A/N: Well, guys, I sure am sorry about that cliffhanger... :P Sookie died. The end. OK, not really. Here is Eric's POV, so we know WTF he's been thinking about all of this time. And then you can find out what happened to old Sook. Thanks so much to ilovemysteries for betaing. Although you should probably be mad at her for goading me on instead of scolding me for writing 2 chapters of a new story today instead of working more on this or YnB. Bad girl. I mean me.

Chapter 14

Interlude #2

That first night in the car, listening to her breathing and her heart beating, smelling her sweet scent, I felt the first stirrings of misgiving. While the file included photographs, they were stark and clinical, as was the language included within. She was the asset. The subject. The telepath. It had been easy to forget that, all along, it had been a real child that had been treated this way. That had been tortured and raped and experimented upon.

And, still, I wondered at my misgivings. It was me first, Pam second, Vampires third, the NSA fourth, and humans somewhere after that. And that was only for the feeding and fucking. And regardless, certainly it had been justified for the greater good, hadn't it? But there was a definite twinge of guilt, and I didn't like it. But I found myself softening to her.

Her mask was impressive. Occasionally it would slip, and I would catch a glimpse of the lost girl behind the look of boredom or disdain or bland humour. I understand why it was so easily missed. I think Dawson must have seen it. And I think Isabel must have been willfully ignorant of it.

The second night, when I started to touch her, I softened to her more. When we sparred, I was impressed by her skills. She was extremely fast and strong, and her endurance was impressive. She wouldn't be able to best me, but I was a thousand years old. Had I been younger or less skilled, I wouldn't have been so sure.

With her heart rate high, her body flushed, breathing heavily, her body bathed in sweat, her scent was everywhere, musky mixed with sweet. I regretted when she went to shower, but it was for the best. I wanted to fuck her and bite her and rub myself all over her. And I was starting to want to coddle her and protect her and claim her as my own.

I vowed that night to take a step back and get hold of myself. I was being reckless and foolish. Worse, I was acting like a lovesick human.

When I rose the next evening, the smell of sex was everywhere. The sun had not yet set, so I brought up the camera feeds on the computer on the desk in my bedroom. Sookie was asleep on a chaise by the pool, nude. She was absolutely magnificent. Soft mixed with hard. I reversed the feed to earlier in the day and watched her swim, cutting through the water like a porpoise. She could almost be mistaken for vampire, her stroke was so strong and fast. In fact, in many ways she was like a young vampire - strong, reckless, impulsive, with a mask hiding a deeper self.

She pulled herself from the water fluidly and seemed to glide to the chaise. I noted that her mask was still in place, and realized it would always have to be, even when she was alone, because she had been constantly monitored. Vampires could, at least, lower their defenses when they were by themselves. I wondered how she did it, as young and human as she was. How she could have lived through what she had and not only survived, but had become so strong and remained so sane. I wondered how the NSA expected what they did. Yet, hadn't I a few days before? But she had been billed as a cold-blooded killer. An out of control sociopath. Instead she was a dichotomy. Light and dark. Tough and fragile. Hot and cold. And she was the furthest thing from out of control. The hard, cold outer layer wasn't only just for show, but it was far from all of what she was. And thank the gods for that.

And then Bobby came outside, and was nearly standing over her, staring. I growled low in my chest. He ran inside and, a minute or two later, she ran in after him.

I stopped the feed and went upstairs. The sun had set. I followed my nose into her room, and the smell was concentrated here. Sookie's scent, along with her arousal. And her cum. And I smelled Bobby.

I saw red. It wasn't rational. I went out to the pool yard. I was seething. "Wake up."

I realized that she didn't smell of Bobby at all. And her room had only faintly smelled of him. I had completely jumped to conclusions. She was a healthy 18 year old who had been fed a steady diet of vampire blood. She would have dreams and get aroused and masturbate. Eventually, she would want to date…

I went inside to get hold of myself. I ran to her bedroom, and saw that Bobby had put her new bikinis in her closet. His scent was concentrated there. I went back to the kitchen and saw her new laptop had been set up, and that she was downloading… porn? With fake vampires? Sookie came in, and was obviously as angry at me as I had been a moment ago. And she had cause, at least.

I attempted to break the tension by calling attention to her downloads, but Pam did a much better job by arriving when she did. Sookie's prank was played perfectly, and her wit made me want her more. But of course, she would be a good actress after so much practice.

After Sookie excused herself, Pam said, "Holy fuck, Eric. If you don't want her, I do." I glared at her. "You do want her!"

"What's not to want? She's beautiful, she smells like sex and candy, she's smart, funny, absolutely lethal. And an absolute pain in the ass. Just my type."

"So, what is she?"

As we discussed it, I realized I hadn't heard a sound from the other end of the house in some time. We met Sookie coming out of her bathroom. She was wearing socks that she hadn't been before, but she may have had cold feet. I waited to see if she would incriminate herself, but she did not.

Pam and I went out for a much needed fuck and feed.

"My God, Eric, how can you stand it? Her bedroom smelled downright indecent."

"I imagine being between her legs while I jerk off in the shower, if you must know. But it's a terrible idea. She's… Damaged."

"Bullshit, Eric. She's no more damaged than you are. You've just had a little more time to deal with it. If anyone can help her heal, it's you."

"Except I am partially responsible for her suffering."

