Ok so I've had a couple of comments about the relationship dynamic in the story vs what i selected. Lets just say you'll need to be patient. I learned a lesson with Forks Electrical that changing the status as Inpost the story isn't the way to go. Anyway, please keep going...

Chapter 9 - The choice.

Quill's eyes narrowed as he looked at Jake. I couldn't tell if he was trying to read Jakes mind, concentrate on something unseen or just withhold a huge fart. Whichever it was, it looked painful. After a few moments Jake broke the silence. "So can you help us, or not?"

The air in the room was getting denser, as the smoke from the incense burner drifted in lazy arcs through the semi darkness. I had to hold back a little cough as I let the anxiety get to me, and then, all of a sudden he opened his eyes wide and sat bolt upright. I looked at Jake who appeared about as freaked out as me. I was trying to figure out what passed for medical aid here, and I think Jake must have been thinking similar thoughts because his eyes were scanning the room, presumably for something helpful like a phone. Then Quill fell limp and his breathing returned to a normal speed. His eyes narrowed again and he stared at Jake long and hard, a laser beam cutting the younger man in two. Finally he spoke.

"I can help, yes. But that was never in doubt, was it?" He shook his head slowly. The smile that had spread across Jakes face when the older man had returned from his trance faded away.

"What in the hell is that s'posed to mean?" He sounded impatient so I grabbed his arm to try and settle him. We couldn't afford to lose the help of Quill now.

"It means a decision has to be made, and it has to be made now." He continued to eyeball Jake as he took a long draw on his pipe, blowing a slow stream of foul smelling smoke into the space between us. I coughed a little and he turned his attention to me, as if he had blown the smoke on purpose. "You, my dear, need to make up your mind, and make it up now, because the gods will not wait for long whilst you ponder these life changing decisions."

I gasped, taken aback by the sudden focus on me. Even Jake was staring at me, and if I could have moved I would have thumped him. Hard. In the chest. "What decisions?" I finally choked out.

He chuckled softly. I could tell this irritated Jake as he tensed for a moment but then he relaxed when the older man spoke, now entirely to me. "You knew this moment would come the moment you chose this path, and now here you are. A fork in the road with three options, only which one will you choose? Who knows? But it has to be soon." He took another long pull on the pipe.

"Jesus Quill, can you lay off the weed and tell us what's eating you?" Jake was more impatient now.

"Very well." Now he was all business, snapping out of his whimsical mood in an instant. "Bella, it seems you have set in motion three separate timelines. I have seen all three but I cannot say how they end, just that they are each as possible as one another." I stared blankly. What in the hell was he talking about? "Firstly you can stay here. If you do that you will be choosing your human who would be a cold one in another life. Your destiny would be in Chicago with him, while Jake, you would return to your time to live your life without her, the rejection being too much to remain here." I looked at Jake who almost had tears in his eyes. Was it the smoke?

"What's option two, cos that kinda sucks." Said Jake, his voice cracking slightly.

"You take the information I give you and you return to your time with the timeline as you have left it, but I warn you now, that leads to separate lives. Since your bloodsucker was never turned he was never here, and so you never formed a bond." His eyes bored deep into my soul. "This chain of events lead Jake to never truly have the chance to reconnect with you. Your lives there are separate."

Jake laughed a mirthless laugh and it was not a pleasant sound. "Wow. And I thought option one sucked."

"And option three?" I asked, my voice clouded in anxiety.

"You do what you can to put the timeline back in place. This will allow you to go back to your own time and live, and love, as you see fit. You have bonded here, over your trials and difficulties, and I see that if you follow this path there is a strong chance you will be able to spend your lives together."

My heart was beating out of my chest and I could hear the rush of blood in my ears. Jake was staring at me with wide eyes and Quill was looking on with interest. Could I leave Jake behind and live here in the past? Could I abandon him like that? After all we had been through until this point? Could I forget about Edward? Finally move on, taking him with me as baggage, but accepting that he was gone and my life now would be with another, and not him, never him, ever again? Had this entire trip been for nothing? Or had it taught me that there was truly someone more important in my life?

Quill laid out three pipes on the ground in front of us. One was carved with a wolf, and this he moved toward Jake. One was carved with a skull, and this he moved furthest from the fire, and the last was plain. Blank. Devoid of anything I knew. The future as it stood now.

I knew the time was short and there wasn't enough of it to ponder the choice, so I made it, and I selected the pipe.

oOo

We had to make the journey back to Chicago immediately. Neither of us were happy about that one, as a hot shower would have been really nice, but a look around La Push told me that en-suite wasn't something uttered here. Have you ever made a really long journey, only to have to turn around and go back, do it all over? Well that's exactly what we were doing. The carriage to the station had waited anyway, so we were off straight away. By the time we boarded the first train I had to talk to him, because the way he was looking at me was driving me nuts.

"What?" I said, exasperated. He just smiled that perfect white teeth smile of his. "Come on, Black. If you have something to say, let's hear it."

He laughed softly as he stretched out on the seat opposite me. "It's just funny, y'know? The last time we made this trip I had a sneaky feeling you were going to do exactly what you did. Don't ask why or how, but I could kinda tell, even if you said otherwise. And now look at us, going to put things back exactly as they were. Nice move, Swan."

I stared him down playfully. "Oh really? Well if you knew I was going to make such a mess, then why didn't you stop me mister smarty pants?"

"Oh yeah, like I could. You know you can't be stopped when you put your mind to something, and for this one you even had to keep lying to yourself. Admit it, it's what you wanted all along."

"Some part of me, yes. But when I was given the options, I knew everything would be different, and I don't want that Jake. I can't bear to never know you, and even if I didn't know I never knew you it wouldn't be right. Somewhere deep in my mind I would know."

His grin was back. "So are you saying you couldn't live without me?"

"Shut up." I tossed my bag at him and he caught it, flashing his teeth and a wink. For someone so irritating, he was also pretty damn cute.

"So what's the plan?" He asked once he had settled down.

"It's not going to be easy, but I need to get them to go to that hospital. Sure it'll break my heart to send him and his mother to their death." He nodded. He had formed a bond with Elizabeth, I could tell, and he would be sad to cause her death as would I. "But if I don't then our lives will change forever."

"You could just stay." He said darkly, but he knew my thoughts on that prospect. To never again see Charlie, Rene, everyone else in my life that I held dear? And Jacob himself.

"You know I'm not doing that. This is how it has to be."

We sat in silence for a few hours, and eventually took turns sleeping. The gentle rocking of the train helped with that, and even if I did feel like I had a million miles of grime on my skin I still welcomed the comfortable warmth of oblivion when it was my turn. A sleep so deep it offered no dreams or discomfort, simply a much needed rest, until he shook me awake.