I know I shouldn't but I just can't help myself! This story is inspired by Season 3 of True Blood, and recreates some of the scenes that somehow didn't make the final version. It's a harmless piece of fluff, written to cheer myself up. There are other great alternative versions of S3 in this fandom – this is just my take on things.

Disclaimer: characters, scenario and everything else belong to Alan Ball – I'm just playing

"So are you going to tell me what's eating you up?" Pam's voice was heavy with sarcasm as she broke the silence in the Fangtasia back office.

"Nothing is eating me Pam." Her sire and master replied, attempting unsuccessfully to close the conversation down.

"Eric, you have been seething for the last two weeks. I can feel your blood boiling, and for once that is not a cliché."

He ignored her, eyes focussed on his laptop. He surveyed the list of e-mails but didn't really see them. So much blah, blah, blah, he thought. Demand after demand from Sophie-Anne. He rapidly deleted the most compromising of them. Sometimes he wondered how she had kept her position for so long. She was greedy, indiscreet and lazy; these were not the character traits you would expect to see on the resume of a successful vampire monarch. She would be vulnerable if anyone were to move for Louisiana. He would need to keep his distance if he didn't want his own little piece of her queendom to be at risk.

Pam's voice brought him back into the room. "Fine, don't tell me then. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. It's not too hard to work out who's behind it. I'm going to close up."

He didn't look up as she closed the door behind her. His whole body was absorbed with the sensation of powerlessness, with that terrible impotence he had experienced at his last visit to Sophie-Anne's palace. 'Damn the shifter,' he thought. 'And damn Bill Compton, and damn the Queen.' The Sheriff of Area Five, trapped in an interminable game of Yahtzee, while Merlotte and Compton had been the heroes of the hour in Bon Temps. It was intolerable, and someone was going to pay.

He scrolled through the contacts list on his cell-phone, eventually finding the name he was looking for. "Reuben, Eric Northman. I have a task for you, and let me stress that if you fail me, or if anyone should ever find out, you will meet your final death. I hope I make myself clear."

He sat in silence for some time after finishing the call. He was struggling to admit, even to himself, why the whole episode had angered him so much. He had experienced far worse humiliations in a thousand years of existence. Somehow that woman had really got to him.

He knew exactly when it had happened. It had been here in Fangtasia, the night that she was attacked by the Maenad. He'd offered his blood to heal her. That wasn't just to piss Bill Compton off, although to be fair he could never resist an opportunity to get under the skin of that sanctimonious young vampire. This time there was something more. He had wanted to help her, wanted her to know that he was capable of an action which was kind and good. It had been a very unfamiliar feeling.

Naturally Bill had resisted. Ever the control freak, he had insisted on being the one to heal Sookie with his blood. 'Control freak', Eric laughed mirthlessly at the term. He despised modern psychobabble, but it applied so perfectly in this case.

It was that moment, Eric reflected, the moment she turned to Bill and said 'thank you', when she became something more than an object of his curiosity and lust. The tenderness in her expression and the sweetness in her voice stirred something powerful in his undead heart, something he had not experienced for many centuries. To have it hit him then was not entirely welcome, but somehow it had taken root and he had not been able to dislodge it.

Perhaps things would have been different if he had taken her that first night she came to Fangtasia. He could have done of course. His position in the vampire hierarchy gave him the right to order Compton to give him the girl. She would not have come willingly though, and it went against the grain for him to force himself on a woman. That was the only thing that had stopped him.

He had known she was a virgin of course. Any vampire could smell that. She was very lovely, but she was feisty as well. It was a long time since he'd met a human who stood up to him and treated him as an equal. He should have been outraged, but even then something about her had charmed him.

It had been hard to pass up the opportunity to irritate Bill Compton. He had known him for over sixty years, and disliked him for almost as long. The younger vampire had arrived at Sophie-Ann's court in New Orleans after leaving his maker. He had done well for himself, quickly gaining the Queen's favour. He soon had his head so far up her ass that he couldn't see moonlight.

Everyone knew that he was one of her most trusted servants. Then one day he'd announced that he was leaving. His last remaining human descendant had died and he intended to settle in his ancestral home in Bon Temps.

