A/N: Some of you wondered about Pam being so nasty to Sookie in the last chapter. Would she do that? Heck yeah! If she really thought that Eric was going to die and she had no way of helping him other than throwing a few threats Sookie's way, I think she'd say or do whatever she had to. Would Eric beat the you-know-what out of her when he found out? Heck yeah.

Please review when you're done. I find that it gives my skin a nice shiny glow. Not a Cullen glow, like a facial glow. ;)

As always, props to Ms. Harris.

Chapter Five

I was on a boat.

I could feel the waves gently swooshing under my feet. I looked around, and realized that I was in the middle of a vast sea. There was nothing in sight all around except for water and sky. It was a narrow boat I was floating in, but it was also very long. Over my head flew a blue sail with a white dragon emblazed on it.

I was all alone at first, but then I heard the sound of someone softly singing.

"Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, won't somebody help me chase the shadows away."

I glanced toward the bow of the boat and saw a man sitting on a bench. Surely he hadn't been there a moment ago. He was wearing brown leathers and furs, with a large helmet obscuring his face. Long, blond braids flowed down his shoulders.

"Eric?" I asked, curiously.

He kept singing. His voice was low, like a pirate murmuring a sea shanty.

"Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, take me through the darkness to the break of the day."

"Eric," I called out, louder this time, but he didn't notice me at all. His hands were wrapped around the hilt of a huge sword, it's tip dug into the wooden deck between his feet.

I kneeled down across from him, trying to get his attention. I reached out, but just as I was about to touch his hand, he raised his head. His face was badly cut and bruised. His lip was bleeding and one of his cheeks was swollen. He glared at my hand with his piercing sapphire eyes, and I quickly withdrew it.

"What's happened to you?" I whispered.

"Many things," he replied, his voice grim.

"Why are we on this boat?" I asked.

"Why are you on this boat?" he asked in return.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just here."

He sighed, and he seemed annoyed with my presence. He turned away and stared out at the empty horizon for several minutes and I just kneeled in front of him, feeling my body rock with the waves that were slowly pushing the boat along. "They won't let you come, you know." he said finally.

"Come where?"

"They will be here soon, but they won't take you."

"Who's they, Eric?" Tension was raising my voice. I looked over my shoulder, but there was still nothing there but water and sky. I felt a strong urge to get away from this place, but how? There were no oars, barely even a breeze.

"The Valkaries, Sookie. Odin awaits my arrival."

"No, you said the Valkaries..."

"Only warriors are allowed entrance to Valhalla."

"But you're not dead!" I exclaimed. I moved next to him, careful to mind the gleaming blade between his legs. I noticed blood on the edge of it, oozing down onto the planks. I tried to pull him by the shoulder, to turn his face toward me, but he merely slid down the bench away from me. I moved closer anyway, yanking at his tattered sleeves. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

"Leave me be. You should not be here, woman."

"But you called me, Eric. I can feel you inside me. You called to me," I cried desperately.

He turned to me at last, looking bewildered. "Did I?"

I woke up with a gasp. It took me a moment to realize where I was - in what Bill had called a G4, somewhere over the Atlantic. Not in a Viking boat, not with Eric. I sighed and closed my eyes, urging my heart rate to slow down.

I always remembered my dreams, this time was no different. The words burned in my head like a bare light bulb. Was Eric really that close to death? He'd never give up that easily, yet he seemed so blasé, just sitting there like he was waiting for a bus.

But it was just a dream.

The ride from my house to Shreveport Regional Airport had been a tense one. Pam drove just like Eric did, which meant that I tightened my seatbelt and prayed that my human life be spared if she flipped her Audi SUV doing 110 down the highway. It was only a twenty minute ride, but twenty minutes of uncomfortable silence/terror is not good time spent.

As soon as we got on the plane, I settled myself onto a leather couch, as far away from both of my traveling companions as possible, and tried to get some sleep. I knew I'd be spending most of the flight alone because of the time difference, but I still tried to avoid Pam at any cost. She'd thrown a few nasty looks my way, and had actually thrown my luggage at me as well, so I gave her lots of eggshells. (Gran used to say that, when I was sulking, or when she was mad at Jason for something or another. She'd circle around with her finger and say, "You're steppin' on my eggshells.")

My sleep didn't last long though, unfortunately. Stupid dreams. I looked behind me and saw that Pam and Bill were still up. Bill was reading a book in an arm chair and Pam was sitting all the way in the back, staring out at the slowing paling sky. She looked very sad and it was going against my better judgment, as a Christian and as a friend, to not go back there and have a talk with her.

