Thanks to dantemalfoy and lineia for providing comments. This is the big one - not the last chapter, but the chapter that hopefully will give the conclusion to all the problems that you people have been waiting for. Note that this is not the last chapter just yet.

Warnings: drama and violence.

Chapter 20: Two Halves made Whole

A car rolled down a sandy path, wobbling over the uneven path, littered with stones that were strewn about it. Its headlights illuminated the forest as the car turned on the various bends, blinding the nocturnal animals as it passed by. Its engine span noisily, making worrying grinding sounds every time it tackled another wobble in the road. But the car pressed on, the engine revving to higher RPMs, the headlights showing the path ahead without hesitation.

The car's arrival at Billy Black's abode did not go unnoticed. After Jacob had vowed to give Edward a call, shooting his cellular a hopeful glance, he had suddenly heard the engine's cranking noises. Not much later he found himself blinded by a pair of headlights that shown directly into the kitchen, illuminating both Jacob and Embry. Eerie shadows were cast against the back wall of the kitchen as Jacob averted his gaze to stare at Embry with a surprised expression. Throwing his cellular another glance, he wondered whether Edward had somehow heard his thoughts.

Outside, the car's headlights dimmed to nothingness, reinstating the murky darkness of the unlit kitchen. The engine powered down, bathing the house in an expectant silence. The hairs in the nape of Jacob's neck stood upright with tense anticipation as he hesitantly walked to the kitchen window. Now that the headlights were off, he hoped to have a better look at what car had arrived.

As he leaned forward on the kitchen counter, he was greeted by blackness. His eyes adjusted only slowly, so that when he heard a car door bang shut he still wasn't sure what was happening outside. It was only when he heard stones grinding against each other – the sound of nearing footsteps – that he started to see the outlines of a car against the quiet forest. As the footsteps seemingly came closer and closer, Jacob saw the outlines of a person, probably a man. Rather tall, to Jacob's surprise, so that he wondered if it really was Edward. Who else could it possibly be?

Banging on the door. Jacob hadn't even noticed the ending of the footsteps, so engrossed as he was in his own ruminations, but Embry had. He had gotten up, said something that Jacob hadn't really listened to. He had walked into the hallway, and flipped on the light there, then continued towards the door in anticipation of the stranger reaching the front door. Right as banging on the front door reverberated through the house, Jacob saw the car more clearly. He saw the windshield, the extinguished headlights, and the outlines of wheels. He recognized the license plate. Jacob's eyes widened.

Carlisle Cullen. He had had the same car, all those years back, when he had driven up to the reservation. His bible in hand, he had abused the tribe; fortunately it was mostly verbal.

Fuck, Jacob thought as he heard the lock of the front door click open. He pushed himself away from the kitchen counter right as he heard Embry's surprised shriek followed by the heavy thunder of an angry man's voice.

Carlisle Cullen appeared in the kitchen, his eyes ablaze with an indescribable hate. His look was vicious as it crossed Jacob's stare.

"You," he hissed as he locked onto Jacob's bulky torso, followed the well-defined pectorals down to his smooth abs and then up to his radiant, proud face. "I'm going to end this madness," he added as his mouth twisted from hate.

"Fuck," Jacob only uttered breathlessly as Carlisle revealed a baseball bat, hidden behind his strong form. Carlisle might have been a maniac, but he was no pushover either. His arms were strong: his biceps didn't bulge quite to the extent that Jacob liked, but they were well-formed for sure. Beneath the dark fabric of his coat, Jacob recognized the outline of a well-defined set of pectorals.

"Who the fuck do you think you are!"

The surprised, though angered, voice of Embry sounded alarmed as he stumbled after Carlisle into the kitchen. He shut right up as soon as he saw the baseball bat. For a moment he stood still in perplexed terror, but soon he regained himself and stepped towards Carlisle. Jacob shouted at Embry not to approach, to stay out of it, but Embry wasn't the guy to do that. Even if sexually the two were not compatible, Embry still loved Jacob – he always had and he always will. Seeing his tribe member, his brother and loved one in potential danger was too much for Embry to bear. Anger bubbled up in him at the sight of Carlisle's threat, the blood in his veins boiling with an offended anger. Because nobody threatens Jacob – not on Embry's watch.

