Characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I just moved them to Brooklyn.

Thomas Galvin inspired Recap:

With fairy godmother Claudine out of town on important fashion business, Sookie eschews her Fairy Deterrent purchases on her way to work. As a result, she finds herself a jumble of nerves as she waits for her shift to end at the Salty Dog.

Eric senses Sookie's fear and meets her at the bar, offering to walk her home. He is surprised when she gratefully accepts his offer.

Eric and Sam engage in alpha male posturing (more like beta male posturing on Sam's part); Sam does his best to warn Sookie about vampires and succeeds in attacking her intelligence in the process.

Eric reveals to Sookie that there's more to Sam than meets the eye.

~oooOOOooo~

"So Eric walked you home?" asks Amelia.

"Yep," I reply.

"You're here, so I know he didn't hurt you…"

I avert my eyes and stare at a folk art painting of a cat. "Yeah, something like that…"

Amelia throws me a confused look. I wish I could explain but I can't. That's why I come to her.

~oooOOOooo~

Once Eric and I were outside on Third Avenue, instead of feeling vulnerable, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Closing my eyes, I took a moment to inhale and exhale a few times. The crisp, cool air danced on my skin, reminding me how much I loved cool summer nights. The humidity that had been hanging over the city had, thankfully, lifted. Mirroring my own sense of well-being, the city felt cool, calm and collected. Opening my eyes I saw that Eric was watching me, his lips upturned in a smirk. Feeling self-conscious, I responded with a nervous smile.

"What? What're you grinning at?"

Still smiling, he shook his head and took a step in the direction of my apartment.

"I'm not grinning at you in a way that's insulting. I'm merely intrigued by you."

"Intrigued, huh?" Shaking my head, I took a few steps to catch up with him. "I'm sorry but I definitely don't warrant 'intrigued.' I'm far from fascinating. If that's what you think and that's what keeps you coming 'round. You should know that I actually lead a pretty dull life."

Eric chuckled. "Not that easy to get rid of me, Sookie."

"Figured it was worth a shot," I mumbled.

Quietly, we made our way down the avenue, encountering a few other late night pub crawlers along the way. Glancing at Eric I realized I still needed to ask him something.

"Hey," I started and, watched silently as Eric's eyes cut over to meet mine. "Why'd you come by tonight, anyway? You said you sensed I was nervous?"

Thoughtfully he nodded. "Yes," he said. "I sensed your fear. And I needed to assure myself it had nothing to do with me."

"Oh," I replied, my voice low. "Guess you were surprised that it didn't have anything to do with you."

"Yes, surprised but pleased. I don't want you to fear me, Sookie." His smiled sardonically. "At least not any more than is necessary."

"Right…" My response fell off my lips; the moment passed into an awkward silence. I was wondering just how lucky it was for me that my feelings had nothing to do with Eric. I dared not dwell on what would have been the case otherwise.

"I should like to learn more about your gift—"

"What exactly do you want to know?" I asked, rather curtly. I knew it was rude to interrupt but there was a point I wanted to make. "My "gift"—as you call it—has caused me more grief than you can possibly imagine."

Eric stopped walking and turned to face me, his smile gone. I had no choice but to stop as well.

"Are you quite certain of that?" he asked me. "I have quite the imagination."

Suddenly uneasy, it occurred to me that I may have said the wrong thing.

Was it possible to offend a vampire?

"I don't know what you can imagine. I guess you've seen a lot over the years and a lot of that has been pretty awful." I paused and he just watched me, waiting. "As for me, I'm twenty-five. And I may not have seen much but I know what it's like to live most of your life feeling alone and afraid."

My voice cracking, I was suddenly hit with a visceral wave of despair. Choking down a sob, I turned away from Eric. I felt like I'd been doing so well with Eric since that first night on the fire escape; I didn't want to mess things up by allowing him to see me cry. I picked up my pace, but didn't make it very far. In a second, Eric was beside me, his fingers tightly grasping my good arm.

"Why?" he asked.

I stared at him, my eyes wide.

How could he not realize what it was like for me?

