A/N: I apologize for the delay in this chapter as well. I've been working like a dog lately what with my job and the continuing problems that seem to arise from my crap car. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to post as frequently as some would like, but I'll most definately try. Now, from this point on, I will be switching PoVs. Rayne's will be unlabeled, so if there's a line break and no label on who's point of view it is, it's either Rayne's or I made a mistake. With that, on with the next Chapter.

Sookie's POV

I woke up in the dark hotel room, lying next to the man I love. It was a feeling I'm not used to, but having Bill be the first person I lay eyes on in the morning warmed my heart. I smiled warmly down at him as I laid a sweet kiss on his cool lips. I lifted myself out of bed, my face settling into a frown as I recalled the events of last night.

I knew Rayne was upset, and it hurt to know that I was the cause of her worry. We left the Dallas nest in silence. Bill had tried to convince me not to go ahead with the infiltration plan, but I knew there wasn't much of a choice. I had seen enough from the Fellowship of the Sun the past few days to know they weren't your usual Sunday mass church, but I still can't help trying to be the good Christian woman my grandmother raised me to be and look past their bigotry and recognize that they're still God-fearing citizens. Rayne on the other hand, held a hatred for these people I could almost understand. She may not have a romantic relationship with a vampire as I do, but I know she's been around far more vampires than I have. I remember her telling me one day at work while we were on break the different kinds of vampires she had catered to at the bar she worked at New Orleans. She had seen all different types of vampires: kindhearted, evil, bloodthirsty, and the ones like Bill who desperately clung to their humanity. She knew better than anyone that you can't judge an entire mass based on the antics of a few.

Still, I couldn't help but think about what my life would be like had vampires never existed.

It didn't cross my mind very often, but with the growing number of situations I've been in lately that usually resulted in my life being in danger, I couldn't deny the fact that they were usually caused by my association with vampires. Bill was different from the other vampires I've met in the short time I've known him, but I always seem to find myself in danger since I've met him. Bill was kind, tender hearted, and loving. He was the complete opposite of Eric.

Although, my opinion of Eric changed slightly last night.

Eric would probably never admit it, but he showed a side of himself last night I'm sure only a small number of people have seen of him. Rayne could just as easily do as she said and search the Fellowship in the form of an animal with the Fellowship none the wiser, but Eric fought her tooth and nail against this proposal. He would argue he did so because she was a valuable 'asset' and he couldn't afford her to be captured. I knew differently however. Rayne was too upset with his idea of leaving the entire mission to me to see the underlying cause for his refusal. He cared - at least a little bit - about Rayne. I can't say it made me feel all that special, being put in danger in her stead, but the whole display between the two of them slightly warmed my heart.

Besides, I wouldn't be going into the Fellowship alone.

Last night, shortly after getting back to our room, we had an unexpected guest. Isabel was waiting at our door with a young man, who looked around his late twenties with dark hair, a wide smile, and was dressed as elegant as Isabel.

"Who's this?" My protective vampire questioned.

Isabel rolled her eyes. "His name is Hugo." She said, narrowing her eyes. "He is mine."

As I stood behind Bill I silently gasped. Isabel had questioned about mine and Bill's relationship during the meeting, but I wouldn't have guessed she had a human relationship herself.

Bill stepped aside to let the pair in. I wrapped the robe that was covering me tighter around my body before seating myself upon the plush chairs in the sitting area. Bill stood beside me and motioned the two to the couch facing the one I was in. The look in Bill's eyes told me he wasn't expecting this company and wasn't too happy about it either.

"Would you like some Tru-Blood Isabel?" Bill questioned, his face relaxing slightly. I was slightly concerned about Isabel's presence after the spectacle at the nest, but figured without Stan, she wouldn't feel the need to be childish.

"That would be nice, thank you." She said, smiling.

"Would you like anything... Hugo, was it?" Bill asked, raising an eyebrow at the new acquaintance.

