Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood or any of its characters.

Okay, I think I have explaining to do as well as continue with the story. Don't worry. You don't have to wait long anymore for the coming together of Eric and Sookie.

Chapter 2

Sookie refused to acknowledge the hurt caused by Mr. Northman's words. She did not want to second guess herself. The ride home had been unusually quiet and Sookie felt it unlike Jason.

"Jase, what's on your mind?" She asked when he turned of the car.

"I don't know, Sook… I think you don't realise what you walked into last night. I have seen my fair share of bad ass motherfuckers and boy, that place was swarming with them. And it seems that they took great interest in your display with Northman." Jason said carefully, trying not to scare or anger his sister.

"Oh… come on, it wasn't so bad, was it?" Sookie started but ended thoughtfully.

"Eric Northman is held in the highest regard in this city, upper class as well as under the radar. You do not mess with him and people either bow or cower away for him. He is dangerous, Sook." Jason said conveying anxiety from his whole being. Sookie actually started to grow worried now as well.

"How do you know?" She whispered already knowing his answer but needing to hear it nonetheless.

"When I was hooked on V, I met a supplier of his. Let's just say that the next time I saw him he was dead." Jason admitted grudgingly. Sookie took him by the hand and they walked in the house. The housekeeper, Ginger, came down the stairs.

"Mr Stackhouse, I have made up the guest room for Miss Stackhouse." She said, then turning and grabbing a bag, "And this has just been delivered for Miss Stackhouse."

Sookie stared at her bag. They thanked Ginger and when she had left, Sookie said good night to Jason as well, taking her bag up to her room. Only in the confines of her room did she open the bag. Surprise went through her when seeing a small note.

Donotcomebackandstayawayifyouknowwhat'sgoodforyou.

Sookie traced the lines of the handwritten note, trying to supress the feeling that someone was looking after her, rather than threatening her.

Later that night, Pam came sauntering into the VIP area with two girls following. She stopped in front of her brother who seemed lost in thought. Pam never had been the most heart felt person. That was just not the way she and Eric had been brought up but when she looked Eric that moment she felt her heart ache for him. Eric always seemed stoic and indifferent but the last two days something her brother's demeanor had changed, hardly noticeable for anyone who didn't know Eric like Pam did.

"You need a distraction." She stated because confronting Eric now only would lead to them fighting over priorities. Eric seemed to take a minute to look at Pam and something close to understanding passed between them.

"This is Yvetta and Giselle." Pam introduced them, pointing between all leg dark haired girl and a tanned dark brown haired girl. Eric smirked his eyes glinting roguish and spread his arms on the sofa to invite the girls next to him.

A week later, Sookie was standing in her own apartment, looking around and a hollow feeling was creeping up on her while watching some empty bookshelfs and half empty cupboards. Bill's wide collection of CDs was missing along with his DVDs. All his clothes and some kitchen stuff were gone. He never had done things halfway but Sookie felt incredible hurt by the clinical detachment that echoed through what once had been their home. She had been working non-stop after the second night at Fantasia. Shielding herself against any stray thoughts of what happened the last couple of days. However understanding Sam and Tara had been at Merlotte's by leaving her alone, the worse the truth came crashing down now. She slumped on the couch, curling herself in a ball, crying herself into oblivion.

She woke up somewhere in the middle of the night with her stomach growling. She had never been someone to lose appetite and while she did eat less, her grandmother had taught her to always take of herself. She was just heating something up when she heard a crash on the gallery outside her apartment. The gallery looked empty so she figured that it probably was some of the teenage kids next door. She wandered around lost in thought when smoke penetrated her nose.

"Oh crap!" She cursed, sprinting to the kitchen finding her food burned. She opened the kitchen window to let out the smoke and went back to the living room no energy left to do something else. With her work clothes still on, she snuggled up on the couch and closed her eyes.