Something about that had always struck Eric as being suspicious. How could anyone bear to live in such a backwater after the glamour and sophistication of the royal court? Mainstreaming disgusted him. Vampire should be proud of their nature, not shaming themselves in a pathetic attempt to imitate humans.

It didn't matter what he thought about it though, Compton had found the girl and somehow won her love and her loyalty.

"Yvetta!"

The new dancer appeared a few moments later. She was dressed in tight satin shorts that left little to the imagination, and a matching bra top which was if anything even skimpier. She was undeniably sexy in a coarse sort of way. At least she had some flesh on her, Eric reflected. He could not stand a scrawny woman.

Eric rose slowly from his chair and sauntered round to the front of his desk. He leant back, propping himself up with his hands. He gave Yvetta a meaningful look, indicating the service he expected from her.

"Not here, please Eric," she complained, in her thick eastern European accent. "Pam will walk in and you know I hate to do it with her watching."

As if on cue, the younger vampire entered the room. She didn't knock, as usual.

"Did you call me?" she drawled.

"Yvetta and I will be in the cellar," Eric smirked in response. Keep things under control in the bar will you."

"Your wish is my command, master." Pam responded with a complete lack of sincerity

He stripped off his vest as they descended the steps to the cellar. He let her finish the job as she sank to her knees in front of him. Yvetta was exceptionally skilled with her mouth and tongue. She had proved that at her audition, and he had taken full advantage in the days since.

He confessed himself shocked by her lack of self-respect. She had no problem letting him take her, down in that foul-smelling place, where the lingering traces of blood and bodily fluids were a constant reminder of the pain and suffering he had inflicted on those who dared to contravene the rules of his Area.

Surely his office would have been preferable, he thought. He might even have been prepared to pay for a hotel room. She was lithe and versatile, able to satisfy him for several hours at a time. There were few fang-bangers who could do the same. Besides she didn't talk too much. American girls prattled away, wanting to know if they were doing okay, and how was it for him, and most impudently of all telling him what they wanted.

Yvetta seemed only too happy to turn the instruments of torture into instruments of pleasure. He didn't have to chain her to the bench, or tie her to the manacles, she was quite happy to position herself in order to please him.

She had certainly earned her generous salary tonight. She was only just showing signs of exhaustion when the cellar door clanged open and the sound of stiletto heels could be heard clacking down the stone steps.

Sookie Stackhouse. It would have to be her. She was the only person who he would have wished not to find him in this situation. Not that he was ashamed of course, but he knew this cellar had bad associations for her. He had kept her friend Lafayette locked up down here for several weeks after all. He swallowed hard, then turned to face her, swaggering nonchalantly across the room.

"What brings you to Fangtasia on this balmy summer night?" Eric asked, cool amusement in his voice. He wanted to laugh at her efforts not to look down at him, but that would piss her off even more. She was most definitely pissed off.

"Bill's been kidnapped, and I think you did it."

Her words came as a surprise to him. He had only given the order to Reuben a few hours ago. The young vampire was an excellent tracker, and the finest assassin in the state, but there was no way he could have found Compton and organised the abduction in such a short time. He had no problem professing innocence of any involvement. Technically it was true; she hadn't asked if he had planned to have Bill kidnapped.

Sookie turned on her heel and stalked back up the stairs. She could feel Eric's eyes on her back, following her every step. Something about what he had said disturbed her. She knew she should leave it and just get out of there. It was asking for trouble to challenge him. Somehow trouble just came looking, whatever she did.

She paused halfway up the stairs and looked back at him. "You owe me £10,000 dollars." She paused for a moment before continuing. "And for your information, Eric, I don't belong to Bill. I'm no-one's possession, I'm my own woman. Bill is my..." she searched for the word, "...fiancé and I love him, that's all you need to know."

Eric's movement was a blur, but there he was standing on the steps below her, positioning himself so they were at eye level. "So that was the purpose of your date tonight, Bill proposed to you. That is very interesting."

"Is it? He proposed and I accepted him," Sookie replied, in as firm a tone as she could manage, "what's the big deal. I'll never be yours Eric, whatever you do. Besides," she glanced at the naked form of the dancer, "you seem to have plenty of alternatives."

"Of course," Eric's response was smugly matter of fact, "but they don't compare to you." He leant in close as he finished his sentence, his lips brushing against her ear.

