A/N: READ PLEASE! This is now Season 2! In case you didn't understand.. :)

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER

- Chapter One –

Nero Returns

"Eric? Eric, there is a homosexual black man in your basement. Should I be worried?"

In a thousand years, I had stumbled upon many things. Though I'm quite sure finding Lafayette Reynolds chained to a wall in the dungeon of Fangtasia was one of the creepiest and oddest things I'd seen in a very, very long time. I would probably need many months of extensive therapy to wipe this from my mind. Gingerly, I took the last few steps down the stairs, dodging a small pool of blood. Hey, I was wearing a brand new, floor-length red dress! Only Pam would appreciate the importance of a pretty dress, I suppose, for Lafayette cowered behind a bolder, shaking his chains with fear. Huh. Never thought I'd see him in this position before. Lafayette was probably one of my favourite people at Merlotte's. He was, in simple terms, the only fun person there. He cursed, he liked make-up, he wore sparkly things that took my fancy and said hilarious things that I only half-understood due to his terrible grammar. He also had a tendency to call me 'hookah'. I liked this very much.

"Hello Lafayette!"

"N-Nero…what are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I winked, bending to his level. "Shouldn't you be flipping burgers at Merlotte's instead of chained to my boyfriend's wall? Because honestly, I'm getting a little worried. I mustn't be very good in sack if he has resorted to this."

Lafayette spluttered, pulling his chains as hard as he could to shuffle away from me. I raised an eyebrow. I'm hardly the scariest creature to come down here. Plus, I looked pretty wonderful in this dress. Which, by the way, Lafayette has not complimented yet, even though I'm right in front of him.

"I ain't down here willingly," Lafayette stuttered. "Your boyfriend is keepin' me here!"

"I gathered that from the chains," I murmured, grabbing them and yanking him closer to me. We were inches apart, our noses almost touching. I giggled. "I just wanna know why, Lafayette."

"N-Nero, we is friends, right?"

"Well sure, only if you wanna be. I mean, we haven't swapped friendship bracelets or anything, but there's always time for that."

"A-And friends, they do things for each other, a-huh?"

I scrunched my face up in deep thought, but I nodded. "I am vaguely aware of that concept, yes. I could invite you to my birthday, if you like."

"You crazy, girl, you know that? I don't wanna go to no birthday party!" he hissed. "This ain't no time to joke around!"

I fiddled with my necklace. I wonder if Eric missed me much. Though he was probably far too busy kidnapping chefs from bars like Merlotte's to notice my absence. Meeting Death had frightened me a little. Shivers ran down my spine just thinking about it. I heard a gurgle, and turned to glance behind me. Oh. Lafayette was not alone. Another man sat leaning against the wall behind us, a collar similar to a dog's around his neck. He groaned tiredly, wiping his eyes and finally waking up. When he spotted me, he leapt up to his knees, as much as his chains would allow. The woman lying on the other side of the room opened her eyes, just barely, and spotted me too. Her eyes flickered shut slowly, as if she hadn't fully registered my presence. And lastly, there was a man who was totally unconscious, lying in the foetal position just beside her.

"Hey! Hey you! I recognize you alright! You're the hot chick from the bar!"

"Why thank you, I do try to dress my best," I said, smoothing out my dress. "You see Lafayette, a simple compliment can do wonders. I am now more inclined to save him than you."

Lafayette made a groan of pure agony. "Nero please, you said we was friends, right? Then help me outta here! I wanna go home!"

"Yeah, get us outta here lady!" the other man growled. "Or I'll-…"

"Shut yo' mouth you dumb-ass fool!" Lafayette barked angrily at the guy. "Dumb-ass motherfuckin' hick."

"Lafayette, what exactly did you do?" I asked, standing up and stretching.

He seemed to struggle with speech for a moment. "Uh…I-I..I was sellin' V. But I ain't doin' it no more, no ma'am, I ain't never gonna touch that stuff again!"

I whistled, shaking my head sadly. You see, this was the thing with friends. Some of them are just plain stupid. "Oh, Lafayette…."

"I ain't never gonna do it again!"

"That's not the point. If it is vampire business, I can't interfere. Zeus, you had to pick V of all things."

"N-Nero," he whispered.

I nodded at him. "Yup?"

"What…What are you? You ain't a vamp, I know that much."

"You're right, Lafayette. I'm not human."

"What is you then?"

"Let's just say I help people out when they die." Though right now, I have my 'holidays'. Or rather, my mourning time. Death was kind enough to give me a few weeks off. To grieve for Alliyah. He says grief is something everyone must suffer. Lafayette let out a noise similar to a wail at what I said.

"Your boyfriend called you here to kill me, didn't he? Aw, hell…"

I giggled again, shaking my head. "No he didn't. I don't kill people, Lafayette. Well. Not that often. I just…you know, help them to make it into another life. Another realm, I suppose."

"What, the white fluffy clouds and all that shit?" he muttered, wiping his eyes.

"Not exactly. I wouldn't really know. I haven't died in a thousand years."

His head snapped toward me. "You're a thousand years old?"

"I know, I should model for one of those anti-wrinkle cream advertisements that humans use," I winked, putting my hands proudly on my hips and striking a few poses. "I don't know if that counts as false advertisement though, seeing as I can't age, with or without anti-wrinkle cream."

"You crazy," he whispered, putting his head in his hands. "You're insane. I ain't never gonna get out of here."

