A/N: Here you are, my darlings, a VERY long chapter, for those of you who have been waiting so patiently…Eric/Sookie shippers, [::looks around:: that's all of us, yes?] if you stick with it to the end, you get a prize. Lol. Thanks everyone!
Chapter 20: The Tallest Tree
Four Months Later
The bus's brakes groaned as Henrik stepped down, finding himself on a wooded road on the outskirts of Stockholm. The forest towered around him, the shadows of night rendering the tree line an impenetrable wall, and he wondered briefly what it would like to be a creature who needn't fear the dark.
He imagined it to be an intoxicating power.
No wonder vampires were such cocky bastards.
Snow still piled on the sides of the road, glowing in the moonlight, but the promise of spring lightened the air. Even so, a thrill of fear still coursed through his veins. The task ahead boded uncertain; surely the vampire Eric Northman had killed for lesser things asked of him?
But, Dr. Jurgenson approached the stone-faced abode on behalf of Sookie. For her, there was little he wouldn't do, he was finding more and more.
Once before Henrik had been here, a few months ago, near the Christmas holiday. Sookie had wanted to show her telepath friends from the university a real American Christmas. Eric insisted the party be held not at her small apartment, but his castle in the country. It had seemed a generous gesture, but Henrik chalked it off to the vampire's desire to keep an eye on his strong-willed telepath. It proved to be an interesting night, to say the least. Sookie cooked a feast fit for kings, recipes straight from her Gran's own repertoire, and delectable desserts that were perfect for the special occasion, though also explained the American obesity epidemic.
Henrik knew not quite what to make of the vampire Eric Northman. Living a thousand years did not make for simplicity of character. The Viking courted contradiction at every turn, it seemed, carrying himself with the unerring confidence of a king, a certainty of innate superiority to anything that necessitated oxygen to live. And yet, the doctor had watched him with the unfaltering eye for detail of a field researcher with Sookie, and the tenderness he showed her proved as thorough as it was unlikely.
It seemed the bastard genuinely loved her, and the doctor's mind reeled with astonishment.
Henrik warred with himself, instinctively looking for reasons to dislike and distrust the vampire, even as he tried to approach the situation with an objective and scientific eye. However, even if science reduced the mystery of the physical mechanics of the heart down to electrical impulses, the sentimental muscle still would not be tamed by such things as logic, or evidence.
Sookie chose Eric, and therefore, he should let her go, he reminded himself. Sookie slept in Eric's bed on the weekends, not his.
Ergo, he should move on.
She was an excellent assistant, indispensable in her work with the telepaths of the study, and a good friend, . Couldn't it be enough? Couldn't he let things well alone, be satisfied with what they had? All sound advice, yet so very difficult to remember when she lighted into his office to help organize information for the studies, flashing that beautiful smile and flying high with excitement over whatever new knowledge she'd absorbed from class that day.
Her abilities grew stronger every day, and he felt certain sometime soon she would surpass him.
She'd been a southern lily just waiting to bloom, and by some providence she'd fallen into the right set of circumstances to thrive. Someone to teach her how to rule her own mind, to have the power over her own life, rather than constantly wallow in the mire of everyone else's.
And, someone to vanquish her enemies, someone who would fight those who would use her gifts for their own ends. Henrik did not usually condone violence, yet he could not help but feel some relief, deep down in a dark corner of his heart, that Sookie possessed a protector more than willing to kill for her.
Though it seemed she'd escaped those who pursued her, a slight uneasiness remained, a tingling fear, that perhaps they had not seen the last of Sophie-Anne's machinations.
Begrudgingly, both men knew the other filled an essential role in Sookie's life, and it made for a perfectly awkward time with the three of them in the same room together. At the Christmas party they'd managed to be civil, settling for throwing disdainful looks over Sookie's head, that no one in the room seemed to miss but her.
In fleeting moments, the desire to crumple the doctor up like a wad of paper clearly showed upon Eric's expression. Such as when at the party Sookie dragged Henrik into a country dance to one of the songs she'd downloaded on itunes that reminded her of home. The lyrics were filled with slang and drawl, difficult to decipher at times, but the chorus rang out I don't know who you think you are, but I know this much is true, I wanna do bad things to you. Perhaps all that saved him was the fact that she'd also twirled with Todd, two stepped with Carmella, and melted into Inga, the way she always did.
The green monster also dug its claws into Henrik that night, and not just while watching Sookie slide into her vampire's arms with the ease of two puzzle pieces crafted upon the God's mountain with the intention of fate. His own mentor, Dr. Ibsen, hit it off surprisingly well with the vampire, the mortal man fascinated by the opportunity to pick the brain of a creature lived through a thousand years of human experience. While the rest of the guests played, they'd retreated into a corner for hours in serious discussion, and worse yet to Henrik's jealous ears, friendly banter and laughter.
Dr. Ibsen too noticed the uncanny resemblance between the vampire and Henrik, and in the manner of a scientist blind to social convention, doggedly questing for data, requested a blood sample for genealogical tests. And to everyone's surprise, Eric had given it, slicing his hand open and bleeding into a small jar before Dr. Ibsen's departure, bestowing what amounted to what could only be thousands of dollars worth of V upon the doctor with a generosity both Henrik and Sookie found curious. The cut closed up within seconds before their eyes, a testimony to the magic and power than coursed through his ancient veins.
Four months later, the results of said test boded of some interest, and Henrik wondered if they would save him in the least, when he made his request of the powerful vampire. Left alone, Henrik couldn't quite shake the thought that Eric wouldn't mind rending him limb from limb, if he could get away with it.
So what on earth was he doing, walking up the vampire's driveway alone, Sookie all the way back in Stockholm, hopefully asleep in her bed? Doctor's orders, though the young woman could be infuriatingly stubborn at times.