"I certainly wouldn't let you have sex with me in this disgusting place. At the very least I'd expect the courtesy of being taken to your house." Eric raised an eyebrow, provoking a fierce blush which rose from Sookie's neck all the way up her face. "Not that it's ever going to happen," she added hurriedly.

"Anyway, you said you'd help me find Bill. Shouldn't you be getting on with it?"

"A good point. Yvetta, wait for me here." He moved to the stair above where Sookie stood, forcing her gaze level with his toned stomach. She bit her lip, willing herself not to look down, but couldn't stop her eyes from dropping lower, just for a glance.

Eric smirked but said nothing. He turned and headed up the stairs. She followed him, eyes level with his perfect butt at every step.

He motioned to her to take a seat as they entered his office.

"Thank you, but I prefer to stand; I hope this won't take long. Aren't you going to..."

"Put some clothes on," he finished the sentence for her, "I think not. As you say this won't take long, then I need to get back to Yvetta. I only have another hour before dawn."

"Is it part of the induction for all your new dancers?"

"Only if they wish it. It was Yvetta's choice, the cellar, the ties. I offered her the choice of my office as an alternative."

Sookie looked around, wrinkling her nose. The desk was a mess, covered in paperwork. The couch looked as if it had seen better days. Eric gave her that smile again; part amusement and part challenge.

"So tell me about this evening, what happened exactly," he asked.

"Bill took me out for dinner. He'd booked out the whole restaurant, so it was just him and me."

"How romantic of him, and how very extravagant, for Bill."

Sookie ignored the jibe and continued her story. "We danced, I ate, and then he proposed to me. He had tickets to fly to Maine."

Eric interrupted her again. "So not much of an engagement then. Remind me, how long is it that you have known Bill?"

"Long enough to know that I love him," she shot back.

"But you didn't accept his proposal straight away?"

"I needed the ladies room, and when I came back he was gone."

"Describe the scene to me."

"It looked as if there had been a fight. The chair he had been sitting in was overturned, the place settings were all scattered. I thought..." she was silent for a moment. Eric was completely still, staring at her, waiting for her to continue. "I thought I could smell burning flesh. It was very faint, but it reminded me of the time Bill tried to save me from Rene."

Eric raised an eyebrow, but his face quickly returned to its normal impassive expression. "He was taken with silver then. You heard nothing?"

"No. They had that piped music in the ladies rest room, so if there was anything it was probably drowned out."

Eric crossed the room to where she stood. He had pulled on some sweat pants, but they rode low on his hips, leaving very little to the imagination. He towered over her, his hands braced on the wall above her head. "There isn't much time left tonight, but I will make some calls, set the wheels in motion."

He leant down until his lips were brushing her ear. She shivered at the sensation of his cool breath on her face. "Sookie, I want you to be careful. Don't take any risks. We don't know if whoever abducted Bill intended to take you as well. They may come back."

She shivered again, this time with fear. There was no humour in his voice. He wasn't challenging or threatening her. It was completely dead pan, and that scared her more than anything else could.

"Don't you worry yourself about me, I'll be fine," she said trying to sound more confident than she felt, at the same time wriggling free from under him.

Eric didn't move a muscle as she stalked out of his office, slamming the door after her. He knew of course that Compton was obsessed with the woman. His behaviour in Dallas had made that perfectly clear. It went far beyond a normal vampire-human relationship. That should be based on nothing more than feeding and sex. Even before the Great Revelation that had been a fair exchange, one which was mutually beneficial to both parties. Trying to pretend that it could be based on love was just asking for trouble, in Eric's opinion.

He'd call Reuben and check, but he already knew it was a waste of time. The pull of the approaching dawn was strong; he would have to go to ground. He just needed to vent his frustration at the turn of events first. He already knew that someone else was responsible for Compton's disappearance. Lorena Krysicki was the obvious candidate but it didn't sound like her modus operandi. The choice of such a public place suggested an organised group of some kind.

"Pam," he called, not bothering to raise his voice. She was at the door immediately.

"Go and tell Yvetta I have no further use of her tonight."

"May I…?" Pam licked her lips suggestively.

"If you wish." Eric no longer cared about the dancer. His encounter with Sookie had shaken him more than he would admit, even to himself.

So what do you think – shall I continue, or has this story line been done to death already?