AN: YO YO YO WHATS UP WHATS UP, IT'S TIME TO GET BUSY, SO LET'S KICK THIS HIT AND KNOCK THE...So this is the next chapter. Every time I'm not updating I think of a thousand things I want to say in these notes but I always forget when I get to it.

OH! Vote for the dead-pan contest guys! I have a link here somewhere... http:/www . fanfiction . net/u/2231715/Dead_Pan_Contest# Obviously without the spaces. Um so I wrote something in this contest and the final entries are up and you have to vote by June 15, all the links are in the profile

KUDOS to my beta, seastarr08

So thanks for all your reviews and love and encouragement, I'm finding I need it. I'm sort of winding down, guys...

Chapter 12: I Have No Choice

"Your stubbornness is doing you no good," Pam handed me a True Blood. "This is getting ridiculous, Eric. Seriously. If you don't smarten up, I won't be helping you for the next six months when you're shrivelled up from all the synthetic shit. And then beyond that, when you die, I won't even bat an eyelash. Stop plotting and think about getting better. Stop it. Stop. Eric." I sighed and glanced up at her from my desk. "You look so sick. It's gross. I'd rather make out with a were then spend another night staring at your pasty gob." I raised a brow. "Pathetic," she hissed.

I leaned back in my chair, which took a lot more effort then I'd ever show or care to admit to my child. "Anything else?" I knew even my voice sounded weak. I could feel my insides depleting slowly, dragging out my suffering.

"You're so weak; I can drag you to Russell. I'm tempted to do so."

"And then I could get killed."

"You're dying now."

"I still have time."

Her eyes narrowed and her permanent glare turned, briefly into one of worry.

"Enough Pam." I waved her off. Instead she sat in the chair in front of me.

"You can't even stand and go to Fangtasia," she said seriously. Yes, I was confined to my office in my own home. "You're not looking out for yourself and it's strange. I'm worried."

"Pam," I began, my hand tracing the edge of my desk. I had thought about my predicament a thousand times over. I wasn't treating this as lightly as she believed I was. "I need Russell to get better. He is trying to kill me. Surely, you understand why I'm hesitant to jump into an open field."

"Just tell me you have a plan."

"Several, as always."

Pam shook her head. "I don't believe you." Our eye contact didn't waver, we sat there staring, testing one other. She looked away first. "Your primary focus has been rescuing the girl from the Queen. By now, she's probably already bonded to the Queen or Andre. What can you do?"

I was displeased by her disbelief. What had I done to receive my child's uncertainty? That worried me greatly. "Bill will be here tonight."

Pam smiled slightly. "Good. Maybe good ol' fashioned male-posturing will whip you into shape. Right now Bill could beat you in a fight – how does that feel?" I growled. Without my fangs, it felt empty. I didn't dwell on my temporary hindrances, usually.

"Soon." I vowed.

"Not until you get your fangs back and you have Russell's blood. Otherwise, with this silver poisoning –"

"Pam –"

"My blood won't keep you alive." she insisted. Her passion leaked through her carefully constructed mask of indifference.

"I step out of this house and Russell will kill me."

Pam opened her mouth and I saw her claiming to be able to protect me. Instead, I said, "He is three thousand years old and insane. I have to approach him carefully. You understand this, don't you?" Plainly, she understood it, but she didn't want to be confined to this game. Neither did I, but I was at a point where I had no choice but to be cautious.

I thought about Sookie. I could leave her. I could forget her and move on.

I could not rescue her with no fangs and poisoned blood. I growled in frustration. "Get out." I whispered. Pam understood my tone and left without another word.

If I wanted to get any better I'd have to confront Russell. Perhaps his three-thousand year old blood would speed up this slow and aggravating healing process. I'd heard rumours that he was up in Arkansas with the King Peter Threadgill. The slimy bastard. But I had smelt weres around my property and knew his deal with them was now to focus on me.

