Before I say anything else, let me tell you: YOU ARE WONDERFUL! Thank you for all the reviews and alerts. I really didn't expect this story to be so successful.
I also wanted to thank my Beta, Breathesgirl, for all her work on this chapter.
A word of explanation: it was supposed to be Eric's chapter, but Pam started talking to me, so they had to share.
Disclaimer: I dis(c)lame you, True Blood!
Eric Northman touched the ground of the Fangtasia parking lot exactly five minutes before the first ray of sun broke over the horizon.
He strolled leisurely toward the door which was guarded by two Asians, associates of Mr. Gus'. They watched him walk towards them but didn't say a word nor did they stop him from entering.
His eyes met Pam's: She was sitting at the table with Mr. Gus and discussing the details of the advertisement campaign.
Eric's arrival caused a pause in the conversation, "Where were you?" Pam asked in her typical bored voice. The question was bound to be asked sooner or later and it was better if it was Pam who voiced it rather than their Japanese partner in crime. It would give Eric more room to maneuver while answering – after all, he didn't have to care about being polite while talking to his own child.
"I had some catching up to do," he said nonchalantly.
"Business or pleasure?" Mr. Gus asked, seemingly just to make small talk.
Eric's answering smile was positively lascivious, "Pleasure."
It was best to keep it simple and make everyone believe he was just thinking with his dick – it was an explanation every man could understand and wouldn't question too much. He didn't mind being thought of as a pig if it bought him a measure of safety. He had never cared if others perceived him in a positive light unless they were important to him.
Pam's curiosity spiked at his admission and she inhaled discreetly when Eric came closer in order to gauge if he was telling the truth or just making a convenient cover for whatever he'd been up to.
It would be easy for vampire senses to pick up on the distinctive smell of sex but she didn't find it on Eric. She did, however, detect a faint scent – it was lingering on his skin, but not strongly enough to permeate his clothes and she probably wouldn't have noticed it if not for the fact that she knew it far too well for her liking: Sookie's scent.
What did she do, hug him? – Pam thought mockingly. How generous of her!
It wasn't the scent itself that was unpleasant – Pam had to admit that the part-fairy smelled delicious – it was the grudge she held against the telepath that made the scent unwelcome. Pam had no romantic designs on Eric – men were not really her type any more – but she knew that what she was feeling had a lot to do with jealousy, although it wasn't over whose bed Eric chose to crawl into. He could share his body with whomever he wished – it was sharing her maker's attention and affection that Pam minded: She wasn't used to that.
Despite the image Eric had created for himself of being a casual and unfeeling vampire he actually had a lot of love in him to give to others.
He was used to loving more than one person at the same time: he doted on Pam, but there had also been Godric and Nora, whose existence Pam had not even been aware of until shortly before her True Death.
It was different for Pam: for more than a century there had only been the two of them: No one else mattered. She had not cared for anybody else in her entire existence, with the all too brief exception of Tara, but Tara was gone before they ever really got a chance to know one another.
Even as a human she had not had a loving family or close friends she could depend on. She had been on her own, fighting tooth and nail for everything in her life, until Eric came along, so he became the focal point of her world since her first rising.
When he had first come face to face with her, both brutal and elegant at the same time, unashamed of his bloody appearance, she had been terrified but she had held his gaze and she had seen in his eyes something that probably mirrored her own expression: curiosity.
In that moment she had felt for the first time in her life as if someone was not only looking at her, but that someone actually saw her: not the costume she wore every day, not the artificial mask of her make-up, not the dress which both covered and revealed her shape, not her status or profession. He wasn't seeing her upbringing, her age, or her gender. It wasn't even her face that he saw. It was her, her real self, that Eric saw that long ago night. And it had been her he had sought out afterwards, not her blood or her body. It had been her he had taken unapologetically, it had been her he wanted. And because of that Pam didn't stop to think of what he was, she only wanted to learn about who he was, just like he did her. She could see that he was not human but she had seen all kinds of monsters in human skin before and they had seemed much more revolting to her.
There was a darkness to Eric but also grace. He was merciless but not malicious. Violent and lethal, yet in some twisted way honorable.
What he had really taken from her that fateful night was a part of her soul. In an act of desperate bravery she had pushed him to take more – to take everything – so he had taken her life and he had given her a new one: The one in which she could be herself.
It was natural for her to put him first and the mere thought of putting someone not only above him, but equally high, felt like a betrayal to her – and for a very long time it felt like she had had the same special place in Eric's heart that he had in hers.