Her energy level was astounding, but the young telepath had been burning her candle at both ends. On top of her courses, the telepath studied furiously, devoted herself with zeal to aiding with the paracognitive abilities study, as well as helping the new telepaths find their feet in this strange world, the way Henrik had for her not so long ago. Amidst all this, her relationship with the vampire went on, and the Doctor knew Sookie donated her blood rather frequently.
Usually, this would be absolutely none of his business, and he knew that.
However, he'd noticed Sookie's slow decline over the past month. Felt it, in a way he could not quite put words to. Waning energy, forgetting homework and slipping up on tests here and there was not the path she wanted to travel down, after coming so far. He'd mentioned it gently, and been promptly if not politely brushed off.
Pure denial, something he as a doctor dealt with all too often.
Yesterday afternoon, she'd fainted in his office, an absolutely unheard of occurrence for a woman like Sookie. Henrik barely managed to catch her, and holding her slight body upon the couch, he'd taken the opportunity to examine her neck, an appendage of which she usually kept wrapped up in a scarf.
The doctor found considerable evidence of blood loss. Bite marks upon her neck, chest, and the inside of her elbow, and though he did not look, he imagined the femoral artery marked as well.
She'd begged off a trip to the hospital, instead submitting to his own care, nutrient-rich food and lots of rest. He'd watched her sleep, the small woman appearing innocent as a child wrapped up in the thick comforter, her long blond hair spilling out across the pillow.
A burning determination had clenched in his chest.
Perhaps he was a healer, not a warrior, but he would do his best for her.
Perhaps she had chosen the vampire formally, but it could not be denied a certain something remained between them, love or something like it, no matter how forbidden. By way of their telepathy and personal affinity, some door had opened between them recently. A connection neither knew quite what to make of, how to explain, or even control. It came sporadically, and at times Henrik felt certain he could feel her in his very soul. Her happiness and triumphs, her sorrows and fears.
They could converse without speaking, send silent messages between each other on frequencies all their own.
And, it was on a train heading north to make a house call to a family whose child was showing symptoms of telepathy and had contacted Dr. Ibsen, that they had discovered haphazardly the full extent to which their minds could link. Barreling through the Swedish countryside on a fast train, she'd fallen asleep on his shoulder, and he'd soon followed suit.
He'd walked alone in his dream at first, wandering, trudging forward through snow piled high in the dead of January. Tall pines loomed from all sides, branches burgeoned with winter frosting. The details remained fuzzy, difficult to grasp, a view through frosted glass, in the manner of a resting mind's musings.
But vividly, he remembered the vision before him, turning up his gaze to find Sookie standing in his path, light as a feather, standing atop the snow. A dress the cornflower blue of her eyes draped across her curves, a gauzy thing that left little to the imagination, and Henrik's mouth dry. She did not appear cold in the least as she paid him an enticing smile, crooking her finger in invitation. Certain he'd chanced upon Freya incarnate, he could do nothing but follow her to the cabin up ahead, suddenly manifested in a hollow. It reminded him of a lodge once shared with his parents as a child, though he and Sookie remained completely alone in the woods.
A fire crackled upon the wall, and Sookie led him to a nest of soft blankets, where he lost no time in gathering her in his arms. Infused with the honest emotional intensity only a dream can allow, their lovemaking left them boneless and without boundary. Henrik had awoken with a start, his heart pounding, sweat beading beneath his scarf. It took several moments to gather his surroundings, to assure himself he and Sookie were speeding forward on a train, and not stranded in a cabin in the woods.
He'd glanced down to find Sookie staring up at him, eyes wide and haunted, her hand gripping his arm tightly.
At that moment, he realized it had not only been his fantasy, but a mutual, near lucid, dream.
I'm…sorry, she'd apologized, presumably for invading his mind while he slept, though she knew not how. Or perhaps simply because all she could offer him was dreams, in her entanglement with Eric Northman.
She'd looked away, only to have a finger curl beneath her chin, turning her back to face him. Don't be, he assured her. She did not push him away, when he'd dared to lean down, brushing his lips against hers in the lightest of kisses. At that moment, after such a torrid exchange, he couldn't bear not to grasp something real between them.
They'd said nothing for the rest of the ride, Sookie settling within the crook of his long arm. Though still tired, neither dared to close their eyes once more, staring out at the rapidly passing countryside.
Henrik shook himself from the memory of their mental intimacy, urging himself back to the present.
He needed to gauge the situation.
He needed to know if the vampire knew he hurt her in his frequent enthusiasm for her blood, if he cared, or if Eric too twisted her up in devious plans for his own gain.
Henrik knocked thrice upon the heavy wooden door, and the female vampire, Pamela answered. Her usual expression of bored disdain shifted to a slight smirk. "Well well, Dr. Jurgenson upon our very doorstep. Sookie's not here, you know."
Henrik swallowed his heart back down, noting the way she seemed to settle her sharp gaze upon his jugular. Here, he was a lamb among wolves, and there was very little he could do except trust.
Not so heartening a prospect, when dealing with vampires.
"Ja, I know. I was hoping to speak to Eric."
A blond eyebrow quirked sky high, a mischievous interest gleaming in her eyes. Apparently Pam thought this could only end in something to break the boredom of the night.
"He's downstairs. Follow me."
The pair descended to the basement, the sound of clanging metal strengthening the deeper they went.
Pamela led him down a hallway, and at the end they paused in a doorway, to find three vampires. One stood by the wall, watching the other two with interest as they engaged in a furious battle, moving too fast for the eyes to follow at times, long swords flashing with a terrible beauty as they slashed and struck, braying with laughter all the while.
One, he recognized as Eric through the blur of motion.
The other stood nearly as tall, with a mane of blazing red hair.
