Forks. -

Alice found Jasper some clothes in the box she kept with Emmett's "no longer want or need" clothes, though she knew he's gotten the habit to get clothes with coincidentally bad southern puns for Jasper.

Emmett's clothes were a better fit for Jasper taking into consideration his height and weight, plus, he seemed to like Emmett's terrible sense of humor, so there was that.

She knew he was starting to get tired of wearing clothes so… not his style nor size, but this would be the last time, she would get him new clothes tomorrow, clothes his size and style.

He had left the clothes outside of the bathroom as she had requested, she would keep the 'Prehistoric Cowboy' hoodie out of that pile, Jasper liked that hoodie.

A lot.

More than she had expected him to to be honest, she just needed to wash it and hope it wouldn't stain, if it did… well, she could always buy him a new one, she would have to ask Emmett where did he find it.

She sat on her bed, sewing the ripped part on the sleeve of the shirt she had found for Jasper, she knew he didn't like showing his arms, she had managed to find an old button up shirt from one of Emmett's old Dracula costumes.

He had a lot of Dracula costumes.

A lot of costumes in general to be more precise.

But who was she to judge? Emmett would be Emmett.

She heard the door open behind her for a moment before it closed once again, she didn't bother to turn around, she knew he must have grabbed the clothes she left outside the door, cargo pants and underwear.

Cargo pants were hideous, but those seemed to be the best option considering wet jeans made him walk all stiff and wet sweatpants… no, Alice didn't need a repetition of the wet sweatpants, she can still remember the heat on her face despite the fact there was no blood in her face to cause such sensation.

Same as she can remember Jasper's own face at the time, it had been priceless, she had almost felt bad for laughing later.

And the underwear… she had bought a lot of that, kept them in her drawer and forced him to change regularly, I mean, vampires didn't particularly acquire bad odor for wearing the same clothes for weeks on end, but that didn't mean she wanted him walking around wearing the same thing for weeks.

That was disgusting, vampire or not.

The sound of the door caught her attention once again and she turned to see him stepping out of the bathroom wearing those atrocious cargo pants.

And still, somehow, he managed to look like some kind of VIP model, a seriously good looking model, no, Alice's been on several modeling events and she's never seen any model prettier than Jasper.

But again, he was a vampire, vampires were good looking by nature, but he was much more handsome than most vampires.

He had that weird air Rosalie herself seemed to wield, the "I'm so absurdly good looking it's almost unnatural".

He would be amazing if he were to pose as Rosalie's biological brother. Both were blonde with great looks and the cold persona that hid their actual good hearts.

-You're being so loud.- Jasper's words broke her out of her thoughts, he didn't sound nor seemed upset, but something about his demeanor didn't quite feel right.

She knew this the moment he climbed on the bed and laid down behind her, arms sneaking around her waist. He never hugged her when he was shirtless and wide awake.

Ever.

He had grown to be comfortable around her while shirtless, but he didn't seem to like having her coming into direct contact with his scars.

So this… she twisted around to look at his face, bringing her hand to his face and caressing his cheek.

Warm.

That made her frown.

-You feeling alright?- Her answer was him burying his face into the mattress.- Jazz?

More silence.

Now she was starting to worry, she stroke his hair when he started trembling, ah, she had a feeling she knew what this was.

He's been so… normal, that she had almost thought he wouldn't be so severely affected by the vervain, she should have known that that was nothing but willful thinking on her part.

But she had hoped he would be spared the suffering…

She left the shirt and the sewing items she had been using on the nightstand, this before laying down on the bed and wrapping her arms around him, he clung to her with such desperation it broke her heart.

And she could do nothing but hold him, hold him and comfort him as best as she could, stroking his hair and kissing his shoulder.

Not for the first time she found herself seething against the Volturi's doings, herself for waiting so long, but now it was too late for regrets.

All she could do now was be there for him and comfort him.

Thus.

She held him all evening long, feeling his tremors worsen at times, his gift scratching her skin with his discomfort, but she didn't let him go, not even for a second.

