"I don't like having them here." August huffed to Isabel upon entering the living space.
Stan smirked at the pout on his face.
"Afraid they might break something princess?"
August glared at Stan before throwing a pillow in his face.
"Piss off you fake ass lone ranger." He grumbled.
"Do Compton and his little feedbag really bother you that much?" Stan laughed.
"Wait till you hear why said feedbag is here." August replied glancing over the back of the couch at Eric's tense form.
Eric watched Isabel and Stan for a moment before leaning on the dining table and speaking.
"Bill has agreed to allow to use her talents to aid us.
"For a fee." Sookie added quickly as she watched the unknown vampires warily.
"You should have told me Eric hired a fucking human, Isabel." Stan said with disdain.
"Now, wait just a minute." Sookie protested in offence.
"Respect her." Bill snapped.
"Thank you." Sookie told him.
August sneered from his perch on the grey sectional.
"I couldn't tell you, Stan. You've been off on your own for days." Isabel argued.
"Are you certain Godric was abducted by the Fellowship of the Sun?" Eric asked as he started to pace.
"Yes." "No." Stan and Isabel said at the same time.
"They're the only ones with the organization and manpower." Stan informed as if it was a no-brainer.
"But they're amateurs. It doesn't make any sense. This is Godric we're talking about, 2000 years old." Isabel explained rationally as she turned away from Stan.
Sookie started to whisper to Bill as August's irritation at the situation was escalating. Isabel could see that and gave him an understanding smile.
"Old don't make you smart." Stan stated.
"But it does make you cautious of things." August mumbled as he gazed up at Isabel. "What if he is there, but intentionally?"
"There's no proof." Isabelle said glaring up at Stan as the dark-haired vampire snorted at August's claim.
"If they've got him, I'll hear it." Sookie smiled as if it would put them all at ease. "That's my job."
"There's no reason to wait. We need to take these fanatics down. Full-out attack. Exterminate them like the vermin they are, leave no trace." Stan grinned.
Everyone stared at him with neutral and exasperated faces.
"Hum, vampire-hating church annihilated. Wonder who did it? Fucking brilliant." Isabel snapped at him.
"I doubt the King of Texas would approve the destruction of our international political agenda." Bill supplied earning a nod from Isabel in agreement.
"Fuck that. The great revelation is the biggest mistake we ever made." Stan drawled making Isabel and August glare at his disdain for Godric's wellbeing.
"Don't use Godric to make your own little power play." Isabel nearly hissed at the man.
August was up in his face seconds later with a similar look of anger.
"He is worth far more than you could ever hope to be. Do not speak as if he is a footnote in your quest for dominance" August snapped.
"You're completely incompetent!" Eric finally snapped drawing the room's attention to him. "What's happened to Godric is that he surrounds himself with clowns."
"We invited you as a courtesy. This is not your territory. You have no voice here." Isabel stated as she moved closer to Eric.
She clasped a hand onto August's forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Her words were not meant for him. Eric stared at her with a storm rolling in his eyes.
"Yeah, sheriff. Why don't you run o back down to Louisiana; We don't need you or your puppets." Stan spoke drawing the Viking's attention away.
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere." Eric said barely holding back his turbulent emotions.
"And I'm nobody's puppet." Sookie sneered at Stan.
"No." August said with a faux smile. "You're a blow-up doll."
Sookie grimaced at his comment sinking into Bill's side. The southern vamp gave August a supposed threatening look before speaking.
"What we need is a plan."
"I have a plan." Stan informed hotly.
"It's not a plan, it's a movie." Isabel told him with a deep frown.
"It's not a movie, it's a war." He said back.
"Idiots." Eric said softly through gritted teeth before leaving the room.
August watched him go with a sympathetic gaze. He clutched onto Isabel's arm and buried his face in her white clothed shoulder. She pets his head in return.
Eric paced in Godric's office and tried to calm himself down. He glanced at the desk to see that someone left out a thin leather-bound book. He picked it up and opened it to a random page. The sight that greeted him was a large black and white photo of August. He was dressed in a ball gown with a soft smile on his lips. Anyone else would have assumed it was a wedding photo, but Eric knew that this was one of Pam's dress up sessions. He flipped through several pages and each one contained an old photograph of the eternal teen. It wasn't until he made it to the last page and noticed the dates on the photos that he realized the entire book was dedicated to August right after his suicide attempt in the late 50's. Eric had no Idea how much time Godric spent with him during that period. He just assumed Pam talked him down from that ledge. Maybe August had a point when he said Godric was aware of his actions.
"Perhaps we could find a quieter way to figure this out. We haven't been out of the closet that long I'm sure we can be just as cautious around human's as we used to be." August stated as he released Isabelle.
He made his way to the dining table and sat at its head.
"Maybe we could blackmail them." August suggested.
"That's the pussy's way out." Stan laughed moving toward him.
"It is a logical idea from a tactical standpoint." Isabel replied following.
The three bounced ideas back and forth under the gaze of Bill and Sookie. Eventually, Eric returned in time to hear Stan's next ridiculous and non-subtle approach.
"We should take them all out at once. Pre-empty strike." Stan growled moving back and forth in agitation.
"Of course, so the federal government can bombs us back to the Middle Ages." Isabel snapped back at him.
"Things were better then." Stan nodded.
"Then go to Romania and live on a cave, you ranchero poser." She insulted him.
Eric gives out a frustrated yell as he throws one of the glass sculpture to the ground.
