Seth went home to his lonely room and, except for his solitary jogging, spent all his time reading or watching his aquarium. He ate when he felt the need, and he never replaced the mirror.

Leah looked over at Jacob, who was engrossed in the Sports section of the paper. As the days turned into weeks, her patience with Seth was wearing thin. She was happy with her new life and her new husband, but she missed the easy camaraderie she'd always had with her only sibling. Seth had managed to avoid her, and he had foiled every attempt she made to draw him out. In Leah's opinion, it was time for Sue to stop babying him and acting as his personal bodyguard.

"Honey?" Jacob looked up, flashing her that dazzling smile that still made her weak in the knees.

His smile faded when he noticed her expression. "What's wrong, Leah?"

She sighed. "It's Seth, Jake. I just think it's been long enough, and it's time someone forced him out of that room."

Jake chuckled. "Don't look at me! I've done my best, Leah, and he just sees me as one of the lucky ones with two good arms. And a beautiful wife, I might add, which probably doesn't help in the resentment department even though you are his sister."

Leah perched on the arm of his chair. "No, I'm not asking you to try again. You've already gone way above and beyond the call of duty, and I appreciate it." She looked into his warm brown eyes and kissed him lightly, adding with a smirk, "Remind me to show you later just how much." His eyes sparkled as he looped his arm around her waist.

"What can I do, Leah? I'll help any way I can, but don't you think it's sort of up to Seth?"

"Nope." She shook her head. I've given him all these weeks to come to grips with his loss, and I don't believe he ever will if I don't give him a nudge. I just wanted to ask you if I'm missing something."

Jake considered for a minute before speaking. "No, Leah, I don't. He wanted time, and we've all respected his wishes. I think it's obvious at this point that he's not making any progress at all. But what do you think you can do to change that?"

Leah kissed him quickly, sliding off the arm of the chair. "I'm going to talk to him, or maybe knock some sense into him. We'll see when I get there. I'll be back."

"Mom? Charlie? Anybody home?" Leah called as she walked in the back door, which she'd never known her parents to lock. She wasn't sure anyone even had a key to the ancient wooden door. No one answered. Taking the stairs two at a time with her long legs, Leah tapped on Seth's bedroom door.

Seth's voice came through the door, sounding annoyed. "What do you want, Leah?"

Leah shoved the door open. "I want to talk to you, Seth." She threw herself across his bed, uninvited, and looked at him pointedly. "This has been going on way too long, and it's time for you to get over yourself."

Seth stared at her for a long moment. "Don't start with me, Leah. You have no idea what it feels like to be a cripple," he began.

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before, Seth. There are people who lose a leg, or both legs, and they don't crawl in a hole and become hermits! It's got to stop, Seth. I love you, but I can't stand what you're turning into!"

Seth spoke through gritted teeth. "Leave me alone, Leah. I'll handle it in my own time. I don't need you pushing me."

That turned out to be an unfortunate choice of words. "Yeah? Well I think you do need a push," Leah shouted. She jumped off the bed, braced her flat hands against his chest, and pushed, knocking him off the desk chair. "Come on, Seth, I know you wanna kick my ass! Be a man and do it!"

He stood up and righted the chair, sitting back down and staring at his aquarium. Leah punched his shoulder, then slapped at the stump of his left arm. He continued to ignore her.

Leah walked between Seth's chair and the aquarium, drew back her hand, and slapped him, hard, across the face. The sound of the slap echoed for a second in the sparsely furnished room, and a bright red handprint appeared on his cheek, then quickly faded.

Seth came off the chair in one fluid motion, his fist connecting with Leah's jaw with a resounding "crunch." She flew back against the wall and slid down it, landing in a sitting position with a look of total surprise on her face. In her mind, she formed the word "Finally!", but the sound that came from her broken jaw was garbled.

Jacob tapped on the back door just as Leah hit the wall. He heard the crash and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time as Leah had done. As he burst into Seth's room, he took in the scene. Seth was sitting calmly at his desk, gazing at his sister. Leah was propped against the wall, feet splayed out in front of her. Her lower jaw was obviously broken, and a single line of blood ran from the side of her mouth and down her chin. Her eyes were dazed, and her breathing was ragged.

"Christ, Seth, what the hell did you hit her with?" Jacob thundered. He picked her up carefully, glaring at Seth. "We'll discuss this later. Count on it."

Seth spoke softly to Leah. "I'm sorry, Leah. I really didn't mean to hurt you. But you might want to tell Jake who started it." He rummaged in his desk drawer, tossing a pad of paper and a pencil on her lap. "This should help."

Jacob cradled Leah in his arms and tried not to jostle her as he hurried down the stairs. Sue was coming in the back door and dropped her grocery bags on the floor as she took in the spectacle. "Thank God you're here, Sue. I think she needs to go to the hospital."

