A/N: An anonymous reviewer asked me why was it important for Pam and Tara to talk about Franklin. I think it's a very important step on their bonding path because it's one of the biggest traumas of Tara's life and of the biggest reasons she hates vampires. Being a vampire now, she needs to make peace with that in order to move on. Also, it allows us to look into Pam's past and maybe find some similarities between the two.

Also, the same person asked me why would Jessica go back to Billith. She didn't go back to him, she was under his maker's command and I thought it was evident that he made her come with him after the battle at the TA. I'm sorry if I left it a bit unclear.

That said, here's your Franklin chapter!

Tara sighed heavily as her mind went back to the night she first met Franklin. She was in a very bad place. After losing Eggs, she felt like she was losing herself, like she was hanging on to her dear life by a thread. And then he came along and with him a sense of silent understanding and agreement. She noticed it from the very moment he spoke his first words to her.

When she told him that she was in Merlotte's because she was afraid she'd kill herself otherwise, he wasn't taken aback by it, not even for a bit. Sookie, Sam and Lafayette would have freaked out if she said something like that to them. But not him. He didn't even flinch.

There was something about his calmness and apparent interest in Tara that drew her attention. At that point, everyone was tiptoeing around her, comforting her, trying to make her feel better and she was sick of it. There was no getting better from having your boyfriend killed. There was no getting better from being used by a crazy maenad and having big black holes in your memory. No.

He didn't try to comfort her – he simply wanted to talk. Their talk didn't last long, but he did make an impression on Tara. Even the knowledge that he was a vampire didn't diminish that and that was a big thing in her book.

He was also involved in an incident in the parking lot, just a couple of minutes after she'd stormed out of Merlotte's in her usual fashion. He held down a redneck while she beat the hell out of him. She was sure she would have killed him if Franklin hadn't stopped her. All that rage and helplessness reached a boiling point in that moment and she knew she wouldn't stop. It felt too good. And Franklin was there, drinking in her rage, drinking in her emotions.

The one night stand that followed seemed like the next obvious move. Tara simply wanted to vent and he was there, willing and ready. The sex was mind blowing, that was for sure, but Tara didn't want anything else, she just wanted to get out of there. Even though he didn't like it, he respected her decision and let her leave. Tara appreciated that, especially knowing that he could have made her stay there if he wanted to. He didn't, though, and Tara actually thought that not all vampires were the same. How wrong she was.

Pam watched Tara intently as she made her way through the story. She really wanted to know her, wanted to know what was hiding beneath that strong, unbending surface. The more Tara talked, the more Pam realized what a hard life she had. It made her respect Tara even more, respect the hardness of her character and her will.

She was a bit surprised at Tara's one night stand and made it obvious by raising her infamous brow.

"What?" Tara asked.

"Nothing. I didn't really take you for the type, that's it." Pam drawled.

"The type?" Tara asked, a bit of aggressiveness showing in her voice. She knew what Pam was getting at. "You mean the type that has a one night stand with a vampire?"

Pam's lips twitched in an effort to suppress a smirk. She had one feisty progeny.

"Well, excuse you, Mother Theresa!" Tara exclaimed indignantly.

Pam chuckled and threw her hands in the air in an apologetic gesture. "All right, all right, I'm not judgin'. Just a bit surprised, that's all. Go on."

Tara shot her one last warning glance and went back to her thoughts.

Everything would have been fine if Franklin hadn't shown up at her door the next night. Immediately she knew something was wrong, he had a menacing vibe to him and she didn't appreciate it at all. Of course, he was after Sookie. Everything always came back to fucking Sookie.

Tara shook her head, realizing once again how many times Sookie had gotten her in trouble, both directly and indirectly. Of course, Tara wasn't a hypocrite – she knew that Sookie was also there for her when she needed her, she was her best friend, after all. But still, the nagging feeling that everything would have been different if Sookie were different, was ever present.

Of course, since Franklin glamoured her, he had no trouble getting the information he needed, he had no trouble controlling Tara fully. That was the night he took advantage of her for the first time, that was the night he bit her. And he didn't make it nice, either – it hurt like a motherfucker.

Pam could feel her jaw clench as the mental image of Tara being bitten by a vampire invaded her mind. She didn't really understand her reaction. She was a vampire, after all, and that's what vampires do – they bite. It was the fact that it was Tara, her Tara, that was attacked and hurt that pained her. From her perspective of Tara's maker, she knew she'd kill anyone who'd try to hurt her progeny and it wouldn't be a quick death. No, Pam would make sure they suffered.

Tara noticed Pam's body stiffening up and she braced herself mentally, knowing that worse things were coming. The glamour and the biting Franklin did that night had been just the beginning of a long and painful road.

