Not mine. Just borrowing them, I promise to give them back when I'm done. ^_^

Because You Loved Me

Part 3/?

In Games & In Love

Within the next few weeks, traveling only by cloud-covered day, they've made it to the New Mexico/Arizona border. When they stop to rest and Jasper's out hunting, Alice steals a new handful of clothes for each of them. While she's out hunting, she hones her skills and then shows them off to him when they start moving again.

She's proposed a game tonight, and was surprised when he accepted her offer. "If you think you he can," he had taunted.

Alice had simply poked her tongue out at him, opened the door of the semi-decent shack they were staying in, and said, "Ladies first."

Now, she is crouched behind a large bush with little red berries on it, sniffing at the air every few moments. She knows she isn't fast enough, not yet; she'll have to rely on her other strengths. She knows Jasper's a highly trained professional, but she's also discovered that size matters. She, for example, can hide behind this bush and not be seen.

Jasper cannot.

Sighing, Alice sits fully on her rear on the ground. She'd been kneeling, ready to take off at any seconds, but her sense of smell tells her that she has a while to wait. Bored, she begins inspecting the little red berries on the shrub. She's never seen them before. Picking one off, she sniffs at it and makes a face. They're poisonous.

A quiet shuffle to her left catches her attention, and she drops the berry. This is her chance to prove herself, prove she's not a weak little girl and that she can take care of herself. She pulls herself up to a crouching position again, peering through the dark green leaves of the shrub. She sniffs again.

Her eyes rest on a large, old tree about thirty yards from her. Hello. I know you're in there. She snaps her head back to the right; another noise. Her prey and her opponent, all within running distance of each other. Her eyes dart between the tree and the area to her right. She's seen the vision... she's waiting for the precise moment...

At the exact second she feels the single raindrop on her wrist, she leaps from behind the bush and takes off through the trees. She listens for him behind her, beside her, but she doesn't hear him. At least, not on the ground...

Diverting her gaze from the path ahead of her, she glances up quickly, just in time to skid to a halt. He drops from a low-lying branch, landing on the ground directly in front of her. Had she not stopped when she did, he'd have landed right on her. She blinks, shaking her head and getting her thoughts back on track, and takes off after him.

How had she not seen that little trick?

"Not fair!" she yells after him, her run slowing steadily to a walk. She folds her arms and listens. Silence. Alice wonders how she could've possibly lost them, then decides she needs to work on her tracking skills. She sniffs at the air, then spins around and ducks quickly behind another shrub.

Peering between the trees, she spots what looks like a small clearing. She can hear water moving, and the footsteps of her prey. Grinning, she picks her way carefully through the trees towards the young elk. Pausing momentarily, she sniffs again. Perfect.

She steps over a large tree root, and her legs bend at the knees. She waits, calculating the jump in her head. It has to be flawless... The elk turns it's head, it's back fully facing her. There. She leaps, her arms out. She feels the tips of her fingers brush against the coarse fur and then -

"OUCH!"

Alice is on the ground on her back, with her hand on her forehead. Glaring between her fingers, she sees Jasper sitting by the elk - it's lying down with it's neck at an odd angle - leaning back on his hands with his legs crossed. "Hardhead."

She rubs at her head some more. "You're the hardhead... I think you might've split my skull," she complains, wincing for effect.

Jasper grins up at her as she crawls towards him, then leans over and kisses her forehead lightly. She thinks that if she could blush, she would. "You're gettin' fast," he says.

"Not fast enough."

He shakes his head and pushes the elk towards her with one foot. "You'll never be happy with yourself, will you, Alice?"

"Maybe," she pouts. "You could've let me win."

"But that's cheating. On your part and mine."

Jasper has a point. Alice pokes her tongue out at him, as she had done earlier, then examines the elk. "He's big, to be so young."

"Well," Jasper says, standing and stretching. "Should be enough to get your fill, then. I better go find one of my own before we head back."

"Jasper..."

He pauses, having already made it halfway across the clearing. "Yes?"

"No sense in having to hunt down another... there's enough here for the both of us. I mean, if you want."

Folding his arms, Jasper studies her carefully. He remembers the incident with the fox; Alice doesn't like feeding with others around. "I don't mind, Alice. It won't take me long to find another."

She pats the ground next to her timidly. "No sense in it. Besides... we gotta learn to share if we're gonna be in each other's lives for, oh, the next eternity or so."

He smiles at her lightly, and makes his way back over.

Alice stares at him for a moment before turning her back. He waits for her to finish - it's only polite, after all - and only then does he take his turn. She waits for him, and then they walk back to their residence for the night at a normal human speed, Alice trailing behind Jasper slightly.

As they approach the small, old blue house, she picks up her pace and hurries to his side. Hesitantly, she reaches out and slips her fingers into his hand. He looks down at her, and she pretends to be interested in nothing but the scenery. When he links his fingers with hers and squeezes them gently, she grins and flops her head over on his arm.

At last, she's starting to feel like they're where they belong. They're together. At last.

* * *

When the sun rises, Alice rolls over on the dusty old bed and stretches. She yawns for effect. Peering out the window, she frowns; not a cloud in the sky. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she looks around and frowns. "Jasper?" He's not in the kitchen occupying himself with the entertainment of watching small critters, nor in the family room reading.

She jumps slightly when the front door opens, and forces herself out of defense-mode when she sees that it's him. "You were out in the light?"

"Only a few seconds... I managed to make it back just as the sun was coming up."

"Where'd you go? Why didn't you come get me?"

Jasper frowns. "I didn't wanna disturb your... er, rest."

"Oh," she laughs. "I wasn't resting. Not really."

"I know," he mumbles. "Maria used to..."

Alice blinks at him. She wants him to keep going, to tell her more about this mysterious young woman who made him at least part of the man he is now.

He doesn't, though. Instead, he simply brings his arm out from behind his back. In his hand is a single, large flower. It's a strange blue color, and she's never seen one before. It smells sweet, like honey, and it's petals are long gentle curves. "What's this?" she asks, taking it from him carefully.

"I don't know," he confesses. "I just saw it and thought of you... I don't know if you like blue, or--"

"Jasper, it's beautiful."

She steps forward and wraps her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his chest and squeezing him tightly. She's hugged him before, in the diner and once while they were traveling.

It's the first time he hugs her back.