I was getting restless, waiting for the darn sun to come up. I made myself a gin and tonic and dug up a bag of pretzels. Finally, after almost an hour of looking at old magazines and fidgeting in my seat, I heard Pam get up and seal herself into one of the travel coffins behind the seating. I let out a long sigh of relief.

I stared out the window, and all I could see were dark blue clouds. I knew there was nothing under us but black water. That reminded me of my dream. It gave me a creepy feeling, and I drank half my glass.

After a minute, I heard some shuffling around and felt someone sit down on the end of my couch.

"Not now, Bill," I sighed, not even looking away from the window.

"Sookie, we must talk."

"Don't you have to go die for the day?"

"It can wait a few minutes."

"Not now," I repeated. There was a deep sadness growing in my heart as I felt the call from Eric again. It was faint now, but I could still feel it, pulling me inside out.

"Yes, now," he whispered, glancing behind us. "She could still be awake, you must keep your voice low." He slid close to me and I glared, leaning slightly away from him. He immediately backed off with an embarrassed roll of his eyes.

"Well, what is it then?" I asked.

He let out a great sigh and rubbed his hands on his lap. "Alright, now you said you felt pain from Eric?'"

"Yes, horrible pain, and sadness I think. He's so sad." I blinked my eyes, trying to keep in the tears hat were brimming under my eyelids.

"Please explain it to me," he said.

"Why?"

"Because we need to be prepared. We're obviously walking into a dangerous situation."

"Okay," I said with a little nod. Always the Boy Scout, as Eric would say. "I can't feel what he's feeling, like from our bond, because he's too far away. And I know it's daytime there already, but I'm still feeling these things from him. What could that mean?"

"Well," he said, inclining his head. "It could mean that his captors are human and they're keeping him awake on purpose. That's the best case scenario."

"And the worst?"

"That he's being guarded by something two-natured."

"Who's working for a vamp," I said.

He nodded. "That seems very probable, yes." I groaned and looked away, then he quickly added, "We can hope for the humans though."

"Yeah, sure we can," I mumbled, taking the last watered down sips of my drink.

We sat in silence for a minute. He was running out of time before the sunrise, yet he didn't move. I knew him well enough to see that there was something on his mind. I raised my eyebrows and gestured toward him.

"It just doesn't make sense to me," he said quickly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why he would call to you and not to her? Why put you in harm's way?"

"He's hurting, Bill. Maybe he's just going on instinct right now."

"He's a thousand year-old vampire, Sookie. His instinct would be to call to his progeny, if anyone at all."

I huffed out loud and said, "Maybe what you're having a hard time with here is the relationship I have with Eric. We trust each other. He needs me."

He cringed a tiny bit as the word trust slid from my mouth, but he let it go. "This is hardly the time for petty jealousy. Regardless of your affection for each other, you are still merely a mortal."

"I'm merely nothing. We both know that."

We regarded each other for a few seconds, then he turned away with a sigh. Bill and Eric alike had learned not to argue with me. I could keep a fight going like a revolving door until I got my way.

"Cut to the chase, Bill," I said after another minute of letting him stew in it. "What's got you so uppity?"

He looked at me for a second, as if he was deciding whether it was even worth continuing the conversation. "These Scandinavian countries have a long standing vampire population. The individuals that are holding Eric might be even older than he is."

"I've thought of that," I said. "Still doesn't screw us any more than we already are."

"You can't just expect to walk in and walk back out with him," he said. "Things are different there, these are not American vamps we're dealing with. Their traditions go back centuries before the AVL. Eric is very progressive for his age. This will not be in our favor."

"Well, why didn't we bring more people?" My voice hitched up from annoyed to distressed and Bill just looked away, his jaw tense. "So basically, we're going on a suicide mission and no one else would come along."

"It's too risky to get anyone else involved. With Victor on the down low, we never know when he's just gonna show up. We have to proceed like it's business as usual."

"What about the bar?" I asked, referring to Fangtasia. "Is it closed?"

"No, Thalia and Maxwell Lee are in charge while we're gone."

My eyes widened in disbelief. Thalia was as grumpy and crusty as a vampire could get without being locked in a box. She was beautiful and ancient, and she'd just as soon step over your body as check if you were alive. And Maxwell Lee was an accountant. A vampire accountant. Enough said. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Bill shrugged. "Business as usual. If Fangtasia closed, even for only a few days, it would draw attention that we don't need right now."

"We?" I asked. Bill and Eric were far from pals. He hated even stepping foot in Fangtasia.