It was not until Eric bested his fencing partner, stopping centimeters short of a blow that could have sliced head from shoulders with an incredible grace and mastery, that Pamela cleared her throat. "You have a visitor."
The fierce smile upon Eric's lips died at the sight of Henrik, eyes suddenly chips of ice.
In stillness, Henrik could see the second vampire to be Viggo, the celebrated vampire King of Sweden, whose picture appeared in the paper almost daily in some context or another.
He did not appear pleased to see the doctor either.
Eric leaned upon his sword, regarding the doctor with a hostile curiosity. "Well? What do you want?"
Henrik couldn't help but eye the sword in Eric's hand, a long, broad, and sharp piece of weaponry that appeared entirely capable of slicing him in two, with or without vampire strength behind it.
"I wish to speak to you of Sookie." Pointedly, Henrik's eyes traveled over the other vampires in the room, but Eric waved away the implication.
"There's nowhere in this house they could go, where they could not hear our words, Doctor."
Squaring his shoulders, reminding himself that he was not a peasant goat-farmer addressing a chieftain, as Eric's demeanor implied, his tone came even and matter-of-fact. "Very well. I've come here to inform you, as a doctor, that you are hurting Sookie. You're taking too much blood from her, and her human body can't keep up with the depletion."
Eric's expression darkened, but it was Viggo who snarled openly, "He dares to tell you how to feed from your human?"
"She fainted yesterday," Henrik insisted, a thread of anger entering his tone. "She can't feed you so frequently, on top of her school schedule. It's just too much."
Though outwardly he remained impassive, an instinctive rage rolled through the pit of Eric's stomach at this doctor's appearance in his home, making demands of him. Sookie had fainted, and he had not been informed? True, he did feed rather frequently; her intoxicating blood, so full of flavor and a certain hint of magic he could not quite identify, filled his thoughts and dreams night after night.
But he'd been playing this game for quite some time; Sookie had been fine, last week. She didn't seem sick at all to him.
In fact, she'd been quite energetic.
Viggo gave a snort, where Eric remained stony, thinking behind his foreboding facade.
"Oh, Eric, she's having trouble playing school," Viggo mocked in a high pitched voice. "It's nothing more than a diversion. She has you now, what could she possibly need an education for?"
Henrik found himself startled to hear such antiquated views voiced by the King, and the doctor's eyes narrowed with an indignant anger. Without realizing, he took a step forward, broad shoulders gone rigid. "How dare you? You think she doesn't have the right to be educated? Perhaps you have not realized, for the company that surrounds you in your nightclub, but in the outside world your views are as outdated as your weapons; Sweden has left you behind, and this is the future we have chosen. That Sookie has chosen. Education. Equal rights. Her own life."
Suddenly Henrik found the sharp tip of the red-head's sword pressing beneath his chin, the vampire in question's mouth curled in a cruel smile. "Listen to the insults coming from your mouth," hissed Viggo. "If my maker won't, then I shall teach you a lesson in manners, mortal."
At that moment, Henrik wondered if he were about to die.
Eric perhaps regretted allowing Viggo and his second, Fröde, to stay. He possessed a true red-headed temperament, and could be impulsive, quick to defend his maker's honor. As Viggo flicked his wrist, intent on bestowing a mark that would never allow the doctor to forget that night in the basement, Eric moved quickly, pushing the sword away.
It resulted in a just a nick upon Henrik's chin, that immediately began to spurt blood, in the way face wounds do. The doctor flinched, immediately pressing fingers to the cut. "No, Viggo," Eric scolded.
"You would allow him to insult you in such a way? I have seen you kill men for less."
The older vampire waved his child away, annoyed that his temper could still rule his actions after so many years. "This one can't be glamoured to forget, my child-King, I would hold my tongue, were I you."
By the surprise upon Viggo's face, it appeared the politician had been counting on wiping a memory of his true vampire behavior. Some things simply wouldn't do in the press, and threatening a doctor with a sword was probably one of them.
"There are other ways to win a man's silence," he mused aloud, a feral and threatening grin upon his lips.
The doctor took a step back for all the good it would do him, glaring daggers as he pressed two fingers to his chin. Blood flowed down his fingers, splashing the front of his white shirt with a startling crimson.
Eric closed the distance once more, they stood nearly toe to toe, eye to eye. Though Eric was the slightly larger, the more muscular, taller by a fraction, the resemblance was uncanny. "I didn't want to believe your Dr. Ibsen," said Eric, seeming to change the subject, "When he called with news of our distant relation."
"Very distant," Henrik reminded him, seeming as displeased as the vampire.
Eric's lips curled in a slight and mysterious smile. "You hold no pride, in sharing ancient blood ties with a Viking chieftain? Most would be thrilled."
Henrik merely raised an eyebrow in response. It was interesting for a moment, until he thought upon how the blood line most likely came about. He imagined the Viking before him spread his genes all over the world in various acts of pillage and rape, but felt it best not to voice such suspicions at the moment.
"I think we're a bit too different to be impressed with each other, Northman. I care not for conquering, and you hold no interest in healing. We stand at opposite ends of the spectrum, you and I."
"I haven't done much conquering, as of late," Eric mused.
"Oh, haven't you?"
And they returned to their truest common link: Sookie.
Though Eric would never admit it aloud, the doctor impressed him in one thing: his dogged devotion. Most would have left the little telepath, after realizing her so far out of reach.
"You are either very stupid, very brave, or very in love with my Sookie," said Eric quietly. "Which is it?"
Henrik clenched his jaw, determined not to retreat, even as cold fear shot through his limbs. "Probably a bit of all three," he confessed. "Though none of that's important tonight. I imagine Sookie finds herself incapable of saying no to you at certain moments. You're the one who's lived a millennia, so show some responsibility. If you truly love her, then you have to restrain yourself."
