Before the Storm
Despite my best attempts at sleep, Jasper has none of it – I'm exhausted but happy by the time the sun fully rises. A cursory glance through my closet confirms that I have nothing appropriate to wear to a funeral; lot's of black but nothing that doesn't put my ink on full display. Hopefully I don't make a scene with the wolves if I show up in a dress that smells like Al.
But before I go raiding wardrobes, Jazz and I have to meet her and Swan at the Chief's. I really hope she's ready to tell her dad everything, because I sure as hell am not...on top of all the other shit I already have to deal with, I can already see the look on his face when she comes through the door with a face tattoo. Every parents worst nightmare. And I don't know whether it's better or worse that it's got a purpose behind it The good news is it wasn't just a stupid, spur of the moment thing. The bad news is...well, she's tied to a vampire for the rest of eternity.
I don't think he's going to be very pleased with that consolation prize.
"Probably not," Jasper is buttoning up his jeans and I take a long moment to admire his naked top half, "but thanks to you she's not dead."
"Yeah, not in the conventional sense of the word. Fuck it, whatever." My eyes stray to the window and I see Al's car park in front of the Swan residence, "Here we go."
"Darlin'," he stares at me with the new red hue of his eyes and raises an eyebrow, "what are we going to do about this?"
I think for a second and then dash to the living room; there are an old pair of generic sunglasses I'd picked up at the Use It or Lose It way back when. He joins me when he's fully dressed – before we slip out the door I hand him the disguise.
"Seriously?" He's not sure whether I'm joking or not.
"Yeah. I'm dissapointed I couldn't find the ones with the googly eyes and mustache."
"Seriously?" He questions again, with a fond smile.
"Are you asking that because I'd have you wear them or because I actually own them?" I flash a cheeky smile and grab my house key, "Oh, come on. It would have been classic."
He rolls his eyes as the two of us leave the house. We hold hands as we cross the street, but his grip increases the closer we get – there are already raised voices from beyond the door and it's been less than a minute.
"- think she's doing? Look at your face Isabella! What -"
"We can explain, Charlie, I -"
"I've accepted you and Bella, Alice, but this is just -"
The Chief is interrupted mid -tirade by my knock, and when he opens the door he looks ready to swing on me. Which, while I don't blame him, isn't a good thing with two bloodsuckers in the room.
"I -"
"Look at her!" He drags me into the front room of their house where Swan is sitting with Al. Jasper is not pleased that Charlie Swan is dragging me by the arm but he manages to keep his cool. When we enter the room both young women look completely overwhelmed at his reaction. After all, where do we begin to explain the craziness that's been surrounding – dominating – Forks? Especially when he's not letting them get in a word.
"Look, I was prepared for eighteen, for teenage rebellion. Something simple," he sounds pissed as all hell and not at all convinced as he continues on, "but for Christs sake, Belmont, what the fuck is this?" He gestures in Bella's general direction. I can feel how disgusted he is through my connection with Jasper, but I don't know if anything I say will make this better.
"...Chief," I look at Swan and she's hanging on my every word, hoping for a way out of this uncomfortable situation, "that is a tattoo."
His face twists into something I've never seen before; a father hellbent on finding out what's going on with his daughter. He just went from pissed to beyond fucking pissed. I don't give him a chance to start yelling again, and continue on as calmly as I can; Jasper is doing his best to keep the emotions in the room under control.
"Ever notice how weird things are around here?"
"What are you talking about?" He sounds impatient, so I start in right away.
"If you have a bottle of whatever, you're going to want to grab it now. We've all...well, we've got a lot of crazy shit to tell you."
And we do. As shortly and sweetly as possible, so as to not completely break his heart in one sitting, but we tell the entire truth. About what the Cullen family really is. About Forks. About who I really am and what his daughter is now. I spare the gory details of what happened to her, but I let him know about John Belmont and the role he played in deciding her fate. Charlie Swan lets us speak our piece until the last insane shred of information falls out of Alice's mouth; her explanation of being able to see their futures and the reasoning behind the family leaving Forks. Halfway through the recounting of events he started pacing the living room. As soon as we fall silent he stops.
To my surprise, he does retreat to the kitchen and I hear the all to familiar and comforting sound of a cap hitting a counter-top. He comes back out with a small glass of what's unmistakably whiskey and sits back down.
"...I'm not sure if I should take you all in for psych evaluations or -"
"Mr. Swan," Jasper says, ever so politely, "everything we've told you is the truth. Look."
He removes the sunglasses from his face and his eyes confirm everything; they're so vibrant red they nearly glow. They're the real deal, irrefutable proof.
"No shit." It's quiet, almost a sigh, and he drains the glass quickly after.
"Dad, I -"
"Swan, you and your dad should talk," I take a glance at the clock and see two hours have passed, "We'll meet you at the funeral. Sorry about all this, Chief. It's a goddamn mess." We need to get out of here. Time is running out, we've got other things to think about...and Swan needs her dad. Even with what's just been dropped on him, I can tell it's all going to work out.
