A/N: I want to thank everyone who checked out my book on Amazon. This is very exciting for me and I couldn't have done it without my readers' encouragement! So… Another chapter so soon? Yep. This is the second part of the whole Maria thing. As you have seen, I decided to push the limits on the gifts with this story, and I think things will be clear as mud after this chapter. LOL. Enjoy!

Chapter 54 – Instinct Be Gone

The impossible just happened, at least in Emmett's mind, but when he thought back to the reaction of his comrades, Peter and Charlotte, they had not seemed completely surprised by what happened. Horrified, yes, but not shocked. Why? Now was not the time to question anything, there were bigger things to worry about because if Jasper could so easily attack Bella, then anyone was fair game.

"Emmett! When we get them, do not go easy on the major! He is the enemy," Peter ordered.

"What? And while we're at it, what the hell happened back there? He fucking attacked Bella!"

The only answer the other male offered was, "He doesn't know what the hell he's doing! Look, Maria can only control one person at a time. As soon as someone else is under her control, the person prior is released. That's the only flaw in her gift. We need to coordinate our attack: one attacks the major and two go after Maria. That bitch has fighting skills, but she isn't the fastest vampire out there. You need to watch yourself while fighting her. She wants the major too much, so she will probably not release him, however, we need to be ready for anything. Char, take care of the major. Emmett and I will go after Maria."

"What? Don't you think it would be better if you and Charlotte took out Maria?"

"No. You're too emotionally vested into him, while Char and I…well, we know what war means. Sometimes you have to fight your best friends, and we won't hesitate to kill him if needed. Hopefully, once Maria is dead, the major will snap out of this voodoo shit."

Emmett's mouth shut with a snap. Would they really kill Jasper? Wasn't he their best friend?

"If Maria does shift her control to one us, the major and Char will be free to help us kill her. It has to be timed perfectly because if not, this could go on and on with no winner and she could get away. We need to deal with that bitch today and make sure she can't come back!"

"She's come around before. Why didn't she take him then?"

Charlotte shook her head, "Who knows what goes on in that woman's head. Maybe she was toying with him, or maybe she wasn't ready for him. She always has a plan and for some reason, she wants him. He was always her favorite, and she let him go so easily before. Something's up."

"Focus you two! They aren't too far ahead and we need to find them and kill her before it's too late!" Peter growled softly. They had already been noisy enough, and now, they needed to calm down and get their heads in the game. He wasn't sure Emmett would be able to handle it, but the truth is, they needed the help if they were going to take her down successfully.

Peter could remember everything that happened since the moment he woke up from the intense, overwhelming pain. Even when he was burning, he could remember thinking he wanted to die, but no one killed him, no one ended his pain; and then just when it seemed to get more intense, it all stopped. His eyes popped open to his new life, and he was thirsty. When he woke up, he remembered that his thirst felt almost unquenchable and there was an unwilling sacrifice in the hole with him. He couldn't recall if his first taste of human blood was male or female, it didn't really matter; however, what he could remember was after he had devoured the person, drained ever drop of blood, a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Maria, and he felt an irrational fear of the woman. He learned later that he felt the terror because of Jasper's gift. Kind of like how a baby chick will bond with the first thing it sees after hatching, Peter instinctively knew that when he saw Maria, he should fear her. It was one of the ways she controlled her army to not turn on her. In the beginning, a newborn only wants to feed and destroy, control was always important – and whomever controlled the most newborns, the largest army, usually had the most power.

As time wore on within Maria's ranks, Peter showed skill and loyalty, and in the end, he was saved; although he was pretty sure that was due to Jasper's interference and Maria allowing it on a whim. At first, he never really understood why his friend didn't kill Maria and take the coven for himself, and then Peter became enlightened. First, Jasper believed himself in love with the bitch. She controlled and twisted him until he was basically a groveling dog at her feet. Secondly, any time he showed the tiniest amount of rebellion or a hint at going against her, she used her gift to turn him into a mindless zombie. Jasper learned that it was always best not to go against her. Maria was scary and not someone to take lightly.

The trio skidded to a stop in the dried leaves on the forest floor. In front of them, three dead trees has fallen long ago and created a small clearing. Nothing had encroached on the space yet, but given time and opportunity, the forest would eventually swallow up the small space. Standing on top of one of the trees were Maria and Jasper. The former major was already crouched down and ready to strike.

