a/n: I may or may not have proofread this.
Jacob's expecting some kind of pushback from Edward, maybe a little bickering just so he can get it through to Jacob how annoyed he was with the entire idea. Though, when he mentions staying at his place for a little while, Edward just sluggishly reaches for Bear's dresser and tugs open one of the drawers to show the tiny clothes folded up and placed neatly inside.
Jacob should want to help his team scour the rest of the house to figure out who broke in. He should, but he doesn't plan on taking his eyes off of Edward until they're back safely in Jacob's house. Jessica must feel it too. With every little pajama set and onesie Edward hands him to pack into Bear's little travel bag, she looks at the door and then to Jacob. If he doesn't take Edward directly home, she's going to start yelling at him and she's not going to stop until he's backing out of the driveway. He can't blame her, Edward's a pitiful sight to see. His arm is now in a sling, his forehead has a bandage on it, and he's standing like he's going to collapse at any second. Jacob hovers over him, quietly watching him when he wasn't reaching out to grab for whatever Edward was so determined to carry. He lugs Edward's suitcase and Bear's little, pink duffel bag out to the truck.
They almost make it out of the driveway before Edward's eyes close.
Jacob practically has to carry him inside. His movements are languid and his eyelids are heavy and Jacob thinks it'd be so easy to just scoop him up bridal style and carry him into the house. However, he'd gotten lucky enough to have Edward cooperating so far, he didn't need the drowsy man deciding that maybe he'd made a mistake. So, he throws Edward's good arm over his shoulder and helps him into the house where they're met with a very disgruntled Bear. Leah's rocking her in the kitchen, clearly trying to get her to calm down, but she's not having it.
For the first time since this morning, Edward perks up as if he's got all of the energy in the world, gaze immediately landing on a red-faced Bear. He makes his way over, mouth not saying anything, but his eyes are clearly pleading. Leah hands her over without a word, but her eyes follow him as he presses her up against his chest. Bear's wails die down into whines as he bounces her with one arm. She sounds like she's trying to hold a grudge but loses that fight immediately when he starts quietly talking to her. Her eyes droop even as she stares up at him as if he's got all of the answers.
Jacob places their bags down and, by the time he's crossed the kitchen, she's asleep. He doesn't want to break up the moment, take her away from him, but Edward's leaning against the kitchen counter for support at this point. So, Jacob steps in front of him, arms reaching out for her and Edward begrudgingly hands her over. He tries not to rush the journey upstairs, not wanting to jostle Bear, but he needed to get back downstairs before the man collapsed. He places her into the bassinet and takes two stairs at a time on his way back down.
Edward's got his eyes closed again, head tilted towards the floor, with his back still pressed up against the island. Leah's watching him just with a look just as wary as when she'd been holding Bear. He leans over, despite the fact that Leah can definitely hear him, and whispers into Edward's ear.
"If I don't pick you up, you're going to fall down those stairs," Jacob informs him, "that's gonna be really embarrassing."
"If you pick me up, I'm going to throw us both down those stairs." Edward whispers back without even bothering to open his eyes.
"Fine, but if you break your other arm, what are you going to hold Bear with?" Jacob asks and has to bite back a smile at the way Edward's nose scrunches and his forehead crinkles as if he hadn't thought of that.
He hums before letting out a sigh.
"Whatever."
So, Jacob gets an arm under his knees and the other under his back and lifts him from the floor with ease.
"If you drop me, I'm gonna tell Darlene." Edward whispers his threat into Jacob's neck and Jacob ignores the fact that Leah can definitely see the goofy grin blooming on his face.
They make it up the stairs without any incidents and Jacob lowers Edward down onto the bed before climbing in next to him. It takes a good ten minutes before he can hear the bed creak, feel a weight on top of him, and feel light breaths tickling his neck.
He shifts a little, trying to get them into a comfortable position, when his hand brushes Edward's cast. Suddenly, the crash is replaying itself in his head. A car careening down a quiet street at seven in the morning and just so happens to crash into his car with Edward and Bear sitting inside...
If they hadn't been fighting, Edward wouldn't have been in that car, he would've been in the diner. There was no way that was a part of their plan. So, maybe the driver wasn't aiming to hurt them. If it was the same person or group of people from the B&E, maybe they were looking for the same thing both times. Maybe the crash was supposed to be a distraction. If no one was in the car, Jacob wouldn't have rushed outside as fast as he had. He wouldn't have gone directly to his own car.
Maybe they'd tried to originally steal the information they wanted from Jacob's car and, when that hadn't worked, they'd broken into Edward's house.
They'd gotten so unlucky that it'd somehow managed to turn itself into a luck of its own.
He gently tilts himself to dig into his pocket and pull out his phone only to immediately see Jessica's name pop up on the caller ID. He's expecting some kind of update on the B&E. Maybe they'd found something on the cameras Emmett had installed.
"There's another body, Jake." Jessica informs him, the tone of her voice saying more than her words could convey. That's three bodies. They have a serial killer on their hands.
Wednesday morning is strange.
