A/N: I hope you don't find my interpretations of the characters too out of sorts. I'm taking them in a different direction with this tale and I'm trying to avoid all the misunderstandings that happen when people don't talk. I am trying to stick to believable established character traits and I hope I've succeeded for the most part. (Except for Sookie being too gullible, of course!) If you disagree, please let me know and if you have suggestions to improve what I'm trying to do here, they are most welcome. I appreciate all the comments I've gotten so far. Thanks, everyone!
Beta: CR, you are the very best! Thanks so much for all your help and ideas as I work on this story. I appreciate you so much! ;)
Legal: Sookie is unfortunately not mine, but sometimes I wish Eric were. =)
~xoxo~
Sookie grabbed a quick bite to eat and brought back some food for Jason, betting he was still in bed. As she stepped out of the elevator to head to his room, she caught her first sight of her vampires since yesterday, arguing in the hallway outside her door. She took a deep breath and continued on toward them. There was no getting around this, so she figured she'd just try to get through it.
"Before you two even start, let me take my brother some breakfast," she told them, holding up a hand to stop them from speaking. "Go on in the room and sit down. I'll be right there."
Amazingly, instead of arguing, they just did it. Weird. Normally, everything was a fight with those two.
Jason was still half-asleep when he shuffled to the door to greet Sookie.
"Hey, Sook. You okay this mornin'?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Better than yesterday anyway. I brought you some breakfast," she told him, handing over the bag of food.
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"No problem. I figure I owe you a least one meal for taking care of me yesterday. Thanks for standing up to vampires for me, Jason."
"Nobody, dead or alive, messes with my sister," he told her with conviction, giving her a hug with his free arm.
"Well speaking of the dead, I better go deal with these guys."
"Yeah, well if you need anything, you just holler and I'll be right over there."
Sookie looked up at her brother again and smiled. He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he loved her and she loved him too.
"Enjoy your breakfast and I'll see you in a bit."
Sookie turned to head toward her room, taking a calming breath. She still didn't know what she was going to do about Bill and Eric, but she hoped to get some answers at least.
When she stepped into the room, both men jumped up from their seats to look at her. It was very old fashioned, men standing when a lady walked into the room, but Sookie liked it. She was raised to appreciate good manners, even old fashioned ones. As she approached the sitting area, she noticed they'd both seated themselves on opposite couches so she could choose to sit by either of them. Being no fool, she sat in a single chair and they sat back down as she did.
"Sookie, what happened yesterday? What did I do to upset you?" Bill asked, very carefully.
Sookie sighed. "Yesterday you told me the truth."
"The truth? The truth about what?" Bill asked, obviously confused.
"About the consequences of drinking a vampire's blood."
"I have never lied to you about that," Bill told her solemnly, but all Sookie could wonder was what he had he lied about to have phrased it that way.
"I will not lie to you, Sookie," Eric told her. "Ask me whatever you like."
Bill snarled at Eric.
"I will not have you two fighting in here," Sookie told them sternly. "I know I have no real power over you, but if you want to talk and try to resolve things, I need you both to act like grownups and not teenage boys. Alright?"
The men looked at each other before looking back at Sookie, but they both remained quiet.
"I said 'alright'?" Sookie repeated.
The two nodded their agreement.
"Alright, then. I want to ask you both some questions and I want you to be honest with me. I know you've both had lifetimes to learn how to lie well, but do me a favor and just skip it, alright? Eventually everything comes out in the wash anyway and it's better to tell me something I don't want to hear now than later on. Okay?"
When they nodded at her again, she noticed that Bill seemed a little more reluctant and Eric a little more eager. Their attitudes going into this conversation did not set well with Sookie. She still wanted Bill to be the good guy, or at least the better one, but she promised herself that since she was asking for honesty from them, she'd at least be fair with them.
"One of the best things about being around y'all is that I don't have to concentrate to keep you out of my head, but I guess I never realized how much I depend on being able to hear when someone's lying to me. Bill, I just trusted that you would be honest with me. I assumed you would do what was best for me, but I'm real tired of not having a say in what it is best for me to know or not know.
"You waited two weeks before you even told me about Jessica and I'm not sure you would've ever told me if Eric hadn't dumped her back on your door step. I asked you that night what else you were hiding from me. Do you remember what you told me?"
"Nothing."
"That's right. You told me there was nothing else. You want to try answering that again?"