He had to be feeling terrible, she could handle his gift.

Even as he fell asleep he kept flinching and shaking, grip tightening around her waist at times, little moans of absolute misery that tethered over the edge of whimpering, mumbling in his sleep in several different languages; Italian, french, Norwegian and Spanish.

Those were all the other languages he knew aside from English, Italian he learnt in Volterra, Spanish from María, and french and Norwegian from his grandparents.

Still, the point stood, the fact that he was mumbling in those languages let her know he might be disoriented. As if the pained sounds weren't proof enough that he was suffering.

And she hated how she could do nothing to help.

Suddenly, a light knock came from the door, catching her attention, she turned her head with a frown, God, if it was Edward she was-

-Alice?

Esme.

That one she didn't see it coming.

-Yes?- She brought her hand up to cover Jasper's ear, turning her head as far from him as possible and whispering as soft as possible so as to not wake him, he was already suffering enough, she didn't think being awake would help him much right now.

-I have something, that I would like for him to have.- Esme's words made Alice frown, still, she trusted Esme, Esme was one of the few people who was 100% okay with Jasper, she didn't knew him, and she already cared a lot about him, always asking Alice how was he doing.

Thus.

She grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to cover Jasper, she knew he wouldn't like other people seeing him shirtless and by extension his scars, so she made a point to cover him as best as possible with the little blanket she could grab from under them.

Once that was done she answered.

-You can come in.- She didn't felt like moving and accidentally waking him up.

She watched the door open, painstakingly slow, before Esme was stepping in, she was holding a bottle with some weird looking liquid inside.

-What's that?- She questioned, curious.

-I know Carlisle said that the vervain antidote wouldn't work on him because of how long was he exposed to it. But I thought it wouldn't hurt to give him some when he's not feeling particularly well, it could at least help with the minor discomforts, even if for a short while.

Alice hadn't thought about that possibility, but Carlisle hadn't suggested it either, had Esme come up with that herself? When? And where did she even got the antidote from? Though that last one she could get an idea, Esme had a lot of plants.

It wouldn't surprise her if she had the plant needed for the vervain antidote.

She brought her hand out from under the covers, and as Esme handed her the bottle Alice came to the realization that the bottle was warm, had she made this recently? That was… more than Alice had expected.

It let her see just how genuine Esme's care for Jasper was, she didn't care about him because he was with Alice, she did it because it was him, a person, just someone else to care about because she wanted to.

It was a nice thing to realize, to know someone else genuinely cared about him.

-Thank you.

-It's no problem.- Esme said truthfully, she had been unable to just ignore his pained sounds, he shouldn't be injured nor was he still poisoned.

Which left one possible option.

Vervain.

Carlisle had said it would take a long time before he was healed, that unlike with humans the process and reactions from the halt of consumption wouldn't take around a week to be done with, his might come at random intervals, bursts that might vary in severity and time.

It was a most terrible and unjust situation, and it broke her heart to know that that had been brought upon him by people who had been taking advantage of him, using him and manipulating him.

She would never be able to stop wondering how could the Volturi be so heartless, she didn't knew him, but she didn't need to to know he wasn't as bad as people made him out to be.

Even after what he had done earlier.

And how Alice described him… Esme liked asking Alice about him, seeing how she lit up whenever she spoke about him, it made her happy to see her daughter so happy, Esme so far had gathered one simple truth about him.

He was good.

Alice called him her southern gentleman.

Esme didn't have it in her not to trust him, not when he made Alice so happy, not when all she heard about him were good things, he was good and he made Alice happy.

That's all that mattered, and that was enough for her to care about him, because he was good and because it saddened her to know how rough life had been with him, because it amazed her how resilient he was, how despite all he still had it in him to be good.

He was as strong as he was kind, and he deserved lots of good things.

Esme wanted to help him, she cared about him dearly, she grew to love him through Alice's stories about him, to her, he was already her son, and she would always do everything in her power to help her children.

