A/N: Just another reminder that you all have my heartfelt gratitude for reading, and an extra thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave feedback. I love hearing what y'all think:)

Complications

Peter had been running through the mountains east of Forks with Charlotte and Leah when he'd been stopped in his tracks by a knowledge bomb.

Charlotte, of course, noticed immediately and stopped beside him, but it took Leah a few seconds. She swung back around and approached slowly when she saw the vacant look in his eyes. She didn't want to risk Charlotte reacting defensively if she inadvertently made a wrong move while her mate was oblivious of the world around him.

"You're fine," Charlotte assured her with a smile. "You can get closer, I promise I won't bite."

Wanting to be able to communicate, Leah used her nose to gently nudge the backpack Charlotte was carrying. When Charlotte nodded and started pulling out some clothes for her, Leah phased back to her human form without caring about nakedness or privacy. She was dressed within seconds, and it was only a second later that Peter blinked a few times and then took Charlotte's hand. Leah couldn't tell from his expression if the news was good or bad. He looked confused and slightly wary, but he also looked amused.

"They found Maria?" Charlotte asked, already knowing the answer.

Peter nodded. "She's going to try and make a deal with Jasper. She doesn't know yet that we already know Victoria's plan, so she's going to use the offer of that information to try and secure his help."

"His help with what?" Charlotte asked nervously, her unease rising.

Peter looked at her for a moment before answering. "For starters, she wants to know where we are."

Charlotte's eyes went wide with shock. "What the hell does she want with us?"

Peter didn't answer right away, still sorting through the information he'd received as he pulled his phone from his pocket and typed out a quick text to his brother.

She's going to threaten to come to Washington to help Victoria. It's a bluff, so use the guards coming to Seattle to force her to back down. And she's not only looking for me and Char, she wants help from all four of us.

He put his phone back in his pocket, knowing he wouldn't get a reply. Jasper wouldn't split his focus by reading it, but Alice would see it and use it.

"Okay, I don't know everything, but I think I know enough to make some educated guesses," he started. "First, Maria isn't offering information and making threats strictly to ensure Jasper's help or strictly to find us. She's using it to try and gain help from all four of us."

"Which four?" Leah asked.

"Alice, Jasper, Charlotte, and myself," Peter answered. "Maria knows Jasper would never tell her where we are, so she's using the only leverage she has."

"But you don't know what she wants our help with?" Charlotte asked.

"Not specifically," Peter shook his head. "But again, I can make an educated guess. I think her main interest is probably in you and Alice."

Charlotte took a second to think that through. She hadn't spent as much time in Maria's army as Peter and Jasper did, but that didn't mean she didn't know the woman. "She wants to find someone?" she asked after a few moments.

Peter nodded. "With your tracking and Alice's sight, it's what makes the most sense. And if whoever she's looking for is in enemy territory, she has me and Jasper to fight at her side."

"Matthew," Leah said quietly.

Peter looked at her sharply. "Who's Matthew?"

Leah shrugged a little. "I don't know. Alice has had a couple visions of Maria trying to find out if someone named Matthew is still alive and where she might find him. She was going to ask you if you knew who he might be."

Peter and Charlotte both shook their heads. Neither knew very many people connected to the southern armies anymore, and they didn't know anyone by that name.

"Are they safe?" Leah asked cautiously, really hoping for a little reassurance.

"Yes," Peter answered. "Alice is keeping Maria on her toes," he added with a laugh, making Leah and Charlotte smile a little. Alice Cullen was a fierce little thing, particularly in her defense of Jasper.

"Is he going to agree to help her find whoever this Matthew fella is?" Charlotte asked.

Peter looked at Leah. "That's actually up to you," he told her. "He won't make a decision until he speaks to you, and he won't help her if you tell him not to."

"What?" Leah asked, eyes wide with surprise, but then she immediately shook her head. "No, absolutely not," she said, making Peter and Charlotte look at her a little warily. Jasper had spent enough time with a woman who thought she had a right to control him. Leah's next words, however, had them both cursing the fact that they still occasionally had a tendency to assume the worst. "That's not my decision to make. I'll never stand in the way of Jasper doing what he thinks is right, even if I disagree with him. I may not want him within a hundred miles of that witch, but I won't dictate his choices. That's not the kind of relationship I want."