Eric raised a single blond eyebrow. "Do you even know the feat you speak of?" he questioned curiously. "Her blood is…the sweetest I have ever tasted. There's a certain something I can't quite put my finger on. Something to do with the telepathy, perhaps, for your blood smells strikingly similar."
Reaching out, Eric daubed a finger in the trail of blood that ran down Henrik's jaw and neck. Licking the finger clean, Eric gave a nod of appreciation. "How interesting." Suddenly, Eric fisted one large hand in Henrik's hair, bending his neck back to a painful angle. Pinned to the vampire's chest with his other arm, the doctor could do nothing but wait. "So, just how much do you love Sookie? Would you trade yourself for her? If I promised never to drink from her again, would you let me drain you?"
Growling as a lion over his kill, Eric licked once more over the stream of blood pouring from Henrik's chin, savoring the doctor's fear, his heartbeat quickening in his chest. How tempting it was, to hold his rival's life in his hands, the opportunity to end any breath of opposition to his relationship with Sookie.
He and Viggo could hide the body easily, as they did in the old days.
Wicked thoughts. Easy, wicked thoughts, and he knew Sookie would be appalled if she could know them. And he thought of the way he loved her. Madly, deeply. She was the light of his life, a beacon after a thousand years of darkness, and at the moment, he couldn't bear the thought of losing her to any man or any thing.
"If I thought you would hold your word, I would make that trade," Henrik answered quietly. "But I suspect it would only be a grand waste, dealing with a greedy beast like you."
A low but harsh chuckle escaped Eric. "Smarter than you look, Dr. Jurgenson." Eric's grip tightened, ever so slightly, as he went on in a voice meant only for Henrik's ears, "You cannot fathom the intensity with which I love Sookie, boy. Know this. If you ever try to come between us, it will be the end of you. I promise."
"And if you kill her accidentally? What then?"
Henrik never got his answer.
An unexpected voice they knew all too well pierced the air of the room.
"Eric! Nej!"
Slowly, Eric lifted his head from Henrik's wound, the doctor's blood upon his chin, an incriminating stain, a startling contrast against his pale skin. He resisted the immediate urge to release the doctor, as a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But the other vampires watched carefully, and Eric suddenly mourned the delicate dance that would soon take place. How to placate his lover, and not appear weak in the process?
She approached slowly, with outstretched hands, praying to whatever deity may be listening that this night would not end in disaster. "Let him go, Eric. Please."
Appearing to consider the option for a few moments, eventually the vampire let Henrik slide from his grasp, and Sookie pointedly put herself between the doctor and her vampire. "Are you hurt badly?" The sight of his front splattered with blood filled her with alarm.
She'd always feared stumbling upon a scene like this someday, her vampire lover finally giving in to the animal urge to overpower a rival with brute strength and predatory skill. A cold fear spread through her limbs, causing her hands to tremble, her insides to clench into knots.
"I'm fine, Sookie," Henrik assured her, catching small hands that searched his person for injury, urging her to be still. "Its just a nick on the chin, don't worry." Seemingly unconvinced, she touched his chin lightly, inspecting the wound behind the blood that still flowed.
She turned an accusing gaze in Eric's direction, and the vampire watched the humans darkly. Perhaps he'd always known that her heart did not completely belong to him. It was a simple, human inevitability. It didn't matter, he told himself, because she'd chosen him. Yet something in watching them together like this drove the fact home in a near crippling way, causing his spine to tingle with the desire to reach out and wring Henrik's neck once more.
"Well? Do you feel like a big bad vampire now?"
Her tone came sharp, but inside, she felt as though she were drowning. She loved Eric so very deeply, she didn't know if she could bring herself to leave him, no matter what he'd done to Henrik. She could grandstand, and maybe it would be enough, but in her heart she knew her threat no longer carried weight. In this weakness, he'd finally rendered her powerless, and it was a terrifying thing.
Eric raised an eyebrow, and she knew this mask. The unaffected vampire, unconcerned with mortal fragility.
"Sookie, how opportune of you to come. We were just discussing you," he said, neutral, ignoring her jab.
She looked between the vampire and the doctor, attempting to discern what exactly occurred before her arrival. Yes, she was supposed to be in bed, but she'd been overcome by a sense of dread that both puzzled and terrified her - she followed it all the way to Eric's basement, and felt grateful that she did.
Between Eric's icy façade, and Viggo's barely tamped rage, the telepath suddenly felt quite uneasy as a human in this house, Eric's lover or no.
God damn it, she'd thought they'd gotten past this.
But this is what they are, whispered a voice inside. The voice that dealt in flight or fight, in logic and survival, in seeing the world for exactly what it was.
"Oh? Last I checked, discussion does not involve bleeding," she snapped.
In this moment Viggo stepped forward once more, unable to stand the disrespect unfolding before his very eyes. "This man entered Eric's home with the gall to make demands of my maker in his dealings with you. He's lucky to be alive."
Sookie looked to Viggo, and knew in that moment she'd greatly underestimated the vampire king. Misread him completely. He gave the façade of a contemporary monarch for the papers, a businessman and civilized member of society, but underneath it all lurked a predator waiting to be let free.
At that moment, she felt certain there was not a street in Stockholm Henrik could walk after dark in safety. Unconsciously she stepped closer to her doctor, squaring her shoulders, raising her chin high. "What demands?"
"Henrik says I've been hurting you, Sookie. Is it true?" cut in Eric.
Sookie paused to meet Eric's eyes, and they burned as twin orbs filled with lightning, causing an electric shiver to spider across her skin. She didn't want to admit it. She'd felt similar fatigue at times as a waitress, and had always managed to pull through it without incident. But this time? She was exhausted, well and truly, to the core, and up until her body betrayed her by collapsing, she'd put on a good show.
