Hello. *waves* So, this is a new story that is not related to the other fanfics I've written (except of course it is the same fandom). For fans of Henry and co, I am working on another story in that series but in the mean time I wanted to try something a bit different.
The events of this story start shortly after Dead as a Doornail (book 5). I have altered some details from the books both in the form of minor changes to the story (all of which will hopefully be clear) and in the way certain things work – for example the process of blood-bonding. Any questions though just ask.
I have kept alive the character of Ginger but based her on a mix of Charlaine Harris' character and Alan Ball's.
As with the books, most of the story is told from Sookie's POV but on occasion parts will be told from 3rd person POV following Pam to give the reader information not available to Sookie.
This is ultimately a story about Eric and Sookie, but it will take a while for them to realise that so please bear with them. Rated T for now may move up to M later.
[***] indicates a time lapse of minutes or hours within the same day (or night).
[~~~] indicates a time lapse to the next day or some days later.
Some things to remember from this point in the story. Sookie's heritage has not yet come to light, Sookie and Eric are not blood bonded, and she does not yet know that Bill was sent to 'acquire' her. I am changing some aspects of these points from the books. I hope you enjoy the story, but all comments and thoughts are welcome.
Disclaimer: Most characters belong to Charlaine Harris.
As always mass thanks to my wonderful beta treewitch703 *waves a big 'treewitch703 is great' banner* If you haven't already, you should check out her story Parallel Worlds which is on her blog.
So on with the show:
Chapter One: Once Upon a Time in Bon Temps
Dating Don't: Don't Show up naked and covered in blood.
My heels echoed on the tiled floor as I followed Deputy Kevin Prior back to the cells. He glanced at me with pity a couple of times but I stayed out of his head, I didn't want to hear it. A lump tightened my throat as we stopped walking; straightening my back I swallowed trying to clear it. Kevin took out a large bunch of keys and opened the cell gesturing that I could enter. I hesitated.
It had been three weeks since the night Charles Twining had tried to kill me in Merlotte's. Until today, life had settled down. The repairs on my house were complete, thanks to Alcide providing extra able bodies, and I'd moved back in. I think it was his way of saying he didn't blame me for what happened to his father. Even though I knew a part of him did. Which was why he was never with the large crews he'd sent to get the work done. He'd also cut me a break on the price for a lot of the work, so the insurance had covered most of it. I'd still had some money saved in the bank after everything was paid for. Until half an hour ago anyway. No one had tried to kill me for a while and I'd had no calls for help. Until the call this morning that is, the one that now had me walking into a cell. When my phone had started ringing at seven-am, I'd known in my gut it wasn't going to be a good day.
I was trying to live a normal, supe free, life … Aside from my brother, who I didn't really think of as a supe most of the time … and Calvin and his panthers, because they were helping my brother … and the Weres who had been on the building crews … and Sam, who was my boss … and Bill who was a regular at the bar, and recently my house as well … Dammit, who was I kidding! I was trying to live an 'Eric' free life, and that was only because he hadn't made any effort to contact me since he'd left Sam's office three weeks ago. I hadn't even seen hide nor hair of Pam. I found I really missed her, though I knew that was a little pathetic of me. Bill had told me stiffly that Eric was very busy with his Sheriff duties when I mentioned his absence – casually – in passing.
Eventually I figured that now he knew I'd 'yielded' to him, even if he couldn't remember it, he'd lost interest. I mean he'd still tried to save me from Charles, but that was probably only because Charles had been working for him, or because he didn't want Hot Rain to get what he wanted or something. Whatever. Sweet Eric was gone and political Eric was back. I was moving on and not thinking of either of them at all, as I reminded myself, frequently.
Kevin was looking at me expectantly so I steeled myself and walked slowly into the cell.
Jason was sitting on the bunk with his head in his hands. Someone had managed to find him some shorts but other than that he was naked and filthy under the standard issue cop-car blanket that hung over his shoulders. He looked up when I entered. I'd never seen him looking so sorry for himself. Not even when he'd gotten suspended from the football team just before the big game in high school. (He'd gotten caught with one of the cheerleaders in the back of the team bus.)
"Oh Sook, thank God." He launched himself at me, the blanket slipping to the floor, and hugged a little too hard. My ribs still ached.
It turned out I had four cracked ribs from Charles' attack. They had not been too bad at first but I'd overdone it trying to help at my house so they were still healing. I'd gotten into trouble with the Weres when they heard me yelp and from there-on-in confined myself to providing drinks and food – my chilli was a big hit on the colder days. (Sam had loaned me one of the big pots from Merlotte's and even helped me take it over and set up a makeshift pit stop.)
