Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.

Rated M for a reason.

Chpt 11 Larceny & False Imprisonment

BPOV

The atmosphere is still a little tense as we leave in our stolen car at dusk, dressed in an odd assortment of clothes we've scavenged from the Cullen's closets. I know Pete trusts Jasper an' has accepted his decision not to share everything with us but I can tell he's still pissed an' so can Jasper. It hurts him, I can see it in his eyes. He knows I'm still mad at him too, which probably doesn't help.

I'm not sorry to be driving away from this place, it holds bad memories but it's a relief to discover that they don't hurt as much as they used to. Life has definitely moved on although I am pathetically grateful we didn't run into the pack, that is not a period of my life I ever want to revisit. And I do feel bad that I didn't even go and visit Charlie's grave but it was too risky to venture into the town.

As we enter the outskirts of Seattle Jasper slips into major mode.

"This could be a trap." He says breaking' the silence.

"Yep." Pete agrees. "But we need to find out who else Jenks was workin' for."

The Major nods. "Once we scoped the place out the three of us will need to search while Bella keeps watch. Are you still shieldin' us?"

"Yes." I nod. "An' I'll keep it up until we're on our plane back to New York."

"Will you be strong enough?" The Major asks raisin' his eyebrow.

"Yes. It's much stronger now."

I keep my eyes on the road but I can feel him watchin' me intently. He knows me too well an' I guess we'll be havin' a conversation about it next time we're alone.

Pete finds the single storey building, in an industrial area on the edge of town easily an' we cruise round it once. It's silent an' empty of humans so Pete parks a couple of blocks away and we approach on foot.

It isn't long before we catch the scent of two vampires, the same scents from Jenks's office.

The Major gestures us into the doorway of a vacant building.

"The scents are old." He states.

"At least a day, maybe older." Pete agrees. "Booby trapped?"

"Or cleaned out." The Major nods.

"Well I guess ole Petey the demolitions expert had better go have a poke around then. You guys stay here." And nonchalantly he strolls off down the street with his hands in his pockets.

After what feels like a very long five minutes he saunters back, smilin' happily.

"Booby trap." He says, shaking his head an' hefting' a lump of C4 in his hand. "An' not a very sophisticated one. Vampires just don't get the true beauty of modern weaponry an' when they try they just make asses of 'emselves. They've been inside but I don't know if they've taken what we're lookin' for."

"Well let's find out." Char urges. "The sale at Bloomingdales starts tomorrow an' lil' sis an' I have some stuff to get."

Oh yeah, somethin' to look forward to for once.

We flit to the entrance and the others head inside while I climb up onto the roof. The workers in other buildings have all left for the night an' the area is dark and silent. Spooky. In theory we are the only things here anyone needs to fear but my senses are on full alert. I stand there for an hour without seeing anything. If I strain really hard I can just about make out the sound of the others movin' around beneath me.

After another hour of my lonely vigil The Major hops up onto the roof an' comes to stand beside me.

"All quiet." I report like a good little soldier.

He nods. "Pete an' Char are resettin' the booby trap. As we've left no scent no one will know we've been here."

"Did you find anythin'?"

"A few files. We'll check 'em over when we get home."

"Do we need to clean out the hotel?"

"No. We checked in an' travelled under different aliases. It's unlikely anyone will know we were there."

My new family surprise me all the time. All this cloak an' dagger stuff makes me feel like I've wandered into a cheesy spy movie but I'm startin' to appreciate it goes hand in hand with bein' immortal. Eternity will leave a long trail of breadcrumbs if you're not careful.

While I'm mulling that over Pete an' Char appear on the sidewalk below us, arms stuffed with innocuous looking manila folders. The Major takes my hand an' we step off the roof together.

"If we hurry we can make the next flight back to New York." Char informs us.

Playin' spy seems to have pulled Pete out of his funk an' we trail after him as he searches enthusiastically for another car to steal get us to Sea-Tac, amused I wonder if anyone will ever connect a mini crime wave in their city with his presence.

The remaining tension evaporates as soon as the wheels of the plane leave the asphalt although we are all quiet an' lost in our own thoughts. Gratefully I lean against Jasper's side an' accept his arm around me. I don't need to be sedated this time, my thoughts are far too preoccupied trying to work out what the hell is going on, an' what Jasper's hiding, to worry about all the tasty humans trapped in here with me.

We're all relieved when I turn the car, Jasper let me drive as a special treat for doing so well on the plane, into our gated community in Millburn.

We dump our newly acquired files on the dining table.

"I need a shower an' a change of clothes." I announce. If I were still human I'd be exhausted, as a vampire I just feel a desperate need to re-boot my brain an' think about something else for a while.

"Yeah." Pete sighs. "I think we all need some downtime. Meet you guys back here at dawn?"

