QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really have had a hard time with starting out this story. I want it to somewhat follow the episodes to form the basis of how Eric meet Roux, thus shedding light on how their relationship forms. Please forgive these first four chapters for not being all that exciting (not enough Eric), I just think it's unrealistic of stories to create a love between characters without showing the basis of their relationship. I hope you all will like it, and I do promise to have more between Roux and Eric. This is where, I feel, things get a little more interesting. Also, thank you again to my Followers and those who have reviewed, it has been a tremendous encouragement to me. Enjoy! - Keeks


"You have yet to cash my check." A familiar, drawling voice inquired behind Roux. It had been a couple weeks since she heard it, somehow she could never forget who that voice belonged to.

Turning around on the ladder, sure enough there was Eric Northman in the flesh standing in the doorway of her shop. I must have forgotten to lock the door again. Serves me right. "Well, hello to you too, Mr Northman." She slowly climbed down from where she was arranging various large, decorative stones. "What brings you to my fine establishment this evening?" She spread her hands apart leaning against the cash wrap counter.

He leaned on the other side of the counter. "I believe I asked first." His blue eyes met hers, amusement dancing in them. His hair was cut shorter and styled away from his face which only accented his strong jawline. "Don't tell me you are attempting to refuse my offer."

"I've been fairly busy, getting ready for the grand opening and all." She motioned to the store, he clearly was not buying it. "Alright... twenty-thousand dollars is a lot of money, that is all. I'm not backing out."

"I don't need to remind you that I know of a little secret, do I?"

"You don't need to be an asshole." Roux looked him point blankly. Sighing, she continued, "Look, I've agreed to this arrangement but you don't need to remind me that this, in fact, a form of blackmail. You know, you could've just called to talk to me about it."

"And miss seeing your lovely face? Never."

She turned her face away, attempting to hide the color rising to her cheeks. "Here, this is for Pam." She handed him a jar. "It's night-blooming jasmine body butter, on the house. If you're going to have some incentive to our arrangement, she might as well reap some of the benefits as well."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it." He pulled back the sleeve of his sweater to check the time. "I have some other errands to attend to. I will bid you 'Adieu.'"

With that he was gone. Roux felt uneasy about her agreement with Eric Northman. She had always been in control of her life and he made her feel very out of control. One thing was certain, she didn't know what to do. Her hands were tied. I really wish Gran was here so I could ask her what she thought of this. Elise had always been there to help her sort things out. It was becoming imperative that she devised a plan to rid her of his control over her. To Roux, it was definitely time for a cigarette.


Exhausted, Roux poured herself a glass of pinot grigio. Fuck it, I deserve a big glass. Holding the bottle in hand, she considered it. Oh hell, why not? She took a large swig from the bottle. "Oh, yeah, There it is."

There was rapping knock at her front door. She looked down at Blaise, "Who could that be?" He just yelped a reply. She slowly approached the door in which knocking persisted the door she found none other than her reluctant employer, "What do you want?"

"I have a situation that requires your urgent medical attention." Eric stated. "It would be faster for me to get you than for you to drive to Fangtasia."

Damnit, I can't catch a break. "How bad?"

"It's Sookie. She was attacked by something, she can't move and won't accept any vampire blood to heal her." There was a sense of urgency in his voice. Roux knew it was not good.

"Come in," she swung the door wider, walking to where she kept her medpack. "Anything else that you can tell me about the wound?" she asked as she stuffed blue nitrile gloves into one of the compartments, and grabbing more gauze pads.

"There was some type of foreign liquid in the wound." He looked down at Blaise, who eyed him warily. Surprisingly, Blaise didn't hiss at him but Eric did look uncomfortable as he followed Eric to where Roux was talking to him from.

"How did it happen?" Roux asked, as she grabbed a few saline packs, syringes, and a powdered substance in a glass bottle.

"All I know from Bill is that Sookie was in a huff, walked down a trail and was attacked by some type of humanoid bull." Roux looked at him like he was crazy. "His words, not mine."

"I have what I need." Following him outside, Roux swung her pack over her shoulder, and locked the front door behind them.

"Hang on tight." He swung her up into his arms and took off.

In about ten minutes he set her down in front of the club and led her inside. She coughed for a few moments, catching her breath. I think I left my stomach at home, she thought to herself. Then she caught sight of Sookie laying facedown on the black leather lounge cushions. The back of her white uniform top was soaked in blood and three long gashes ran down her back. Running to her side Roux cried, "Oh God, Sook." Setting down her pack, she knelt at her side, Sookie's face pale. "Hey we're going get you fixed up, alright hun?" Roux shook her head, This doesn't look good at all. Turning to Eric, "Could you slid over that table and chair there?" Which he did, as she requested.