I flinched in his grip but Jason didn't seem to notice and just continued to cling to me.
"Let's get out of here, come on," I said disentangling myself and pulling him towards the door. Kevin couldn't restrain his 'ewwww' face as Jason left blood and mud all over my white sweater.
"What took you so long? I've been here for hours and …" Jason's eyes were a little wild, though I wasn't sure if that was because he was between his two moon-time changes or just from sitting in a cell still covered in dirt and blood all day.
"Shhh, come on, let's just get you home and cleaned up, then we'll talk about it." It really wasn't a good idea to talk here, my brother's idea of speaking in code wasn't exactly hard to crack.
I drove slowly through the late February drizzle that drifted through the trees and across the roads. Jason was silent as we travelled, for once not even fiddling with my radio channel. My wake-up call had been from him saying he was at the station and I needed to come bail him out. At first I thought it was something simple, drunk and disorderly or that sort of thing. I knew Bud liked to let them sweat for a while before dropping the charges, it kept them from doing it too often. I had been halfway to the station before the coffee I'd downed while pulling on some clothes had kicked in enough for me to remember he'd been out at Hotshot last night. It had been a full moon.
Once I'd gotten to the station it took a while, even with my disability, to piece together what had actually happened. Jason had been found at daybreak, naked, covered in mud and blood, in a woman's back yard, fast asleep on a sun chaise. Unfortunately, the woman was the daughter of a local judge, so the police were afraid to be lenient. My brother had been locked up and charged with a whole load of stuff, from trespassing to indecent exposure. Though some of the charges had already been dropped, the judge's daughter still insisted on kicking up a big fuss, claiming to be traumatised by the 'pervert' that had 'targeted' her.
Kevin hadn't been dealing with the case but offered to take me to the cells when Andy refused to, even though I'd posted the bail. Andy had been more than happy to do everything the woman's father asked, he didn't think much of either of the two remaining Stackhouses. But he was still too spooked by my disability to speak with me directly. He kept asking some visiting cop from the Monroe station to explain things so he wouldn't have to deal to me.
The Monroe cop was rude and thought I was trailer trash. I would have avoided him completely if I'd had a choice but since Andy repeatedly ducked out of sight, I was stuck dealing with him. He wasn't even officially on the case, he was just in town for some training talk or something. Even so, he was more than happy to speak to me, since it enabled him to let me know just how little he thought of my brother and me. (He argued hard against Jason getting bail.)
When I suggested that, while it might be surprising to find one in your yard, surely the woman had seen a naked man before, I was curtly informed that the Judge's daughter was a 'proper lady,' unlike me was the accompanying thought. From the policeman's head I also knew she was a sheltered spinster who spent so much time at church that everyone was surprised when she'd cancelled her plans to become a nun. In my experience, these were the sort of people that had the strangest skeletons in their closets but I hadn't been near to her to know what her deal was.
Through a combination of words and thoughts, I was eventually able to get enough from the Monroe cop to work out what was happening and what I needed to do.
They had breathalysed Jason which came back negative for alcohol, so he couldn't use that as an explanation. They also tested the blood on him which turned out to be animal blood. The cops still thought he was a weirdo for having it on his face and round his mouth, but at least they didn't add murder one to the charges.
The only other judge in the area had agreed to set bail, mainly because of political differences with those who didn't want it, (the woman's father and some of the police). They had pushed him to cut his fishing trip short in order to deal with this 'important' case. The bail amount was set high because the judge's daughter was still insisting he had exposed himself to her with intent, even though Jason had been asleep right up until after the cruiser pulled up to answer her 911 call.
The nearest bail bondsman was in Shreveport and he wouldn't deal with me when I called so we couldn't use my house or Jason's as collateral (I got the impression the Monroe cop had put in a call but I couldn't prove anything). Since Jason has never saved a penny in his life it was up to me to cover the amount. After spending nearly all day at the police station trying to get answers, and waiting for test results, I'd had to use all my remaining savings as well as some money that should have been paying my bills and my overdraft, to cover it. Still, I'd get it back and I couldn't leave Jason in there, he would shift again tonight.
"What the hell happened? Why weren't you with the rest of the panthers? Surely they didn't leave you there?" I asked once he came out of the shower and was digging into the sausage and eggs I'd cooked for him. He was wearing the jeans Eric had left at my house, the ones the memoryless vampire had been wearing when I found him. (The other item Eric had left was folded discreetly in a bottom drawer in my bedroom.) The jeans were much too long and Jason had rolled them up. I actually had a variety of men's clothes in my spare room. Jason would have done better to grab something of Sam's that he kept here for when 'Dean' fell asleep, or even some of the clothes Bill had left.
