Disclaimer: Some's mine, some's not. You know the difference. :)

Author's Note: Only one more, plus possibly an epi to go! For those of you interested in such things, I was listening to 30 Seconds to Mars "This Is War" on repeat while I was writing this.

~Jasper~

I felt Dr. Lee's panic from a mile away, and it was delicious.

He should be panicked. He is about to die, and if I'm the one to reach him first, it'll be slow and painful. Edward chuckled at my thoughts from his place at my right side, Maria on my left. The Volturi army was right behind us. I tried to keep Heidi and the Cullens to the back under the pretense of bringing up the rear, but when they started to protest, Maria called them outright idiots and told them to shut up, that I was trying to keep them safe. Kind of reminded me of the parts of Maria I used to love, minus the insanity and the endless thirst for power. This post-Bella-fied Maria was like all of the good with none of the bad. I kind of liked her. Not that I ever planned on hopping into her bed again; I wasn't forgetting the breakdown she caused me any time soon, but still, I was glad to have her on our side for this battle, and afterwards, if we both lived, I would wish her well.

I returned my attention to the battle ahead. This would not be a sneak attack. They would be waiting for us, which was fine with me.

As we approached, I saw a raised, covered platform, similar to those erected in medieval days for the King and Queen to watch battles or tournaments from. This one held Stefan and Vladimir. They were watching a single form on a hill to the back of their troops. Bella, with Dr. Lee at her side. We stopped for a moment as we got into earshot, only to hear Bella addressing the throngs of warriors around her. She was reminding them of their loyalty to her and their oath to follow her to even the depths of hell. They cheered and screamed and their love and loyalty to her hit me like a sonic boom. Vlad and Stefan smiled smugly. She had enchanted them all, and called them to arms against us.

"That two faced bitch! How could she?" A woman behind us screamed, and Edward glared at her.

Don't speak, Edward. If we can hear them, they can hear us. Ignore her. She doesn't know Bella like we do. Trust in our Bella. She has a plan, I just know it.

Edward growled, then huffed and nodded before turning his attention to our army.

"We fight against tyranny today, not only to protect our way of life, to protect mankind and vampirekind alike. We fight to save the world as we know it! Stand with me!"

Cheers and affirming growls echoed around us.

I took one last, deep breath and sounded the battle cry. "Charge!" at the same time as their general shouted "For Bella!"

We ran at full speed, Edward jutting out ahead until I called to him to stay with the group, not allow himself to be singled out and surrounded. He slowed down just a bit so that when we reached the front line, we were again side by side.

I targeted vampires left and right with douses of lethargy and exhaustion, slicing through them like butter. Alec had nothing on me. Edward would use their thoughts against them by taunting them, usually with talk about Bella being his, angering them to make them lose focus before ripping off their head and moving on to the next.

The battle had barely begun when I heard a high pitched scream from a voice I knew. I looked up just in time to see Bella kick Dr. Lee in the balls, dropping him to his knees, then bringing her knee up under his chin with such force, his head flew back and popped clean off.

With renewed purpose, I went back to the battle, determined to get to Bella. Edward and I watched each other's backs as we edged forward through the masses.

We were almost there when we heard her scream. Vladimir had left the platform and reached Bella before us. Her arm was twisted around her back, and although the men on both sides wanted to help, none of them moved for fear of provoking him. Bella! My heart screamed for her, and with every ounce of my being I wanted to shred Vladimir to bits. I saw Edward slinking around through the crowd, no doubt planning to attack him from behind. I began to plan my attack to coordinate when I heard yet another familiar scream, and my stomach fell to my feet.

Heidi.

I scanned the crowd and found her, being double teamed by two massive vampires. One had a hold of her from behind, pinning her arms to her torso and rendering her helpless, while the other was repeatedly sucker punching her. They could have killed her instantly, but they were playing with her. She turned her head and made eye contact with me, and all I could see was resignation and sorrow. No. She couldn't give up. I couldn't lose her.

