AN: Sorry it took so long, I had no idea how to end this, and then in one sitting, it all just came pouring out.
He hadn't expected it; why would he. As far as he was concerned, they knew him as Ben Flynn. The iron and silver knife sticking out of his right shoulder said otherwise. "Let's start by you telling me why you killed my parents." Jason's calm demeanor was only betrayed by the cold hatred in his eyes.
Warlow looked up from the knife to find himself surrounded. "They were going to kill Sookie, I had no choice." He growled, fangs showing at the sight of Sookie arm in arm with her bonded. "They had drugged you, intending to drown you." He added, grabbing onto the handle of the knife sticking out of his shoulder, it burned his palms severely, and he was forced to let go. He stared down at the knife, quickly realizing there was some magic involved.
"I knew they feared me, but to go so far…" Her parents' revelation had not come as much of a surprise to Sookie as it did Jason. "I remember the car ride, but I thought I dreamed it considering I woke up in my bed the following morning," Sookie whispered.
"Nothing about that night made sense, but it, unfortunately, does now. Thank you for saving my sister, but she sure as fuck ain't going to marry you." Jason bellowed as he yanked the knife out of Warlow's shoulder with little care.
"I have a contract that says otherwise," Warlow replied, his eyes still on Sookie.
"Don't care what you have, I just so happen to be married to a vampire I love and intend to spend however long I live with him. Your contract means nothing to me…"
"Especially when your King says so." Niall appeared in a flash of light.
"My liege." Warlow had the decency to at least show his respect.
"I'm sure you are well aware of our laws and therefore know I have the power to render any contract null and void, especially when it involves my kin." Niall sat down opposite Warlow. "Even if that weren't the case, Sookie is not the first female with the light. You missed her by a generation."
"Aunt Linda," Sookie murmured. "I knew it; while my parents were scared of me, she was incredibly understanding." She added.
"Was she a telepath?" Godric asked.
"No, she wasn't, I don't think Bartlett would have touched Hadley had she being a telepath, but she had the light."
"You expect me to believe this?" Warlow chuckled humorlessly.
"You are a telepath, and in my head, and know I'm not lying. I don't care if you believe it or not, I am not going to become your Fairy vampire hybrid wife, not in this life or the next."
"Again, as King…" Niall started, making it clear whatever happens next, Warlow would not be walking away with Sookie as his wife.
"Five and half thousand years of waiting and…" He looked around and knew it would be beyond the height of stupidity to start a fight. He was outnumbered seven to one.
Sookie did not have to be in Warlow's head to know what he was thinking. This was the end of the Stackhouse line. Both she and Jason were bonded to vampires, bar some miracle, no children would be produced from the two unions. Sookie was his last chance, and he would not walk away without a fight. She would be forever looking over her shoulder if Warlow lived, locking him back up would not be enough. "I'm sorry," Sookie said.
"So am I." Warlow replied, all the while formulating plans.
"You are not going to let this go, are you. Contract or no contract, you have realized this is it. I am your last hope, and you will do whatever you can to make me your wife. Why then should we let you walk out of here? I have no intention of spending another minute of my life looking over my shoulder for you, we have done enough of that."
Warlow looked around at the faces staring back at him. "I was never walking out of here."
"No, you can choose to come with me or die here, the choice is entirely yours." Niall offered. They had just the place for him in Fairy.
Warlow had no desire to rot away in whatever cage they had built for him in Fairy. He had spent too long locked away, and those days were at an end. He moved, Jason's chain flew out but missed Warlow by a whisker. Eric's broadsword nicked his bicep, but it did not stop him as he still made his way towards Sookie. What he hoped to achieve even he didn't know, but he had to get his hands on her and teleport out of there, then he would think. Pam went flying, Thalia caused the most damage, as Niall's light hit Warlow, slowing him just enough for Thalia's sword to damn near take Warlow's right leg off. The damage to his leg did not put an end to his attempt to get to Sookie.
Godric watched his every move as he got closer and closer to his bonded. He admired the hybrid's determination, and had Warlow not set his sights on his bonded, he was someone Godric would have liked to know. He watched as Warlow continued to move as though Thalia's sword had not cut down to the bone in his thigh. Warlow got within a hair's breadth of touching Sookie and promptly lost his head. Warlow's body stayed standing for a few seconds, then dropped as it started losing cohesion.
"What a waste," Godric murmured as he sheathed his sword.
"Do you think he would have even attempted it if he knew the house was warded and teleportation was impossible?" Sookie asked as his remains turned into a pile of bloody pulp. Godric had had the house warded, and only those whose blood were included in the spell could teleport in and out of the house.
"Highly unlikely," Niall responded dryly.
"You have to respect him for trying. Got past most of us." Eric snarled as he sheathed his broadsword.
"Never seen anything move so fast," Pam grumbled as she dusted herself off, not that there was anything to dust off. Adele Stackhouse kept a spotless home.
"He possessed the gifts of two supernatural species and thousands of years in age," Thalia muttered as she cleaned her sword. "And if is to be believed, the first of Lilith's children."
