They wouldn't move until the next night, which left Layla with a few hours to spend with Eric who had sent Nora and Tara back to Fangtasia. They walked silently towards the graveyard. Layla kept her hands shoved in her pockets. Things between her and Eric were such a mess. She was glad that he seemed to be okay about the babies, but she refused to rush right back into a relationship with him, though she knew she was probably going to get sucked out again anyway. It was like fighting against a riptide. The more she fought, the more exhausted she felt and still found herself far from shore.

"Is it always going to be like this?" Layla asked, glancing over at him as they walked through the gravestones.

"The world or us?" Eric asked without looking at her.

"Both." Layla said with a small smile. Eric shrugged silently and Layla sighed. "Look, Eric. I may love you, but there are going to be two little people showing up in a few months, and I'm not going to be the type of beaten down woman who constantly goes back to a man that hurts her."

"Why were you in New Orleans?" Eric asked. Layla sucked in a breath. It was just like Eric to ignore a declaration of independence and hone in on things she didn't want to talk about.

"I told you, I saw Doctor Ludwig." Layla told him. Eric turned her gently to face him.

"If you think I don't know when you're hiding something, you're wrong." he reminded her. Layla looked away before answering.

"I was running away." she told him with a wry smile. "The father of my children had cheated on me and then been arrested, I had no friends, nowhere to live, and a psychotic vampire who was still alive would have gladly killed me."

"You weren't going to tell me?" Eric asked, stepping back from Layla with a look of disgust on his face.

"Nope." Layla told him. "Not until I was ready...possibly never."

Eric looked pissed but to Layla's surprise, he was keeping his mouth shut. He took a deep breath in through his nose before speaking.

"I guess, I can understand why you thought that was the best course of action." he said stiffly. Layla stared at him.

"Who are you and what have you done with Eric Northman?" she asked, taking a step backwards. Eric took a step closer to her but Layla took another step back. Eric frowned.

"What?" he asked. Layla shook her head.

"Stop pretending to be nice. Don't think I need you to be some gentle, human man. I need the truth, Eric. You have to be honest with me and with yourself. I'm not Sookie. I don't want just the nice and lovely parts of you. I want the ruthlessness and the pride and the darkness. I need that if this is ever going to work." Layla told him. "I can handle it. You're not going to break me."

Eric took a step forward and this time Layla let him close the space between them. He brushed her hair over her shoulder as she stared up at him. Her eyes were wide and resolute, her mouth set into a firm line. His little halfling.

"You do a Viking husband proud." he told her, admiring the strength of will. Layla cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I am not your wife." she said quietly. Eric smiled darkly, but didn't argue that. He tilted her chin up and looked at her some more.

"When I first met you I knew you were special, and I thought I could break you. You were nothing more than interesting, but you constantly prove that you are more than you seem. You are the most amazing human I've ever met. Loyal, loving, forgiving, understanding, and at times a bit ruthless yourself." Eric told her.

"Why did you continue to go after Sookie even after you got your memories back?" Layla asked, tilting her head to the side and studying him.

"Speaking of ruthless." Eric muttered, taking a step away.

"I'm not happy about what happened while your memories were gone, but I could deal because, well, your memories were gone." Layla told him. "But even after you got them back you went after her. That's fucked up."

"You made it quite clear you were finished with me." Eric said flatly.

"Oh, so it's not because you fell in love with her?" Layla asked skeptically.

"What I felt for Sookie wasn't real, even if a part of me wanted it to be." Eric said guiltily. Layla hugged her arms around herself.

"Why wasn't it me?" she asked. "When your memories were gone I looked out for you. I kept you safe. I almost got myself killed protecting you and you still chose her."

Eric stared at her. Layla would never understand how she had seemed to him when he had been without his memories. Sookie had seemed like a blonde angel, smelling delicious and picking him up off the side of the road, but then Layla- she had been a force of nature. The minute Layla had seen Eric her eyes had spiked with fire and her brown curls had bounced beautifully as she walked over and led him to couch. She had been strong, her spine laced with steel but was so gentle with him, watching him carefully. He watched as she hadn't used force to get her way, but her words, trying to placate everyone. He had wanted to make her his, but as he watched her and got to know her, he realized it wouldn't work that way. He had wanted to be hers, but she never asked and he knew why.

"I thought I was unworthy of you." he said softly.

Layla stared at him.

