Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.

Rated M for a reason.

Chpt 14 Down the Rabbit Hole

BPOV

Char an' I exchange a glance an' a shrug while Jasper an' Pete glare at each other.

"J, fuck." Pete finally manages to speak again. "The Volturi will kill you, us too probably. What the fuck were you thinkin'?"

"I was bored . . . ." He begins, flinchin' as Pete launches himself at him.

Char grabs Pete around the middle an' hauls him back on the bed.

"Will you let me fuckin' explain?" Jasper growls rising to his feet an' towerin' over the still struggling Pete.

Even I move back from him, involuntarily, anger, power an' authority radiate from his every pore. He's so laidback normally that it's easy to forget exactly how dangerous Jasper Whitlock really is.

Duly reminded we all settle back again an' wait for him to continue.

Instead of sitting down he begins to pace. I know him well enough now to realise its deliberate. He's remindin' us of his superiority, dominating the room with his presence so we'll sit down an' shut up while he talks. He wasn't the youngest Major in the Confederate army for nothing.

I wish he wouldn't though, it's difficult to concentrate when he goes all macho on me. Damn him, I'm blaming him for my one track mind, stupid sexy vampire.

"Bella, are you listenin'?"

"Yes, sorry J." I say contritely.

He nods. "As I was sayin'. Stefan came to see me in Forks. He had some friends who needed help with a particular problem that need help from a particular kind of military man. I was fuckin' shocked to say the least but I was also goin' out of my mind with boredom after decades livin' with the Cullens an' well, I might be dead but this is still my country too."

Pete nods in agreement an' seems to relax slightly. He was in the army before he was changed too so I guess it's something he can sympathise with. The tension level in the room eases down a notch with him.

"What did you do?" I ask.

"I can't tell you the specifics, national security." He says, a tad pompously I think.

"Bullshit!" Char laughs, callin' him on it. "We're fuckin' vampires, who are we gonna tell?"

Jasper glowers at her but some of his temper has leaked out of him because the corner of his mouth twitches like he wants to smile.

"It ain't really pertinent to our current situation." He says an' then he does smile. "But I'll tell ya one day, it was fuckin' awesome an' Pete, you won't ever take the piss out of my skill with modern weaponry again."

"So you did a military job for the United States government an' you got a medal for it?" I ask slowly just to be sure I understand.

He nods.

My poor jaw drops open again. Well, fuck me. I'm marryin' a hero. That'd cheer Charlie up, long hair not withstandin'.

"Did they ask you many questions about bein' a vampire?" Char wants to know.

"No. I was surprised but they never really mentioned it, I assumed Stefan had already told 'em everythin' he wanted 'em to know. They gave me some makeup to hide the sparkle." He reaches into the duffel again an' pulls out a large plastic tub, handing it to me. "I don't know what the rest of the guys on the mission thought I was but I doubt they knew I was a dead man walkin'."

I unscrew the lid an' stick my finger tentatively in the clear gel, when I rub my fingers together it feels like Vaseline an' the pads of my fingers look duller than usual. Huh.

I hand the tub to Pete an' Jasper continues. "They only thing they really seemed interested in was The Volturi but I didn't tell 'em anythin' an' they didn't push it."

Pete rubs the gel between his fingers an' looks at it thoughtfully.

"So what has the US government knowin' about you got to do with what's goin' on at the moment?" He asks.

Jasper sighs an' climbs onto the bed pulling me between his legs an' holdin' me to his chest.

"Well that's where it starts to get complicated an' I'm doin' a bit of guessin'."

I roll my eyes at Char an' she snickers. Now we're back in familiar territory, i.e. No idea what's going on.

"Stefan does not agree with The Volturi's rules, at least not entirely." Jasper explains. "The Romanians always had connections with the human world, that's probably how vampire stories first started circulatin'. While the Italians have been consolidatin' their powerbase the Romanians have been formin' relationships with key human governments.

The Volturi have spent millennia gatherin' information on gifted vampires an' in most cases lurin' or coercin' 'em into service with them. Stefan an' Vladimir have spent the time learnin' as much as they can about the human world an' its politics an' government. You wouldn't believe how rich they are, even by ancient vampire standards.

Stefan in particular believes that the key to wrestin' power back from the Italians lies with the humans. He thinks they should be managed not treated like cattle. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't have the warm fuzzies for 'em, he still thinks of 'em as food, he just recognises that humans get stronger an' stronger all the time an' eventually they'll be strong enough to lord it over us. Therefore he reckons that instead of hidin' in the dark waitin' for it to happen vampires should be more active in human government, to control the humans an' to protect the vampires.

The Italians aren't above bribin' human officials to get what they want but it's not the most effective method an' they still keep their existence a secret. Stefan wants our existence to remain a secret in general too but he wants to forge enough of a relationship with the high up humans to be able to control them."

"Jeez." Pete mutters. "You weren't kiddin' when you said he was Machiavellian."

