Hey gang! So it's kind of slow-going getting this moving again. I would've thought it would be easier to write this story, since it's inspired by Dallas, but it's actually really tough! Big ensembles are not so easy to keep up with...it's probably going to get pretty soap-opera-y along the way. So, let me know if you like it, and the pace will likely pick up as the ball gets rolling. Without further ado...

Eric wore a trail into the carpet of Sookie's office at Crooked Letter. Jason would be arriving downstairs any minute, at Eric's request. He left Sookie in her grandparent's care in his absence, hoping that she would be cleared for release by the time he wrapped up his business at the ranch. He faintly heard the grandfather clock in the main hallway chime, signaling time to make his way downstairs. He knew Sookie would likely be displeased with what he was about to do, but it had to be done.

He stalked down to the parlor and poured himself a scotch. Taking his first sip, he heard the front door click. Jason, looking as though he hadn't slept in weeks, came in and slumped on the large leather couch.

"What did you want, Northman?"

"Nice, Jason. Nice…your sister is still in the hospital, she lost our baby, and that's how you greet me. I always knew you were a class act…"

"Listen, I would never intentionally hurt my sister, and she knows that. I hate what happened, but it was an accident. And I don't owe you any apologies. Far as I can tell, if you hadn't entered our lives, none of this would have happened."

Eric breathed steadily, set his drink down on the mantle, and leveled his gaze at Jason. "Because you are my brother-in-law, I am desperately trying to tame the urge to beat the ever lovin' shit out of you, Stackhouse. Make no mistake, it is not a fight you would win. I called you here because I think it's time you moved into the city, made a name for yourself off the ranch. Don't you agree?"

Jason scoffed, attempting to return Eric's ice cold stare. Unfortunately, it fell flat. Jason knew he wouldn't win in a fair fight against Eric; furthermore, he knew Sookie's accident was his fault. Being near the family right now wasn't exactly where he wanted to be. If there was one thing Stackhouses were good at, it was avoiding problems.

He raised his hands in concession. "Fine. You know Sookie will hate that you made this decision without her," he said.

Eric nodded thoughtfully, adding, "It's a risk I'm willing to take. We are not living under the same roof as you, not after what you've done to my family. The free ride is over. You're a millionaire; go spend some of it on a home of your own. You don't have one here, not anymore."

Jason had plenty to say, but none of it would materialize. His head was a mess and he knew somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind that Eric had a point. He stood to leave, taking one last look around the house, and walked out the door with the duffel bag Eric had packed.

"We'll send your things once you've settled," Eric called after him.

Once he finished his drink, he was off on his way to the hospital, hopefully to pick up his wife.

"Eric!" Sookie called as soon as he breezed in the door of her private room. He made a beeline for his wife, bending to kiss her as deeply as appropriate behavior would allow, given her grandparents were still in the room.

"Honey, my doctor wanted to give me his final report, but I wanted to wait for you to get here. Then we're free to go, finally."

That's great news, darlin'. I can't wait to bust you out of this joint," he teased, kissing her temple.

Adele patted Eric's arm and Earl stiffly nodded to him, excusing themselves to return home. Sookie gazed up at her new husband, and tried to force a smile. She was truly happy to be going home, and thrilled that when she did return home, it would be with him. Of course, she still wasn't over the accident emotionally, and knew it would be a while before she was.

"Sookie, I have something to tell you…" Eric began, not wanting any secrets between them. Their world was full of deception, he hoped their marriage never would be. Of course, the doctor walked in at precisely that moment.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Northman," the doctor greeted. "It looks like Sookie here is free to go. She's in fine health, other than some bruising and a sprained wrist."

"Doctor…what about…well, will I be able to conceive again?" Sookie asked nervously.

"Mrs. Northman, I'll be honest. It will likely be difficult, but you should be able to conceive in the future. Just be patient and," he turned to Eric, "support each other."

Eric nodded, Sookie signed her release forms, and the doctor called for a nurse to bring a wheelchair. Eric gathered Sookie's belongings and placed them in her bag before helping his wife into the wheelchair that just arrived. They made their way down to the car making small talk with the nurse, before Eric gingerly assisted Sookie into his car.

Once they were out of the parking lot and on their way to Crooked Letter, Sookie reached over and took Eric's hand. "You were saying?"

Eric sighed deeply. "Jason won't be at the ranch when we get there. He's finding his own place, in the city."

"You did this," she stated. Eric nodded.

"Without even bothering to talk to me," she added. Eric ventured a glance in her direction.

"Eric, you had no right to kick MY brother out of MY house. I don't want to see him anymore than you do, but this was not your call to make!"

