It's Only Beginning

A/N: Your reviews make my day! A bloody thank you to all my readers, once again.

I think I speak for us all, when I say I wouldn't mind slipping into a booth with a certain Viking…

Chapter 6

"Look at those long fangs… those would feel so good in my neck…"

"Should have used more blush on my neck… I heard that turns them on…"

"Gosh this place is so creepy… I hope Kate wants to go soon…"

"Damn, these vamps really know how to party… never thought when they first came out…"

"Maybe if I get her to take me to her house she'll turn me… they always turn the people they have sex with, don't they?..."

Those were just a few of the thoughts that were swirling around the dark bar and now in my head. As I took inventory of the crowd, I slowly sipped my gin and tonic, and reestablished my mental shields. I tried to think as quickly as possible which was difficult since I was sitting in a booth with Eric Northman… I was going to have to convince, err, persuade him to let my friend Lafayette go scot-free. Apparently, he committed a major offence against vampires, I was starting to think this conversation was going to be a bit more difficult than originally anticipated.

With his hands regally folded on the table in front of him, Eric was trying to read my face like it was an open book. But, I have always taken great pride in a great deal of facial composure, so I knew that was not the case.

"Tell me what happened tonight, Sookie."

Just his voice alone had the tenor of someone who bore so much power and knowledge.

At least he was straightforward.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" I asked him.

"I have until sunrise." He said this with a small smirk.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus on how to explain this while making Lafayette look the least guilty. Somehow I sensed that Eric would know if I lied, though.

"It was just a regular night at Merlotte's, until I heard Lafayette screaming and pleading for help from the parking lot-"

"You were in the parking lot when you heard him?"

"Well… no… I was inside, but…"

Oh Lord, I was already slipping up and I had barely begun! Damn!

There's no way I'm telling him that I heard Lafayette's thoughts, God only knows what-

"You were near an employee entrance and were within hearing distance?" He neatly supplied the lie for me.

I forced down a sigh of relief and replied,

"Yes…. Naturally, I ran to him as fast as I could, but the vampires that took him were already driving away."

"Naturally," was his only comment.

"So I got in my car and drove after them. It was a good fifteen minutes before we reached their house at a remote location. I parked in my car back a ways and waited for them to go inside before I went in and tried to save him."

"I assume your saving did not go as planned," he said, prodding me along.

"No, it definitely didn't go as planned. There was some small talk," I carefully evaded telling him that I tried to use a connection to him as leverage, "but in the end I became a prisoner too."

"You say you became a prisoner… how so?"

Now he wants the nitty gritty details, oh boy.

"Well… I sorta got strapped to a chair… and…"

Oh hell, how was I supposed to tell him I was practically molested by a disturbing, bisexual female vampire?

"And?" Eric looked intently into my eyes, eyebrows drawn, completely undistracted by the commotion going on around us.

In a rush, I blurted out…. "And a vampire named Diane tried to have sex with me while I was restrained." Whew… Spitting it out seemed easier than rolling over all the details.

Eric's fangs made an audible click and he quickly averted eyes. Suddenly, he seemed very interested in the stripper-looking girl standing near the booth. Humm, she didn't seem like much to me, short brown hair and a small waist, in a mini jean-skirt and halter top. I was just appraising her shoes when Eric recaptured my attention.

"Sookie, did Diane or any of these three rogue vampires harm you?" His face looked very serious, as I contemplated my answer.

Sure, Diane pretty much dry humped me, which was truly repulsive. However, Bill arrived before any real damage was done. I realized I wasn't hurt at all; I was more traumatized than anything, really.

"No, I was fine. Lafayette was the one bleeding and chained to a wall."

Right. Lafayette. He's the reason I'm sitting here. I needed to focus and get back to the persuading game plan. But first I needed to finish my story.

"I tried to reason with them, but they were a pretty ruthless bunch and didn't really listen to me. Their human had Sino-Aids…" I absently wondered whatever happened to Jerry. "Bill arrived and helped diffuse the situation before anything else could happen."