Rather than looking pissed at being deserted, or sheepish for making a mistake, Jason actually looked excited at he launched into his story:
"We were out on the run when I caught the scent of some nutria. So I take off after them, them fuckers are quick but I was quicker. I reckon I got at least three of them." For a moment I could see a touch of the cat in my brother, though to me it was more like when Tina used to drop presents off by the back door. I had an image of my brother in panther form proudly laying a large dead rodent on the porch.
I shook it off as he continued in an indignant rant. "You know it's really unfair. I mean I was just doing my civic duty, what with the damage they do to the Bayou." I glared at him, that was hardly the issue right now. He seemed to notice I was less than impressed and continued on with his story. Though he took the time to give me a frown first, clearly disappointed in my lack of sisterly pride regarding his hunting prowess.
"So, once I'd unleashed some panther whup-ass, I stopped to catch my breath, just for a minute, and it sucks laying in the wet grass when it's this cold, so I hopped up onto this lounge chair. The next thing I know some jack-ass po po is in my face. He's all like; 'Boy, boy! Whutchew doin' nekkid back chere, boy? Yew drunk? Miz Betty thinks yew been lookin' at her, yew'" I pulled a face at Jason's imitation of a Cajun accent and he finally looked a little embarrassed.
"I just stopped to rest for a minute, I swear," he defended under my harsh gaze, dropping out of campfire-story mode.
"And you fell asleep?" He nodded and avoided my eye by mopping up some egg with a biscuit. "Well I guess it could have been worse," I said with a sigh. "If she'd found you earlier, before you shifted back …" I shuddered at what that would have meant.
"Yeah, I know, huh!" The thought clearly hadn't occurred to Jason before I mentioned it. He looked worried for a moment but then shrugged and continued to shovel food into his mouth.
"Still would have been fine if that stupid woman hadn't kicked up such a fuss and insisted on pressing charges. It's not like I saw her naked. Hey, I should press charges against her for being a peeping tom or whatever." He looked excited, like this would fix everything. I shook my head at him.
"I don't think it counts as peeping when it's your own yard," I said trying to control my temper at my brother's stupidity. He really didn't think he'd done anything wrong. He took a moment to think about this then just dropped his head back to his food.
I knew Jason wasn't as worried about the whole thing as he should be, but he'd looked so forlorn when I'd seen him sitting in that cell. I didn't have the heart to break the seriousness of it to him just yet. It could wait until he'd finished eating at least, which by the looks of it wouldn't be long.
"I mean what rotten luck, the one house that belongs to a judge's daughter," he mumbled between mouthfuls.
"Why were you even near any houses? I thought y'all stuck to the woods." Unlike vampires, shifters hadn't come out to the human population, they were good at staying hidden and didn't take risks.
"Like I said, I was on the trail of the nutria. Didn't really notice where I was, what with the thrill of the hunt an' all." Jason however was new to the world of shifters. Unlike a born were, he hadn't had these lessons drummed into him from infancy.
Before I could ask more I heard a truck coming up the drive. Jason was still mopping his plate with the last of the biscuits so I went to see who it was.
"What happened?" It was Calvin and he was half out his truck by the time I opened the door. He started to march towards the house as I came out. We'd spoken briefly earlier in the day and agreed it was less suspicious if I dealt with getting my brother out of jail. I'd called him again when Jason was in the shower to let him know we were home.
"He fell asleep in some woman's back yard and she found him there this morning. She freaked out because he was naked and called the police," I explained as I walked down the porch steps to meet him. I didn't add that she'd said he'd been playing with himself, though he'd insisted he was just having a good scratch.
"What was he doing in a residential area? He could have outed us all," Calvin snapped angrily.
"What was he doing alone?" I countered. "It was only his second time shifting, and you promised you'd look after him." I put my hands on my hips. Jason might have been stupid but he hadn't asked to be bitten.
Calvin took a breath and looked down for a second before replying.
"I had some other things to take care of last night. I stayed near home and sent him off with the boys." He met my eye. "I'll look into it," he promised. Calvin and I shared a moment. Each of us knew it wasn't really the other ones fault. We didn't say anything but I dropped my hostile posture and he touched my arm gently. "Is he here?" He asked after removing his hand.
"Inside. Did you bring his clothes?" I was happy to go back inside, the sun was well past its zenith and the air was cooling rapidly.
