Huge thanks to my amazing beta Her Mighty Ubergeekness, for not only working her magic on this chapter, but also for kicking my ass when I need it. She's been absolutely awesome and deserves a lot of love. MWAH

As always, I have to thank Simaril and Verseseven. I would be lost without you, and I flove you hard!

Disclaimer- All recognizable copyrighted and trademarked items mentioned herein belong to their respective owner, most especially Stephenie Meyer. Everything else belongs to the respective author.

JPOV

"She's not coming with us."

"It's the only way, Edward, you saw that."

"But, it's too dangerous."

I tuned out the quiet arguing between Alice and Edward and took another look at the Polaroid pictures in my hands. It was clear that the goal had been to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible. The amount of blood told me that there had been no feeding. Whoever the vampire was that had done this, he or she was controlled enough to handle a lot of blood without going into a frenzy.

"Will you two stop your hissing?" Bella said. "You told me you wouldn't hide it from me, Edward, but now you're whispering." The irritation and fear was radiating off her as she turned to me.

"Jasper, show me." The demand was clear in her voice, and I had no intention of trying to withhold anything from her.

"I'll show you, but be prepared." I warned her. "It's very graphic, and it's very bad."

"Okay." She took a deep breath, trying to steel herself.

"They're pictures of someone being killed." I wanted her to have a chance to choose for herself if she actually needed to look at the photos.

"Oh god, please tell me it's not Charlie." She pleaded.

"No. It's a woman. I don't know who she is, but it is written on one of the pictures that it is someone you love."

"You don't need to look at it, Bella," Edward said. She just glared at him and held her hand out for the pictures. She took them with trembling hands, and as soon as she looked at them I was hit with the most excruciating pain. It felt as if someone had reached inside my chest and wrapped their fingers around my heart, squeezing it tight. I wanted to scream and release some of the pure agony coursing through me. My legs started to buckle underneath me and I began to drown in the force of the emotions.

"We need to get out of here," Alice said. "People will notice if Bella and Jasper break down."

Bella.

It was Bella's emotions. Bella's pain. I needed to get it together for her. I needed to help her.

Oh god, it hurt.

I reached out and absorbed some of the emotions from the partying humans, trying to focus on the feelings of joy. It wasn't easy; most of them felt lust, envy, and jealousy along with intense giddiness. Drunken teenagers weren't exactly the best source for calming emotions. Searching a little deeper I finally found something helpful: love. Pure, undiluted, genuine love. I soaked it up, letting it wash over me, soothing the pain. I briefly wondered who the emotions emanated from; they were so out of character for the mostly self-absorbed people around us. My eyes landed on the embracing forms of Ben and Angela, and I smiled in spite of myself. They were truly nice people, and they clearly loved each other deeply.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." I heard Bella whimpering.

I stepped up to her, took her trembling hands in mine and projected some of the calming love to her. She looked up from the pictures clutched in between our hands and met my eyes. Her deep brown eyes widened slightly when she felt the love, but the pain lessened and I could feel her gratitude.

"Let's go," I said. I looked over at Alice and Edward, who seemed to be locked in one of their silent conversations. I couldn't wait for them to try to figure out the best way to go about things; I needed to get Bella out of here.

"Alice, you and Edward go and thank Mike for inviting us and tell him we're leaving. If he asks why we're leaving early, just make up some kind of excuse, he's probably too drunk to care anyway. Bella, you and I are going to go wait for them in the car. Okay?"

"Angela and Ben," she said.

I furrowed my brows and looked at her questioning, but then I realized that she came with them and was probably supposed to leave with them as well.

"Alice and Edward will let them know that you're leaving with us." I left no room for argument and started to tug gently on her hands to get her to come with me.

Go, Edward. You and Alice take care of things here and I'll take care of Bella.

I felt his warring emotions. He obviously wanted to be the one to take care of Bella, but he knew that I would be of greater help for her at the moment and his concern for her outweighed his need to be close to her.

Bella and I made our way towards the car in silence. Her emotions told me that she probably was in shock so I continued to send her some calm. I didn't want to alter her emotions too much, but it wouldn't do anyone any good if she broke down. I needed her composed enough to be able think clearly and to give me as much information as possible.

I shoved the pictures in the pocket of my jeans and held the car door open for her. I then slid behind her in the backseat and took her hands in mine again.

"Bella, look at me." She turned her body towards me and looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

"I need to ask you a few questions," I said softly.

She nodded her head.