Charlotte didn't even hesitate, she just threw her arms around the girl and hugged her. Leah squeaked in surprise but returned the hug, even though she had no idea what she'd done to deserve it. Before she could ask, Peter hugged her from the other side so she just kept her mouth shut and accepted the situation. Once they let her go, she looked between the two of them for an explanation.

"We're just grateful," Charlotte answered with a shrug and a smile.

"Well, I'd be pissed if he tried to dictate my choices, so I'm not about to dictate his."

"Y'all are a good match," Peter laughed. "Not that fate makes mistakes with shit like this, but still. It's nice to have confirmation."

Leah rolled her eyes a little at their beaming smiles, but she couldn't help being secretly glad that Jasper's oldest friends thought she was a good match for him. She didn't think for even a second that Jasper would treat her any differently if Peter and Charlotte didn't approve of her for some reason, but it still would have been no fun for anyone.

Knowing there was nothing to do but wait to hear from Jasper and Alice, Leah phased back to a wolf and the three resumed their patrol. They may not need to worry about Maria for the time being, but Victoria and her newborns were still out there.

What a bizarre world, Jasper thought as he and Alice silently ran towards home. Maria in love. Without the benefit of his gift, he never would have believed it was possible.

Jasper didn't have any doubt that Leah would be wary of him offering his sire his help, but he didn't think she would tell him to refuse her. All he could do was explain the situation and see what she had to say. Anything that came next was for them to decide together.

When they were a sufficient distance away from Maria, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw there was a text from a number he didn't know. Opening it, he realized Alice had sneakily sent him the photo of Matthew from Maria's phone.

When he glanced at her, she just smiled. "The whole situation is unbelievable enough that I thought you might want to have some proof."

"I'm assuming you deleted everything so she doesn't have a way to contact us?" he asked.

"Of course," she laughed. "And when it's time to call her, I'm sure Emmett's got some trick that'll hide your number."

Jasper just nodded and tried to decide who to call first. When Alice offered to call Peter and get him up to speed, he dialed the Clearwater's number, figuring he could try and kill two birds with one stone. After spending a full minute reassuring Sue that he and Alice were both fine and on their way back, she told him that Leah was on patrol.

"She should be out with Peter and Charlotte," Sue said. "Her cell phone is here, so your best chance of reaching her is to call one of them."

Right on cue, Alice held her phone out to Jasper. After promising to come by so Sue could see for herself that he was in one piece, he hung up and took Alice's phone. "Leah?"

Jasper smiled when he heard the deep breath she let out. "You're okay?" she asked.

"We're fine," he assured her, the edginess he'd been feeling diminishing slightly at hearing her voice. "We're already on our way back."

"Good," Leah said with another relieved sigh. "Alice already gave us the bullet points and Peter's gift kicked into action a couple hours ago so I know most of what happened, but…" she trailed off for a moment before continuing. "By the time you get back I should be at home. Will you come over?"

"I'll come straight there," Jasper promised, wanting to see her as much as she wanted to see him.

"Good. Now that that's settled, I need to go. I'm standing in the middle of Olympic National Park naked and I feel bad for Charlotte, who's shielding me from view," she laughed, and Jasper heard Charlotte laughing in the background.

Forcefully pushing that tantalizing mental image from his mind, Jasper promised again that he'd see her that evening and then hung up.

"How much did Peter know?" he asked Alice as he dialed Rosalie's number.

"Not a lot but he guessed pretty accurately," Alice answered with a smile. "He got a piece of knowledge that he doesn't understand but he said he'd explain when we get back."

Jasper didn't have time to worry, because Rosalie answered her phone before it had even finished the first ring. "Jasper!"

"We're fine," he quickly reassured her. "We're both fine and we're on our way back."

Before Rosalie could answer, there was a rustling on the line. "What are you doing?" Rose whisper-shouted. "Give me back my phone!"

"Jasper?" Esme said, then quickly covered the phone with her hand. "I'll give it back in a second, Rose, just be patient."

"Be patient? It's my phone!" Rosalie hissed.