I'd have to drive up to Arkansas. Peter lived around Little Rock. Surely, his people would inform him immediately about my entry onto his lands. I sighed, leaning back. Sophie-Anne made it very clear that me leaving would result in my death.

Slowly, without much else thought, I reached for my phone. It was time to move forward. I may not be able to do much else for several more weeks but I wasn't going to just spend the remaining time thinking about it anymore. The phone was at my ear when Peter answered with delightful laughter.

"It was only a matter of time. Eric, I hear you are restricted at the moment."

"Russell is there."

"I heard about your punishment. It leaves you in rather a weak position. Not many people have ever had this sort of...opportunity before."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "There is no chance or opportunity for anybody."

"You're talking funny. After spending a millennia with fangs, it's no wonder." After this whole debacle with Sophie-Anne was over with, I was going to return Peter's current kindness.

"You can inform Russell that I'd like to talk with him."

"He has no desire to do so. He wants your head."

I smiled slightly. "Well, you can tell him I have an offer he won't be able to refuse."

"Interesting. I'm intrigued. Will you inform me of this 'offer' that will have Russell forgetting about his lover of, oh, what was it? Seven hundred years?"

"I wouldn't expect you to be so sympathetic, Peter. You can give this information to Russell or not. Despite what he may think, even in my condition, weres are no match for me." I hung up the phone, and leaned back in my chair.

I didn't have much time to myself before Pam poked her head into my office. "So, tomorrow night?" she asked, a small smile on her lips. I knew she'd been looking forward to getting at these dogs.

"So it seems." I said.

"This will all go over nicely. I know it."

So much faith for such a cynical being. I smiled slightly. "How so?"

"It has to." Pam said simply. She left me alone once again and I closed my eyes, finally allowing the silver to drag me into a rare night time sleep, my last thought was of the blond telepath who had my heart in New Orleans. I hated having feelings.

There was a knock on the door and I woke with a start. I quickly composed myself, ignoring my sluggish movement and burning blood. I sat up straight and told the caller to enter. Bill slipped through. This might be interesting. He was the one who approached me.

"Our Queen knows of your whereabouts?" I sifted through the papers on my desk as if I had far more important things to worry about then him.

"Hardly. She knows I'm here to retrieve some things from my house. I am concerned about leaving Sookie there without me."

"How noble." Pam interjected. My eyes flashed to her warningly and she sighed, rolled her eyes and left us alone.

Bill shuffled awkwardly before placing himself in front of my desk. "If I may so, you do not look so well."

"You may not."

There was a silence. "I will protect Sookie with my life."

I arched an eyebrow. "Yes, you most certainly will."

"For you to think otherwise..."

"I think otherwise Bill because you put her in this situation to begin with."

"I love her. Despite what I have done, I fell in love. It was hard not to."

I couldn't argue with that. I had found myself in the same situation. Despite all our differences, Bill and I had one thing in common, our fondness for a certain blond telepath.

"The Queen hasn't bonded with her yet." Something inside me loosened as if I had a large knot in the pit of my stomach. It hadn't disappeared but it was a relief. Immediately my brain flashed to why. "However, it's only a matter of time. I will ask her if I may be the one to bond with her instead."

This was an excellent alternative, however, it cause a growl to erupt without my consent. I was displeased with the thought of Bill's blood in her, especially since mine was fading fast. I thrilled at the idea that she had a part of my inside her. Now, it would no longer be.

"That is for the best. I'm curious as to why the Queen is being so careless."

"She wants Sookie to feel comfortable."

I couldn't help the look of confounded disbelief to cross my features. "Does she want to be best friends and swap boy stories with my...with Sookie?" I saw Bill's eyes flash of anger for a second.

"You know just as much as I, that the Queen is very lonely."

"And she is also the one that has me dealing V." I watched his face fall, his brows furrow and I felt a brief moment of triumph in my time of dissolution.