"Be careful. Remember your assignments," Peter whispered. This was not going to be an easy fight because not only did they have to deal with Maria and her gift, Jasper still had full use of his own…as long as Maria had not subdued it, and Peter was pretty sure, she had not done something as stupid as that.

Laughing, Maria sneered, "Oh, did you want to rejoin my ranks as well? I'll tell you what, kill that cunt next to you, and I'll consider letting you back into my good graces."

Charlotte growled like an animal, but remained at Peter's side, refusing to give in to her urge to kill the witch in front of her.

"Not happening. Give us back the major!" Peter demanded.

"My beloved Jasper? Now why would I do something like that?" She touched the southern vampire's cheek and he stood up and kissed her without preamble or any fight. Keeping one eye on the trio, she opened her mouth and allowed the kiss to deepen, and just when it appeared as if it would go further, she pushed him away. Her smile deepened as she brushed her fingers over his cheek again, "Kill them."

Without batting an eye, Jasper jumped off of the tree trunk and ran towards his friends.

Emmett, Peter, and Charlotte advanced, and engaged. All three would fight Jasper initially, and then Emmett and Peter would move on to deal with Maria. Knocking the Major to the ground momentarily, the two men changed targets, letting Charlotte deal with Jasper on her own. She was smaller and less skilled than him, but that did not mean she was sure to lose the fight. She was also lighter and more nimble than him (similar to Alice) and had fought him before in training. She would not go down easily.

Jasper noticed two of his opponents heading towards Maria as soon as he fell to the ground, but before he could stop them, Charlotte kicked him in the gut sending him towards one of the standing trees only about three feet away. He would deal with her and then he would take care of the other two. Snarling, he quickly up righted himself and flew at the woman who dared attack him. She waited until the last minute to jump out of his way, but he had been expecting that and reached up to grab her leg a second before it was out of reach and threw her to the ground, watching her body hydroplane across the ground, creating a small mound of dirt behind her.

Her eyes never left Jasper, and as soon as he was close enough, Charlotte swung her legs out and swept his out from under him. The one benefit of battling him while he was under Maria's control is that his fighting instincts were dulled. He was fighting with intent to kill, just like she had ordered him to do, but everything that normally came as second nature to him, were slowed and planned instead of instinctual. This did not mean, however, that he was slow when compared to other vampires; he was just slow compared to his normal reaction time…and he popped up as soon as he hit the ground.

This whole fight reminded Charlotte of when she first fought and trained with Jasper. When she first woke up in a pit and attacked the body with her, she was afraid. Afraid for her new life, afraid about what was happening to her, and afraid because she could hear screams and animalistic sounds surrounding her, coming through the walls, above her, and sometimes it felt as if they were below her as well. She could see and hear everything, and when the figure appeared above her, she was terrified of the woman who looked down upon her. It was an almost unworldly fear. It was days before she was allowed out of the hole, and when she finally was, she went a little crazy and tried to fight anyone and everyone around her. Alerted to the noise and problem, Jasper arrived and threw her to the ground before she knew what hit her. She immediately got up and threw herself at him, but he sidestepped her a moment before she would grab him and used his fists to propel her forward, making her literally eat dirt. She was pissed. Screaming, she jumped into the air and flew at him; and he was ready for her. Pulling her out of the air, he threw her to the ground again and pinned her there. She tried to snap and bite at him, but he held her in a way that she could barely move; and then she felt it. Her body felt heavy and lethargic, and a deep sadness made her weep without tears. She just wanted to curl into a ball and die. It wasn't until later that she found out about Jasper's gift, and it had been Peter that told her about it.

After her little episode, she had once again been confined to a pit. It was a wonder they hadn't just killed her right then and there. They could have, and yet, they chose to let her live for a little longer. Her death sentence came a year later, but until then, she had actually become a decent fighter. Peter had taken pity on her while she was in the pit and would periodically come and check on her. She never really saw him or anything, but she remembered his melodic voice and it calmed her down; and when she next got out of her prison, she found him waiting for her. The connection was instantaneous. This man, she never wanted to be apart from him.

In hell, Charlotte had found her mate, and somehow they had managed to be together, but then the day finally came when Maria decided her time had come to an end. Peter had gone a little crazy about it and begged Jasper to convince Maria to allow Charlotte to live, but it did not work. Neither she nor Peter actually knew what Jasper said, or if he even tried to talk to her about one lowly ex-newborn vampire, but neither of them would accept the decision. They waited for an opening, and then left. Jasper tried to stop them, and yet, he didn't fight too hard and let them go, telling them to go as far as they could north and never come back. A couple of years later, Jasper joined them, and after short bursts of time, he would leave, only to come back. It was a never ending cycle. That is, until Alice Cullen. While they did not really agree with their diet or lifestyle, it seemed to suit him perfectly and he seemed to have found a peace he had been missing for a long time. And Bella was the icing on the cake. She completed him.