"Yes, but I'm older," Esme laughed. "Age before beauty, darling. Now hush, I'm trying to talk."

Jasper laughed as he listened to their bickering, and Alice smiled and rolled her eyes. "You can both hear us perfectly well, but perhaps putting it on speaker would eliminate the problem," she said in the direction of the phone.

After a little more rustling, Rosalie managed to snatch the phone back and hit the speaker button. "There," she said, and if Jasper knew his twin at all, she was sticking her tongue out at Esme, who just laughed brightly. "So, you're both really alright?" Rose asked.

"We're fine," Jasper reassured them again. "We should be back before nightfall."

"Why was she looking for you?" Esme asked.

Jasper and Alice exchanged a quick glance before he answered. They both knew Rosalie was going to have a problem with them helping Maria. "We'll explain everything when we see you, but the main takeaway is that she needs some help finding someone."

There was silence on the line for a moment. "Why the hell does she think it's your job to help her with anything?" Rosalie snapped. "I really hope you told her to go fu–"

"Rose, please," Esme sighed, interrupting her. "Maybe hear them out before rushing to judgement."

"Jasper hasn't agreed yet," Alice cut in. When he looked at her, she shrugged. "Technically it's true," she silently mouthed to him.

"Look, we'll explain everything later, but for now, just know Maria is not a threat," Jasper assured them.

Rosalie grumbled under her breath a little but eventually accepted she wasn't going to learn more until they were home. "Fine. But maybe run faster," she said, then immediately ended the call.

Jasper and Alice did some brainstorming while they ran, trying to figure out how the hell they were going to find someone who'd vanished so completely. It was just as they crossed the Washington state line at dusk that Alice was suddenly pulled into a vision. She stopped in her tracks as she watched it play out, trying to decipher what she was seeing. As soon as she snapped back to the present, she took off running, abruptly changing course.

Jasper didn't question her, he just followed behind her and let her sort through whatever she'd seen. "We're going to hit Quileute territory if we keep going," he cautioned her after a minute.

"I know, I know," she muttered in frustration, trying to figure out their best course of action. "Victoria is coming. I can see her swimming and I see her approaching the shore, but then everything goes black. I can hear talking but I can't make out whose voice it is or what they're saying."

If the vision went black it could only mean one thing. Jasper immediately pulled out his phone and called the Clearwater's but there was no answer. He then tried Leah's phone but it went to voicemail, as did Jared's and Paul's.

"What's the beach where they all hang out?" Alice asked after a moment.

"First Beach?"

"I… I think so," Alice nodded, trying her hardest to see around her blind spots. "There's more than one person there. I think."

"Look for Bella," Jasper said quickly, knowing she often spent time there with Jacob.

Alice scanned the future again. "She's at her house. Edward's with her."

Jasper dialed Edward's number and relayed what Alice had seen. "Just keep her home and stay with her. Ask her to try and reach Jacob, please. I can't get a hold of anyone," he said, trying to push aside his frustration that the wolves couldn't carry cell phones with them while they were patrolling.

"Of course," Edward assured him. "I'll have her call him now."

"I can't go anywhere on their land but Leah's house, and only on that one path," Jasper reminded Alice as he hung up. "I can't go to the beach."

"I know, I know," Alice repeated under her breath, then she changed course again and put on a burst of speed. "The ocean is neutral," she called over her shoulder. "We can come in that way."

Jasper just nodded and kept following her lead. They all avoided the coastline that bordered La Push out of respect for the tribe, but as long as they never stepped on dry land, they weren't technically breaking the treaty if they approached First Beach from the water. "They won't know she's coming, the water will cover her scent."

Alice nodded. "I know, that's the only reason I'm willing to be a little rude and swim that close."

The two of them got into the water further away than either of them liked, but they wanted to avoid the Quinault Reservation that was just south of La Push. Fortunately they were fast swimmers, so it wasn't long before they started hearing voices from the direction of First Beach. Jasper cursed under his breath when he heard Leah's voice, then cursed a little louder when he heard Sue and Charlie Swan.

"Shit, shit, shit," he chanted as he pushed himself to swim faster.

