Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to True Blood or the Southern Vampire Mysteries… damnit.
Summary: Bill leaves Bon Temps to beg the Queen's help in defeating Maryann. Eric is more than willing to protect Sookie in the interim.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed An Ending, A Beginning! This, as you can guess, is the interim in what I hope to be a 3 or 4-part series. I'm taking the events of the last few episodes and adding my own twist to them. They'll all be semi-short one-shots, and will start more or less where the episodes leave off.
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Bill was kissing me, his hands cradling my face. I'd felt 'goodbye' in that kiss… and then, sure enough, he was gone.
While Bill had left me to fend for myself in Bon Temps, Sam had taken it upon himself to go to Eric for help. Now, how Sam knew Eric, or why he thought he'd offer his help was beyond me, though I had a sneaking suspicion my name had come up somewhere in their conversation.
As it turns out, Eric deals with a lot of supes in his day-to-day. It was a local coven of witches that saved our hides from the demonic entity that was Maryann. Or should I say is Maryann. The witches were powerful, but Maryann is immortal. After the witches had casting a binding spell on her, she simply sauntered off into the woods, laughing and making devious plans for other small, no-account towns. She was madness personified, and madness was her 'gift'. It was one she'd bestowed upon our tiny community with great consequence.
Carl and Eggs had both died defending Maryann from the witches. Carl had been a shifter, like Sam. He'd changed into a grizzly early on, swiping at any who came near his mistress. Surprisingly, it had been Sam who'd taken him down. A lion is a rare sight anywhere, and I'll never forget the way Sam had roared in triumph after he'd bitten halfway through Carl's neck. Eggs was just plain old human, and the witches had taken him out as soon as Carl had breathed his last. I heard one young male warlock mutter an incantation, and then Eggs' head was rolling off his shoulders and to my feet.
I was about to scream when a familiar white hand lifted the severed head and threw it into the woods. Eric.
"I see the fun has started without me," he grinned, and I suppressed a gag. "Close your eyes, Sookie. It will all be over in a moment."
And that's just what I did.
He'd been right, that damned Viking. Thirty seconds more, and Maryann's spell over the people of Bon Temps had been broken. A minute later she'd traipsed off, not a care in the world. Why would she care? She had eternity to garner tribute and madness. I, for one, was more than glad to leave her to it.
It took maybe ten minutes for everyone who'd been spelled by Maryann to disperse. I have never seen so many red faces, nor heard so many shameful thoughts coming from so many heads at once. It was enough to make a telepath faint. Instead, while Sam and Eric were thanking the coven and tying up loose ends, I sank into the grass of my front lawn.
My mind was reeling, replaying the events of the last twenty-four hours. I'd watched a man who'd saved me from rape and death immolate himself. I'd been witness to a gathering of the most powerful witches in Louisiana; I'd seen them banish a foe no one could stop. My boyfriend had left me to fight in the dark, to beg a certain vampire to help us, even though he wasn't certain he or she could, or would. I'd kissed a thousand year-old Viking.
As if I'd said his name, Eric was at my side in a blink. He cradled me in his arms, and I was so glad to be off the blood-stained ground I didn't even protest.
"We have things to discuss, you and I" he whispered, and I just buried my head deeper into his chest. Everything went black.
When I awoke, it was to the smell of gardenia. I was in my house. I was in my bed. I was… in my underwear? "You conniving son-of-a-bitch!" I yelled. I knew Eric was here somewhere, though I couldn't recall inviting him in. He's always wanted to get into my pants. I guess getting them off was the first step.
"Don't strain yourself, lover. Everyone is gone but you and me." I started at the close proximity of his voice. Of course he'd been sitting by my bedside. "Your shifter friend flew to Shreveport for my assistance. I was only happy to contact the witches once I learned of your involvement."
I sat in silence for a moment, contemplating this turn of events. Maryann was gone, Eric had been the instrument of the town's rescue. But he'd only done it for me, as far as I gathered.
"And if I hadn't been involved? Would you have left everyone else here to die?" I asked, not sure I was going to like the answer.
"Yes," he sighed. I'd had my suspicions, but his confirmation was the icing on the very bad cake I'd been forced to ingest this week.
I sat up in my bed, not caring that he was there, or that the lacy white bra I had on shone in the darkness like a beacon. "You're horrible, Eric Northman!" I yelled. "After what you've been through with Godric, you couldn't empathize even a little? These people are my friends, my loved ones," I wailed. I wanted him to feel… something, anything. I wanted him to remember his grief, and realize what I'd been going through.
"You want me to care for these people, Sookie, and I cannot. But I do care for you. The shifter had but to mention your name, and I was like a loyal dog. I came running. I would do so again, but only for Sookie," he growled, and then he swept me up into his arms.
I looked into his eyes, feeling my lace-clad breasts pushing into his chest. "Let me in, Sookie," he said as he reached up a hand to trace my jaw. I remembered our first kiss, so delicate, and all the dreams I'd had. It seemed so easy. I just had to give in.
"No," I said weakly, and pushed against him. "Bill."
Those were the magic words, and Eric gently laid me back onto my pillow. I couldn't help it, I was crying now. All the stress of the past few days had broke me down, and I was in no mood to hide it. Eric, bless him, pulled my covers up to my chin without another word. He seemed to sense the tension and confusion in me, but I suppose a blood bond will do that.
"Don't cry, sweet Sookie," he murmured. His thumbs traced my tears, and he licked them from his fingers like ambrosia. "Bill will be back soon, and I will always be a phone call away."
I opened my eyes then, and we stared at each other for a good minute. I knew he could feel my emotions, and in that moment I felt him as well. Weariness, loneliness, and concern all crossed his face. I wanted to curl into him and kiss all his troubles away. But that would make me even more unfaithful to Bill than I'd already been, and I just wanted him to come home to me.
"Thank you, Eric, for everything," I said, once my voice was back in working order.
"Anything for you, lover," he whispered, and then he was gone. Just like Bill.