The truth of the matter was she'd been so high on life, she'd sailed through the first signs of exhaustion, passed by the lack of sleep with a little finger wave, skipped over her body's protests with a promise of we'll rest later.
All her life, life had never been so good to Sookie, and between Eric, university, and Henrik's program with the telepaths, she just didn't want to stop. Maybe she let Eric feed upon her too much, but in her view, she was the only one to blame.
"This is ridiculous," said the telepath, shaking her head as her heart filled with fear for Henrik, and disdain for senseless violence. "I slipped. I'll get back on the horse. It's nothing for you men to get so up in arms about. No fighting was required here. No bleeding. Don't you fucking understand?"
In her extreme frustration, her eyes filled with tears, which she fought not to allow to fall.
Eric's expression remained impassive, but Viggo scoffed at the display. "Will you allow this to slide?" demanded Viggo of his maker. After all the lessons Eric taught him as a young vampire, of how to command respect and instill fear into enemies; this display boggled his mind. What kind of hold did the telepath have over his maker, that he would suffer the doctor's existence any longer?
Fear and dread stormed within Sookie, black and howling above her heart. "You won't lay a hand on Henrik," she demanded of Viggo, taking a step forward. "You will not harm a hair on his head, do you understand?"
Viggo smiled disbelievingly, his fangs distended in his ire. "Brave little Sookie, giving orders to vampire royalty." He leaned closer, whispering theatrically, "I have to remind you, it just doesn't work that way."
Once again, Sookie found herself in the middle of vampire politics. Ranks and measures of authority. The question of who could abuse whom, and get away with it.
There was only one vampire in the room who could possibly give Viggo an order he would follow, and Sookie looked to him imploringly. "Please," she pleaded to Eric. "Order him, as his maker. Demand that he and his leave Henrik in peace."
Eric stiffened; here was the exact situation he'd hoped to avoid. Viggo's underlings feared Eric would hold sway over their king as his maker, make Viggo his puppet. It was a fear Eric had waved aside as uninteresting to him. He only wanted a place to live, he'd insisted. He had no interest in politics anymore.
One such underling watched right at this moment, Fröde. He watched with an expression crossed between curiosity and revulsion, fascinated by the telepath, even as he could not understand why his master or hers did not put her and the doctor in their places as humans among them.
Sookie could see Eric's reluctance, could practically taste it upon her tongue. He would not give the order, and for nothing, Henrik would meet his end. His only crime would be caring for Sookie, and she couldn't have his death on her hands.
No one stood in more shock than Eric, as she sank to her knees before him, bowing her head in desperation, her forehead brushing his leg. "Please, tell him, Eric. Order him. Please, I beg of you. I beg of you."
Frozen with utter surprise, Eric stared down at his lover, the woman who had fought tooth and nail any form of submission to him. It was her fear for the doctor's life that could bring her to her knees, and a sudden sadness washed over him. She trembled as he touched her, attempted to draw her to her feet. "Sookie, stop this. Get up, lover."
But she only hunched down farther, a small hand gripping his ankle tightly. And as she turned up her face to look at him, something small and unidentifiable broke within him, at the sight of her tears and wild eyes.
Would she beg for his life this way, he wondered?
He imagined she would, but it suddenly seemed beside the point.
"Viggo," he called quietly, unable to tear his gaze from Sookie's.
"You wouldn't," protested the King.
"I would make the reasonable request, that you refrain from harming the doctor." Perhaps the language was modern, but the implication remained ancient, filled with a power that pulled at Viggo's very existence. He knew he'd received a maker's order, no matter what the guise. "Times are different now, my child."
"Yes, they certainly are."
With a pointed glare, the King strode from the basement, Fröde following close behind, and warily the humans watched the vampires go.
Hands upon her shoulders, Eric pulled Sookie to her feet. She melted into his embrace, and were they alone, she might have indulged in releasing the tremors that raked her chest, letting them form the sobs that attempted to escape. "How is it I can deny you nothing?" he demanded angrily, burying his nose within the warmth of her hair behind her ear, nearly holding her off the ground. "Do you realize what I've just done for you?"
Already, Eric's machinating mind began to whirl with the implications, with plans for defense. Just when it had seemed things could be quiet in Sweden, that he and Sookie and Pam could have a life free of intrigue. He wondered if there would be a grudge. If in search of peace, they would be forced to move once more.
Well, eternity was long, and the world a very large place, he'd discovered long ago.
Sookie pulled back to study Eric, cupping his sculpted cheeks in her palms. Her lungs burned with the desire to take a breath, but the vampire had stolen her ability. In fact she looked upon him so intently, Eric himself felt the urge to squirm as a microbe under scrutiny. The telepath knew every part of the vampire, every inch, every line and freckle - - yet somehow, she felt as though she were seeing him for the first time.
In their moment of truth, Eric proved she had nothing left to fear of him.
That she could truly count on him for anything, to do the right thing, even if it meant going against his vampire nature. That he would not force her to compromise her morals, simply for ego. For the paltry sake of pride, tradition, or politics. Sookie knew she would doubt him no more.
"You saved a man's life," she finally spoke. "And I love you for it." She kissed him gently, her fingers sliding into his hair, gripping it by the fistfuls. Nothing in her manner indicated that anything had changed between them, yet instinctively, the vampire felt uneasy in his position with her.
If only he could read her thoughts.
The man in question watched their embrace with sad eyes, and turned away from the sight. Sookie startled him, suddenly at his side, touching his arm. "Come on. Let's clean up that chin. We need to talk."
