A/N: Victoria will be in the next chapter, I promise! Thanks for reading:)

Another Mess

Before Jasper and Leah could leave the Swan's to spread the news that they finally knew when Victoria was coming, Charlie saw the two of them standing in the backyard with Edward and Bella. "Hey kids," he greeted them with a smile as he opened the back door. "Did you come to keep an old man company for dinner?" he asked hopefully.

Bella's eyes darted to Jasper and she silently asked for his help, so he took a quick second to dial back her panic and let her feel his reassurance that everything was going to be fine. It was honestly the least on edge he'd been since first learning there was a newborn army gunning for them.

Leah answered Charlie to keep him from seeing his daughter's wide, frightened eyes. "Only if you agree to pizza. I haven't eaten since breakfast and if you open your refrigerator to me, it'll be completely cleaned out by the end of the night."

"Deal," Charlie laughed and stepped back inside to order dinner so the four of them could finish talking about whatever was scaring Bella. He kept his mind focused only on the food so Edward wouldn't catch anything in his mind that gave away he knew something was happening.

When Alice had a brief whispered conversation with Jasper and then quickly said her goodbyes, and when Jasper and Leah spent a few minutes making calls in the backyard before coming inside, Charlie knew that whatever was happening wasn't anything good. Still, he kept quiet about it, knowing Leah or Jasper would tell him if there was something he needed to worry about.

An hour later, just as Bella pushed her plate away from herself with a too-full groan, Jacob called. She almost ignored it, but old habits died hard and Bella figured something was probably wrong if he was calling after the day they'd all had. When he asked her to come to La Push, she immediately refused. She was still angry and hurt and nothing good could come from her seeing him right then.

Unfortunately, Jacob knew all of Bella's weaknesses and he wasn't afraid to use emotional manipulation to get his way when it came to getting her to do what he wanted. Leah had called Jared after Peter's call to Jasper, so Jacob knew they had a relatively small window of time before the army made their way towards Forks. When he explained that he just wanted to apologize and try to fix things between the two of them before Victoria showed up, she relented.

Because Jasper had already promised Sue he'd come by with Leah that night, the four of them left together after helping Charlie clean up from dinner.

Bella was perched on Edward's back while Jasper and Leah walked beside them towards the spot on the treaty line where Jasper was allowed to cross. Bella could have driven herself, but she wanted a little bit of time with them so she could find out exactly what they knew. She also wasn't entirely comfortable at the idea of seeing Jacob, and she felt better going to La Push with Jasper and Leah.

There was no doubt Bella was scared about what was coming in two days, but she remembered Charlotte's words earlier in the day and kept a close eye on Jasper.

"I honestly feel better about things than I did a few hours ago," Jasper reassured her. "I didn't like having an unknown timeline and the risk of being caught on the back foot hanging over us, so knowing for sure when she's coming is a relief."

Bella nodded and took a few deep breaths to try and keep herself calm.

"Are you going to forgive him?" Leah asked Bella curiously, referring to Jacob. "If it was me, I'd tell him to go fuck himself."

Bella smiled a little because she had no doubt that was exactly what Leah would do. "I'm not sure," she shrugged. "If he's genuinely sorry and makes an effort to change, then yeah, probably."

When they stopped at the edge of the Cullen's territory, Edward set Bella on her feet. "Call me if you need me," he whispered as he hugged her. He didn't like that she was going to see the wolf, but he'd finally come to understand that he didn't have the right to stop her. When he let her go, he looked at Jasper. "You'll make sure she gets home safely?"

"Of course," Jasper nodded, letting Edward silently feel his pride that he was letting Bella make her own choices, even if he didn't like those choices. "I'll either run her home myself or call you to meet us back here and you can take her the rest of the way."

"I can always drive her back," Leah offered.

Edward just nodded and kissed Bella's forehead. "Just call or text and let me know."

Bella sighed as she watched him run off. She knew Edward didn't like the idea of her willingly spending any time with Jake after what he'd done, but everyone had forgiven Bella when she didn't make the greatest choices and had given her multiple chances to do better. She thought Jacob deserved the same from her.

