**A/N: Alright folks, well, it seems I've done it again. I finally finish a story with one in progress and I had to go and start another one. I had a dream about this and I just had to put it down. I honestly don't know how much time I'm going to be able to devote to it, because the new shift at work causes me to lose an hour of typing time and I do want to stay on track with "Angel Wings". This is my first attempt out of the A/H realm, so forgive any liberties I take with Charlaine Harris' world. Big ole "Thank Ya" to Storiesforevy for pre-reading and encouraging. All mistakes are mine, but the characters belong to Mrs. Harris.

I drove my Corvette down the dark country road, thinking about nothing. I had just left Compton's house after giving him his latest assignment from Sophie-Ann. She wanted him to go to Peru to add to his fucking directory. I considered stopping by to see Sookie, but remembering that she had rescinded my invitation the last time I saw her, I thought that a visit would be unwise on my part.

I navigated the roads at my usual break-neck speeds until I saw something that made me leave skid marks on the old, cracked pavement. A blond woman, running down the side of the road. She looked frantically over her right shoulder as though someone or something was chasing her. The back of her white shirt was torn and smeared with blood and mud. She turned her head once in my direction. I saw that it was Sookie.

I pulled onto the shoulder, blocking her path, and exited the car. I caught her arm as she tried to run around me. "Sookie," I said, "what the hell are you doing out here?"

Her blue eyes blazed at me while she tried to pull her arm free of my grasp. "Let me go!" she yelled, her voice flavored with fear and anger and her usual attitude.

I sniffed and stepped back, still holding onto her. She smelled of fae, Were, and magic. Looking down, I saw she was barefoot and, looking up, that she was in her uniform from the shifter's bar. "Sookie, what are you doing?" I repeated.

"Why do you keep calling me that ridiculous name? Who are you? How do you know me?" she asked, no longer struggling against my grip.

This was bad. "Sookie is your name. Sookie Stackhouse. I am Eric Northman." I was unsure how to address her relationship to me. She was not a vampire, therefore, not in my retinue. She was no longer the "pet" of one in my area, not that I would have ever called her that. We were not exactly friends, but that would be the safest term to use. "We are friends," I told her and saw skepticism in her expression. "What is the last thing you remember?"

She was silent as she closed her eyes. When she opened them a moment later, they glistened with frustrated tears. "Nothing! I have nothing! Why can't I remember anything?"

This was getting worse and worse. I wanted to get her off the road. "Sookie, get in the car. I'm taking you to Fangtasia."

"Fangtasia?" she said with a sneer. "What is that, some theme bar?"

Was it possible that the didn't remember the Great Reveal? That vampires exist? I was going to have to proceed with caution. But first I had to get her in the damn car.

"Get in, Sookie. I want to get you off the road and away from whatever you were running from."

That got a response and she jumped into the passenger seat. I had to call Pam before we arrived. My child could be mischievous at the worst times, but I knew she had... affection for Sookie. I made sure that Sookie had her seat belt bucked and took off.

Shortly after, her hands were scrambling for purchase on anything and her back was pressed hard into the seat. "Are you freaking crazy? You're going to kill us at these speeds!" she shrieked and I had to chuckle.

"I have excellent reflexes, Sookie. You are in no danger. I thought it best to leave as quickly as possible. I can slow down if it would make you more comfortable," I told her calmly. She nodded enthusiastically and I slowed accordingly.

"I need to make a call before we arrive," I said, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket. I hit the button to speed dial Pam.

"Master?" she answered, sounding worried. "What's going on?"

"Sookie will be arriving with me tonight. She seems to have a memory problem."

"What?" she asked, sounding as though she thought I was trying to play a joke on her.

"I found her on the road tonight. She remembers nothing," I tried to emphasize to her. "I had to tell her her own name."

"Really? Okay, and..."

"I am bringing her to my theme bar," speaking slowly, hoping Pam understood. "Have my office presentable and a change of clothes available for Sookie. And Pam?"

"Yes, Master?" she responded, hearing the serious tone in my voice.

