A/N Stephenie Meyer owns all. I just own a can of fly spray and an unfortunately placed wasps' nest outside my window.

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CHAPTER SIX

Previously (EPOV)

She rolled her eyes and scooted over to the far-side of the double. "Don't be such a douche. I've Tasered you, bled on you and you've seen me throw up. Twice. Just get on the fucking bed and stop being such a girl."

I stared at her in shock before bursting out laughing. As I walked over, shaking my head, I could see a small smug smile at the corner of her lips before she rolled over onto her side, facing away from me. Still chuckling, I lay down on top of the sheets and closed my eyes.

Isabella Swan was going to be the death of me, and I'm not entirely sure that I minded that at all.

EPOV

I fell swiftly into unconsciousness and relished the absence of dreams that comes with true exhaustion. The last thing I was aware of was the soft breathing of Bella as she lay across from me, mumbling incoherencies into the night.

After I time I began to wake. Iblinked, unwilling rising to consciousness as the urges of my body begged me to rest, to sleep for so much longer! I felt like I had hardly laid my face on the pillow at all. Groaning, I shook my head and opened my eyes, instantly slamming my lids back down and grimacing as it felt like someone had sandpapered me while I was asleep.

I was surprised to find myself unusually warm; I took a deep breath and was enveloped by the scent of strawberries and flowers. Opening my eyes once again I found myself staring into a pale, heart-shaped face with soft pink lips parted in sleep. Bella's body was warm and soft and wrapped around mine, one of her legs between mine and the other half-over my hip. Her hands were curled beneath her chin and tugged into the fabric of my shirt.

I was surprised to find that my arms had unconsciously cradled her, tucking her head into my shoulder and burying my nose into her wild tangled curls. I found myself fighting a smile; she was so innocent and vulnerable in her slumber.

I wanted to stay there, but my mind was screaming at me to back off. She was a client. She was Demetri's fiance, for fuck's sake!

But I wanted to trace the delicate line of her cheekbones, trail my fingers along the spidery blue veins webbing over her eyelids. The spot above her left brow was now swollen into a dark purplish-brown goose egg, but thankfully the small gash there had clotted and long ceased bleeding. The beginnings of a scab was starting to form.

I disentangled myself from her grasp, careful not to wake her, and let myself out of the room. I automatically scanned the parking lot before locking the door behind me, anxious to leave her alone even for a few minutes. I was pleased to see that the Porsche was still unnoticeable to the casual observer as I headed towards the vending machines. After extended wrangling with the machines I won two bottles of water and a handful of snacks, narrowly resisting the temptation to growl and kick the ancient contraptions as they devoured at least half the money I put in there.

When I let myself back into the room Bella had not stirred an inch. She was...beautiful.

Of course she's beautiful. How else did she manoeuvre herself into Demetri's bed and bank account?

She may look innocent, but her past actions and deeds speak otherwise. But, still... I scowled at the unsettling argument brewing within me. The incongruence between Isabella's past motivations and present behaviour was not my concern: my only priority was to keep her alive and deliver her back to Carlisle so she could be kept alive until the trial.

I half-jumped as my phone buzzed in my pocket, the alarm I had set earlier going off. It was just before four a.m. and the night air was still unusually warm, the only noise was the distant buzz of traffic on the highway and the chirping of the cicadas.

Time to go. I shook Bella's shoulder gently, murmuring to her that she needed to wake. She didn't stir. I pushed her more forcefully, careful not to exacerbate her earlier head injury and nausea, but still no response.

I frowned and slapped her cheek lightly, then with more force as she still didn't awaken. I hit her again, careful not to bruise or damage her, and shouted her name into her ear. Shit.

My heart was pounding now, my mouth dry. In that instance the years of training and experience in the field fled me, leaving me a panicked rookie that just wanted to shake her and scream until she awoke. I swore viciously and repeatedly, running my hands through my hair as I desperately tried to figure out what to do.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and it was only as I was dialing Jasper's emergency number that I realised my fingers were trembling.

Eyes locked on the pale slip of a girl on the bed, I let the phone ring and prayed that Jasper would answer quickly.