Today had been a travesty, one Charlotte had promised to herself to help correct. In most things, a vampire would never, could never, attack their mate, but there were instances when that instinct became null and void. She, herself, was a perfect example of that. Six months into her time with Maria's army, and she was training with Peter, and it was more than apparent that Peter was pulling his punches. One slight brush of Maria's fingers against Peter's face made Charlotte see red, but it did more than that. Her mate suddenly attacked her, hitting her face so hard cracks appeared on her cheek and neck. She had flown 20 feet until she had hit a rock, cracking it and shattering it to pieces. When he came to, Peter had no recollection of what he had done. Maria's gift was truly terrifying. The mind goes blank, instincts are subdued, and the person becomes nothing more than a puppet on a string. A vampire under her control would kill anything, anyone if she so willed it; which is why Jasper had ordered everyone away. He knew what Maria was capable of, but Bella didn't comply and was attacked by the man she loved more than anyone – her own mate.

Dodging a punch of Jasper's fist, Charlotte used the heel of her hand and thrust it forward into Jasper's chest. He staggered backwards. She didn't want to kill him, but she would if she needed to. Right now though, she would try to just keep him busy until Emmett and Peter dealt with Maria. Before he could regain his steady footing, she flew forward and tackled him, sending him flying into a tree and making it topple to the ground. While he was momentarily stunned, she grabbed his left leg and ripped it off, throwing it nearby so she could retrieve and reattach it later. Kicking his abdomen, cracked the skin and he hissed in pain again. Now that he was sort of subdued, she allowed herself a peek at how events were unfolding for the others; that is until she fell to the ground and clutched her chest. Her breathing was erratic and she felt boxed in, anxiety, and terror. She was unable to move and knew it was Jasper. Shaking on the ground, she whispered, "Hurry."

The moment Peter and Emmett left Charlotte to deal with Jasper, they made a beeline for Maria. The bitch would die today.

Emmett leaped into the air, intent on landing on the tree and capturing Maria, but instead, he fell backwards, landing on the ground hard enough to leave a one inch deep imprint of his body. What happened?

"I told you to watch it. She can fight. Hell, she's been around longer than you and I put together. Be careful!" Peter growled.

"It looks like someone needs to learn how to treat a lady. No?" Maria snickered, taunting Emmett.

"No!" He yelled and was instantly on his feet again. "You're no lady. You're nothing more than a cocksucker who's a waste of space on this planet."

Her eyes drifted to Peter, "Your level of company seems to have deteriorated in the last several years."

"You think? I think it's only improved since I removed you from my circle of friends," Peter retorted.

Red eyes narrowed and although she looked at her former underling, she hopped off of the tree and ran over to Emmett, intent on making him pay and killing him.

Emmett tried to dodge and was able to escape the hand aimed for his neck, but she grabbed his hair and pulled. Lucky for him, it was on the short side and she did nothing more than pull some of his hair from his head. He escaped this time. Whipping around, he tried to grasp her arm and throw her, but she was prepared and slipped easily out of his hold and ducked low. If he hadn't been training with Jasper, he might have gone down and lost the fight, but seeing her downward motion, he kicked his leg out and made contact with her shoulder, sending her backwards.

Looking for an opening, Peter allowed Emmett to distract Maria while he sneaked up in order to behead her. It didn't happen, until his friend kicked her. She landed only a couple feet from him, and he reached down to grab her head, but then everything went dark.

"Kill him," Maria whispered in Peter's ear.

He saw it happen. One minute Peter was about to pull Maria's head off of her body, and the next, Emmett noticed Peter's eyes had gone blank and he was suddenly running towards Emmett. SHIT! Jumping up into a tree to get his bearings, Emmett only had a moment before Peter had landed on the same branch as him and had grabbed his arm, ripping it off and throwing it down onto the ground. The momentum was enough to knock Emmett off balance and send him crashing to the ground not far from his arm. And then Peter hit the ground right next to him. Emmett tried to kick him, to stall him. Anything he could think of, he tried. Kicking, punching with one arm, twisting his body in order to get to his feet. Each time he tried to get up, Peter kicked him to the ground again. Each time, landing a couple feet further away from where he had just been.