Instinctively, the doctor looked to Eric, cautious of the vampire's reaction. However, much to his surprise, Eric nodded towards the stairs behind Sookie's back, though he could not decide if it was a gesture of acceptance, approval, or simple desire to eject him from the vampire's sight for the moment.
"You're supposed to be resting," he protested to Sookie, still a bit shell shocked from his foray into the world of vampires, following her on legs that wobbled just slightly from an overdose of adrenaline.
"Well, lucky for you, I'm a stubborn patient. What were you thinking coming here alone?" Eric listened to them go back and forth as they ascended the stairs, light banter and scolding without a pause.
The vampire pulled his sword from the wood floor, regarding the weapon, an ancient and finely crafted thing. Something he'd possessed as a mortal man so very long ago. Once upon a time, a man could live by his ability to wield one, but things were so very different now. He thought on what Henrik had said, of Sookie choosing the modern Sweden, and couldn't help but think she'd just walked up the stairs with it.
It was not the first time his years weighed down upon him, whispering that perhaps he was simply too old to completely understand Sookie, to live in her world and be loved by her. It was no wonder vampires behaved so savagely, he mused. Time passed, and left them behind. They would take what they wanted, just so as not to be forgotten by the world around them.
Pam spoke for the first time in the exchange, having been a shadow watching from the edge of the room. "Excuse my French, Eric, but what the fuck?"
All he could do in reply was shake his head.
"I love her," he sighed. "Do you think I'm a fool?"
Pamela paused, regarding the vampire who made her with a critical eye.
Something had changed.
"I'm not sure yet," she answered honestly, and left him alone in the studio.
You should have come to me, scolded Sookie, washing the blood from Henrik's face with a warm washcloth. She dipped it in a bowl filled with pink water, ringing it out, and starting again. He perched upon a stool in the kitchen, she sitting across from him. Adele the dog watched curiously, now almost full grown, furry head quirked to the side. Her counterpart Ulf stared on distrustfully at the newcomer in their home.
She and Henrik did not speak aloud, but carried on a mental conversation, one of the many possibilities they'd discovered in their mutual telepathy.
I tried, thrice. You didn't take me seriously. Henrik winced as she found the tender center of the wound, and it began to bleed once more.
Well, I am now. Happy?
The nick probably needed at least one stitch, but he would make do with a bandage. Both knew he'd skated by nearly scott free.
Of course not. Though bleeding for one's lady does stir a man's sentiments.
He tried for humor, but from the expression upon Sookie's face, could tell he failed miserably.
Sookie pressed a butterfly closure to the wound, and even with the blood washed from his skin, he still appeared to have murdered someone from the stains upon his shirt. He allowed himself to lean in only slightly to her hand upon his cheek, before pulling away with a sigh.
Well, I hope your alarmingly masculine impulses to defend me have been satisfied, she snarked, leaning upon the counter. You bled, and even could have died. How exciting.
Henrik fixed her with a serious stare, and she found herself admiring the blue of his irises, her focus slipping. He noted it, could see how tired she appeared even now, and the thought of her operating that go-cart she called a car all the way out to the vampire's house in her condition alarmed him to no end. I may not have a sword, or fangs, or the strength of twenty men, but it doesn't mean I won't fight for you if you need me to.
If you fight them, you will die, Henrik.
So tell me, have I placed you in even more danger, by causing an altercation with the king?
Sookie shook her head, blond hair sliding over her shoulders in a way the doctor found distracting. Eric will protect me, Henrik. It's you I'm worried about now. Eric may have ordered Viggo not to harm you, but vampires are the trickiest beings I know. If he wants to, he'll find a way around it.
Surely he was only grandstanding. What could he possibly gain by doing me harm?
You don't know them, she sighed mournfully. It's a matter of pride, and other medieval shit done away with centuries ago. But I won't let them harm you, she promised. You would never be tangled up with vampires in the first place, if it weren't for me.
He thought on the way she'd saved him, going to her knees before Eric, such a gesture of subservience that his stomach had turned.
How? More groveling? I won't let you trade your freedom for me.
That was a first incident, I assure you. But desperate times and desperate measures, as the saying goes.
Henrik shook his head minutely. Clearly, he did not share her optimism, believing now that the box had been opened, she wouldn't be able to shut it once more. Give a vampire an inch, and it seemed they would demand a mile more, thought the doctor.
He's breaking you, slowly, said the doctor, his thoughts filled with fear for Sookie. Slowly his hand inched across the counter, his first finger brushing hers only minutely, and yet there was a spark that sent a shiver up both of their arms. There was the connection that had allowed Sookie to feel his distress, to know his fear in extreme circumstance. Neither quite understood it yet. Leave him, before it's too late for you. Before you lose yourself in their brutal world.
Sookie immediately drew back her hand, as though he'd burned her with the very suggestion. That's not an option here. I love Eric.
The doctor sighed, and couldn't help but compare the conversation to every case file of an abused woman trapped in a relationship without even realizing. "Ja, ja, and he loves you too, best he is able. But he isn't human, Sookie, and fragile things cannot be equals in his world. If you could have heard some of the things Viggo said, before you appeared…
Viggo said, not Eric. He's Eric's child, not his clone.
At that moment, Henrik knew she would not listen to reason. Her loyalty to the vampire was as strong as it was frustrating.
From the corner of the hall, Eric watched the two telepaths in the kitchen with a certain fascination. It was obvious they conversed by their body language, though no words left their mouths. They behaved themselves admirably, yet somehow, at least to a vampire's eyes, the longing between them was nearly a palpable thing.
"Why did you not tell me you fainted yesterday, Sookie?" demanded Eric. Henrik jumped at the vampire's sudden appearance before them, leaning upon the other side of the kitchen island, though Sookie did not twitch a muscle.
"It wasn't a big deal."
"Your physician seems to think differently, coming all this way to speak with me."
