A/N : Wow, Irene had me powerless for a week! Never underestimate the usefulness of your computer until you actually don't have one. Not nice, Mother Nature.

This was another tough chapter. I got a migraine staring at the screen, but I think it's pretty good. I wanted to get that same feeling Eric had when Ocella was around, sort of helpless and humbled. I don't like Eric like that, but he needs to recover from a major trauma. Let's give him some time to get back to bad-ass status. Suggestions and opinions are always welcomed. :)

As always, props to C.H.

Chapter Twelve

"Yes, fuck you, Bill."

We both turned toward the voice. Eric was watching us.

I rushed over to Eric and threw myself at him. "Oh, my God, you're okay," I exclaimed. I was completely overwhelmed and excited to see him suddenly aware. I put my arms around his neck and tried to pull him close to me, but he still wasn't moving an inch. I turned my head toward his face, and I realized that he was glaring at Bill. Never minding the blubbering girl on top of him, his fangs were fully extended and his eyes were hooded.

Bill looked just as sinister, staring back at Eric and quickly clicking his fangs out. He stood up and loomed over us.

"Sookie, get off me."

"Eric," I started, putting my hands on either side of his face so he would look at me. I could feel his muscles twitching and I knew he was tight as a wound up rubber band about to shoot across the room and hit Bill in the jugular. I kneeled right in his lap so he didn't have a choice but look at me. "He was healing me."

"Enjoying himself too," Eric growled.

"He was helping us," I said, but even as the words came out of my mouth, I felt the heat of anger and embarrassment rising up my neck onto my face. This wasn't exactly the reunion moment I'd had in mind, with Bill's blood coursing through my body and Eric not even looking me in the eyes.

"Get off me."

"Eric-"

He pushed me away and I toppled off him as he lunged at Bill. It was a slow act that had obviously used much of his strength. He was face down on the floor before he even made contact with the now smug-faced Bill, who hadn't even bothered moving out of the way. Eric flipped himself over, cringing and grunting through gritted teeth.

"Let him drink from you!" I shrieked up at Bill.

"No," they both said simultaneously, firmly. I was sure neither one of them wanted to be sucking on each other anymore than I wanted to see them actually doing it, but dying beggars can't be choosers. Bill went on, "Only fresh blood will work."

"But Judith's blood healed you." My brain worked quicker than my mouth as I remembered the reason why Judith's blood had worked - they'd had the same maker. "Go get Pam."

"She's injured," Bill said quickly. "The silver-"

Eric groaned. "No more silver." His hands trembled as he clenched his abdomen - the wounds were opening again.

"Shit." I felt the grip of panic trying to pull me down. "Shit, shit! Eric, tell me what to do."

It was at that precise moment that Greger stumbled into the room.

Bruised and battered almost beyond recognition, his glasses were missing and he had a deep gash across one of his eyes. "Greta is gone," he wheezed. "She chased the vamp we were fighting back up on deck."

It took him a moment to stop and focus, and realize what was unfolding in front of him. Blood all over me, practically glowing in the dark with the vamp power flowing through me. Eric and Bill staring each other down like it was high noon. And I heard a very distinct voice in his head. I know what I must do. Just like that. He kneeled down next to Eric, rolled up his sleeve, and simply held out his arm.

Eric didn't hesitate. He grabbed Greger's arm and drank greedily. After a few minutes, I was surprised when he didn't stop. Greger's eyes were fluttering when I stood up with the intention of pulling him away, but Bill stepped in front of me and silently shook his head. Eric was on his knees then, of his own volition. Leaning over Greger, whose face was the picture of confused joy, Eric's body seemed to fill out and gain color before our eyes.

He stopped suddenly, and looked down at Greger's pallid face. Eric took his hand in his own. "You must decide," he said in a kindly voice. "It needs to be now. I do not have the strength to do it myself. Sorren, or Pam?"

"No, sir," Greger replied, sounding tired and frail. "We've talked about this before."

"I had hoped you'd changed your mind."

"Afraid not." Then he smiled deliriously. He was probably hallucinating, his body just running on adrenaline. "I couldn't stand working with Isak every night."

"What's happening here?" I demanded, stupidly. Was Eric really just gonna let Greger die? "Bill?"

"He's making his own choice, Sookie," Bill said, his voice hushed. "To take the last drop of life as the heart stops gives us great power. You know that."

"Your family?" Eric asked.

"They're prepared," Greger replied.

"They will be cared for."