"Sookie, I'm sorry that I made the decision without your input, but—"

"But nothing, Northman! If we're married, we're a team—no going behind the other's back. Y'know, acting like this makes me think you don't see me as an equal, and I don't like that feeling, Eric!"

"Sookie, please, I am sorry I did this without talking to you first…but dammit, Sook, I have struggled to find some control in this situation…and I keep coming up empty. I could not stand the thought of living in the same house with the man that put you in the hospital—it was all I could do not to hurt him as badly as he hurt you!"

"Eric…" Sookie started, but quickly deflated. "Look, I'll try and understand this time…but never again, Eric. No more making decisions for both of us without even talking to me. Ugh, I'm so ready for this nightmare to be over."

She reached over and intertwined her fingers with his. The small amount of contact made her feel safe, as insignificant as the gesture might seem...When they arrived at the turn-off for Crooked Letter, Sookie had never felt so relieved to be home.

Meanwhile, in a downtown bar, Jason Stackhouse pounded his third double-bourbon. He was in no position to sift through his thoughts logically, so he sought to drink them away. Eventually he knew any number of affluent women would be making the rounds through the happy hour scene, and he would have his pick of familiar acquaintances and new friends with which to stay the night. This would not only dull his pain, but also buy him some time before he had to make a solid decision on what to do next.

Two drinks later, he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol—but sure enough, the ladies began trickling in. When he was returning from the restroom, one grabbed his arm.

"Jay? Is that you? Oh honey, it is. Are you okay?"

Jason focused in on the face in front of him. It was Amy Burley, a girl he had dabbled with in college. She was a bit of a hippie, but she came from good stock and was incredible in bed. Last he'd heard, her parents opened her a chain of new age spas around town that also specialized in non-traditional medicine. She was making a good living on her own, though Jason was certain she was doing very little actual work on the project.

"Hey Amy…I'm good, just a bit of a rough day, that's all," Jason admitted, not wanting to go into details. Soon enough, he'd have to call Quinn to let them know he was moving, and Quinn would want to hit the town with him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get tangled in the Amy trap this early in the day.

"You poor dear. I could read the vibrations off of you before I even recognized who you were!"

Jason tried to avoid rolling his eyes and ordered her a Vodka Gimlet. At least at one time, it was her drink of choice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

These words were Jason's kryptonite. Of course he didn't want to talk about it, and certainly not with her. He shook his head forcefully before downing what remained of his current bourbon. She began scratching his head lightly, saying they didn't need to talk. "I'll just transfer some of my light to you," she said as she continued her efforts.

Eventually they began chatting about silly things the drunker Jason got; they reminisced about wild moments in college and people they once knew. Amy filled Jason in on marriages and babies, and Jason told Amy which of their former friends had returned to Dallas in recent months due to scandal or failure. It was a temporary relief to have some companionship until he could call Quinn—which he did at exactly 4:32 in the afternoon.

He excused himself from the dimly-lit bar and made his way to his truck to switch locales. He was heading to his favorite spot for prowling, and knew Quinn would meet him there in half an hour before he'd even answered the call.

"Jason…man, what's wrong?"

"I got kicked off the ranch, dude," Jason stammered, already two sheets to the wind.

"Kicked out? Your sister?"

"Her husband," Jason spat.

"Son of a—" Quinn yelled, pounding his fist on the bar top. He ordered a round of drinks and determined that they would definitely have a good night tonight, if nothing else to help his buddy feel better. Come tomorrow, he'd be out for Northman's blood.

Back at the Ranch, Sookie had just finished showering and dressing for the evening. She fell into her seat at her vanity to brush out her long blonde hair when Eric entered from their office very tentatively. He sat down on the corner of their huge bed, just waiting for some sort of contact. Sookie had been silent since they arrived.

"Eric, like I said, I do understand your perspective. I just don't agree. You had absolutely no right to do what you did."

Eric sat stock-still, knowing that to argue or press the issue further would only complicate the matter. He simply nodded, and reached for his wife's hand. She graciously accepted, giving it a small squeeze.

"I don't want to harbor anger in our marriage, but I am mad. Jason is my brother, Eric. I would never turn Pam out of our home without discussing it with you, no matter what the offense."

Eric knew it was true; Sookie valued her family above all, and now she honestly included the Northmans as being hers. She had an enormous ability to love and be loyal, even if she knew the feelings weren't reciprocated. It was a strength Eric deeply envied, but knew that his shrewd character judgments and cold calculations would save them trouble and heartache in the future. They would make a formidable pair—which was good, considering the challenges they were up against in this town.

Sookie's cell phone rang, and she quickly pressed a kiss to Eric's head before retrieving her phone. "Hello?"

Eric could only hear shrill, fast speech on the other end, and correctly assumed it was Amelia.