She threw him a look, she wondered if he would ever agree to live with them, still, that didn't matter, seeing him there at all was enough for her.

And with that last thought she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Meanwhile, Alice turned to Jasper, she almost felt bad for waking him, but if there was the slightest chance of this helping him suffer less…

-Jazz?- She called softly, sitting up and stroking his cheek with the back of her hand, he still felt warm. He moaned in his sleep, pain clear in his face before his brows furrowed and he was waking up, eyes clouded over with discomfort.- Hey love, I'm sorry for waking you, but can you drink this for me? It might help you feel better.- She said, holding the bottle up for him to see.

-What's that?- Came the ragged whisper, but even if he asked that he was already struggling to sit up, Alice was quick to help him up.

-It's the antidote generally used for vervain poisoning. It can't cure you, but it could help ease your discomfort, even if just a bit.- Alice explained, taking the cap off before handing the bottle to Jasper. He didn't hesitate much to take it.

He took a whiff of it.

-Esme made it, but it's safe, I promise.- Alice felt the need to inform, hoping he wouldn't refuse it.

Surprisingly, he didn't.

He brought it up to his lips and started drinking, when he was done Alice took the empty bottle and put it on the nightstand.

-You should go back to rest, there's nothing to be worried about, I'll be right here with you.- Alice assured softly, coaxing him to lay back down on the bed, he didn't protest against it.

She laid back down too, wrapping her arms around him and pressing a kiss on his shoulder, smiling as she felt him bury his face against her neck once again, she brought one of her hands up to stroke his hair, humming as she did.

Soon enough she felt him relax, she knew he was feeling better when he stopped shaking and making any sounds whatsoever around midnight, his muscles relaxing, he slept in absolute silence for the rest of the night.

Kept sleeping even as morning came, sunlight leaking through the glass window, bathing his skin, he was amazing at sensing when the sun was out, always waking up at sunrise.

This time he didn't even twitch.

Well, at least he was resting.

~

Edward was glaring at the forest as he sat on top of the cottage, he couldn't believe his family was so crazy, letting two psychopaths into their home.

-Dad?- Renesmee's sudden voice caught his attention and he turned to look at her, she had climbed on the roof and was now walking up to him, her thoughts controlled, that made him narrow his eyes.

But he still grabbed her hand when she came within reach, helping her sit down, the quicker she sat down the less chances were there for her to potentially slip and fall, he didn't particularly felt like finding out if she could get hurt by falling off this height.

-Are you mad because uncle Jasper is with aunt Alice?- Her question made Edward frown, the what? Since when did she call that guy "uncle"? He wasn't family, he was nothing of her.

-He's not your uncle.- He told her as a statement of fact. He wasn't quite prepared to be regarded with such tired look, as if she were the adult that's gone tired from dealing with a child's stubbornness.

-... He's not bad, you know? I know you don't like him, I know it's because he did bad things in the past, but that doesn't mean he's bad, grandfather says everyone deserves a second chance.

-Some people don't.- Edward said, because it was true, some people were too vile to deserve a second chance, a second chance would just allow them to do more evil.

Like Alec and Jasper.

-Who decides that? No one has the right to decide whether someone can or not have a second chance, no one but the person itself can choose whether to be good or not if given a second chance. He's chosen to be good, shouldn't we support him instead of making him think he can never do anything but be bad?

Edward didn't answer, staring ahead, Renesmee was right, and worst?

The worst was that her words brought back most touchy memories.

Of when he went back to Carlisle after going off on his own to kill people, terrified over the man not wanting him back, of what he might think of him after all the evil things he had done, did Carlisle regret turning him? Was he disappointed? Would he want nothing to do with him?

Every scenario worse than the previous, but none of that had mattered, because all he had done was show up and apologize and Carlisle hadn't hesitated to take him back, as if all the evil things he had done didn't matter.

But this wasn't the same, the people he killed had been twisted, it didn't excuse what he did, but those people had been murderers, rapists.

What The Major had done went above what he had done, he killed indiscriminately, innocents, children, women, elderly, humans, vampires, just because.