"Then you have a responsibility to ease it."

Damn Pam for making sense. Or me for rationalizing.

The fuck and feed did not leave me anywhere near as relaxed and sated as I would have liked. I found that my attention kept wandering. But eventually I finished and went back home.

When I took the garment bag into Sookie's bathroom, I stopped and stood at the foot of the bed and watched her sleep.

The next evening, as I had neglected to stock the bar fridge in the bedroom with blood, I had to go to the kitchen after my shower. I had gotten some bad news from the NSA, and I was distracted and wasn't even thinking about running into Sookie.

The heat in her eyes when she looked at me had me close to bloodlust. I couldn't believe how she affected me. How much she played hell on my control. Angry at myself, I lashed out at her.

She must have been as unsettled as I was, as her mask slipped completely as she fell to her knees in submission, baring her throat to me. It affected me profoundly, as did the pain and self-defeat in her eyes.

As I watched her discipline herself - no, punish herself - I realized that Sookie's harshest critic was herself. And, considering her critics in the NSA, that was saying a lot. And, yet, I found little to critique. Yes, she was impetuous, and stubborn, and mouthy, and sarcastic. I found myself admiring those traits more than begrudging them. Even when she drove me crazy. Especially then.

I hated that we had done this to her. That we had made her so unforgiving of small mistakes. And that I had set this off with my lashing out.

I felt the need to atone, too. I had planned on the date being platonic, but the more we touched each other, the more we seemed to need each other's touch. I couldn't keep my hands off of her. And when she discovered the terrorist and the plot, I had never been more turned on in my life.

We kept escalating, ricocheting off each other, the excitement of stalking our prey ratcheting up our arousal. Finally, I realized that things were spinning out of my control. And I fucked up again. I lashed out at Sookie when I was angry at myself. And Sookie somehow had blamed herself completely. Nevermind that I had licked her neck seconds before. In fact, I lashed out because I nearly bit her right there in the parking lot. I sent Ginger's address to Pam and took Sookie home.

She said that it was inevitable. That we were. I couldn't disagree. It certainly felt that way that night.

When I carried her inside, asleep, I thought about taking her down to my room, but I didn't. I also thought about curling up behind her in her bed, and only did not because of her history of trauma. I was afraid she would be upset had she woke.

The next evening started well. She allowed me to kiss her, and her mouth tasted as sweet as she smelled. I knew I was going to hear from Pam all about it.

Sookie was unhappy that I was making her wait in the car while Pam and I dispatched the terrorists. She threatened to tank the whole mission, but Pam guilt tripped her into cooperating. It was certainly more effective than my temper tantrum. I will admit now that I was being irrational, and it nearly cost me…

But I am getting ahead of myself. Sookie and I were feeding off each other again - figuratively - only now instead of our arousal escalating, it was our anger. There was no sign of submissive Sookie. This Sookie didn't feel like she was in the wrong in the least. Why had she felt so guilty the night before?

I was being a total ass. I was being irrational. And I was wrong. She would have been much better served standing guard, where she could have helped us by letting us know what the terrorists were going to do, and where we could have kept an eye on her.

The Crown Vic was equipped with police locks on both sets of doors, and we locked her in the car. I wanted to keep her safe. Worse, I didn't want her to see what I did with the terrorists, even though intellectually I knew that she would see it through the eyes of the terrorists, anyhow.

Pam and I went to the warehouse. Pam took care of the humans while I went for Khatami.

"Northman. I'm going to enjoy turning you to ash."

I grinned at him. "Good luck, Farhad. You'll need it." I flew at him and ripped at his throat with my teeth. Had he expected something more civilized? I drew a stake to finish him when I heard the crash. My head turned at the sound and Khatami was up and away, swaying in a defensive stance a dozen feet from me, blood soaking the front of his shirt. "Pam! Come!"

It was an order. We left Khatami, injured and nearly defenseless, and allowed him to escape. I flew back to the car and saw Isabel stalking Sookie, who was lying in a bloody heap on the ground. I saw the moment Isabel scented her blood. I flew to her as fast I could, beating Isabel by seconds. I hissed her away and cradled Sookie to my chest. I was beyond speech. She was unconscious, and I was getting ready to bite into my wrist when Pam caught up.

"Eric, let me heal Sookie. You get Isabel." But I hissed Pam away as well. She rolled her eyes and went for Isabel as I bit into my wrist. Of course, Dr Beaumont took to the sky when Sookie was no longer attainable, and got away. After I had given Sookie my blood, I tended to her wounds. I tried not to notice how good she tasted.

When I was nearly through, Sookie's eyes opened, and I nearly staggered at the weight of her emotions. Fear. Pain. Panic. Confusion. That they were this strong through a simple blood tie… How could she stand it? It was remarkable how many traits she shared with a newborn vampire. I hadn't felt anything like this since shortly after I turned Pam. And a maker's bond is so much stronger than this.

I had given a handful of humans my blood over one thousand years, before the revelation, when I needed to have their complete control. It was nothing like this. Sookie's eyes darted around for a few moments in alarm, but soon she had once again succumbed to unconsciousness.

I dropped my car keys to the pavement, gingerly picked her up, and took to the sky, leaving Pam to deal with the Crown Vic. When I got her home, I took Sookie downstairs to my bed. I laid her head in my lap and stroked her hair and tried not to think about how fucked I was.