Chapter 35

"You're a hero." Sookie commented lightly. She was sitting at Jason's hospital bedside, reading the Bon Temps Daily, which she picked up earlier on her way to the hospital.

"What?" Jason turned to look at her, while chewing his Jell-O. He spent the better part of the morning recuperating from his surgery and now, he was feeling much better.

Sookie showed him an article on the paper. There, on the front page, was an article titled 'LOCAL POLICE OFFICER SHOT STOPPING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DISTURBANCE'. There was also Jason's picture in his uniform accompanying the article.

"Whoa… Give it here!" Jason reached to take the paper from Sookie and winced as a sharp pain lanced through his upper arm. "Ouch!"

"Jason, be careful! Oh, are you okay?" Sookie immediately put aside the paper to tend to her brother; her face was a mask of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Just forgot." Jason closed his eyes and waited until the pain went away. After a while, he opened them and flashed Sookie a pained smile, trying to ease her worry. "I'm good, Sook. Give me the paper, I wanna take a look."

Sookie took the newspaper from the nightstand and said, "And just how are you going to do that unless I hold it?" Sookie carefully sat on the edge of the bed and held the paper on one side as he held the other.

Jason spent a few minutes skimming through the article. The editorial lauded his heroic actions in not only saving the wife and child of the suspect but by pursuing the fleeing suspect that left him seriously injured. He was further praised because even shot, he managed to shoot the suspect's car tires thwarting his attempt to escape, followed by a lengthy discussion about domestic violence and its implications in today's society.

"They're making such a big deal over it. I didn't do anything, just my job." Jason said, clearly embarrassed by the article's portrayal of his actions.

"You saved people, Jason. You're a hero. That woman and her son are safe, all thanks to you." Sookie looked at her brother with pride in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you. Gran would be too." She added, not for the first time wishing that their Gran was still here with them. Sookie knew her Gran would be very proud of what Jason had become. "Jason, tell me what happened. I heard bits and pieces of it from Andy and they mentioned a few things in there," Sookie gestured at the paper in Jason's hands, "But, what did really happen?"

"A call came in and I went to investigate. When I got there, the door was open and I could hear a man yelling and screaming. I yelled when I went inside the house and that son of a bitch was drunk as a skunk and waving a gun at his wife and kid! They were terrified, Sook! The wife was trying to shelter the boy, her face was bleeding and swollen when I tried to stop him, but he fired his gun at me." Jason paused and glanced down at his shoulder.

"Got me in my shoulder and then, he tried to get away. So I went after him, telling the wife to call 911 and tell them I'd been hit. By the time I got through the door, he's already in his car so I got my gun out and shot at the damn car and he'd just hit the gravel when I did, so the ass-end of the car slewed and come around and clipped me because I managed to hit a tire, he lost control and the others were there by then thank God!" Jason told his story proudly. "Nailed that son of a bitch good. He'll be spending some time behind bars on tons'a charges, most of them felonies! Y'know for shooting an officer and domestic abuse an all." He nodded in satisfaction. Just then, he caught a glimpse at Sookie's face and his smile faltered at her horrified expression. "Sook?"

"Oh my stars…" Sookie whispered. "He could've killed you, Jason!" She suddenly exclaimed.

Jason frowned. "I suppose, but he didn't. Sook, I know you're worried and all, but I'm fine. Really. And I got this guy. He won't be able to hurt anyone else. I'm a police officer, Sook. This is just a… occupational hazard."

Sookie looked at Jason and sighed. "Hey, I have never felt prouder of my big brother like I do right now, but it doesn't make me any less worried about you. You're the only family I have left, Jason. I can't lose you." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm not going anywhere, ok?" Jason reached to take her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Now, stop crying. You're gonna mess up your make up." He added with a grin.

Sookie rolled her eyes and wiped her tears from her cheeks, but she was smiling.

Shortly after, there was a knock on the door. It opened and Andy stepped into the room.

"Hi, Andy!" Jason lifted up his good arm and gave the Sheriff a small wave.