"Why?" Bill stressed. I thought back to our conversation outside of the Queen's palace before he got kidnapped and how he believed to have one over me. He had nothing. I allowed a smile.

"Like you said, she's lonely. She's desperate."

"Desperate? Desperate for what?"

"Think about that long and hard and when you come up with the correct answer I'll give you a cookie." Bill shuddered in anger and I allowed my smile to widen into a grin.

"You look especially gaunt when you grimace." Bill hissed.

"This is a smile of victory."

"Nothing has been won!" Bill exploded. "Sookie is being held captive and you have done nothing!"

Blind rage filled my frail body and I stood up, baring my teeth to Bill when there were no fangs to show for. I saw Bill's look of pleasure at my lack of weapon. The realization that I couldn't even do anything to Bill had me let out a roar of frustration.

"As you can see if I was in any position to remove her from that hell-hole I would have done so immediately. I would also have tore your arm off for even suggesting that I have done nothing, as you so eloquently put it, Bill. So tell me, are you depending on me to save Sookie while you lounge around playing Yahtzee until the cows come home? Because your farm is looking in awful condition at the moment Mr. Compton."

Bill's cheeks tinted pink. He had fed before seeing me. Coward. "I am no match for the Queen." He bowed his head slightly. "Despite my resounding hatred for you, Eric, I...I respect you, which is more than I can say for Sophie-Anne."

A surprising turn of events. I sat back down slowly, my brief surge of energy depleting and my exhaustion returning.

"You...You could overrule her. You have far more followers than she. Everyone knows it, and she fears it."

"I have no intention of taking over Louisiana. I will do what I must to survive."

"And if it comes to that?"

I pondered just how much I should tell Bill. I trusted the idiot. Unbelievable. "It will not result as such any time soon." I had other plans for this state. Plans that I was still unsure if they would be beneficial to me or more of an issue.

"I will not pretend that I have any idea as to what goes on in your head. But it is surely something else for it has kept you alive for a thousand years."

"You might as well take notes," I muttered. I could not show him the blinding pain that was travelling through my veins and how exhausted I was becoming. I stiffened, riding out the agony. "I will have Sookie back." I vowed.

Bill didn't say anything. We sat in silence before my mind mentally blocked him out and he stood up and left, returning to her when I could not.

The following night, in a rare occurrence: Pam was in all black. She wasn't going to Fangtasia, so her usual attire would be rather conservative. I eyed her ensemble. She shrugged and smiled cunningly.

"Master, I'm so excited." Not surprising. I was cautious, but couldn't help feel the thrill of going into battle, despite my condition. I hadn't left the house much at all in the past six weeks. I was never one for sitting stagnate. "I will slaughter all that may try and harm you."

"Do you believe me to be incompetent, Pam?"

She didn't answer. With her eyes rolling, she turned to her bag and gave me blood bags she swiped from the hospital. I took all I could, plus some of Pam's, and then we left out of my house. I had concealed weapons in my jacket and it reminded me of my days as a human going into battle.

At least my sense of smell was working. Weres were in my area. We got into my car since I knew I had to save as much of my energy as I could and running around would not help me in my condition. My condition. I had to get rid of these hindrances. They were driving me insane.

Pam drove my Corvette. Her eyes were peeled wide as her gaze flickered through the windshield. I closed my eyes and tried to hear and smell. The window was down and I sniffed the night air. No doubt, the Weres were informing Russell of my leaving.

I couldn't confront him in Arkansas, which might put him at a disadvantage, so I was forced to see to him out in the open. Pam knew where to go and we were soon leaving Shreveport and heading closer to Bon Temps. She pulled up at an open field and I knew as soon as I exited we'd be attacked. Pam and I exchanged a brief look before we left the car at the same time.

I pulled the dagger from my pants and plunged the silver right into the Were's chest. He yelped and shifted back into human form crumpled on the ground. One down. I could feel Pam's delight through our maker-child bond. More Weres were swarming me than her. No matter.

