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I don't own the characters.
Chapter 1
These two are totally into each other but are too stubborn and guarded to let each other in...how to fix this? They need to get to know each other in every way possible to trust each other. And I know exactly how to do it.
She sat in the shadows, silent and thinking. Then she snaps her finger, having an aha moment. She smiles to herself as she thought of her plan to bring these two together. She already knows she can get Eric on board, but the Stackhouse girl will be harder to convince.
It's time to do what I do best.
She watched as Eric Northman exited Sookie Stackhouse's residence, looking smug and humming to himself. She walked out of the tree line. approaching Eric, who suddenly faces her baring his fangs.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he hisses at her. She laughs nervously, holding up her palms in surrender.
"Whoa, easy there! I mean you no harm, Viking. Who I am is not important now. What I'm doing here is to meet you of course! I was hoping we could talk…if you can spare my life and grant me a couple of minutes of your time?" She asked calmly. She wasn't afraid of him, nor was she willing to back down. She waited, giving him a blank stare. He only stared for another moment, then relaxed popping his fangs back in.
"What can I do for you, Miss...?"
"It's not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you." she smiles, ignoring his second question. He leered at her, lust filling his eyes. She rolls her in return.
"Ugh, seriously? Is your mind is in the gutter 90 percent of the time?" He continued to leer, adding a smirk. She sighs. "That's not what I'm talking about! First of all, I'm taken…one hundred percent. Secondly, I'm talking about your little problem with Miss Stackhouse." She said, pointing to the farmhouse.
"And how exactly can you help me?"
"May I point out to you that maybe you're trying too hard to gain her affections?" She says, not answering his question, yet. "If you were more subtle, simple, and a little less forceful, maybe perhaps she'd considered your offer? Instead, you force yourself on her like a lion on an antelope, pressuring her to make a decision." She crosses her arms over her chest giving Eric a disapproving look. He remained silent, giving her a sheepish look. No, he did not think about this. He stares at the ground, then back at the mysterious lady who seems to know a lot about them. Eric grew curious.
"Now, let me ask you this..." she pauses, taking a deep breath. "Don't you think after everything she's been through she deserves a little R&R? Perhaps a little break from all the shit that comes with knowing you?" She folds her arms over her chest, scoffing. "I mean her ex-boyfriend betrayed her in the worst way possible, and she just came back from Fae (an unfamiliar place by the way) where she was almost captured, losing a year and a half of her life. Now she's back to find out you've bought her house, giving her virtually nowhere to call her own. In other words, you have her cornered." Eric only glares at her; knowing she's right. He didn't think this through.
"This was obviously a half-assed plan...one where you didn't stop to consider her feelings. How selfish of you Mr. Northman. What made you think after what Bill Compton did to her that she was going to be quick to choose another vampire to protect her? To you and everyone else, she's been gone for a year, but to her? All the pain and suffering are still fresh in her mind. Right now, she's in a very bad position, and she's emotionally vulnerable...you need to give her time to adjust to all the changes."
"How do you know all this?" He asks. She simply smiles, not really going to answer that question until later.
"Let's just say you both have a guardian angel looking out for the both of you, who wants nothing more than the best for you and for you both to be happy. I can't tell you who I am until after everything that is supposed to happen...happens. Let's finish this conversation at Fangtasia." She says as she touches his arm, popping them straight into his office. Eric looks around surprised and shocked. He looks back at her.
"What are you?" He asks in awe. She shrugs her shoulders.
"Everything about me and why I'm here will be revealed...in due time. All I ask is that after I'm done explaining what I'm allowed to...that you'll consider this option I'm about to give you." They stared at each other, silence filling the room. He finally nodded his head, going to sit behind his desk. He tented his fingers together leaning in his chair with an expectant look on his face.
"Explain." He says. She gave him a single nod.
"Alright. It's very clear that you want Sookie Stackhouse, right?" He looked at her with a blank stare then nodded his head.
"I'll make this simple. If you give Sookie her house back, I'll get you Sookie, or rather, I can convince Sookie to become yours." She replies with confidence. Eric scoffs at her proposal...
"Oh, Sookie would love that. Bargaining her for her house, she'll be on board with this plan," he says with sarcasm and a blank face. She smirks back at him, trying not to laugh. If he knew the real reason behind her helping him, he'd bolt, or get pissed.
"Pot meet kettle, Mr. Northman. No more than a while ago, you were lording her house over her head as leverage to make her yours…You seriously want to go there with me?" She says with a raised eyebrow, making him glare in return. "Hear me out...the only reason why Sookie doesn't trust you is because she doesn't know you..."
"She seems to think she does." Eric interrupts.
"Can you blame her? After everything you did to capture Russell Edgington, you think her distrust of you isn't justified?" She glares at him, and he shrugs his shoulders.
