A/N: Ugh. This chapter was really difficult to write; I just hope it doesn't suck. It was like pulling teeth getting these words out; I know the second half of this plotline will be easier for me to write, at least I hope it will!

Again, thank you as always for your wonderful reviews. I am so grateful for everyone that is following this story, and I cherish each and every one of your reviews!

Chapter 13

With promises of calling every few days on their progress, Peter and Charlotte sped off, a large dust cloud rising in their wake. Peter advised before leaving that they would call when they arrived at Newfoundland, their first stop.

Carlisle had mentioned on several occasions throughout the years that a solitary vampire resided in that frigid tundra. He and Carlisle had become pen pals of sorts; exchanging pleasantries now and again after forming a tentative friendship in the early sixties. Their friendship was enough that he would know what the Cullen family was really like, but not enough to be on anyone's, or anything's, radar most likely, similar to Peter and Charlotte in that aspect. It was unknown if Thomas was still there; he and Carlisle only exchanged a note every three years or so. This vampire nomad occasionally settled down when the mood struck, so Jasper was hopeful he would stay in one place long enough that they could track him down.

Jasper knew it was unlikely they would find him right away. The last letter was over two years ago, making it feasible that he has since left the area. But they at least had a physical address for Carlisle's friend, a key piece that they were missing with most of the others, which was why they started with him and would make their way down the list.

He had confidence in Peter and Charlotte's tracking abilities; they not only had the experience with Maria, but both of them, especially Peter, had gotten in a few scrapes themselves over the years between others of their kind. Charlotte was particularly resourceful and cunning; she was one vampire he was always grateful that he had on his side.

It led Jasper to wonder himself what he himself would do during this time. Peter, Charlotte, and he had focused on their roles primarily in this latest attempt. After all, they would be the ones doing most of the work. Jasper wanted desperately to be relevant in fixing this whole thing. His line of sight shifted to the beautiful brunette in front of him, whom he was positive felt the same way.

"Look, all I am saying is while we are gone, look at what is right in front of you."

Peter was one nosey fucker sometimes. Jasper exhaled loudly, remembering the short conversation they held minutes before. Bella turned her head slightly in his direction, the inquisitive look on her face obviously wondering what brought the sigh on. Jasper shook his head in embarrassment. Jasper would not be opening up today about Peter's latest musings.

Bella gave a small smile and turned back away from him, staring off into the distance. Something was clearly weighing on Bella's mind as well.

Taking a small step closer to her, Jasper reached out and pulled her back lightly against his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head. He told himself that this was just the embrace of a comforting friend, that it meant nothing more to him than that. His heart betrayed the lies he told himself though. Jasper was aware how good it felt for her to be in his arms, how right it felt and how it should feel so utterly wrong at the same time. "Are you alright, Darlin'?"

Bella never turned to face him. "I'm okay. Just thinking."

"About?"

She sighed. "Everything."

"Do you want to talk about it? You know I'm willing to listen."

She paused underneath his embrace, thinking about how to answer. "I know. But I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

Jasper wished he could read her emotions at that moment. He pressed his lips to her hair. It was meant to be a soothing gesture, but Jasper found himself consumed by the sweet mixture of honey and freesia. Against his will, he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, letting the combination permeate his senses fully for the first time. He had always enjoyed Bella's scent as a human, but as a vampire, she was absolutely intoxicating.

Lowering his head, Jasper's nose lightly brushed the crook of her neck, nuzzling into Bella. She responded by pressing into him an amount so slight, that he thought he might have imagined it. But he knew he hadn't. And he responded in kind, trying to get closer to her.

"But with Bella, since day one, you have gravitated towards her, and she has gravitated towards you. I am not even sure if you are aware either of you are doing it half the time. It's instinctual."

His hands moved back to rest securely on the gentle curve of her waist. Bella reached her hands to meet his, giving a comforting, gentle squeeze.