And so Embry advanced on Carlisle. Jacob, from his position, saw things happening to quickly for him to react appropriately. He saw how Embry, against his warning, approached Carlisle. He looked on as Carlisle turned around swiftly, his eyes shooting daggers. He saw him raise the baseball bat, but with Embry approaching fast he didn't have the time to aim. When the baseball bat came down on the poor boy, fortunately his head was not hit. No, instead Jacob had the questionable privilege of seeing how the bat fell square on Embry's thigh. With horror Jacob saw how Embry yelped and fell to the floor, clutching his injured body as tears of hatred welled up in his eyes. Carlisle merely stood and sneered at the boy. And then, with the most vicious grin Jacob had ever seen, Carlisle turned his attention back to Jacob.

It was too much for Jacob to bear. His allegiance was to the tribe; to Embry. Jacob made to advance but Carlisle raising the bat above Embry's head made him stop dead in his tracks, taking on a more defensive stance. Carlisle merely laughed at that, but quickly regained his serious expression.

"You," Carlisle began. "You tore apart my family, you know that?" He accused Jacob. "With those tendencies of yours. You put the demon in my son, replaced his good, Christian, god-fearing soul with the essence of the devil."

Carlisle paused for a moment. The silence in the house was as thick as syrup. "Everything was good," he then continued. "Until he met you." Carlisle smirked briefly as he shook his head. "I should have had you all deported all those years back. I just knew you lot were bad news. To me, my family and all of Forks."

Carlisle cautiously approached Jacob, slowly and steadily. Jacob's thoughts slowed down as he perceived the nearing threat and the danger it posed – though also the fact that Embry was out of immediate danger. He heard Carlisle's words, but processed them with a delay, so that it took a moment for Jacob to react.

"Fuck you, leech," Jacob suddenly retorted. The sudden speech of the boy momentarily surprised Carlisle. He halted his approach and stared at Jacob with a vaguely perplexed look. Soon a faint smile returned to his confident face, however.

"Leech? Really?" Carlisle responded, smirking, one eyebrow pulled up. "That the best you can do?"

Still, in a defensive stance, Jacob retorted: "You sucked the life out of your family and now you came to do the same to me, huh?"

Carlisle's smirk vanished as Jacob's words hit him in the face. A shallow frown even appeared. "Don't you dare speak about my family!" he hissed threateningly. "Or what?" Jacob retorted, his satisfaction at jarring Carlisle evident in his triumphant tone of voice.

Carlisle fumbled with his fingers around the handhold of the bat, renewing his grip so as to be able to strike faster and harder. "Or I'll show even less mercy when I bash your brains in, boy." Carlisle nearly whispered. The use of the word 'boy' worked on Jacob, but not in a favorable way.

"You're not the one to call me 'boy', you leech."

"Call me that one more time and so help me god, you will never speak another word again," Carlisle answered ominously, and then continued: "my family is none of your business! You wouldn't even have the brainpower to understand the problems I'm facing. You're just a lonely, little, primitive." Carlisle added a smirk to complete the insult.

"Fuck you, you lost your family when you threw Edward out of the house!" Jacob quickly countered. "Your family became my business when Edward approached me for help!"

"And how did he repay you, you sick little bastard!" Carlisle nearly yelled back. "
If I remember correctly you ended up in the hospital because of that fairy!"

That took Jacob aback. He frowned and answered: "The car broke down, it wasn't Ed's…" but Carlisle interrupted him. "Of course it was! I read the reports. He did both of us wrong, but the way I see it, whatever he did to me would never have happened if he just hadn't met you," he continued, putting particular emphasis on those last words.

Jacob braced himself for Carlisle's approach, who was now slowly advancing on him again. Embry meanwhile had regained himself – the pain hadn't been that crazy after all. It had been mostly shock that had pushed him to the floor when the bat hit his thigh. He was up again when he got distracted by distant sounds. A car maybe?