Bella squeaked in surprise when Leah lifted her up and put her on Jasper's back. "Sorry," Leah laughed. "This'll just be a whole lot faster and Charlie wants you home in less than two hours."

When Jasper started running slowly, Bella tightened her hold on him. "Not too fast, I tend to get motion sick when Edward goes at his top speed," she cautioned him.

Jasper just nodded because he already knew that. He'd warned Edward at least once that he needed to be careful with his mate while she was still human, although that had admittedly been because he didn't want her throwing up in their living room.

When Bella asked Leah if she knew whether or not the council had made a decision about the day of the fight, Leah nodded. "I think so, but my mom said she'd rather talk about it in person. If I had to guess, I'd say they're going to let some of the vamps on our land, but she surprises me sometimes so don't hold me to that."

Jacob was waiting for them at the Clearwater's when the three of them arrived, but he was being given a stern talking to by Sue and kept his eyes trained on the ground. What he really wanted to do was rip the leech's throat out for carrying Bella like that, but he was already skating on thin ice.

Jasper set Bella on her feet and looked at Jacob with a little bit of suspicion, not liking the kid's emotions. He'd gotten Bella to the Reservation with the promise of an apology but he wasn't feeling particularly apologetic. He was feeling some regret, but no actual remorse.

"You'll be here?" Bella asked Jasper before she walked off with Jacob to go talk at First Beach.

"Yeah," Jasper nodded. "I'll be within hearing distance," he added, sending her a little bit of caution. Bella looked at him curiously, so he quickly darted his eyes to Jacob and let her feel his mistrust.

Bella just sighed and nodded that she understood, and Leah, Jasper, and Sue watched the two of them as they walked away.

"What's wrong?" Leah whispered once she knew Jacob wouldn't hear her.

"Maybe nothing," Jasper shrugged. "I just don't trust him."

The three of them sat on the porch rather than going inside. Jasper wasn't entirely sure what was making him so edgy about Jacob - aside from the obvious fact that he was a dick who thought the world owed him something - but he felt more comfortable being outside where he could move quickly if he needed to. He'd learned a long time ago to trust his gut instincts, so as they talked, one part of his mind was monitoring his brother's mate's emotions to make sure she was okay.

After Jasper and Leah explained what they'd pieced together from Peter's knowledge and Alice's vision, Leah brought up one of the issues that had come up. "We have just over two full days," she told her mom. "Alice sees them coming before dawn, which means those of us who are going to intercept them will have to leave by about two in the morning. Three at the absolute latest. We need to have everyone down here in place before we head out."

Sue nodded and thought through how that changed the tentative plan the council had come up with. "I'm not sure why we'd assumed it would happen during the day when it makes more sense that Victoria would have the newborns travel at night. We'd hoped to get Charlie down under the guise of some kind of gathering, but that obviously won't work now," she sighed.

"He already knows something's up so I don't think he'll put up any resistance if we tell him y'all want to have a slumber party instead," Jasper said with a smile. "And if I know him at all, I think he'll agree without asking questions."

"You guys had been thinking the meeting hall?" Leah asked her mom, who nodded. It was further away from the beach than both the Clearwater's house and the Black's - which would be the most logical places to stash Bella and Charlie - and it was in a more forested part of La Push with no houses too close. "What about Sam and Emily's?" she suggested after a few moments. "I know it's smaller so you'd all be a little cramped, but it's got the same benefits as the meeting hall and there's a bed and a couch for anyone who wants to try and grab some sleep."

"That might work even better," Sue agreed. "It's more isolated than the meeting hall, so having the wolves nearby will be easier. It's also closer to the treaty line."

Leah nervously chewed on her bottom lip. "Does that mean you've decided not to let any of the Cullens cross it?" she asked.

"No," Sue shook her head. When Leah's face fell, she smiled a little. "I meant no, that's not what we decided," she reassured her daughter. "It wasn't an easy decision to make, and some members of the pack have already voiced their objections, but we're willing to temporarily make certain exceptions."

Sue explained the council had decided that, out of all the vampires currently in the Olympic Peninsula who weren't trying to kill them, they were willing to allow five to come onto their land - Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett.