She was just slumbering when a slight noise started her. Just as she reassured herself that it must have been outside, a hand wrapped around her throat, killing all sounds she could have made.

"Scream and you're dead." A rough voice told her and Sookie recognised it as Ray's.

He pulled her up and out of her home. She couldn't do anything when she was pushed in a car where a pale man with mousy brown hair showed her his yellow teeth in an attempt to smile. Her eyes widened when she realised that this man was the drug lord of LA, Russel Edgington. She struggled trying to get out of the car, all the while screaming for help.Russel just laughed.

"No one will hear you, Miss Stackhouse." He said baring his teeth, "We are going somewhere were we can talk." Ray, who was in the front seat, laughed.

They stopped at the back entrance of a dark building which looked vaguely familiar. When they walked in, Sookie realised it was Fantasia but before she could do anything, she was pushed down a flight of stairs, tripping and falling on to the cold concrete floor.

"I see you're making yourself comfortable." Russel's voice echoed in the basement. One of the men chained her and duck taped her mouth.

"So how is your brother doing, Sookie?" Russel asked as if he was making small talk. Sookie felt the cold fear creeping up her back and grabbing her by the throat.

"Eric, could you come with me? Something's been delivered." Pam stated indifferently. Eric smiled at the girl, sitting in his lap.

"Duty calls." He said signalling her retreat. He strided towards the hallway leading to his office.

"Who is it? Because the last guy, he took down there, was useless." Eric said, turning to his sister, "By the way, we need to come up with another code word because deliveries in the middle of the night…" He trailed off, when he saw Pam's face.

"You're not going to like it. The surveillance team only could make out it was a woman." Pam carefully breaking the news because she knew Eric would react to this fact.

"Fuck!" He swore and turned striding towards the back entrance. Pam quickly caught up with him.

"You need to calm the fuck down." She grabbed his arms, stopping him. He looked at her, pain in his eyes. Pam knew very well that thoughts about Sophie Ann's death were in his mind. Pam and Eric had not always been just the two of them. Their sister, Sophie Ann, had been a couple of years older and also an undercover agent. However, her cover was blown and she had been kidnapped and brutally killed. They never found out who did it.

It took Eric two minutes to calm down and his facade was eerily devoid. Pam was just about to knock when muffled screams filled their ears. Whatever scenarios Pam anticipated were killed with Eric storming through the door. She hurried after him when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ugh… Eric!" She growled when her eyes took in the girl lying on the floor. Russel was holding her down with his foot on her throat.

Sookie felt a surge of hope when the door to the basement opened. She was taken shallow breaths through her nose and she couldn't swallow the blood pooling in her mouth.

"Ah! Eric! What a wonderful surprise! I was just telling Miss Stackhouse what happened with her brother." Russel said pleasantly and Sookie began to understand how liable the man really was because the look of pure evil had vanished in smoke. Her eyes saw two silhouttes standing but at the mention of his name, Eric seemed to come to his senses.

"Mr Edgington, I'm sorry to bother you. One of the maids heard a noise and alarmed me. My apologies. Maybe next time, you could make sure not to be overheard?" Eric said, his tall body oozing authority. Sookie, who felt relieved to hear his voice, was now squirming and whimpering when she realised Eric would not help her. This did not do her any good because Russel applied more pressure on her throat and she choked on the blood.

Russel turned to look at Sookie with a dangerous fascination in his eyes, not replying to Eric's comments.

Eric's fists balled at his side and was about to move forward when Pam stepped in front of him.

"Have you proved your point to this trash? I rather see her walking away then having to take out the trash myself." Pam said sarcastically. Sookie's eyes widened and then they fluttered close.

"Very well, make sure she doesn't talk." Russel said walking away and jerked his head to the door and disappeared with his men. Eric moved around Pam to kneel down next to Sookie's body. He pulled the tape away and felt her pulse.