It's always been clear how much Charlie loves his only child.
He shakes his head in disbelief and sees the three of us to the door. Swan and Al share a moment before they part, and I take the chance to say one more thing I've got on my mind.
"Also, for the record, I'm not some creeper," I point to Jasper, once again incognito, "and I never was. He's the creeper if you're going to be pointing fingers – over one hundred years old and living with an eternal twenty eight year old." A wide, pleased grin breaks on my features, "Oh how the tides have turned."
He looks between the two of us, clearly unused to the idea that Jasper is any older than eighteen, but does crack an uncertain smile. The guy is nearly unshakable, I've got to give him credit for that.
"Does this get any stranger?"
"This is Forks, it always gets stranger."
I groan as we approach the Cullen house – Bryn is sitting on the porch, clearly waiting for us. He watches like a hawk as Jasper pulls just short of the driveway and kills the engine. I heave a sigh of regret; should have asked for some of the fire-water the Chief had.
"What do you think we should do?"
"Run away?" I can feel that Jazz is not thrilled with how lightly I'm treating the situation, or for the reminder of how I darted off to Seattle, so I relent, "We should go talk to him at least. Hopefully he's had time to become less of an asshole."
"Not likely." He says under his breath, exasperated and ready for Bryn to be half-way across the world again.
"He is a good guy, one of the best I know," it's true, though his recent behavior leaves something to be desired, "and he's just trying to protect me. He hasn't always done the best job at that – maybe this is his way of trying to make it up. It's just a phase. Plus, this Leah thing is going to make him completely forget why he hated you in the first place."
"I wouldn't count on it." There's a brief moment where Jasper's thoughts are blank, but I don't dwell on it. Last time over-analyzing didn't go well for me.
"Yeah, well...wishful thinking."
We walk from the garage out into the front yard. Brynjar stands as we approach, and he does look less angry than he was early this morning. A little less angry.
It's something.
"You," he points at Jazz when we're a few feet away, "are one seriously fucked up guy. I mean, one minute you want to marry her and the next you're bleeding her dry? After what she's been through for you?"
Next to me Jazz starts to say something then stops short. After trying and failing to find the right words to say, his Adonis features finally settle into a frown. I was expecting a blowout, yelling, maybe a few thrown punches, but...instead my old friend just sounds confused. Hurt almost. And about something he shouldn't even know about. When it's clear neither of them are going to say anything else, curiosity gets the better of me.
"...How do you know about that?"
"He asked us! Liam and I! I thought maybe, just maybe, you were right Amory. But you're just as fucked as he is!"
"He asked you? Your permission? To marry me?" It's so adorable, so proper...so Jasper. I turn to him with a smirk and he's looking anywhere but at me.
"You are focusing on the wrong part of this." Bryn brings me back to reality; his mouth is set into a thin frown and his red eyes are narrowed at the two of us.
"Look, he's fucked, I'm fucked, we're fucked!" I point between Jazz and I. "We get it. We like it! That's why this is all going to work out. Probably."
"That's comforting."
"I'm fucked, remember? I don't have to be comforting."
He glances between the two of us with piercing eyes and doesn't say a word. Finally after what feels like eternity he throws up a hand.
"Fine. Fine." He approaches me and Jasper goes still, "I just keep thinking about what happened to you...truthfully I think I'm just having a hard time not seeing you as a corpse."
"Thanks a fucking lot, just what every girl wants to hear."
"You know what I mean. Fragile. It's just hard to believe you're cured, that you're healthy. The whole...human blood pack thing... I've got no qualms with drinking blood. It's just...the first time I've known the person behind the blood."
"Someone is jealous," I sing-song, which doesn't earn me any points with either man at the moment.
Bryn, always skilled at ignoring me, just looks sharply at Jasper again and pretends I'm not even present, "I don't see that ring on her finger yet. Change your mind?"
"Never." He coolly responds. I have a feeling that the relationship between these two will be respectful hate for a while to come.
"Good thing you have eternity to get used to this. Great talk," I quip as I walk past him to the house. "We've got to go -"
"To the funeral. That's...another reason I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh?" I stop and turn my head, eyebrow raised.
"Don't 'oh' me. Just give this to Leah, would you? I can't go and I...I just want her to know how sorry I am this all happened while she's mourning. It's -"
"Leah, huh?" I stop him before he can start in on the 'it's terrible how she's imprinted on a mortal enemy while a war is happening while a pack split is happening while she's dealing with her fathers passing' speech and pluck the letter from his outstretched hand. The hurt in his eyes is a darkness I know all to well, and anything I can do, even if it's as small as delivering a letter, is something hopeful.
"I've got you covered. Now -"
"Rory! Where are you?"
"Crap." Alice is already inside and yelling my name through the house; I reach up and kiss Jazz on one chilly cheek.