Edward gets up, stares into space looking like a disgruntled, old man, before huffing and trying to get dressed. He limps into the bathroom, somehow manages to get his pants on, but can't button them and he has one arm in a shirt sleeve when he limps back out in defeat. Jacob holds in his laughter, instead trying to focus as helps him with his shirt. He grunts and groans despite insisting that he's fine and sits with his lips pursed as Jacob buttons each button before glancing down at his pants.
He's about to open his mouth, say something snarky, but Edward hurriedly attempts to tuck his shirt into his pants with his one good hand. It's a shoddy job, but Jacob doesn't say anything as he zips the zipper and buttons his pants closed.
Jacob changes Bear and puts her in a new onesie before placing her back into her car seat before going to get dressed himself, and when he returns, Edward's trying his best to get his hair into something that looks professional.
They climb into the new cop car Jacob's been issued and head for the diner. Edward's as comfortable as he's going to get in the front seat, but he looks just as exhausted as he did the day of the accident. Jacob's about 80% sure his theory is correct. Maybe they don't know the baby in the car seat was the daughter of the woman they'd murdered, but they know Jacob's working the case, which still puts Bear in danger.
He pulls up to the diner, goes around to help Edward out, and then grabs Bear's car seat. They step into the inside and Jacob ignores the way almost every set of eyes finds them. Darlene perks, rushing over to them and immediately leading them to their booth. Edward hobbles behind Darlene and waits until Jacob's places Bear into the booth before he plops down next to her. Jacob allows Darlene to scribble down his usual and Edward lets out a noncommittal grunt before ordering tea.
He looked a bit better than he had the previous day. Granted, that may be the lack of severe bedhead and baby puke on his t-shirt, but it's a start. Jacob thinks he should've stayed home. Maybe he couldn't die, but he clearly could feel pain and it'd only been two days. He was sure Emmett and Jasper could handle this one on their own.
Darlene returns with a Jacob's food and Edward's tea. Jacob's not even remotely surprised when she hovers, looking between the two of them.
"It's good to see you back, Dear." She informs Edward, who gives her a polite nod before shyly taking a sip of his tea.
Then, she turns to Jacob.
"Would it have killed you to update us?" She huffs, arms crossing as if she's about to go on a tirade.
Jacob cringes. He knew he'd forgotten something.
"A lot happened." Jacob says, trying his best to look apologetic.
"We thought..." she doesn't finish her sentence, huffing in annoyance before she temporarily forgets that she's about to chew Jacob out. Her eyes catch Bear reaching out of her car seat to make grabby hands at Edward's shirt. He gives her a finger that she loosely holds, clearly happy with the peace offering.
Darlene lets out a breath that it seems she'd been holding since she'd made her way over.
"Well, I'll leave you two to it." Then, she's walking away, eyes not leaving the interaction until she's in front of another table.
Bear eventually, let's go of the digit as she sleeps and Jacob decides it wouldn't hurt to take her place.
When Jacob grabs for Edward's hand this time, it's less of a coy way to mess with him, and more of him trying to soothe himself. Unfortunately, it results in his tea going cold, but he doesn't complain.
Edward's weaker than he's been in a century. He hasn't felt this bad since he was lying in bed, dying from the flu. So, he hobbles into work with a styrofoam cup clutched in his hand, hoping that would be the cure to all of his ailments, and follows Jacob towards the lab. They're being watched, but they're always being watched these days. He's just happy to not have to answer any questions.
Jacob places Bear on Edward's desk and turns to leave. Edward's standing behind him, eyes on his brothers, who are pretending not to be nosey. He's about to say something when he feels something warm and wet press up against his cheek Jacob straightens back up, avoiding eye contact as he makes a swift exit.
"See you at lunch time."
"So, you wanna talk about the dead guy or?" Emmett says, leaning back in his chair with a smile on his face that clearly says Edward's never going to hear the end of this.
"Yeah, have you identified him, yet?" Edward answers, shuffling through the files on his desk.
"Sam Uley." Jasper informs him, handing over a file that only has the man's basic description and a picture of him attached to it.
"We saw his picture when we were identifying the first woman, Emily Young. We believe he's Bear's father." Edward blinks down at the photo a few times before looking over at Bear who is staring down at the bobblehead in her lap.
Both of them gone, just like that.
"Do we have a list of relatives?" Edward tries, eyes not leaving the little girl who is now staring up at the lights.
"Yeah, about that..." Emmett says, staring down at piece of paper he's holding, "the only ones who aren't considered suspects are a Leah and Seth Clearwater."
Leah...
"Leah?" Edward asks, eyes feeling as if they were going to close on their own.
"You met her downstairs. She's the one who took Bear's car seat." Jacob says and he's back to looking at him like he's afraid he's going to just topple over.
Edward blinks a couple of times, not believing his own unformed theory. There were plenty of Leahs. That didn't mean it was Jacob's Leah.
"We had to dig to find their names. They were marked off of the original list." Jasper informs him.
...Maybe there was a reason for that.