Sue quickly examined Leah's swollen face, being careful not to touch her. "You're right, Jacob. Her jaw is broken, and it's already healing in the wrong position. Let's go. We'll have to make up some kind of story on the way."

Sure enough, the doctor in the emergency room was aghast that they had waited "several days" to bring Leah to the hospital after her "fall," his conclusions based on the extent to which the bones had healed. They quickly processed her and rushed her to the operating room, where her jaw was re-broken and set, then wired together.

When the surgeon walked into the waiting room, he found Jacob pacing. "Mr. Black?" He smiled reassuringly. "Your wife will be fine. She'll be in a lot of pain for a couple of days, but her jaw should heal completely. Are you sure there's nothing more you can tell me about her injury?"

Jacob shook his head. "When can I see her?"

Leah recovered quickly from the anesthesia. Jacob tried not to react, but Leah saw the shock register on his face. Her face was swollen and bruised, and her jaws were firmly wired together. She looked absolutely miserable. Jacob kissed her forehead gingerly, then took her hand and brought it to his lips. "I know he's your brother, Leah, but I'm gonna kick his scrawny ass."

Leah reached for the paper and pencil on her tray table. She scribbled quickly: MY FAULT – DON'T BLAME SETH. Jake kissed away a stray tear that coursed down the side of her face as she added: OWWWWW. The surgeon insisted that Leah spend the night in the hospital, so Jacob folded his lanky form into a chair that was two sizes too small, stretched his legs out in front of him, and spent the night holding her hand. They stopped at Sue's on the way home the next day.

Seth was in the kitchen eating breakfast when Jake and Leah walked in the back door. His face showed no emotion as they came in and slumped into chairs. Jake accepted Sue's offer of coffee, but politely declined breakfast. Leah delicately sipped water through a straw while she glared across the table at Seth. Jacob was trying desperately to control his rage. "Do you need some help wiping that smirk off your face, Seth?" he finally hissed.

Sue banged her coffee cup on the table with enough force to crack it, and she mopped at the coffee with a kitchen towel as she said sharply, "Enough! Leah doesn't need this right now!" Without another word, Seth got up and went back to his room, slamming the door.

Sue stood behind Leah's chair and bent to kiss her hair. "You two look like you could use some sleep. Turn off the phone when you get home and rest. Did the doctor give you something for pain, Leah?"

Jacob answered, "Yeah, I have a prescription to fill on the way home. Then, believe me, we'll sleep. I need to ask Sam if I can have a few days off from patrol. Leah's jaw should be healed by then, and I'll ask Carlisle if he can remove the wires. There's no way she's waiting six weeks to go back to that surgeon if we can help it."

Jacob insisted on carrying Leah into the house, and he carefully undressed her, mindful of her injury, before pulling one of his huge tee shirts gently over her head and laying her on the bed. He quickly undressed and lay down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck softly. "Sleep, baby, and you'll feel better when you wake up."

Leah woke up several hours later and found Jacob staring at her intently. He smiled when he saw her eyes open. "Your swelling and bruising are almost gone, Leah. No matter how many times I see it, I'm still amazed at our quick healing." He kissed her forehead. "Do you think you could drink some soup? Your mom brought some over."

He bent to pick her up, but she pushed his hand away with a scowl that stated clearly, "I can walk – there's nothing wrong with my legs!" He chuckled and stepped back, but not too far. His hands were ready to catch her if she was still woozy, but she walked into the kitchen under her own steam. Sue turned from the stove, where she was warming the soup.

"Would you mind helping Leah with the soup, Mom? I need to go find Sam, and I don't want to leave her alone."

Sue nodded, smiling at him. "Of course. No problem."

"Thanks." he grinned and bent to kiss the top of her head. "I won't be long." But he walked right past the Uleys' and strode down the street to the Clearwaters'. It wasn't Sam he wanted to talk to.

Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the yard, so Jake assumed Seth would be home alone. As he stomped in the back door, he was surprised to find Seth rinsing his breakfast dishes in the sink. He walked over to Seth, his hands balled into fists at his sides, and spoke softly. "Would you like to take a swing at me? Maybe pick on someone your own size?"

Seth sighed, then started walking toward the stairs. "I've got no beef with you, Jake," he said tonelessly. "And I'm not going to talk about it. You can ask Leah in a couple of days. Now either hit me or get out of my way."

Jacob stood between Seth and the stairs, hands clenched, his face deceptively calm unless you happened to notice the vein throbbing in his thick neck. He turned, and with one long stride he threw open the front door and launched himself off the porch, hitting the ground on four legs and leaving scraps of clothing littering the front yard.

Seth sighed again. He closed the front door, then walked slowly up the stairs and into his room, firmly closing out the rest of the world.