"You will never guess who I just saw rolling into the W," Amelia squealed. She loved a good bit of gossip.

"Who?"

"Your Aunt, Sookie! Linda's in town! Wonder what's going on…"

Sookie groaned, "Well, it can't be good if she was checking into a hotel. That means it's supposed to be a surprise visit."

"Oh, I just love it when your aunt comes to town," Amelia harped. "It always shakes things up around here…though I guess we don't really need too much more of that, huh?"

"No, we definitely don't…"

"Well hopefully your bucking bronco days are over, kid, because it looks like we've got new trouble brewin'," Amelia teased. She had been panicked while Sookie was in the hospital. Once the doctors assured Eric and Adele that she would be fine, Adele insisted she go home and wait it out. Amelia hated tense, unpleasant situations more than anything, and couldn't wait for Sookie to be home so things could go back to normal…as normal as possible, anyway.

"Well, I guess I'd better go try to reach Gran. She'll want to know Lin's in town like ten minutes ago. Thanks for calling, Ames."

Sookie closed her phone and sighed, wondering how she was going to relay all of this to Eric. Where to start?

"Eric, let's go downstairs to wait for Grandaddy and Gran. We need a drink."

Pam sat at her desk on the top floor of the Northman Enterprises building just outside of downtown Dallas imagining how to proceed against Stackhouse Oil now. She didn't want to lose her brother's favor, and she no longer bore any ill will toward Sookie personally. None of that could change the history between their families—and Jason having been the one to cause all the trouble made it even easier for Pam to slip into her normal, vengeful frame of mind.

She picked up a couple of documents on the Asia deal, perusing the contract once more before glancing at the most recent news on the deal. Exploration was going well, and it looked like this deal would be even more profitable than she dreamed. The Northmans had no need for more money, but neither Magnus nor his daughter would soon tire of power.

She pulled up her stock listings to check on the gains and losses for both her family's company and Stackhouse Oil, hoping to find good news. Both were up at the moment, but her rival's shares were still a considerable margin ahead of her own. She would have to make a bold move, and fast. Now that the family is distracted and unorganized, she could proceed with virtual abandon. She just needed a plan…

Her secretary paged her, and she quickly responded, taking a call from her father. "This is Pamela," she answered, bored.

"Pammy, it's your father. Red River Oil is in shambles, their CEO just stepped down and things don't look good for them. Their holdings aren't anything special, but they do have rigs on some desirable land…might make it easier to creep into some hot property in the future. Take it."

Pam rolled her eyes, wondering why her father stopped handling day-to-day operations here if he was just going to call with this kind of input so regularly.

"Sure thing, father. I'm on top of it."

She e-mailed her secretary to delegate the task, stressing that it was a pet project for Magnus. This should get the desired result. Almost immediately after sending the message, her cell phone began buzzing. It was an old flame of Pam's, Ginger, who wasn't worth much of anything except gossip. Pam did well to hide her affairs with women, as it would truly scandalize her family. Still, she could only ignore her desires so well…Whatever news she had should be interesting.

"Pam! So good to hear from you," Ginger gushed.

Pam deadpanned, "You too, darling. How are things?"

"Oh, too good, girl. I've got some juicy news…"

Pam sighed away from the receiver, wishing people could just get to the point. She didn't have time for this telephonic cat and mouse. Ginger must have realized what kind of mood Pam was in, because she quickly stated her case.

"Linda Stackhouse just checked in at the W. So she's in town, and she's not staying at the ranch. At least not yet. My money's on her trying to surprise the family…and get to them before they find out why she's here."

Pam's ears perked up immediately at this. "And why is she in town, Ginger dear?"

"Way I hear it she's racked up an insane gambling debt. We're talking six figures. She has absolutely nothing, and of course her debtors know exactly who she is. They're threatening extortion and violence and all sorts of delicious gangster movie type things…but she's just running home and pretending like nothing's happened. They say she married a lounge singer out there, got pregnant, and gave the kid up. Her parents never found out."

Pam did nothing to give away her elation, but quickly dismissed Ginger to get to work on this project. It's as if fate delivered this information right in her lap at the perfect moment—she had few solid business prospects to use against the Stackhouses, but with this information, she sure could create one impressive PR shit storm for the family.

She quickly buzzed her secretary. "Felicia—get every gossip maven in Dallas County on top of the Linda Stackhouse situation. She just checked into the W. Word has it she's got a bit of a gambling debt to settle and a bastard child out in the desert. I want every detail in the paper and on the Internet. I want everyone in every posh bar in town talking about this."

"Yes ma'am," Felicia answered, disconnecting the intercom to tend to her task.

Pam sat back, putting her feet up on her desk and taking in the view from her enormous office window. "Someday, Stackhouses, this city will be mine…"