Henrik sighed. Here was the conversation he'd meant to have, before the other vampires' presence sent the situation to hell in a hand basket. "I don't mean to meddle," insisted Henrik, winning a poisonous smile from the vampire. Naturally, Eric believed quite the other. "But you must let her heal."
"Very well. That is a simple thing."
"It is, isn't it?"
A low growl escaped Eric's throat for the doctor's tone, but Sookie's small hand reached across to clasp his, begging him with her eyes to behave. "Alright. It's settled then. I'll keep my blood to myself until summer break. I'll catch up, finish the semester with flying colors, and no one has to die over the matter. Satisfactory?"
Henrik pushed to his feet with a tired smile, seemingly amused by her optimism. "Perfectly," he agreed, patting her on the shoulder lightly. "Well, it's time I went on my way. I apologize for disturbing your home, Herr Northman."
"You came here by bus?"
Henrik paused at the vampire's inquiry. "Ja."
"And you will wait alone at the dark crossroads in the woods for the next service, after angering two of Stockholm's most powerful vampires?" Erik seemed almost amused by the thought, or perhaps by the image of the doctor being rended limb from limb.
"What other choice do I have?"
Perhaps it was high time he bought a car.
"I'll drive you home," Sookie offered, sliding down from her stool, but Eric tossed a set of car keys Henrik's way.
Somehow, Henrik even managed to catch them.
"Even a fool's bravery should be rewarded," Eric explained when faced by the doctor's bewildered expression. "You can drive a stick?"
"I can…"
"Good. Then leave the keys in the glove box when you've arrived home. If you scratch it, I will be cross."
Henrik waited for the punch line, but after a few moments, it appeared the vampire truly intended to allow him to drive his insanely expensive German sports car home.
Yes, he definitely didn't know quite what to make of Eric Northman.
It wasn't until the growl of the M3 pulling away faded to Sookie's human ears, that Eric clasped his love's small hands in his, leaning across the island. "You will never do that again," he demanded, voice low, and Sookie found herself caught immobile in the ice blue intensity of his eyes.
Her heart jumped into her throat, as she wondered which of her infractions he spoke of. Interceding on a human's behalf, making demands of him before the other vampires? Saving a man's life, driving her car while fatigued, or failing to keep her vampire up to date on her health? Or perhaps what would be most damning to the possessive vampire, conversing with the doctor through minds and not words.
"That?" she questioned.
However, she found his answer surprised her deeply. "Perhaps once I thought I wanted you to submit to me completely, Sookie. Before…just, before. But tonight, I found it distasteful."
He seemed as surprised as her.
"I was very afraid," she confessed, bowing her head. "Desperate, if you will."
"You love Henrik. Maybe not the same way you love me, but it's true just the same."
Sookie froze, startled, which Eric found as incriminating as a yes.
"I haven't been unfaithful to you, Eric," she finally answered.
"Have you ever been tempted?"
"Henrik's never pressured me."
"Not what I meant."
She knew it wasn't, but would do almost anything not to discuss her feelings for Henrik with Eric. They simply were; she'd come to realize that so long as the doctor lived, she would love him, in her own way. There was nothing she could do about that. The most she could do was refrain from acting upon those feelings, and she'd done a stunning job resisting temptation thus far.
Sookie realized that beneath the ire, Eric felt insecure. The great Eric Northman, a man whose confidence normally knew no bounds, feared he would lose her to a human.
The telepath knew so very differently, and at long last, she could show him.
"I think I have a solution to this mess," mused Sookie, climbing over the island to sit before Eric, for once eye to eye with the towering Viking. Upon a closer examination, she could see a bit of the doctor's blood still stained Eric's chin. Her own blood ran cold with the thought of how close they'd come to disaster that night.
"Oh do you?" Happily, Eric pulled her close with hands behind her knees.
"Yes. But first, we need a hot bath. I'm cold, and dirty, and you have blood all over you."
Eric scooped her into his arms, carrying her downstairs, towards the oversized tub in his bedroom, mightily intrigued by what possible solution she could have, that would fix the damage done that night. The vampire felt raw, ragged at the seams, at least on the inside. Only Sookie could cause him to doubt himself in such a way.
Only Sookie seemed to possess that strange ability to say no to him, to leave him wanting. Why hadn't he torn the doctor to shreds? That night, he realized she'd changed him. That he'd spared the doctor, mostly, to spare her the pain of his deed. It was a consideration, a concession, he'd made only very few times for a woman throughout his long life.
Only for the most special, and Sookie?
He did not know if he'd ever loved anyone, the way he loved her, and this knowledge left him with a feeling of agonizing vulnerability.
The tub filled, Sookie relaxed back against Eric's broad chest, purring as his strong fingers worked over the contours of her muscles. The hot water felt as a dream to her aches and pains, and she felt her eyes sliding closed in the haven of his arms.
But Eric's voice woke her, the rumbling vibration pressed against her back, tone solemn in a way that alarmed her slightly. "I feel as though I've failed you, Sookie."
Frowning, the telepath turned in his arms, clearly not understanding. "That's strange. Because I was just thinking about how I can always count on you to be my hero. The champion in my corner, when no one else will stand for me."
Lightly, the vampire's fingers traced her brow, and the line of her pert little nose. Now, he could see the hollow in her cheeks, the dark circles beneath her eyes. How could he have missed this?
Pure enthusiasm, floating on cloud nine with his lover, while reality threatened her well being. Sloppy, and not like him at all. She was like a drug, and he cursed himself for indulging far too much, for being selfish with her.
Quite a rare thing, for the vampire, and if he had not known before, he knew then how deeply she'd ensnared him, without even trying.