I looked back at Bella. Vlad had his hand around her neck, and his hatred was the intense kind of hate that could only come from scorned love. Edward was almost there, but could he do it alone? Could he save her? If I helped him, I could ensure Bella's safety, but Heidi would surely die. If I helped Heidi, I would have to trust Edward to protect Bella.

Bella.

Heidi.

Bella.

.

Heidi.

I prayed for Bella's safety as I turned and ran to Heidi, lunging at the man who dared put his arms around her. I ripped his head off as I flew past him, landing on my feet. With my fingers still gripping his long hair, I flung his head at the other vampire like a mace, hitting him in the stomach with such force that he landed on his back. Heidi quickly finished him off, then ran to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me tight.

I kissed her once, hard, and was about to turn back to check on Bella when I saw her hop on the now empty platform.

"My soldiers! Listen to me! You have pledged your fealty to me, even in death, and I ask you now - stand down! Vladimir and Stefan were not leading us to victory, they were leading us to Armageddon. Stand down and let me show you a better way!"

A few straggling fist fights continued and were broken up, but for the most part the battle ended abruptly with Bella's short speech. Carlisle, Marcus, Aro and Edward joined her on the stage, and she stepped aside and into Edward's arms while Carlisle picked up where she left off. He explained the truth of the situation to them eloquently and succinctly, then Aro and Marcus answered questions from those doubters who still believed the propaganda they had been fed by the Romanians. I think a few times Bella boosted someone up a notch or two to get them to comply, until Carlisle gave her the 'disapproving dad' look, causing her to giggle and shrug her shoulders.

It was almost anticlimactic, the way the crowd dispersed and the field emptied faster than Times Square at five minutes after midnight. Emmett and Adrian compensated by magically producing an enormous amount of dynamite and theatrically blowing up the compound, which Rafael found incredibly amusing.

Heidi ran to Bella, hugging her. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

Bella laughed and hugged her back. "You too! I saw from the platform you had a close call as well. It's a good thing Jasper got to you in time." Heidi's eyes gleamed as she smiled at me adoringly.

"Yes, it is. I can't believe..." Her voice drifted off into nothing. "I saw you as well, when Vlad had you. You had to have been terrified."

"No, not really. I knew Edward would save me." Edward beamed with pride and hugged her tighter.

"Always, love."

My guilt was tearing me apart. I couldn't regret saving Heidi, and deep in my heart I knew Edward would save Bella, and it was truly his place to do so, not mine, but I couldn't help but feel I had abandoned Bella in her time of greatest need, and that thought was quickly eating me alive.

Edward must have heard my thoughts, because he kissed Bella on the top of her head and released her. "Come on, Heidi, let's go make sure The Three Amigos are done blowing shit up. We didn't go to all this trouble to keep vampires a secret just to have the FBI descend on us now thanks to Huey, Dewey, and Louie." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her off, looking behind them once to wink at me as I watched them leave.

I took Bella into my arms, breathing her in, so thankful she was alive. "Oh Bella, I'm so sorry. If something had happened to you, I never would have been able to live with myself."

Bella leaned back and looked up at me. "Why? It wouldn't have been your fault."

"But it would have. There were two men attacking Heidi at the same moment Vladimir was attacking you, and I... I... I chose to save Heidi."

Bella took one step back and the pain in my chest worsened until she took my hands in her own and insisted I look at her.

"Did you know Edward was near?"

"Yes."

"Were you confident he could save me?"

"Well, yes, fairly, but there was always a chance..."

Bella shook her head. "Stop right there. You made the right choice and you know it. Heidi didn't have the slightest hope of surviving without you, whereas while your help might have ensured Edward's success in saving me, he obviously didn't need the help. Besides, all he really did was distract Vlad and give me an opening, anyway. I'm the one who killed him, Stefan too. I can take care of myself, you know." Bella smirked at me, a crooked grin she had obviously inherited from Edward. "Everything happens for a reason. Instead of feeling all guilty for choosing Heidi over me, why don't you spend a little time analyzing exactly why you made that choice. The answer might surprise you." Bella gave me a kiss on the cheek and wandered off.