"There!" Alice shouted and dove beneath the waves away from shore, while Jasper swam closer to where he could hear his mate's voice. All he needed to do was get between Victoria and the beach.

Leah must have sensed something was amiss, because when Jasper lifted his head, he saw that she was carefully scanning the water.

"Leah!" he shouted, and she whipped her head around to look for him. When she spotted him, her eyes went a little wide and she scanned the water again. "Get them inside."

Leah immediately turned and calmly asked her mom and a very confused Charlie to go back to the house, that she'd be there in a minute. When she heard a growl from behind her, she spun back around just in time to see a flash of red where Jasper's head disappeared beneath the water. Her instinct was to phase and rush in to find him, but Charlie was still standing behind her, asking Sue what was going on. Before she could even properly freak out, Alice appeared out of nowhere and dove down, then resurfaced almost immediately at the same moment Jasper did.

Leah's eyes narrowed as she saw her imprint holding his shoulder, and before she even made a decision to move, she was running into the water. She heard a wolf growling behind her, but she ignored it and swam as fast as she could to Jasper, who was swimming towards her.

Leah practically dove into his arms and wrapped herself around him. "Are you okay?" she whispered a little frantically as he held her, cradling the back of her head in his hand.

"Shh, I'm fine," he reassured her softly while Alice guarded them, staring in the direction she'd seen Victoria swim off. Jasper looked past Leah's shoulder when he registered the emotions coming from the beach, and saw Jacob Black in his wolf form at the water's edge in a protective stance in front of Sue and Charlie. "She's gone," he told Jacob, ignoring for the moment that they now had to deal with a human who'd seen a little too much.

When Jasper felt two very familiar emotional signatures headed his way fast from further out in the water, he shook his head to fight a smile. Before he could even open his mouth to warn Leah, they were hit from the side by a petite little thing with such force that Leah let out a startled yelp and all three of them went down. They were close enough to shore that they didn't fall far, it was shallow enough that Jasper could just stand with his head out of the water. He got to his feet, never releasing his hold on Leah, then rubbed her back as she started coughing up the sea water she'd swallowed.

"Oops," Charlotte said with a sheepish grin as she patted Leah's back. "Sorry."

"Jesus," Leah laughed quietly once she got her breath back. "Please try and remember that I'm not quite as supernatural as you guys are and I still need to breathe."

Before anyone could say anything else, Jared came running out of the woods in his human form and then immediately stopped in his tracks as he took in the bizarre scene.

"Jared," Peter nodded with a straight face while Alice laughed beside him. "Nice to see you again."

Jared almost smiled but his expression became much more serious when Jacob growled at Peter. He quickly glanced at Charlie to see him watching everyone with wide, shocked eyes. Sue was attempting to keep him calm and asking him to come back to their house while pulling on his hand, but he wasn't budging. While Jacob was standing protectively in front of both humans, Charlie had carefully maneuvered himself so he was standing protectively in front of Sue so he was between her and the giant wolf that had appeared out of nowhere that no one seemed worried about.

Jared sighed and shook his head. What a mess. Before he tried to work out how to explain this, he needed to make sure the pack and the rest of the tribe was safe. "She's gone?" he asked the vamps in the water.

Jasper nodded but kept quiet, not sure how much to say with Charlie standing there.

"Is anyone hurt?" Jared asked, worried that Leah was still hanging on Jasper and didn't appear all that eager to let him go any time soon.

"No," Jasper answered. "Everyone's fine, Leah just swallowed a little water."

Jared raised an eyebrow and gestured in the general direction of Jasper's shoulder. "And the rip in your shirt?"

"It's nothing. She got a hold of my arm for a second but it's fine," Jasper shrugged, rubbing Leah's back when she let out a quiet whine and tucked her face against his neck.

Jared nodded and turned to Jacob. "Quit growling at them," he snapped, pissed he even had to acknowledge him as a sentient being with Charlie standing so close.

Jacob turned to growl at Jared, equally pissed that there were four vampires in the waters off First Beach, including two with red eyes.

"Watch it," Jared hissed quietly. "Either get a hold of yourself or go home. They're the reason Victoria didn't make it to shore so maybe try and shift your goddamn priorities. You don't have to like them, but I won't tolerate you acting aggressively towards them."

