A/N: Jeez, it just dawned on me, my last 2 chaps haven't had A/Ns on them. That's a switch. But I'm so gd obsessed with this story, I completely forgot. Thanks so much for the reviews-they are the wind beneath my wings lolzeez. This took me some time because I swore (to myself) I would try to develop a plot versus lots of fast forwarding through the day, to when Eric shows up. Because that's what I want to do lol. So this chapter was long and boring with lots of non-Eric filled details. Initially I had it all as one chapter that was way too long, just so it could include him. But I thought better of it and just split it up. So the next chapter will be chock full o' Viking goodness. I hope to have it up by tomorrow night. Again, I thank you truly for all your support. These are not my characters, I merely borrowed them from Charlaine. Pardon any grammatical and or spelling no-nos. Hopefully, I didn't lapse into calling her Sookie when she's supposed to be Suzie and vice-versa. I tried not to. Kay love you buhbye.

On the way home, the lust-filled fog that had covered my brain lifted and I was able to think clearly. And I felt awful. I felt like I had betrayed my family and Eric and Pam. When I agreed to this, as if I had much choice, I had a clear cut goal to infiltrate the enemy camp and get the information we needed to save my family from war. But the enemy was supposed to be conniving and depraved, not funny, honorable and so ridiculously gorgeous. He did not seem the type who would get involved in any unnecessary fairy bullshit. My grandfather had said he was honorable and he was right.

Both he and Pam seemed like normal, decent people, for vampires. They never attempted to drain me or rape me (other than molestation by flirting), like I had been taught all my life. Only Bill Compton had acted shady, and Eric made it seem like he was not in the normal mainstream.

When I pulled in to the drive, I parked and slumped forward, head in my hands. What the hell was I supposed to do? I hated lying and deception myself, so for me to have to concoct the stories I was feeding them was hard. Though I did try to have some bit of truth in everything I said. I was seriously confused and torn. I needed to talk to my fairies. I moped my way out of the car and up the stairs.

Judging by all the lights on, somebody was up. When I closed the door, I could hear Claudine singing and I called out to her. She came dashing in and hugged the breath out of me. Her words came out in a rush "I'm so glad you're home, safe and sound. Hey!" She held me out at arms length. "Why is your cheek all puffy and your head bruised and scraped up? Sookie! Are you okay? Tell me what happened."

"I'm fine." I briefly told her a few sentences about the Compton situation. She seemed to calm down when I assured her I felt fine and that he would be punished for his actions.

"However I mostly want to say, thanks SO much for telling me how unbelievably gorgeous Eric is! That little tidbit would have been good to know before I went in like a lamb to the wolves' den."

She gave me a devilish grin that didn't look one least bit apologetic. "Sookie, there is no way, if we had warned you, you could have gone in as naturally as you did. You get such a chip on your shoulder whenever a hot man comes around. You would have had an attitude a mile wide before you even walked in there."

"Regardless, I like to know all aspects of the situation-"

She foofed me-"Oh, get over it. Moving on..."

"Gah! You guys make me crazy." I let out a big sigh for show, but I knew she was probably right. "Okay, then I guess you also had a meeting without me and decided to send Amelia tonight."

"Yes, sorry about that. It was a last minute idea Claude thought of actually. She's been there a few times and knows Pam, so we thought it might help."

"It did, actually. It was a little easier to look natural than if I had been alone." "So, how did you meet tall, blonde and deadly?"

"Amelia and I were dancing and he was behind me and I ran into him."

"He's something, isn't he?"

I blushed "Erm, yeah."

"Oooooh, Sookie, are you blushing? Did something happen?"

"No! His is my boss now, you know. I imagine it's not good to screw around with your boss. Not to mention I am there in the first place on business, not pleasure."

"Who cares? A-it's not really your job, it's a cover. And B-no one said you couldn't have fun while you were accomplishing your mission." Eyebrow wiggle. "Plus it may make him more pliable to tell you information." The thought of using sex for that made me sick and I told her so. "Yes, but if you want the sex and he just happens to blabber..." That reminded me of my current conundrum, and I'm embarrassed to say, I got a little teary-eyed. "Cousin, what's wrong? Did I offend you?" She took my hand.

