AN: You all have no idea how much I have missed you, seriously like flowers and chocolates and great big hugs and kisses. Life has been kicking my hiney. This is the only thing that not only keeps my spirits up back keeps me sane.

Chapter 21

Back To Reality

Sookie's fear as she slept didn't fade overnight but by the time Kai was six months old, she could fall asleep with him on her chest without fear. When my son reached that half a year mark we had a party. It was more for us than for him. As children should be, he was oblivious to the dangers that dogged him.

We all understood what lay ahead. When he fell asleep, the mood changed and that last bit of joy and lightness was washed away. Sookie and I retrieved the bags we had used on our journey here, and just touching them felt wrong. It was as if we were being pulled into a past we no longer remembered and a reality we no longer recognized. In a way, it was so true. For the first time in over a year, Sookie and I would be returning to the real world.

In a surprising turn of events, Godric and Amelia were geared to leave with us the next morning. Both of them had disowned the outside world long ago. Amelia's father had tried to trade her soul for immortality. Godric was wrought with guilt that he had forsaken me. They were kindred spirits. They had met when life had nothing to offer them but despair. Amelia had helped my maker see beyond his pain and urge to end it all. He had showed her that someone wanted her and not needed her. They created Americ for themselves so nothing else could hurt them. They were risking it to save a world they had long ago lost faith in. I knew they were coming solely because they knew we needed every friend we had.

As they prepared to leave, winter came for the first time in the history of Americ. Instead of seeing the beauty of icicles and full beds of snow all I felt was cold. The waterfall was frozen, as was the pond. All the trees had lost every leaf and flower beds were brown. The bare branches were covered in snow, as was the ground from the porch to every corner of this manmade universe. The enchanted birds weren't singing as Amelia cooked, cleaned, or just annoyed the shit out of me.

Kai was nestled snugly in a sling across Amelia's chest. Sookie could teleport them, but she wasn't sure Kai was old enough. Instead, Amelia and Godric would be escorting him through the emergency portal in the attic. Sookie and I watched them go silently. We didn't tell Kai goodbye. This wasn't goodbye. It was see you later, not only to Kai but to Amelia and Godric too. They would be going directly into the heart of Pam's territory. We would meet them as soon as we could, Sookie sooner than I. I was going to jail for a spell.

The house was quiet and the silence was deafening. Sookie and I did one more walk through looking for anything Kai would need that might have been forgotten. I found myself in the room that I had shared with my mate and child. I looked at Kai's empty crib. This small space was filled with so much love and so many happy memories. To compare it to the entire world was like comparing a spark to a roaring flame. There was nothing I wouldn't give to hang onto this piece of heaven.

I didn't hear her but I felt her arms wrap around my waist from behind and her face nuzzled my back. We didn't speak. She just held me until I closed the door on what had been the happiest place either of us had ever known.

"We'll be back here soon enough," she said, kissing the palm of my hand. "You'll be pissing off your stepmother, Kai will be laughing as Godric pokes and sniffs him, and I'll be watching with a smile."

I nodded because while I wasn't sure, and while I was hurting, I believed her. Her faith would have to be enough because nothing else was acceptable. I turned around she wrapped her arms around me. I held her just as tightly as she held me. Suddenly the, sensation of being pulled away by a gust of wind over took me. I couldn't explain it. It was as if there was a storm in the core of who I was. It was pulling me in away from here and into an entirely other place. When I had settled I looked around and saw the familiar woodland of Minnesota. We landed just outside the forests that surrounded the mansion of the Pythoness.

"You sure I can't come with?" Sookie asked anxiously. "I'd stay in the bushes. You wouldn't even know I was there."

I stared at her for a long minute after which we both burst out laughing. She just didn't have a way with words. "That came out a tad more stalker-like than I intended," she admitted.

I pulled her into my arms and rested my chin on her head. No matter how many times I told her to, she just couldn't let me go into a mildly dangerous situation without her. I knew if the tables were turned, I would be the exact same way. If I knew nothing else, I knew the Old Bat wanted to keep me as her Enforcer. She wouldn't even do the favor of a suspension. She was too cruel for that.

