Running through the woods, a small child of four with ringlets of dirty blonde hair and eyes the color of the sky, ducked and dodged trees and bushes as she hurtled fallen logs and puddles left from the storm the night before. Cuts and scratches healing near immediately as she ran through the underbrush, her eyes to cloudy from tears to see the thorns.

As she ran she could hear those that were after her getting closer, closing the distance she was desperately trying to keep. Her blood flowed hard and fast through her veins, the added thickness of venom causing her whole body to burn. Still she didn't slow, pushing her legs as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was but she knew where she was going; the knowledge that if she could just go a little farther everything would be fine, she would be safe.

Miles from where she started and miles more to go, the child ran with everything she had, baring down and gritting her teeth as her breath came fast and short, a caress of a scent on the air that she was determined to reach before she was captured.

The soft earth beneath her feet as she pounded into the ground rose up creating a fog behind her, serving as both a blinder and clear path to follow. It didn't matter, the end was in sight, the encampment she was searching for coming closer, the noise from within rising up and over powering the white noise in her ears.

She was there, right there. A little closer and she could scream and be heard, be saved. Taking in as much air as she could into her lungs, fear and desperation covering her normal bell tone voice as she called with all she was worth.

"DADDY!"

Everything stopped, all sound and all movement froze at the cry on the air, a single being within the confines and throes of those that surrounded him as his head snapped up and whipped around to face the direction of the desperate call. Not a nanosecond, not a conceivable time passes before he was off with no regard as to who was in in his way, darting through them like they were not even there.

Hurtling a fence, he landed just in time for a child to break the trees and seek him out. The moment her blue eyes locked on his black ones, she was in his arms, he on a bended knee, his fingers digging into the ground as the force of impact knocked them back, feet from point of collision. One arm behind the child's back as her arms tightened around his neck in a strangle hold, the vampire major held her to him in a hold to tell her she was safe, that nothing would touch her, not anymore. His other arm came around her as they stopped moving, pulling her closer as he called forth his power to calm and settle the child, his child.

Once the little one was as settled as she was going to get, Jasper pulled back and looked at her, his voice soft and soothing, belaying the murder that swirled in his eyes at the pungent scent and feel of his little lady's fear and desperation. "Calm down Darlin'. Daddy's here and ain't nothing gonna hurt you." Once the child was looking at him, he gave her a serious but caring look. "Now, tell Daddy what happened."

Gagging on her breath, she tried to tell him, but everything was jumbled in her mind, her memories of the horror she was witness to haunting her; bringing her fear up to run rampant in her veins once again, even under the influence of her daddy's power. Her voice was shaking, full of every negative emotion that consumed her. "They found us Daddy. They killed mommy and now they are after me. Daddy, please; please you have to help me! I was so scared. I tried daddy, I tried to help her but there were too many. They were too strong for me." With that, the little one buried her face back into Jasper's chest as she shuddered and shook, her voice taking on a pleading tone, "Please help me. I don't want to die."

The growl that shook the ground beneath the feet of those that looked on, watching the dealer of death appointed to the task by Satan himself, had everyone within hearing distance falling all over themselves to get back and away. Only the oldest and bravest remained, their own eyes black as pitch as they waited for the coming command.

Lips pulled from his teeth, Jasper's eyes narrowed as he pulled his daughter closer to him. His voice when he spoke was dark and demonic, the definition of evil falling from his lips…

"Find them." There was a beat of a pause, "now."

Three vampires vanished from sight, tearing out of camp into the woods beyond, the very woods that the child appeared from in the moments prior, the Major's Captain at the head of the pack, his fingers in claws as the moonlight shined against the venom that coated his bared teeth.

Barking out commands to his suburbanites as he took to the trees, the southern captain followed his nose, his gift of knowledge kicking in and telling him where to find the ones to attempt to bring his major to his knees. This was unacceptable in any race. The harming of a child, even to the likes of the murderous vampires that plagued the south, was unacceptable. The southern captain knew that his major was hiding secrets, but he never would have thought it to be so monumental as a child. It didn't matter however. If the major didn't tell him of the little one, it was not his place to question it. It was however his place to protect her now that he knew; and that was exactly what he was going to do. Starting with finding the ones that were not but a quarter mile from camp debating their chances of capturing the child as they were sent to do.

Peter snorted hard as the words of the four retards hit his ears. The only chance they had of getting anywhere NEAR that baby was over Jasper's ashes and if the devil himself couldn't kill the fucker, these fuck ups had no chance. His major wasn't a vampire; Peter was fully convinced that the fucker was a God because there is no one alive, whole or in part, that can best him at anything. No one, not even the royal family overseas, fucked with the Southern Major unless they want to die.