"Morning, Jason. How are y'all doing?" He nodded at the siblings in greeting.

"Been better. He gets anybody to stand bail? He didn't right?" Jason looked at Andy hopefully.

Andy hesitated for a split second, but he quickly put on a smile and said, "No, thanks to you. He's gonna get what he deserves. With all the felony charges not even Buford over in Monroe would go bail, he knows better than to do something that stupid for somebody that shot a cop. Uh, there's someone wants to see you." At Jason's nod, Andy turned and opened the door and went out, only to come back a few seconds later with a woman and a boy. "This is Mrs. Gibson and her son."

Jason immediately recognized them, it was hard not to. One of her eyes was nearly swollen shut, she had a split lip and other bruises around her throat. "Good morning. How do you do? I'm Jason Stackhouse and this is my sister Sookie." Jason greeted them politely. Sookie stood up and gave them a warm smile.

"I'm Janice and this is my son, Mickey. We…" She paused and swallowed. "We want to thank you for what you done for us." Tears sprang into her blackened eye. "If you hadn't… I don't know…" She couldn't continue and broke into sobs.

Andy gently guided the crying woman to sit down on the nearby chair and Sookie handed her some tissues. The boy looked at his mother with concern and was pulled into a tight hug by her. After a while she seemed to compose herself.

"I'm sorry. It's just…" She profusely apologized and tried to explain.

"It's alright. Mrs. Gibson, I'm just glad that I could help. I can't even begin to imagine what y'all've gone through. I'm sorry." Jason said softly.

At that moment, Sookie couldn't be more proud of her brother.

They talked for a while before Mrs. Gibson and her son said goodbye. Andy escorted them out, saying that he'd be back later in the evening to 'discuss the case' with Jason.

"Who are you and what have you done to my brother?" Sookie asked jokingly when they were alone in the room.

"What do you mean?" Jason looked at her in confusion.

"Jason, you were so kind to them and… It's just, you've changed." Sookie beamed at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jason asked his sister teasingly. In reality, he was also pleased with himself. For all his life, he had been looking for something that he was good at and now, finally, it seemed like he had found it. The fact that he could also help others only served to make it even better.

"I didn't mean…" Sookie started to explain herself, but the look on Jason's face made her realize that he was only teasing her. "You know what I mean."

"Thanks, Sook. You know, I've always thought that I was such a failure…" He held up his good hand when Sookie opened her mouth to protest. "No, let me finish. We both know that I'm not really good at… anything outside a' high school football and that was a long time ago. You remember when I joined that crazy vampire hunter group, the Fellowship of the Sun?" At her nod, he continued, "I told you back then that I thought that was it, but we both know how it turned out. And now, I..." He paused, "I helped people, really helped someone in need Sook. For once, I did something that actually matters and it feels good." He finished his little speech.

Sookie couldn't stop the tear that slipped out of her eye. "Jason, you're a good person, I've always known that." She moved to give her brother a bear hug, which was quite tricky, between the suspended leg and painful shoulder injury; but they managed.

"Thanks for believing in me, Sook. Even when I didn't." Jason told her sincerely.

"You're my brother, Jason. I love you and I've always believed in you." Sookie smiled, which he returned.

"Hey Sook, I didn't have the chance to ask… so how was your vacation?" Jason asked a few minutes later.

"Sire, there's something that you need to see." Nick handed Bill a folder.

Bill opened the folder and skimmed through the contents. "So our suspicion is right. This explains everything and it also means that we might have a problem on our hands, bigger than I expected it to be."

"What are we going to do, my Liege?" Nick asked.

"I'll have to inform the Authority…" He paused, imagining what would happen if the Authority knew about this. "No, let's keep them out of this for the time being. Besides, involving The Authority could surely tip our hand. Right now, we need to keep those in the loop as small as possible." Bill said, knowing that if the Authority knew about this, they would kick up a big fuss and it wouldn't do them any good. If anything, it would only serve to give the hunters advantages over them.

"What about Sookie?" Nick asked the most obvious question, since she was already in the middle of it.