"Behave."

I ended the call and put the phone back in my pocket. I looked over at Sookie. "I have a private shower just outside of my office and my... partner will have fresh clothes available for you. Are you hungry? Would you like to stop for food?" I asked, remembering her human needs.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked suspiciously.

"I told you, we are friends. I'm trying to help you. Now, are you hungry?" I asked, trying to be patient with her and control my irritation.

She silently shook her head and pressed her lips together tightly. I used the time to appraise her condition in my peripheral vision. Her ponytail was messy and she had flyaway tendrils all over her head. Her face was uninjured, but her eyes were constantly darting around like a trapped animal. I could see that some of her fingernails were ragged and torn. There were scratches on her back that looked as though they were made by claws. Fucking Weres! The one that did that would be begging for death before I kindly obliged.

There were other scratches on her legs, but they were clearly caused by branches and briars she had encountered while running. Even without seeing them, I could tell that her feet were cut and bleeding as well. I had no idea why she would be without shoes, but she was, regardless.

I pulled into the back lot of Fangtasia to access the employee entrance. Pam met me outside while Sookie warily exited the car. It gave me a chance to tell her. "She doesn't remember anything – vampires, Weres, shifters, nothing. We need to keep her out of the main bar or she'll get hit with her telepathy. You go in first to clear the halls."

Pam went in right before Sookie got to the door and I could hear her shepherding Ginger and Belinda back out to the main floor. I led Sookie in with my hand on the small of her back and escorted her into my office. I could see that Pam had gotten rid of any stray True Blood bottles and any other signs there may have been that would give away my nature. On my desk I could see a pair of loose fitting pants and a Fangtasia t-shirt from the merchandise booth. I got a towel out of my closet and showed Sookie to the shower. "Take your time," I told her and for the first time, she looked at me gratefully.

Once the water started, Pam returned. "Do you mind telling me the whole fucking story now?"

"I already did. I was returning from giving Compton his assignment and I saw her running down the road like something was after her. She didn't know her name, who I was, nothing. She's a void. Do you know who we can contact for her?"

Pam thought about it. "Besides the shifter? She has a worthless brother, but God only knows how to get in touch with him. There's Compton, but I'm assuming you want him oblivious and on his way to South America. That's it."

I had known that her life was fairly isolated, but to realize that she had so few people to depend on raised her in my esteem even further than she already was. She was already too high in my opinion and I bit back a smile. "After she showers and returns to the office, we need to find a way to tell her about our world, at least a little, so she knows what we are." I sat at my desk and kicked my feet up on the desk, thinking.

I heard the water turn off next door and I motioned to Pam to see if she needed any help. A few moments later, a clean Sookie entered my office and I had to keep my fangs from running down at the sight of her. Her long hair was still damp and the t-shirt was too big, but she looked delicious. She no longer smelled of a menagerie of supes and her own amazing scent filled the room. "Sookie, have a seat. We need to talk."

She took a seat on the leather sofa and looked up at me. Her eyes, usually so full of courage and life, were just blank. I had no idea how to tell her what I needed to, but it had to be done.

"Sookie, there is something that you need to know. About three years ago, Japanese scientists perfected a formula for synthetic blood. Because of its availability, vampires came out and announced to the world that they exist and can now survive without harming humans." I carefully used "they" and not "we", waiting so I could gauge her reaction.

Which was not much. Her eyes widened slightly. "Okay, and you're telling me this why? Did a vampire erase my memories?"

I smiled. She was still comfortable in the supernatural world. "No, I don't believe so. You have interacted with numerous vampires in the past and you seem to be immune to their glamour." Her brow wrinkled slightly in confusion at the term. "Vampire hypnotism. Your mind is not affected by it."

She was quiet while she digested the information. "Okay, so if a vampire didn't do this... why is it important?"

"Sookie, Fangtasia is not a theme bar. We cater to the trade of humans that want to interact with vampires and can get a thrill of doing so in a safe, controlled environment." Never mind the thrill sometimes became uncontrolled; that was not pertinent. Once we no longer had to hide our natures, it became a very profitable venture."