"You'll let them know?"

Eric gave a small nod. "I will tell them myself. I will tell them of the great sacrifice you made."

"Thank you, sir."

"Stop with the sir bullshit," Eric scoffed. "Final decision?"

Greger sighed, apparently at ease with the matter. "Don't have the spirit for it, or the looks. Finish it then."

He looked up at me and feebly smiled, though he was not the same Greger I would have recognized at the hotel only days earlier. It seemed like months had gone by, and I felt a great sadness in my heart for this man that I barely knew. Gran would've liked him, and that thought made me feel even worse. As I smiled back at him, I held my tears back until I felt a painful lump in my throat. Drawing back like a viper, Eric took him by the neck and it was quickly done.

Gently laying him down onto the floor, Eric pressed his forehead to Greger's. "Odin når krigare ikväll," he whispered.

I heard one last thought flit from Greger's mind. Forgive him, his love for you is strong. He died, with his eyes open and fixed on me.

Eric stood up and breathed in a long, cleansing breath. He rolled his shoulders and head around, feeling his body mend and his muscles begin to move together again. His hair, though it didn't grow as long as it was originally, became full and lustrous and evened out just below his ears. He ripped the tee shirt from his body and stood there in jeans and bare feet, feeling along the ripples of his stomach with his fingers. His flesh was healed, his skin once again shining in a way only I could see. He looked up at me and for the first time since I'd walked into the room, he smiled.

Then I did what any other good southern girl who'd just seen someone die in front of her at the hand of her vampire boyfriend would do. I burst out crying. I couldn't say what particular emotion triggered it, because I was feeling at least thirty of them at the same time. I just couldn't hold it in for a second longer. He held his arms out to me and I was against him in an instant. I heaved and sobbed like a blithering idiot as he soothed me with a quiet shush and a soft rub against my hair.

"Did he have any children, or a wife?" I wept.

"No, only some elderly distant relatives. Vamps killed the rest of them before the Revelation." He lifted my chin with his fingers and looked down at me with compassionate eyes. "He was a faithful friend. He made this choice a very long time ago."

"I liked him."

"I did too." He held me tighter, not bothering to quantify it any further. "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid," he whispered.

I shrugged as he wiped the tears off my face. "Old habits, you know."

He chuckled, gently kissing my forehead. "You should not have come, lover."

"Did you really think I wouldn't?"

"Not for a second. Now I will have to get us both out of here."

"Yeah, you've been doin' a real bang up job of that so far."

I didn't say it to be funny, but he laughed again. It was inappropriate and weird at that moment, sure, but the sound of his laughter took a weight off my heart that'd been there since he'd flown off my front porch. There were a thousand questions that needed answering, plus we needed to get our asses back onto the other boat, but instead, we stood there for a quiet moment in each other's arms. Just in case, maybe. He leaned over and kissed me, and it was one of those for-the-first-time-for-the-last-time sort of kisses. His hands came up onto my face and I grabbed around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

For a moment, it was as if we were somewhere else. Then we heard a shuffle, and a creek.

Eric's arm flew out like a frog's tongue and grabbed Bill by the neck just as he was hedging toward the doorway. Bill was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and not move, though I'm sure all three of us were questioning if Eric really could over power anyone at the moment.

"Compton. Remind me to repay you the favor when we get back to Area five."

Swallowing down his pride, Bill's only reply was, "Sherriff."

Suddenly, the boat's engine roared to life. Looking up, I listened to the minds moving around above me but I couldn't make it heads or tails of it. Vamp and were minds running, disappearing, moving closer toward us.

"Something's happening," I said quickly. My eyes darted between the two men in front of me, one still being held still by the other's fingers. "Eric, " I urged, pulling his by his other arm. I quickly bent down and closed Greger's eyes, said the fastest prayer of my life, and walked away from him. I didn't let go or look back. I stepped over the remains of the sumo vamp and pulled on Eric until he followed me and I knew he'd let Bill go. Eric pushed his way in front of me as we rushed though the hallway, cautiously passing darkened rooms and doorways.

When we climbed the stairs onto the upper deck, I almost slipped in the puddle of vamp remains. Desperately searching for the rest of our group with my eyes as well as my mind, I realized the other boat was gone.

"Bill!" I cried out, pointing in the direction of the fishing boat retreating into the fog ahead of us.

"Damn it!" he yelled, watching helplessly as if sailed further out into open water. "I warned Sorren not to trust that dog."