"I'll get arrested, processed, get an arraignment hearing, and then post my ridiculous bail. I will get three phone calls after that and I'll use all of them on you."

She nodded. Our eyes met and I leaned down to kiss her. It was as electrifying as it was comforting, but light as it was, it evoked all the passion our relationship carried. Reluctantly, Sookie let me go. I felt her eyes on me as strongly as a caress as I walked away. The instant I knocked on the guard's post, she disappeared. I didn't see it. I just felt it as the miles separated us. This would be the first time since she came back to me that the moon would rise and fall but we would be apart. .

Surprisingly, there was a lengthy waiting list of vampires looking to enlist in the Enforcers Guild. How's that for irony? All I wanted to do was quit. Service was a way for vampires to be safe. They served the Pythoness, wore her colors, and upheld her laws. In return, they were untouchable to anyone who didn't want a room in the Catacombs. Some might see their shields as a way to gain power and immunity from punishment. Why anyone would think that was beyond me. Your boss was psychic.

The punishment the Pythoness dished out for her Enforcers was something out of the devil's recipe book. In the dungeons of her court, there was a room that had to have its walls rebuilt with every Enforcer that violated their oath. He or she was chained to the ceiling and at dawn, a small hole was etched into the wall. With every day that passed, the hole got bigger causing the vampire to burn slowly. Your length of service determined how long you suffered. The longer your service, the longer you took to burn to ash.

There were a variety of reasons why vampires enlisted. The main one was that their maker was gone for one reason or another and they were too young to stand alone. The other recruits were vampires whose kings or queens had fallen and there was a mark on their back, so service was a great choice. A few like me were guilty of crimes and were given amnesty in exchange for service. The most prevalent reason was makers abandoning their children.

Vampires created fledglings for two reasons: The first was from loneliness; the other was that they thought the child would be mighty and of great use . Sometimes the ones who were seeking power miscalculated. Instead of a warrior, they were landed with a weakling, so they abjured and abandoned them. It would have been more pragmatic to put the child out of their misery but there was something in the blood that wouldn't readily allow the choice. Making a child was an intimate thing, and much like with humans and their children, not all parents were good parents. With vampires there was something in the exchange of blood that didn't allow them to commit infanticide. I supposed it would be similar to keeping a leg that was useless but existent or amputating it entirely.

I came upon the tall black gates that surrounded the mansion of the Old Bat. The vampire manning the entry way was young, as if there still may be dirt behind his ears young. In fact, he barely read as vampire. Where it not for his uniform and lack of a pulse I would have thought him to be a human with a large amount of vampire blood in his system. I processed all that information about him before he registered my presence. When his eyes caught mine, he did a double take and then he went still.

"Look," I told him. "I'm here to turn myself in."

I slid my wrists through the slot that was meant to exchange identification. He didn't move. You would think I was the big bad wolf, looking to huff and puff and blow his house down. All I was trying to do was be arrested. "Moonlight's burning," I urged. "So anytime now."

He moved as fast as he could to cuff me in the event I was trying to trick him. I saw the move coming with enough time to deflect it ten times over. I didn't. The cuffs weren't harmful nor were they breakable. They were silver lined with lead. They would also do nothing to restrain me.

"My spec sheet clearly states that I can fly," I reminded him. His eyes went wide and he typed on the computer to verify what I said and looked at me, panicked. We both stared at each other for a long minute, until he finally spoke.

"What should I do?" he asked.

I sighed. "Bind me in enough silver to weigh me down," I advised.

He nodded and looked around the tiny area for what he needed. It took him five minutes and I was texting Sookie about how hard a time I was having trying to be arrested. It wasn't just to make her feel better, this shit was funny. It would have been easier if I'd just shown up in chains.

"Got it!" he said finally. Then he looked at me up and then down at the chain. "Where do they go? I'm not trained for field duty."

