Disclaimer: Y'all know what's mine and what's not, right? Cool? Thanks!

A/N: Thanks as always to changedbyEdward for the superfast beta'ing. Hang on tight, folks. The roller coaster ride is about to begin. Please keep your arms, legs, and tongues inside the cart until it comes to a full and complete stop. ;)

JASPER'S POV

"Carlisle, it's Jasper. We're going to need a sacrifice." There was no other way to put it. We couldn't let the Romanians find out whose side we were really on, not when we had so much at stake. Not when Edward, Bella and I had come so far. My heart clenched as I thought of Edward and Bella and how much I missed them both, but I shoved it aside. It would do me no good right now to be pining over Bella. Just like it was doing me no good to keep thinking about the fact that Heidi was just on the other side of these stone walls.

"They need to know they can trust me. I've got to give them something, and something good. And to do that, someone is going to need to die." We were on the phone, but I didn't need to see Carlisle's face to know how abhorrent he was to the idea. Pragmatics was never his strong suit. "Talk to Aro, get a volunteer. Preferably two, to be honest. Call me back when you know who, and I'll give you the when and where." I hung up the phone without further debate. I was taking a chance even calling him in the first place. I took to my hiding spot high in the treetops overlooking Volterra castle and settled in for the night. It was more for show than anything. I might not have been able to see who was following me, but I knew they were there.

The plan was simple. Follow whoever the volunteers were, collect my 'intelligence', letting the scouts who were following me see I was doing as I was asked, then leave. I would give the names and the false information to the Romanians. I knew I was going to be feeding whoever it was to the wolves. I just didn't count on Gianna and Demetri being the ones to do it. And I didn't expect it to happen quite so fast.

After the scene was set, I slipped into position in the shadows. I could still feel the presence of whatever cronie they had tailing me. They weren't close enough to give me any indication of what they were feeling. They were just barely close enough that I could tell they were there. It was almost as if they knew how far away they needed to be to elude me. It was beyond frustrating.

Gianna stepped into the street just outside the city walls, where Demetri was already staged and waiting for her. My heart caught in my throat. She, like so many others in the Volturi, had become like family to us. What were they thinking? It was supposed to be a minor player, a pawn. Preferably a newborn that none of us had a vested interest in.

"Do you have the information I need?" he asked, his expression not showing an ounce of the fear coursing through him. He couldn't quite hide the love in his eyes for Gianna, however.

"Yes," she replied, not doing nearly as good an acting job. She was actually shaking when she handed him a folded piece of paper.

Demetri opened the paper, gave it a cursory glance and then folded it back up. "This is just what we've been hoping for. You did well."

Suddenly, the other vampire appeared directly behind me, whispering in my ear, and a chill of terror ran through me. This was no cronie.

It was Maria.

Fuck.

"I'll take the guy, you take the girl. I remember how you like to play..." she whispered in my ear in a voice I might once have found seductive, then rushed at Demetri before I could even process her movements.

In my mind, time slowed to a near standstill after that. I watched in horror as Maria ripped one of his arms from its socket, tossing it at his feet before twisting his other arm behind his back as she stood behind him, her other hand wrapped securely around his throat. I saw rather than heard Gianna scream, looking first at Maria, then in the direction from which she came. At me. And I knew what I had to do.

Gianna, forgive me, my friend.

I pounced, knocking her to the ground, straddling her chest and pinning her forearms under my knees, wincing at the look of betrayal on her face just before I twisted her head off her body as quickly and painlessly as possible. I didn't allow myself to react when I heard Demetri's wrenching sob that abruptly ended as Maria followed my lead. I silently prayed for them as I unceremoniously dumped their body parts into a public garbage can and set them aflame. I held my breath as the noxious purple fumes overtook me.

"Well, that wasn't quite like old times, it was over much too quickly. But still, it did my heart good to see you back in true form, Major." My stomach clenched at her twisted term of endearment, but I put a smirk on my face anyway and slowly turned to her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her flush against my body. She always liked it rough.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing in a dark alley like this?" I whispered in her ear.