He listened carefully and indeed he thought he heard the revving of an engine, spinning like mad to propel the car forward over a winding, sandy path. Embry glanced outside the front door when he saw two points of light roaming around the forest. Hope flared up in his heart, but it was dampened when he saw how Carlisle had gotten closer to Jacob. Slowly but steadily, Carlisle was closing the gap between him and the hunky, muscled native. He lifted the bat over his shoulder, akin a batter during a baseball match readying himself.

"Jake!" he cried out in terror, causing Jacob to be slightly distracted. While he kept his eyes on the approaching threat, eyeing the bat with particular suspicion, he yelled at Embry to stay out of it. Embry could feel a tear or two well up in his eyes, so powerless as he felt regarding the spectacle in the kitchen. More than tears, he felt anger well up as well.

Screw what Jake says. Through a hazy veil of tears he witnessed Carlisle ready his bat. Embry started his own approach at that sight. He didn't notice lights outside shining ever brighter, and the increasing volume of a car approaching the house. And thus he didn't notice how headlights shone on Jacob and Carlisle in the midst of their struggle, as if they were captured in a spotlight. Embry only had eyes for the threat that Jacob was subjected to.

Jacob, the guy that had always been more to him than a big brother, but by him not being able to be anything else, had always been just that to him: a big brother.

Embry quickly approached from behind. Jacob saw the whole thing happen. Eyes wide in terror, he witnessed how Embry approached quickly, then jumped. None of them noticed how in the back of the house, the front door was smacked open with a thud, and two yelling adolescents ran inside. They approached the kitchen just in time to see Carlisle start swinging the bat; to see how Embry tried to jump at Carlisle.

Edward saw it, Jacob saw it, and jasper saw it too; Carlisle heard it; and Embry felt how the wooden bat smacked him in the face. A grisly crunch of breaking bone and an agonizing yelp mixed as a trail of blood marked the path of Embry's body through the air. With a heavy thud the young boy crashed onto the cold, kitchen floor. The blood seeped from his battered cheek, his face malformed by the breaking of his elegant cheekbone.

Carlisle himself was surprised at the events, turning around to see what he had hit. With disgust he viewed the young boy that was lying just to the right of him, like a sac of wilted potatoes. His eyes were wide open with horror as the realization of what happened dawned on him. The rest of the spectators were equally dumbstruck. Only Edward managed to snap out of it in time. He ran forward and lurched at Carlisle, throwing a fist square in his face as their bodies collided. They hit the ground together – father and son.

The sudden movements were enough to get Jasper and Jacob back into reality. Jacob, his world draped with a haze of disbelief, slowly turned to watch Edward and his father struggling on the floor. Jasper meanwhile came running to Edward's aid. He plummeted down next to his father and restrained his flailing legs, restricting his feeble attempts at kicking Edward off of him.

Jacob couldn't be bothered with it all. Tears welling up in his eyes, he crawled over to Embry. Almost scared to break more bones, he very softly caressed the boy's flank up to his head, which he softly held. He stared him in the eyes. Embry stared back. He tried to mumble something but his battered cheekbone made this painful and hence difficult. Jacob shushed him to be quiet as he stroked Embry's hair, wet with sweat and droplets of blood. The muffled shrieks of Carlisle, together with thuds and beatings stood in sharp contrast to the quiescent scene of the two natives, enveloped in the shine of the headlights of Jasper's car.

As Jacob looked over Embry's beaten face, something snapped. A rage unknown to him before overtook him as his flame for fighting was rekindled in his heart.

Quietly he lay down Embry's head on a pillow that he grabbed from one of the kitchen chairs. He turned to grab the bat that had fallen down next to the broken Embry. He didn't ready it just yet. Instead, he stood up and walked closer to Carlisle, who was still fighting against both his sons. The scraping of the bat over the floor was ominous as Jacob dragged the wooden tool with him on his approach. Jacob's face was twisted in a grimace of hate, so that Jasper, when he saw Jacob approaching, softly patted Edward on the back and told him to move away.

Edward was completely absorbed in assaulting his father, however. He beat him on the shoulder, the chest and the head, wanting to subdue the man that had caused him so much pain. He was transported back to the hospital ward, but this time he would finish the job. He then felt Jasper patting his shoulder, which quickly grew in intensity until Edward snapped out of his hallucinatory state. He turned to Jasper to yell at him when suddenly he saw Jacob approaching, dragging the wooden bat behind him. He gulped.