"When I got my memories back and remembered myself, I realized that was true." he added. Layla narrowed her eyes.

"Smooth, Northman." she said flatly.

"It's the truth."

"I don't care!" Layla snapped. "You always have an excuse why you got after Sookie and you always talk your way back into my life when it blows up in your face."

"You always do something incredibly stupid and then complain about everyone else's faults!" Eric snapped back. Layla twisted her arms across her chest.

"Do not." she said firmly.

Eric took a step closer, counting things off on his fingers. "Letting your energy get drained in Dallas so you were kidnapped-"

"That was an accident! I didn't know-"

"Going off to Jackson to help Sookie even though I made it clear I thought it was a bad idea." Eric continued.

"Well, you gave me the address-"

"Should I even mention the coven of necromancers you thought it would be a good idea to hang around with?" Eric asked. Layla stamped her foot on the ground she was so frustrated.

"I told you! It wasn't always necromancy! The minute shit got weird I left!" Layla shouted. Eric rushed forward in one smooth movement and bit her neck. Layla struggled but he was gone after a moment, offering her his own wrist as she held a hand over the two little puncture wounds in her neck. "What the fuck was that for?" she snarled.

"I just realized that you are still in constant need of supervision and most likely will get yourself and our children killed, so I need to keep a better eye on you, so open up." he said, biting his wrist and pouring some into Layla's mouth. Her eyes were wide and she fought back, managing to punch Eric in the gut. As he pulled away he was smiling to himself.

"Don't be such a baby. It's not the first time you've had my blood." he said. Layla lunged at him and began hitting him.

"You stupid, idiotic, vampire! Did you not listen to a fucking word I said earlier? Do you want them to kill me? What the fuck, Eric?!" Layla screeched. Eric grabbed Layla, preventing her from moving.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Layla glared at him but stayed still.

"Vampire blood will speed up my pregnancy." Layla told him, her voice tight with fury. "This time tomorrow night I will probably be showing even though I've been pregnant for less than a month, it will probably be closer to three of four. Thank you SO MUCH! Father of the year, you are." Layla said angrily.

"Oops." Eric said. Layla immediately bent over, clutching her middle as a wave of pain hit.

"I hate you." Layla growled. Eric picked up her, cradling her close to his body.

"You don't hate me." he told her.

"I do!" she insisted, her face twisted in pain. "So much."

"If you hate me you wouldn't have been planning on rescuing me." he reminded her as he sped towards Fangtasia. "Your eyes wouldn't have lit up when you saw me."

"I don't want to go to the bar!" Layla whined. "And so what if I love you, I still hate you!"

"You don't have a house anymore, the sun is coming up, and you need rest. You can either sleep at the bar or at Sookie's."

"I'm staying at the Dorchester." Layla said. Eric sighed.

"Fine." he said. "We'll have to let Sookie know where to pick you up tomorrow."

Layla groaned. She wasn't sure what was worse, the cramps or the idea of being stuck in a car with Sookie for hours tomorrow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Layla was trying to sleep and zone out the conversation Jason and Sookie were having about life, love and the universe. It was so fucking cliche. They had been driving for a while now and Layla had been slipping in and out of sleep just as she had all morning at the hotel.

She had barely said two words to Sookie or Jason and preferred it that way.

Suddenly Eric's face popped up in Jason's window.

"Pull over." he demanded. Layla snorted at his sudden appearance.

"What the fuck, man!" Jason snapped, almost taking the car off the road.

"Please?" Eric asked playfully and Layla tossed him a smile. She was still mad and her stomach was still swelling slightly beneath the loose t-shirt she had worn...well, it had been loose when she had put it on a few hours ago.

As the car pulled over, Nora and Tara also got out so they could prepare to enter the AVL. Eric pulled Layla around to the side of the car, placing a hand on the side of her stomach.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. Layla glanced to make sure Sookie or Jason couldn't see and lifted her shirt to show Eric her swollen belly.

"Oh." he said quietly. Layla's boobs felt huge, she was starving, her shirt was too tight and she felt exhausted.

"You picked the worst possible timing to feed me your blood, you know that? I don't know what possessed you-"

"You look huge." Eric said, still staring at her stomach. Layla blushed a deep crimson.

"Shut up!" she said, shoving him.