"Yeah, probably," I shrugged. "Well, I guess I can't invite you to my birthday if you're dead." I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "Though most of my guests will be dead themselves."

"Do you think me dying is funny?" he hissed. "This ain't no joke, you crazy-ass little-…"

"Ah, Lafayette. I would watch how you speak to Nero," a new voice rumbled. "I have a great fondness for her, and do not appreciate people insulting her."

Lafayette nearly jumped out of his skin when Eric sauntered down the stairs. He had tin-foil in his hair, a smile on his face. I grinned, making my way over to him. He kissed me, and I got so wrapped up in it that I almost forgot about the fact that Lafayette and the Hick were watching us. I hadn't seen Eric in two weeks. His hands were in my hair, making their way down to my waist. When we finally broke apart, Lafayette looked queasy. I suppose being in a dungeon with a vampire, a Reaper and a Hick isn't his idea of a good time. "I missed you," Eric whispered into my ear, twisting a lock of my hair with his finger. "That is a beautiful dress on you."

If I had a beating heart, I might've blushed. I beamed with pride at him instead. "Why thank you, Mr Northman."

"Such a pity that we'll be taking it off very soon," he grinned seductively.

"Heart-breaking," I murmured, giving him one more peck. I tapped the tin-foil on his head. "Getting a hair-cut?"

"A small one. I've been very bored without you, Nero."

"Really? I see you've kept yourself entertained by kidnapping my friend while I was away."

"I was unaware that you had any acquaintance with him. Lafayette has been causing some problems in my Area for a while now. But first, I think we will deal with this man," Eric smiled as he let go of me and made his way over to the Hick. I jumped up onto the stairs, waiting for him. Lafayette was pleading with me using only his eyes, but I shook my head sadly at him. Vampire business is vampire business. Death told me this, and I had not forgotten it. He had told me not to mess with it, and I didn't plan on it either. Eric bent down in front of the Hick, smiling at him. His voice was low and husky, how I liked it.

"Royce Alan Williams. We have a few questions for you in regards to a fire which claimed three of our kind."

"No fucking way man," Royce the Hick replied, clenching his fists. I'm not sure how he thought he would avoid them, seeing as he is wearing a dog collar and in the presence of two much older and stronger creatures than him. "I don't know anything."

Lafayette cowered further behind the wall. If Eric were to kill Lafayette, I would miss him greatly. Perhaps I'll plead with him, ask him to show a little mercy. I'm sure I could convince him. If Lafayette were dead, I would have no one to call me 'hookah' on a regular basis. Eric took Royce by his collar, lifting him despite his protests.

"Crimes against vampires are on the rise. We lost a Sheriff just days ago, and we seek answers."

My eyes snapped to Eric at that. Lost a Sheriff? It must have happened while I was away. It was odd, Eric caring that another Sheriff had been taken. Did he think the same would happen to him? The only other Sheriff I could think of was...- Godric? No. It couldn't be. Godric is twice our ages. No one could take him, not without a very gruesome fight. But he was the only Sheriff I could think of that Eric would possibly care about, if they had been taken.

Eric took off Royce's collar and dragged him toward me. I mouthed the word, 'Godric?' at Eric, and he nodded grimly. But, he was so distracted by me that he hadn't noticed Royce pulling out a silver cross until it was too late. He stuck it to Eric's cheek, while Eric let out a deafening roar similar to a lion's. Royce made a run at me, completely unaware that I was not a human. He took my arms, intending to push me into the wall, but I grabbed him before he could even blink and snapped his arm in half. He screamed very loudly as I kept on twisting the broken bone, mainly out of anger that he had hurt Eric. He fell to his knees. I gave him a harsh kick to the ribs, and blood trickled from his mouth. I stepped away from the stairs, making my way to Eric and pulling the silver from his face.

Royce was feebly attempting to climb up the stairs, which impressed me. Had he thought that such a little amount of silver would paralyze Eric long enough for him to make a getaway? Eric grabbed Royce's leg, throwing up into the air, where he landed with a thud on the stairs. He let out a roar of pain when Eric did this, because he landed on the arm I had broken. Then, still roaring like a rabid animal, Eric took his leg and pulled him towards him. Royce, the poor guy, tried to grab onto the concrete walls and pull himself away. Eric's fangs popped out, and he picked Royce up, twisting him onto his side and biting right into his ribs.

I shut my eyes momentarily. Great. You know, when other girls meet up with their boyfriends after a while away from one another, they go out for dinner. See a nice movie, relax, enjoy their time together. But Eric, oh no, he rips people in half and growls like a furious animal with his fangs out. Lucky me. Royce eventually split completely in half, and Eric had great fun tearing him limb from limb. When the blood splattered onto my face and chest, I felt my hands clenching into fists. Did Eric know how much this dress had cost me? Did he know how hard it was to get blood out?

When Eric finished, he glanced at me, freezing like a deer caught in the head-lights when he saw my expression. His eyes slowly moved to the blood now covering my arms, face, chest and dress. It hit him quite suddenly what he had done. He realized he had totally destroyed my dress, and boy, did he look like he sorely regretted it. I was grinding my teeth. Almost sheepishly, he let blood dribble from his mouth as he smiled at me. "I apologize for ruining your beautiful dress, Nero, but might I just say you look wonderful with blood on you."

"Save it," I growled. "You are buying me ten new dresses, you inconsiderate asshole."

I turned on my heels, stomping up the stairs. I heard him chuckle as he reached the top, speaking to Lafayette. "Women, huh? Can't live with them, can't live without them."