"She has enough on her plate right now, with Jason being in the hospital and all. Let her focus on that. Do you have anything on Vincent?" Bill closed the folder and folded his hands on top of it.

"We've been monitoring his every move, but so far, we haven't noticed anything out of ordinary." Nick reported.

"Very good." He nodded. Just then, he felt Sookie's anger coursing through their blood bond. "Is there anything else? I'm going to the hospital." Bill hastily pushed back his chair and stood up. While he wasn't sure what had caused her anger, he could tell she was pretty upset.

"No, Sire. This is all we have, but hopefully Dave would be able to give us more. He's been briefed on the new development and he knows what to do." Nick gathered the files. "I'll prepare the car." He bowed and made his way to the door.

"Nick?" Bill called, stopping him. Nick turned and faced his King. "Do you think there are more of them out there?"

"Hunters, Sire?" At Bill's nod, Nick continued, "Undoubtedly. As long as there are vampires around, there will be those who seek to eradicate our kind. Without us? They would just find a new 'prey' to hunt. History always repeats itself, can you imagine what the world would be like if the Nazi's had won?"

With that, Nick left the office, leaving Bill to contemplate on his words.

"What do you mean he's suing Jason?!" Sookie was livid.

Andy had just informed them that Gibson's attorney had filed initial paperwork of his intention to sue Renard Parrish Sheriff's Department and also Deputy Jason Stackhouse for reckless endangerment, damage to property and other completely bogus notions. The thing that made it such a bad thing was that he'd done a press conference on it and now the court of public opinion was running rampant.

Andy tried to talk to her. "Sookie, you need to calm down…"

"Andy…" Sookie said slowly, barely holding on to her emotion. "How the hell am I supposed to 'calm down' when the person who hurt his family and my brother is actually trying to put the blame on him?"

"Sook, just calm down, ok?" Jason tried to placate his sister, although he couldn't believe what Andy said. They thought they'd got him, but now he was trying to turn the table on them. "Jess, a little help here?" He turned to his girlfriend, who was suspiciously quiet.

"I agree with Sookie. This doesn't make any sense. He's been charged with the attempted murder of three people, felony assault against a peace officer and all the what? Ten other charges and he can still do this? It's ridiculous!" Jessica said firmly.

"I know it is, but this America and he has that right but if you'd let me explain." Andy tried again, to no avail. If anything, Sookie looked even more upset and Andy was keeping a close eye on Jessica who had just dropped fang.

Just then, the door opened and Bill stepped into the room, much to Andy's relief. He was hoping the vampire would be able to keep things under control.

"Good evening." Bill looked at the four of them in turns, a puzzled expression across his face. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Sookie quickly made a beeline to her vampire. "Bill, you wouldn't believe what happened! Chad Gibson is suing Jason! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Sookie said quickly.

"Sookie, slow down. What happened? Who's Chad Gibson?" Bill asked his girlfriend.

"He's the guy who shot Jason and now, he's filing a lawsuit, saying that Jason broke into his house and shot his car and worse!" Sookie said impatiently.

Bill looked at Andy and then back at Sookie. "Sweetheart, I think we all should calm down and talk about this, alright? I'm sure Sheriff Bellefleur has plenty of information to convey if we can just hear him out."

Sookie glared at Bill, but allowed herself to be led to a chair. She sat down with a huff as Bill remained by her side. The five of them then talked about the recent development. While the women were quite upset about it, the men didn't seem to be surprised at this.

"How can you guys stay so calm? This is stupid!" Sookie once again voiced her frustration.

"Actually, this is not at all unexpected and I'm sure both the good Sheriff and Jason would agree with me." Bill looked at the other two and they both nodded in agreement.

Andy began to try to explain the often mind-numbing mysteries of the legal community. "Sookie, Jessica yes, it seems ludicrous but isn't so strange. The guy is claiming Jason broke in, which he didn't because the door was open and Jason could see the injuries on the wife and also clearly saw the gun so that gave Jason about a dump truck's worth of probable cause. As to the other things? Sookie, you see people like Chad Gibson every time you clock in at Merlotte's… just one more idiot redneck thinking if he's gonna have his fifteen minutes of fame; well, he's gonna be well paid for it."

