If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day, when nobody died - Nickelback

The Queen is coming for a visit. This Queen who had ordered my now ex-boyfriend to seduce and capture me is now coming here. To where I am. She seems to be bypassing the middleman at this point.

"When," I ask Eric barely getting the word out.

He takes a step closer and tells me, "I will know more when Pam gets here. I did not want to talk about this over the phone. The fact that she is coming here suggests she may know more of what is going on than she should."

"Eric she could take me. She could take me and there really wouldn't be anything anyone could do, would there be?"

Crouching so he's at face level with me as I still sit on the couch Eric says, "It will not happen, Sookie. I will not let it."

"What could you do, Eric? What could you really do if she orders you to stand down? If she grabs me and leaves with me truthfully, what could you do?"

"Sookie, I told you I would appeal to her if it comes to that. Yes, you would have to work for her but I will help you with a fair contract. You would do better work if you were happy and that will mean staying here. You'll stay here. I'll make sure of it."

"You keep saying that but she's your Queen, Eric. There's a limit of what you can do."

At that he falls silent. His silence has me worried. He is no longer arguing that he would be able to prevent the Queen from taking me. Although doubtful he could succeed, having him argue it at least gave me hope it may be possible. Now that he's no longer arguing, that hope is dwindling.

He looks down and I hear him mutter something but he's speaking to low for me to hear him. I ask him to repeat himself. When he looks up I can tell by the look on his face I am not going to like what he said. "There may be a way to ensure you can stay here no matter what the Queen wants."

Well that certainly sounds good. Doesn't account for the look of dread on Eric's face though. "What is it?"

"We have exchanged blood. We have the start of a blood bond between us." He stops talking there.

"Yeah? So? We covered this already."

"That start of a bond could be what can keep you here should the Queen not be waylaid in wanting to take you to New Orleans."

"How," I ask, my voice shaky. Eric had told me about the bond. Right now the connection was weak as it was only one exchange. How could it help this situation? He hasn't responded so I again ask, "How?"

"You can accept the connection however weak it is right now. If you do, it will present an obstacle for you to be taken to New Orleans."

"Why would it provide her an obstacle?"

"With the connection between us accepted, according to our law, it would be hard for her to take you away from where I am physically."

"And how would this connection be accepted?"

"You would have to acknowledge to being mine."

With that sentence, Bills words of convenient and opportune echo in my head. Although, I know his words hold little truth, I can't help but think of them now. Bill suggested that Eric was using this situation to get me. When he suggested it, I never once thought that it was true. Those thoughts never once crossed my mind. But now with Eric's own words, now I have doubt.

"You wanted this all along, didn't you," I scream at him as the room starts spinning with my thoughts."

"Sookie, no," he starts but I won't let him finish.

"No, no, no," I scream while covering my ears. Suddenly I hear Bill and Eric's words pound against my ears. The beating isn't helping me think clearly. I just keep hearing their words in my head. I close my eyes and I keep seeing them telling me. I feel Eric try to grab at my arm and I twist away.

"I need to be alone. Eric, I just need to think," I tell him before opening my eyes and making my way to my bedroom. Once there, I collapse on my bed. The silence doesn't help the hammering against my ears so I start to hum a tune my Gran used to sing to help me to sleep.

It takes about 15 minutes before I am no longer being deafened by my own thoughts. Once that stops I am able to think rationally, or as rational as I have been able to be in the past few days. Bill had suggested that Eric has been plotting this whole time. That the support that I have gotten from him was all part of a major scheme for him to simply get what he wants.

That thought had never once came to my mind since Eric had found me in the trunk. He has done nothing but support me and has never once even hinted that he wanted anything in return. He has been hesitant to do anything that may make me feel uncomfortable. He even got so angry with himself when he thought that he had hurt me. When he stormed out of his kitchen he wasn't angry at my seemingly ungrateful words. He was angry when he thought he had made me feel like I didn't have a choice. Nothing he had done had given any support to anything that Bill had said.

Until now. Until he said I should acknowledge the bond and claim to be his. When explaining about the bond, he never once said that he could claim me as his. He never once told me that the connection started by the single blood exchange we had that I would be considered his. Why would he hold that back?

Did he think I wouldn't go through with it if I had known? Was he really that desperate to start a bond with me to hide it from me? I was getting a headache from all the possibilities.