He kidnapped her right after that and took her to Jackson, Mississippi. He raved about them being soul mates on the road, even though he had Tara tied up. Tara remembered thinking how he must have been mad, but she also remembered the fear that crept into her as she sat beside him in the car. A crazy vampire was never a good choice of company. Not that she had any choice.

She remembered being tied to the toilet in a motel room somewhere on the road. The extreme humiliation of that act troubled Tara immensely. And yet Franklin acted like they were a couple in love, even asking her if she missed him and bringing her flowers. It was obvious to her even then that he had some serious issues. That didn't stop her from hating him, though.

Things just got worse when they arrived at the mansion. She remembered being evaluated by another vampire who, thankfully, decided she was too skinny for his taste. Franklin did make it clear that she was his, though. Of course, that wasn't a consolation of any kind – being his meant being at the mercy of a vampire who obviously wasn't very steady in his head.

"And that's when Bill showed up." Tara said, almost silent.

Pam's eyes grew wide. "Compton was there?"

Tara simply nodded.

"He didn't do anything?" She asked incredulously.

"Nope. He did admit to knowing me, but he also said he didn't care." Tara answered, bitterness obvious in her tone. "He was with Russell and some other woman and I believe they just came from feeding." She added.

Pam growled this time. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill him."

Tara smiled at that. It was a sign of affection in Pam's special way and she appreciated it immensely.

The vampire part of Pam's brain understood Bill's logic. It would have been utterly stupid to endanger his existence for a mere human, he had to play his game right. But the other part of Pam's brain screamed that Tara wasn't just any human – she was Tara, Pam's Tara. The thought of Bill dismissing her like she was a nobody, especially given Tara's status of Sookie's best friend, pissed Pam off. She definitely added this to her ever growing Bill hate list. She would relish the moment when she got to get back to him for all his transgressions.

When Pam composed herself, Tara continued. Of course, the worst part was yet to come.

Tara remembered feeling trapped, having no way out of her situation, being at Franklin's mercy. She remembered his violent nature, how he could change from a seemingly loving man into a monster in a matter of seconds. He nearly choked her to death when she received a message from Lafayette. It took all her strength and power to say he was her cousin. His unbalanced nature came to play again – he was happy to hear Lafayette was Tara's cousin and even joked around, making Tara watch how fast he could type 'motherfucker'.

She had to get out of there and she used the first chance she got. It was during the day and she thought she was safe – all the vampires were asleep. Unfortunately, she didn't know that Russell's property was being watched by a group of werewolves. She was caught, of course, and brought back to Franklin.

She was scared out of her mind of what he would do to her. She knew how he was and she knew he would probably be unable to control himself.

"So, what happened?" Pam asked when Tara fell silent.

"He freaked out, of course." Tara said. "Kept askin' 'why', as if it wasn't obvious."

"Did he hurt you?" Pam asked with the smallest of growls escaping her chest.

"Not then, no. I managed to convince him I ran from the others, not him. He bought if, of course. He was so fucked up in his head that he believed me."

Pam sighed thankfully.

"That's when I decided to play it differently, I decided to seduce him, hoping I'd get him to trust me, hoping I'd get the chance to run."

"Smart girl." Pam said with a smile.

"Well, don't get too excited." Tara said wryly. "That's when he proposed to me, saying he'd make me his vampire bride. He planned on turning me into a vampire after giving me one last night as a human."

"Well, shit." Pam reacted. Even though it was pretty obvious Franklin didn't do it, the thought of it made Pam uncomfortable.

Tara chuckled a bit. "Shit, indeed. I knew I had one chance only to get away."

The thought of being turned into a vampire by Franklin still made Tara's whole body shudder, despite him being long gone. All the physical and emotional abuse couldn't compare with an eternity of being bound to a psychopath such as him. That was probably one of the reasons Tara hated being turned by Pam - she was afraid of becoming that monster.

That night Tara took things into her own hands and seduced him. She knew protesting or pleading wouldn't get her anywhere – he'd just get upset and, unbalanced as he was, God knows what he would have done. No, she did it the old fashioned way, using her charms. It was fairly easy, to be honest.

As he was getting ready to devour her body once again, she got him to untie her by saying, in the most seductive voice she could muster, that two hands were better than none. It worked like a charm. Franklin may have been an old vampire, but he was also a man and, as such, he had his weaknesses. She also bit him that night and drank his blood, knowing she would need all the strength she could get. It disgusted her, but she did it anyway. She did what she had to do, like so many times in her life.

When he died for the day, she got out of the bed and turned to leave. Something caught her attention, though. A collection of medieval weapons was displayed on the wall in their room. She took a mace and smashed his head in.

As Tara remembered that particular part of her experience with Franklin, the bloodthirsty vampire awoke in her. Even then, she relished that moment. As his blood sprayed all over her face, she felt freedom and satisfaction. Every hit brought more, with every hit she felt stronger. She wanted to kill him, punish him for all he'd done to her.