"Sookie, I still don't understand. I didn't lie to you last night," Bill reasoned.
"I didn't say you lied last night. Last night you told the truth. You told me that I would be attracted to Eric because I had drank his blood."
"And that is true," Bill confirmed.
"I think," Eric interrupted, "That she is implying that you did not tell her this when you fed her your blood."
Bill got real quiet at that point.
"So, do you want to tell me about anything else you're hiding from me?"
"Sookie, I love you. I'm not trying to deceive you about anything. I'm sorry if I didn't make those consequences clear from the beginning. I did tell you that you might experience an increased libido."
"Yes, but you did NOT tell me it would be focused on YOU."
"Sookie, if I may," Eric began before she cut him off.
"You will get your turn, Eric Northman, but I will thank you to keep quiet for right now. I am talking to Bill."
Eric arched an eyebrow at the girl. She had a lot of balls to talk to him that way, knowing he could tear her apart. He'd never given her any promise that she was safe with him. He wanted to get angry with her insolence, but he couldn't help to just be impressed with her. Deciding to err on the side of caution, for the moment, he sat back and let her have her little tantrum. At least it was directed at Bill for now.
"Thank you," Sookie snapped at Eric when it was clear he wouldn't retaliate and she turned her focus back to Bill. "Now, I will not ask you again, Bill Compton. What else are you hiding from me?"
"I..." Bill began before trailing off.
"Yes?"
"Uh, nothing, Sookie. Nothing I can think of."
She took a deep breath and tried to relax the muscles in her neck. He'd left himself an out and not answered the question. He hadn't even really given himself any time to think about it. Sookie had no doubt that there was something he was keeping that she ought to know.
"Bill, I'd like you to leave."
"What? Why? Sookie, you can't think I'm just going to leave you here alone with Eric."
"That is exactly what I expect you to do."
"But, Sookie..."
"I believe she asked you to leave, Bill," Eric interrupted again with a smug smirk on his face.
"I can handle myself, Eric. You will learn that quick or we will not be getting along at all," Sookie snapped at Eric.
He held his hands up in surrender and gave her a cheeky grin.
"Bill, I will talk to you again later. Right now I want to talk to Eric."
"But, Sookie, he will lie to you, just like he did last night about the silver. You cannot trust him."
"Damn it, Bill, I am not some foolish child, however much I may have acted like one believing every word out of your mouth. Now, please leave."
Sookie folded her arms across her chest and stared at him defiantly until he sighed and grudgingly stood up and left the room.
The moment the door closed, Eric moved with that eery speed vampires have to sit on the arm of her chair and drape a hand across the back of her neck. He'd moved so fast she didn't have time to react before he was kneeding the tense knot that had gathered there. It felt too good; she couldn't help a small moan before she regained her senses and batted him away.
"Quit that! Go back to where you were sitting."
Eric chuckled as he removed his hand and returned to his seat. She liked it, whether she'd admit it or not. He'd treasure that moan, at least until he found the opportunity to get her to make a similar noise again.
"Please behave yourself, Eric. I'd like to talk to you but if you can't keep your hands to yourself," she began to fuss at him before he interrupted.
"Say no more. I was only trying to help. You're so... Tense," he finished with a smirk.
"Yes, well. Who wouldn't be in my situation?"
Eric nodded and gave her a more serious face. It unnerved her a bit, reminding her of his expression in her dream. "Ask anything you like, Sookie. I have no reason to lie to you."
"Alright. How about telling me why you locked my friend in your basement for two weeks."
"I am not sure I can explain our system of justice to you, but I can try." Eric took a moment to wonder why he was even bothering to explain anything about his kind to a human, but this was Sookie after all and if he wanted her to be his, he knew he would have to succeed where Bill had failed. Sookie would not be happy with him unless he told her what he could, but he would only take so much of her insolence. Compared to others, his treatment of her friend was considerably kind.
"Let me begin by saying that your friend was quite lucky, whether you can believe that or not, to be in my area. Other sheriffs would have done far worse for his crime."
"Yes, Bill said the same thing," Sookie admitted softly.
"A vampire in my area was kidnapped, and I believe, killed. While I also believe I know who it was that took him, I have not punished that person, as a favor to you," Eric paused and judged her expression for a moment, trying to decide how much to tell her, and thinking that at this point maybe less was more. Accusing her brother of killing a vampire might not be the best way to win her.