"How exactly did he diffuse the situation, and then extract two prisoners?"

"He told their leader, Malcolm, something about vampire hierarchy and something else about me being his. I guess they were more willing to talk with another vampire than to a human." I added on the last sentence as an afterthought.

For the first time during our meeting, I saw Eric Northman's face transform very quickly into a genuinely surprised expression, and it vanished just as fast.

"Sookie, do you know what it means for a vampire to say 'you are mine'?" A small smile creeping across his face as he said those words "you are mine."

"Not exactly," I answered, suspecting some deeper meaning here, "but it seemed to help get me free."

"I see." He seemed to have decided something.

I shifted in my seat, and felt a slight chill as the breeze from some quickly strolling vampire moved past our booth. Waiting for him to say something, I finished the last of my gin and tonic.

He looked at my hands holding the glass, and then back at my eyes again.

"I do not think you are here to simply visit and tell me a pretty story."

Well obviously. But I didn't see anything pretty about my story.

Now it's time to negotiate.

"Bill has brought Lafayette to you as a criminal," I hedged.

"He is…. a criminal."

"Okay, well, I've heard that he won't do so well being considered a criminal. So, I'm hoping that you could let him off the hook, just this once, with my word that he won't be doin' any more of that nonsense again. I'll keep him in line, I promise."

I said a silent prayer.

After a few distressing moments, Eric chuckled deeply.

I frowned at his condescending nature, and at my pleasure at hearing him laugh. I squared my shoulders and straightened by back.

"Sookie, you are so innocent," he said, smiling at me.

I raised an eyebrow, and tried not to feel like a petulant child as he hinted at my sheer ignorance.

His face slipped back into a more serious stance before he continued.

"You expect me to place my trust in you, based on your trust in Lafayette; a drug addict, drainer, and dealer of V."

Perhaps I had overestimated his regard for me. It is so much easier to convince human men to do things; they take one look at my breasts and we're good to go.

"I am hoping that you would be willing to give him grace this once. I wouldn't let him compromise the chance you have given him."

His eyes turned fond on me for a moment, then back to cold.

"Sookie, this bold gesture for your friend is… kind." He spoke the word kind as if it was a foreign one. "However, I am afraid you don't have the capability of stopping Lafayette from abusing this chance. He may be a good friend to you, but you cannot control him, another human." He said this earnestly, like he knew it to be true.

I looked at my fingernails, letting his words sink in. I reevaluated my tactics.

Just then, a waitress flitted to the table as fast as her short legs could take her.

"Yes master?" She said eagerly.

I hadn't heard him ask her a question. But sheesh, talk about subordination? Eric's employees really aim to please.

"A blood." He responded without looking at her, his eyes never leaving me.

"Yes master."

She began backing away with her head low, but Eric made a hissing sound that startled me as she jumped and looked back up at him. He nodded his head towards me, and the girl immediately recognized her fault.

"So sorry master. Sorry miss. Can I get you anything?" I realized she was slightly shaking now, glancing back at Eric repeatedly.

Jeez. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks." I smiled at her, hoping to lighten the mood.

That waitress had a True Blood back to Eric in less than a minute.

I needed to take control of this situation, and this was going to be hard; especially since Eric is the opiteme of control.

He took a sip from his bottle and observed me.

I watched his tongue lick over his bottom lip. My eyes wandered for a second, I had to focus and begin to reason...

"Is there no way that you would let Lafayette go?" I knew this was the clincher.

"Give me something in return." He answered quickly, leaning closer to me on his arms.

"Give you something in return? Give you what? Can't you do somethin' without gain once? Do you handle all matters with such selfishness?" My reason was failing me, and quick.

I should probably focus more on not insulting the powerful vampire, but he didn't seem to mind my flare-up, thankfully.

"I have not lived to see over a thousand years by employing selflessness in all matters. I am vampire, Sookie. Selfish is my nature, and selfishness means survival."

I was a bit taken back by his openness. I supposed he did have the right to say that superiorly.