With every quick motion and fluid swift movement the veins, my bones groaned in complaint and a fire burned inside me. It reminded me, as I stabbed another heart of a Were, of Sookie, when she would touch me. It was a different fire, this one burned in anguish, her soft skin burned in passion. I felt claws slice my arm in distraction and in my anger I was about to attack when Pam jumped behind him and ripped his head clean off his shoulders.

Soon we looked around at the dead and saw Russell emerge from the woods, his fangs down his eyes blazing in hate. Pam crouched taking her defence.

"Are you here to kill me?" I asked. Russell was not alone. He had vampires stationed in the surrounding wood.

"You're here to be killed," he growled. His eyes welled and dark red tears dripped down his face. As much as it pained me, in more ways than one, I kneeled before him. "You're submitting?" I heard his astonishment.

"I am yours," I said clearly. This was something Russell had been wanting for a millennia and I was handing it over.

Everything grew silent. There was no wind. There was no sound for miles.

"For the girl?" he asked. "Why don't I just kill her? It would bring you misery, a payback and it would bring down Sophie-Anne."

"You would need her," I said. "Telepaths are rare. She would help you."

He was considering. "What are you offering?"

"I will help you bring down Sophie-Anne, and Louisiana would be yours. You will aid me in my healing. Sookie will live in Area 5 with me and whenever you would need her she will be at your service."

I knew the vampires around were shocked by my declaration. I had no other choice. This was my life for now.

"Eric Northman you are swearing fealty to me," Russell said. I saw his feet before me, my head still bowed. I knew Pam was next to me, offering herself with her master.

"I am."

"For love?"

I tried to hide a smile. "For you."

"Well," he said. "It's certainly been a long time coming...You killed Talbot."

"I did." Pam was getting anxious. She did not like everything being up in the air like this at the moment. I was becoming more and more confident that this would work out in our favour. I wished I could convey this to her, put her at ease.

"If this was to put me at a disadvantage..."

"I need to be the one in control of Sookie. You went into my area and stole Bill Compton and with every intention of making sure she wouldn't leave. Then when you realized my...dedication you used that to your advantage."

Russell laughed cruelly. "I did."

"I am offering you my fealty and Sookie as a part of my retinue."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then Sophie-Anne will once again get the better of you and attack Mississippi in its current undefended condition, all the while becoming increasingly more powerful with Sookie. This way, you get Sophie-Anne's Kingdom, the telepath and me."

I awaited my fate. "Anything else?"

"The Queen has me dealing V. Hers." I said it softly that no one would hear it but him and Pam. Russell's presence nearly crackled. He was three-thousand years old and in that moment everyone around could feel it.

"Excellent." The tone of his voice was excited, full of expectation. I heard his flesh tear and I saw blood fall to the grass. I looked up and he held his wrist for me. I latched onto my grand-sire's blood.

The power that fell down my throat, his hot, sweet blood, had me bursting with a force I hadn't felt in a very long time. I felt the blood go straight to my cock and I growled holding his arm tighter to my hunger. I heard Russell moan and his hand went into my hair as I stood higher on my knees, desperate for every drop he offered. "I would love more, Eric." he purred above me. I sucked harder on his wound, eliciting a loud groan from him. I saw his hardness in his pants and I could feel the sexual tension in the field from all the vampires. "Harder." he begged. With my remaining teeth, as his wound closed, I bit hard to re-open his wounds. He shouted, and I saw his pants get wet. He allowed me one more pull at the wound before he yanked his arms away. "Thank you for that, Eric."

"Thank you." I said hoarsely, putting my head back down. I closed my eyes as I felt instantly better. The silver poisoning was gone and my teeth were cutting through my gums. It was only a matter of time.

"Now," Russell said. "Let's talk logistics, my pet."

Let's all flutter our eyelashes at the blue button that is so so similar to our Viking's eyes...