"Maybe we should get someone with more expertise?" Bill looked to Eric, unsure.

"Look, right now is not the time for a pissing contest, but I'm your best bet. She doesn't look good." Roux said sliding her hands into gloves, putting on her eyeglasses. She checked the next compartment for a face mask, prayed to the heavens for guidance. "Alright, Sookie this isn't to feel very good but I need to figure out what this is, ok?"

"Is there no pain medication you can give her?" Bill asked, frantically.

"Chances are it isn't going to work, especially if she isn't accepting vampire blood. Honestly, I need her awake and aware. Which is awful, but in order for me to figure out her course of treatment, necessary." Roux cut away the remains of Sookie's blouse, and gingerly touched the wound. Sookie screamed, beginning to foam at the mouth. The wound secreted a pus-like substance which Roux examined. "So she's pretty much paralyzed?"

"Yes, she couldn't move after it happened and choked on her own saliva. "

"In my research at BUSM, there was only one other neurotoxin similar to this that came from a komodo dragon but from a claw?" Roux was baffled but only knew one thing that could slow the venom from accelerating the deterioration of Sookie's vitals. She sighed to herself, this was going to be painful. Turning to her pack, she saw that Eric quietly watched from the other side of the room. Roux opened the cap to a bottle of saline solution and measured in powdered cholestyramine. Sealing it again she shook the bottle. "Bill you're going to want to hold her down. This is a bile acid which should bind to the neurotoxin, drawing it out of her bloodstream, in which she should be able to accept vampire blood thereafter." Peering down at her patient she explained, "Sookie, sweetie, this isn't going to feel very good but it may save your life." Sookie nodded before Roux began to administer the solution. Sookie convulsed and screamed as Bill held her firmly still. Prepping gauze pads, Roux absorbed the remaining solution from Sookie's skin. "She should be ready to accept your blood." She told Bill, and turned away and he fed her. Tossing the used gauze and empty bottles of saline the trash, she stepped outside for a cigarette.

If it weren't for my arrangement with Eric, Sookie could've ended up dead. As fate would have it... she thought. Walking back inside, Bill tossed Sookie a souvenir shirt to wear. It was going to be dawn soon and the vampires would soon retire to ground until evening. "Sookie, you need get some rest." Roux said to her, to which she nodded. "It'll be dawn soon, I'll stay with her."

Eric offered a coffin to Bill. "Thank you for your hospitality, Eric. And to you Rouxena, for saving her life." Bill said, humbly.

"I'm sure the is some way she can repay me." Eric hinted, Bill looked to Roux as she watched the exchange and they retreated downstairs.

Roux sat down near Sookie, who was still in and out of sleep. "Come talk with me, Roux." Roux smiled softly as she leaned closer to Sookie. "With all that has been happening, we haven't had much time to catch up."

"Yes, I never Louisiana would be so busy." she laughed. Eric quietly lurked around the corner, listening on in the conversation between the peculiar human women.

"I never knew why she moved up to Boston. How did Elise die?" Sookie asked, groggily.

"Gran moved to Boston to take care of me. I never told you that I was engaged, did I." Sookie was surprised at what Roux said, "I met another mage, his name was Ethan and all sorts of tall, dark and handsome. We were crazy about each other and practiced charms together, which was something I never had before. Soon, he got hooked on V and I never touched the stuff and one night he got real fucked up. I was doing midnight rounds at the hospital, I was doing Adderall just to stay at times and he came to take me home. I was passed out in the car, I didn't know he was high..." Roux looked off as if watching it all happen again. "Next time I woke up, his car was wrapped around a light pole and his head was through the windshield. I was the only one wearing a seatbelt, which saved my life but it dislocated my right clavicle bone. That was great, but what wasn't so great was the strap had crushed my pelvis. It was the most painful thing I had experienced in my entire life. No one was on the road that early in the morning, so I waited, and waited for hours until help came. Ethan was proclaimed brain dead on the scene." Roux wiped the tears that glistened on her cheeks. Eric almost felt guilty for eavesdropping, but Roux rarely shared information with him and this was an opportunity he could not pass up.

"Oh, Roux. That is just awful."