"Just like you and your families won't decide which wolves go and which stay behind, we considered all of you while making our decision. So I understand you and Alice will be going to fight, but we wanted to have a comprehensive list in case things changed for any reason," Sue told Jasper. "While some of us would be comfortable with Peter and Charlotte being here, others felt having red-eyed vampires was a step too far."

Jasper just nodded with a smile. "I can say with confidence that none of us expected you to make that particular allowance."

"Edward and Rosalie also make some of us a little wary," Sue continued, glad Jasper wasn't bothered by their decision about his oldest friends. "There seems to be a lot of hostility towards at least one wolf from both of them," she said, choosing her words carefully to not offend him.

"If you're using dislike of Jacob as a measure, you should probably cross me and Alice off that list," Jasper laughed.

Sue laughed with him. "Perhaps, but the two of you are the Cullens who have the trust of nearly the whole pack."

"Really?" Leah asked in surprise. She knew from being in the minds of the other wolves that what her mom said was true, but she still sort of assumed it would be Carlisle and Esme at the top of the list.

Sue nodded, seeming to understand what Leah was thinking. "The wolves have had less interaction with Carlisle and Esme. Jasper and Alice have been the two who worked most closely with the pack while you've been training, so they've had more opportunities to get to know them," she explained. "I think it helps to know they're also the two who can protect the humans of the tribe most effectively," she added.

Jasper started to answer, wanting to thank Sue for having so much faith in them, but he stopped and looked towards the beach when he felt a shift in emotions that put him on edge.

Leah saw the change in her imprint and immediately went on alert as she tried to hear Jacob and Bella's conversation.

Jasper cursed under his breath as he shot to his feet and took off running. He heard Sue calling his name but he didn't stop. To hell with the treaty, the pack could come after him later. He just needed to get to Bella.

The wolves could hear much farther than humans, but vamp hearing was still stronger. Leah couldn't hear anything from the beach and she wasn't sure what Jasper was feeling with his gift, but she knew he wouldn't venture farther into their land without permission unless something was wrong. "Stay here please," she said to her mom as she sprinted out of her yard to follow him.

Jasper came flying onto First Beach to see Jacob holding Bella in place while he kissed her. Bella was panicking and trying to push him away but her human strength was no match for his and he wasn't budging. Just as her panic turned to anger and she lifted her hand to hit him, Jasper lunged and grabbed the kid by the neck to pull him away from her. The last thing they needed was Bella breaking her hand.

As soon as Jacob was no longer touching Bella and Jasper was sure he wouldn't inadvertently hurt the human, he drew back his fist and punched the boy straight in the face. He was careful about it so he didn't break any bones, but he put enough weight behind it to hurt. Jacob flew back and Jasper tackled him and wrestled him into the water. "Are you okay?" he asked Bella while he held Jacob down so his head was underwater.

"Yeah," Bella answered, her voice shaking.

Leah came flying in and skidded to a stop when she saw her imprint apparently trying to drown Jacob Black. "What happened?" she asked, running to Bella to make sure she wasn't hurt. When she saw her lips were red and swollen and she was trembling, she wrapped an arm around her. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Bella winced when Leah jostled her arm a little, making Leah take a step back. "I'm fine, really, he's just stronger than me."

Jasper's knee was between the thrashing wolf's shoulder blades and he was holding both of the kid's hands behind his back. He yanked Jacob's head out of the water just enough so he could take a breath, but then he pushed him right back under.

"Aside from the obvious, did he hurt you?" Jasper asked Bella, who immediately said no. "Please don't lie to me," he said more gently when he felt her deception.

Bella looked away from him and nodded. "He was holding my arms a little too tightly," she admitted quietly.

Jasper let out a low growl and pushed his knee down a little more forcefully as Leah carefully pushed Bella's sleeve up and he saw the dark red handprint above her elbow. When Jacob stopped struggling beneath him, Jasper dragged him out of the water and dropped him in the sand, giving the wolf a swift kick in the ribs.

"He's still alive, right?" Bella asked a little nervously. She didn't want to think of the consequences if Jasper killed a wolf just because he'd kissed her.