"Sookie, none of us are above Victor's rule. Especially you."

"You coulda got someone else to come with us," I grumbled.

He gave me that same look Eric always did, like was a dolt. "It isn't my place to offer life favors on Eric's behalf."

"But it's Pam's."

"Pam is not seeing things rationally right now."

"Yeah, no kidding," I scoffed. Personal attacks aside, Thalia and Maxwell Lee being in charge of the bar was questionable, and that was putting it nicely. "So then why are you going?"

"To protect you."

I rolled my eyes - why did I bother asking that question when I already knew the answer? He didn't let me even start to complain.

"Sookie, listen to me. Pam knows that she cannot defeat Eric's captors alone, and that's the only reason why she has acquiesced to my coming at all."

"I know that, Bill."

"This is not a rescue mission for me." he said, giving me one of those intense Bill looks. "This is a mission to keep you alive. There is no way of knowing what kind of condition Eric will be in by the time we find him, and you cannot count on Pam protecting you."

I hated those looks. They used to make my knees weak, then for a while they made me want to punch him square on his nose. But now, it made me feel something else. For the first time in two years, I could finally look back at Bill and think that he was telling me the truth.

"Damn it," I said as I exhaled. I knew Pam was mad at me, but I refused to believe she would actually hurt me or let me be hurt. "Eric and I are bonded though. If I get hurt, then so does he."

"Many vampires have survived the death of their human companions," Bill said. "The same cannot be said of the humans."

"Yeah well, I'm not all together human. Ya'll seem to forget that sometimes."

He chuckled, amused by my snippy comment. "They'd smell you coming a mile away."

"Eric would never forgive her if she let something happen to me," I said defensively. "I've heard them arguing about it."

"She'd sell you to an Arab trader if that meant saving Eric. You are a threat to her."

"Hardly."

"Not physically, emotionally," he insisted. "You are her equal now, and that does not bide well with her, trust me. You must ask yourself - who would he chose if he could only save one of you?"

The words caught in my throat and my mouth slowly closed. When had I become the evil stepmother? It took me a long moment to reply in a very small, humble voice, "I don't know."

"And that is why I am here." He sat back, his point obviously made.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as I stared out the window again. The sky was beginning to brighten and I knew he was fighting to stay awake. This was the longest conversation we'd had in months, about anything other than the weather or the berry growing season. We'd talked several times about his house guest, Judith, but that always led to uncomfortable questions and answers I simply didn't want to know. I wanted Bill to be happy, of course, and I was the one who had arranged for his "sister" to come visit, but I drew the line at hearing the details of their relationship. I had my dignity after all.

"You love him." It was the first time he'd ever admitted that without grinding his fangs.

I turned back to him. "I really do."

He slowly nodded, a vacant look in his eyes. "I know I have lost my chance to be with you, though you are still in my heart."

"Bill-"

He kept going, determined to get it out. "You may not be mine any longer, but I will never give up on you, Sookie. I don't trust Pam, and I have never trusted Eric. I know this is a lot to ask of you, but I need you to trust me now."

I scrunched my eyebrows together and looked at him carefully. I could see nothing but honesty in his eyes. Gran called it being earnest. I realized that I really wanted to believe in him again, believe that there was a good honest person left in there somewhere. I suppose I knew that all along, I knew he was following orders that he had no way of denying. Falling in love with me was his punishment and he was gonna have to live with that every day of his life. I'd gotten used to it, that feeling in your stomach when you realize someone has betrayed you. It had faded over time, like the scars on my body, but it would always be there as a tiny reminder my past. Maybe for Bill, it would never fade. Maybe it would be like an open wound until he found a way to get over what he'd done to me.

I gave him a small smile. "Just let me think about all of this for a spell, okay?"

"Of course," he nodded. "I'll go to rest now."

The remainder of the flight was spent in blessed silence. I was alone with my thoughts and three travel coffins, one of which was conspicuously empty. We stopped for fuel somewhere in England. The customs officer came right to the plan, no waiting on line required. He checked our passports and smiled as he left. Talk about lifestyles of the rich and dead.

We had a layover in a guarded hanger so that when we landed in Sweden, it would be nighttime. I would've never thought of that, but I guessed that was a standard pain in the ass sort of thing that traveling vampires had to deal with. I slept lightly, not letting myself really knock out. I didn't want to have another dream.