"As I was saying, she doesn't know you enough to trust you. Not that you've given her a reason to. With all of your interactions with her, you've been the vampire sheriff of Area 5. That's all fine and good when dealing with your underlings and enemies…but this is Sookie, a woman you desire to have as yours. The rules of being a vampire sheriff don't apply to Sookie. You have had ulterior motives and have manipulated her, you keep hounding her to become yours when you know she is in no position to be with anybody, especially after Bill's betrayal. So, I have an alternative that will benefit both of you." Eric waves his hand motioning her to continue.
"You both obviously have trust issues and this is why you are having trouble understanding each other's motives for survival. Give Miss Stackhouse the chance to trust you and I promise she will be yours." She paused. "You will have seven days to know each other intimately. For you to prove that you're a better...option for Sookie. For her to see that there's more to you than the surface. Use this whole week to show her the real you. You're the vampire sheriff of Area 5, a thousand years old, yes. But ultimately to Sookie, this means nothing. You are a tough cookie, no doubt...but there's more to you than being a thousand-year-old vampire sheriff."
Eric only stared at her, then looked away. He thought about her proposal. If he had the chance to get Sookie to see reason and trust him, he'd take it. He has deep feelings for Sookie, not exactly love, but close. He wanted her to be his and dammit, he wanted to be hers as well. This strange lady is right, Sookie needs to know the real him to trust him fully with her life, heart, and soul. And that's never going to happen if he's constantly worried about his enemies and keeping the vamps in his area in check. The only way that was going to happen was to show her Eric Northman without the politics or the jealous fangbangers plaguing his mind.
"How are you going to get Sookie to agree to this arrangement?" He asked. She smiled at him again.
"You let me worry about that. Just give me till tomorrow first dark and I'll get back to you on her decision. Eric was skeptical, but for some reason, he felt she could pull this off.
"By the way, if you haven't earned her trust in seven days, she keeps her house and you stay out of her life for good."
"And what happens if I do?" Eric asked.
"Then everyone wins," she says, grinning, disappearing into thin air leaving Eric shocked and speechless.
She popped in front of Sookie's home, looking around admiring the renovations that have been done. She walked across the front yard, smiling as she approached the front door. She raises her hand to knock, but the door flies open, showing a guarded, but smiling Sookie.
"May I help you?" Sookie was wearing a denim sundress with a mustard yellow cardigan. She looked pretty.
"Are you Sookie Stackhouse?" she says, trying to look as harmless as possible.
"Yes." Sookie replies with caution.
"You do not need to fear me, Miss Stackhouse. I mean you no harm," she says with a smile.
"Forgive me if I don't believe you, but so far every supe I've met has been after me in some way. They either want me dead or to own me as a pet." She snapped with annoyance.
"Uh-huh, right. That's on them then. I don't want you...in any capacity." She says bemusedly, looking her up and down.
"Thank god for small favors." She snickers at her, amused by her attitude.
"I see why Eric wants you so much...you're a sassy little thing. May I come in and talk to you? I promise I'm only here to help you." Sookie looks at her, trying to see into her soul. Something inside her made her trust that at least she wasn't here to hurt her, plus she was curious as to how she could help her. She nods her head and steps aside, letting the strange woman in. Sookie leads her into the kitchen, gesturing to the table.
"Have a seat, please. Would like anything to drink?" Despite this strange woman's presence, she didn't want to forget she had manners.
"No, thank you." Sookie grabs herself a cup, going into the fridge for sweet tea. She pours herself a glass, then sits beside the strange woman. She takes a sip, then speaks.
"How do you think you can help me?"
"Easy. By giving you the time you need to grieve and reflect on your previous relationship with Bill Compton." Sookie stiffens at this. "I know after Eric revealed Bill's secret you were taken away by Claudine to the Fae Realm." The hybrid fairy gasps, looking at her in shock.
"How do you know all this?"
"Let's just say you have a guardian angel watching over you." Sookie opens her mouth to speak, but she interrupts, already knowing what she's going to say. "And before you say it, I wasn't allowed to intervene in anything that has happened to you…now, however, I can."
"Why now?"
"Because this is a very crucial time for you. Rather, you're at a crossroads now. One where you get to control your future…as you've always wanted."
"What do you mean?"
"You're coming to a point where you need to make an important choice. A choice that'll change everything for you. For better or for worse is up to you."
"For better or for worse?"
"Yes. Something horrible and powerful is coming for you and Eric." Sookie interjects, fear filling her veins.
"Eric? What does Eric have to do with this?!"
"Everything. Don't start panicking yet. It'll be awhile it gets here."
"Why are you really here? Who are you?!" It was time for the stranger to at least give them some idea of what she is.
"I have many names, but you can call me Nina. I'm not allowed to tell you any more than that. At least, not yet anyway. When the time is right, you'll just know who I am."
"I will?" Nina nods her head, smiling at the fairy hybrid.
"Let us get back to how I can help you. We can talk about this horrible and powerful evil that's coming at a later date. Right now, you're not ready for that information."
"Not ready? What the hell does that mean?!" Sookie says, raising her voice.
