"Stop it! No!" I was struggling with his hands on my wrists, I would never have had dreamt of resisting him before, but now, I stood a fighting chance. "Get away from me."

And totally ignoring my protests he descended upon me, shoving his whiskers all over my face.

"Ow. You're hurting me, I mean it! No! Stop! Heeheehee hahahaha." I absolutely hated being tickled.

"I only hear sounds of pleasure Lover. What are you saying?"

Now he was rubbing those bristles on my neck and I couldn't stop laughing; tears running down my face. Unable to get a word out I tried to squirm away from his grip, but it was just impossible. Eric in human form still weighed a ton. He paused when the phone rang.

"I… have to… get that." I breathed out.

"Let the machine get it."

I managed to break out of his grasp and grabbed the receiver by my night stand. I answered it before he could get hold of me again giving myself a break from the ticklefest.

"Hello."

"Hello, is this Sookie?" There aren't a lot of people who would call me so I recognized the voice straightaway.

"Hi Remy, what's up? How's Hunter doing?"

"Great. He's doing great. We've had a few incidents at school, but we handled it. You spending time with him had really helped."

"That's good." I doubt he called me just to say thanks for something vague.

"Sookie, I actually have a big favor to ask."

"Ask away." I didn't think Remy would ask any personal favors from me and I'd do anything for Hunter.

"Would you be able to look after Hunter for me?"

"Sure! When?"

"That's the thing. It's not just for a night or two. I'm going to need your help on a regular basis. I don't know if I've told you but I'm a carpenter by trade. You see, things have already been bad since Katrina but after the credit crisis there just hadn't been enough demand for new houses in the area and the company I work for went bust a couple of months ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I really was. Nobody notices hard times like a waitress in a small town. People in the cities might complain about the price of gas but the crunch hits us folks in small towns a lot harder when we can't afford fuel efficient cars or live distances close enough to car pool. To many, a five dollar difference in your weekly expenses means one less meal for the family. All of it means less people coming into Merlotte's and the ones that do are tight with the tips we get at Merlotte's. I was lucky we were flush at the moment. This reminded me to let Sam know that he could give my shift to someone who actually needed it and I'd come in and just work for tips. It felt nice to be able to be generous.

"I've been barely able to get by with my savings and getting odd jobs in the neighborhood, but I've scraped together enough to get a trucking license and I've just found a new job driving semi trailers. Thing is, the boss knows I'm a single father and he's willing to keep me to jobs within a day's distance as much as he can but those don't pay much so I have to take at least one interstate job a week to make it work."

"So, you need me to help once a week? It really depends with my work schedule and all…"

"I know it's asking a lot from you and I shouldn't because we really aren't that close as relatives go. But Hunter's really attached to you and his time away from me would be a lot easier if he was with you rather than my father."

"Oh, so you have folks in Red Ditch?"

"Just my father but he's old and he can't keep up with a five year old. But if you can't take Hunter, he's the only choice I have."

I could understand how Remy preferred Hunter to get more 'being normal' training from me once a week than spending time with an old man watching Wheel of Fortune. Having the responsibility for a child was daunting but on the other hand I wouldn't mind seeing more of Hunter so I answered, "I can't promise anything long term, but we can try and see how it works out."

"Thank you Sookie! You don't know what this means to us. I promise that I'll take any job more stable as soon as anything comes along."

By this time Eric had sensed that the conversation was wrapping up and started nibbling at my panties.

"Oh Remy, just one thing," I stifled a gasped bubbling up my throat and tried to maneuver myself away from Eric's very distracting tongue. "I got married recently so my husband would be at the house as well, I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not. Congratulations! Would you need to see how he thinks about having a kid over at your place every week? I'd hate to be imposing on you newlyweds." I couldn't hear people's thoughts over the phone but I knew that was baloney. Remy just wanted someone he could trust to watch Hunter regularly.