"Jake, what are you doing," he spoke with hesitance.

"I'm going to kill him," Jacob answered dryly. Edward gulped again. "Nobody hurts Embry," Jacob continued, his voice imbued with threat.

"Jake…" Edward began, but he stopped when he was rewarded by a vicious glare from Jacob.

"Edward, of all people, you should be the first to want this! Aren't you glad? I'm cleaning your mess up for you!" Jacob remarked sarcastically.

"Jake, for god sake…" Edward began yet again, but was rudely interrupted by Jake: "For fuck's sake, it's been about god for too long already! That fucker down there, your father, he threw you out of the house because of god. He was about to kill me because of god. Too much violence has gone down because of god!"

Jacob lifted the bat and grabbed a firm hold of it with both of his hands. He raised it above his head threateningly. "And so, I'm going to end the madness here and now," he hissed.

"Please Jacob, this is my mess, you are right as always! Let me solve it for once!" Edward exclaimed. He got up to block the Jacob's approach, eyeing the raised bat with hesitance. Carlisle lay still on the floor, and through swollen eyes he stared at how his son was taking it up for him.

"Please, let me handle it. Don't implicate yourself in this; it's not worth it. He is my father…" he turned to Carlisle and Jasper, then back to Jacob before he continued. "…Our father."

Jacob looked at Edward angrily. "It became my business when he barged into my father's house, threatened me and nearly killed Embry. Now stand aside." Jacob retorted. A tense silence ensued.

"Jake, I get it," Edward started. "You are angry, you want revenge for what happened to Embry, maybe even for my sake." Edward stopped momentarily to gauge Jacob's response. Jacob merely lifted an eyebrow, but stayed silent. Edward continued.

"I have gone for weeks plotting some kind of revenge. I imagined what I'd do to my father if I ever saw him again. In my frustration I nearly killed the both of us in a car accident, then I nearly killed my father, and finally I took my anger out on you that night… in this very house." Edward stopped for a moment to recollect his breath. He stared down at the floor as memories flooded his consciousness. He remembered how harsh he had been on Jacob when they had sex, how he had fucked the poor boy who was still suffering from his injuries after the crash. How stupid he had been, how careless. Jacob meanwhile had lowered the bat and looked at Edward with wide eyes of surprise. Edward continued.

"But being with you, Jacob," Edward said with an exasperated tone of voice, tears welling up as he continued. "Being with you, or rather, being without you changed me, Jake. So much has happened since we parted ways." Edward turned to look at his brother.

"Jasper found me, Jacob," Edward resumed as he turned to face Jacob again with a wry smile. "He found me, and we reconnected. My mother, she…" Edward sobbed lightly at the thought of his broken mother, back home, on the bedroom floor.

"This brute smacked her face in," he hissed as he threw his father a menacing glance. "And still," he continued, "still it's not worth it. All the anger, all the hate. The pain and the suffering. He's not worth it." Edward shook his head as he spoke the words. Jacob had now completely lowered the bat. A heavy silence pressed on everybody in the kitchen.

"You know what is worth it, Jake?" Edward finally asked as his gaze pierced Jacob's. Jacob shook his head lightly, so disarming was Edward's emerald stare.

"You, Jake," Edward spoke. "You," he added, to emphasize. Edward finally sighed as he drooped his head, leaning on a kitchen chair for some support. The sound of wood clattering on the kitchen floor made him raise his head in surprise. Jacob walked up to him.

And smacked him square in the face, flat palm against cheek. The sound reverberated through all of the spectators' bones.

"That's for being such a tremendous ass," Jake spoke softly, yet weirdly sensually. Edward's dumbstruck face transformed to a weak smile as their bodies leaned against each other and they shared a small kiss.

"Your warmth – or rather absence of your warmth – made me realize that there's just no point to a life filled with hate and angst," Edward proclaimed, almost whispering. Jacob smiled weakly.

