Eric had left Sookie at her house so that Bill could "call on her" there. He could imagine Pam's eye roll at the phrase. Bill and Pam were similar in age, only four decades apart, but it was immediately apparent that only one of them had adapted with the times. Pam may act like every day was Halloween but Bill looked like he stepped out of a Civil War portrait.
After he'd left he had stopped for a quick meal. Unfortunately it had taken longer than necessary as he had to locate a human known not to have Hep V. It was therefore later than he'd have liked when he walked into Fangtasia, especially after his apology gift to Ginger.
He called for Pam but heard no answer. Not knowing where else she would go, he travelled down to the basement and was in for a surprise.
Pam was silvered to an inclined table. She was at about 45 degrees and so he could see the pain on her face, though she tried to hide it. The silver had been on her skin for a long time, as it had dug its way in quite deeply.
He was so focused on Pam he didn't notice the other occupants of the room until he heard Sookie's voice.
"Eric!" she gasped, relieved to see him at last. She was tied up in Fangtasia's basement, along with Pam and Bill. It would be frightening if an hour hadn't already passed; now her initial terror had gone and she was just getting bored. Now that Eric was here he could clear up whatever misunderstanding he had with the Japanese guys and they could all be on their way.
Eric turned his gaze to her, seeing that although she was tied she was unharmed. He was surprised to see Bill chained to the wall with silver.
"Mr. Northman," Mr. Gus stepped forward. "Where were you tonight?"
Eric tried to control his rising panic and managed to answer. "Saw some friends."
"That's right," Mr. Gus agreed. "You saw Miss Stackhouse, here," he indicated to her.
"He followed you," Sookie explained, reading the man's mind. "Then he kidnapped me and Bill from my house!" Her voice held its usual trace of indignance and irritation, as though she could not fathom someone daring to mistreat her.
"Kidnapped is such a strong word," Mr. Gus said. "Let's say 'borrowed.'"
"What do you want?" Eric growled.
"I'm willing to give Miss Stackhouse back," Mr. Gus informed him. "But first, tell me: does she know?" He didn't elaborate, in case Sookie in fact did not know about the cure. He knew Eric would understand without clarification.
"No," Eric said, "she knows nothing." His voice did not betray his lie.
"See, you're lying, Mr. Northman," Mr. Gus disagreed. "I think you told her. Perhaps so that she could help him?" He indicated to Bill who was weakened way beyond what the silver touching his skin would cause. Dark veins were apparent on his skin, clearly indicating his Hep V infection.
Before Eric could take a second to think, Sookie broke in. "Oh, Eric, just tell him," she said, irritated. "He already knows. Yes, we know," Sookie told the businessman. "But we aren't going to tell anyone, honest."
"Thank you, Miss Stackhouse, for your honesty," Mr. Gus said.
"You're welcome," Sookie bit out.
Eric normally could appreciate how brave and outspoken she was, but this was not one of those times. He had no idea where Mr. Gus was going with this, but if history repeated itself it was not going to be good.
"You test my patience, Mr. Northman. I offer you the world and all you offer me is lies. So, now, you're going to choose," he said.
Eric's heart dropped. He was afraid it would come to this. Bill and Sookie did not understand, as evidenced by the confusion on their faces. But one look at Pam and he knew she had reached the same conclusion; it was going to be her or Sookie.
"I won't choose," Eric said.
"Choose wh- oh my god," Sookie said, finally learning what was happening by reading the man's mind. "What good will that do?" she asked.
But they were ignoring her by this point.
"You must," Mr. Gus said firmly. "Miss de Beaufort here or your 'fangbanger' Miss Stackhouse?"
One of Mr. Gus' men stepped up with a gun which he was sure contained a wooden bullet, as it would work on either of them.
He trailed a small piece of silver up Pam's arm and she whimpered in response, though she stayed as quiet as possible. She knew what Eric was going to choose and she didn't want him to remember her crying for her life.
"Kill me instead," he said, desperately trying to think of a way out of this but knowing, again, that this would end badly.
"Eric, no!" Pam cried out. "Kill me! He wants me to die!" she called out, hoping to spare Eric's life.
"How touching, Miss de Beaufort," Mr. Gus chimed in. "But we need him alive. And we want him to see that there are consequences for his actions."
"What will this accomplish?" Bill broke in. "I won't pretend to understand the arrangement you two have, but have you not proven your point? No one needs to die." He wished with all his being that he could have protected Sookie earlier in the night. So weakened from his infection, he had not been able to stop the humans from taking them both.
"Choose!" Mr. Gus ordered, losing his patience.
Eric's gaze turned to Bill. Knowing that Sookie's life was in danger, Bill pled with him. "Please, Eric."