His mind rifled though the different memories it had of Bella. The first time he had laid eyes on her in the school; she had been just another human milling about the premises, another teenager he thought he was going to need block with their raging hormones. Bella and himself in the Phoenix hotel room, reassuring her that she was worth everything the Cullen's were going through to protect her. Her birthday party; Jasper had always had the most trouble ignoring the delicious blood that flowed just beneath the surface, that one drop had been more than enough to tempt him. He had felt so weak in the moments afterward, and she had forgiven him unconditionally, without a second thought. He thought about when she was first turned, how easily she adjusted to this lifestyle, how abundantly clear it was that she was always meant to be one of them. Jasper and herself on the college campus, walking around, embracing the new adventure they were going to go on, getting to know each other finally the way they had never been allowed to before. To finally, up in the bedroom, Jasper lips about to do what they had been secretly longing to for two months, what the monster inside of him had been craving, what he had been craving.

"You and Bella… there is something right about the both of you together. Fuck, let's face it; she might be your real mate."

When his lips came mere millimeters from her throat, ready to kiss the flesh that he desired, he stopped.

An image of Alice and Edward lying on top of each other on their bed, Edward kissing Alice intimately while removing her shirt, invaded Jasper's mind. He cursed internally at himself for what he was almost about to do again for the second time in a day. He couldn't do to his wife what he had seen Alice do to him. As it was, his divided heart was still breaking over what he had been a witness to.

His Alice.

Jasper dropped his hands slowly, stepping away from Bella as to not appear as sudden. His body felt the immediate desire to be near to her again; it protested at the distance. Jasper reprimanded himself, he would resist the temptation. It was just like her blood when she was human; he could distance himself from Bella in that manner.

He was sure that Bella did not want this; she wanted Edward back. The need she had for him as a human was all consuming, it was borderline obsessive. As a vampire, the need was still strong, but not as infatuating. She had pulled herself away; albeit slightly, to come into her own as a vampire, her choosing to go to college instead of high school with Edward evidence of that.

But he was still her mate.

Jasper cleared his throat. "I think that perhaps we should begin some research. Peter and Char are going to need all the help that they can get."

Bella turned to him, her eyes unreadable. Had she been aware of what Jasper was almost about to do? That indiscretion he almost took? "I think that is a good idea."

The two vampires began their research yet again. Soon, the autumn leaves were replaced by the heavy Wyoming snows. The weeks had passed rather quickly it seemed; Bella and Jasper had assigned themselves the task of helping locate on line where the current locations were of the vampires that Peter and Charlotte were seeking. Not an easy task when they were all nomads.

Records were unreliable at best and had led to multiple dead ends. When they had finally located Thomas' last known location, another vampire had confirmed that he had been killed a year before in a territorial dispute.

Charlotte and Peter then moved on to several other vampires. Two have thus far been un-locatable; there are multiple leads, but nothing concrete.

The third however, they did find relatively easily, the vampire staying in the same relative location. Her name was Elise. Elise remembered the Cullen clan as it truly was; a good natured clan. The only issue with Elise was that she knew Carlisle before Alice, Jasper, and Bella came into the family picture. Elise had not been in contact with the Cullen's recently, but agreed to visit to see what Carlisle was like now, see if she noticed any differences.

She had all positive things to say about Carlisle and was sad to hear that something might have happened to them. She agreed to report her findings, and if what Peter and Charlotte stated was true, she would be willing to be a character witness if needed.

Since the day that Peter and Charlotte left, Jasper had thrown himself into research, almost as obsessively as he had when they had initially began. He spent hours in front of his laptop, cross referencing databases with maps that now made up the décor of the living room. Those maps had become an obsession, or rather a distraction.

Bella had steadily stayed near him over these months, providing assistance and performing her own research. But it was her presence he desired, he needed. The more he tried to pull away, the more he found he needed to be close to her. It was a maddening cycle.

There had been no more encounters since that day. Jasper could feel it though, the underlying tension between the both of them, the desire just simmering underneath. With exception of the occasional hug or rubbing of the back that Jasper allowed himself, he maintained a respectful distance from Bella. Still, he found himself looking forward to those rare moments when he touched her, letting his hands linger as long as he could, before it became inappropriate. Jasper couldn't help but liken those moments to eating a forbidden fruit.

After the good news of Elise came in from Peter, Jasper, in a particularly good mood, sat next to Bella. "Darlin'."

Jasper swore that Bella's smile reached ear to ear with that term of endearment. "You have not called me that in months."