How could someone who's done such damage to the world be nothing but evil? Just because he felt like doing good now it didn't meant he was exonerated, it wouldn't bring back the dead, all those people he made suffer, all the pain, all the fear, all the cruelty.

Edward couldn't ignore that, it was too much to just ignore.

-It's not the same.- Edward ended up saying, he got what Renesmee was trying to say, but she also needed to understand some people were just beyond reach.

-Why?- Renesmee asked, genuinely confused.

-It's complicated.

-But why?

-It just is, alright? Some people are just bad and there's nothing anyone can do about it.- Edward told, running a hand down his face, why did his daughter had to be just as stubborn as Bella?

-Not him. You don't know him.

-And you do?

-Yes!- Renesmee bit her tongue as she realized what she had confessed.

Still.

She didn't let that stop her, it was about time her father learnt that the world wasn't black and white, bad people could turn good same as there were good people who turned bad.

-I have been sneaking out and seeing him, he's good, he built Lego sets with me, and he played DS' with me, I also taught him how to use a computer and in exchange he helped me catch crabs.- Renesmee said, at her father's face she bit back a groan, why did he had to make it all so difficult?

-I'm not making anything difficult.- Edward refuted as he read his daughter's thoughts, she rolled her eyes at him.

-Yes, you are, everyone is okay with giving him a chance, why not you? I thought you would have been happy for aunt Alice at the very least.

Edward didn't answer, of course he wanted to be happy for Alice.

If she weren't with that guy.

He had promised her to give him the benefit of the doubt, but after what he saw, after the state he appeared in.

Edward would rather have his family's anger than risk it and lose them, someone had to keep their mind clear, ready for the worst, no attachment whatsoever.

He needed to be ready to protect his family, he couldn't show weakness, couldn't let himself grow comfortable around him, any flaw could lead to the death of his family.

-I'm happy for her, I would be thrilled if she were to find her mate, but he is not it.- Edward said, he was starting to get tired of this back and forth, couldn't Renesmee just drop it? Couldn't she understand he was dangerous?

And God, she had been sneaking out to interact with him? How could Alice allow that? Renesmee was half human, what if he had hurt her?

-How can you be so sure? Why do you think you are right? Sue says it's not right to judge others just because they are different. That people who do it are either idiots or just afraid of what they can't understand. You are not an idiot, so, are you afraid of him?

-Of course not, why would I?- Edward answered quickly, afraid? Him? Never! He wasn't afraid, what would he be afraid of? He could take on that guy any day.

But no.

He couldn't.

That was the ugly truth.

He couldn't take on him, not when he had an offensive gift like the kind he had, not with his skills nor strategist mind, and certainly not with his military background.

No matter how much Edward wanted to lie to himself about it, he could never defeat The Major let alone stand against him.

And that was a thought that made him feel claustrophobic, like he couldn't breathe despite the fact that he didn't need to breathe, because that just meant he was useless, that if things went terribly wrong he would have to stand and watch as the people he loved were slaughtered.

He would have to hear their screams and watch them all die, all because he wasn't careful enough, because he let that monster step into their lives without an ounce of hesitation.

Truth was, that behind all the anger and hatred he wanted to cling to, fear is what hid underneath it all.

Fear for his family's safety.

For what he could do to Alice, she was so happy with this, so excited and just so trusting, but she's just know him for like seven months, in vampire standards, that was not enough, not when he was from the 1800's.

Alice was his best friend, she was that little freak that appeared out of nowhere to make it all less dull, she deserved happiness, she deserved good things.

What if this guy destroyed her in ways that might never heal?

Edward couldn't fathom the idea of her getting hurt, all he did, all he said, he did it because he cared about her, she was his sister, her happiness was important to him, but so was her safety.

And The Major was not safe to be around, he just wasn't.

-Dad?- Renesmee's sudden voice caught his attention, she was giving him a troubled look.- You don't have be worried about aunt Alice, he's nice to her, and he loves her, I have seen how he looks at her, and how he treats, he would never hurt her. Let me show you?