Of course she knew about Godric and had accepted his place in Eric's life but that was different; it was something she could relate to since she experienced the same devotion to her own maker first hand – but then she had discovered he had a vampire sister he had never even told her about, and shortly after that he had created another child and it had hurt.
Pam hated to admit it but it made her feel insecure. It was easy to question the role of the others in his life. She wondered if Eric wasn't somehow loving her less by loving others as well, if the love he offered them was the same love that used to belong only to her: if giving it away elsewhere wasn't causing there to be less left for her.
She didn't see that loving another would mean that Eric's heart would simply expand to create enough love for everyone, instead she felt that his love for others fell under the same harsh mathematical rules as sharing any physical object would, and that she would have to be content to hold just a small slice of it when she was used to having it all to herself. It still wasn't as hard a pill for her to swallow as seeing him risking his life for that… that… fairy-flavoured cunt who wasn't even of his blood-line. On the top of everything else the ungrateful little bitch didn't seem to realize what she had or appreciate Eric's efforts and the risks he'd taken for her time and time again just to keep her safe and happy and instead of thanking him she'd broken his heart!
Pam's angry inner musings caused her to speak up:
"Don't tell me that you left me here to do all the work while you went to see…" she saw the steely glint of warning in his eyes the moment she started talking and it wasn't just a good-natured scolding, but a deadly serious threat. Only at the last moment did she realize why the look was so frosty and exactly what he was warning her about. She seamlessly changed the way she intended to end her sentence: "…some slut."
Eric might not like Pam calling Sookie names, but the name wasn't what the look was about – the one name which, if uttered, might prove to be an unforgivable sin at the moment was Sookie's own name. Giving away her identity was something Eric didn't want to risk.
Eric cocked his eyebrow "Jealous?" he asked, ruffling her hair – a gesture that could be read as an affectionate caress, but for Pam, who could sometimes spend hours working on her hair and who didn't let anybody touch it, it was also a form of mild admonishment. It also worked to distract Mr. Gus from what they were talking about.
Had it been anybody else other than Eric they would have lost their hand for messing with her hair.
Pam's fangs snapped down of their own accord, "Don't ruin my hair!" she hissed automatically.
Farther, brother, son – she thought sarcastically and then added another noun to the list - asshole.
Eric flashed her a grin as if he could hear her thoughts. Who knows? Maybe Sookie's telepathy was rubbing off on him?
"You'll have to fix it tonight anyway," he said, shrugging. "It's time for us to go to rest.
Mr. Gus, if you'll excuse us," he turned to the man in question, "the dawn is coming: We need to go to ground for the day. If there is anything of importance you want to tell us, please, say it now. I'm afraid the rest of the discussion will have to wait until dusk."
Even if the businessman didn't like it he had no choice but to acknowledge the fact that vampires were creatures of the night and there was no stopping the rising sun or vampires reaction to it.
"Of course," he simply said, nodding. "I understand. I have some business to take care of during the day so I won't be here when you wake up, but my people will keep you company until I return.
Mr. Northman, your entertainment is none of my business, but it would be...problematic if anyone were to find out that you have been healed before we release our product so I would appreciate it if you kept a low profile until then. We wouldn't want any of your… friends to spread gossip about a cure. I hope you understand. Please don't do anything to… jeopardise our co-operation while I'm gone."
A clear warning: we'll be watching you. Don't do anything stupid.
Eric smiled tightly but kept his face neutral.
"I understand perfectly well what you're saying, Mr. Gus," he replied. "There is nothing for you to be concerned about: you're right, what I'm doing behind closed doors is my business but I have no intention of parading myself and my conquests in public. You don't have to worry about premature news of my recovery: I've been gone from this area for about six months so even if someone sees me they won't know I was sick in the first place."
"Very well. Still… I ask for your discretion."
Eric nodded and gestured for Pam to come with him. She stood up, glad that she was off the hook, and said her goodbyes before following Eric to the basement where they both slipped inside the secure travel coffins. They didn't really need to be literally underground and most of the time Eric preferred to lock himself in his office if he had to spend the day in Fangtasia but they were taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese didn't know their routine.
They wanted to stay close to Sarah in case their new partners thought it would be a good idea to play them: she was the best insurance policy because the corporation wouldn't risk anything happening to her and they could both get out of their coffins without the threat of burning in the sun if there was an emergency. Of course they had made sure a long time ago that no one could open the coffins from the outside so it would be very difficult to surprise them with a sudden attack, even in their sleep.