"Who's the woman in the pictures?"

"It's L-Laura." As soon as she spoke the name the tears started to roll down her cheeks and I could feel the pain intensify again. I increased the calm and tried not to be overwhelmed with her emotions again.

"Who's Laura, darlin'? I need to know a little bit more. Where does she live? When did you see her last?"

"She's my friend. She lives down in La Push with her…Claire!" A sudden sense of realization and panic overtook her. "Oh god, Claire! Jasper, we need to go there now!"

"Go where?" I asked.

"To Laura – to the pictures – where she is – Claire – " Her words were barely audible between her sobs and I was afraid she'd start to hyperventilate. I let go of her hands and brought mine up to cup her cheeks, holding her head still and forcing her to look at me.

"Breathe," I ordered. I felt her irritation and frustration flair. "You need to breathe and calm down so you can tell me what you're talking about. I can't help you if I don't know." Relief flooded through her when she realized I wasn't trying to keep her from anything, but rather wanting to get some more information.

"We need to find her!"

"We will, but there's nothing we can do for her. She's dead, darlin'." I knew I was being blunt, but I didn't want her to have any false hope that we could save her friend.

"I know that!" Her anger flared and instinctively I took my hands away from her, holding them up to show I was no threat. Over a century's worth of experience had taught me never to have my limbs close to the mouth of someone that angry. My mind knew that Bella wasn't able to inflict any damage to me, but my body still reacted on instinct.

"I'm talking about Claire, her daughter." The anger subsided as her fear took over. "Laura and Claire were going to the Makah reservation today to visit friends. We need to find Claire, she's just a toddler." Her voice broke again, and now I understood her fear and panic. I didn't want to think about what the vampire had done to the child, but if by some miracle she was still alive, we had to move quickly.

"Okay, we'll find her. I can hear Alice and Edward coming now, so we should be on our way in just a few seconds."

"Kay," she whispered.

Alice and Edward got into the car and Edward instantly started the engine. His feelings were of worry, but he also felt resigned. I figured that Alice had seen the decision and he knew there would be no point in trying to talk Bella out of coming with us. His slight nod confirmed my thoughts.

"I don't know exactly where she is, but I know we'll find her," Alice said. "Just drive towards the Makah reservation and we should be able to make out the scent."

We drove in silence with the windows down, hoping to catch either of blood or the scent of vampire. Bella's emotions were threatening to drag me under again. I hadn't struggled this hard since my first years in this life, before I learned to handle my gift. I couldn't understand why her emotions got to me this way, and I didn't like it.

Edward was doing his best to try to keep his emotions in check to make it easier for me, but his concern for Bella was too big to be concealed. I leaned forward and gestured for Alice to give me her hand. My abilities were always intensified if I had direct contact, and Alice had decades of practice controlling her emotions in order to help me. As soon as her hand was in mine I could feel the mixture of love, calm, and contentment she always sent me. I briefly closed my eyes and let my body soak up the peaceful emotions. Underneath her standard mix was something else though, and I did something I hardly ever did. I dug a little deeper.

I normally tried not to pry too deep into people's emotions, they were entitled to feel whatever they did, and it wasn't up to me to try to dissect them. I especially tried to respect my family members' privacy, but there was something in Alice's emotions that felt odd. If she had seen something about the situation we were getting into, I needed to know. I sampled her emotions and discovered feelings of excitement and … was it glee I sensed?

"What the hell, Alice?"

She snatched her hand from mine, and I felt a brief shot of panic before she masterfully morphed her emotions back into the peaceful ones.

"I'm sorry, Jazzy, I was trying to think of happy things to make it easier for you. I guess I overdid it." Her remorse was real, and I apologized for overreacting. I should know better than to suspect her trying to hide things. She knew how important it was that I had all the information available going into a potential dangerous situation, and she'd never let me down before.

Suddenly the smell of blood was heavy in the air. We were close. I reached out to see if I could sense anyone, and in the distance I felt fear and panic. Someone was out there.

Edward drove a little bit further and then stopped when we came upon an abandoned car in the ditch. The scent of vampire was strong, but it didn't seem to be fresh.

"Maybe an hour or two," Edward said. I agreed and then turned to Bella.

"It doesn't seem to be any danger, but I want you to stay close to me, just in case."

"Okay," she answered. We all got out of the car; I scooped Bella up in my arms and jumped over the ditch. I set her back down on her feet and took her hand. I wanted to hold on to her for several reasons, protection and comfort being the main ones. There was something about her that made me want to take care of her, to see to it that no harm ever came to her.