"Sure." Jasper agrees easily, shooing me up to our room.

He sits on the bed, watchin' me, as I strip out of the eclectic clothes I borrowed in Forks but unusually he makes no move towards me.

I frown, he looks like the old Jasper from my dim human memories. Aloof an' brooding, dressed in ridiculously fashion conscious clothes. Or at least they would have been five years ago which is, I'm guessing, the last time he took something out of his Forks closet.

"Jasper?" I ask tentatively.

"Sorry darlin'." He says an' grins. "I was just thinkin'."

"Just thinkin'?" I ask stepping towards him with my own grin. "I'm about to get in the shower an' you're just sittin' there thinkin'?"

He smirks but makes no move towards me.

"Why don't I help you out of those terrible pants?" I take another step forwards.

"Ma'am, you'd be doin' me a great service if you did. I always hated these pants, they chafe."

With fluid grace he rises to his feet.

Holdin' his eyes I slowly unbutton his shirt, pushin' it down his arms an' letting it drop to the floor. Reaching' down I unbutton the ludicrous pants and unzip his fly, with a whisper of fabric they slide to the carpet.

I look down. "Commando?" I ask, brushing' my lips across his adams apple which bobs as he swallows.

"That's why they chafe." He whispers slidin' his hands around my back an' trailing' his fingers up an' down my spine.

"Shower with me?" I purr seductively, letting my body rub against his.

"Hmm." He considers, continuing to caress my back, his own body responding in kind. "There's an offer I might find very hard to refuse."

"You're thinkin' of refusin' me?" I gasp in mock surprise.

"The thought never even crossed my mind darlin'." He says with his low dirty laugh. "But I thought you might like to tell me about your shield first."

I take a step away from him an' my grin turns wicked. If he wants to know what I can do with my shield I can kill two birds with one stone. I can show him an' I can try to get him in the shower where I want him.

There are two Bella's in my head, they control my gift, my mental and physical shields, an' although I bitch slapped them into submission a long time ago I do let them out to help me occasionally when I'm trying' something new. Still smiling' at Jasper, who is watching warily, I summon up my physical shield and mould it round his body like saran wrap.

Easy part over I concentrate on the complexity of getting the new Jasper shaped shield to move in the way I want it to. Which makes it easy for me to supress the laugh that bubbles up at the look on his face when his hand slowly rises from his side and settles over his heart.

"Hmt ump ngh?" See, this is really hard to do. Because the shield is wrapped tightly around him he can't move his jaw unless I manipulate it to emulate his movements, which of course I can't do because I can't read his mind.

Frowning slightly I pull the shield away from his head so that in my mind it looks like he's wearing a spaceman's helmet.

"Pardon my love?"

"I said." He rasps out. "What the fuck?"

"Neat, huh?" This time I do laugh. The expression on his face is priceless, he doesn't know whether to be annoyed or amazed.

"When did you learn how to do this?"

"I've been practisin' on my dinner." I shrug like it's no big deal but it's taken me nearly twelve months to learn how to do this much.

"How strong is it?" He asks. "Can I break out?"

"I don't know, try it."

For the next minute I enjoy the gun show as Jasper uses his considerable musculature to try and move the shield. I can feel him pressin' against it but other than causin' it to flex slightly he's totally incapacitated.

"Wow." He says finally, beaming' at me. "Can I get out now please?"

"I don't think so darlin'." I smirk. "I think I'll see if I can get you in the shower first."

"You can do that?"

"Not sure, I've managed to lift a deer's foot up an' wag its tail but if I try to get them to walk they fall over, wanna try?" Best not tell him I've snapped a few limbs in the process too. Vampires don't break that easily, he'll be fine.

He nods enthusiastically.

Concentrating hard I lift his left leg an' move it a few inches forward before lowerin' it again.

"It feels weird." He comments.

I can feel my strength starting to ebb away an' I screw my face up as I raise his right leg and swing it forward in front of his left, this time I bring it down too hard an' I can feel his weight wobble inside the shield. This much more complicated than movin' his hand because he is now off balance an' leaning' slightly to the side, only the shield is holding him up. Screwing' up my face even more I try to right him but it's too much and the shield collapses.

With a comical look of surprise he topples sideways into the bathroom doorway. Oh well, halfway there I suppose.

Rollin' onto his back he tucks his hands behind his head an' smirks up at me. "I think it still needs a little work."

Disappointed I pout at him. An' then I get an idea which brings a wide smile to my face.

"Bella, what are you doin'?" He asks suspiciously.

Carefully I wrap him up in my shield again leavin' my two favourite parts of his anatomy with plenty of room. Because it's just dawned on me that one lucky vampire can enjoy the experience of being tied up, but only because he's mine.