"Sorren is with you?" Eric demanded.

"He was," I sighed. I scanned the area for familiar mental signatures. I felt two vamps close to us, and a were mind that was dreaming or unconscious. "Greta's here, I think she's hurt. Two other vamps."

"Greta?" Eric asked, then he realized who the dog was Bill had just insulted. "Henrik too?"

"He's driving the get-away boat," Bill said with an exasperated wave of his hand.

"And Pam?" Anger was rising in his voice, though he didn't yell.

"With Sorren," I sulked.

"Son av en satkäring," Eric grumbled, running his hands through his hair. Shocked as hell, he looked back at his hands and pulled on his sheared hair. "Den oäkting! Fostra fuckeren!" Then he looked at me, like I had any idea of what he'd just said. Again, going with the out-of-Pam's-mouth idea. "The fucker cut my hair, again!"

Eric stalked off, but being barefoot, it didn't have as great affect as I'm sure he wanted. He leaned over the side of the boat, gripping the wooden railing until his knuckles were bony and white. I had no idea what to say to him. I've never had to talk to a hostage after the rescue, because I'm usually the hostage. Just as I reached out to touch his back, to comfort him in any small way, he turned to me.

"I told you not come, Sookie."

My voice stuttered, like a teenager trying to come up with a valid excuse for doing something incredibly foolish. "It-it was just a dream."

"Don't try to play stupid now, now that you're here and we're stuck!" he yelled, gesturing with his arms wide open.

"We, not I, came here to save your ass, Eric."

"That was no dream."

I couldn't process that statement at the moment, so I conveniently skipped over it. "You'd still be tied up in silver right now -"

"You'd be dead," Bill interrupted. He stood behind me, meaning to defend my words I suppose.

Eric took it differently. His eyes narrowed, his voice became dangerously low. "And yet you found no vice in defiling her in front of me."

Bill tried to push past me, but I put my arm out in front of him and stood between the two of them. Eric turned away again, staring out into the misty blackness.

This was not the Eric I knew. He was being frantic and loud and paranoid. He was threatened by Bill's presence, whom he'd normally shrug away without a second's hesitation. He was shirtless and covered in his own blood, and had completely lost his bearings on the world around him. He wasn't fighting back.

Seeing him like that, I was quickly reminded of how I'd felt after being held captive and tortured. I was certainly not myself, not for a good, long time. Yet Eric waited, so patiently, and brought me back to life. He was not short with me, though I'm sure I made him awfully mad at times, and he gave me space when I needed it. He nurtured me and reminded me of who I was, but most of all, he just waited.

I lowered my arm and looked at Bill, urging him to understand, actually hoping that he had gotten some emotional attachment to me when he'd given me his blood. Back off, he's scared. He stared back at me with incredulous eyes, and I was sure he was thinking the exact same thing I was - we were sitting ducks, waiting for someone to just pluck us off one at a time. He gave me a disapproving shake of his head, yet turned the other way.

Good ol' stupid Bill.

I got a little closer to Eric, yet I did not touch him. "Eric..."

"Sookie, this vampire -"

"Marcus?"

He turned to me, a lone eyebrow arched.

"We went for a little hike before we came to get you," I said with a casual shrug.

"You found Laurus?"

"Is that his name?" I wondered out loud. "Yeah, we found him and his buddies, well, buddy. He told us all about Marcus and what happened with you guys."

"Then you know that Marcus is no one to be trifled with."

"I know he couldn't even get those cave freaks to come help him."

"Do not misjudge him," Eric said. "He has spent the last seven hundred years searching the world for vamps he sired himself among the original legion. He's only found a few, but has had plenty of time to surround himself with strong progeny."

"What for?" I asked. "Why now, after all this time?"

A voice rang out behind us. "Why indeed, my dear?"

I flipped around in a blink, my reflexes switched into overdrive, thanks to my giant dose of vamp blood. There were two men standing behind us - we hadn't even heard them approach. Bill was being held by the forehead with a silver stake poised at his throat by another huge vampire. This one was old, I could tell just by looking at him, plus the fact that Bill wasn't bothering to struggle in the least. The other man just stood there with a cocky smile across his face. He looked middle-aged, well tanned for a vamp. His Mediterranean features suited him, with very dark hair and bright blue eyes. He was tall, nearly as tall as Eric, and dressed like he'd just finished dinner with Donald Trump. It was easy picturing him as the leader of a Roman army.