Renesmee requested, holding her hand out, she's gotten better at using her gift, she didn't had to touch people's faces anymore to show them her memories, she could just hold their hand.

Edward for his side stared at her hand for a moment before taking it.

"Alice was picking flowers with Renesmee by her side, and sitting under a tree close by was Jasper, with flowers all over his hair, he was staring intensely at Alice, like nothing in the world could ever be more important, more precious, than her picking flowers. Just her existing, being there, seemed to be enough for him."

-See?- Renesmee said as she released his hand, giving him a look.- He is, as uncle Emmett would say, totally head over heels for her, a simp who would do anything and everything for her because that's how massive his love and adoration for her is. So, as you can see, he would never hurt her, because in doing so, it would hurt him terribly.

Edward didn't answer, biting his tongue and hating the sole fact that he was honestly considering if he was the one who was in the wrong here

But what Renesmee showed him… should he risk it? Give him the benefit of the doubt and let him prove whether he was evil or not? But if he was? God, why did everything had to be so difficult?

-I see, but I still don't think it's such a great idea.- Edward said, still not convinced.

-It doesn't have to be to give him a chance, some ideas started as a bad idea but ended up becoming something good. You don't think him being here is a good idea, but in the long run he might become something good, and you might even find yourself feeling grateful that you ever gave him the chance.

She did had a point there, Edward had to admit that, it sort of reminded him of when the wolves teamed up with him the first time to keep Bella safe.

It had been such a terrible idea, but at the end it did turn out to be a good one, much like when the pack teamed up with them to fight newborns.

But this was The Major, could he truly be redeemed? Trusted at all?

Only time would tell, he guessed.

He just hoped he wouldn't live to regret this.

~

Somewhere in Kansas -

Alec sat at an ice cream shop, elbow propped up on the table and head resting on his palm, his other hand holding a spoon, an ice cream bowl sitting infront of him, he was stirring the melted ice cream half-heartedly, chocolate smudges mixing with the vanilla, strawberries and banana slices poking from the disgusting mess.

He had no idea what he even was doing here, but for the first time in a long time he had nowhere to go, no idea what to do, nothing to do at all.

The Cullens had offered him to join them, and he couldn't for the life of him understand what would lead them to make such an offer.

Not after all the Volturi had done to them, Jasper was accepted because he was Alice's mate, but what reason would there be for them to accept him as one of their own? It didn't make sense.

He hadn't been able to perceive any deception in their gazes nor words, not that he could even see them having the guts to harm a fly let alone him, a child, something he knew the Cullens seemed to have a weakness for.

Bree Tanner was proof of it.

Still.

While he didn't trust them, nor did he feel like feeding off of rabbits either, he couldn't see himself living as a nomad, he didn't want to wander around aimlessly, some people would see this freedom as a chance to explore the world, but he could care less about the world.

What he wanted… that wasn't a question he's ever entertained, but he was doing now.

And the more he thought about it the more he realized that what he wanted was simple.

But not possible for someone who looked like a 12 year old.

He wanted… to know more about space, dinosaurs, science… but not the kid stuff, he knew that already, he's read all the books he could ever find about said topics, he wanted to know actual deeper stuff, the kind adults kept from children because "it's too difficult to understand" or "too important to be divulged through regular methods".

He wanted to see real fossils, go to a science museum, go to an observatory, own a telescope, build a small rocket…

But he needed a place where he could store whatever he wanted, and a "guardian", stupid humans and their stupid rules, when he was human people could care less about children wandering on their own, no one asked questions, no one cared if a teenager was working and living alone, because it wasn't their business.

Not in the modern world.

In the modern world people cared too much about things that weren't their business, the Cullens could be a good cover, but there pros and cons regarding the Cullen issue.

Pros?

He had a cover, could still play videogames and spare with Jasper, he could finally own a telescope that Caius wouldn't break on "accident", have chances at posing as a prodigal child and enter seriously smart places to learn more about science, dinosaurs, space, and he could also be free to go wherever he wanted without getting so many eyes on him.