When Maria's gift had shifted it affects to another victim, Jasper seemed to have woken up. He didn't know where he was or why his leg was missing, but he had a feeling it all had to do with Maria. Before him, Charlotte was cowering on the ground, but slowly coming out of it, "Char. You gotta git her!" His voice was harsh and low, and he hoped with Maria's focus on Peter and Emmett, she wouldn't hear him. He would have done it himself, but missing a leg meant walking was slightly harder, especially when he didn't have a crutch…and definitely when time was the issue. The strike had to be made quickly.

Hearing her friend's voice, Charlotte shook off the last remnants from her ordeal and made her way over to Maria swiftly, but just as she was about to grab and rip Maria's head off of her body, the other woman spun around and pushed Charlotte away.

Maria marched over to where Charlotte landed and pulled the other woman's head, but she had not ripped it completely off due to her prey's struggles when a growl distracted her. Looking around, she found nothing except Jasper ten feet away from her. Sneering, she told him, "Get ready because you and I will be out of here shortly, and your friends will die."

"I don't think so," Jasper bellowed. He waited until her back was turned to him, pulled out a book of matches and his lighter, lit both, and threw him. The lighter extinguished itself while it was flying, but the matches remained lit and they hit their mark. Suddenly, the red dress Maria had been wearing started to burn, the flame getting higher, spreading. She stopped, dropped to the ground, and started to roll around to extinguish the flames, but she had landed on dry leaves instead of dirt. The leaves caught on fire and helped to burn her more. The flames were not going away, and then two lighters joined the matches.

Charlotte's head had not been completely severed and as soon as Maria was distracted, she pulled her head back on, praying it would heal quickly and properly. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out two lighters and threw them onto the rolling woman. One landed on the vampire, catching the front of her dress on fire, and the other landed next to the woman, lighting the brush around the vampire and making the fire spread. Charlotte knew she needed to move, but she couldn't and the fire was getting closer to her. And just when she thought the fire would reach her, she was pulled away from the tree she was leaning against.

Peter snapped out of his trance and found Emmett with no arms and on the ground beneath him, but there was something else too. Something… He could smell the fire, and that told him that Maria was probably bar-b-que, and yet, he knew something else was wrong. Grabbing Emmett's shirt to pull him to his feet, they both ran towards where the smoke was originating. Charlotte was huddled on one side of the fire and it was heading towards her. Why didn't she move? Why didn't she get out of there? He didn't know, he only knew he had to get her out of there and fast. He ran to her side and pulled her out of harm's way while Emmett kicked the dry leaves onto the fire leaving the bare dirt floor between the fire and the trees. Holding her close, he asked, "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

Her vocal chords still weren't working properly, so she pointed towards her neck.

Looking at the area she indicated, he could see a series of small cracks and one large crack that was still healing. His mate had come close to being beheaded, not that would actually kill her, but it wasn't exactly a good thing either. "Oh god!" He pulled her closer to him and breathed in her scent to calm down. So close. He had come so close to losing her.

The couple stood there for a couple minutes like that before Charlotte pulled back and surveyed her surroundings. Emmett was still armless and trying his best to control the fire, and Jasper was still missing a leg. Pointing towards them, she glanced up at her mate.

"I guess we should put the Humpty Dumpty(s) back together again," he quipped. "Be careful. You take care of Jasper, and I'll see if I can find this idiots arms."

"Do you even know where you left them?" Emmett's snarky comment came from the other side of the fire from the mated couple.

Snorting, Peter answered, "I figure somewhere between here and where we were. I'll find them, and if not, you can learn to be armless, right?" He dashed out of there before Emmett could tackle him. Contrary to some beliefs, a tackle without arms could be just as effective, and he had a feeling Emmett's head would be a hard hit.

It took him a while, but twenty minutes later, he returned with the missing appendages wondering if he should withhold them until he and Charlotte left the Cullen's. With the arms, Emmett could easily kill him, but then again, if Peter returned Emmett without the arms, Rosalie was likely to rip him to pieces and burn them all. It was probably better to put him back together, "Lookie what I found."

Charlotte looked up and smiled. Her voice sounded as if she swallowed a frog, but it was starting to work, "I figured you would find 'em. You have a nose like a bloodhound most of the time."