"I assume we need no introductions. Viking, you remember Sergius, don't you?," Marcus asked, pointing in the direction of the vamp that had Bill in a head lock. "He's the one that staked you when you tried to bite his balls off."

Marcus found this wildly amusing and laughed for a few seconds, before he took a few steps closer to us, hands nonchalantly placed in the pockets of his pleated and impeccably tailored pants. Eric moved his body in front of me, but I took a step over. I wanted to see him. I wanted to stare this man in the eyes at least once. He bent at the waist, leaning over in my direction, and smiled at me with all the charm of a disguised wolf.

"So, this is who all the fuss is about, eh?" He eyed me from head to toe, then took that inevitable sniff of the air as the breeze blew my faery-ness his way. His eyes gleamed with a mischievous and frightening light. "Oh my," he grinned. "I can see they weren't lying. You're marvelous."

He was in front of me then, inches away, bent over so his eyes were directly in front of mine. I was too scared to move, or to wonder who "they" were. "Is it true that you can't be glamoured?" he asked, staring through my eyes and into my brain.

I could feel him trying to pull at my mind like a magnet, tugging at my psyche and just looking for a place he could rip it open and jump on in. After a moment, I closed my eyes and turned away, and he gasped like I'd just done a parlor trick. "Fascinating, truly fascinating. You were right keeping her all to yourself, Viking. I would've done the same thing. Sophie-Anne was a complete dullard. Always just looking for a quick fix. You've got all sorts of potential inside you, don't you?"

I stared defiantly back at him, refusing to be intimidated, which was admittedly easier to do with a six foot high wall planted in front of me. Marcus wasn't like other ancient vamps I'd met. He spoke eloquently, yet used modern words and had a highbrowed English accent. He was dressed impeccably and reeked of power and money. He was quite unlike Ocella, yet he had that same quivering aurora of dominance about him. Ocella wouldn't have known who Sophie-Anne was, nor would he have cared in the slightest to be in her presence. Ocella had no use for the modern rules that governed vamps. While Marcus, on the other hand - well, I would've put money down on him knowing the name of every powerful vamp in the world, and that he had all of their info stored in a smart phone in his back pocket.

"Now," he said, standing upright and pacing regally back and forth in front of us. "You've managed to kill two of my best men, and I have to admit that I'm mildly impressed. That's why I haven't ripped out all of your tracheas one by one yet. The rest of your little gang is on the other ship with a fellow named Günter. He's a rough one, that Günter. He'll keep them all minding their P's and Q's. Except for the baby wolf, of course, she's here with us. We told her father that we'd only rape her and pluck out her eyes as long as he steered the boat where we told him."

He stopped directly in front of Eric, smiling a touch. "Do you know where we're going, Viking? Do you?"

He was egging Eric on, trying to get a reaction. Eric gave him nothing, not even a snarl. He just held his shoulders high and kept his eyes on Marcus, like he was a moving target. "No."

"I'll give you a hint," he said with a wink. "The one place you haven't looked."

Eric's body tensed, and I saw his hands curl into deadly fists, ready to fly. He was fond of good old-fashioned upper cuts when he was hand fighting, and I saw an image of Eric swinging up and cracking Marcus so hard on the jaw that his fangs went flying.

It didn't happen. He just stood there, as Marcus gave a happy little chuckle. "No, I've said too much. I don't want to give away all of my surprises."

This was bordering on ridiculous. Why wasn't Eric fighting back at all? Was he in shock, or being compelled by some strange means? I couldn't stand there and listen to that man talk for a second more. Surely we could try to fight them. We outnumbered them, to hell with post-traumatic stress whatever. Eric had to get his shit together. I put my hand firmly on Eric's arm, meaning to send him a message of some kind. Bill was looking right at me - at least he knew what I was thinking, damn it.

I hadn't even finished curling my fingers around his forearm, when Marcus flicked out his excessively long fangs and snarled right in my face, "Don't get any cute ideas, my dear."

The fangs were gone in an instant and he looked at Eric again, his eyes darkened and no longer concealing the hatred burning behind them. His voice was barely above a whisper. "I think you'll find that I'm being more than reasonable. So I'll throw out a few choices for you right now. You could try to fight your way out of this, which is what your primitive little heart is yearning to do right now, isn't it? But we both know that the blood you've been given won't be enough to keep you going very long, and this little Confederate whelp won't do you much good against my man Sergius over here."

Sergius smiled, Bill growled.