"Good luck Kitten."
I climb the steps with a groan, cursing myself for the first time in my life for having such a risque wardrobe.
It's a somber service for Harry Clearwater; I'm not usually one to cry at a funeral, not in my line of work. but even I get a little teary-eyed as I pass the letter to Leah. I only have a moment to ask her how things have been – thankfully she picks up on the double meaning. I don't take up too much of her time, just enough to get the general idea of what La Push is like at the moment. Things are rough, even more so with their new pack. They've gained a few new followers, but Uley isn't taking kindly to it. I let her know they're welcome at my place anytime, though I now have a live-in bloodsucker. Bryn's right, it's a damn shame she has to think about shit like this during her father's service.
Its a few hours before Swan and I return to the Cullen residence. She's been quiet, but speaks when we're a few miles away from home. "What do you think the wolves are going to do about me?"
"Uley probably wants to have some kind of meeting, or fight, or whatever hot-heads like him do -"
"He's the hot-head?"
"-and I don't have time for that. He's made it clear he wants nothing to do with us, so fuck him. We've got Leah, Seth, and Jacob. A few newbies, too." I choose to ignore her incredulous comment and focus on the road. Storm clouds are rolling in on the horizon, dark and pregnant with rain. I think back to the last thunderstorm we had and smile at the bittersweet memories. The break in my thoughts is all too brief.
Now that the funeral is over all I can think about is the folder waiting inside the house I'm currently pulling up to, the folder that has all the answers to where Maria and Victoria are. But those answers only pose more questions. What do we do when we know where they are? How many newborns do they have? How will we kill all of them without incurring losses on our own side?
As if picking up my emotions Swan stops me as I open the car door, "Will they really have to fight?" She looks concerned but she's trying to hide it behind narrowed eyes, "They're so young, so inexperienced."
"And you're what, a hundred? Got a score of kills under your belt?"
"Seriously, Rory." Swan's a lot easier to take seriously with a mark. It doesn't hurt that I've rarely ever seen her be so adult, so worried about others.
Compassion looks good on her.
"Work on kicking some ass and we won't have to bring in the backup. If they have to fight...we're going to need them. At that point, we're going to need anyone. It won't be just our war if we can't contain this."
I should say just my war – after all, I did start this – but I can feel Jasper sifting those thoughts out of my mind. It's a little unsettling, but I let him do it. The less distractions there are, the better.
"That's pretty bleak." She folds her arms as we enter the house. I shrug at her assessment of the situation - we've dealt with bleaker.
Jazz is at my side instantly, as if he'd always been there, and plants a kiss to my temple. Only, I've been in wolf territory all day, and I must smell like it to him. He pulls back with his face twisted unpleasantly.
"What's pretty bleak?" Esme asks as the three of us enter the dining room. Ed and Maddie are absent, probably oogling each other somewhere, but everyone else is reading through the different documents in the folder and trying to discern where our prey are hiding.
"What do we know?" I approach the table where various maps, photographs, and typed pages are scattered. Ignoring Esme's question is a tactical choice - one less response I have to come up with. I'm getting worse and worse at bluffing my way out of things.
"They're operation is being run out of a barge in a dock just outside of Seattle. The newborns are being kept in shipping containers and the area is being patrolled by other vampires – Victoria's 'friends'. Some of Maria's old army, the ones you didn't manage to kill." Jasper briefs me as I glance through the information for myself.
I can't contain a smirk, "You mean the ones I didn't blow up in what was the greatest pre-death 'fuck you' ever?"
I'm scanning the surveillance photos on the table thoroughly as we speak. The dock is packed with boats and the wooden structure itself looks old. While the barge itself is unremarkable, the very suspicious looking people guarding it is a dead giveaway there's something hidden inside. A few of them I recognize, though the last time I saw their faces was in a burnt out villa.
Whoever took these photos even managed to get the coup-de-grace; a shot of Victoria, flaming red hair unmistakable in the overcast light, boarding the boat while laughing. Maria is at her side, the slightest hint of amusement pulling up her perfect lips.
"All the containers are full?" There are a lot of them, at least twenty. And from the pictures, there are at least ten of them in each container.
"Most of them." He expects me to be angry, or upset, maybe even just a bit rattled, but even with our bond when I look up at him with a grin he's momentarily confused.
"That's fucking perfect." Really, this couldn't have played out better.
Jasper scans through my next thoughts quickly and is, as usual, not thrilled with how I'm thinking things out. He gets it, but still...Swan and I doing this together, alone, isn't how he would have done things.
Well, not alone. Colossus is not going to be very happy with me.
(A/N: You are all so awesome to stick with this story! Writers block is a hell of a thing, but I'm persevering; mostly because I've got tons of story ideas that aren't related to this, but I feel like a dirty cheater posting anything else before this is finished, ha. As usual, thank you for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing; it really means a lot to me!)