"Are you sure it's only two in there?" he asked. Layla kicked him in the shin, mostly to make herself feel better.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she said, rubbing her hands over her tummy. "Swear to God, Eric. If I have stretchmarks because you couldn't keep your fangs to yourself-"

Eric swooped down and kissed her hard on the mouth, a hand fisting in her hair, holding her in place.

"I think you look stunning." Eric said when he finally let her go. Layla blushed again.

"Fucking Viking." she muttered, heading towards the truck bed. Eric slapped her butt.

"Oh, very nice." he said to himself. Layla tossed him a glare over her shoulder and he helped her into the bed of the truck. He and Nora tied and gagged all four of them. Nora patted Layla's bloated belly as she went by and Layla caught Sookie staring, confused. Even with her hand bound, Layla managed to contort herself and flip Sookie off.

"You really shouldn't be going in, Layla." Nora said quietly.

"No, I shouldn't be, but I am." Layla said, resting her hand on her abdomen which she was glad was semi-hidden beneath the t-shirt, but not much. By the time they reached the AVL it would be obvious.

"Layla, are you pregnant?" Sookie asked, staring.

"Nothing gets by you." Layla said grumpily.

"But... when?" the blonde asked, shaking her head in confusion.

"Since before you fucked the father." Layla snapped. Sookie opened her mouth but Eric tied a piece of cloth around her, gagging her. Layla opened her mouth obligingly as she was gagged next.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eric and Nora got all of them past the front gates. Now that they were unbound and in the elevator, they were all strapping themselves with weapons. It appeared, that finally, Layla's belly had finally stopped growing. She was glad she'd had the foresight to wear leggings beneath the once-too-large t-shirt which was now tight against her middle. At least her feet didn't feel swollen...yet.

Eric glanced down at Layla. He don't know what possessed him to allow her to come along, and he was regretting it, but at this point it was safer to have her near him than to send her back to the car. He watched as Nora helped her prepare a gun that fired wooden bullets, his lovely Layla nodding seriously as she listened. Nora glanced at Eric and made a face. It seemed his sister wasn't any happier about him bringing Layla into this. Great. As if there weren't enough women in his family that were pissed at him right now. Right as the elevator was about to stop, Eric looked back at Tara.

"Now." he said softly, and Layla watched Tara hit the button that looked like a garage door opener, but apparently it was something that would knock out the security cameras, at least for a while.

The doors open and the receptionist was instantaneously a blood spatter on the stone wall. Eric gave a quiet command and Layla felt herself sandwiched between both him and Layla, effectively being carried off from where Jason took out more of the security team.

They hid her beneath a conference table in a large, stone antechamber. Eric pressed a finger to his lips, and she rolled her eyes but did as he said. She wasn't about to jump out and yell surprise. It didn't take long for the guards to come in, she heard them rush past her, watched their feet in heavy black boots as they ran past her, soon followed by screaming and piles of blood spraying everywhere. When there was quiet she poked her head out and came out from her hiding spot, finding it a little more difficult with the new weight she was carrying.

"Control room." Eric said to Nora with a small smirk. The three sped off again and as Soon as they reached the control room Layla slumped into a seat. Nora bent over the control and Eric hovered, offering unwarranted advice. They needed to get this done so that the cells that were holding Pam and the others would be unlocked.

"You have to re-route the sensors."

"That's the first thing I did was re-route the sensors-"

"No, you didn't. Please-"

Layla cleared her throat and fixed the squabbling siblings with a stare.

"Eric, let your sister work." she said flatly.

"Do you honestly think you understand the system I helped design better than I do?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, maybe not." Eric admitted, looking back at Layla who gave him a small, encouraging smile. As soon as it was done, they went back to the elevators. In her mind, she thought this went much more smoothly than everyone had anticipated. Then again, she hadn't had to kill anyone.

"They'll be waiting for you up top. So I suggest you all reload on the ride up." Eric said, nearing the elevator.

Only Sookie, Layla and Eric stayed behind. Pam's face was confused.

"Wait? Aren't you coming with us?" she asked.

"We're gonna get Bill." he told her. Pam sighed, a frustrated sound.

"Eric, you can't be serious." she said. Nora frowned at Layla.

"You should come with us." she told her. Layla shrugged.

"I go where he goes. And I'm especially not leaving him alone with Sookie, ever again." she said with a small smile, ignoring the look Eric shot her.

"Sookie." Jason snapped at his sister.

