You asked so nicely that I couldn't refuse...
Credit for editing goes to Breathesgirl.
Credit for altering goes to me.
Credit for un-fixed version goes to HBO.
Previously:
She looked up at him, her eyes like two dark pools, deep and earnest. She raised her hand and slowly, as if asking for permission, cupped his cheek.
"I can't lose you, Eric," she echoed seriously.
He looked into her eyes for a few seconds, as if both searching for something and making some kind of decision, and then he said calmly:
"You haven't."
She moved her hand to caress his face softly. With her thumb stroking his brow his eyelids fluttering at the sensation.
"So… there is a cure?" she asked softly.
"Mhmm… yes, there is," he said lazily, "but don't tell anyone."
She smiled, thinking he was joking.
"Why not?"
"It's a secret." His eyes popped open and his tone changed. "I mean it, Sookie. Don't tell anyone."
"I don't understand… It's good news, isn't it?"
"It's a long story."
She looked at him searchingly for a few seconds.
"Why don't you come inside and tell me about it?" she asked sliding her hands down and taking one of his hands in her own and stepping back to lead him to the door. He didn't miss the fact that she had just invited him in but it wasn't the time.
"No, lover," he said. "It's late. I just wanted to tell you I'm cured but I need to go now."
Her face fell.
"Oh," she said and he could hear a hint of rejection in her voice. "You could always stay here?… I mean, if you need a place to stay, there is still the cubby…"
He waited until her eyes settled back on his.
"I would love to," he told her, "but I have to make it back to Shreveport before dawn."
She nodded quickly, biting her lower lip.
"Of course. I understand."
He gave her a reassuring smile before letting go of her to pick up his discarded clothes and get dressed.
"Eric, wait!" she called before he could take off.
He quirked an eyebrow, "You should know... Bill is sick!"
He stilled, "What?" he asked.
The expression on his face changed as he took in the bad news. He'd never been a friend of Bill Compton's but old habits die hard and in a way Eric still felt responsible for the vampires in his old area, even though he was no longer the sheriff. For a second a pang of old hurt made itself known when he thought of Sookie's concern for Bill but he quickly scolded himself: his jealousy was irrational. It was true that he had smelt Bill's blood in Sookie the night he had returned and found her in his house, but she had ended things with the younger vampire a long time ago and had been in a relationship with Alcide for months, up until the wolf's recent death. There was nothing going on between Sookie and Bill.
"I infected him," she confessed dropping her eyes. Eric's eyebrows shot up. Understanding dawned on him.
"You feel guilty," he stated.
"Yes. I gave him some of my blood just before you came back. He hadn't fed for some time and I wanted him to be strong before the fight…"
How fucking ironic – Eric thought, keeping himself from saying as much out loud.
"I didn't know you were Hep-V positive," he mused. He filed away for later the question who had tested her and if there was evidence to get rid of in case someone noticed the uniqueness of her blood.
She snorted.
"Yeah, well, I didn't know either. I had been tested just a few days before so I thought I was safe, but…"
Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror and her hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh my God, Eric, you kissed me! What if…"
He caught her hand and moved it aside.
"You can't infect me," he said quickly, looking into her panicked eyes. "I'm immune."
He grinned at her devilishly as he added:
"Fret not my little fairy, you may kiss me as much as you wish," and to prove his point, he leaned down and planted a peck on her lips.
The wicked, predatory part of him took a dark pleasure at the thought that he was now essentially the only vampire that could taste and touch her. Some of that greed must have been mirrored in his expression because Sookie shivered more from the look on his face than from his kiss.
When he saw that his assurance relaxed her a bit he returned to the previous topic of their conversation. He didn't have much time left if he wanted to beat the sun and he had no intentions of making the Japanese suspicious if he didn't show up at Fangtasia by daybreak.
"The cure exists," he confirmed, "but I made a deal with a devil to get it. One of the conditions was that I would not tell anybody about it."