"Who is going to tell Nora that Warlow is dead and by the hand of her daddy no less." Sookie teased, earning chuckles from the room. "Better clean that up before Gran gets home." She added.
"I will help you with that." Pam offered, surprising everyone. "What, who do you think cleaned up Eric's messes before the bloodbags started fawning all over him." She snarked, following Sookie into the kitchen.
"I should add, a lot of the messes whereof her own making," Eric argued, although his voice was barely above a whisper.
"Funny, how you didn't make that argument when she was within earshot," Jason said with a knowing smile.
"Do you ever turn that detective brain off?" Eric grumbled.
"Nope." Jason chuckled. "Let's be honest, you don't need a detective brain to know that was a lie." He added before he disappeared out of sight to pick up Adele.
"I think Sookie and I can resume our trip around the world." Godric intoned cheerfully.
"You just got back. The patrons don't drink as much when Sookie is not behind the bar." Eric grumbled.
"I have a feeling we would be around for a little while longer, especially if gran has anything to say about it," Sookie said, coming back with a bucket and shovel in hand. Pam followed with a mop and bleach.
Thanks to Pam, the clean up took little to no time and was done just when Adele and Jason showed up. "I can thank you all enough." She said as she looked around at the vampires.
"You are welcome, though it is unnecessary," Thalia said, still cleaning her sword much to her bonded's amusement.
"Well, we have a bar to open," Eric said as he and Pam bid everyone goodbye.
"Your mind is elsewhere." Godric's soft voice brought her back to the present. Sookie's fingers still run lazily over his chest.
"I can't help but think we would not have fared well with Warlow had we not had you, Thalia, and everyone else. He proved to be a rather formidable foe, despite how quickly he met his end."
"I believe you and Jason would have planned differently had it been just you two." Sookie disagreed. There was the fact that Warlow passed so easily as a Fairy. Neither she nor Jason had the nose to detect the fact that he was otherwise. "You two are formidable in your own right and would have prevailed," Godric added, clearly sensing her lack of belief.
Sookie shuffled up and kissed him softly. "Are you trying to shut me up?" He questioned with a chuckle.
"No, I am thanking you. I might disagree with you, but it does not mean I do not want to hear your views or opinions." He nodded. She kissed him again, a rather heated kiss at that, one that was interrupted by a phone call.
Godric sighed, he knew who it was due to the area code. "de Castro, if are you calling to confirm my affiliation with Sophie-Anne, it's confirmed. Look elsewhere, she has no need for another state, especially one so far from her base, but she will get it if you continue to stick your cape where it does not belong." Godric ended the call without waiting for a response.
"It's a damn good thing we are both already naked." Sookie quipped as she went back to kissing him. Godric laughed, kissing her back.
Sookie chuckled at Godric's reluctance to go indoors. "It's just for a few hours, and then we can spend the rest of the day outside, despite the freezing conditions." She placated.
"Why do you need to see a painting you've already seen?" He grumbled.
"This is a famous painting that was created when I was alive. For some of us, it is quite something to see something that was created in our lifetime and still able to see it a century later." She snarked. "I am being quite fair here, Godric. If you continue to moan and pout, we will be spending all day in the Louvre, instead of just a few hours." Sookie threatened.
That did not mean Godric was going to back down. "I could also argue that it's not every day a vampire gets to spent the day outside." After a century of Sookie's blood, which built-in its potency thanks to his blood, Godric could now spend the day outside, as long as he wasn't in direct sunshine. It was a very cloudy day in Paris, and he wanted to enjoy the day.
"You are just determined to be difficult today, aren't you." Sookie sighed in exasperation.
"No, I'm not determined to be difficult, despite appearances" He knew it was time to compromise. "You are right; a couple of hours indoors would not kill me." He quipped, taking her hand.
"What was the first thing you saw in your human years and saw much later as a vampire?" Sookie asked as they walked through the new section of the museum.
"I, unfortunately, do not remember such details from my human years. As a vampire, I saw the Pantheon, Colosseum, and many others as they were built. So, I do understand your desire to see Nara's Knife Behind Back. At the same time, I do not understand because you were never only human from birth and would very much be still alive a century after the print was first exhibited."
"You forget, I did not know that until I was a teenager." Sookie reminded him.
"Yes, I did forget that little detail." They stopped in front of the painting she was so eager to see. "She looks rather innocent, does she not?" Godric quipped, earning an eye roll from Sookie.
"Far from it, I'd see she looks rather devious." She murmured. "Let's go see the Mona Lisa, and then we can go back out into the cold."
"Yes." He cheered, he made no effort to hide his glee.
"To think I willingly married you." Sookie snarked.
"How quickly you forgot the hoops I had to jump through before you would allow me to court you."
"I'm going to pretend I did not hear that." She sauntered off, leaving him chuckling after her.
Even though he could irritate her to no end with his need to be outdoors almost all the time, she could not help but smile at the serene look on his face as he looked up at the sky. The sun was nowhere in sight, but he looked as though he was sunbathing. "We still have not answered Sophie-Anne's invite to your cousin's birthday party." Godric reminded her.