"She does have that effect on people, doesn't she?" Edward whispered too low for her to hear. The love and amazement he felt for her helped me keep my emotions in check. The further into the woods we got, the more Bella's fear and dread intensified.

"Over here," Alice called. I could hear a heartbeat, and as we rounded the big rock in front of us the scene that greeted us broke my heart. The lifeless body of the woman in the pictures was lying on the ground, her eyes glassed over, staring up in the sky. Next to the body, in a pool of blood, sat a little girl with tears running down her cheeks as she tried to get her mother to wake up.

"Claire." Bella's voice broke and she grabbed my hand a little harder. I couldn't muster up any positive emotions to send her, but she seemed to calm down on her own. She let go of my hand and slowly walked over to the little girl.

"Claire, honey," Bella said in a soft voice.

"'Ella!" she cried. "Mommy no wake up."

"I know, sweetie." Bella dropped to her knees and pulled the little girl into her lap. The action caused the scent of the blood to swirl and I could feel the bloodlust begin to stir. I had stopped breathing the instance we got to the body, but Edward and Alice had not, and they were now warring with themselves to not attack the two humans in front of them.

Thanks to Bella I now knew that their struggles affected me, and that thought empowered me. Whereas I would normally berate myself for not having more control and fleeing the situation before I did any damage, I now recognized that I was indeed in control. I just needed to get them out of here in order not to let their needs overtake me.

"Edward, Alice, go run a perimeter. Make sure there's no one around to surprise us." I didn't want to use the word vampire, as I didn't know how coherent little Claire was. We certainly didn't need to traumatize her anymore.

"Edward, you call Carlisle and tell him that he's needed here. Alice, you call the Alpha of the pack and tell him what's happened." My orders were swift and firm, leaving no room for wavering. They both looked at me, feeling surprised and a little intimidated. They were not used to me taking charge like that, and didn't quite know how to react to it.

"Go!"

With a final look of concern towards Bella, Edward took off. I felt a flare of irritation from Alice and raised an eyebrow at her, challenging her. With a huff she turned around and ran after Edward. She was used to being the one to call the shots, and she didn't like to have the roles reversed. I sighed in exasperation. She would be pissed at me later, but I really didn't care. It had been too long since I made any significant decisions, and it felt good to get some confidence back. I'd always been a natural leader, but somehow I'd lost touch with that side of myself.

I watched Bella cradle Claire in her arms, rocking her as she cried for her mother. The changes she'd instigated in me were remarkable, and I was infinitely grateful for having this beautiful young woman in my life.

"Bella, I'm going to pick you up and move away from here," I said softly. She looked up at me, nodded her head and grabbed Claire a little tighter. I squatted down and put an arm under Bella's legs and the other behind her back. I stood up carefully with my precious cargo in my arms. I was surprised with the sudden calm that came over me. It felt oddly right to have Bella in my arms like this, and I could tell that she also felt it. We looked at each other with confusion, wondering what was going on. Claire's whimper brought us back to reality.

"It's okay, you're safe now," Bella cooed.

I quickly walked away from the scene of the gruesome murder and headed towards the car. There was a fallen tree on the side of the ditch. I sat down on it, Bella still in my arms.

"Is there anything you can do to help her?" Bella asked. She looked at Claire who was clinging tightly to Bella, tears constantly running down her face. I couldn't even imagine the trauma the little girl had suffered.

"I can calm her down, and maybe ..." I started to ponder what I could do to make things easier for her.

"'Maybe' what?"

"I can try something, but I don't know if it'll work." I couldn't believe I was actually considering this; I was a firm believer in letting people feel what they did, and not mess too much with it, but I also knew that chances were high that that night's events would seriously affect the rest of her life. This little girl had witnessed something no one should ever witness, and if I could have made a difference in how she handled it, that would have been a good thing, wouldn't it?

Bella had watched me intently, staying silent and waiting for me to get my thoughts together. I was grateful that she wasn't pushing me. She seemed to understand I was struggling with something, and she gave the space to work through it on my own. I felt a surge of love and confidence; she was giving me her silent support. It was astonishing how this little human understood me in a way nobody have ever done.

"Okay, I can try something, but I'm not sure it will work."

"I trust you." Those three little words were spoken with such conviction, and the feelings behind them showed that she was completely honest. I was once again amazed by the faith she had in me and I suddenly knew I could do it. I could help this little girl that was so important to Bella.