"Yes, and no thank you." Hugo said politely.

Bill opened up the refrigerator door and pulled out two bottles of Tru-Blood before popping them in the microwave for a few seconds. I sat nervously across from Isabel who was watching me with a small smile on her face. I quickly began picking at my nails, hoping that her attention would divert somehow, but her gaze never faltered.

The beep of the microwave almost made me jump. Isabel shifted in her seat and faced Bill as he shook up the warm bottles.

"I could see how worried you were about Sookie infiltrating the Fellowship and I thought Hugo could help." She said, getting straight to the point.

I lifted an eyebrow as I looked at Hugo, who seemed to be turning a light shade of pink. Did he have some sort of power like Rayne and I? Regardless, his help would make infiltration a whole lot easier.

"And why would you want to help us?" Bill questioned, handing Isabel her drink.

She lowered her head. "Because Godric is my sheriff, not yours," She said defeated.

Bill took his seat beside me as Isabel continued. "It would be criminal of me to let you take such a risk without my at least offering."

Bill turned his attention to Hugo. "And why would you want to help us?" He asked him, his eyes narrowing.

Hugo turned to Isabel and smiled. "Well, I would do anything for Isabel"

I opened up my mind to hear Hugo's. After a few seconds, I learned that he was genuine. I turned to Bill. "It's true, he would. He loves her." I turned to Isabel. "You, he loves you very much."

The look on Isabel's face was priceless. A genuine happiness danced across her delicate features, a look I'd only seen in romantic movies. "And I him." She said, smiling over at the man beside her. The two exchanged loving looks before Isabel turned her attention towards us again. "Consider my offer. If nothing else, with Hugo there Sookie will be less likely to arouse suspicion. People of the church, they have a way of not trusting a woman when she's absent a man." She said, her focus never leaving Bill.

I had to admit she was right. "Bill, I have to say as a woman who's been absent a man most of her life, that could not be more true." I said, looking at Bill. I smiled at him as he rubbed my back.

"Then it's settled." Isabel said, lifting herself gracefully off of the couch. Hugo followed suit as did Bill and I. "Hugo will be by tomorrow morning to accompany Sookie to the Fellowship." She said, smiling at us both and wrapping her small arm around Hugo's. "I'm sure your friend Rayne will feel more at ease with this decision." She said before the pair walked out of the room, Bill shutting the door behind them.

I had only a few hours to be ready for my mission. I grabbed one of the sun dresses I had brought with me and retreated into the bathroom to primp myself for the day ahead. I took as much care as I could to make myself look 'Sunday Best'. A small amount of lip gloss and eyeliner achieved the look particularly well. I slipped on a pair of white sandals before turning around to look at the sleeping figure on the best. I smiled and walked over to Bill, placing a small kiss on his cheek. He would be dead until dark, but his stirring as I kissed him eased some of my anxiety. I turned around and grabbed my purse before heading out of the room. I had decided to stop by Rayne's room to let her know the changes of the plan from the night before.

I followed the hall and stopped in front of her door. As I knocked, I yelled it was me.

No answer.

I knocked again.

No answer.

I was going to search for her brain pattern to see if she was even in the room, but then I remembered she was able to lock me out, so I wouldn't get a response anyways. She was probably asleep. The one thing I did come to know about Rayne from the few months I've known her was that when she's asleep, she doesn't wake up for anyone. I had called her once in the morning to ask if I could borrow one of her books until I found the time to go to the library, and I didn't get a response any of the three times I tried to call. It took her waking up and checking her voicemail to know that I called. I sighed and took a piece of paper out of my purse. 'Left for the Fellowship. Isabel sent human company. Wish me luck! - Sookie' was all the note read. I slipped the note under her door before heading towards the elevator down the hall.

The lobby was a lot less crowded than it had been in the nighttime hours. I walked towards the bar area and saw Hugo sitting at one the stools waiting for me. When he saw me enter, he motioned me beside him. I took my seat.