When the pilot announced we'd be landing soon, I decided to go through the bag that was onboard for me. I wasn't at all surprised to find a vast assortment of lacey and/or silky undergarments, some of which embarrassed me by just looking at them. But I was actually impressed with the clothing options. I could tell that we would be facing some colder weather than I was used to. I chose a high neck cashmere sweater in a lovely shade of periwinkle and put on a fresh new pair of jeans. There was also a puffy tan waistcoat with a big fur collar and a pair of suede booties, all in my exact sizes of course. I put my hair in a quick braid, just to keep it out of my face.

By the time I exited the little bathroom, Pam and Bill were up and shuffling around. They were packing all sorts of weapons, which I hadn't noticed before. Stakes, crossbows, guns longer than my arm. Were those grenades Bill had just tossed into a duffel bag?

"Jesus Christ, Sheppard of Judea," I mumbled to myself.

Pam looked up from the foot-long blade she was sheathing and gave a wistful sort of smile. "Nope, just us vampires." She had also changed, I noticed, and looked much more put-together than when we left. That is to say, she didn't look like she wanted to pull my head off anymore. She was wearing a fitted leather jacket, black leather pants, and knee high combat boots.

She looked me up and down and said, "You look like the Swiss Miss girl."

"You look like Saks had an S&M sale."

"Good, then I got it right," she said with a straight face. "My safety word is apples."

I smiled a little at her. For an instant, I thought she was going to smile back, but then she turned her back to me and zipped up the bag she was packing. "Are we ready?" she asked.

"We are," Bill replied. He had also changed, though his outfit was a little less lycan hunter and a little more bounty hunter. Dark jeans under a black canvas duster jacket. He was in the process of concealing several handguns and a bunch of stakes, when he noticed that I was staring at him. "We have weapons for you too."

"No thanks," I gulped. "I'll wait 'til I see the white of their eyes."

"What?" Pam asked.

"Never mind." I threw the strap of my bag over my shoulder and walked past both of them. "Let's get going before one of ya'll gets put on the no-fly list."

We didn't speak a word as we stepped off the plane and walked out into a private hanger, this time with no customs officer present at all. There was a black SUV parked on the other side, engine idling. Someone was waiting for us.

A wall of a man climbed out of the car and stood next to it, his arms crossed over his massive chest. Dressed in all black combat clothing, he was striking, in a comic book hero sort of way. He looked like he should've been wearing a silver helmet and holding a giant hammer. His blonde hair was swept back over his shoulders and his eyes were wide and alert. I knew in an instant he was a vamp. He could've been Eric's giant twin brother.

Pam extended her hand to the man and they locked forearms for a second. Viking handshake, I supposed. "Sorren," she said with a solemn nod.

"Pamela Ravenscroft," he nodded in return. "It's been a long time, min harliga jungfru."

"It sure has." She smiled and tilted her hips just a bit. The man grinned as his fingers lingered on her arm. "This is Sorren Andersson," she said, turning to Bill and I. "He's a old friend of Eric's. He's agreed to help us."

"How old?" I asked.

Sorren looked at me, one eyebrow lifted. "Very old," he simply replied. "You must be the frun. Eric has told me much about you."

He grabbed my arm and held it as he had done to Pam. "I'm Sookie, nice to meet you," I said, because I didn't like the sound of that frun word.

I heard him inhale deeply as he stepped back, and he let out a light chuckle. "Ah, now I understand."

I was about to start my usual Eric-doesn't-love-me-just-because-I'm-a-faerie speech, when Bill cleared his throat.

"Oh, and this is Bill," Pam said as a throwaway.

"Yes," Sorren said, the smile fading from his enormous face. "I have also heard of Bill." He did not extend his arm this time.

We packed the bags into the rear of the SUV, and Pam climbed into the passenger's seat, leaving Bill and I no choice but to sit next to each other in the back. Being that close to him and smelling his scent was stirring up strange, uncomfortable feelings in my stomach. I knew he'd forfeit his own life to save mine, but I also knew he could lie to me with a straight up poker face.

I looked to Bill, and saw that he was staring at me. Then I realized that Pam and Sorren were turned around, staring at me as well. "What?" I cried.

Pam rolled her eyes. "What do you mean what?" she said, doing her best imitation of a dumb southerner. "You're the one getting the transmissions right now, not me. Which way, Sherlock?"

They all waited for a response. And waited.

I listened carefully, sat very still and waited for the pull from Eric. I sent out my feelers and called out to him, but all I got was barely a buzz in return. He was out there, somewhere, his blood slowly pumping and sending me a faint signal. But his brain, his emotions, weren't telling me a damn thing.

I plastered on my best crazy Sookie smile, because I had absolutely no idea what to do next.

A/N: Eric will be back soon, I promise. By the way, can anyone name that tune?