~ * ~

JPOV

The ushers gave me sidelong speculative glances as I sat in the hallway. I suppose I must be an oddity to them, carrying exclusive box-seat tickets and wearing an obnoxiously-expensive tailored tuxedo while I sat slumped against the wall, uncaring of the dust of the floor. I could hear the symphony still, the deep bass of the orchestra reverberating through the wall behind me.

Alice was going to kill me. But I couldn't go back, couldn't sit and smile as the orchestra led them into the third movement. I had to know whether Bella was safe. I trusted Edward, but her atrocious luck and the Volturi's determination made nothing certain.

I checked the time compulsively, setting my jaw to restrain my leg from twitching against the carpet. A couple more ushers had peeked their head around the corner, but had quickly retreated when met with my icy glare.

Eventually, I could bare it no longer. I pulled the phone out and dialed Edward, hoping fervently that the quiet buzz of his cellphone would not betray them to their pursuers. Carlisle would kill me.

Thankfully he answered almost immediately. I had a brief moment of annoyance that he hadn't contacted me so far if he could answer so quickly, but suppressed it as I breathed into the phone, "Do you have her?"

"Yeah." I closed my eyes, my muscles unclenching and relaxing. Then I tensed again at Edward's next words. "There were some complications, but we're clear now."

My mind raced, wanting to know what had happened. But years of training conditioned me to see the reality - whatever had passed was irrelevant; if it was safe enough for Edward to talk on the phone that was all that mattered.

He continued, "We need transportation thought and we're at least half an hour from my car."

I wondered what had caused them to flee so far. Edward was notorious for being a perfectionist, anticipating and planning a dizzying web of contingency plans that very rarely left him surprised or unprepared. Not too mention the hissy fit he usually threw when his precious Volvo was left behind. "What's your plan?"

He didn't answer for a long time, but his breathing was heavy and laboured. What the hell is going on? "Edward, you still there?"

"Yeah," he sighed. I snorted quietly to myself, almost hearing the damage his hair was taking as he tugged at it mercilessly; his one sure sign of stress. Edward quickly explained his plan to steal a car and meet in Nevada. I nodded along, making a mental note to arrange the contact to meet them at the usual spot.

He spoke more and I confirmed that the plan was to bring Bella to Washington. I expected Edward's response - after all, proposing to bring such a volatile target to his family home would be a sore subject. Still, his voice was harsher than I expected.

"Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, Jasper."

I rolled my eyes, clenching my jaw to suppress my irritation. If there was an alternative doesn't he realise I would have already ran with it? Alice may be his sister, but she is my wife, she carried my child and she is my whole world. There was no other choice now. "It's the only way. We'll keep her at the house with Esme and Alice until we figure out what the hell to do. If we leave her out on her own again, she's going to get killed."

We argued some more and it was only the very public setting I was in that stopped me from yelling and swearing into the ear piece. Edward was surprised that the Volturi wanted her alive; he'd been away from base for the last five weeks and hadn't been privy to Emmett's and Rose's most recent intelligence. I wanted to tell him the full story now, but Carlisle's rules were strict when it came to divulging information over the phone.

I listened to him some more, but I was distracted as I closed my eyes and remembered when I first met Bella. She'd been with the US witness protection service for nearly four months when her final safe house had been exposed. She'd fled out of the window, nearly tearing the skin from her back as she wriggled through and half-ran, half-fell down the fire escape. I located her two blocks away from the gunfire, shaking and tiny and scared, yet she'd still managed to kick me so hard in the nuts I was honestly afraid there'd be no little Jaspers running around in the future.

Edward interrupted my musings, saying, "I'm getting a car now. We'll meet at the usual Nevada rendezvous; I'll contact you when we're half an hour away."

"Sure thing." I closed my eyes, remembering Bella's wide too-young but too-old eyes trusting me with her safety. She was so brave and she didn't even realise it. She knew she was probably going to die, but she just wanted to take the Volturi down before they ended her. Her sense of justice far out-weighed her sense of self-preservation, and that terrified me.

I opened my mouth to express this, to try and explain the enigma that was Isabella Swan. But there was no time, and there were no words. So all I said was, "Take care of her, Edward."

"Sure thing, Jazz."

The phone clicked off. I sighed, and rejoined my wife in the auditorium.