After Eric got into his coffin and closed the lid he took a minute to think of his options. He had promised Sookie that he would help but he had to proceed with caution. Obtaining the cure wasn't the problem – Sarah was right there and he could draw some of her blood and then heal the bite mark without anyone noticing. It was getting the cure out of Fangtasia without raising the alarm that could prove tricky.
He could demand a vial of Sarah's blood as a vaccine for Willa and take a little more than he had to but then he'd be alerting the Yakuza to the fact that he had another progeny and they wouldn't hesitate to use that information for leverage if needed.
The last thing he wanted to do was to bring Willa more trouble. He had already screwed up enough where his youngest child was concerned and he could only hope that now, when his time on Earth wasn't limited, he would be able to find a way to make it up to Willa. Making her a pawn in this dangerous game, however, wasn't a good place to start.
He could arrange for someone to sneak in through the tunnel and carry the cure out of Fangtasia without being detected. No one would suspect him if the transfer took place during the day. For some strange reason Sookie's brother came to mind: Jason wasn't too bright, but would make, and had already proven to be, a fine soldier. Eric had his phone in his pocket, all it could take would be to make a call - of course this solution would come with the risk of Sookie getting involved… he sighed.
He could also take a gamble and sneak out himself after nightfall, counting on Pam to distract their 'friends' until he was back – but if he was to be discovered, or if Mr. Gus returned too early, it would be obvious that he was up to something underhanded.
There was one more option left and he thought he liked it the best. It wasn't without risk either but it would give him an opportunity to show the Japanese that he wasn't going to roll over and play dead or bark on command: he could force them to make the first move against him and take a justified action to ensure his own safety. Fangtasia had a surveillance system but the footage didn't include sound. He could provoke them into attacking him.
Mr. Gus was too smart for that to work on him, but he wasn't going to be there and the rest were just pawns, easily played and disposed of. After getting rid of them he would dutifully report the incident, claim self-defense and refuse to be subjected to similar attempts on his life in future, which would open the door to renegotiate the way their relationship was going to work. It would also buy him a few hours to leave the bar without the tail and complete his mission in peace.
He spent a few more minutes working on the details of his plan before he was satisfied. He allowed himself a moment to relax before giving in to the pull of the sun and reflected on his night. All in all things were going well. He needed to tread carefully but he was in a much better place than just the week before.
It felt surprisingly good to be back. Willa didn't give him a warm welcome, and he couldn't say that he blamed her. He had turned out to be a shitty maker to her and had done one of the few things he thought he would never do – he abandoned his newly turned child and just took off when he felt that he was close to his breaking point. He hadn't intended to be gone for so long but things got complicated when he was forced to hide while healing from the severe case of sunburn and then caught the virus.
There was no excuse for what he had done but there was an explanation and he owed it to Willa, along with a promise that if she would ever let him, he would be there for her and do better if given a second chance. He hoped that once her anger faded she would allow him to earn her forgiveness. He might be a crappy maker, but he was the only maker she had. He didn't push it the last time he saw her because he thought he would be forced to leave her again soon anyway, so any promises he could have offered her had seemed empty and she had had enough of those.
His thoughts drifted to the other woman he had left in Louisiana six months before. She seemed to be quite pleased to see him back. He licked his lips and found the faint taste of the kiss they shared still lingering there.
He stopped himself from purring like a cat. Her warm body had felt wonderful in his arms. He indulged in his desire to let himself enjoy the last traces of her elusive scent which was still clinging to his skin. Now that he was back he finally acknowledged what he had not been admitting to himself while he'd been gone: he had missed her.
He wasn't sure if it was because of the six month long separation or because he nearly died but it felt as if most of the painful details from their past had faded and become less significant in comparison to the memories of the good things which had stayed vivid in his mind.
He had a feeling it was the same way for her. Finally there was no mistrust or distance between them. He didn't detect even a hint of the usual suspicion she had always regarded him with, even after she had come to care for him. He wasn't the villain in the story anymore – so he could be the better man and save Bill.
He smiled in the dark at the irony of that. He could just imagine the look on Bill's face when he realized that it was Eric he owed his existence to.
Oh, Bill – he thought, suddenly amused. – You're so screwed. You will get to be neither a hero nor a martyr. Whatever are you going to do? I believe it's a lose/lose for you!
It was probably one of the few times in Eric's long un-dead existence when he fell into his day-time rest fighting back a snicker.
I know many of you want for Sookie and Eric to leave Bill to rot and see him dead, but that's exactly what BILL wants (to die tragically). Bugger, right?