"Just came to watch the show," she whispered back, running her fingers up and down my spine.

I wanted to snap them off one by one and add them to the flames.

"Come on, let's get out of here before we get company." Maria kissed me on the cheek and wrapped her arm around my waist. I forced myself to reciprocate, my fingers settled low on her hip as we started to walk out of the alley.

Of course, Murphy's fucking law, that's when Heidi showed up, running around the corner, stopping dead in her tracks and slack jawed when she took in the scene before her. God only knows what the hell she was doing there. Perhaps she saw the smoke. I had no idea. I just knew I had to protect her before Maria struck again. Could I really let Maria kill Heidi, even if it meant saving the world? Absolutely not. My mind ran through several scenarios, and unfortunately the one most likely to succeed was also the one most likely to break her, maybe permanently. If I hadn't lost her already, I was sure to after this.

I bent down and kissed Maria, not objecting when her serpent tongue slid between my lips. I reached down and squeezed her ass, making her squeal in delight.

I turned to Heidi and laughed at her shocked expression, pulling Maria a little tighter to my side. Not out of affection, but in restraint. Not that either of them knew the difference. "Tell your masters that the Resistance is coming for them," I sneered. As predicted, Maria relaxed a bit then. She wasn't going to kill Heidi if she could serve some useful purpose to us, and I had just given her a purpose.

Not that she'd moved a muscle. I braced myself, preparing to do more damage with the words that would hopefully send her packing and keep her from being added to the pyre, but Maria beat me to it.

"Run along now," Maria said, her voice a perfect imitation of Scarlet O'Hara. Heidi's pain was written all over her face, and I took a chance making eye contact with her, trying to beg her with a look to please, please comprehend this is all an act. Realize I'm trying to save your life here, my love.

Finally, thank God, she turned and ran away, although the pain in her eyes made it clear that she had fallen for my ruse just as easily as Maria had.

The trip back was short, thankfully, even with Maria's constant attentions. I couldn't bear to think about Heidi, or Gianna and Demetri. I focused on about getting back to Edward and Bella. I wanted to go hunting with them, tell them what happened so we could mourn together. I needed the comfort that only Bella could give me. But it was not that simple. As soon as we were inside the compound walls, Maria took me with her to report directly back to Stefan and Vladimir and their generals about the success of my mission. She recounted with pride how I'd killed Gianna. The Romanians were more than pleased.

So pleased, in fact, that they offered me a reward. A young, terrified, warm blooded reward. Is this nightmare ever going to end? I tried to politely refuse, claiming to have fed recently, but they wouldn't hear of it. I had no choice.

Maria had the young woman by the elbow, half leading, half dragging her across the room, holding her out to me like a precious gift. I thanked her with a kiss, stifling my gag reflex, then turned to the girl and forced myself to do what I had to, praying to God I didn't lose myself. I took the young girl in my arms possessively, pulling her away from Maria. Maria was glib about my enthusiasm, and stepped back to allow me to enjoy my feast. It was better for the girl this way. Maria wasn't known to care about how much pain her victims were in while they were drained, and I remembered all too well how Maria enjoyed sharing our meals together. It was foreplay to her.

I sent the girl every calming, numbing emotion I could think of to dull her pain and my own as I kissed her cheek, thanking her for her sacrifice before biting into her neck. It was heavenly, don't get me wrong, but not as good as I remembered from my past. Not enough to make it worth taking a life. Still, I drank, moaning in pleasure for the ears of my spectators, who smiled indulgently. In a moment, her life was cut short as her blood fueled me. And then she was gone.

The emotions were getting to me, the horrors of the last few days overpowering my common sense and I panicked when Maria took two steps closer to me again, that sick smile of hers plastered on her face. I made what could have been a critical error. I turned and ran.

By some miracle of miracles, the first person I saw as I ran down the street was Bella, her arms laden with books of some kind. She dropped them on the street forgotten as I swept her up into my arms, buried my head in the crook of her neck and cried.