"Are you kidding? I'm scared to death I'll hear the wrong thing one day. Someone'll figure out what I am." In a lower voice, I continued. "There's some not very nice people in the world, in case you hadn't noticed."

Eric let out a harsh bark of laughter as he let his hand fall from my arm. "Touché, Miss Stackhouse." He fixed his eyes on me; under the harsh yellow glow of the streetlights, I could tell he was far from amused. "I'm quite aware of this. I'm only sorry that you are as well."

"Thanks," I replied with more than a touch of sarcasm.

"Is that why you were afraid tonight?"

I sighed. Did I want to confide in Eric my whole fairy tale saga? No. At least, not yet.

If I invented some other story to explain why I was afraid, would he know I was lying? My gut was telling me yes…

"No," I finally answered. "Not really. But I don't want to talk about that." As Eric seemed to accept my answer, I decided it was a good time to change the subject. "You know they busted half the neighborhood in January?"

"They?" he asked.

"The Feds. The FBI. They arrested like more than a hundred people for having connections to the mob."

Eric digested my newsflash with a lift of his eyebrow. "No, I actually hadn't been aware of that. How very…" Eric paused, staring off into space, "1930s."

Caught off-guard by Eric's joke, I snorted. "Hey! Don't diss Brooklyn. We may not always be current, but at least we're ahead of Queens and Staten Island."

Eric grinned at me again, and by his expression, I knew he was genuinely amused this time. My apparent ability to assess his true feelings gave me pause: Just how well did I know this vampire? That was something I'd have to think about.

"Your borough rivalries remind me of our vampire turf wars."

"Stop!" I held up my hand. "Don't say another word! I don't want to know anything about your turf issues." Eric complied with my request and was quiet.

As we resumed making our way down Third Avenue towards the water, we fell into an oddly comfortable silence. Finally, out of the corner of my eye. I saw Eric cast a sideways glance in my direction; I wasn't surprised when he spoke again.

"How did you come by your fairy blood?"

"Oh, you know," I treated him to my Crazy Sookie smile. "The usual way…"

"You enjoy being evasive," he chuckled.

"No more than you," I shot back. "Besides, like I said before: My life really isn't all that interesting. Personally, I'm more curious about Sam at this point." To underscore my words, I gave him a pointed look. "And you said you'd tell me about him?"

Eric nodded; without preamble and without slowing his gait, he gave me my answer. "Your boss is a shifter."

"A shifter?" As in shape shifter? Sci-Fi and fantasy and folklore and all that? My brain grappled with Eric's revelation.

"He is not only human. He can change forms. He can change into other creatures."

Shocked, I sucked in a breath. I stopped walking and just stood there, my mouth hanging open.

"What the fuck?" I cried out.

I'd known Sam for nearly five years. Finding out he was a shapeshifter, that he could change into other creatures was definitely the most startling revelation I'd had to date. Considering I'd recently discovered that both vampires and fairies were real, that I was part-fairy, and had fairy relatives engaged in some kind of a grudge match, that was saying a lot.

"Like what? What does he change into?" I asked before it dawned on me: did I really want to know?

"I believe a dog..."

"A dog? What the …?" I just stood there, staring at Eric who stood on the sidewalk a few steps ahead of me. "You mean like 'woof woof'"?

A sly smile on his face, he nodded. "Yes, 'woof woof.' Lifting his leg to urinate. Sniffing his own genitals. Sniffing others'..."

I held up a hand to let him know he needed to shut up. I brought my hand up to my forehead and rubbed my temple.

"I don't understand." I sighed, my voice echoing confusion and defeat. "I don't understand any of this."

Eric doubled back to where I stood. His clear-eyed gaze washed over me. I figured I was wrong, but I thought I detected something akin to sympathy in his eyes.

"Do you understand this?" He gently grazed my forehead with his finger.

I shook my head.

"Yet, you know it to be true."

"Yeah, well," I snickered. "It's kinda hard to ignore."

"There are different kinds of magic in the universe, Sookie." He tugged on my elbow and we started walking again. "The magic that gives me life after a thousand years. That gives your boss his alternative form. That gives you an extra sense."