"You could jump and try to swim to the rescue of your friends up ahead of us. However, the water temperature is about 40 degrees right now and your little faery bonbon wouldn't last long. Hypothermia and all." He paused, sliding his eyes over my way and grinning sadistically. "Or, you could go with the more sensible and obvious choice and simply enjoy the ride for a little longer. I guarantee you it won't disappoint."

Marcus turned on his heel to walk away, when I called out from behind Eric, "Why are you doing this?"

He tilted his head, almost looking sympathetic. "You don't know? Well, let's see if I can sum this up in a way that your little brain will understand. Your big, beautiful Viking did me wrong, a long time ago. I'm not talking stealing my wife or killing my dog types of things. I'm talking about dishonoring my name in such a barbaric way that my entire family and all of my descendants were banned from the Roman empire forever and a day. You keeping up with me?"

I eyed Eric, who was still peering down at Marcus like a hawk. "...Yes."

"Good. Now here's the part where you come in. I've had a long time to think about my revenge. That's the pesky thing about revenge - the longer you have to wait, the nastier your ideas become. It's best served cold, you know the line. Turns out, I've got a knack for it. I've turned into somewhat of an evil super genius, waiting all these years. Now, I've kept an eye on my old boy here this whole time, in one way or another, but he's good. He's never slipped up once, never left himself vulnerable. Until now."

My throat constricted. The gravity of my situation began to dawn on me. The two men that I had normally counted on to get on to get me out of situations like this were both helpless at my sides. I almost smacked myself right then and there. When had I become the sort of girl that needed a man to rescue her? When the hell had that happened? I slowly let my eyes wander, carefully looking at my surroundings and my mind began to spin, formulating possible escapes and plans of action. I really wished I had finished that self-defense class. Marcus continued to monologue, as villains and bad guys are known to do in my presence. Again, someone underestimating my intelligence.

"Now, I'll admit that I almost went for Miss Ravenscroft a few times. You know, when I doubted my plan or when I was feeling really anxious. But I'm so glad I didn't, because here you are," he said, clapping his hands together, "And this is going to be just perfect."

"Just take me, end this," Eric said, his voice edgy and gruff.

"No!" I yelped. I couldn't stand him showing that bastard any sort of weakness, especially on my behalf.

Eric ignored me, as usual. "Take all of it, just let her live."

"I will gladly die in her stead," Bill added from the sideline.

"No!" I screamed again.

Marcus smiled at Bill. "Really, that's very sweet of you. It warms my heart, truly. But it's not your lives that I want, or your tiny little fortunes." He looked back at Eric, his fangs slowly sliding out from under his lips. "What I want is to see the look in your eyes as I drain every drop of blood from her body and then, just as she's sputtering her last breaths, I'll turn her. Maybe I'll tie you to a post, so you can wait around and watch her wake up. You can watch her obey every word that comes from my mouth, because she'll have to, and trust me, I've got a list. Then, if you'd like, I'll kill all of you. Better yet, I'll make Sookie do it for me."

That did it.

Eric's fangs clicked out and he grabbed Marcus by the lapels of his thousand dollar suit jacket. "I will rip off your fucking head and take down every living creature within my reach before I ever let you touch her."

Marcus looked down at Eric's hands, completely unfazed. His smile broadened as he said, "I thought you might feel that way. That's why there's one piece of the puzzle I've left out. One you've been looking for, for a long time. You'll be happy to see her. She hasn't changed a bit in a thousand years. Though I can't promise she'll feel the same way, what with you being an absent father and all."

Eric's face blanched, his fangs quickly retracting. "She's..."

"Oh, I've gone and spoiled the surprise. Me and my big mouth."

Eric let his fingers slid away from Marcus, who did his best to smooth out his crumpled jacket. Eric's shoulders slumped and he stood there, silent and beaten.

"I told you I've gotten pretty good at this." With that, he winked at me wickedly, slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, and strolled away down the deck.

Sergius chuckled and rumpled Bill's hair like he was a little boy, then followed Marcus onto the bridge. The three of us stood there in silence as the boat picked up speed and started moving in the same direction as the other boat.

I sat down on the cushions behind me and tightened my jacket. The wind was cutting through my exposed skin, though I already felt pretty numb. Eric collapsed next to me, blood tears welling under his eyes. Bill sat down on the other side of me, with nothing to do but stare ahead, unblinking. That's actually what all three of us did. We sat there, silent and in shock, huddled together in the cold. We stared out into the dark night, wondering what lay beyond the fog.

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