Like those workers by the front, they had been staring at him since he stepped here earlier, whispering, as if he couldn't hear them wondering about where were his parents and if they should come ask if he was alright.

The one thing keeping them from approaching being the fact that much like all vampires, child or not, he still had the presence of a predator, no human would dare to approach, just coo from afar with the same intensity they would drool over the teenagers and adult vampires.

He was glad he was spared that weirdness, not that having people cooing at him was better, it made him want to wrangle their necks.

Still.

Back to the point at hand, the pros were good.

But the cons…

He would have to agree to be with the Cullens, accept that he needed help, and worst of it all?

He might have to abide by their unnatural diet.

Animal blood sounded disgusting, he didn't want to give up his diet for a bit of cover.

But he also knew he couldn't attract attention to himself, which he did for the sole action of existing and being alone.

He groaned and pushed the bowl away, leaving the spoon alone and running his hands down his face, what to do? If he agreed to join the Cullens he would need to follow their stupid rules of not killing humans, not to feed, not because he got pissed and certainly not because he just found them annoying.

Tamed vampires, how did Jasper even thought smart to join them? He might be a wuss when it came to hurting others because of how his gift affected him.

But that man's never been a pacifist, he would beat and drive to the edge of death whoever dared to piss him off, and don't even get him started on The Major.

But if Jasper could do it… Alec liked to see himself as stronger than Jasper, so if Jasper could do it, surely he could do it too, right?

I mean, how hard could it be? If those tamed unnatural weirdos could do it, Alec could definitely do it too. Hell, he would do it much better than them.

He didn't, in fact, do it better than them.

He wasn't sure how did that happen, but he had tried to take down a deer, but the thing had been faster than he ever thought possible, and now…

Now his head was stuck inside the trunk of a tree, and he wasn't sure if he was frozen in place out of shame or what.

Because he's never lost a prey before, he was always fast, but not this time, and it had been a fucking deer.

And now he was hanging from a tree, with his head stuck inside the trunk, and he wanted to rip something apart.

He growled before pushing his head out, cracking wood filling the air as he did, once he was free he let himself fall, landing on his feet before kicking the tree, hard, wood cracked and splinters went flying everywhere as the tree collapsed on the ground with a deafening crash, sending birds cawing everywhere.

He spun around, sharpening his hearing, he would find that stupid deer and he would rip it to shreds, no prey of his escaped.

Ever.

He caught the rapid heartbeat and the hoofbeats, he bolted towards it, adrenaline rushing through his veins, and once he had the bastard on sight the second he pounced.

He landed on the deer's back with enough strength to interrupt its balance, prompting the animal to crash down with a loud panicked scream, he held it down, making a point to make its struggles useless.

But as he stared down at the deer's face, the wide panicked eyes, unlike a human's something about these panicked eyes didn't evoke pleasure from him, they weren't tainted by humanity's darkness, these were…

Innocent.

Pure.

And it made his chest twist with an odd feeling he's never felt before, he reached out to stroke its muzzle, a strange tightness in his throat as the animal kept struggling, panic in its gaze, because of him.

He had wanted to prove to himself that he could do the same as the Cullens, that he could take down the deer, but now that he had done it, now that he was a step from proving he could do the same as those tamed vampires…

He couldn't.

Not when those eyes were staring back at him.

For the first time in his life, he couldn't bring himself to take a life.

Because it felt… wrong.

It felt wrong to kill something so innocent, so beautiful…

And so he let the deer go.

He now had his answer to the Cullen's question.


A/N: I like to think that while the twins despise humans bc of what was done to them they wouldn't extend their psychotic actions to animals. It gives them a sort of a less heartless and lost air, like they can still be kind.

Plus, I wanted to explore the idea of writing a vampire that would feel much more bad for killing animals than for hunting humans, an amazing contrast to the vegetarian vampires who feel awful for taking human lives but not animals'. XD