Using his hands to signal to the others what to do, he looked on from the tree he was perched in as whispered words that only he could hear tapped at his brain, laying everything out before him like a script to a play. A wicked grin that sent shivers down the spines of the others lifted his lips as it played out before his mind's eye. This was going to be fantastic and Peter couldn't WAIT until they returned to camp. His major was out for blood and the only way to settle the demon that resides beneath the cloak of his brother at arms and sire, was to paint the world red.

Looking around the trees and seeing all were ready, with a simple look, his underlings descended on the poor bastards that took the wrong job. Screams of pain and terror floated up from the clearing, the caption chuckling in delight as the sound of vampire flesh being ripped and shredded caressed his ears. As the others converged on the only remaining creation in the clearing, Peter called out, "No." stopping everyone in their spot.

Hopping down from his branch, Peter slowly walked over to the last remaining vampire with his hands clasped behind his back, a dark and amused smirk settled on his lip, his eyes positively dancing with evil mirth. "Not him." Stopping in front of the man that looked at him with a completely understandable fear in his eyes, Peter bent at the waist and locked eyes, smirk still in place as he chuckled low and deep in his throat. "He has a debriefing with the Major."

Smirk growing and teeth flashing as he chuckled again, Peter leaned in close to the man's face, getting nose to nose with him when the two sergeants present grabbed him and kept him from moving back as the flight instinct kicked in. Lowering his voice, Peter tittered in his face, "you are about to meet the grim reaper, the face of evil, Satan's right hand himself. You should feel privileged because not many get the opportunity you are. I suggest you make your peace with whatever god will have you because mine is about to fuck you up."

Smirking at him one more time, Peter stood and jerked his head signaling it was time to return with the firewood. And he put up a hell of a fight too; Peter was nearly impressed. On the outskirts of the camp though, all humor left him as the sounds of a crying child assaulted his ears. Glaring daggers at the soon to be fire, Peter lifted his foot and planted it dead center of the guy's back sending him flying into the camp, sliding to stop at the Major's feet as he stood with his child in his arms.

Shifting his Little Lady in his grip to sit on his hip, he looked down his nose at the body at his feet like a sacrifice to a god as his daughter laid her head on his shoulder, her little hand fisted in front of her mouth to muffle her whimpers.

Dark and excited eyes looked down at the corpse as a slow smirk came to his mouth, a chuckle that had everyone but the baby shuddering in terror. Looking at the child out of the corner of his eye, "Darlin'" waiting for her eyes to meet his, "what part did this one play?"

Looking at her father a moment longer, she shifted her eyes to the man that was looking at her with murder in his eyes making her gulp and whimper. Feeling a sense of confidence engulf her, she took a deep breath and looked back at her daddy. "He was the one that held me down and made me watch what they did to mommy."

A low growl rumbled Jasper's chest, but he pressed on, wanting to hear her account of events knowing the child wouldn't lie to him. Lower his voice into a soothing tenor, "and what did they do?"

A strangled cry left her throat, choked and full of horror, "It was horrible. The things they said to mommy were so horrible! They called her a bitch, a cunt, a vampire's whore, a worthless slut but... the blood, god daddy, the blood. There was so much blood. They did to her what you said happened to vampires. They… they tore… ripped her apart; joint by joint, piece by piece. I… I tried… tried to help… her… but I… I could… couldn't. She… she told… told me… me to run… to find… you. Told me… not to… to stop… not to stop till…. Till I found you, so I… bit him and ran." Tears running down her face, she turned away from her father's eyes as her breath hitched and broke. "I'm sor… ry, I try…ed."

Part way through her recountment, Jasper had stepped on the back of the neck of the man at his feet as he slowly tried to move away from the enraged demon before him. The more the child spoke, the harder he pressed down and as she finished, Jasper had so much pressure on the neck joint that the head popped off like the head of a dandelion and bounced across the ground like a ball.

As the baby started to scream and cry, Jasper's eyes went completely black, even the whites leaving the entire camp to fully believe they were looking into the face of the devil. There was a growl on the air that had everyone present glad they no longer had working bladders. He was looking at the body before him, his mind going through every torture he had ever even heard of trying to find a fitting end to the piece of shit still sacrificed before him.