Jacob looked back to glare at Jasper, Alice, Peter, and Charlotte with contempt, then turned and ran into the trees.

"Friendly little shit, isn't he?" Charlotte muttered under her breath while still managing to keep the cheerful smile on her face. "Maybe we should be on our way before we outstay our welcome any more than we already have," she said to Peter.

He nodded. "We'll catch y'all back at the house," he said to Alice and Jasper.

Alice quickly scanned the future to make sure there was nothing else worrisome in their immediate futures. "I'll come with you," she said when she saw the coast was clear, giggling a little at the mental pun and then waving a dismissive hand when Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte all looked at her curiously.

Jasper debated what his next move should be, then carefully unpeeled Leah's arms and legs from around him, ignoring her unhappy grumbling when he set her on her feet. "I'm happy to stay and explain and help deal with Charlie, but maybe we should get out of the water for that. He's already confused enough, and he's only going to be more confused when he sees Peter, Charlotte, and Alice swimming away instead of coming up on the beach," he said quietly. "I can swim up towards the treaty line with them and then double back on foot and meet you at your house that way."

Leah turned and looked at Jared with pleading eyes, and he sighed and looked at Sue. The more they said out loud, the more questions Charlie would have. "I'm fine with him walking to your house from here," he said. "It's your call."

Sue didn't even have to think about it, she just nodded. From where they were, they didn't need to go through the village to get home, so she didn't think Billy or Old Quil would have an objection to her making a one-time exception. "You can walk home with us," she told Jasper.

Jasper wrestled his phone from his pocket, which took a little work because he was still mostly underwater, and then handed it to Alice. "Can you see if Emmett can work his magic on this?"

Alice nodded and then she, Peter, and Charlotte waved goodbye and swam north towards the Cullen's territory.

"Where the hell are they going?" Charlie asked, both confused and in a little bit of shock by everything he'd witnessed. "The water's freezing and that stretch of coast is too rocky to swim in."

"They're fine," Sue assured him a little nervously, not sure how they were going to explain things to him. It was possible that they could've come up with a marginally plausible explanation if it had only been Alice and Jasper who swam up out of nowhere at a noticeably non-human speed, but the addition of Peter and Charlotte - and Charlotte hitting Jasper and Leah with such force that they all went down - along with Jacob's actions meant they were going to have to tread carefully. Fortunately, Peter and Charlotte were too far away for Charlie to see that their eyes were red.

Charlie looked at everyone a little suspiciously, but he just nodded and held his tongue for the time being.

Leah grabbed Jasper's hand and started pulling him towards shore, then changed her mind and jumped on his back. "Care to give me a lift?"

Jasper just smiled and kept wading towards the beach. "Think Seth would mind if I borrowed something dry?" he asked, looking down at his sodden clothes. When he was fully out of the water, he huffed and took a second to take off his boots. "These are my favorites," he grumbled.

Sue shook her head with a smile and darted forward to hug him. The situation might be a little uncertain because of Charlie but she was glad to see her daughter's imprint in one piece. "I'll carry those," she said as she took the wet boots from him. "Are you coming with us?" she asked Jared, really hoping his answer was yes.

Jared let out another sigh. "I need to make a couple calls but I'll be right behind you."

Sue nodded, knowing he would be calling the other elders to tell them what was happening. She wouldn't be surprised if Billy and Old Quil turned up at her house and she mentally went through the contents of her refrigerator to see what she could feed everyone. "Come on, let's get you two in some dry clothes."

She led the way at a slightly faster pace than usual, hoping to get home before crossing paths with any of the other wolves. Those hopes were dashed a minute later, but thankfully, the wolf they ran into was Paul.

"Uh…" Paul trailed off and then burst out laughing when a dripping wet Leah smiled at him from over Jasper's equally wet shoulder. "Nice day for a swim. I prefer a bathing suit, but to each their own I guess. Charlie," he nodded at the man. "Nice to see you again."

Charlie may have been a little shell-shocked, but he still managed a smile for the kid who'd always been such a good friend to Leah. "Good to see you, Paul."