Eric said nothing but turned to look at Sookie next. She was crying, realizing the seriousness of the situation at last. She'd threatened and blackmailed her way to safety a thousand times before, but tonight someone had to die.
He turned at last to Pam, his baby, who for the most part had been silent throughout the event. While Sookie had butted in and made the situation worse with her confessions, Pam had kept silent even knowing that it may work against her.
Taking his eye contact as a goodbye and an apology, she whispered, "Jag alskar dig," to him, telling him she loved him in Swedish so that no one else in the room would understand it before nodding.
They all waited, breaths held even though some of them did not need to breathe. Eric turned to Mr. Gus and they all knew he had made his decision.
"Pam lives," he said, regret in his voice. He couldn't save them both, but he could save the more important. He heard Pam's gasp and Sookie's sob.
"Eric!" Sookie sobbed in disbelief.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Gus asked cruelly.
"Eric, please!" Bill pled with him to spare Sookie's life.
"I'm sure," Eric said, a pair of tears making their way down his face. "Pam lives."
"Very well," Mr. Gus said, and he waved over one of his men.
Sookie sobbed and screamed as the man made his way across the room to her.
"Please, don-" she began to scream, but she was silent in a second as the man raised his gun to her head and shot her.
"Sookie!" Bill yelled, hoping against reason that she was still alive.
"Do not cross me again," Mr. Gus warned. He gave an order and Bill was freed. He immediately made his way to Sookie's body, a large pool of blood already beneath her on the floor.
The Japanese men all climbed the stairs back up into Fangtasia and left them to their own emotions. If Mr. Gus seriously believed they would have any partnership now, he was a fool. He apparently felt like his actions would be accepted, though, because the men all remained upstairs, where Eric could hear them moving around.
He watched as Bill sobbed over Sookie's lifeless body. Unable to look any longer, he quickly turned his attention to Pam, who was crying quietly where she was still strapped to the table.
He removed the silver quickly, burning his hands momentarily until they healed. Pam did not require much silver and was freed quickly.
"I'm so sorry, Eric," she cried, although he did not know why. She was torn between shock and relief and wasn't sure what to feel. Tears continued to escape her eyes silently.
"Shhhh," he soothed, holding his arms up in invitation. She hugged him in return, curling into him as much as possible. The relief of being in his arms was her undoing and she began to sob, as hysterical as he had ever seen her. She had not truly believed he would save her and while she was glad he had, she felt extreme guilt that Eric had to make the decision that ended Sookie's life. She had often wished Sookie would die a horrible death, but she could take no joy in it when Eric felt the weight of the guilt.
Eric rubbed her back soothingly, focused on keeping his emotions at bay. The other two vampires in the room were a mess, and he needed to keep it together if they were all going to be successful for what he had planned next.
"You could have saved her!" Bill screamed at him, stalking over to where the maker and progeny were standing.
Pam pulled away from her maker, finally pulling herself together. Now that her initial shock had passed and she had purged some of her emotions, she was beginning to be able to think clearly once more. She looked past Bill to see Sookie laying lifelessly on the floor. She was still shocked, but she was coming back to herself.
"Watch it, Bill," Eric said, breaking into Pam's musings. Bill was advancing on the older vampire, though he was so weakened with sickness and grief that it was a sorry sight.
"How could you do this?" he shouted. Eric had claimed that his interest in Sookie went beyond lust, and he believed that Eric had actually cared for Sookie, as much as he was capable.
"Tell me," Eric began, "that if it had been a choice between Jessica and Sookie that you would choose Sookie." He saw the look of shame on Bill's face. "Do you even know what you would do? Jessica has been your progeny for only a few years; Pam has been my child for over 100. You can blame me all you want, but you can't say that you wouldn't do the same."
Bill thought about what Eric was saying. He was still consumed with grief, but he couldn't say with 100% certainty what he would do. He nodded, unable to bring himself to apologize but too much of a gentleman to not acknowledge what Eric was saying.
Eric turned to his shaken child, glad to see that she had finally calmed down and regained control of herself. He knew they would need to talk about this later, but now was not the time.
"Unchain Sarah," he told her.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"Unchain her, Pamela," he repeated and she looked at him uncomprehending for a moment before complying. She wasn't going to give him a hard time tonight after what just happened.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"We're setting her free," Eric told her.
"You are?" Sarah said in amazement. She'd witnessed the entire exchange in the basement but kept quiet, not needing any more attention on her.
"Don't get too excited, sweetheart," he said as Pam led her over to him. "We're going to catch up to you."