Setting a hand on the back of his daughter's head to calm her through outside means since she was too worked up for his power to be of much use, he turned those demonic eyes on his captain, saying nothing but everything at the same time. Turning away without a word, he then simply walked away as his mind continued to turn and tumble with what he was going to do to his new toy once he got his little lady settled back down and into her new home. There was information needed to be obtained but there nothing more important currently than the health and wellbeing of his daughter.

**XX**

Two hours later, Jasper had his daughter nearly sleeping when there was a light tap on the door to his cabin. Moving only his eyes to the door, he simply waited, knowing who was on the other side and had a decent guess as to what he wanted.

When Peter opened the door, he saw his Major with his feet kicked up on his desk, lounging back with his baby stretched out across his chest, one arm under her bottom the other behind his head, purring quietly in his chest under her ear. If the situation wasn't what it was, Peter would describe him as content, even say the scene was adorable, but if you looked in his eyes that were still noting but endlessly deep pools of onyx, you knew they were anything but.

Peter closed the door behind him but made no move to get closer. He was completely aware that if Jasper got it in his head to do so, he could kill him and return to his position before the baby even knew he moved at all. When he saw one brow slowly slide up behind Jasper's bangs, Peter cleared his throat and reported what he was there to tell.

"The group of five has been dispatched to recover and remove evidence with the added order of recon while doing so."

Jasper just nodded his understanding, returning his eyes to the little one in his arms when she began to shift and whimper, her scent being overtaken by fear and agony. Looking back to his Captain, his lips thinned, the purr in his chest deepening to a growl that seemed to sooth the child back into slumber. The Major did nothing to keep his voice soft or quiet when he finally spoke to his Captain, "Anything else?"

"The prisoner has been placed in a holding cell until you're ready for him." Then Peter tossed something to him, Jasper catching it with ease and holding it before his eyes. A shot of ice traveled Peter spine as the tiny bit of color that had returned to the Major's eyes left again leaving him once again in the presence of his God.

Tossing the pendent on his desk, Jasper stood, child in his arms and swept from the room with a 'follow me'. As much as he would have liked to let her sleep, to recover to some degree after the length she ran to find him, this was not something that could wait. It needed dealt with now before it was too late to take care of.

It would seem that they finally figured out there is more than one way to skin a cat and if they couldn't take him out directly, they would do it through other means.

Idiots

It wasn't that the major was shedding nonexistent tears over the loss of the human woman; he really didn't give a fuck that she was dead. All the human was was lucky that he was horny and not hungry that night or she would have been dead five years ago. The human had been living on borrowed time for a long time. It really had never been a matter of IF someone found out about his daughter, it had always been when. He had just apparently overestimated the intelligence of the human that birthed his little lady in following a simple fucking order.

Call him if the need arose.

He bought, and paid for, a cell phone for her so she could both keep him updated on his daughter and to let him know what, if anything, was needed and when. Safety measures had always been put in place for both of them that were ready at a moment's notice. All she would have needed to do was pick up the fucking phone, use it like she always did and she would still be alive. She could talk to someone in bum fuck nowhere Australia for seven and half hours but she couldn't make a ten second call to him to tell him they were found.

No, he didn't care she was gone. Good fucking riddance in his opinion. What he cared about was that his little lady was forced to watch as her mother was killed then make a four state dash to safety and freedom while being hunted by four seasoned vampires.

If the human was still alive, he would fucking kill her.

He never wanted his daughter to be privy to the life he lived, saw what he did on a daily basis or be raised in a war zone. Now, he didn't have a choice in the matter. He had only just re-upped his contract right before he found out he was gonna be a daddy. He could opt out early but was bound to the camp for two more years minimum before he could walk away with no complications. If he walked now, he would be considered AWOL and then it would be an even worse situation than it already was. Going AWOL from vampire military is a lot like doing so in the human version. They look for you only there is no brig when found, it's a fire pit.

Looking down at his little lady, a small smile and gentle softness entered his eyes. The only good thing in this situation was that with her there and under his care, no one would be stupid enough to actually try anything quite so suicidal again. That, and a vampire encampment that he was the head officer of was actually the safest place for her. No one within the border has the balls to cross him so no one would have the balls to even look at his daughter in any way that was gonna piss him off.

Jade was just going to have to be made to understand the goings on and see who it was her father really is. Not an idea he relished but he, again, didn't have a choice.

When the Major reached the brig, he looked to his Captain for a moment before handing his little lady over to him for the time being. There was literally no one else that would live long after touching her other than him. Of course, if he trusted Peter with his own life, he was positive that he could trust him with hers. When the child went to the captain with no fuss, Jasper scratched at her scalp while locking his eyes on Peter's, the look one that was completely unable to be misunderstood.