"And this relates to Lafayette because he was getting blood from that vampire, right?"
"Yes. Although he was not the one to take or harm the vampire, he was punished for two reasons. First, it is a grave offense to treat our blood as a drug, something that Eddie, the vampire he was in business with, would also have been punished for, were he still alive. Second, I believe that Lafayette is responsible for leading the idiot or idiots who took Eddie right to him."
"Okay, but I still don't understand why Lafayette deserved to be tortured for two weeks and you're letting the others go. Not that I think you even have the right to be judge, jury, and executioner, but I'm trying to understand."
"Like I told you, Sookie, this is our way. It has been for longer than this country has been a country. If this system needs reform, that is not my call, nor would it be within my power. What is in my power is to operate within the system."
"So what else is there? I mean besides sheriffs."
"There are also kings and queens that rule over multiple areas. My superior is the Queen of Louisiana. She lives in New Orleans."
"What is she like?"
Eric chuckled, thinking of a way to describe Sophie Anne that wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later.
"She is a queen, Sookie. Pure and simple."
"Will I ever have to meet her?"
"Probably. I'm sure she would have heard about your talents somewhere. She will undoubtedly want to meet you at some point. And if I may, you would do well to align yourself with a more powerful vampire before that time comes."
"And you offer yourself up as an option, I suppose?" Sookie asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I am much more powerful an ally than Bill," he answered her in the most sincere voice she'd ever heard him use.
"Will you tell me what you know about Bill that I don't?" she asked before amending, "Without telling me a bunch of lies."
"I told you that I wouldn't lie to you, Sookie, and I won't. I believe you know that Bill is younger and less powerful than me, but do you know what he does?"
"What do you mean?"
"His job. Surely if an older and more powerful vampire, such as myself, needs a source of income, so would he. Do you know what he does?"
"Well, no. I mean, I guess I just assumed he was living off what old Jesse Compton left behind when he passed."
"The house, maybe, but he has a job. I'll be honest that I don't know exactly what it involves, but I do know who he works for."
"And?"
"Bill works for the queen."
"So do you."
"Yes, in my capacity as Sheriff of Area Five, she is my superior. However, I'd be most interested to know what she has Bill doing in Bon Temps," Eric paused and looked Sookie over very carefully for a moment, considering. "Although, I might venture a guess, now that I think about it."
Sookie tried but failed to hide a shudder at the implied conspiracy, before she shook it off for the nonsense it was.
"That's silly. Bill didn't even know I was a telepath. Besides, he moved to Bon Temps because the last member of his family died."
"I'm sure you know better than I," Eric told her, managing to keep all emotion off his face.
She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but the theory was ludicrous either way so she simply let it drop.
"Then perhaps I will ask Bill about his job the next time we talk."
"What else do you want to know from me, Sookie?" Eric asked, giving her a thoughtful look. She was much smarter than anyone gave her credit for on first glance. She was very interesting.
"Why did you want me to drink your blood? Be straight with me."
"That is an easy one, Sookie. I want you. You are too loyal to Bill because he found you first. I needed a way to get you to consider me. I think I've done that. You may not approve of my methods, but you cannot deny the results."
"And it doesn't cheapen it for you that you cheated?"
"I don't really consider it cheating. I did what I could within in my power at the time. It's no different than Bill."
"Bill was trying to save my life," Sookie quickly shot back, automatically defending her boyfriend.
"So you both say," Eric responded, as if he didn't care if it was true or not.
Sookie just huffed. She wasn't getting anything else out of this for now and she was tired.
"Perhaps you should rest," Eric suggested.
She gave him a nasty look for reading into her feelings, but it wasn't like he was wrong.
"Fine. Go away. Let me rest and think about all of this. You know about the meeting later?"
"With Godric?"
"Yeah, he came to talk to me earlier about having it here."
"Yes, but I need to go speak with him beforehand."
"Send him my best. I suppose I'll see y'all later on."
Eric nodded, distracted by thoughts of checking on his maker, and left the room quickly.
Sookie stood and stretched. Her muscles were so tense. When she got her check from Eric for this trip, she was going to seriously consider going to a spa and getting a massage. She smiled to herself at the thought. Yeah, she surely deserved a treat after all this.
Taking Eric's advice, she went and stretched out in the bed to catch a little nap before she had to deal with more vampire politics.