Jacob pops back up at lunch and they're about halfway to the diner when Edward's decides to just ask.
"What's Leah last name?" He mumbles, trying not to seem too eager for the information.
Jacob must know all of this already. They lived in his house. He'd have done something to clear their name.
"Clearwater. Why?" Jacob answers, glancing over at him before looking back towards the road.
Edward blinks a few times, trying his hardest not to leap to conclusions.
"I saw her name on one of the lists of Bear's relatives." He says, finally glancing over at Jacob, who doesn't seem even slightly surprised by the information.
"They left Uley's pack years ago. Sam and Leah used to date, he imprinted on someone else, they broke up." Jacob says with a shrug.
Imprinted?
"She has an alibi, if that's what you're worried about. She was at the diner all day working on a shift because Darlene was sick. About a hundred people saw her. Seth was working the grill that day." He informs Edward.
"Imprinted?" Edward mumbles, looking over to Jacob, who seems way more startled by Edward's ignorance on the word than he had on Edward digging into Leah's family tree.
"Yeah," he confirms, clearing his throat, "it's when, uh, a werewolf becomes attached to someone."
"Attached?"
Edward's never heard of it. Something strong and sudden enough that it could tear apart a relationship?
"Yeah, like, falling in love except more intense." Jacob speeds through his explanation before suddenly being really invested in whatever was happening with the cars around them.
"Oh, well, how does that work?" Edward asks, now thoroughly invested.
Was it rare? What if they never run into the person they're supposed to imprint on? How do you even know?
"What? You're suddenly invested in werewolf biology?" Jacob quips sarcastically, glancing over at Edward with disbelief written all over his face.
"Yeah, 'cause I suddenly have a werewolf baby to take care of," Edward bites back, "well, maybe not anymore since they've found actual relatives who aren't suspects."
He can feel Jacob glance over at him for a minute before his eyes return to the road.
"Leah's not going to want to raise Bear. Leah imprinted on Sam, he imprinted on someone else and those two had a baby. You don't just bounce back from that. It hurts. Seth is too young." Jacob informs him.
"Right." Edward mumbles, eyes staring down at the floor, trying not to seem as overwhelmed as he felt.
Though, that's hard to do when he can feel his heartbeat in his head.
Edward's in pain. He hasn't said anything, but Jacob can tell by the way he'd barely gotten out a coherent sentence when Darlene had asked him for his order. His head is bowed and his good hand is pressed against his forehead.
"Hey," Jacob almost whispers, fingers going up to brush against the Edward's, "it's okay if you need to go home."
Edward doesn't say anything, but Jacob's pretty sure it's because his teeth are clenched together. He doesn't bother to wait for an answer either, moving to help Edward onto his feet. He scoops Bear up and helps Edward over to the cash register where he quickly explains what's going on to current cashier, David. Dave just gives a quick nod, eyes darting over to Edward in concern before he rushes off to tell the cook. Jacob helps Edward into the passenger's seat first before he buckles Bear in. He calls the Chief on the ride home.
Jacob doesn't like it, but he has to take Bear in first before he can get Edward out. He can protest all he wants but he can barely stand without needing to double over or stumbling. So, Jacob rushes Bear up to the house and hands her off to a concerned Leah before rushing back out to the car to get Edward.
He's not in the car when Jacob returns.
Jacob yanks open the door, thinking that he's leaned down to put his head in his lap. Nothing.
He's about to start panicking, heart hammering in his chest as he looks on the backseat as if he could've crawled across with his arm busted up the way it is, only to stop in his tracks when he hears the sound of someone gagging.
He turns towards the sound only to see Edward leaned against the trunk of a tree, bent over as he pukes up whatever is in his stomach. Jacob lets him finish, saying nothing when he smears blood on his rumpled work shirt. He just picks him up and carries him into the house.
He's out before Jacob can even get him upstairs.
When he comes to, Jacob's watching him. He can feel his gaze on the side of his head like he's analyzing every part of Edward's face. Edward looks over, expecting him to look away, only to find himself face-to-face with that scrutinizing stare.
"I thought vampires didn't sleep." Jacob finally mumbles after a minute.
Edward blinks up at him, confused by the tone Jacob says it in, like he's accusing him of something.
"We don't. I'm not sleeping," Edward mumbles, blinking a few more times, "I'm passing out."
"You're sick." Jacob hisses as if he's done something wrong.
"It can't kill me." Edward says with a shrug and watches as Jacob thinks over this new information.
It seemingly does nothing to ease his worries.
"I'm calling Jasper." He says like a threat.
"You don't even have Jasper's number." Edward hums, making himself comfortable on Jacob's chest.
This conversation might be going somewhere, but he's not going to be conscious when they get there. He's about to descend into darkness again when he feels Jacob's hand on his ass.
"What you don't keep it there anymore?"
Then, a hand is being shoved into one of his other pockets and Jacob fishes out his phone. He taps in the code, scrolls through Edward's contacts, and he's on the phone with Jasper in seconds.
"Yes, is this the know-it-all brother?"