It was Peter's head if something happened to the child.

Once Peter was secure in his hold on the doll baby, he leaned on the wall across from the cell. There were small slits in the walls that allowed the moonlight from outside to slip in lighting the cell enough for the full venom vampires to see without issue. In the back of the fucker's jaw, two crescent, half-moons shone the deep bite mark that the little one left on him when she gained her freedom. He cocked a little brow at it before looking at the child in his arms. So, she was venomous then… that was good to know. He was sure that she had strong teeth that would hurt something awful to get bit by, but until he saw it, he wasn't sure about her leaving scars behind.

Peter kicked up a purr in his chest when his Major opened the cell door and slipped inside, slamming it shut behind him and waking the tyke in his arms completely up. He looked down at her again when she shifted around, smiling slightly when he felt the fast breaths of her sniffing at his neck, trying to figure out who the fuck was holding her. She either found nothing threatening about him or there was enough of her daddy's scent on him for her to not be worried about the change of guardian because she didn't put up a fight against him.

Still looking down at her, he saw bright blue eyes looking up at him, but not focusing ON him. It was apparently too dark in the hall for her to be able to see very well. His guess was he was nothing but a shadow figure to her, but because he was calm, she kept her fear in check.

She was quiet for a long moment, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dark so she could see better, and when she did speak, her voice was thick and groggy, "Who are you?"

Knowing what it was like for the first hour of coming out from under Jasper's empathy, he knew just how long it took to wear off completely and for your own emotions to level back out. So, he just smiled at the tired voice, "Peter."

Jade ran that name through her head a few times, trying to remember where she heard it before. Her mind was still cloudy and fragmented with pictures of the prior days so it took her sometime before it clicked. "You work for Daddy."

Smile growing a little, Peter nodded, "Yes ma'am. I'm your daddy's first Capitan."

"Did you know my mommy, too?"

Peter actually had to think about that one for minute. There was a possibility he had, but it hadn't been since she was born and he wasn't sure which human Jazz fucked over the years was her mother. Humming a little in his throat, he went with honestly because he really didn't know. "No, Sugar, I didn't know her. I might have met her once before you were born though."

They were both quiet for a few minutes before Jade spoke up again, her voice soft and distant, "I tried to call daddy when it happened."

Peter glanced back down at her, his brow raised a bit, "what was that?"

Jade sniffled a bit, a small whimper sounding out into the still air around them, "Mommy was in the shower and I looked for her phone. I had just found it and was trying to figure out how to use it when they came in."

"Why were you trying to call your daddy, Punkin?"

Jade lifted her eyes to his, sorrowful emotions in the blue orbs begging him to not repeat this. "I don't think she wanted me around anymore." There was a short pause before the child spoke again, "She was always going out with this man and leaving me behind. When she talked to him on the phone, she never told him about me. She was supposed to go out that night too, but was running late because of me. She wouldn't have been home had I not needed to feed that day. She had called Mark to bring blood to the house and he was running behind."

Peter gave that a tumble through his head and near immediately he knew what was going on… in more than one way. Dipping his head to catch her eyes, his voice was soft but forceful, "It ain't your fault this happened, Little Lady. Your momma was a human living with knowledge she wasn't allowed to have and someone that your daddy didn't want knowin' was bound to find out eventually. Do you understand that?" When he saw her nod a little, he focused on the other theory he had, "Now, as far as her not wantin' you around, what makes ya think that?"

Jade shook her head a little, "she was never around. She was always with him unless Daddy was there for a visit."

"Why didn't you tell your daddy when he was there that she wasn't?"

At that, Jade lowered her eyes a little and swallowed hard, "I was told not to and Daddy said that good little soldiers always follow orders."

Peter tripped over his tongue a few times as he tried to think of the best way to explain that to a child that couldn't possibly have known any better. Finally he shook his head, "Sugar, I don't think that was what he meant. Clean your room, don't wonder off and don't talk to strangers; that was probably what he meant. Not keeping something that important from him. What kind of protection did ya have while she was gone?" When the child refused to answer that, he figured he had guessed right in the fact that her mother never left her with anyone. Since he didn't know otherwise, he would assume that it was because the child was half vampire and there were probably no babysitters in the directory that specialized in that kind of care and it was her ass if someone found out the girl wasn't fully human.

Didn't make leaving a baby by herself alright, though, half vampire or not.