Did Eric just tell me he was a thousand years old? Damn.

"Can you explain it?"

Eric gave me his lopsided grin before shaking his head. "I can explain the magic that wrought me no better than I can explain air or trees. I could tell you how I became what I am. I could tell you what can destroy me; what cannot." He threw me a roguish smile; watching him, I realized I could tell the slight difference in the way he'd quirk his eyebrow when he was surprised from the way he'd lift it when making a point. "I could explain the mechanics. But why? Why is it so?" He shook his head. "This I cannot explain."

"Hmm. Okay."

"Okay?" I nearly tittered as I watched as the eyebrow went up.

"Well, if that's all you got, that's all you got. Doesn't do me any good to go on about it, does it?"

"No, I suppose not."

"That does kinda explain some things, though."

"What?"

"Sam's brain was always different. Gnarly, hard to read. Colors, images, not so much words. I never understood why."

"Have you noticed others like him?"

"A few," I peered at him. "I've noticed others like you, too."

That surprised him. He stopped walking and pulled me towards him.

"When? Recently? At your bar?" His words were sharp, not angry but concerned?

I shook my head. "Not recently. Maybe a year ago. It was out somewhere else. Another bar in the neighborhood." It had been at the Blue Zoo Lounge. Tara had dragged me there in the hopes I'd meet someone.

"What did they look like?"

"It was a girl. Long blonde hair. Blue eyes."

He grinned. "Perhaps Pam."

"Who's Pam?"

"My child."

"You have a daughter?" I was beyond confused.

"My vampire offspring. I made her a vampire."

"How do you know it was her?"

"I don't," he shrugged. "But she visited last year and she fits your description."

"How old is she?"

"About 200." Eric seemed to give my question a second thought. "But in her human form, she looks about 19-20."

"Really? Wow!" We were more than halfway to my apartment by that time. As we walked, we'd pass others making their way home or out to the late-night clubs. Although we were talking mostly in hushed tones, every now and then, in expressing my surprise, my voice would unintentionally go higher. I was relieved that Eric seemed to take this in stride and didn't make a big deal of it. But, then again, maybe he'd memorized the faces of the folks we passed that he thought might've overheard something questionable. Maybe he planned on visiting with them later either to glamour them or to do something else. Something worse. I sincerely hoped not but I didn't want to dwell on it. Not cold, I shivered.

Eric, sensing the train of my thoughts no doubt, shot me a curious look.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." I nodded. "So Pam is your child. Do you have other...? Others? Who is your...family?" I stumbled on the word children. Grow up, Sookie. Everyone says it takes a village. This is just a little stranger than your average village.

Eric, meanwhile, seemed to get a kick out of my question.

"Who is my family!" He grinned at me. "What a charming question. We tend to live in nests. Our nestmates may or may not be related. For instance, Pam and I lived together for many years."

"But not anymore?"

"No," he shook his head. "I live alone now."

Nodding, I tried to think of my next question. After a few moments of silence, Eric asked,

"No more questions?"

I mimicked his quirked eyebrow at him. "I've always got questions," I laughed.

"Lay it on me, then." That, I thought, was a perfect example of something I'd been wondering about: Lay it on me.

"If you're as old as dirt," I smiled at his chuckle, "how do you stay current on slang and idioms? Like 'lay it on me'?"

"A constant challenge. Movies, radio, school. Fitting in can mean a matter of life and death. The ability to adapt is critical to my survival."

So matter-of-fact was his answer, it belied its seriousness. Something about his words struck me, though. All of a sudden, it hit me: Eric and I were alike in a very basic way. We both were faced with a constant struggle to fit in, to adapt, and to cover up our true natures.

Speaking of adapting…there was something that had continued to gnaw at me. There was a point I had to make. I wasn't sure how receptive Eric would be to it, but I knew I needed to make it regardless.

"Eric," I started. "You know you really didn't have to break my shoulder."

Eric sighed and I couldn't help but notice how absolutely normal it sounded.

"Sookie, we've been through this. It was a matter of using my resources to mitigate a risk to the point that I felt comfortable—"

"Yeah, I get why you wanted what you wanted," I said. "I'm just saying you didn't have to break my shoulder to get what you wanted."

