'Bill, Jessica,' Robert nodded acknowledgement, 'good to see you here and before you say anything, Mr President sends his regards and thanks for the job you are doing. He'd like to meet again as soon as possible,' he smiled glancing at his watch, 'he is anxious to hear what news you have for him about Project New Age.' The project name referred to the research Bill had arranged to be undertaken by Dr Tagahashi and a small very select group of brilliant scientists that only the President and Bill, plus a few close confidants including Jessica, were privy to. Even Robert did not know the full extent of the details but he knew enough. He knew that Bill was the President's vampire and that was good enough for him.

There had been rum

ours going around the Washington secret services for years of the legend of the President's vampire but no one had taken it seriously. Not until vampires came out of the closet that is, then speculation was limited to those who were in the know and the inevitable misinformation campaign commenced in case someone in the general public put two and two together and started asking difficult questions like if the government had known for decades of the existence of vampires, had there been a huge cover up and if so, then for how long had it been going on.

References to the myth of President Andrew Johnson's vampire back in the 1860's were poo-poohed and concealed with a cover story and a few fictional paperbacks leading readers to delegate the theory into one of those great reads but only fantasy fiction genre type scenarios, dismissing it as just that, but the fact remained that the President had commuted a sentence given to an alleged vampire back then and he had the said person committed to a mental institution for the term of the rest of his life.

Of course Bill wasn't that President's vampire of legend, he had not been turned when the event is said to have occurred, but he certainly was this President's vampire now and that came about because fate had been stranger than fiction.

Robert Adler had lived through Watergate, studied at university and by the late seventies was at a loose end. He was uninspired by what he saw as a conservative swing coming as far as politics was concerned and decided he had had enough. Withdrawing all the money that he had from the bank, which wasn't much, he bought a plane ticket and by the end of the week he was in London, the home of parliament, the establishment and a growing discontent with the way things were going in the UK.

Punk rock and anarchy was the rule amongst the working class youths that felt disenfranchised by baby boomer parents who had promised the world and delivered nothing of the flower power peace and love ideology, and were now embittered by their lot and lack of direction. Despite all the rhetoric espoused, money and title still counted to some degree and not the working class social morals, so there was a section of youth that flocked together in their disenfranchisement, determined to worship chaos if nothing better was to be available. He found it all fascinating.

To make a living as best as he could he took a job pulling beers in a club that was at the centre of the new movement and within two years was talking like a native. He embraced anything and everything like a sponge and even took to calling himself Liam just to feel more like one of the locals.

Everything in his life was cruising along, no fuss, just plodding, until one night Bill Compton walked in and it all changed. He couldn't remember details clearly but he remembered his face and he remembered the advice he had been given after their encounter.

He had gone back to his shabby little bedsit that night and taken stock of where he was at in his life and where he was going, and he suddenly realised that the dream and ambitions he had so hastily thrown away were too precious to waste. Within a month he had gotten his act together. He had stopped boozing and stopped the other things in his life that were part and parcel of his great experiment into the unknown. He was eating better and taking vitamins. His head cleared and he knew what he wanted to do. He was focussed and determined again. He was also back in the states, his career back on track and he was on his way to his destiny.

So it was no surprise when taking a well-earned break from work one night after another long hard day a while back that he sat up and stared hard at the vision in front of him on the TV. The face of one that can't be forgotten stared out as the reporter simmered and purred in admiration for William Thomas Compton, vampire King of Louisiana. Well that explains a lot Robert realised as he thought back to Liam and the encounter that changed his life.

When things began to fall apart and the True Blood factories were destroyed Robert, now in his capacity as advisor to the President, had been summoned. It was behind closed doors in the oval office that he had proposed a meeting between the President and Bill in an effort to do something about the situation, by this time Bill's reputation as a leader and someone to be taken notice of was established. Even the President had read his book "And God Bleeds" and had been intrigued and inspired by the no punches tome, a creature like Bill with his convictions was worthy of praise and may be able to provide advice. They were desperate with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

When Robert contacted Bill for the first time he had no real expectations that Bill would remember him or their encounter but he was wrong. 'I remember it well Liam or should I say Robert,' Bill confirmed, what didn't he remember having a photo graphic memory that recalled every single moment of his vampire existence, 'it may have been a while for you but it is the blink of an eye for me. How can I help you?' That night they talked for hours and by the end of the conversation they had formed a tight bond of mutual respect on both sides.

So Robert had been pleased to set up a meeting in Washington with the highest office in the land, even though he was to present at some of it but not privy to all details. All he knew was that Bill had been in there for over two hours and when he left, the attitude of doom and gloom that had been pervading the room had lifted. The President had hope and that was good enough for him, Bill was the most impressive creature he had ever come across and the thanks of the President for the introduction to him only reaffirmed Robert's beliefs.

'How is Mr President Robert?' Bill asked as he stood in the conference room with Jessica by his side. He had seen Presidents come and go and not given much thought to some, and a great deal of thought to others. Some impressed him but others didn't. This current President was an exception. He was the first one he had actually met and he had been surprised by how open minded and willing to support the steps Bill was taking to circumvent further disasters and put an end to the current situation.