Eric shook his head, waving away her praise. "Perhaps because it has been so very long since I have been responsible for the care of a fragile human, I missed the signs, but it is no excuse, lover. I-"
Sookie pressed two fingers to the vampire's lips, gently silencing him. "Enough. Stop blaming yourself. It was my fault. I didn't mean to deceive you, yet when I'm with you, I'm like a kid at a theme park. I want to try all the rides, and I want to taste everything, and I don't want to stop to rest."
"You have yet to taste everything of me." Perhaps it was Eric's favorite form of flirtation, the innuendo, yet his voice came quiet, almost subdued, and it stung Sookie's heart to hear her vampire speak in such a way.
They both needed healing, of one sort of another, and she felt she had the perfect solution.
"May I?" she asked, a mysterious smile curling her shapely lips. She ducked down to graze teeth against his neck, stealing his breath for just a moment.
Eric's large hand cupped the back of her head, gripping her hair lightly as he searched her expression for any sign of insincerity, his eyes suddenly flashing with the intensity of a coming storm. "Do not tease me. Not about that."
So very little remained sacred in his ravaged world, yet a blood bond ranked as the highest of privilege to his ancient sentiments. A privilege she'd shunned, time and time again.
"I'm not. I would like to taste you, Eric Northman."
A heartbeat passed, then two, as his ice blue eyes bore into hers.
"You want to be mine?"
His words came peppered with disbelief, while his expression ran to raw.
This was the token he desired, the gesture of trust he yearned for.
Sookie allowed the weight of that word settle over her. Mine. Four mere letters, yet she'd positively run from it all this time.
She found, with examination, that she was done running. There simply was no more fear left in her. Eric had killed it that night, proving that he would be a better man, a better vampire, than he ever had to be, for her.
She simply felt ready to leap, certain Eric would be her wings.
And so she answered in a whisper, "I am yours, Eric. So…take me."
Eric's hands trembled as they raised to cup the sides of her face, holding her as a thing of precious value. "This will not fade, Sookie. We will be bonded, well and truly. There will be no more hiding from each other."
Sookie closed her eyes, drawing a shuddering breath, and her soul poured forth. "Every time I see you, I feel like my heart will explode from all the love I hold for you, Eric. I love your complexities, and your courage, and your indomitable soul, and even your infuriating habits - - I want you to feel it. I want you to know what it's like, from this side. In my shoes. Even when I'm furious with you, or have had a bad day, and am giving in to some petty human impulse to take it out on the one I love most, or if I'm working late at school with a certain doctor you hate and you're tempted not to trust me…I hope the fact that you know how I really feel will save us, where so many other lovers fall under the wheels."
By the end of her speech, Sookie found the vampire shaking his head at her, ever so slightly.
It was not the reaction she'd anticipated.
"What's wrong?" she dared ask.
"Nothing at all," he assured her, turning her in his arms once more, one strong arm holding her against his chest. "I simply…hmm." He felt at a loss for words, a rarity for the vampire. But he sought to speak truth with Sookie, and not offer masks, as he did to the rest of the world. And so he thought carefully upon this strange feeling she evoked within him. "There is so much love in you," he began again. "That I perhaps only just realized you do not love me any less, even as there are others who share your life. Your heart. Your light. But I am a creature of darkness, lover, and I covet your energy jealously. I would be the tree in the jungle that grows taller and broader than all others, just to lap up the lion's share of your golden rays."
Sookie gave a crooked smile, even if Eric could not see it. "Yes, you are the biggest, baddest tree in my forest," she chuckled.
But the vampire was not quite amused.
"Am I the tree you love most?"
The telepath tucked her head beneath his chin, inhaling the spicy, masculine scent of him. "Yes. And you are the great, strong tree I choose to make my home in. The one that's weathered the storms of a thousand years, and intends to laugh in the face of a thousand more that would try to fell it."
Eric's fangs flicked down, and the vampire bit deeply into his wrist, causing a stream of blood to trickle down his elbow, dripping into the water, snaking in twisting patterns before dissipating. "Then drink, my lover, and I hope that you will laugh with me for years more to come."
Sookie flicked out her tongue, teasing the bite marks in a way that tore a groan from deep in the vampire's chest, before latching on to the wound. His blood filled her mouth, thick and sweet and heady, so filled with power that she could feel his strength filling her immediately, fanning out through her body as it poured down her throat to her stomach. She drank deeply, and the vampire did not pull away, letting her take her fill until the wound healed over.
"More?" he asked gently, willing to open a vein again if she desired it. But Sookie shook her head no, a blissful smile upon her lips, her eyes closed as she leaned back against him.
At that moment, she couldn't be certain where she ended and the vampire began.
Or for that matter, the water around them, the tub, the room, the house, the world outside…everything felt so very connected, and she marveled at the experience, watching a myriad of colors play out before her eyes. A raw strength filled her bones, an intoxicating energy, and she felt as though she could leap over a building, stop a moving bus, or possibly even fly.
And then, there was Eric.
A line opened between them, and following it as a guiding thread through a cave, she arrived at the core that was her lover's being. He was a weight in her mind, vast as an ocean, and for a moment she felt as though she were drowning in the infinity of his accumulated experience. Relaxed against him, she flipped through his soul like the pages of a book, absorbing fragmented flashes of faces and names, battles and kisses and landscapes that took one's breath away.
Eric was a man who'd seen and done it all, and yet somehow, he still found her to be a unique and worthy woman. His love for her enveloped her like the softest of furs, warm and thick and protective, fierce and indestructible. She found she wanted to stay in that place, within him, forever, basking. He did not love as a human loved, and she found she did not fear it ever ending.
At that moment, her fragile human body fused with her vampire's courage and strength, she lay incapable of fearing anything at all.
A/N: Worth the wait, I hope? Thank you everyone who's left a note of feedback, you're the best!