"Godric has protected you, made you rich, and you stand here spitting and scratching like infants." He states bitterly.
"Don't any of you care that there's a traitor in your midst?" Bill asked drawing confused stares from August, Isabelle, and Stan.
"No." Stan said keeping an eye on Eric in case he threw something else.
"Impossible." Isabel gasped.
"Somebody tried to kidnap me from the airport." Sookie said in ire, gaining back a bit of confidence as Bill held her hand.
"You were the only ones that knew she was coming." Bill said accusingly.
"Explain." Eric demanded.
August glared up at the human with no pity or remorse in his eyes. On one hand, he wished she had been taken. On the other hand, they wouldn't be able to use her if she was.
"Unless it was you..." Stan started, quick to point fingers at Isabel.
"Unless it was you." Isabel cut him off.
Stan was the far more believable culprit.
"Look, if y'all argue any more, I'll either fall asleep or start screaming, so this is what we're gonna do." Sookie snapped drawing looks of disbelief from the vampires present at her actions. "I will infiltrate the Fellowship of the Sun."
"Absolutely not." Bill objected.
"Let her speak." Eric said.
"Yes, Let her." August gritted out.
Stan groaned and Isabel turned her attention to the human.
"Since Bill glamoured the kidnapper, no one knows who I am. I'll pretend to join the church, and check out their thoughts." Sookie explained.
"No. During the day, none of us can help you." Bill pleaded.
"It'll only take a little while. Really, Bill. It's simple." Sookie soothed him.
"Waste of time, when we could drink them all." Stan said as he moved to collect his hat and place it on his head. "I want no part of this."
Stan walks out of the house. No one stopped him.
"There's no easier way to find out if they're involved." Isabel stated already agreeing with Sookie's plan as she nervously wrung her hands.
"As much as I would hate to agree, It is our best shot at the moment without declaring war." August said tilting back in the dining chair as he eyed Eric.
"If it leads us to Godric, we'll do it. The decision is made." Eric agreed.
There was a tense silence between everyone as Bill glanced between Sookie, August, and Eric.
"A few words." He strained out.
August stood from his chair and walked them over to the brick fireplace.
"You knew it would come to this. She was just clawed and poisoned by a creature we don't know and we can't find, and now, in Dallas, you're playing with her life." Bill seethed as Eric stared back blankly.
He turned to August who swayed slightly in place with a bored look.
"And you have done nothing but spit venom at Sookie since you met. You are more than willing to throw her to the dogs, regardless of the reason she would be doing it for.
August gave him a drawl stare before snorting in amusement. He walked up to Bill backing the elder into the brick as he gave the man a vicious smile.
"Listen to me, and listen well. I would do anything for Godric including tossing your little cupcake out for the flies to scavenge. I don't care about her only what she can do and if it would benefit me. She is nothing but a pawn that can be easily discarded in my eyes." August said in a deadly purr. "So get the fuck over your need to be chivalrous and stand up to me for her sake. I would snap her neck right now if I wasn't 100% sure that those holier than thou asshole humans in that church know something about Godric. As long as she does her job and stays away from me were golden."
August stepped back to lean on the opposite side of the fireplace. Eric glanced briefly at the periwinkle-haired vamp before turning to answer Bill.
"It's no game to me." He said intensely.
"All this for a colleague? For the Sheriff of Area Nine? Why?" Bill asked, knowing there had to be more than what both Eric and August were saying.
There was a brief moment of silence as Eric seemed to be sucked into his thoughts. August gazed at him in sadness gripping his hand in an attempt to comfort him.
"Godric is my maker." Eric said softly.
Bill stared in shock. He knew how a bond between maker and childe felt, but he didn't know just how strong they could be. He had seen Pam and August's interactions and they were far more familiar than what he has with Jessica or what he and his own maker had shared before he was released. He didn't think he would ever have gone this far for another vampire.
Bill nodded leaving Eric and August to return to Sookie's side. The two stood staring at one another for a few moments more before August lead Eric toward the stairs. Isabel watched the two before turning back to Sookie and Bill.
"I think it's time we all dispersed. I will have Hugo contact you tomorrow when everything is set."
Godric could feel the sunrise. The natural call he felt to sleep had dimmed over time. It hurt to leave both his childe and lover behind. Eric would no doubt try to find someone to blame his sacrifice on, but August would know the truth. He probably already knew and was tearing himself up inside. His decision was for the good of all of their kind. He just hoped the two people he loved in this world would understand.
"When we find him I'm going to kiss him." August said with blood stained cheeks as he gazed at the ceiling of Godric's bedroom.
Eric was silent from his place beside him. The Viking slowly turned to watch the younger's still form.
"Is that all you plan to do?"
"No."
August tilted his head a bit and closed his eyes.
"I'm going to bash his head into the floor of our home the moment I drag him through the threshold. His blood will stain our entryway as a reminder of his promise to me."
"What's that?" Eric asked curiously, but also a little put off by the amount of possessiveness and near-obsessive tone the younger had taken on.
"He swore he would never leave me Eric." August said helplessly. "He said he loved me, his sunshine, and that we would be together forever. If he dies I die with him."
Eric watched the younger vampire as new tears welled up in his eyes staining the white sheets.
"Let us hope that it doesn't come down to that. Godric is alive and I will do everything in my power to make it stay that way."
August nods accepting his words before sub coming to sleep. Eric watched him a little while longer before he too drifted into sleep's embrace.