"She is over a century old, she has had plenty of birthdays and will have more, I do not understand the fuss," Sookie grumbled, much to Godric's amusement.
"She is precisely a century-old, hence the need for a fuss. The fact that you refused to have a fuss made over you when you hit a century does not mean others do not." Though he would never admit it out loud, he loved her lack of need for attention.
"We will never hear the end of it if we don't go, so yeah, you should accept the invite." She muttered begrudgingly.
"We will show our faces and then promptly disappear when no one is none the wiser." He said, hoping to placate her.
"I wouldn't mind going home for a while, it's not as though Jason and I have to hide now." The world now knew about every supernatural creature on the planet. Faeries were doing surprisingly better since they revealed themselves. However, they still kept to their realm as iron and lemon was still poisonous to them. Modern medicine from humans had allowed them to have children much more easily and frequently now. Sookie and Jason no longer had to hide, as it was now common knowledge who they were. It had allowed Jason to go back to the police force and do even more good. Sookie, on occasion, consulted for the police and federal government on difficult cases. The downside was Sookie wasn't all that keen on that side of her family. Vampire and fairy animosity would be the one thing that would not change with time. The fact that two part Fairies from a ruling house were bonded and married to vampires did not sit well with them and made that sentiment fully known. The attempt to kidnap them had been foolhardy at best. It resulted in deaths that could have been prevented if they minded their own business. Jason and her lack of empathy or care had made things worse, not that either cared.
Godric, though had tried to smooth things over, he soon gave up when he realized her kin would never be receptive to her marriage. Who cared if she was beyond happy with her bonded. Thalia could care less about what the fairies thought.
"Is that who I think it is?" Sookie asked, looking on in disbelief.
"Indeed, it is the cape and the slime." Sookie let out an unladylike snort at that. Jason had nicknamed de Castro and Victor Madden the cape and the slime, something that had stuck much to the two vampires' consternation. Even Sophie-Anne had let it slip once in front of the AP of all people. The AP had laughed so hard, blood poured out of her eyes.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the cape and the slime." It was just like Pam to say it loud enough for all to hear. De Castro simply glared but said nothing, he was not among friends, and he knew it. Which begs the question, why would he show up?
"Why in the name of all that is holy will Sophie-Anne invite these two?" Sookie asked.
"Their attempts at gaining her states have not seized, tonight she means to show her power," Thalia answered.
"Or we could just end them tonight and get on with it," Eric mumbled.
"I concur," Jason growled.
"For the Chief of Police, one would think you would be less inclined to advocate violence," Sookie said with a sigh.
"I think when it comes to those two, I can be forgiven. I mean, all I have to do is stop masking my scent next to Victor he tries to attack, I kill him…"
"Jason, Sookie." Hadley's excitement ended Jason's plotting.
"Hey, Hadley… happy birthday." Jason hugged her, followed by Sookie.
"Didn't think you would come, I know you hate these things," Hadley said to Sookie.
"I was reminded that the fact that I don't like a fuss made about me didn't mean others didn't like it." Despite her reluctance to attend, Sookie would admit she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Of course, they still left early.
"What did you hear?" Godric asked as they arrived at the farmhouse. Despite her Gran having left them almost a century ago, the farmhouse was still home and standing strong.
"The only thing Sophie-Anne managed to do tonight was make de Castro even more determined to get his greedy hands on her states. Allowing him to get Arkansas was a bad idea, now he is too close to us. we should have ended him a long time ago." Sookie said as she got into bed. The states of Louisiana and Mississippi had only grown in wealth and stability. The influx of vampires had only added to that wealth, and that was what de Castro wanted. "His own state is losing vampires due to the heavy taxes he'd imposed on the residence. Worse, his personal wealth is dwindling due to the heavy competition he now faces. More modern and technologically advanced casinos have opened up around him, eating heavily into his profits. The man is desperate, and gambling is fast picking up in the south. Owning these states will be the answer to all his problems." Sookie informed Godric.
"He is rather clever, he bid his time well, he could not have known you could read his mind." Sookie's ability to read vampires' minds when she concentrated was a secret known only to her, Godric, Jason, and Thalia. Jason's own abilities had improved remarkably. "I believe we all have to sit down and formulate a plan on dealing with him once and for all. I believe Sandy would make a fine queen." Sookie chuckled as she snuggled into his side.
"We have our anniversary coming up," Godric whispered, earning a loud groan in return.
"I love you with every fiber of my being. That's all I need." Sookie knew it would get her nowhere, Godric liked nothing more than a public declaration of their bond
"I love you too, but I still want a party." Godric returned.
"Every fiber of my being does not love you so much now, my big toe has left the building." Godric threw his head back in laughter.
"Your big toe." He said still chuckling. Sookie looked up at him with a beaming smile, as he smiled just as radiantly down at her. If there was such a thing as perfection, this was it, and to think he went to say goodbye to his childe.