Even with the doubt in my mind that Bill had implanted, something wasn't adding up. Why would he tell me that he could feel my location and emotions but hold this from me? Being able to track my locations, knowing that he could feel where I was, that itself is overwhelming. Why would he not hold that fact back as well? He could have told me the blood bond would change nothing. I wouldn't know. I wouldn't have anything different happen to me that wouldn't have already happened just having his blood in my system. Apparently with the first exchange, it's him that feels the effects. So why tell me anything? He could have gotten away with telling me nothing. I wouldn't have known the difference.

It doesn't make any sense, now that I am able to think without my thoughts cycling through my head. This is why I wanted to be alone. This is why I needed my space. I needed to sort through everything so I could try and understand what is going on. And I understand that it makes no sense to doubt Eric over this. Especially when I haven't even heard his side of things.

Taking a deep breath, I make my way back downstairs to talk things out with Eric. He's not in the living room, so the next place I look is out in his backyard again, knowing he wouldn't leave me here alone. I am not surprised when I find him there staring at the stars again.

"I'm sorry," I tell him as I walk up next to him. "I am sorry I yelled and I am sorry I needed time to think."

"Never apologize for needing time to collect your thoughts. Especially when stressed," he adds. 'Stressed,' I ask myself. Is that what I have been the last few days. I think Eric is being over generous with calling me simply stressed.

I do notice he doesn't say I shouldn't apologize for yelling. I repeat my apology to him again and he finally looks at me. "Am I going to get to hear what that was all about?"

Looking down I ask him, "You know how you asked me what Bill said when I spoke with him? I told you we spoke about what he revealed about the Queen and his mission. I didn't get to mention what else he had said down there." I take a deep breath and start off by telling him, "I did not give his words even a second thought until you explained what me acknowledging the bond could accomplish. I didn't think his words were the truth, not for one second."

"What did he tell you down there?"

Looking up at Eric I tell him, "He told me you were taking advantage of the situation. That the only reason you would be helping me was because you still wanted to try to sleep with me. That all the support and comfort you've been giving me was simply so you could get me."

It's Eric this time who closes his eyes as he says, "And when I suggested you acknowledge the bond and claim to be mine, it appeared that his statements were true."

I give a little nod as he opens his eyes and looks at me. "When you said that, his words came crashing back to the front of my mind. His and your words just kept circling and circling in my head. I couldn't think and I wanted to sort everything out before talking to you and figuring this out."

"I assume since you are here you have sorted your thoughts?" He takes my look as a yes. "And what conclusions have you drawn?"

Reaching for his hand, I give a small smile when he lets me take it. "Nothing that you have done in the last few days has ever made me think that you have some sort of ulterior motive here. You seemed very bothered by what happened to me in Jackson and you don't seem like the type of person who would ever use something like this to further your agenda." I hesitate and he seems to realize there's something more I want to say.

"What is it, Sookie," he asks.

"I don't think you allowed the blood exchange to happen with any other intention other than to help me," I start off telling him. I really don't. "You were even honest about it allowing you to better feel my emotions and location. Why didn't you let me know that with the exchange I could be considered yours to your kind?"

His hand moves in mine and I look down to see that he is starting to play with my fingers. Looking back up at Eric, I see his attention is back on the stars. I wonder if her even realizes what he's doing. "Honestly," Eric says looking down at me. He gets an eye roll in response. Seriously, does he think I am asking so he can lie?

"It was never my intention to use the bond as what it truly be in my world. I would never have used it as a way to claim you. The thought never once entered my mind. My concern was your blood loss and shock."

"You told me about the other things that would happen though. Why leave this out?"

"It's not the bond that allows a vampire to claim a human, Sookie. It's true the bond would allow other vampires to know you are off limits but a vampire doesn't have to give their blood to their human. You could have claimed to be mine even without the bond."

So it wasn't the bond that would allow me to claim to be Eric's if needed to stay out of the Queens clutches. That was why he didn't mention it. "That makes sense. I had never exchanged blood with Bill, but he considered me his."

I do not like the look that crosses Eric's face. "What," I ask not knowing if I actually want the answer.

"Apparently, you also had the start of a bond with Bill, as well."

"What! Bill and I never exchanged blood."

"When you were attacked outside Merlottes," Eric says.

