Note: Small edit made to chapter 24 concerning Bethany.

Thanks to peppermintyrose for mentioning her. For some reason I thought I could write-in what happened to her later, forgot her demise happens early, but is revealed later :$

Chapter 25

Sookie POV

Eric knocks on the door at four in the morning. I rush to the mirror to quickly straighten my hair. I'd been napping for about an hour. I'm in an old sleeveless cotton nightgown with little pink flowers on it. Not exactly sexy or professional, but I figure a girl's gotta catch a break for sleepwear. When I ask through the door who it is, he responds "Leif." As I open it I feel a big smile on my face. It felt so good to be with him at the party after his cool dismissal in his office.

I'm not going to bend over backwards to keep Eric out of whatever mood he was in last week, but I can't help but want to be on good terms with him.

He is still in the same get-up, but his hair is out of the pony-tail. God, I want to run my fingers through it. I look past Eric and am startled to see Bill. He turns to Eric and says: "I told you she would be sleeping. I can tell her whatever it is tomorrow."

Eric pays Bill no mind, "May I come in?"

I step aside and officially invite them. What would be happening right now without Bill as a chaperone I wonder?

"I am sorry about this Sookie, Eric has insisted." He looks like a little boy who didn't get the gift he wanted on Christmas morning.

I try to say what I would if this were my first time in Dallas: "What are you doing here Eric? Why are you all of a sudden 'Leif'?"

Eric looks around the room, his eyes coming to rest on my disheveled bed. "It is a persona I adopt when I want to go about unacknowledged. It has not worked however; Stan has recognized me for who I am."

Bill looks shocked. I guess he didn't tell him that part yet. "What? What are the repercussions of this Eric? How could you risk Sookie's life by--"

Eric cuts him off, and I'm glad. Bill's indignation over my safety may have felt good when we were together, but now it's, well, it's a little annoying.

Eric moves past us and takes a sprawling sit-down on the end of my bed. "Stan has deemed my actions those of a carefulSheriff, which I am. Overall he is pleased with the progress so far, and has made an offer to hire Sookie on permanently in Texas."

Oh jeez.

"Eric, that is unacceptable, Sookie--"

He interrupts Bill again. "Bill, kindly calm down, or I will ask you to leave."

He turns to me. "I believe he would like you to become his personal telepath."

Yikes, I may feel okay with Stan, but I don't want to be "his" anything. I ask Eric: "What did you say to him?"

"Simply that I would pass along his offer. He does not want to commit anything to writing unless you have expressed interest. At first he asked if Louisiana would 'consider lending the telepath' to him long-term. I reminded him that you are not the state's ward, and that if he wants to hire you, he would need to draw up a contract as we have."

I smile at Eric. Good, at least he gets it. "That's right, I am not an object to be loaned or protected." I look meaningfully at Bill. "Please tell him that I appreciate the offer, but at this time I plan to live in Louisiana full-time. I am open to future short term contracts however."

"Bill has filled me in on what happened after I left the room. Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll have to get a few things in the morning, but I think it should be fine."

"We will leave you to your rest then."

Bill looks like he's about to say something, but says only "Goodnight Sookie," and exits the room. He waits with the door open for Eric to follow.

Eric gets up off the bed and slowly makes his way to the door. He pauses as he passes me and runs a finger over the lacey collar of my nightgown.

"I like your nightgown Sookie, it suits you."

I smile wide at the compliment and give him one in return: "I like your flip-flops. They don't really suit you at all."

He laughs and looks down at his feet, which are trisected by one inch strips of bright blue fabric. His hand is now resting on my shoulder.

Bill is still standing in the hallway, irritation slowly creeping onto his face.

Eric smirks. I get the distinct impression that he's toying with Bill. I feel bad, but not bad enough to remove his hand from its resting place.

Eric slides his hand over my collarbone and up to cradle my neck between my ear and the base of my head.

"Eric."

We turn at the name to see Bill on his way back into the room. Eric grins and leans in close to my face. Oh crap, he's taking this further than I thought! Will he kiss me right in front of Bill?

He hovers over my lips for a millisecond, before saying quietly "Goodnight."

He's out of the room in a flash and Bill is now standing a few feet into the room looking pissed.