I shook my head,"I just, I don't know now, Claudine. It was all so clear cut before I went there tonight and now I feel awful using them. He and Pam were so normal with me. They seemed like people I would have fun hanging out with. They offered me a job and were very upfront about everything and here I am with all of my deception and I don't like it. I feel like I could just ask Eric about Breandan and if I tell him why I'm here, he might tell me what we need in return. If I put it to him like that, he would know how much I was trusting him by telling him who I was and it may make him want to help." I was bargaining with myself and Claudine was shaking her head. It's just-you know, I was raised to think that vampires were such evil creatures who would kill you without the bat of an eye. Yet they weren't like that at all." I said quietly.

"To us, they are. Maybe your half diluted blood is just the perfect amount to make them not want to instantly kill you, but for the full-bloods, they are deadly. Whether it's because they are inherently bad or because our blood makes them bat-shit crazy is irrelevant in our eyes. They will kill us, period. I've seen it with my own eyes, Sookie."

That reminded me, "He did taste my blood."

"What?! How, why?"

"When I banged my head. Eric, was uhm...cleaning the wound and stopping the blood. He didn't get all blood-lusty or anything. Though he might have been a little...excited" she snorted "he didn't bite me. He was very sane."

"Ew that he 'cleaned' you. Okay, well I guess we know about your blood's effect on them now." She thought for a few seconds, "I guess this was a good trial then. We didn't anticipate you being injured and your blood being exposed to them without biting."

"Yeah, hopefully that will only be a one time thing, so we don't get to learn the limitations on that too much more."

"So, how did the job thing come about?"

"I mentioned I recently moved here and needed a job, either as a waitress or bartender. We had been talking a little at that point, so he and Pam discussed it and said they had been needing someone to work with their human staff. And that was that. I filled out all my paperwork and I start tomorrow. I can work as little or as much as I want, as long as I get my stuff done. I know I'll end up staying later just to see if I can learn more that way." I trailed off and sighed, feeling like a traitor for the millionth time that night.

"Did you use your magic at all?"

"I did, actually a few times and no one sensed it."

"Good." We talked about a few more things, but I was getting really tired.

"Hey, do you have any of that healing tea for my bruises?"

"Good idea! You definitely need it after tonight."

"But make it a little weak. I don't need him to see me 100% healed tomorrow. That would be unusual for a human."

"Sure thing." She poofed a cup up right into her hand, then poofed the hot tea into it and handed it to me. She conjured up a few cookies and gave me those, as well. "The tea goes great with these. Make sure you eat them all." That was fine by me, I was a little hungry, so a snack before bed was perfect. Before she went to her room she stopped and looked thoughtful. "And Sookie? Don't worry too hard about the task in front of you. Sometimes things that seem so muddled become clear in time. The answer you sought was there all along."

"Uhm okay, Grandfather. When did you start talking in riddles like him?"

She smiled at me "Goodnight", and closed her door.

"Weirdo" I swigged my tea and scarfed the cookies. They were really good. I placed my dishes in the sink, left the front light on for Claude and locked the door behind me. I felt like I was floating on the way to my place. I'm not sure how but I managed to get changed and washed up and into bed. I was so sleepy, yet so floaty-almost euphoric. I snuggled in and was out like a light.

I woke up the next morning trying to catch the tail end of a dream. Eric was in it and we were in the office at Fangtasia? But, I was wearing the sleep clothes I had worn to bed. And he was shirtless. Guh-that was a vision I wanted back, but I couldn't recall any other particulars and it was fading the more I woke. Damn. That was weird. Duh, Captain Obvious, dreams are rarely normal. I smiled and sat up. I felt like I had slept for days-in a good way, not the icky, too much sleep way. It was almost noon. Wow, no wonder I felt rested. But it was best I sleep in. I would be having late hours from now on and there was no real need to be up earlier. I looked at my reflection in the mirror-my cheek was a little dark, but not very swollen and the abrasion on my hairline was pink but mostly healed. The bruises on my wrist from where dickhead gripped me so hard were yellowed. Good. I stretched and set about preparing for my day.

I worked out, went grocery shopping, took a shower, ate, cleaned up, painted my nails and toes. I had never lived alone before and it felt weird, but nice. There was no training that I had to go to, no being summoned to attend court or boring luncheons, though I did miss my grandfather. I forgot to ask Claudine when was best to pop in at the palace for a visit. Time did not pass the same there. It moved very slowly there-five minutes in the Fae realm could be half the day here. It was safe to assume I should save that for my day off.