"Yep, I'll get them." Calvin opened the door of his truck and picked up a pile of neatly folded clothes from the passenger seat.
"He'd better come with me, we need to straighten this out before moon-rise," he said shutting the door with his hip.
"OK." I scooted back up the steps ahead of him to hold the door and we headed inside.
Jason went to change into his own clothes while I poured coffee and chatted to Calvin.
"His court date is a week from tomorrow, Friday at ten AM. I'll call and remind him. He'll need to get his suit cleaned." Calvin nodded as I read through the paperwork and chattered on nervously. I was hoping the packmaster would help me make sure Jason did what he supposed to do and showed up where he was supposed to. "I can't afford a lawyer for him, it took all my money for the bail, but he owns his own house, he might be able to raise the money that way."
Considering the almost non-existent legal community in the area we might struggle to find anyone prepared to represent Jason anyway. Upsetting a local judge wasn't something any lawyer would want to do. My brother couldn't serve time because of his 'furry little problem,' as the Harry Potter books put it. I wasn't sure the public defender would do a good enough job to get him off with without jail time. (He'd come into Merlotte's once and I knew he had about three times as many cases as he could realistically handle.) We might have to bring someone in from further away and that would cost even more money.
"Don't worry, we take care of our own, and he's one of us now," Calvin assured me with another pat on the arm. He hadn't so much as glanced at the paperwork I'd offered him but maybe he wanted to read it through carefully later, when he could give it his full attention.
"Thanks Calvin." I did feel reassured. Calvin was the sort of man you always thought of in terms of 'steady' and 'reliable'.
They left a little after that following a round of hugs that got a bit confused and ended with Calvin and Jason hugging each other briefly until they pulled away embarrassed. Once they were gone I went through to pick up the towel, police issue shorts and Eric's jeans which Jason had left on the floor of the spare room. He'd only had them on for a bit but I thought I'd better wash them anyway. Checking my watch, I hustled through the shower. I was working tonight. I made a mental note to ask Sam for some extra shifts. Despite earning quite a bit less on the day shift, I had swapped my Friday night this week because Bill was taking me out. I wouldn't be able to do that again for a while, I couldn't afford to lose any more money. My budget would be really tight until I got Jason's bail money back.
Bill and I had spent a few evenings together recently. Nothing fancy. He'd come to see me at the duplex that Sam had rented to me; he'd wanted to check on me after Charles' attack. After carefully checking my ribs (this was how I'd known four of my ribs had been cracked), he'd offered me his blood which I'd refused. Bill had stayed while I'd curled up on the couch to watch Gone with the Wind for about the millionth time. Just like when he'd stayed with me in the hospital after Sweetie D'Artes shot me, he hadn't asked me any questions, hadn't tried to talk, he'd just sat with me. I liked his company, it was undemanding, which after so much upheaval was heaven. When I got tired, he'd let me snuggle against him without pushing things further or trying anything. I'd fallen asleep and awoken in bed but he hadn't removed my clothes, he'd simply tucked me under the quilt.
After that night he'd stopped by regularly to see me, either at work or at home. After a week he'd 'let slip' that he wasn't seeing Selah Pumphrey any more but didn't make a move on me, which I appreciated. I wasn't ready to risk my heart again. We talked easily about the little things. It was nice to have someone to watch movies with, to have someone that called to ask how my day was, just because he cared. We simply avoided any mention of the tough topics.
Then last week he had mentioned the concert tomorrow and asked if I wanted to go. Neither of us had said anything but the invitation sort of felt date-ish. It was like, as long as neither of us mentioned that out loud, it was OK. I knew from what I 'heard' that many of the Merlotte's regulars thought we were back together. Sam was also very curious about the time I spent with my ex but I couldn't answer his questions since I wasn't really sure where we stood myself.
Bill would be picking me up at seven tomorrow night and driving us into Shreveport for an open air concert. Classical music was being played by a local orchestra. I didn't know anything about classical music but the idea of going to a concert made me feel really grown up. Bill assured me that Batch was really good. I didn't know if it was called that because they had a whole bunch of musicians playing together, or how that differed from other classical stuff, but I was determined to enjoy it.
Apparently it was like a picnic, only at night, we'd all sit around, eating and drinking while the band played. It seemed the wrong time of year for this kind of thing but the organiser was a vampire that Bill knew who thought there was a market for a concert series celebrating the long winter's nights now that they were out of the coffin.
I threw the towel, shorts and Eric's jeans in the washer then headed out for work trying not to worry about Jason. Calvin would look after him.