Eric rolls his eyes dramatically from the hallway and motions with his hand. "Come on Bill, let the poor girl rest." He shakes his head and crosses his arms as if he's been waiting on Bill the whole time.

I almost laugh at Bill's frustration, and Eric's sudden over-the-top impatience. I turn it into a yawn, and Bill does a little bow before storming off.

As I move to close the door behind them, Eric lags behind and winks at me.

I wake up at eleven and grab a taxi to the nearest Wal-Mart to get my outfit. I have to be a believable church-mouse, but decide to get some basics that I can re-use at least. Wal-Mart has really stepped-up their fashion game: I walk out with a cute brown peasant skirt and a modest pink three-quarter sleeve button-up that actually fits. Lighter pink flats finish the outfit, and I hurry back to the hotel to get changed.

The new plan is pretty simple. I will take some pamphlets about the grace of God over to the Fellowship center and had them out to everyone I see. People who are not part of the church will assume I am with the church, and those who are members I plan to tell I am from a local church that supports their cause. Stan suggested that I bring a petition to sign too, which would require me to lurk around once I'm out of pamphlets. Hugo was brought in briefly so I could deduce how much he'd told the Fellowship. It wasn't much, and luckily the priest should still be out of commission, so nobody at the Fellowship should know what I look like. I'm just thanking the Lord I don't have to wear that wig again.

Stan insisted that I still have a companion from his group, but seems leery now that one so close to him has been revealed as a traitor. He has asked that I look through all the humans that stay in the house after this is all over for an additional fee. I told him it would be my pleasure. At this rate I should be able to re-do the driveway no problem.

For now, Toby, Stan's human will be accompanying me to the church at three pm. I met Toby briefly last night before I left. He's a good guy, and is pretty much living the classic human-who-gets-enamored-with-vampires story. He knows that Stan may not care about him more than a piece of furniture, but likes Stan so much that he doesn't care. I can imagine that Stan doesn't give away much considering his cold, nerdy exterior.

I wonder if Stan does care about Toby. He treats him well, but that's all I was able to pick up on. Toby will be a convincing partner at least. He has sandy blond hair, a nice face, and he's about my age. He's also used living with vampires and following orders, so if things hit the fan he probably won't turn into a blubbering mess.

He also doesn't have plans to betray me and get me killed, so that's a plus.

It's just after twelve noon, so I only have a few hours to talk to Barry. Barry. For this part of the plan I pretty much have "speak from the heart," and that's it. I'm not really sure what to tell him. He seemed content enough to work for Stan in Timeline A, but the only reason he got "outed" was because of me. This time it has to be his choice.

He's leaning against the wall by the elevators when I come down. The Silent Shore Hotel isn't exactly booming during the day, and he's bored out of his mind. He's working a double, and really wants to get home to bed. I have less than three hours now, so the direct approach it is.

Hi, I'm Sookie Stackhouse, and I'm a telepath. Like you.

Barry's eyes about bug out of his head, and he looks around, finally settling on me.

Who are you?

Well, I told you, I'm Sookie Stackhouse, but I think you're asking if I'm part of some sort of secret telepath society or something? Nope, just me. I'm actually a waitress.

I guess, what, I never knew there was anyone else…

Me either. Telepathy must be pretty rare. You're the first one I've met other than myself.

"Do you want go somewhere and talk?" I ask.

She's with the vampires, can't trust her, wants to take me somewhere… shit, she can hear what I'm thinking!

Look, we don't have to go anywhere. We can just stand here and think to one another. I just want to help you; here, try to read my thoughts.

"It's not a trick, I swear!" I smile and try to look reassuring. I can feel a sort of nudging at the mental shields I put up to block Barry.

There, see that? I shielded my mind from you. I can teach you how to do it too. You can do enough, but, let me guess, you can't be in big crowds? And sometimes, there's people you can't help but hear, like they're screaming at you?

Barry nods slowly.

"I'm meeting someone at three, but I can show you the basics, and answer any questions you have… I really just want to help you. Go ahead and look." Talking to him seems to be better than thinking to him, more normal.

I feel the nudging again, but let him in, showing him why I'm here, how I feel about helping him, my every-day life with Gran. This seems to calm him down the most, seeing me hang laundry, wait tables and laugh with my grandmother.

"I have a lot of questions." Barry sounds more excited now, abet a little distrustful, and we find a quiet corner to get down to it.