"I had his blood to save my life," I whisper. I feel Eric's hold on my hand tighten a bit in reassurance. "I woke up and he was licking my head. He never even told me. Damn him," I say tears starting to fall again. Eric brings his hand not holding mine to wipe away some of my tears. I look away not wanting him to see me cry. Funny, because he's seen me cry many times in the last few days. "How could he not tell me?"

"It would have helped him with the mission the Queen sent him on."

"Yeah knowing my location and emotions would have been damn helpful." I look sharply back up at Eric. "But I have a bond with you now. I am bonded to two vampires?"

"I don't think so," Eric says rubbing his fingers along the back of my hand.

"What do you mean think?"

"Your bond with him would have weakened over time since there were no other mutual exchanges. And though I know we can't take his words for what their worth but he says that he can no longer feel you. The timing of when he claims it vanished completely matches when I had your blood creating our bond."

"How do we know he's telling the truth? Eric, I don't want to be bonded to him."

"Alcide said that on the way back to Shreveport, Bill was relatively calm while healing, with the exception of a period of time when he started thrashing and calling for you. Again, the timing seems to match up with the start of our bond. It would seem that when we bonded, it cancelled out what you had with Compton."

"How can we be sure, Eric?"

"That's one of the reasons Bill is still locked up. A witch will be coming to Fangtasia tomorrow night soon after sundown to ensure there is no connection between you two."

Hearing that, I sigh in relief. There was a way to make sure I was not bonded to my asshole of an ex-boyfriend. And Eric had already arranged it.

"Thanks," I tell him.

"Not necessary," he tells me with a smile. He then takes out his phone and frowns. I ask what's wrong. "Pam should have been back a while ago," he says heading back into the house. Since my hand is still in his I follow close behind.

At his words about Pam though, my mind is brought back to the Queen and I ask, "What are we going to do about the Queen, Eric?"

"We have to look at the advantages we have at the moment. Then we can figure out what to do."

"What advantages do we possibly have? The fact that she only wants to kidnap me and not want me dead?"

"Not wanting you dead is always a good advantage to have," Pam's voice says, carrying in from the living room. Eric and I head there to meet her.

"You should have been back here much earlier than this. Why weren't you," Eric asks her.

"Oh it's good to know that you still care after all these years." At Pam's sarcastic response I let out a little giggle.

Eric however, is not as amused as he repeats, "Why weren't you?"

Pam upon hearing the tone of his voice immediately straightens her posture and looks down at the ground. All the humor she had initially is gone as she reports, "I left as soon as I got off the phone with you. Once in the parking lot I smelled the scent of Weres. I went back inside to get Alcide who was still there to see if he recognized any of the scents. He did not. I also called Tray who came but also recognized no scent."

Eric thinks for a second. "And in the club?"

"I neither smelled or sensed and Weres at any point in the club tonight. Their scents outside were strongest by the back entrances and by the security cameras, although no damage was done."

"A scouting mission."

"It appears so. Trying to test for any weaknesses."

Again Eric seems to be considering things before he says, "I want no one, other than the security detail, at the club during the day. It's too risky with the unknown. I will have Bobby look into security improvements during the day." Pam nods, her eyes remaining on the floor. "Pamela," Eric calls to get her to look at him. He takes a step closer to her so he can rest his arms on her shoulders. "Don't forget to call when you get delayed," he tells her gently and even I can tell he's not saying this in anger. "There is much unknown right now, and I do worry."

That earns a bit of a smirk from Pam and she again looks down in a sort of nod to show she understands. Stepping back, Eric makes his way to sit on the couch and Pam and myself join him. "Tell me of the Queen's call," he says once we are all sitting.

"It was rather short. She didn't even ask if you were available once she knew it was me she was speaking with. She asked me to pass along the message that she would be visiting."

"And who is she expecting to be there?"

"She would like an audience with you and said she expected that I as your child would attend as well. She also wants Compton to be present." At the mention of his name I noticeably flinch causing both vampire to look over at me. I take a few breaths and mutter, "I'm fine," as I motion for them to continue, eager to see what is coming and what the plan is going to be.

"She didn't ask for Sookie's presence?"

"No. She just asked that I give you the message about her coming, request the presence of you, me, and Compton, and said we should expect her four hours after nightfall tomorrow. While tonight I guess really."

"Tomorrow," I squeak out. "She'll be here tomorrow." Tomorrow my whole life could change. She wants me and even Eric said she rarely gives up on what she wants.