"I had a few surgeries, Gran was my next of kind so she fly up to Boston to help me. Then with physical therapy appointments, she knew it was best for her to move there to take care of me. I ended up dropping my minor in dance. No amount of physical therapy could get me to a passing grade when it came to technique. But she got me through it all, and I still got my MD." Roux smiled at the memory of her tenacious grandmother. "Then she got the news that she had stage 3 breast cancer and started her treatment. I couldn't be there everyday so put her in a good care facility. She was doing good for a while, but she stopped responding to treatments, then it spread in the lymphatic fluid. She really didn't give up, but she didn't want to die withering from the rigorous amounts of chemo, so she opted to just let nature take its course. She was so sweet, and kind up until the end."

Sookie reached for her hand, "I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you."

"It's not your fault, Sook. I'm the one that left and didn't look back." They smiled at each other, but soon they were quiet as they drifted off to sleep.


Roux awoke to Sookie's frantic voice angrily accosting Bill and Eric. "What's going on?" Roux asked as she wiped sleep from her eyes.

"Eric has Lafayette chained up, bitten him and shot, and then left him in his own filth for weeks!"

"Is this true, Eric?" Roux jumped to Sookie's side.

"The human traded sexual services with a vampire in order to sell his blood, which in our world, is a grave offense."

"His name is Lafayette, and you oughta be ashamed of yourself for what you did to him." Sookie spat.

Eric was untouched by her emotions. "I'm glad to see that you are feeling better."

"You're going to let him go, right now, or I'm going to the police!"

Eric's demeanor changed then suddenly, baring his fangs, he was in front of Sookie as he uttered, "I do not respond well to threats."

Roux didn't know what she was doing before her fist met his cheek, "Snap out of it!" Eric was not happy, she looked at Sookie. "The both of you. I'm sure we can come to some sort of an arrangement, yes?"

Glowering at Roux, Eric said, "Yes, I believe we can. Come." He led them to his office where they could talk more privately. He explained to them that there was a missing Sheriff of Area 9 in Dallas, Texas and he would like them to accompany him immediately, all expenses paid. He allowed Sookie and Bill to take Lafayette back to Bon Temps, but Roux stayed behind.

As the office door closed she said, "I would say that I was sorry for punching but I'm not."

Eric chuckled, "That upset?"

"You disgust me."

"I'll grow on you."

"And I'd rather get cancer. How soon are we leaving?"

"In three hours, and we will most likely fly out from Shreveport. You can not tell anyone you are going to Dallas. The political temperature is thick with unease."

"May I use the phone for to call a cab? I left mine at home in the hurry to help Sookie."

"No need for that," He twirled his keys around this index finger. "Get your things."

Following him outside, he led her to a parked black Maserati. She exclaimed, "No way. This is your car?"

"Get in."

"This is a one hundred and fifty-thousand dollar car." Rouxena said, buckling her seatbelt. She admired the rosewood trim interior, her mouth agape. She remained quiet the rest of the ride back to her house. Reluctantly, she went got out of the car. "Thank you for saving me a cab ride."

"It's the least I could do since I practically kidnapped you from your home last night."

She nodded and started walking up the stairs to her front door. "Is it safe to assume that you will be needing my expertise as a mage for this trip to Dallas?" She asked, catching him before he got into his car.


One thing was certain, Dallas held much more excitement for Roux than she liked. The limousine driver that met them at the plane terminal was working for The Fellowship of the Sun, a strong anti-vampire organization. He attempted an attack on Sookie and Rouxena. Someone had tipped them off about humans working with the vampires to find this Sheriff.

This was Roux's time staying at a hotel catered to vampires. Vampires definitely had style, she thought as they rode the elevator to their lodgings. They reached their floor, Roux was surprised to find that she was given a key to a different room. It made sense, Sookie, Bill and Bill's progeny, Jessica were assigned to a suite down the hall and Roux opened the door to her room to another suite with two rooms. Setting down bag, she explored the suite and decided upon the room that had an adjoining shower. It had a large bathtub and a beautiful stonework shower. I'll have to try that out before we check out of the hotel. It was a good time to settle in, who knows when I'll have time to do so later?

Sitting on the bathroom floor, she set out four candles representing the elements of air in the east, fire in the south, water for west, and earth for north. Sealing the circle with coarse salt, she placed an orgonite pyramid near the candle representing north. She set her palms laying face up on her knees she worked to center herself. All was quite and she finally found the peace she craved for some time.

The front door to her suite opened and shut. What does a girl have to do to get some peace around here? She extremely exasperated. Closing her session with a few words of gratitude, she blew out the candles as the door swing slowly swung open, Eric just stood there staring.

"Look, just because you don't know much about mages, doesn't mean you can stand there and judge me." She rambled, taken by surprise. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"You didn't think you had this suite all to yourself, did you?"

"Well, I didn't think about it much." She scooped the salt in her hands, pouring it into her Zip-lock bag. "So, what now roomie?"