While moving through my chores, I was still mulling over my position with Eric. I rehashed everything I could think of. What my grandfather told me about Breandan and Eric meeting; about all the things I had told Eric about "Suzie" and how he had been protective of me several times last night, eventhough he barely knew me. And how my task was somehow ordained by The Council. Wait-what was it my grandfather had said about his promise of my servitude? I could be a spy, a fighter, or an emissary. I had a choice? So, they knew enough of the future to know, twenty years from when he made that promise they would need me, but not what role I would play? Bullshit. Unless maybe they were they leaving it up to me to decide. That gave me a little hope. If I played the emissary card, I could tell him the truth. I could just say who I was, that I had been sent by The Council. He wouldn't dare harm me, right? He would know that would be inviting war from Niall and then have to answer to The Council for harming me. I wasn't sure. But I felt a little better now, knowing I had options. I could bide a little time, get to know him better to determine the next plan of action anyway. I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders.

Suddenly in a great mood, I popped over to my cousins'. Claudine wasn't there. But Claude was and he was in the shower. He had the radio playing and he was belting out right along with Celine, so he had no idea I was there. I pointed at his toothpaste and summoned a little pixie dust. I mentally conjured what I wanted to happen and felt the tingle of my magic build up then shoot out my finger. Heheh. I'll find out soon enough if it worked.

I popped back to my place and set to finding something cute to wear to work tonight. Should I wear jeans now, then change to something nicer once the bar opened? Yes. Hmmm...rifling through my new purchases, I picked a deep red slip dress that was not quite knee-length, but had a slit that went to mid-thigh. It was sleeveless, but the straps were wide enough to hide a bra and the scalloped edge, detracted from the neckline, which was pretty low, but again, made sweeter by the big black bow right under the bust, in an empire waist. Mostly demure with a little bit of sex. I was working, not picking up dates. I grabbed a sparkly black cardigan and some low-slung heels to go with it and put it all in a bag with my "makeup and hair-to-go bag", as Claudine called it. To wear now, I just put on a pair of dark jeans (minus the silver chain in the pocket) with a tightly fitted plaid shirt and slouchy leather boots. Comfy. I headed out for my first day on the job.

Within my first two hours there, I had produced a schedule for the next three weeks, created an organized system for requests for time off (versus the hundreds of post it notes all over the desk in Pam's office) and a new floor plan for more effective serving. Judging from what I had seen last night, the vampires tending bar had exceptional memory for what almost every person there ordered to drink. If the tables were organized in such a way that they could see all of them at a glance, they could predict who needed what, before the waitresses even took refill orders. It would also prompt the servers not to overlook any human refill needs, if they were to busy fawning over the vampires to hopefully get lucky.

So, I moved the tables into a V shape, the widest part being closest to the bar, tapering inward to end in a point at the dance floor. That widened and moved the dance floor out and allowing for more high top tables against the wall, which I dug out of the back room and put out. I figured, if Pam and Eric hated it, I could point out the new floor plan was fang-shaped and that would sell them. I also typed up a new policies and procedures to hand out to the wait staff, on how they were to dress and act and the consequences if they failed to do so, pending Pam's approval.

I was peeking through some of their ledger reports, just to get an idea how they kept their books, when I heard some of the staff filing in. No one came by the office, so I thought I would wait to introduce myself until Pam arrived. Their financial records were a bit of a mess. I could see they had an accountant to make sure the overall taxable revenue was on the up and up. But there were a lot of holes in their daily, weekly, monthly system. And from some of the random figures I tallied, a lot of it didn't add up. I mulled that over for a bit. I was hoping my suspicions were wrong. But if they weren't I may have a possible solution.

Apparently more time passed than I thought since Pam walked in- at least, I thought it was Pam. She was wearing a pale pink track suit with white mom sneakers and had light makeup on with her hair pulled back into a smooth ponytail. "Good evening, Suzie. Aren't you deep in thought." She smirked at my mouth that must have been hanging open and sat in the chair in front of her desk. I was surprised there was no power trip, where she told me to switch spots with her. "Shocked I don't dress like Elvira in real life?"

I nodded, "You look so cute." Her eyebrow shot up at that.

"Cute?" She gave a quiet laugh and it softened her whole face.