Jade looked back up at him with tears in her eyes as she realized her mistake and whimpered like a puppy, "Will daddy be mad at me?"

Peter already knew the answer to that and was quick to shake his head, "no, Sugar, no. None of this is your fault. You didn't know any better and if anyone expected otherwise, that's on them. You didn't do anything to make him angry. He prolly gonna be a little pissed at ya momma over it, but not you, not when you was just doing as ya was told."

When the child just kept getting more upset, Peter decided to take her out into the lit up grounds. Yeah, it was night time but the moon was full and the stars were out so she would be able to actually see what was around her.

After he was out of the brig, Peter took her over to a crop of trees that was on the far side of the camp and jumped up onto a low lying branch, setting her on a higher branch so she was eye level with him. Once she was sitting down, he wrapped an arm around her back to keep her from falling and draped the other across her thighs. Once they were situated, he forced her to look him in the eyes and cocked a brow, "I'm gonna ask you a question and I want you to really think about the answer before ya say a word, alright?" When she nodded, Peter was as blunt as he could be with a toddler, "who do you think your daddy cares more about; you or your momma?"

That was an easy one, she already knew that without thinking about it, "me."

Peter nodded and went a little further with that, "if he had the pick of which one of ya made it out of that house, who would be; you or your momma?"

She knew that one too, "me."

Nodding again, Peter went for the big one, "had something happened to you while your momma wasn't there, what do you think your daddy would have done?" Peter already knew that answer and it was not a pretty sight. It would have made what was actually done to her look like a kindergartener's finger painting being compared to the Sistine Chapel.

Peter had heard the account of the human's last moments and her orders to the child to run and find her daddy but something about it, if you pair it with the child's current feelings that she was unwanted, that didn't sit well with him. Something about it wasn't adding up. There was a piece of the puzzle missing somewhere but until the recon team arrived, that piece was just gonna have to stay missing.

Refocusing on the doll baby when he heard her sniffle again, Peter sighed quietly. It hadn't been his intention to upset her anymore than she was, but she had to be made to understand that there was literally no other outcome than her mother's death once she was discovered but in a way that she would see that it wasn't her fault it happened. Had something happened to the baby when she was alone, Jasper would have tortured that woman for decades before he finally allowed her to die and chances were, he would have fed her to a bunch of newborns that don't know to kill before ripping apart yet.

Lifting the arm that was across Jade's thighs, Peter crooked a finger under her chin and lifted her head up. Eyes turning to liquid at the sight of the girl's tears, he clicked his tongue once before giving her a tender look, "I know you're upset, Sugar, but this was gonna happen eventually and there was nothing that was gonna stop it. It has nothing to do with you either. It has to do with her knowing shit she wasn't allowed to know. Your Daddy didn't want noone knowing about you because he didn't want you to get hurt by people that he pissed off over the years. Your momma was breaking a law, you weren't. What happened the other day wasn't in any way your fault, ya hear?"

Taking a shuddering breath as she wiped her forearm across her eyes, Jade nodded a little. Sniffling again, she licked her lips a little, voice soft and hardy there at all, "What's gonna happen now?"

Dropping his arm to hang off the branch the little one was sitting on, Peter sighed hard and shook his head, but instead of answering her, his was knocked off balance when she shrieked and dove into his chest, sending them both towards the ground. Wrapping his arms tightly around the tiny body, Peter kicked his legs up, flipping them back so that he landed on his feet. Crouching down upon landing so as to not jostle the Major's daughter and possibly hurt her in the process, growling with a dark glare on his face, he narrowed his eyes at the subordinate that just scared the shit out of the already terrified child as he began to scratch at her scalp and snapped, "What?"

Mitchell, a ten year vet of the camp that should have known better than doing what he just did, gulped a little in the face of the Captain's anger but at the same time was thankful it was the captain and not the Major. Clearing his throat a little, "Call from Recon, Captain."

Snorting out of huffed growl as he stood, Peter readjusted his grip in the doll baby in his arms so he had a free hand to smack Mitch upside the head as he was walking by him, voice colored in annoyance, "Fucking dipshit."

While Mitchell was rubbing the back of his head as he followed behind Peter, both adults looked down at the little girl when they heard a giggle.

Grinning wide, Peter chuckled as he ruffled her hair a little, "You are your Daddy's Baby, aren't ya, Little Lady?" Chuckling a little more when she just giggled again, he shook his head, continuing on his way to the communication cabin to take the call that the Major was a little too busy to take.