He turned to Bill. "We are going to kill Mr. Gus," Eric told him. "Assuming Pam is with me." She nodded and he continued. "Now, if you want to help us avenge Sookie's death, we'd welcome the help. This is your chance to get your full strength back." His hand wrapped around Sarah's neck and he held her out like an offering.
Bill hadn't wanted the cure, but he only wished to die so that Sookie could live a full life. As it was now, he wasn't sure if he wished to go on without her. He did, however, wish to punish those responsible for her death, and if the only way to do that was to take the cure, he'd do so.
He quickly drank a bit of Sarah's blood. He felt the effects almost immediately, but they waited a few minutes anyway. In the meantime, Eric and Pam prepared Sarah to escape. He saw Pam give Sarah some of her blood so that she could catch up to her. After they were done and Sarah was clear of the building, Eric asked him if he was ready.
"I am," Bill said, fangs nearly ready to emerge already. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed killing a human being, but he longed for their blood on his hands.
Pam and Eric called for the men to come back down.
"You let her go?" Mr. Gus asked incredulously.
"We sure did," Pam drawled.
"After that stunt you pulled? You betcha," Eric mocked.
Mr. Gus gave the order to kill them but the three vampires were faster. Within seconds all of the men were dead and in pieces on the floor. Eric moved to light up the tunnel, but Bill stopped him.
"I would like to drain him dry," Bill said. Eric paused but nodded, allowing Bill the revenge he needed.
This left Pam and Eric alone, at last. Eyeing Sookie's dead body in the corner, Pam told him she would go gather Sarah.
"I think I'll come with you," he said, not wishing to stay in the basement one moment longer. He knew Bill would want the body, and he didn't need to be present for that. He made his way over to Sookie while Pam turned her back respectfully. She heard him whisper an apology before he was again at her side. Together, they made their way out of the building.
TRUE BLOOD
A few short hours later and Pam was finally at home. Eric had left earlier after they had returned Sarah to the basement. She and Bill had stayed behind to clean up the mess of the bodies, not wanting anyone else to know what had happened down there. She supposed they could have just glamoured a human to do it, but this was not a job they could afford to have screwed up.
Eric had been reluctant to leave Pam with Bill, afraid that the slightly older vampire was harboring a deadly grudge. Bill had sensed his hesitation and simply said, "There will be no more death tonight." Eric has seen the weariness in his eyes and known that he spoke the truth.
He had enjoyed the time to himself for it gave him the opportunity to come to terms with what had happened. He had loved Sookie, but it was more of a fleeting obsession and fascination. He admired her heart, but he could not compare what he had with her to what he had with Pam. His feelings for Pam were simply in another league.
Pam obviously didn't think so. He knew she had said goodbye to him in that basement and wondered when her confidence in him had been so shaken. She had asked him in France if he regretted choosing her over Sylvie but he didn't think she was really that concerned about his answer, more trying to prove a point. It seemed she did have serious doubts, though, when it came to Sookie.
He heard Pam walk in downstairs and soon she was hesitating in his doorway. She was unsure what to say to him. She feared he would be angry at her but she was also afraid that his grief may drag him down to a place she couldn't reach.
"We cleaned everything up," she informed him, for once not complaining about the difficulty or mess of the task. "It's all taken care of."
"Good," he said. He could feel her uncertainty from across the room and finally put her out of her misery. "Come here."
She moved to sit beside him on the bed, still not knowing what he would say. She raced to placate him.
"I'm so sorry, Eric. They completely blindsided me. I'm so sorry about Sookie." She was surprised to find that she was sorry about the girl's death, simply because it pained Eric.
"They blindsided me, too," he admitted. He gathered his thoughts for a moment, trying to think of what to say.
"Listen to me," he said and watched as she prepared herself for what she believed would be something painful. "I cared for her," he confessed and Pam dropped her gaze. He took her hands in his. "But I never cared for her more than I love you. You are always first, Pam," he promised. "I am sorry I have ever given you cause to doubt that."
Pam tried not to cry. She'd had many doubts over the past few years but it seemed they had all vanished earlier in the basement of their nightclub. Any words that she'd once needed to hear had vanished as Eric had proven with his actions that what he was saying was the truth. She looked at Eric and could see that while although he was sad, he was not broken by Sookie's death. Beyond that, he was not angry at her.
She reached over to hug him and sighed with relief as he pulled her fully into his arms. They'd had ups and downs but she knew that they would come out okay. Remembering the sight of Sookie's dead body, she was full of love for her maker and felt bad for ever doubting him, even if he had given her reason.
"I love you," she told him again. She'd never loved anyone the way she loved him and she never would.
"And I love you." He hugged her to him, taking comfort in the presence of his child.
He could make peace with his decision. He would be upset over Sookie's death, but he would move on. He'd made the only choice he could and the only one he could live with.