I chose to be the one to stay behind and dispose of the dead and destroy the remaining evidence. We couldn't take a chance that a computer's hard drive would survive the explosion, and I found myself needing some time alone.

Amongst the dead on the field, I found Maria. I fell to my knees beside her and found myself strangely sad at her demise. I wished I would have had a chance to talk to her, to see if Bella's touch had truly reformed her in a lasting way or not. I would never know. I did know that she had loved me and Bella, and in the end she gave her life to protect us, and that counted for a lot in my book. I kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair before picking her up and gently laying her down with the others in the platform before setting it aflame.

When all was done, I left to follow everyone back to Volterra, where the real work of undoing the Romanian's evil would begin. On the flight, my thoughts drifted constantly between Bella and Heidi. I had never denied I loved them both, but I had always told myself when it came down to it, it was Bella. Always Bella. How could it not be, with the hold she had on me? So why did I chose Heidi? Bella said the answer might surprise me, but I had no easy response to that question, and I was driving myself mad trying to figure it out.

I trusted Edward to do his best to save her, and I knew that her odds of survival vastly outweighed Heidi's. Was it simply a matter of military strategy kicking in, running the numbers and hoping like hell they would work in our favor? Although the logic of that theory was sound, and made perfect sense, it didn't ring true to me.

Apparently, it didn't ring true to Heidi, either, who accosted me and dragged me to her rooms the minute I entered the castle walls.

"You saved me!" She whisper-yelled between kisses. "You chose me! Me! You could have saved her, and I really thought you were going to, it didn't even cross my mind you would choose me, but you did! You do love me!"

"Of course I love you, you stubborn, beautiful woman. I've been telling you that for 20 years."

"Yes, but you've always chosen her until now. But this time you didn't. This time you chose me; I can't tell you how good that feels! I'm glad she survived too, don't get me wrong, I talked to her about this already, she understands. You understand, don't you?"

"I understand how you feel, yes. But I'm afraid I'm going to break your bubble. It wasn't a choice, per say. It wasn't a conscious decision. I didn't say to myself, 'I love Heidi more, so I'm going to save her and the hell with Bella.' "

Heidi sighed and led us to her couch. "I know you didn't. But don't you see, your mind might not have come to that conclusion, but your heart did. Minus the 'the hell with Bella' part, I'm sure, 'cause that would just be wrong."

"Maybe you're right," I hedged.

"I think... I think maybe we can be together now, the way you've wanted. If you'll still have me, that is." She snuggled close to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, nuzzling into the crook of my neck. Her elbow brushed against me in just the right place and I pictured making love to Heidi, sliding myself inside of her...

And then I remembered how I had made love to Bella not so long ago, and all dreams of a future with Heidi dissolved into nothingness. I had to tell her the truth, and she would never forgive me.

"Heidi, I have to tell you something. While we were on our mission..."

"You had a nervous breakdown and went into this strange vampire coma and Bella snapped you out of it by sleeping with you while Edward watched. I know. They already told me." Her casual tone of voice made no sense to me.

"They what?"

"They figured you had a better chance of surviving if they explained to me what happened before you did. Something about you blaming yourself for shit that wasn't your fault and allowing me to take your balls off for it." Heidi shrugged. "She saved you, and I love her all the more for it. And despite that fact, and the fact that she has her own personal throne in your heart, when push came to shove, you still saved me. I can't help but feel pretty damn good about that." Heidi smiled at me before crawling on my lap.

My hands gripped her hips of their own accord and I gave myself over to her euphoria. "How good, exactly?"

Heidi bent down and licked the shell of my ear. "Let me show you."

My wonderful beta, changedbyEdward, who pwns me, has convinced me to write a drabble about Edward in the shower fantasizing about Bella shredding the twins, since we didn't get to see it from Jasper's POV. If you're interested in reading it, let me know in your review and I'll send it to you. ;)