"So what do we do with that fucker of a father of yours," Jacob asked as he stroked Edward's chin. "Tend to Embry," was Edward's reply. Jacob did so, breaking contact with Edward as he walked back to Embry, who had propped himself on his elbows and had stared at the development with a mix of pleasure, happiness and jealousy, all exposed to the world in a smile that was contorted with pain. As Jacob sat beside him, his smile widened. "It's not too bad," he gasped when Jacob set out to ask how he was. Jacob merely smiled, but his friend's wheezing articulation caused him worry nonetheless.

Meanwhile Edward redirected his attention back to his father. He was still lying on the ground, restrained by Jasper. His lip was bleeding all over, his eyes were dark and swollen, his body bruised and scratched. He looked up at his youngest son. The headlights of Jasper's car, the engine still running, shone brightly on Edward's flank. One half of his face was lighted eerily with a Xeon hue, while the other half appeared dark and shadowy, akin the double nature that had uncovered itself in Edward over the weeks. On the one hand the tender lover; on the other hand the sadistic Dominant. On the hand the guy who wanted to protect and love his friends and family, even if sometimes he fell short at that task; on the other hand the guy who could willingly bring pain to those that crossed said loved ones.

But as Edward stood there, watched intently by those surrounding him, his double nature changed. He kneeled down, out of the headlight that so brightly lit just one half of his face. And as he kneeled down, his face submerged in the shine of the light that came into the kitchen from the hallway, and lit his face evenly in a golden hue. Finally, he was complete; two halves made whole. He brought his face closer to that of his wheezing father. When they were just inches apart, he spoke.

"You are not worth my time, father. Not mine, not Jasper's, and certainly not Jacob's. I vowed to hurt you; to kill you even. You're just not worth it." He paused momentarily to give his father a look. Gently, he touched the aging man's cheek and wiped the blood away. The silent, gentle touches visibly confused Carlisle. He wanted to speak, say something, but Edward hushed him. "Shut up until I'm done," he said quietly, which made it sound even more intimidating than if Edward had yelled. Edward sighed.

"I have a better plan. I will call the police. I'm sure chief of police Charlie Swan will just love to find you in this position. With the injuries that I still have, the fresh injuries on mother and those on Embry, the fingerprints on the baseball bat and all our testimonies, they shouldn't have a hard time figuring it all out."

Edward let the words sink in. Carlisle's eyes widened in horror. When Carlisle gave no verbal indication of his understanding of what Edward had said, he merely added: "You're going to be publicly disgraced, father. All your work will be undone. In short, you're completely and utterly fucked." Edward paused shortly.

"You know the irony?" he then asked, a smile forming on his face. He chuckled weakly while he enjoyed his father's increasingly confused expression. "If you had just accepted my sexual orientation, everything would have been fine. Instead, you couldn't do that, and now you got your ass handed to you on a plate by yours truly – your gay son. The person you wished had never existed."

Carlisle heard the words. He looked his son's face over. Finally he spat in it. Edward closed his eyes in disgust, and wiped the blood-stained smear of spit from his face with a tissue he found in his pocket. With pure disgust and without a hint of pity he stared down at his father.

"I will not be provoked by you again," Edward concluded. It ends here. I have moved on from your tyranny, and so will your family."

Edward got up, walked calmly to the phone, and called the police. All heard how he reported a break-in with assault on three accounts, but that they had subdued the perpetrator. While bruised, he was alive and conscious. An ambulance was necessary, but not for the intruder – only for his victims.

And so the police arrived within ten minutes. Ambulances came to a screeching halt at the Cullen's mansion and at the Black residence. Both Esme and Embry were taken to hospital. Chief of police Swan commended Jasper, Edward and Jacob for subduing the intruder. All their statements were taken, and Edward was asked to come along to the station for further questioning. As all this played out, Emmett, late as always, appeared on the scene and rather aggressively asked what had happened. The situation was explained, but Emmett had some difficulty comprehending it all. He, too, was taken to the station for questioning, following some abusive remarks that had Edward as a recipient.

So the night came to a conclusion. When dawn arrived, the lives had changed for both the Black and Cullen families in myriad ways.

A/N: The next chapter will be the last one – an epilogue to wrap it all up.