"Make sure it's safe up there for us? We'll be up momentarily." she said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The ran down the halls until they came to a set of double doors which Eric threw open. Sookie and Layla just seconds behind him. Bill was standing there, a pile of vampire guts were at his feet and he was holding something in his hand.

"So, Lillith appeared to you as well." Bill said, sounding almost amused. Layla frowned. He seemed different, more pompous than she'd found him to be when he was just the King of Louisiana. It made her skin crawl.

"Only to savagely obliterate my maker." Eric told him. Layla looked away, the memory of Godric being torn to shreds by something she couldn't see was still a vicious wound. "She's a mad God, Bill." Eric said earnestly. "She's nothing but destruction. Don't do it."

"So you can?" Bill asked skeptically.

"Pour it, in the fucking fire." Eric demanded. Layla stood behind Eric's left shoulder, her eyes on Bill. He had been a friend to her, and she didn't want this for him.

"You will never stop me." he said.

"So why did you authorize our entry, then?" Eric asked. "You knew we would try."

"Because I wasn't sure I'd be able to get rid of Salome on my own." Bill said, nodding at the steaming pile of goo on the floor. Eric rolled his eyes as Sookie spoke.

"Bill, this isn't you." she said softly.

"What the fuck do you know about me?" Bill snapped angrily.

"Whoa, killer." Layla said, stunned by his sudden attitude.

"For all you know everything I did while with you was an act." Bill continued, staring at the blonde. "Calculated to elicit a particular response."

"I know that's not true." Sookie said, looking shocked by his words.

"It's NOT true." Layla said, giving Bill a hard glare. Sookie had done plenty of stupid shit and hurt her plenty of times, but she had also risked her life for Bill and vice versa. Whatever had happened to it, they had once shared a great love and still had ties to one another. Bill could lie and ignore it, but that didn't make it untrue.

"Why? Because the light you bare? Did you ever consider the possibility, that it's a handicap?" he asked cruelly. "One that blinds you to the most obvious of truths. That you are an abomination. Just like the Vampire bible states."

"Fuck you, Bill." Layla snapped. She couldn't help herself. Sure, she made low blows at Sookie, but they were for a pretty valid reason. She didn't hate Sookie because some fucking book told her so. Sookie brushed forward to go closer to Bill, pleading with him that he was stronger than all this bullshit around him. Trying to make him remember the kind of man he'd been. His eyes glazed past her and settled on Layla, lingering at her belly before lifting to Eric, who fixed him with an equally cool gaze before tucking Layla a little farther behind him.

Layla went to step forward as Bill began quoting the bible at her. He was gone. So fucking far gone it was ridiculous. Eric stopped her, but she wanted to go to Sookie. It was too brutal to watch, even for her. If the situation were reversed and Eric were saying these things to her, she would have wanted someone to pull her back, so she didn't fall right over the edge with him.

Layla's jaw dropped as Bill suddenly downed the bottle of blood and a gasp escaped her. Eric made a small movement like a lunge forward but stopped, he was already too late. Bill stood for a second and then began making a terrible gagging noise, blood leaking from everywhere. Layla grabbed Sookie and pulled her back and Eric pushed the pair of them behind him once more. They all stared in horror as Bill screamed and the collapsed onto the floor, a pile of blood and stringy flesh.

Tears welled in Layla's eyes and she pulled Sookie gently towards her, hugging the blonde, stroking her hair and trying not to cry herself. She'd thought they were going to save him, somehow. Layla hadn't prepared herself to the idea of losing. Sookie sobbed, gripping Layla hard and the brunette just rested a cheek against her hair, tears spilling over her face as she glance back at Eric, who laid a hand on Sookie's shoulder. For once, the action didn't make Layla jealous, it made her grateful, because as vicious as the pair of them could be, they still had compassion when it was needed.

"Layla." Eric said, his voice soft and quiet. Layla glanced to where he was looking. The blood. It was moving.

"Sook." Layla said, shaking the girl back a bit, forcing her to see what they were seeing. Bill was rising up from the puddle on the floor, naked, bathed in the red, his eyes wide and alien.

"Fuck." Sookie breathed. Layla's face was one of horror, as was Eric's. Suddenly, this didn't feel like it had been the best idea. Bill stood for a moment and then looked at the three of them, opening his mouth and letting out a roar that was not even remotely human, not even Vampire, and his fangs were the longest she had ever seen.

"RUN!" Eric screamed.