As I expected, she noticed the change in pronouns, but still has no extreme reaction. "So you... and that woman Pam... are vampires. Is that what you're telling me?"

"Yes. And there are several other vampires out in the main bar, on display for the humans."

Her brow wrinkled again. "Why would they do that? It sounds like a zoo, or a carnival freak show. It's degrading."

My smile returned. I knew there was a reason I liked her, beyond my desire to fuck her unconscious. "I agree, as do the other vampires. However, through my position in this area of Louisiana, I require vampires living here to put themselves on display for a set number of hours each month. A vampire bar without vampires would quickly go out of business."

"Your position? What are you, Head Vamp?" she asked and I couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Sookie, there is a very complicated power structure in the vampire world and it has nothing to do with your situation. I wanted you to be aware of what I am before you accept assistance from me. Are you still comfortable around me?"

She looked over me calmly. "Are you that same person... vampire... whatever that picked me up off the road? If you wanted to kill me, you would have already and no one would be the wiser. Unless you were lying about us being friends, why would I be uncomfortable?"

"No, I wasn't lying. You mean... a great deal to me." It was nothing but the truth. I had protected her at risk and harm to myself more than once. It was unlike me to put myself at risk for a human, or anyone else. I also hadn't lied when I told her in Jackson: "I don't like having feelings". But I couldn't help feeling for the feisty blond sitting on my couch watching me.

I looked toward the door to my office and saw red smears leading to the couch. I got up from my perch on the desk and lifted Sookie's feet gently. Although clean from the shower, they still had some rather deep cuts, and I knew her back had to be in pain also. I felt bad that I hadn't considered her injuries earlier. Fucking feelings!

"Sookie, vampire blood can heal the injuries on your feet and back. Would you like me to heal you?" I asked her.

"What would I have to do?" she asked, wary again.

"Allow me to rub some of my blood into the cuts on your feet. I would need to see your back to see what I would need to do to heal that. It looked like your were mauled earlier. Do you agree?"

She nodded and I pricked my finger with a fang, happy to see she didn't flinch. I gently ran the bead of blood over the sole of her foot, and watched the cuts seam back together. I pricked a second finger and repeated the process on the other foot, with the same results. Sookie looked at her feet with amazement. "That's incredible!" She said. "Why aren't you guys doctors? You could heal so many people!"

"Sookie, this is a secret we don't want getting out. Vampires are already sought and drained for their blood for use as an illegal drug. We don't want to... advertise any extra abilities that may cause even more to hunt us. Now let me see your back."

She turned and lifted the back of the t-shirt. It looked like a huge paw had dragged its claws down her beautiful skin. She already had scars from her encounter with the maenad and from a stake-happy fanatic in Mississippi and I didn't want her scarred further. "Sookie, I'm going to clean your cuts, then heal them with my blood. I have a coagulant in my saliva that will help them heal. Do you still want me to heal your back?" I wanted to make sure she knew what I was doing. I didn't want to lose any trust that may have been earned in the short time this Sookie had known me.

She nodded, and whimpered when my tongue made contact with the gashes. At the taste of her blood, this time untainted my any kind of poison, I couldn't help but moan with delight. She was like nothing I had ever tasted before. I tried to be both as quick yet thorough, wanting her to be comfortable. Once I had the cuts clean, I rubbed more blood into them to heal them.

Sookie lowered her shirt and rolled her shoulders, feeling the soreness and stiffness gone. She gave me a small smile. "Thank you, Eric," she said and had to stifle a yawn.

"Sookie, I want to take you back to my house. You can sleep there and tomorrow we can try to piece together what happened to you tonight," I told her. She nodded, her face tired and resigned. I texted Pam that we were leaving. I escorted Sookie back to the Corvette and headed for my home.

**A/N: So... what do you think of my first supe venture? I need to know if I should continue any further with this. Suggestions, comments, critiques... all are welcome.