~ * ~

Alice was furious when I finally sat back beside her, but she pursed her lips and didn't say a word. The orchestra was winding down now, the final movement soaring out along the perfect acoustics as I stared at my wife and silently pleaded with her to understand. I knew it was unfair of me - she was more understanding and compassionate of my job than I deserved - but her steely laser glare reminded me that this was our anniversary and I'd promised no interruptions.

Especially since her birthday. I winced at the memory, still seeing Alice's smiling face as she cut the cake soon disintegrate into concern, worry and then anger as I fled her party and didn't contact her for four days.

She understood better than I could hope for. After all, she was Carlisle's daughter and Edward's sister. She'd grown up expecting distant behaviour, mysterious brief communications and long unexplained absences. Alice had fled as a child with her mother, Esme, and knew firsthand the lengths that had to be taken when hiding from danger.

But still... She was carrying our child now and even though she had yet to voice it I knew she expected more. Knew she deserved more. And she did. Our child did.

I took her hand, caressing her knuckles and gently lowering my lips to graze the soft silky skin, gazing at her through her lashes and communicating my apologies and my love. She was my everything. I trailed my other hand over the swell of her belly, smiling at the subtle curve that was not yet noticeable unless you know exactly what you were looking for.

She didn't speak, I didn't speak. There was nothing to say. She unwillingly met my eyes and in an instance she softened, warmed me with her love and cradled my cheek. There was nothing to forgive, she knew the realities of my life, my job. But Alice's understanding was being stretched and my heart pounded when I worried where it would take us.

~ * ~

We travelled back from the symphony hall in relative silence, only exchanging murmured comments on the quality of the musicians and the dinner we had shared earlier in the evening. She didn't let go of my hand and never looked away from my eyes, communicating to me in our way that went beyond words and sound that it was okay. That we were okay.

I led her into the house, nodding at the security guards as they opened the gate and then the front doors for us. My mind briefly returned to Bella, wondering if it was safe to bring her here or whether I'd be calling disaster down upon all ours heads.

I backed my wife into the bedroom, my hands tracing her lower back and never breaking our gaze for an instance. I cradled her sweet, loving face, stroking her cheeks and hair and leaving a trail of butterfly kisses down her neck and shoulders as I tenderly peeled her dress and underwear from her. Lowering Alice onto the coverlet I smiled and kissed her stomach, nuzzling into the ripe swell of life she carried.

I kissed and whispering and licked and worshiped, my hands and body showing her I was sorry and how much she meant to me. I caressed every inch of her quivering skin, groaning as I touched her wetness and ran long-fingered hands over her tiny pixie-like body. She gasped and shivered and moaned until I finally hovered above her, entering her with a mutual groan as both of our bodies whimpered in shock at the connection.

I held her tight as if I could as if I would crawl inside her and become one creature, breathing the same air and relishing the wet heat of her, when -

RING RING! RING RING!!

The spell was shattered. The soft erotic glow of Alice's features deteriorated into a medusa glare and a stream of curses that would make a sailer blanche. I almost expected to the see the inky black spikes of her hair reform themselves into a sea of hissing adders ready to bite my eyes out.

"Jasper, I fucking swear if you answer that fucking phone while you're inside me - literally in the middle of fucking me - then you are a dead man."

I closed my eyes and groaned, begging her silently to understand one more time as I reached to the night stand and pressed the green button on the phone that I always answered. Alice, beneath me and her body still enveloping me, rolled her head back and muttered viciously under her breath. The twitching of her hips and body nearly made me lose myself.

I was shaking and furious when I answered the call, growling like a madman into the phone, "What is it, Edward? This is really bad fucking timing."

"It's Bella." I froze, shocked at hearing the undercurrent of panic in Edward's voice, my desire and anger dissolving away. I'd known him since we were teenagers and he'd never sounded like this. Alice reacted to the change in my body language and stared at me with concern now.

I spoke slowly, deliberately. "What's wrong with her?"

I heard him gulp, he sounded like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. "I can't wake her up, Jasper. She hit her head a few hours ago, it was bleeding and she was sick... She seemed okay though, knew who she was and the disorientation was minimal. But now...she just won't wake up. What the fuck do I do?"

~ * ~

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