"Aw, Pam, you're so pretty when you smile like that" I gushed. I was laying it on thick, but I liked teasing her and I had a feeling I could only get away with it when we were alone. She had to keep her hard-ass persona around the other employees.

"Why, Suzie, are you flirting with me? I am your boss, you know. You could sit on my lap and take dictation" she patted her leg. "It would win you some points, maybe a bonus."

I held up my hands and laughed "Okay, you win boss lady. I'll pass on the lap dance dictation." I looked at the clock, shortly after 7. "Can I show you where I'm at right now with some things?" I showed her the schedules, the time off request system and the policies and procedures form and she was impressed, which made me happy.

"This is exceptional, Suzie. I can't believe you got this done so efficiently and quickly."

None of it was exceptionally hard, but just needed someone to sit down, with no one else around, and get it done, and I told her so. "Now, I did a few more things. One I want to show you now, but promise you'll keep an open mind and listen to why I did it. The other, I'd rather wait till Eric gets here, if you don't mind, horribly, so I can say it just once."

"That is fair, but my curiosity is piqued."

"Come on." I lead her out and had her stand behind the bar, so she could see the desired effect.

She stood there motionless, her eyes the only thing moving-darting around to take in the new area. A huge fangy grin came across her face. "It's fang-shaped!"

I laughed. Of course, she would notice. Why did I doubt it? "But do you see the other benefit?"

Moving around to take it in from all angles, "The bartenders can see all the tables. And I like the addition of more tables against the wall as well as how much it opened up the dance area."

"The only thing I wasn't sure how to fix was the one row of booths. The only way I can think of to make them visible would be to put mirrors above them. But I wasn't sure if you would think that was tacky."

She grabbed me by my arms, "Suzie, that is a fantastic idea! This whole setup is fantastic, but putting mirrors in is a wonderful solution! Tacky, yes, but the whole premise here is based on cheese factor, why not enhance it? You surprise me at every turn. Are you sure you're human?"Heheh-awkward laughter from me. "Wait till Master sees this. Have you explained it to the humans?"

I shook my head no. "I was waiting till you got here, so I could get your approval on everything, then I thought we could have a little meeting. We can explain everything then."

She had her phone out and was wildly texting. Her phone immediately alerted a response. "There. Eric should be in soon."

Meanwhile, the humans were bustling around us, preparing for the night. I was getting some angry stares, which was confusing, so I dropped my shields. It was nothing but anger and resentment at who I was, and why Mistress Pam was so happy and buddy-buddy with me. Oh well, they'd find out soon enough.

We went back to the office. I showed her how I wanted to reorganize a lot of the filing and make things more paperless, which she approved. We were looking at some of the accountants paperwork, when I felt a black void approach us. It was the bartender from last night. "Good evening, Pam. Miss."

"Evening, Longshadow. This is Suzie, our new HR person and assistant."

He nodded at me tersely. "We met last night. The floor plan has been changed. It looks good." He looked down at what we were working on, his eyes scanning quickly. I thought I caught a slight furrow in his brow, but if I had, it was gone in a second. "Everything okay?"

"Yes. We will be having a meeting as soon as Eric arrives. Please go tell everyone." Another curt nod and he was gone.

"Oh, Pam. I just remembered I wanted to ask you how it went with Bill last night? His punishment. I wish I could have stayed. And helped, actually." I was still fuming.

She got a glassy look in her eyes and her fangs slid down. "It went well, Suzie. Very well. I enjoyed it immensely."

"I hope he learned his lesson. Prick."

She looked at me like I had an arm growing from my forehead. "I did not take you for one who would enjoy in such things."

"Normally, I'm not, but he just rubbed my the wrong way. He could have waited thirty seconds till I was back inside, if he truly wanted to talk to me, which I doubt. I'm sure he had less than honorable intentions. Even with a bar full of willing fanbangers, he'd rather take by force. If Eric hadn't stopped me-"

"Stopped you from what? This conversation sounds juicy already, what did I miss?" He butted in from the doorway, filling it up. Dear me, he looked even better tonight with dark jeans and a long sleeved black jersey and black motorcycle boots. I hoped the look on my face didn't show I was mentally devouring him. He walked-no, strutted, he definitely strutted in and sat down in one of the chairs. He looked me up and down very slowly, then winked. Apparently his eyelids were attached to my girl bits because I felt a flutter down there when he did that. And from the way his nostrils flared and his pupils dilated, he knew it. Dammit.