"What do I have to bargain with?" I tried playing his way.

"I can think of many things," he scanned my face, "but I propose for you to work for me. I have recently lost a barmaid, due to her inability to withstand our selfishness. This would set Lafayette on a kind of probation, of sorts."

I forced myself to be polite, and not let my words convey the shocked emotions that I was feeling.

"In case you forgot Eric, we met in the bar that I work at. That's a nice… suggestion, but I can't work for you. I work at Merlotte's." I tried to infuse the last sentence with a note of finality.

"Perhaps you would agree to a weekend arrangement? On our slowest nights I can guarantee that you will make more money than you make at Merlotte's in a week. I can even provide transportation, if you need."

This was starting to sound less like an arrangement and more like a contract. And he was a good negotiator. I had to admit that I was hurting for money lately. It wasn't Sam's fault, he paid me as well as he could and I took as many shifts as possible. It was an intriguing offer, but this was all going a little too fast though. I was only trying to keep Lafayette from getting punished… or worse… and now I'm thinking about a second job to seal the good deal? I didn't know what to think.

"Sookie, allow me to give you a temporary release. Take a day to think on my words, and while I am waiting for your answer I will make available the room we have downstairs for Lafayette to stay in. Whatever you decide, he will be here waiting."

I guess this was as good as it was going to get.

"I really appreciate your willingness, and I think I'll take that last offer Eric. Thank you."

"There is nothing to thank me for. I am simply doing business; which I must attend to." He gave a pointed look to Pam, who I didn't even notice was watching us from across the room, and she disappeared into an employee hallway.

"Regretfully," he said, standing, "I cannot chat all night. Bill will take your human friend back to his home. Please, enjoy my bar. If you choose to stay, I should be back within the hour."

He held a strong arm out towards me, and I took his hand to help myself out of the booth.

His skin was cool. I could feel the strength and bands of muscle. Strangely, I didn't want to let go. Realizing this, I quickly released his hand and moved away.

"Where are your restrooms?" I awkwardly asked.

"On my way," he said, recapturing my arm in his.

He led me to the hallway where I had seen Pam, made a quick right and I was looking at a female icon plastered to the doorway.

"Thanks," I said, suddenly shy.

I quickly rushed into the bathroom before he could say anything back to me.

Once inside, my shoulders sagged. Where had the day gone? Never could I have imagined these events when I was getting dressed this morning, I thought, walking to the mirrors. Aside from a few smudges and water marks, the mirrors and the entire bathroom, was relatively clean. Somehow this surprised me. I had assumed the dark theme of the bar would have continued here, but surprisingly, everything was bright white, the tiles, the walls, even the stalls.

I attempted to fix my hair, which resulted in a failed finger-combing and rearranging of my part. I needed to get it cut soon.

Looking down, I noticed a random barstool, sitting oddly underneath the sinks. There was no one else in there, so I thought what the hell, and pulled it out to sit down.

Reflecting on my conversation with Eric, I considered that working at Fangtasia on the weekends was possibly the best offer I could have gotten haggling for Lala's fate. I really enjoyed my job at Merlotte's. Despite a few disrespectful customers, my coworkers were great and so was my boss Sam. On the other hand, I just wasn't making enough money and this was probably my only opportunity to get to it. Still, working for Eric? In a vampire bar? I didn't want to decide this now, and I was thankful that Eric gave me time to think. I needed to talk to Gran and see what she thinks about this situation. She has always been a wonderful soundboard. Thinking of Gran, I needed to tell her a lot of things that happened today!

A pretty woman, with short spiky hair and heavy dark makeup walked in the door. I stood up quickly, not that it really mattered that I was sitting down. She barely glanced at me and went into a stall.

I had plenty more time to deliberate about this. I might as well take Eric's advice and enjoy his bar. I didn't know if I would be coming back to it.

A/N: So what was your favorite line in their conversation? Are we pleased with Eric's behavior, or displeased? As always, tell me your thoughts! And don't forget to check out my "Currently Reading" on the top of my profile.