"One kind of found its way into a pile of bear shit, but hey, Emmett here loves bears. Don't cha?" Peter teased, and laughed when Emmett looked horrified. "Don't worry, I cleaned it off in the nearby creek. Although, you might want to take a shower when we get home." He approached the trio, "Well major, looks like your leg is good as new."

"Char still knows how to clean and reattach faster than anyone else I know," Jasper grinned. Maria was dead and a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Good. Then she is probably the person that should reassemble Emmett. If I do it, I might accidentally put an arm on backwards or something," he handed his mate the two arms and allowed her to go to work. In truth, he wanted to prepare Jasper for what they would encounter when they returned to the rest of the Cullen's. Squatting down next to his best friend, he began, "Major, you know bad things happen when Maria uses her gift."

Narrowing his eyes, Jasper gave his friend a slight nod, "I do. What happened?" His gut told him this wouldn't be good.

Peter was unable to hold his friend's gaze, "Bella broke free and ran back to the meadow…"

His friend didn't need to say anything else. That told him everything, or at least most of it, "No! Did I…?"

Shaking his head, the other man said, "She's alive, but she has wounds, and I doubt she is going to completely understand why you attacked her."

Jasper hung his head in shame. He had hurt his own mate, and if he knew Maria, he had probably tried to kill Bella. Her mate, who was supposed to love, cherish, and protect her, had tried to destroy her.

"It wasn't your fault! Maria's gift…"

"I know!" He shouted, and then more quietly, he said, "I know that, but it doesn't make it easier. Y'all know that."

"I know. I probably know that more than anyone else. After I found Charlotte, I attacked her three or four times, and slept with that whore I don't know how many in the year before we escaped. I blamed myself, but Char, she never did. We got through it, and so will you. She loves you, and being mates, both of you are connected."

"I should have been able to fight it."

"If that's the case, then I should have been able to fight it as well, and I never could. Maria, she takes everything away from you, including your instincts. There were times she would use her gift and you didn't even want to eat when there were three or four bleeding humans in front of you. You just sat there. I saw it happen. If you won't even drink blood when it is readily there, then doing something like attacking your mate…you can't fight it. Maria's gift allowed her to control anything and everything. You know that."

While he knew and understood everything his friend was telling him, Jasper could not stop the guilt he felt. And to top it all off, Charlotte and Emmett had been hurt in the process of saving him as well. Charlotte had almost lost her head, and the only thing he could do was sit back and watch, dragging himself ever so slightly closer before Maria turned to him. Yes, he threw the matches and lighter, but he had not been able to do much. Maria was a formidable adversary, he had known that, and he had fallen into her trap. Thank god she was dead!

"Come on, major. Let's get you home so we can work on patching things up between you and the misses. Now that you're patched up, I think your relationship should be easy. Easier than giving the scarecrow a brain," Peter grinned and nodded towards Emmett who had just had his second arm reattached.

"I heard that!" Emmett growled.

"Look, he passed the hearing test. Come on you two. I'm sure your mates are worried sick about you. Let's get you back to them before they come scouting for us. If I remember correctly, the wolves were still there, and some of them were a might pissed off at us."

"Shit!" Jasper was on his feet and running towards the baseball field in only a few seconds. Everyone else had not expected him to move that quickly and were chasing after him. He didn't care. His only concern was that the others were safe, and specifically Bella. Breaking through the tree line, no wolves were found, and only the Cullen's were there.

Hearing someone running towards them, all eyes turned towards the forest, and the moment Jasper emerged, Bella ran towards him, ignoring the fear she felt. She needed him, and if he was there, surely that meant Maria was dead. That's all she needed for now. His explanation could come later. Besides Eleazar had already given them a brief explanation. For now, she just needed to feel his body against hers.

Jasper wrapped her in a tight embrace, his surprise more than evident. Hearing her snort, he was sure she could feel his emotions, and that was all right. He had nothing to hide from her. He just needed her, needed to know she was all right, and she was. She was here in his arms. He could feel the slight tremor of fear, the happiness, and the hesitation, but that didn't let it stop her, and he was grateful. If she feared him, were terrified of him, he didn't know what he would do. "I'm sorry, darlin'. So sorry."

"I know, JW. Is she dead?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll get through this."

More so than any other time, he counted himself lucky to have this woman in his life as his mate. She was right, they would get through this, and even if it took time to forget, they had all the time in the world.

He hated to break-up the happy reunion, but Carlisle really had no choice, "Jasper, it's not good."