Jasper shrugs. "He probably was Machiavelli, his hair's the same color. Stefan's been keepn' tabs on vampires through human lawyers an' such, that much is obvious now. An' I suppose I might not be the only one he's wheeled out at some point to curry favour with the humans. The secret service might have been usin' Jenks or people like him to track the vampires they know about or they might have their own methods of doin' it. Either way they found us this mornin' an' I assumed it was because they've got another job for me but after listenin' to Alice this evenin' I'm not so sure. Stefan's been cultivatin' these relationships for years mainly with a view to overthrowin' The Volturi an' Alice wanted to know whose side Bella was on."

"Shit." Pete gasps. "You think the Romanians and The Volturi are goin' to war?"

"I fuckin' hope not." Jasper sighs. "I can't see that scenario endin' well for anybody. But, yeah, I think maybe something's happenin' that involves the both of 'em an' from what I know about both sides I'm fuckin' sure they ain't workin' together."

"So what does keepin' tabs on folks like us give either side?" Char asks sensibly.

"I don't know." Jasper shrugs unhappily. "Raisin' an army? Eliminatin' threats? Dick measurin'? Provin' I know more than you do?"

"Where does Rutilio fit in all this?" I wonder out loud. "Is he on Stefan's side?"

"Why?" Jasper asks.

"Because if you'd fought an' killed Caius wouldn't that have helped Stefan?"

"Yes." Pete answers me. "There are three brothers who run the show. Marcus Volturi is practically comatose an' don't do nothin' much. Aro's the family nerd, a deadly nerd, but still mainly obsessed with his intellectual pursuits. Caius is really the only one who knows which end his head's at an' if J had offed him they'd a been seriously vulnerable even with all the gifted vampires in their guard."

"So Rutilio is Stefan's man?" I press.

"It ain't as simple as that darlin'." Jasper sighs.

"Hargreaves." Pete growls.

"The guy in Washington Alice mentioned, another human lawyer workin' for vampires?"

"No." Pete shakes his head emphatically. "Hargreaves is a vampire. He's The Volturi's American Representative."

An' here it is again, The Bella Swan Home for Disenfranchised Flies, hangin' open uselessly in the middle of my face. Chucklin' quietly Jasper pushes it shut with his index finger.

"So whose side is Rutilio on?" Char insists.

Nobody knows.

"So what do we do now?" I ask eagerly. "Capture Rutilio an' torture him until he tells us the truth?"

Jasper groans an' Char throws a pillow at my head, which hits him instead.

"Now, now, mi amor." Pete chides her. "Lil' sis's suggestion has merit."

"Actually it does." Jasper admits. "But I don't think we know enough yet. It could turn out to be a mistake, you two will have to wait a bit longer for your revenge. Maybe the better question at this point is if they are goin' to war, whose side are we on."

"Do we have to be on a side?" I ask.

They all look at me, Jasper craning his neck awkwardly.

"Can't we take Alice's advice?" I plough on. "Stay the hell out of it. I know the secret service found us this mornin' but we could disappear completely if we really wanted to. Couldn't we?"

"We could." Pete agrees. "But we still don't really know what's happenin'. I think we should find out more before we make any decisions."

"I agree." Jasper says. "Besides I don't think Alice actually knows what's goin' on, I reckon she's picked stuff up by eavesdroppin'. Otherwise I can't see what she, they, would have gained by tellin' you about Hargreaves." He is quiet for a moment. "Other than gettin' you killed when you turned up there askin' questions."

"So we still don't trust Alice?" I ask.

"Nope." Pete says with certainty. "Right about now I wouldn't trust my own mother, god rest her gentle soul. If J's right an' the big boys are up to somethin' we definitely qualify as the little guys, the ones that traditionally get stepped on when the shit goes down."

I sigh, more annoyed than scared. "I'm fuckin' tired of bein' a little guy. When do we get to do some steppin' of our own?"

"All in good time lil' sister, all in good time." He replies with a smirk.

"You've certainly cheered up some." I grumble.

"I don't mind bein' neck deep in sharks sweet thing, I just like to be able to see the fuckers comin', that's all." He chuckles. "My BFF is tellin' me that the fog is clearin' an' we're about to make an important breakthrough."

"Is your BFF tellin' you anythin' else?" I growl, hoping he catches the sarcasm.

"Yep." He says smugly. "Its tellin' me you two should mooch off to your own room an' make with the happies."

I roll my eyes at him. "What are you now, my pimp?"

"No lil' sis, think of this as relationship advice." An' he winks. "Besides, J's got that look in his eye."

Jasper stands, taking me with him easily.

"Are we good?" He asks Pete seriously.

"We're good J. I'm still gonna kick your witholdin' ass when this is over, but we're good."

Jasper doesn't move, still starin' down at Pete.

Eventually Pete caves in. "Fuck it J, do you have to keep makin' me say I love you?" He says disgustedly.

Jasper laughs. "Maybe I'm just insecure."

"Go peddle that shit to someone who believes it." Pete growls throwin' him our room key. "Estoy celosa que llegó a jugar soldado sin mí."

"La próxima vez me aseguraré de que me tomo mi teniente" Jasper promises as he ushers me out the door.

A/N I'm just jealous I didn't get to play solider. Next time I will take my Lieutenant with me.