"It should be fine." I said through gritted teeth. Eric took my evasion as bantering and was now more vigorous down below than ever. "When do I need to start watching him?"

"Next Friday and I'll pick him up Saturday."

"Uh-huh." It was all I could manage without strain in my voice.

"I'll call you before Friday to let you know about the details."

"Sure."

"You!" I said to Eric as I hung up, "Are soooo going to pay for that!"

Eric chuckled as I pulled him up to meet my lips.

He'd been in such a good mood since our talk with Pam.

That night Pam was ecstatic that her Master had returned. As I sat down next to Eric on our couch, Pam knelt at Eric's feet again. For a moment there, I was afraid she might start kissing them, but she didn't. She just beamed with a glow I had never seen in a vampire. It might have been the red tears on her face but I thought she was blushing. To a vampire that might be as close as kissing feet as it gets.

"Glorious and omnipotent Master! You have returned to us!"

I looked to Eric for queues on how he wanted to handle this. He was definitely more adept with vampire politics than me. He'd be a better judge on who should know, and know how much, that Eric was back in human form, and that fell into the dangerously political category.

"How are you so certain that I am your Master when not three hours ago you were sure that I was here to swindle Sookie?"

"I know you are my Master. Your training with Alexei Rybin is unmistakable, the distinct style of Systema that you practice is all but extinct! And when Bill opened you up, your scent –," Pam took in a deep breath like she was smelling baked pie. "It's unmistakable Master! My blood hummed with happiness at the familiarity. Our link is different than before but it's there. I congratulate you Master that your powers have reached a new level of immortality."

Eric smiled and lifted her off her knees. He was beaming with pride.

"It is absolutely brilliant Master! To simply use the body of a breather rather than to resurrect from ash; which must be impossible. May I ask how you did it?"

"There is a bit of mystery involved in that, but what matters is that I have returned and I am here." Eric was telling the truth. I agreed with his decision to keep Amelia out of this.

"Is it the magic of the Fae, did they reach out for their kin?"

"No!" I exclaimed. I'd be lying about it even if fairies could do such a thing as turn vampires into humans. "They are sealed away and it's done. There are only a few fairies out in this realm now and none have this kind of power. I also really doubt they would go all out to help me… I'm only one eighth."

"Yes. The Fae can't raise the dead, otherwise their numbers wouldn't be dwindling the way they have been. It's such a shame now they are nearly extinct." Pam rationalized. She didn't think it was a shame that there weren't any more pretty fairies in this world… more like it was a shame that Hershey's discontinued her favorite flavor of chocolate.

Better not let her know about Claude.

"Could it have been a curse? We had received word from Variola that you were there during the Holy Week in Haiti. Could you have picked up some form of a curse when you were there?"

"At this stage Pam, we can only speculate. What we must focus on is our next course of action."

"Revenge." Pam smiled with her fangs slipping over her lips.

"I'm not sure about this." I protested. "Not that I don't trust Pam, but two humans and a vampire? What the hell could we do?"

"Lover, think about what they almost did to us! What Felipe is still trying with the court case! When he swore to give you protection and not only did he go back on his word, he colluded in the scheme to get you kidnapped!"

Eric touched a nerve with that one. Anger. Pure and unadulterated hatred for Felipe that I didn't know I possessed rose from my stomach to my chest. He was the cause of the darkest hours of my life and what would've been the end of my world. If it wasn't for the serendipity of a whole host of things in Amelia's magic I would still be living in the dark void that Eric left behind when he died.

"I will never forget what I saw when you were lying in Ludwig's hospital. I swore on that day Felipe will get his comeuppance and revenge will be mine!" Eric added for good measure.

"I get it." I'd never been so sure of my determination to hurt someone. "What do we have to do?"

"Pam you have to take a good look at those who owe you fealty and see how we are in numbers and which of them do you trust."

"Certainly Master, though I am sure that Bill Compton will not be my most loyal subject; he has unending devotion towards Sookie. We can trust him as long as Sookie's interests are in line with yours. Do you trust him with your true identity?"