"Of course. He just passed out," Jasper answered as he walked over to her. Bella had been panicking partly because she hadn't been able to breathe while Jacob was kissing her, so Jasper had just returned the favor. "May I?" he asked, pointing to her arm.

Bella nodded and Jasper gently put his hand where the bruise was forming, hoping his cold skin would soothe the pain a little. Leah stood by not knowing what to do. Her skin was too hot to offer Bella any relief, and because Jared had given her an Alpha Command only a few hours before, she couldn't kick Jacob's ass like she wanted to. Instead, she pulled her shirt over her head and used it to soak up some of the icy water of the North Pacific and then held that to Bella's other arm. When Bella's teeth started chattering, Leah wrapped her dry arm around her to try and warm her up.

Sue came running onto the beach just as Jacob sucked in a sharp breath and rolled to the side and started coughing up water. "What on earth?" she breathed as she took in the scene.

Jacob rolled onto his stomach and started to push himself up, but Jasper flashed over and kicked him again, then stomped his foot in the middle of his back to keep him down. "Don't fucking move," he growled, squeezing the back of Jacob's neck to keep him in place.

"Get off me," Jacob spit through gritted teeth. He wanted to phase but he couldn't drag in enough air.

Jasper's only response was to shove the back of Jacob's head down so he got a mouthful of sand.

"Can someone please tell me what's happened?" Sue asked, walking over to Bella and putting her arm around her trembling shoulders.

"Jacob was trying to convince Bella that she really did love him, and when his words weren't working, he used his mouth for other things," Jasper answered, dropping down so he could restrain Jacob more effectively and dig his knee a little harder into the wolf's back. He heard a rib creak and pushed just a little bit harder until he heard the crack of it breaking. Jacob let out a muffled scream, which Jasper ignored. The kid deserved worse in his opinion.

"Uh, Jas?" Leah said with an amused smile. "There's a lot we can explain away to the rest of the pack, but I'm not sure broken bones is one of them."

Bella obviously hadn't heard the crack of Jacob's rib, and her eyes went wide with shock. "It's not a big deal, Jasper. He just–"

Jasper cut her off. "It is a big deal. I can almost understand him trying to kiss you to see if you'd kiss him back, but you couldn't breathe and you were trying to push him away from you, trying to fight your way out of his grasp. That's why I'm pissed. There's a big difference between a tentative kiss to see if you respond, and him holding you in place so tightly that he left bruises on you."

"And you already told him you chose Edward," Leah added quietly. "From that moment, when you told him straight out that you didn't love him like that, he should have accepted that you weren't his and that your lips and your body were off limits."

Sue looked at Jacob with angry and disappointed eyes. "Is that true, Jake?"

Jacob turned his head and glared at Leah. "I know she loves–"

Jasper pushed his knee against the broken rib. "As a friend, you deluded fuck," he growled. "She loves you as a friend."

At that point, after seeing the situation from someone else's perspective, Bella's turbulent emotions shifted and settled firmly on anger. She'd told Jacob she didn't love him the way he wanted her to. She'd told him Edward was the one she wanted to be with. But he'd still tried to convince her that he was right and she was wrong, as if he knew her better than she knew herself.

Jasper looked at Sue when he felt her discomfort rise. "You want me to let him go?"

She hesitated a moment before answering. "I'm not sure how the council and the pack will react to this. It's technically a breach of the treaty," she said uncertainly. "Not only did you come to the beach when you didn't have prior permission, but you've hurt one of the wolves. I'm not saying he didn't deserve it," she quickly added, seeing Leah was about to object. "I'm only saying I'm not sure if there will be any consequences."

Jasper could understand that, but he felt compelled to point something out before he released Jacob. "Carlisle made it clear in the beginning that Leah was part of our family, meaning she was protected by the treaty on either side of the line. Bella is also a member of our family, we just didn't anticipate she'd need any protection from the wolves. Obviously that was an oversight on our part, but Jacob hurting Bella is the same as him hurting any other Cullen."

Sue nodded, knowing he made a valid point but still worried about what might happen to her daughter's imprint when the other wolves found out what happened.