"It means you're still clinging to the idea of what you think normalcy is. It means you're trying very hard to run away from your truth. You're so scared that if you stop pretending to be normal you'll lose all your friends and be left alone. Yet, you already know deep down it's too late for that." Sookie stiffened, looking down at her hands. She looked up at Nina, jutting her chin in defiance.
"You don't know anything about me. How dare you sit there and judge me?!" She yells, annoyed. Nina smirks, seeing her response for what it is.
"Before you start with the self-righteous indignation, let me tell you that I never took you for a hypocrite. How exactly can you judge Eric Northman for killing people, when you have killed as well?"
"That was in self-defense!"
"Either way you spin it; self-defense, for sport, or whatever...it's still killing. Yes, you had a good reason and no other choice because you want to live, but that doesn't make it not killing. You live in a world of both humans and supernatural, Sookie…even with just humans, it's still kill or be killed." Sookie remained silent, not having anything more to say. She was right, it was killing no matter what the reason was...she had to accept that.
"Killing may be wrong, but if you want to survive in either world then you need to make a choice...them or you. I heard your conversation with Eric earlier." Sookie looked up in anger, ready to snap at her, but the stranger interrupted her again.
"Eric is right, you know. There's no way in hell anyone is going to leave you alone, simply because you tell ask them to or even beg." Sookie looks like she's about to protest. "What? Do you think if you try hard to act like a human that it'll just happen one day? That's naive of you..." Sookie fumes silently. Nina continues, ignoring her.
"What I don't get is why Eric goes out of his way to save your ass from death or from being enslaved only to receive your constant bitching and bullshit in return? Have you ever even thanked him? Can you answer me that, Miss Stackhouse?" She says, cocking her head to the side, narrowing her eyes with disapproval. Sookie glared at this strange woman who was judging her. She was about to snap back a retort when Nina spoke again.
"Now you wait just a second!" She holds up her hand stopping Sookie from continuing.
"Shut up!" She replies, rolling her eyes. "Don't give me that bullshit...you seriously need to stop doing this to yourself. It's not helping you at all. You constantly fight against your nature, who you are, your place in the Supernatural world, and your feelings for a certain 1000-year-old Viking." Sookie bristled as she listened to her speak, but she continued, still ignoring her.
"Oh, stop. Don't even go there..." She said in a firm voice. "Don't get all angry and pissy just because you know I'm right! You have feelings for Northman. I get it...if you give him what he wants, he wins, but you get your heart broken; i.e. you lose." Sookie's eyes burn with fire, her back stiffening. "I get it, Miss Stackhouse. Really, I do. I think you're seriously misjudging him. You don't know him as well as you think you do." Sookie was opening her mouth to bite back a retort when she scoffs at her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah I don't know what I'm talking about and blah blah blah! Seriously? Is that all you can do? Pout, moan, and bitch when things don't go your way, or when someone disagrees with you? By now, you should have realized that things will never go the way you need them to. Do you think being a non-telepathic fairy will make your life easier or make all your problems go away? Do you think the vamps will stop hunting you, even if you can't read minds? Don't forget your blood is tasty to them…Even without the telepathy, your blood is valuable to them." She pauses, sympathy filling her as she continues. "You think your family and friends are going to treat you any differently if you become 100 percent human? I don't think so...To them you'll always be retarded, crazy Sookie who happens to like fangers." She says with cruelty.
Listening to her words, tears pooled in Sookie's eyes as she holds back a sob...and they cut her deeply. Sookie doesn't like being reminded of what she couldn't have and how her friends and family viewed her.
"Don't you dare cry! Who and what you are is not your fault! You were born this way. You didn't get to choose your genetic makeup, Sookie. Your parents did, and then your parents dared to penalize you for something you had no control over! If your Gran were to see you crying over this, then she'd remind you that God made you this way for a reason." she said firmly. "These people don't deserve your sadness or tears. Normalcy? Forget about it and move on. Chasing after the impossible is making you miserable. If things haven't changed for you by now, they're never going to change...especially if you keep forcing it."
Sookie looked at her in shock. Her harsh, though compassionate words may have hurt her, but they were true. Sookie just held onto hope, desperately wishing for things to go back to normal before Bill Compton came along. She sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sookie didn't care if she could see her cry. Nina looks at her, feeling her pain. "Miss Stackhouse look at me." She asked softly as Sookie wiped the tears from her face. She looked up.
"It's okay, dear. It's okay to have hope, there's nothing wrong with that. But after a while...it's time for you to let that hope go and move on. Hope for something better. Because deep down you know it isn't meant to be. If your god wanted you to be a normal young lady, then you would have been..." She finishes. Sookie looks at her and thinks about what she says.
There's something about this woman that seems familiar, only she couldn't put her finger on it. She had a feeling that everything she was saying was true. She was right, she had to let this go. She only wants to be normal, so her friends can be more comfortable around her...so they can stop judging her. So, danger can detach itself from her and disappear. But that's not possible, is it? Sookie needed to stop living by everyone else's expectations and live by her own.
All she wants is to be happy.