Eric had his hand on his chin.

"He would already suspect something with our encounter last night. It would be better to have help rather than hindrance when we're planning something as ambitious as bringing down the King of Nevada. I will tell him myself."

"Will he believe you Eric?" Or will he kill you? That's more along the lines of what I wanted to ask.

"He won't believe you Lover." Eric laughed. "And he'll feel pressured if his Sheriff delivers the message. It would be best if he heard it straight from me. I'll stop by at sundown this evening."

"I'll be within hearing distance should you wish to call me, Master."

"Thank you Pam."

"What would be our next step after we take stock of our numbers?"

"Patience Pam, our action will depend on our numbers. Report back to me about this and I'll inform you."

"Yes Master."

Things looked like they were about to wrap up but Pam lingered. Was she hesitant about something?

"You have something on your mind Pam?" Eric asked.

"Actually I do." Pam looked over in my direction and waited.

Oh I could take a hint.

"I'm going back to bed to see if I could salvage anymore sleep. Goodnight y'all".

I gave Eric a peck on the cheek and gave Pam a hug (maybe just to annoy her) and went straight to bed.

It wasn't long before Eric joined me and I couldn't help asking what all that was about. Pam had always been pretty straight forward with me and not a prude about anything. She didn't strike me as the type who would need 'a private word'.

Eric lay on his back and let out a breath. "She asked where I went after I died."

"Do you even know yourself?" I remember the dream I had before I woke up from my coma where Eric was talking to me from a grassy plain overlooking the ocean and the sky, but I'd never ascertained whether that was a shared experience with Eric or Hunter or rather it was just what it was - a dream.

"No, I didn't know where I was or for how long for that matter, all I knew was that I constantly had this feeling that there was somewhere else I had to be and I didn't belong there. Odd thing was I remember being with you, knowing you shouldn't be there but I couldn't leave with you. It was-," he paused like he had trouble articulating what he wanted to say. "It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, that feeling of... inconsolable loss almost consumed me and I felt I would be trapped in it for eternity."

"Then how did you come back?"

"That's the interesting thing. It was as if I was floating through time and space, I had no concept of time or being just the urge to keep moving, looking for something and then it was like I was... falling and... drowning at the same time and I felt you were close. When I opened my eyes I was at the hospital. You know the rest."

"Do you remember seeing me, talking to me?"

"I remember you and the feelings I had with you but not any interactions. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"I think so." From what it sounded like, I had a recollection of what happened because I was in a coma, not dead and therefore had a brain to process and retain the dream, whereas Eric didn't. I could have been over thinking this, but I wanted to find out if Hunter remembered the dream and to see if I could make sense of what it all meant.

"That makes one of us who seems to know what went on." He said as he nuzzled his face in the crook of my shoulder.

"How did you explain it to Pam?"

"I didn't."

"Then what did you say to her?"

"That it was pain and suffering beyond anything I had experienced and that feeling of sorrow guilt and regret was so overbearing that it felt like I would crumble out of existence."

I bolted upright. "Why would you tell her that?"

"Lover, we are about to embark on an assault on a much older and much more powerful enemy. I don't want Pam to think even for a minute, that death is a better option in any circumstance."

My moral compass was whirring in all directions. Lying to Pam about Eric's experience seemed wrong as it misled her to think that vampires were damned. However, whatever Eric went through shouldn't be held as a standard as we still didn't know which of Amelia's spells, if any of them, that brought him back. I could also see Eric's point of view that when push came to shove he wanted Pam and all his vampires to fight tooth and nail to survive because death was an even worse option.

Worst of all, was that with an upcoming confrontation with Bill and an impending war on the horizon, I was content. The man that I loved was happy and we were together. I was incredibly selfish and right then, I didn't care.

A/N: Had anyone of you taken a look at Systema? If there were any type of martial art that could fight a vampire I think this one stands a chance. Look it up, its pretty cool.