"You look perfect for the role." He said laughing lightly.

"Thanks." I said, looking at him. "You look like you'd fit in well yourself." I said, looking at his suit and smiling.

"You should probably wear this." He said, handing me a diamond ring from his pocket.

I laughed. "Oh Hugo! Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!" I said jokingly.

"And also, uh, just so they believe that we're a couple about to be married, it would probably be best if you let me do most of the talking, yeah?" He said, looking nervously at me.

I smiled but narrowed my eyes slightly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I said, smiling my fake smile I use when I'm trying to feign not being offended. "I'll just shut up and look pretty."

He quickly realized his mistake. "That's not what I meant."

I sighed. "Yes it was. It's okay, it'll be easier for me to listen in others if I don't have to worry about carrying on a conversation." I said. It was the truth. I'm still not all that great at multitasking.

"Good. But if they do ask you any questions are you sure you're going to be able to say the kinds of things about vampires that they're gonna want to hear?" He asked, his face still serious.

"Hugo, I don't just hear the things that hateful people say, I hear the things that are so hateful, that hateful people don't even want to say them out loud." I said, shaking my head. "Don't you worry about me, I've got plenty of material to work with. I'll be fine."

"Good," He said, exhaling.

I thought of something I'd been thinking about since last night. "It's funny, I don't even know you really but you're the only other person I've ever met who's dated a vampire."

"What do you want to know?" He said quickly.

I laughed. "Uhm, everything!" I said smiling. Mine and Bill's relationship was rocky at times and I was curious as to how other human-vampire couples got along. "Like, do you and Isabel ever fight?"

"Oh we fight like crazy." He said, smiling. I giggled and continued listening. "But I've been with women I didn't fight with before and with every one of them I found that the only reason that we never fought was because I didn't care enough to bother."

I wrinkled my nose. "Oh Hugo, that is messed up!" I laughed.

He laughed. "Maybe, but it's also true."

"It's funny but whenever Bill and me fight, even as I'm screaming and I'm so mad I don't feel like I'm ever gonna stop, somehow in the middle of all that, I know we're both fighting for our relationship." I smiled. "For each other. We're fighting to stay together."

He raised an eyebrow and began to speak. "Do you-" He stopped. "Never mind."

I was curious now. "What?"

He sighed. "Lately, the thing that Isabel and I have been fighting about the most is whenever I bring up the subject of her turning me, she just shuts down. She won't even discuss it."

I stopped and thought about it. "Is that a thing that people do, because it never even occurred to me." I had never thought about it before. I couldn't imagine being a vampire. I knew how hard they had it.

"How could it not." Hugo said, his eyes widening. "I mean, right now it's all well and good but in fifty years when they're still what they are, but we're in our seventies and eighties and we're hunched over and frail and using walkers. Come on, how could they still love us?" He said, his face now turning to a grim expression.

I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about the man I love not loving me anymore because I'm going to grow old. I just wanted to shake everything this asshole had just said off. "Huh." I said, still trying to shake off the thoughts. "We should go." I said, lifting myself from the stool.

Hugo stood up and stopped me. "Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you that. I-"

"It's okay Hugo, really." I interrupted. "Besides, if I die to day, who cares?" I said morbidly. "I'll never have to feel old and unloved and unwanted." I said, the sarcasm dripping off of every word. I smiled my fake smile and walked out of the lobby.

As the warm Dallas air hit my face, the day began.

And boy was it going to be a long one.

A/N: This one is kind of filler. I was going to put in them actually going to the Fellowship, but I didn't know how I would end it if I did. Soo, I ended it here. Like I said before, sorry for the delay. I've been major mucho busy lately and haven't had a whole lot of time to write. Plus, my in laws are AC nazis so it gets too hot to use to laptop when I do get the time. I know, I know, excuses excuses. But seriously, I'm trying to get this out as fast as possible and I hope you guys aren't too angry with me! Review?