I projected some calm and trust to Claire and looked her firmly in the eyes.

"My name is Jasper and I'm going to help you, Claire." My voice sounded a little odd to me; it wasn't quite as compelling as I thought it should be, but it had the desired effect. She lifted her head from Bella's shoulder and looked at me.

"I need you to breathe with me." I directed. "Breathe in and then out again … slowly." I exaggerated my own breathes to get her to mimic me. She tried, but I had failed to take the smaller volume of her lungs into account and she began to feel a little panicked when she couldn't mirror me.

"Oops, I'm sorry. Your little lungs can't handle that much air at once." I smiled and poked her softly in the chest while sending her some happy feelings. She giggled and relaxed again.

After a while of breathing exercises with constant eye contact I could feel her emotions change and I knew it was time. I started to talk to her in a soft, but firm voice, telling her that everything would be fine, that she would get through this, that she was a strong little girl who would grow up to be a strong woman capable of doing anything she wanted. I told her that she would be happy, that she had people who loved her very much, and that she was safe. As I was doing this I kept pulling emotions from her, almost replacing the negative ones with positive ones.

Bella was looking at me inquiringly, she knew that I could only make someone feel a manufactured emotion for the time being and was no doubt wondering what would happen to Claire when I wasn't around anymore. I shook my head at her, indicating that I would explain later.

I continued working with Claire until I heard the sounds of a car approaching in the distance. I started to ease up on the emotional cocktail I was feeding her, and was pleased to feel the affects on her. She was still sad, but the severe feelings of trauma, shock, and fear were gone. I could feel an underlying sense of security in her, and when I smiled at her she instantly reciprocated. With the help of the people around her, she was going to be fine.

Intense emotions of grief, worry, and anger hit me. The wolves were close.

"I'm going to make you sleep now, and when you wake up you'll be with people who care about you, and you'll be safe." She reached her little hand out to me and petted my cheek. I hadn't felt the touch of a child since I was human, and suddenly a face floated before my eyes. It was the face of my little sister. I almost sobbed; I hadn't been able to clearly make out her features for years, not since before I'd met the Cullens.

"Are you okay, Jasper?" Bella asked. I shook my head to dispel the images and return to the presence.

"I'm fine," I answered with a smile. I took Claire's little hand in mine and placed a kiss in her palm. She giggled again and then promptly fell asleep due the heavy mixture of lethargy and drowsiness I fed her.

The car came to a skidding stop at the same time as the smell of wolves intensified. A man and a woman got out of the car and while the fear they felt when they saw me sitting with Bella and Claire in my lap was understandable, it still annoyed me.

"Bella!" the woman called. I quickly stood up and jumped over the ditch with the girls still in my arms. The man, who I recognized to be Sam, the Alpha of the pack, hardly contained his growl when I suddenly was before the woman. He felt incredibly protective of her, and I realized it was his mate.

"Emily, I'm so sorry," Bella said. I put her down on her feet again, making sure she had a hold on the sleeping girl in her arms.

"Are you okay? Claire? Laura?" The worry and grief were pouring out of her and she threw her arms around Bella, enclosing Claire in her embrace.

"Bella and Claire are both physically fine," I answered. "I put Claire to sleep."

Sam and I shared a look when we heard the pounding of paws come closer. "Thank you for taking care of her. She definitely didn't need to see a pack of large wolves on top of everything."

I felt his relief and gratitude, and gave him a small nod of understanding.

"I'm going to call for Embry to take the girls back to our house, and then we can talk."

A few minutes later the sounds of running stopped abruptly and a chorus of heartbreaking howls rang through the forest. Sam called out an order for silence and for Embry to come to us. The howling stopped and all that could be heard was some whimpering. A young man came walking out of the woods, looking distraught.

"Take Emily, Bella, and Claire to my house," Sam said.

"I'm staying here," Bella said.

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am. This concerns me, Sam, and I'm going to be here and see things through." She had a look of determination on her face, and I could feel Sam's frustration.

"Fine," he gritted out. He'd clearly faced a determined Bella before and knew that he wouldn't be able to convince her to change her mind. Embry took the sleeping Claire from Bella's arms and ran to the car. Emily gave Bella another hug before being whisked away to the car in Sam's arms. He whispered words of love to her, gave her a kiss, and watched in silence as they drove off. He took a few deep breathes, clenching his fists and squaring his shoulders. He turned back around, jumped over the ditch and prepared himself for the sight ahead.