Once again, Tara made it. That's what she thought, at least.

"But wait." Pam interjected, her brows furrowed. "Smashing his head…"

"Wouldn't kill him." Tara finished. "Yeah, the thought never occurred to me. And just when I think that there were battle axes just beside that mace on the wall." She said, shaking her head.

If she'd taken one of the axes and decapitated him, he would have meet the true death. The thing is, Tara knew that, she knew all the ways to kill a vampire – she made sure she educated herself as soon as they came out of the coffin. But giving him a clean death wouldn't satisfy her. Maybe that's why her mind deliberately played a trick on her.

She needed revenge, she needed to torture him. An axe wouldn't do that. A mace would. And it did. Over and over again, until all that was left of Franklin's upper body was a pile of red mush on the pillow. She didn't know how many times she hit him, she just knew it felt good and liberating.

Of course, it came to back to bite her in the ass very soon. Tara remembered the feeling of his cold hand squeezing her throat tightly in the Merlotte's parking lot. He came back for her and there was nothing she could do, no seduction would work on him. He was completely out of his mind, but Tara also noticed he was genuinely hurt. That didn't cause her to take pity on him, no more than it stopped him from attempting to murder her.

As she looked into his cold, undead eyes, Tara knew her time was up. Nothing would get her out of that. Maybe that was how it was supposed to be, maybe she'd used all of her nine lives and it was her time to go. Maybe she'd finally find her peace, the thing she wanted the most in her life. Either way, Tara wouldn't give him the satisfaction she knew he'd get if she cried, screamed and begged him not to kill her. Oh, no. She would die fighting and defying, the same way she lived.

Next thing she knew, he was a pile of red goo beside her feet, and a smug look on Jason's face welcomed her on the other side of it, as well as a shotgun filled with wooden bullets.

Tara had feared this moment for a very long time, feared she'd have to go back to that dark place in her mind and speak about Franklin. Now that she did it, she was surprised that it felt good. For the first time in her life, she felt no grudge, only freedom and peace of mind.

Franklin was a deeply tormented soul. Beneath all his monstrosity and violent nature, beneath that psychopath, was a broken man. A man who wished nothing more than to be loved and give love and his own nature and troubled mind prevented him from getting that. Tara could understand that now. In a weird way, she was the same way.

No, she didn't go on murderous rampages, but she did allow people to get close to her only to turn them away. She'd have one good day and ten bad ones. She was a good person with a good heart, but her issues prevented her from seeing that same good in others. Always afraid of being hurt or hurting others, never giving herself enough credit. She knew it would take time to sort all that out, but time was the only thing she had in abundance.

As she put a tender kiss on Pam's lips that night and gave in to the pull of dawn, Tara felt nothing but peace.

Pam, on the other hand, was riding on an emotional roller coaster. No pull of dawn could get her to calm down and go to rest, not with all the vivid images that played in her mind. Some of Tara, some of her own human life and troubles.

Troubles long forgotten, buried in the depths of her unbeating heart. They all came pouring out with an unstoppable force.

Pam knew the feeling of helplessness Tara talked about, it was a feeling that followed her throughout her adult human life. It was also one of the reasons Pam hated feelings and not being in control. As a human, she had no control, she had no power. She both received and witnessed abuse, much like Tara did.

On that faithful night her human life ended, Eric told her that her profession wasn't glamorous, but still more honest than most. He got that right – there was nothing glamorous about selling your body, giving it to others to do with as they pleased. Pam called it 'legal rape'. Prostitutes never complained, but they didn't want it either. Still they had to put up a brave face, bat their eyelashes and act like they enjoyed it – the same way Tara did that night with Franklin. It was their only way to survive. The bad part was that surviving only meant more misery.

Pam also felt the wrath of vampires when Bill and Lorena drained her girls. Again, the feeling of helplessness was present. She was a mere human, what could she have done? Nothing. The same way Tara couldn't hope to overpower Franklin. They both could just watch, as if watching an especially sick, twisted movie. Only, it wasn't a movie, but their lives.

As Pam gazed over her resting progeny, she thought of all the ways they were similar and all the times she failed to notice it. It took a deal with Sookie and Pam being forced to turn Tara for her to realize it. Despite herself, she felt intense feelings for the woman who got to be her progeny in the most crazy of ways. She couldn't yet identify them, but she knew they were there. She wasn't sure she was comfortable with that.

After all, feelings weren't her thing. Hadn't been for a long, long time.

A/N: Okay, this was a very hard chapter for me to write and it also took a long time for me to finish it. It's the longest one yet. I'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out, but I do feel I've given it my best at this point and I don't want you guys to wait for updates too long.

Reviews are very welcome, as always.

Next up: A nice little 2 week time jump, time to get back to Fangtasia and those fangbangers. How does that sound like? :)