"Sookie, like I said I will do everything I can to keep you here. To keep her from taking you." I don't have a response to give him. We have already had this conversation. "Sookie, like I said before, we must think of the advantages we have."

"And just what would those be?"

"She's coming here. She could have easily requested our presence in New Orleans. The fact that she's coming here and not forcing us to go there, means something. Also, she did not ask for your presence at the meeting."

"So I don't have to be there," I ask excited about that. But the look on Eric's face tells me that I will be at this meeting. "If she didn't ask for me why should I be there," I ask before swallowing back my tears.

"It's too coincidental for her to be asking for a meeting now after what has happened in the last few days. She suspects something with is the reason for the visit. You should be present to show we are hiding nothing. She will respond better to that."

"You think she knows more than she should from the simple conversation with Compton," Pam says to him.

Eric nods and asks, "What did he say to her, exactly?"

"He apologized for being out of contact, said his research had taken him longer than expected. She then asked about the other mission," she says glancing at me for a second before continuing, "He told her there had been a slight setback but nothing he couldn't overcome." I give a scoff at that. There would be no overcoming this particular setback. "She told him to keep her informed. He said he would and that was that."

"Except that a few hours later she asks for a meeting."

"You think they spoke in code over the phone?"

"That or there is someone we can't trust in our midst. And it's a short list of people who know the whole story of the last few days. That's why we need to use all the advantages we have," he says bringing his focus to me.

"How am I an advantage?"

"Do you know what Bill has been working on for the Queen?"

Oh, that. "You said before you didn't want to know."

"Things have changed since then. I need to know everything we are dealing with."

I take that in and look away from him. Yes, I was going to tell him before but this could be the only thing I have over the Queen's head. Did I really want to give that up? Did I trust Eric enough to help me with the knowledge instead of using it against me? I look back at Eric and tell him, "It's a computer program."

He looks at me confused. "I really don't know too much else. It's some program and Bill said it was important that you and the other vampires didn't know about it."

"You don't know what the program is for?"

I shake my head. "Bill never said."

"Do you know where the program currently is?"

This I do know. "The program and the computer he has been working on are in my house."

Hearing that, Eric looks at his phone and mutters, "Damn, not enough time to get it and come back." Looking back to me he asks, "Where in your house?"

"Bill dug out a place where he could rest during the day. It's in the floor of the closet in the guest bedroom."

Eric takes this in then asks, "Would you mind if I had Bobby retrieve it tomorrow so we can try and figure out what it is before meeting with the Queen?"

"No, that's fine," I tell him, letting out a yawn. Seeing it, Eric stands up off the couch and tells Pam to make the necessary calls to have Fangtasia be closed for the night tomorrow before going to her rest.

He then holds his hand out to me and without thinking, I take it and he helps me up off the couch. "Let's get you to bed," he says. "I am going to have to make some calls before my I rest for the day."

"You don't have to, Eric," I say letting him know I am more than capable of putting myself to bed.

"I just want to make sure you're settled in and have what you will need during the day," he says leading me up the stairs. I let him. I haven't felt taken care of since my Gran died. It's a good feeling.

As we get to my room, I ask Eric to get me a glass of water while I get ready for bed. He's back as I am climbing into bed and hands me the glass. He asks me if I need anything else and I shake my head no. He turns to leave but stops and turns back to me when I ask "What's the likelihood of us coming out of this meeting alive?" That has been my worst fear since I heard about it.

He then crouches down beside the bed and says, "The Queen will not be looking for a fight tomorrow. This meeting is most likely to simply gauge everything," Great, then she would decide if a fight were needed. "Regardless of anything else Sookie, you will be back in this bed tomorrow," he adds before quickly moving out of the room. His confidence is appreciated but I can't help but see visions of me being forced out of my home when I close my eyes. And that's the best-case scenario of what is going on in my head.

I give a big sigh and get out of bed again. Walking over to the dresser, I take out yet another pill and notice that there are only two left. I take it with the water before sliding back into bed and praying the pill works and I get another dreamless sleep.

So a bond with Bill wasn't really mentioned in the books but with the logic in this story about the bonds it makes sense that there would be one.

Lots of new readers this week and thanks for taking this story for a spin. As always a special thank to those taking the time to leave their thoughts about the update. Very much appreciated.