Taking him into his confidence, and who wouldn't for after all it is the President of the United States of America we are talking about here, Bill put his cards on the table. The information he had disclosed had left the other staggered with wonder and not just at the brilliance of Bill's plan but at the methods he was using and were at his disposal. The world was on the brink of a New Age if only they could embrace it as one and make it work. The possibilities were mind blowing.

When vampires had come out the President had not considered fully the possibilities of the truth and all that it entailed but Bill opened his eyes when he explained that not only had he contemplated using Dr Tagahashi to search for a cure for the vampire infection epidemic but also those other great minds at his disposal. When Bill had rattled off a list of names of those that were available for assistance the President was incredulous. Bill smiled at little. Isn't that the exact same reaction he had when all that time ago Nan Flanagan had hinted of Louis Pasteur and other great minds being of their kind, his own kind, and now he was looking at the highest official of the land and watching him take it all in with the same look of awe he too had felt, and it rather tickled his fancy.

Bill had been given carte-blanche, spare no expense he had been advised, nothing should impede the immediate commencement of the research. So he had approached Tagahashi and broached the topic with those minds that he thought would be open to the challenge, all great thinkers and wise enough to know that their very existence depended upon the results they hoped to be achieved.

Everything fell into place and even though the first three or four months bought little in the way of good news, the regular reports he was receiving now were encouraging to Bill. He was hopeful that sooner, rather than later, something would break through and he would be able to report success.

'Bill where were you the other night?' Jessica's question didn't surprise Bill one bit but he took a moment before answering. He was driving them from their impromptu meeting at the White House, Robert arranging it once it was known that Bill had time and was agreeable to the suggestion, and of course it fitting in with the President's busy schedule.

It was late now and dawn was only a few hours away, parting with Robert urging Bill to 'fight on mate' as they left, they had enough time to get to the airport and aboard an Anubis flight that was at their disposal courtesy of those above in the know, and then out of the light and on their way back home to Bon Temps and a day's rest.

He took his eyes off the road ahead for a moment to give Jess a sheepish glance. She knew very well where he had been without asking but still she wanted confirmation. He hadn't said anything to her but she was so very protective of him now that she almost felt it a compulsion to ask about his visit with Sookie.

'Bill, don't give me that look. I can't help it, I am sorry but you know how I feel. I just want you to be happy and you haven't been happy, really happy, for so long.' Bill sighed. 'You are my daughter and my progeny Jessica, what more can a man want. You are my happiness. I owe you everything.' He reached over with one of his hands and held hers as he continued to drive. 'You were there for me when no one else was. You kept me human, kept me safe from… you kept me safe and you and James came back for me. I … I was fading Jess, I didn't want to leave and was fighting it but I was slipping into a final darkness then you appeared and it was light again. Her job done, Lillith was leaving and taking what was left of me with her.'

Bloody tears sprang into Jessica's eyes as he spoke. He had not talked of that time, not spoken of what it was like to have a goddess within and she had not asked. She couldn't, it was too painful to even recall. All she could do was to be there for him if he needed her and that was enough for her. But still she did wonder what it was like, what it must have done to him to go against his very nature becoming so ruthless and then to feel almost abandoned by those that he had protected and saved.

'Don't get me wrong,' he went on, 'in some ways I am so very grateful to Lily.' Jessica's eyes went as big as saucers trying to digest what he had just said. He was grateful to her, to Lillith…Lily? She looked at him.

'What,' he asked glancing quickly at her. 'Don't you realise that if it had not been for Lily, Lillith, I would not have had the strength to do what I had to do to save our kind? She may be a lot of things but she knew that I would fight heaven and hell to protect you and others from the true death. I suppose that is why I was chosen, because she saw what was coming and needed me to act on her behalf. Jess I couldn't have done it on my own. I am not that strong.'

He went on with his explanation, 'I am young in vampire terms and that was useful to her. I was like clay in her hands for her to mould into whatever it was that she needed. She is smart as well as ruthless and she knew what she was doing. I think that I surprised her when I stood up to her in my own way but that was for her, and for our benefit and thankfully it paid off to some extent but it was such touch and go to keep that small thread of humanity intact. Had she chosen someone else that was stronger, older and darker then who knows what kind of monster they may have become. But I tell you this now, it was you that saved me in the end, you and James and Violet too for that matter, your love saved me and not just from the true death. You saved me from the darkness and saved me from myself.'

Jessica sat silently listening, taking in what he was telling her. She had not thought of it that way before but he was right. If Lillith had chosen someone of a lesser character then who knows where we would be now? She squeezed his hand and raised it to her lips, softly kissing his creamy skin. 'Well then, I am glad that she did but Bill, it was a high price that you paid for the sake of me and all of us. A very high price,' she reiterated with feeling.

She thought for a few more minutes and then decided it was now or never. 'Bill, do you think, is it possible that well, now that Alcide is gone, is there any chance for you and Sookie?' she asked of him, taking advantage of his reflective mood.

'There was never much of a chance Jess,' he sighed. 'I had hope, I always had a spark of hope but,' he shook his head.

'Right from the start we were doomed to fail.'

Notes:

***Please note***

***Please note***

President Andrew Johnson vampire story - reference:
Nov. 4, 1892 in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Source:

Brooklyn Public Library has the Eagle's archives online - image of the article from 1892.