A Meeting With Fate
(The 12 Vamps of Christmas Day 3)
A crazy challenge I set myself to produce 12 different Bella/vampire one shots or story snippets for the 12 days leading up to Christmas.
(Even more crazy when you know that I only decided to do this 6 days before I posted the first story!)
The general aim is that for 12 days leading up to Christmas I will be posting 12 different one shots/snippets, each with Bella and a different vamp (though I've stretched that just a little).
Bella stood on the cliff top looking down at the choppy water with a frown.
She had been determined to jump today, needing the rush, and now Jacob hadn't shown up and she was stuck with only her black swirling thoughts for company.
She had tried so hard to hold it together, knowing that the way she had reacted to hisdeparture wasn't normal, but she hadn't been able to control it. Jacob had helped, his friendship had been a bright spot to her, but now he was starting to push for more and she just couldn't see him that way.
Even her sunshine was now starting to scorch her instead of warm her.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, Bella looked down again at the water. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that jumping was a bad idea; while she was a good swimmer, the currents around the bottom of the cliffs were strong even on a good day.
It didn't matter though, it felt like there was a pressure in her head, a compulsion urging her to jump, to take another risk… and she couldn't keep fighting it.
Connor looked around curiously, his hand feeling the worn piece of paper in his pocket as if checking it was still there.
It didn't say much on it, just an instruction to be here at this specific date and time, and a name. He'd been dubious at first when the seer had given it to him as a thank you for saving her life.
He hadn't wanted anything in return; with LA the way it was now since his father taking down the Black Thorn guys, saving people had become a twice daily thing. He smirked faintly, yes, it was twice daily at least… on a good day.
Wolfram and Hart, well the LA branch anyway, was all but defunct now, and Angel Investigations had resurfaced from the ashes. For the first time Connor was truly working side by side with his father, Angel, and despite the crazy circumstances he loved it.
Things had eventually calmed down some after the initial chaos the AI team had unleashed, and it was a good team they had going in LA now. Wesley had survived his injuries, though he had never been the same, and now ran their headquarters as well as heading up research.
Spike had become something of an annoying uncle to Connor, often falling somewhere between infuriating and hilarious, but he was a tough fighter and someone Connor was proud to stand alongside.
Then there was Faith and the other Slayers. They'd shown up not long after the initial fall of Los Angeles and helped turn back the tide. Connor had eventually gotten over his fascination with Slayers and got along well with the group of girls, but it seemed his father hadn't as he often spotted Angel watching Faith a little too closely…
Shaking his head in amusement, Connor refocused on his surroundings, trying to figure out why the seer had sent him here, and then he saw her. In the distance was a small figure standing at the cliff edge, arms wrapped around herself and dark hair blowing in the breeze.
He watched in horror as she approached the edge, almost looking as if she was fighting herself, and his legs started moving. It didn't matter that he had no idea who this girl was, he had obviously been sent to save her for a reason.
Running along the cliff top, he pushed with all he had but knew he couldn't reach her in time. Reaching where she'd been only a moment before, he looked over the edge and when he didn't see her surface followed her, diving into the turbulent waves without hesitation.
Bella coughed roughly as she came to, her throat and lungs burning as she did.
It took her a moment to remember what had happened, and she cringed when she did. What in the hell had possessed her to throw herself off the cliff in this kind of weather?
Finally looking up at her saviour, she started in surprise at the unfamiliar face.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked, helping her sit up slowly.
Bella nodded, her skin warming wherever he touched her.
"I'm Connor," He told her softly, "Are you Bella?"
"How did you…?" Bella started to ask, her raw throat making it hard to speak.
"Sh, questions later. First let's get you out of the cold."
Bella nodded again, finding herself strangely unable to protest, even though she had no idea who her mystery saviour was. She still hadn't protested as he'd helped her get home and taken care of her.
Once she was settled with dry clothes and a hot drink he'd looked at her seriously.
"Now you need to tell me why there's a Cold One after you, and whether it has something to do with that bite mark you have. Which you really shouldn't have survived by the way."
"What? How do you know about Cold Ones? And why do you think there's one after me?"
"Because I saw her. Red hair right? Really doesn't like you? I saw her in the water when I pulled you out."
He could see Bella tense up at the mention of red hair, but when she just looked at him warily, he sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Look, it's a really long story, which trust me you don't want to know most of, but I know about vampires and Cold Ones. In fact, no offence or anything but I'm pretty sure I know more than you do, I was raised by a vampire hunter."
He didn't bother to mention just yet that it was in a hell dimension that he'd eventually had to break out of, or that both his parents were actually vampires; no need to overwhelm the girl right away.
That was the first of many afternoons they'd spent together, and eventually they'd told each other everything, becoming good friends along the way. Things were relatively quiet in LA, and so Connor stayed in Forks, something telling him that he needed to be there.