Edward's POV

One day. Then two. Then three since Jasper was supposed to be back. I was beginning to get concerned, and Bella was beside herself with worry. I'd convinced her to give him one more day and then we would find an excuse to leave and look for him. Until then, it was important we keep up appearances, so I kissed Bella goodbye as she headed to her shift at the library and I headed to meet Francesco. He and I were to meet with Rafael to over the final details of our proposal before our presentation to their superiors.

As soon as I entered his apartment, he slammed his sketch book closed. I saw in his mind the filthy picture he had drawn of Bella. I closed my eyes and clenched the bridge of my nose, repeating 'do not kill him' over and over again in my mind until I gained some semblance of control. I couldn't let him know I could read his mind.

"Headache?" he joked as he stood to meet me at the door.

"Something like that," I muttered, turning to follow him into the hall.

I heard Jasper's thoughts screaming at me long before we rounded the corner. He was in such complete and utter agony, his thoughts were completely disjointed, flashes of images like a movie montage on fast forward, making me feel almost nauseous. It was paralyzingly painful. Nothing really made sense to me until the images disappeared and his mind cleared with one relieved word.

Bella.

As Francesco and I rounded the corner, I watched as Bella dropped her stack of books and Jasper ran to her, lifting her off the ground and holding her to him much the way a toddler holds a teddy bear close when the world around them gets too much to handle. She buried her fingers in his hair and held her to him as he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck. He was repeating her name in his mind like a prayer. He kissed his way up her jaw before hugging her again. They were both so completely lost in his anguish that they didn't even sense us approach.

Francesco looked at me, expecting some sort of reaction, hoping in some twisted way that I was about to kill Jasper in a rage of jealousy, thus eliminating half his competition. When I didn't move, he got confused, his head moving back and forth like he was watching a tennis tournament for a moment before speaking.

"What's the deal?" he asked as Bella took Jasper's face in her hands and whispered his name, trying to get him to look at her while he shook his head and struggled to bury his head in her neck again. "You guys have an open marriage or something?"

"Or something," I replied noncommittally, trying to figure out how to get rid of Francesco so I could get to them and help Bella get Jasper off the street and somewhere private where we could find out what the hell had happened to him.

"Can I join in?" he asked, his mind assaulting me with images of me lying on my back while Bella knelt above me, riding me. Jasper's knees were by my ears as he held her head in his hands and fucked her mouth while Francesco was on his knees between mine and grasping Bella's hips, savagely fucking her ass.

Needless to say, I came unglued.

"Jasper is the only man who will ever touch my Bella besides me." The low, deadly snarl that came from my throat seconds before I pounced Francesco startled Jasper and Bella, who turned, shocked, to watch as I tore Francesco to pieces by the mouthful, ripping him apart with my hands and teeth before he could even think to scream for help.

It felt good.

When I was done, I turned back to Jasper and Bella, who hadn't moved a muscle. It was probably another ten seconds or more before Jasper was able to think clearly.

Damn. I wanted to be the one who got to do that.

I started laughing despite the situation, and without a word the three of us quickly gathered up the pieces. Luckily, we weren't far from the incinerator that ran all hours of the day for disposing of the humans' bodies, and by some miracle, we were able to toss Francesco in and escape without getting caught.

I used my gift to make sure we weren't seen as we headed back to our apartment. Jasper was still almost comatose. Bella wrapped one arm around his waist and held my hand with the other as I led us back, anxious for answers.

Those answers wouldn't be so quick in coming, however. When we got to our apartment, we had company.

"Hey bro! Miss us?" Emmett asked with a shit-eating grin on his face as he bounced on the balls of his feet waiting for us to get inside so he could give Bella a hug. Beside him, Adrian was only slightly calmer, looking very proud of himself.

"We're your new recruits!"

A/N: Naked Cullen Boy dessert du joir - a Jasper Peanut Buster Parfait! If you're not lucky enough to have a Dairy Queen near you, it is a vanilla soft serve, hot fudge and peanuts mountain of goodness! The perfect combination of sweet and salt. I'm wondering how many licks it would take to uncover the Jasper-y goodness hidden beneath that fudge!