Chapter Text
Author’s Note: Jasper was hunting to take his mind of worrying about Alice (although it didn’t work, obviously) when they got to the airport and so the rest of the Cullens had to leave without him.
Jasper felt the grief before he even got to the door. He flung the door open and all the eyes in the room flickered to him. As he scanned the room, his gaze froze on Bella and Edward clinging to each other and his heart shattered in his chest. If they were both here, there was only one person whose loss could be the reason for the grief his family was feeling. Jasper desperately looked around, hoping against hope that he would see Alice looking back at him and that she would run into his arms, safe.
But she wasn’t there.
All of their emotions suffocated him. Grief, pity, sorrow. If they could have felt his emotions at that moment…
“No.” Was the only word he could utter. No. Alice couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be. But she wasn’t there. “Alice.” Her name was a guttural groan in his throat. Jasper collapsed to the ground on his knees. Esme was by his side in an instant, wrapping her arms around him. “No, please, no, not Alice.” He begged.
Edward stepped forward “Jasper, I’m so sorry.” Then he stopped, there was nothing more he could say.
“What...happened… to her?” Jasper choked on his words.
~
As the three of them walked towards the door, Alice stopped suddenly, a vision flashing before her eyes. Before Edward could react, Felix grabbed Alice and dragged her back. As Edward lunged, Caius stopped him dead in his tracks, flinging him down away from Alice and Felix, and up against the wall.
Alice writhed in Felix’s grip, but it was futile. He was too strong.
Aro walked calmly toward them “My dear, I could not let you leave so easily. You see, your gift would be very useful to me.” His voice was almost a purr.
“I’ll never join you.” Alice spat at him. Then for a moment a vision took the place of Aro in her eyes. She gasped in fear. Aro smiled horribly, fully aware of what she had seen. “Are you sure, my dear, that you won’t join my coven?” Aro’s voice dripped with fake sweetness. Alice shook her head defiantly “I’d rather die.”
Aro shook his head in genuine disappointment “Well then, die you will.”
“No!” Bella and Edward cried in unison.
Aro turned and walked away, waving his hand carelessly at Felix as he did so, who yanked Alice up until he was carrying her. Then he walked to the door as Edward fought against Caius. Bella threw herself forward, but she was restrained by Jane. They could do nothing but watch helplessly as Alice was taken from them.
Just as they got to the door, Aro moved so fast Bella didn’t see him until he stood beside Alice and Felix. He murmured something that no one else in the room could hear. Then he raised his voice enough so Bella could hear him whisper –
Edward hesitated for a moment before continuing. He knew what this would do to Jasper. But he deserved to know.
- “Draw it out a bit, will you?” He was back at his chair before Bella could process what he had said.
“Tell Jasper that I’m sorry, and that I love him!” Alice cried before the door slammed behind her and Felix. Jane and Felix waited a moment before pulling Bella and Edward out the door as well. They were halfway down the corridor when they heard Alice’s screams.
Her dying cries echoed around them as they were forced further and further away from them. Her name ripped from their lips and echoed around them as well, creating a cacophony straight from the depths of Hell.
They were shoved outside and the doors slammed behind them.
~
Esme stroked Jasper’s hair softly as he wept. His tearless sobs ripped through the silence. Edward saw memories of Alice in all of their minds, Jasper especially. Alice the first time Jasper met her, Alice laughing, Alice smiling, Alice the first time the rest of the Cullens met her, Alice seeing a vision, Alice being carried in Jasper’s arms, Alice hunting, Alice doing everything that she could never do again.
He would kill Felix. He would kill Felix and then the Volturi would kill him.
Edward heard his thoughts and as Jasper pulled away from Esme, Edward dove towards him, grabbing his shoulders. Jasper fought against him but by then the other Cullens had realised what Jasper was trying to do. Between the five of them, they pinned him to the ground.
“Let me go!” Jasper snarled. “I don’t want to hurt any of you, but I will if I have to.” None of them released their grip on him. Jasper fought more desperately against them, they weren’t his family anymore, they were his enemies. He shoved Carlisle backwards, making him fly back into the wall, which cracked. He turned to Esme next, pushing her away as well, but more gently. She landed on the sofa.
“This is what you wanted when you thought Bella was dead!” He roared at Edward “You wanted to die! You wanted to die, and now Alice is gone! You owe me this! You know how much it hurts.” His voice broke.
“I know. And I know fighting you makes me a hypocrite, but I won’t lose my brother as well as my sister.” Edward replied resolutely. Behind him, Jasper could see Bella watching in horror and in that moment, he hated her. Loathed her because she was there, and he wished more than anything that Alice was in her place. She cowered away from his hate-filled glare in fear.
His hands threw Edward and Rosalie away from him, a crack formed on Edward’s jaw, leaving only Emmett. For a moment, Jasper broke free and threw the door open. Emmett followed him and cut him off. They wrestled on the floor, neither of them being able to gain the upper hand for long. It was normally almost impossible to tell who the better fighter was, and now they both had so much more to fight for. It all hung on whether or not Emmett’s desperation to save his brother would win over Jasper’s desperation to join Alice in death.
Emmett threw Jasper into a tree, the impact uprooting the tree and it fell with a crash. Jasper recovered quickly and kicked Emmett’s feet out from under him. He got back to his feet and lifted his arm to shove Jasper back towards the house but Jasper anticipated this and ripped a chunk out of Emmett’s arm. Emmett howled and Jasper took advantage of this and disappeared into the trees.
Carlisle and Rosalie sped after him and between them, dragged him backwards. Driven by his grief, it wasn’t until Esme and Edward joined them that they finally managed to get him under control.
“Please. Let me do this. Please.” Jasper pleaded. Carlisle shook his head gravely.
“I will not lose my son as well.” He sighed, although he knew as they all did that they had lost Jasper, if not physically. Alice was not complete without Jasper and Jasper was not complete without Alice. They needed each other.
Jasper went limp in their grip and they half dragged, half carried him inside. Esme gathered him in a hug, and the rest of them followed her until they all sat on the floor, clinging to each other, all of them aware that there was one vital part missing and she could never be replaced.