital, his care would be the exact same, including who his physician would be," Carlisle explained, trying to control the annoyance in his voice.

The young human's eyes fluttered open, and Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief. Jasper had been really grinding his nerves. The boy searched the room wide eyed for a moment before his eyes finally stopped on Jasper. A small smile spread across his face. Jasper found himself smiling back.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen," he said, putting on his caring, professional façade. "Can you tell me your name? And what happened to you?" The boy glanced at him briefly before looking back at Jasper.

"I'm Caliban," he said in a small, high-pitched voice. "And I honestly don't know what happened to me…" Jasper leaned against the bedrail.

"So, you have no idea how you got that?" he said, while gesturing toward the large gash on the left side of Caliban's forehead. Caliban just shook his head. "Well, where are you from? How did you get to the middle of the woods?"

Caliban bit his lip. "Um, well, would you believe me if I said 'I don't know' again?" He let out a small giggle, which Jasper returned while staring into his mint green eyes.

Without breaking the gaze, Jasper said, "Carlisle, Caliban can stay here, right? I would feel just awful sending him out in his condition, especially since his memory seems to be lacking."

"You can call me Cal," the young man said with a giggle, while cocking his head sideways.

Carlisle just sighed.

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