"You also need to know that I might be the one retaliating right now because I'm here, but it's not me the pack or the council needs to worry about," he cautioned her. Jasper couldn't say who they needed to worry about most - Edward as Bella's mate or Carlisle as their coven leader. Honestly, all of the Cullens and Whitlocks were going to have a problem with it. Because of the histories of certain members of the family, they all had strong feelings about those who took what they wanted without consent.

Sue nodded again in resignation. She knew Jacob's actions were going to threaten the tentative peace that had been growing between her tribe and the vampires.

Jasper didn't want to put his mate's mother in an even more difficult position, so he let Jacob go. He didn't need to be a mind reader or a psychic to know what was coming, so he quickly moved Bella and Sue away from the enraged wolf and stood in front of them.

Jacob pushed himself to his feet with a low growl and took a slightly unsteady step towards them, but Leah immediately moved to block him. "Don't even think about it," she hissed, her hands clenched into fists. When Jacob snarled and his body started trembling, Leah wasted no time phasing. She might not be able to fight him because of the Alpha Command, but she could keep him from getting any closer to her imprint, her mom, and Bella.

Jasper carefully backed the two humans further towards the trees as Jacob's body trembled and shook and he swayed on his feet. His pain seemed to be making it more difficult to phase, but Jasper wasn't taking any chances with their safety.

"Calm yourself down, Jacob," Sue shouted while she peeked around Jasper. "You're only making the situation worse for yourself."

"Incoming," Jasper called to Leah when he felt a familiar emotional signature coming in fast and coming in pissed. In the next second, Paul came flying out of the trees at the opposite end of the beach and tackled Jacob with an impressive lunge.

Leah backed up to stand beside Jasper so she didn't get sprayed in the face by flying sand, then focused on which wolves were screaming at her in her mind. She'd heard them when she first phased, of course, but all she'd done was growl at them to shut up for a minute and quit distracting her. Realizing that it was Sam and Seth, and that they were both running towards La Push in a panic, she quickly explained what happened and assured them everyone was fine. Sam took a little bit of offense to that and spoke directly to her.

Fine? He broke Jacob's rib, Leah!

Seth replied before Leah could.

You saw in my thoughts what happened at Bella's earlier and now he's done this? He deserves more than a cracked rib and you know it.

While Leah was mentally arguing with her ex and her brother, and Jacob and Paul were wrestling their way across the beach, Bella looked up at Jasper. "She's pretty in this form," she said quietly. When he gave her a little bit of a weird look and asked if she was in shock, she shook her head and laughed. "No, I've just never really taken the time to look at her when she was a wolf. Most of the others are so big that, even though I know they won't hurt me, they're still a little scary. But Leah's smaller so there's not as much instinctual fear. And the moonlight on her silver fur makes it look like she's glowing."

Jasper looked at his mate with a proud smile, as if he had anything to do with how beautiful she was, wolf or human. Sue saw it and managed to crack a smile herself. If anyone got to be proud of Leah for being wonderful, it was her. She'd helped make her, after all.

"I said quit fucking moving," Paul growled, pinning Jacob in the sand and pressing a knee into his ribs.

Unlike the one aimed at Leah, the proud smile Jasper aimed Paul's way actually was because Jasper had something to do with how easily Paul got the upper hand. He'd trained hard in the previous weeks and most of that training had been with Jasper. He was distracted when he heard a heartbeat getting closer, but there was another sound with it that Jasper couldn't immediately place. After two seconds, he realized what it was and turned to Sue and Bella. "Please stay behind Leah," he said quickly, then took off into the trees in the direction Paul had come from.

"Jasper!" Sue called after him in exasperation that he was now going towards a different part of La Push. She crossed her arms and muttered under her breath that she was an elder and didn't understand why the hell no one was listening to her.

Jasper didn't have to run all that far before he found Billy Black trying to navigate the bumpy forest floor in his wheelchair. Before he could tip over on a particular large tree root, Jasper grabbed the handles and kept him upright. "Sorry," he quickly apologized when Billy gasped in surprise, not having seen or heard him approaching.

"What are you doing here?" Billy asked, shocked to see Jasper. They were on the other side of La Push from the Clearwater's, which meant the vampire was well off the path he was permitted on.