"But…" Sookie protested, no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't make any sense out of it. "He was waving his gun at his family. His own family! Jason was trying to stop him from getting away, after that son of a bitch shot him!"

"Whatever the reasons are, the facts are still there and he would do anything to save himself. I know it's hard for you two to understand, but unfortunately, it's just the way it is." Bill said patiently. He understood why Sookie and Jessica were upset, but they needed to know that sometimes, things like this happened.

"Still doesn't make any sense to me…" Jessica muttered.

"Look, I knew this kind of thing might happen. But he's guilty as hell and we will nail this guy." Jason said. In the back of his mind Jason was worried, this could be bad. Every guy that Jason beat on the gridiron or for that matter in a bar fight would likely crawl out of the woodwork to get their two cents worth in if it meant sticking it to good ol' Jason Stackhouse.

Sookie looked at the men. "Okay, supposed you guys are right, what do we do now? Please don't tell me we're just going to let him do this."

"Of course not, Sookie. Besides, we've already got some unexpected spin control." Andy chimed in with a somewhat triumphant smile across his face.

"Huh? How?" Sookie looked at Bill who just gave a small shrug and returned her eyes to Andy.

"Look," Andy said somewhat defensively, "Mrs. Gibson wanted to come thank Jason, I didn't force that but she, well, she gave the newspaper a call before she came. They got a full account of what really happened and ah, she had them take pictures of her as she left the hospital."

Sookie's mind flashed instantly on the woman's battered face and she closed her eyes and shuddered. She knew it would make the front page and after that where would public opinion go?

Andy, guessing correctly what Sookie was thinking simply said, "Once people see that, Chad's gonna be wishing he never hired a lawyer. Now if you folks don't mind I need to be getting back to the station to get some paperwork done."

Sookie and Jessica both stood and gave Andy a hug and thanked him and Sookie apologised for being so cross. He just blushed slightly, nodded and left the room. Bill smiled at her then nodded at Jason, Sookie could see how pale he looked and agreed silently.

"We better go too. Jason, you need to get some rest. I'll come back in the morning, ok?" Sookie picked her purse and planted a kiss on her brother's forehead. "You don't worry, ok? Just focus on your recovery."

Jason nodded sleepily. "I know." He said before turning to address the vampire King, "Bill, thanks for everything."

"You're very welcome, Jason." Bill nodded at him while Sookie said her good night to Jessica.

The pair left the hospital room and soon was on their way to Bill's house.

"Bill, thank you for stopping me from yelling at Andy." Sookie said in the car.

"You're welcome, Sookie. I'm glad I could be some help." Bill grinned widely, then reached over and took her hand in his and gave it a quick squeeze. "We're still on vacation, remember? No yelling on vacation."

Sookie smiled. "Yeah… So much for a vacation." Her smile quickly faltered, "I just wish that things were different. First, there's that thing with the hunters and Alice, which you haven't told me anything about," She gave him a pointed look, "and then this situation with Jason. I just feel that while technically we're still on vacation, we're not…" Sookie frowned, trying to find the correct words to get her meaning across, "We're not… relaxed, which is the whole point of a vacation."

Bill chuckled lightly. "I have an idea. For our next vacation, we're going to lock ourselves in the bedroom and we can… relax." Bill chose to ignore her comment about the hunters.

Sookie laughed. "That's a very good idea. Oh, but wouldn't that be, I don't know, boring?"

"My dear Ms. Stackhouse," Bill looked at her in mock horror, "Are you implying that I'm not able to keep you entertained?"

Sookie collapsed into a fit of giggles. "Oh, no Mr. Compton. I'm sure you're very… entertaining." She giggled some more.

They continued to 'plan' their next vacation as Bill drove them to his mansion, where Bill spent the rest of the evening entertaining Sookie, leaving them both fully and totally relaxed.