"I think she fainted," He said and it occured to Pam that he was trying not to go after Russel and his men. Eric cleaned her mouth of most of the blood and removed the chains placing her arms in a more comfortable position. Pam felt rather than saw that he was being very careful in the most protective way.

"Let's keep her here until she wakes up." He said. Pam nodded.

"Eric?" She started tentatively, "Is this the girl from last week? The one who has you distracted?"

Eric didn't say anything but when he turned to look at Pam, she knew she was right. Sookie stirred and her eyes slowly blinked into focus. When she saw where she was, she shot up and backed up against a wall.

"What do you want?" Her voice cracked and looked from Pam to Eric. When Eric didn't reply, Pam spoke carefully.

"We don't want to keep you. I think we have to explain some things. We work for the police." Pam said, "And we need you to keep quiet about what happened here."

Sookie looked as if she might faint again.

"I'm….I'm free? To go?" She asked unsure what to do next. Pam opened her mouth but Eric interupted her.

"Pam, go back upstairs. Make sure Russel's men are all gone." Sookie seemed to beg Pam to stay with a helpless look in her eyes. Pam smiled reassuringly and walked out.

Sookie tensed when Eric walked towards her.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you…" He whispered and slowly approached her. Sookie felt trapped by his stare and the pain she saw behind it. He stopped in front of her.

"We work together with the police to try to keep track of Russel's business." He started to explain, while omitting a few of the details. "Me telling you this, could be extremely dangerous for you so I'm asking you to not talk about it with anyone…"

"The hell I will! Jason is in danger and I need to warn him. If he ever…" Sookie said seeming to have gained her ability to think and speak, "I don't care what you're doing but I am not gonna be part of it!"

"I hate to break the news but you are already part of it." Eric countered, his eyes narrowing, "They know where you live, where you work and who your friends are. They will come after you again if you don't let us handle this." It occured to Sookie that she might be in over her head and she slowly nodded.

"How… how do I do this? I...I don't...know what to do." She stammered replaying the past few hours. Eric relaxed visibly when she accepted his help.

"Let's get you cleaned up while I figure out how to get us out of this." He said reassuringly, leading her to his office.

Sookie felt the bruises on her throat and side while looking at herself in the mirror. Her left arm was painfully throbbing because of the fall down the stairs. On her face, she saw the shape of a hand beginning to form.

She walked back into Eric's office where he and Pam were both busy calling people. She was relieved to see that they had no intention of Russel getting away with this.

Pam hung up and was listening to Eric's conversation when she noticed Sookie standing in the door way. She gestured her closer.

"Eric is talking to our coordinator, Godric. He's asking what we can do to protect you and your brother. We think that Russel couldn't find Jason and hopes that you will take him to Jason." Pam explained. Eric seemed to grow agitated.

"No! Godric, no. We're not doing it." Eric eventually bursted out, his eyes boring into Sookie's. She could not help but feeling that it had something to do with her.

They ended the call abruptly and Eric pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Godric has made sure to get your brother into hiding. They'll knock on his door as we speak. However, he had the brilliant idea to use Sookie to trap Russel and arrest him." Eric said after a couple of minutes of silence. Sookie felt the blood rush to her head but Pam intervened.

"What exactly is your objection?"

"Pam…" Eric warned her.

"Excuse me, maybe you should ask me first before going into an argument." Sookie butt in. Both Eric and Pam looked at her stunned.

"I'm game if you two are my back-up." Sookie stated. She had no idea what happened to her to speak up like that but she felt if she could help both Jason and the police, she wanted to do it.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into…" Eric countered.

"Oh really? Is it like what happened tonight? Yes, could it be worse? Yes, but is it your last chance? I believe so." Sookie argued leaning over Eric's desk, her eyes glowing.

Eric looked at Pam who was smirking behind Sookie's back, clearly enjoying the woman's passion directed at him.

"Fine, but I am not letting you out of my sight." Eric relented, earning a big shit-eating grin from Sookie.

Let me know what you think!