"Long story. What are you doing here?" Jasper asked. "This doesn't seem like the safest place to roll around."

Billy frowned at the empath when he thought he was making a joke about him being confined to a wheelchair, but his disapproving expression turned to surprise when he saw the concern in Jasper's eyes. He seemed to be genuinely worried that Billy might have gotten hurt.

"Was that not the right thing to say?" Jasper asked a little nervously. "I've never had a friend in a wheelchair before so I'm not sure what terminology to use. I was going to say it's not the safest place for a walk but…" he trailed off. "I didn't mean to be offensive, so I apologize if I said something wrong."

Billy couldn't help smiling a little. He never would have guessed that Jasper Whitlock had the capacity to be nervous about anything. The vamp had always appeared confident to him. "You're fine," Billy assured him. "And I was trying to follow Paul. He was at my house when he suddenly told me my son was an asshole and then took off running. I wanted to see what was wrong."

Jasper just nodded and started carefully pushing Billy towards First Beach. "He wasn't wrong. No offense - again - but your son is an asshole."

Billy listened in dismay as Jasper explained what happened, including everything he'd heard Jacob say while he was alone on the beach with Bella. "She couldn't breathe. She was panicking and trying to push him away but he didn't stop. He left bruises on her, Billy," Jasper said quietly, hoping to convey that this wasn't just a simple case of a boy trying to steal a quick kiss.

"And I'm assuming from your presence here that you're the one who got him away from her?"

"Yes. And I'll just go ahead and tell you now that he's got a cracked rib," Jasper answered, feeling not a single ounce of shame or remorse for hurting the wolf. "It's probably healed by now, though, so I'm sure he's fine," he added. They'd had an accident of timing during one particular training session that left a wolf with a broken bone, so they all knew how quickly those repaired themselves.

"Who–"

"Oh damn," Jasper cursed, interrupting him and moving just a little bit faster. "Sorry for jostling you but we've got two more wolves incoming. It's a really good thing it's so late and there are no humans out and about, because this has the potential to blow a hole in the wider tribe's belief that the legends aren't real."

"Who's coming?" Billy asked worriedly.

Jasper took half a second to focus on the emotional signatures. "Seth and Sam."

"And who's already on the beach? Only Jacob, Paul, Leah, and Bella?"

"And Sue. We were at the Clearwater's when Jacob forgot his manners," Jasper answered with a scowl. He was trying not to be overly rude about the man's son, though in his opinion, Jacob had never shown he actually possessed manners in the first place. The kid was pushy, rude, and spiteful, and he never missed an opportunity to open his mouth and spill his hate. "And morals and basic human decency," he added after a moment, figuring he could be truthful without being a dick about it.

Billy just nodded, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a solution to the new problems Jake had just caused. The two of them had sat down and had a long heart to heart when Jacob got home from the Swan's, and Billy had believed him when he said he wanted to apologize to Bella. Now they had an injured human, an injured wolf, a vampire who'd roamed all through their territory without permission, and a coven who'd be gunning for his son for hurting the mate of one of their family members. Not to mention Charlie, who'd be furious his daughter had been hurt.

Billy had to blink back a few tears, because he fiercely missed his wife in that moment. Sarah had always been the wiser one of the two of them and she'd instinctively know how to get through to their stubborn, headstrong son.

Jasper felt Billy's emotions and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He wasn't sure what the man was thinking about, but he was suddenly swamped with grief. "We'll figure it out," he reassured the tribal elder. "It'll definitely be a little messy, but we'll figure it out eventually."

Billy chuckled a little that even while trying to reassure him, Jasper was nothing but honest. He had to admit it was a trait he appreciated. "Alright," he sighed. "Put a little hustle in your step and let's go get to work cleaning up the mess my boy has made."

A/N 2: So Eclipse only has a few more chapters. I plan on going into Breaking Dawn territory, though it'll veer from canon even more, but I'm thinking I should do it as a sequel. I thought Eclipse would be ten to twenty chapters but I obviously got too wordy. This is long enough that I think it makes more sense to split them up. What do you think? Sequel or just keep everything in one story?