Puzzled Eric stared at me. "What are you saying?"

Placing my index finger and my thumb on the bridge of my nose, I shut my mouth. Eric watched as seconds passed. Finally, needing to draw in a breath, my mouth exploded open.

Eric looked at me silently, thoughtfully. Just when I'd given up on the idea of him saying something, he spoke.

"Ah, I believe I see your point." He finally said. "You are of the opinion that I used excessive force."

"Yeah," I nodded. "I figured a demonstration would help."

"Perhaps you are right..."

We continued our walk in silence after that. It was a bizarre thing to take satisfaction from, but Eric had actually conceded that breaking my shoulder might've been unnecessary. I found myself pleased.

I'd debated someone who had a clear advantage: many more years of practice debating —975 to be exact— and I'd won.

There was, however, one more thing…

"I forgot to ask you the most important question."

"What is that?"

"How did you know to find me at the Salty Dog? I never told you where I worked."

"True, you did not."

I expected him to say more but when he didn't, I continued. "Are you gonna tell me?"

"I will tell you, Sookie." He'd come to a stop; looking up, I caught a glimpse of myself in the his stark blue eyes. "We have reached your home."

Turning to look behind me, I realized—surprisingly to my chagrin—we were standing outside the front door of my building.

I wasn't ready for our conversation to end.

Acting on an insane impulse, the words flew out of my mouth before I could reel them in.

"You want to come up to the fire escape? We could continue talking through the window."

Eric's face broke into a big smile. "No, Sookie. I have business to attend to this night."

Nodding, I realized I felt a pang of regret. What the…? My disappointment must've been apparent—either on my face or in my blood. Eric caught on and it spurred him to make a new offer.

"Sookie, we can continue our talk tomorrow night. I can walk you home again. What time do you get off work? Same as this night?"

"Um, yeah. I should be ready to go by two again."

Eric nodded. "I will see you then, Sookie."

The next minute played like a movie. Detached, I watched as Eric lowered his head and brought his lips to mine; a relatively chaste kiss—his mouth never opened—I still felt a slow heat pulsate from my lips all the way down my spine. Ending the kiss, he brushed his lips across my cheek before settling them briefly into the curve of my neck. Feeling something sharp, I knew his fangs had dropped.

"Don't bite me," I whispered.

"Of course not, Sookie." He kissed my neck lightly before pulling away. "I would not want you unwilling."

Smiling, I shook my head. "Bullshit. You were ready the night we met to take your meal. It just so happens since I can't be glamoured, you have to work it out with me first."

Eric continued to stare at me; he seemed surprised that I was challenging him. Or surprised by something else?

"That may have been true that first night but now I do not want you like that. I want only to smell your desire, not your fear."

Silently I nodded. I couldn't be glamoured but maybe having Eric's blood inside me made me more susceptible to his influence? I was more than a little amazed by the fact that not only hadn't I felt afraid of him during our walk, but I was so drawn into our conversation, I'd even forgotten to worry about my fairy stalker.

Eric looked on as I let myself into my building. I saw him still standing there, outside the glass doors, as I made my way to the elevator. Once upstairs in my apartment, I walked over to the living room window. Glancing down, I saw a figure standing just beyond the courtyard gate.

He'd waited to make sure I'd made it safely into my apartment.

I waved, letting him know I was okay.

I watched as he waved back and then turned and disappeared into the night.

My secret bodyguard indeed.

AN: Thank you for reading! (and reviewing…*wink*) Google "Bay Ridge" and "mafia bust" if you're curious about the "inspiration" for the back story.

THANKS: We continue to owe fealty to slcurwin for beta duties and plot support.

Chapter Title: From Pearl Jam's "Immortality."

Fangreaders: Saturday August 27th, at 4pm EST (8pm GMT). The lovely Vic Vega will be moderating. Participants must register at least 24 hours in advance so please send an email address to JecaNS. It's not specific to any story, it's open to any topic. Sookehverse. Stackhouse Six. Dead Man. Good opportunity to lobby for the sequel you'd like to see written first.