"What do you mean?" she asked confused. "Are you telling me that the cure won't be used to stop the Hep-V outbreak? That all those sick vampires won't get it?"
"They will," he said quickly, "but not just yet and only in a diluted form."
"Bill can't wait," she warned him. "He doesn't have that kind of time."
Eric frowned.
"And why is that? If he just got infected, he should have at least…"
"The virus is spreading really quick," Sookie cut him off. "It's probably… because of my blood. Of what I am. He looks worse than you did when you came back and he started hallucinating tonight. Eric, please, help him. It's my fault he's sick."
"Fuck," Eric cursed softly. This was bad. He remembered that when he was sick the hallucinations didn't start up until the very end. He took a moment to sort through his options.
"Sookie, listen to me," he said urgently. "I'll try to find a way to get the cure for Bill, but I have to go now and I need you to promise me that you'll wait for me to contact you and won't try to do anything on your own. Don't come to Fangtasia, either. The people I'm dealing with are very rich and quite dangerous. I can't afford tipping them off, it could get us all killed. I don't want you anywhere near them."
His face hardened when he was talking about the Yakuza and Sookie suspected that there was more to the story than he was letting on. She wasn't wrong about that, as the people he was talking about worked for the very same corporation that had been responsible for his forced transition into the States two decades before and for the murder of his lover.
Eric could admit to himself that he had made a terrible mistake, and an embarrassingly stupid one for a vampire his age, by not heeding Nan's warning but it caught him off guard and temporarily blinded him when he had become unexpectedly charmed by a woman beyond the short-lived desire to spend a night with her. In his defense he genuinely didn't think that his actions warranted such a harsh punishment, naively thinking that it was just about Nan jerking his chain. A threat of exposure? There were vampires who hunted in the crowded cities, like Bill and Lorena, leaving the trails of bodies behind them, for fuck's sake. All he had done was have sex with, and feed from his willing lover on the empty field in a fucking vineyard of all places! Seriously, was there any better place to make red stains look inconspicuous? No, the real lesson was not about remembering about what was best for his kind, but about following orders without questioning them.
He had underestimated the danger and Sylvie paid for his recklessness. Her death weighed heavily on his conscious. He didn't quite love her, at least not yet, but he certainly cared deeply for her and he knew that she trusted him completely, perhaps even blindly. He had failed her. He wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. He also wasn't fool enough to risk simply killing Mr Gus – he could, of course, easily take him out with Pam's help, along with his goons, but that would be hardly the end of it. The Japanese government was already aware of the cure and they would not be giving that goldmine up willingly. Eric saw how easily they found Sarah and he had no illusions that they wouldn't use their resources against him. He needed to plan something better than that. He did, however, intend to let them know that he wasn't going to let them keep him on a short leash. He wasn't a pet to be trained and put on show, he was a Viking! They were never going to really trust each other but if this co-operation was going to work, it had to be based on respect.
"Okay," Sookie said shaking him out of his thoughts. "I get it. I promise not to do anything stupid."
He smirked at the way she phrased it.
"Who are these people, Eric?" she asked seriously.
"Japanese mafia."
"Holy shit!"
"That's about right – so sit tight and wait for my call."
"Yes, sir," she saluted.
He gave her a lopsided smile that once used to be naughty but now she could feel the real warmth behind it.
"That's my girl," he crooned and for a second they both tensed when the meaning of his words hit them. "I really have to go now," he added and stepped back.
"Hey, Eric!" she called after him again when she saw that he was about to leave. He looked at her questioningly. "Thank you for doing this," she said softly. "And please, be careful."
Always a flirt, he took her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Right back at you, Miss Stackhouse," he said before letting her hand slip out of his grasp and jumping off the porch.
He took off into the air without another word, leaving her alone on the old porch. She just stood there for a moment, looking into the slowly fading darkness of the pre-dawn sky and simply taking everything in. She inhaled deeply as the elusive feeling of peace filled her for the first time in days. Something was finally going right.
This time, when she went to bed, she didn't toss or sigh. She had no time for that – she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
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