He'd even gotten to know Charlie, being round at the house as often as he was, and he got the impression that the gruff man quite liked him. Which certainly made keeping an eye on Bella easier.
Though he didn't quite have vampire senses, his parentage and years of training meant that he had far keener senses than any human. More than once he had picked up on a scent around and in Bella's home that didn't belong and he knew that sooner or later the red-head, Victoria, would attack.
Hatching a plan with the nearby wolf shifters had been simple really. He didn't like Jacob who insisted on continually badgering Bella, but the rest were tolerable and they wanted Victoria dead too which was a big help.
A guard system was worked out, so that Victoria would never get close to Bella and for a good while it worked, but no one had factored in a petulant teenage wolf who wanted his own way.
Jacob looked around quickly, making sure no one else could see him as he headed to Chief Swan's house. He was supposed to be on duty, but no one had seen the red head in days so he figured a few moments wouldn't make a difference and he wanted to talk to Bella without that weird half vampire kid breathing down his neck.
He was sure Bella would want to see him without Connor there, and as he was in a meeting with Sam right now, this could be the only chance Jacob had for a while.
Connor sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He'd gone to all the trouble to arrange a meeting with Sam just after dark to let him know there would be another vampire arriving in the area for their side, and now said vampire was late… just typical.
All he wanted to do was get back to Bella as he had a gut feeling something wasn't right today, a feeling that wasn't helped when he heard a sudden outbreak of howls.
"Now mate, why do I get the feeling that isn't good?" A familiar sarcastic British accent rang out as Sam ducked into the trees to phase quickly.
"Spike." Connor greeted as the blond vampire stepped into the clearing. "You're late."
"Simmer down, sire spawn… I had Slayers to torment." Spike smirked, pulling out a pack of smokes.
He didn't have a chance to light one though, as a huge black wolf appeared from the trees and shifted briefly into a man.
"Well, that's something you don't see every day." Spike commented dryly, looking at the naked Quileute in front of him. "I hope there's a good reason you're flashing us your meat and two veg mate."
Connor snorted even as Sam glared at the vampire.
"Jacob has left his post and Victoria been scented." He growled and all the humour of that moment disappeared.
Changing back into a wolf, Sam turned and headed into to the trees, keeping his speed down so that the others would be able to keep up as he started tracking Jacob.
Bella backed away from the enraged red-head, aware that it would do no good, but unable to stop the automatic reaction. She was regretting ever agreeing to speak to Jacob out in the garden now.
Her gaze skimmed over Jacob's prone form. He was breathing steadily, but Victoria had knocked him out easily when she appeared.
"It's just you and me now… Bella." She cooed in an annoying high voice. "Your vampire need to pay for what he did to James. Mate for a mate."
Bella shook her head in denial. "Edward left me. I'm not his mate, I'm not anything to him."
"That doesn't matter." Victoria hissed, darting forward and grabbing Bella, "James died because of you… and now I'm going to enjoy this…"
"Not so fast love…" Bella didn't recognise the British accent, nor the person it belonged to, currently stepping out from the trees.
"Who are you?" Victoria demanded, holding Bella by the neck.
"Someone who wouldn't be happy if you harmed the little bit there… that's all you need to know."
Victoria laughed, her grip loosening. "What exactly are you going to do about it?"
"Me? Not a whole bloody lot… but them…"
Victoria turned her head to look behind and Spike took his chance, darting forward and snatching Bella from her hold.
In an instant Victoria disappeared in a mass of black fur and a fast moving blur that looked like Connor. The movement slowed until Bella could see Victoria being held still by Connor as the massive wolf she knew to be Sam bit her head off, then spat it out with obvious disgust.
Connor lit the pile of remains with satisfaction, watching while they all caught alight and gave off a sickly smelling purple smoke.
Turning to Bella, he frowned when he saw her rubbing her sore neck.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he approached, taking one of her hands.
"Yeah, I'm good, just a bit sore." Bella replied.
Connor didn't say anything for a long moment, just looked at her intensely and Bella blushed under his gaze.
"I thought I was gonna lose you," He murmured suddenly, "I don't want to feel like that again."
Then he stepped forward, tugging Bella close and pressing his lips to hers.
Bella melted into him, winding an arm around his neck as he licked her bottom lip and twisted his tongue with hers.
"I've waited ages to do that." He whispered when they parted to breathe.
"Then do it again." Bella replied.
A low growl ripped through the air, breaking the moment, followed by a wolfy grunt of pain.
"Down boy," Spike smirked, foot raised to kick Jacob again if necessary, "Unless you want me to see how loud I can make you bark."
Connor looked back at Bella, sharing an amused grin with her. "Now, what was that you were saying about 'again'?"
~*~ fin ~*~
Unbeta'd so any mistakes are my own.
Thanks to Mommy4Thomas for helping name this one shot.
I know this one was a bit of an unusual character to choose (as well as not quite being a vampire…) but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.