It was yet another way that Jasper had tried in vain to distance himself from Bella. There had been no more nicknames used, just simply 'Bella'. His heart leapt at seeing how happy it made her, and he decided to not hold back from its use again. "Well, seeing that we finally got a piece of good news, how about we celebrate?"

"Jasper Whitlock wants to celebrate?" Bella gasped in mock horror.

"Yes, Darlin'. Jasper Whitlock thinks that we deserve to celebrate any victory, no matter how small. Need to keep up the morale of the troops and all that."

She rested her arms against the back of her chair, leaning in closely to him. Bella smirked, looking him straight in the eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

Jasper forced himself to look straight into her eyes, ignoring those pouty lips that were right in front of him. "Well, I was thinking… how about we go on a leisurely hunt? It's been a long time since we have done that and then maybe we could even go out to a movie."

"I think that sounds like a great idea."

It had not taken Bella and Jasper long to decide to visit Yellowstone Park again, both running off into the forest. It was not lost on Jasper that while they both stayed apart for the actual hunt, they still stayed near the other, always able to sense the other's presence.

Both hunted very satisfactorily for a few hours, and Jasper pleasantly noted that Bella's eyes, as he was sure his own, had returned to their normal golden hue. They had even engaged in a few snow fights, Bella winning three of the fights, while Jasper won four. By the end of the night, Jasper and Bella were talking and laughing like they had before their almost kiss, and Jasper even allowed himself to hold Bella's hand, with her eagerly returning the affection back.

They walked out of the forest at a human pace, talking about what movies they saw online that were currently out and what they should see, when Jasper's whole body tensed, something was off. Very off.

Jasper gave a warning look to Bella before taking in a deep breath again. Vampire. Jasper immediately stepped in front of Bella, moving into a crouched down position, getting between her and the strange vampire that now invaded their living space.

"Do you recognize the scent?" Bella asked very softly, sensing the same vampire. Her muscles were rigid, and Jasper knew that her instincts were telling her to be alert and fight.

"Darlin', don't move." The request came out more as a growl from his chest, his eyes searching around the house, searching for anything that would away give its location. The creature had been here for a while it appeared; its scent was everywhere but Jasper was not seeing anything immediately. "And no. I don't know who this is."

"No one you need to fear, I assure you." was the response from the female vampire that now strolled out of the shadows leisurely.

Jasper did acknowledge that the vampire was stunning; and rivaled Rosalie in beauty, although to compare them was really not fair. Her hair was the color of midnight, braided loosely down to her waist. Her skin was quite a few shades darker than Jasper or Bella's, but still held that certain paleness that set them apart from humanity. Jasper evaluated that she was only an inch shorter than he, and the air of confidence she wore most likely would make her either a newborn or a vampire who had lived for at least a few decades. Seeing multiple scars similar in fashion to his, he guessed her to be the latter, and most likely a skilled fighter to survive whatever it was she had been through.

Despite her reassurances, Jasper tensed further, ready for a fight. His vampire took over in that moment, its primal urge to make sure that Bella stayed okay. He needed to protect her at all costs, and if anything happened to her, there would be hell to pay. He held Bella back behind him, possessively, in order to defend her. Jasper made sure that his body language clearly displayed that he was not a vampire to be taken lightly.

The vampire, clearly sensing that Jasper was not in a cooperative mood, lifted her hands in surrender and advised, "I'm not going to hurt you… or her." The vampires red eyes flickered over to Bella. "I just needed to talk to you."

Jasper nodded. "Who are you?"

The vampire looked at him. "The who is not really important."

Jasper growled, getting ready to spring. "Let me assure you. I do not like playing games. Answer the question."

The vampire raised her eyebrow. "Fine. My name is Talullah."

Jasper was surprised when Bella spoke up behind him, venom in her voice. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

Bright red eyes looked right into Bella's. "I am here to give you a warning."

Bella growled, and despite her shield being up, Jasper could feel the protectiveness she felt for him as well. "What warning?"

Talullah leaned against a tree, slightly amused by their defensive nature. "Your friends, they are in danger and it's your fault."

A/N: This is a transition chapter and I had major writers block with this. I wrote and deleted this chapter four times. Nothing was coming out the way I want to and this chapter was a very frustrating experience! Thank you all as always for your kind reviews. I really hope I did not disappoint!