Sue asked Paul if he wanted to come back to the house with them and when he agreed - saying "Oh yeah, I wouldn't miss this for the world" - she asked him to run home first and get Jasper some clothes. He was a few inches taller than Seth and she didn't want him to be uncomfortable wearing clothes that didn't fit.

Paul let out a dramatic sigh but turned and sprinted for home. He didn't want to miss even a second of their explanation about whatever the hell had just happened.

Five minutes later, Sue was busy heating up some food and trying to ignore Charlie's eyes on her when Paul walked in. "Go on up," she said quietly, not wanting to disturb Seth, who'd come home from patrolling all day and gone straight to bed.

Leah and Jasper quickly explained the whole story to Paul while they got dressed in some clean, dry clothes, and then the three of them went and joined Sue and Charlie in the Clearwater's kitchen.

Sue put a plate of Bella's leftover enchiladas in front of her daughter and Paul, then sat beside Charlie and took a deep breath. "So…" she started, but before she could figure out what to say next, there was a quiet knock on the door and she got up to let Jared, Billy, and Old Quil in.

Jasper, Leah, and Paul stood up and Jasper moved a chair away from the table so there was space for Billy's wheelchair, and Paul helped Old Quil into his chair. Leah gestured for her Alpha to take her seat, and once everyone was settled, the three of them silent leaned against the counter and let the council take the lead in explaining things to Charlie.

When Jasper tuned into the man's emotions, he was relieved to find he was confused and curious, but he wasn't frightened.

Billy took a moment to collect his thoughts. He'd told Charlie the legends when they were kids, but he hadn't known they were true. What was working in their favor was that he hadn't told his best friend anything about the Cold Ones, only about the spirit protectors. The problem with that was Billy had gone against the rules of the tribe. Legends weren't meant to be shared with outsiders. Harry had known, but no one else had, and Billy didn't know if Harry had ever shared that with Sue.

Charlie saw the nervousness on everyone's face and figured he could afford to throw them a bone. "Is this connected to your legends?" he asked. Charlie had first heard the tribe's legends when he was still a boy, and he'd never forgotten them. Spirit wolves had sounded like cool animal superheroes to him back then, so it wasn't a story he was likely to forget. When the giant wolf had come out of the trees to stand guard in front of him and Sue, it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Yes," Billy nodded, doing his best to ignore the surprise on the faces of almost everyone in the room. The only exception was Jasper, and Billy thought being an empath may lend him greater insight into his best friend's mind.

Charlie eyed everyone for a moment and thought through the possibility of the legends being real. Outside of his job, he was the kind of man who gave people their privacy and never felt he had the right to know anyone's secrets, regardless of how curious he was. But that didn't mean he hadn't seen some of the strange and bizarre things around him. Admittedly, he hadn't seen the strange things related to his Quileute friends and family and made the jump in logic to connect them to the legend of spirit warriors. His mental questioning of those things had never strayed into supernatural territory.

Jasper had stayed silent while he monitored Charlie's emotions. He'd had a century and a half in which to hone his gift, and he was confident Charlie didn't know his secret. He'd also come to know the man well enough that he was fairly certain he would accept the fact that there were some things they couldn't tell him. Especially if they emphasized that it was for everyone's safety, particularly his and Bella's.

It was a complication none of them had seen coming, but Jasper didn't think it was an insurmountable one. There was still a way forward that wouldn't put Charlie's life at risk. So when no one said anything further, he cleared his throat. "Charlie," he said carefully. "Are you sure you want to hear about this? If we tell you the truth, we're going to have to kill you," he said, keeping his expression remarkably serious.

While some in that kitchen looked at him in shock, Leah and Charlie both just rolled their eyes and laughed in perfect sync.

"I'm kidding," Jasper laughed, looking at Billy and Old Quil. "Things are fine," he assured them. "Let's just tell him what we can and be honest that there's some stuff we can't share. You know him, you've known him nearly his whole life. He loves y'all enough to accept that without questions."

Sue's lips tipped up in a smile and she nodded. Her fear over Charlie learning too much had clouded the fact that she did know him. She knew his character and knew Jasper was right, so she took Charlie's hand, took a deep breath, and started talking.