You think? I thought to myself.

"Uncuff me," I said.

He did, and I was able to throw the heavy length of chain over my shoulders. It was then that he was comfortable enough to come out from behind the gate. He finished winding the chain around me but he kept staring at me.

"That's all, so unless you're going to kiss me, stop staring!"

He smiled. "I was hoping we could fight." he said with a shrug. "It's my first day out and it would be great if I fought a rogue S7 Enforcer, not to mention 'The Viking.' I heard what you did to the four teams of S4s who caught up with you in Cali."

It was probably entirely insane but I laughed. There was something about him that I liked. There was an air of eagerness to him that explained how he got himself assigned here despite his lack of training. Therefore, I refrained from giving him a hard time, which by the way was an affront to my personal philosophy. He was happy and enthusiastic about his job. I suppose I found it interesting because I was so far on the other side of the spectrum.

"Sure," I said. "But you realize that I have to hurt you a lot worse to make it believable."

He grinned from ear to ear. "Awesome!"

At least he was invested in the idea. I had to respect that, but this was going to count as my good deed for the decade. If by some miracle I could help save the world, I wouldn't so much as hold the door for the person behind me.

"First, you'll need to call my other half so she doesn't worry."

He reached into my pocket and found the name that said 'Other Half' and dialed. "Hi, my name is Camden. I'm a guard at the Enforcer House in Minnesota."

"Is Eric alright?" she asked.

"Fine, Lover," I called.

"Anyways, he said we could fight…"

There was a pause and then Sookie cursed so furiously I barely made out the insults.

"I said he could," I interrupted when the tirade had ended.

There was another pause. "I get that whips and chains excite you but this shit is kinky, Eric, even for you."

I laughed. "He's new. It would help him go a long way."

There was a sigh, but it was amused and less concerned. "You're a sick vampire, Eric Northman, you know that?"

"And you, my crazy lover, complete me," I said laughing.

Sookie got off the phone, then it was just me and the young vampire. He didn't seem to know how to begin the fight he'd signed up for. "It would be more realistic if it looks like you had to wrestle the chains on but not all the way. You should also smash your radio and shout for help instead."

He nodded. "Right, that's a good idea," he said stomping on the device.

I kicked his ass. If I was being fair, he wasn't that bad a fighter or weak; he had raw skill, but he was seriously outclassed. By the time help arrived he was bloody and broken, but I let him get a quarter of the chain around my neck. The reinforcements came and I didn't resist though it didn't keep them from using excessive force.

I was thrown in a cell in the dungeons of the mansion. I knew the place well. It was often where I went to hide from the Pythoness when she wanted to punish me with meetings and paperwork. A vampire could only take so much torture. The lead coated chains weren't removed despite the fact that I was behind silver bars. You dismantle a few master vampires and they treat you like Dracula.

"Looks like the Golden Boy has lost his crown,"

The voice was female and the tone was gloating. It was also very unfamiliar. This could be anyone. I'd been pissing off Enforcers and the world in general for so long, from George Washington to Queen Elizabeth II, I was unable to hazard a guess..

"If this is going to a lengthy anecdote, I think it's fair to inform you that I have a short attention span."

"Always so funny, always so perfect, always so clever, but you have finally pushed too far."

I saw the speaker but she wasn't at all familiar. She was a mixture of races. Her skin was caramel; her features were stark, but soft. Her hair was braided into neat rows and her eyes were green. I said nothing as she came to stand in front of my cell. With every second that passed, her rage grew. Therefore, I should definitely know her. Yet, I had no fucking clue who she was.

"I'll be chipping the holes into the sunroom while you're in it," she hissed. "That would jog your memory."

I stared at her blankly. Her scent didn't pique my senses so she was definitely someone I had come across before but found mundane. Seeing I'd been doing a great job of pissing her off, it would be a shame to abandon the angle. It was also what I was great at.

"I don't suppose I get to buy a vowel," I ventured.

"You are going to burn for this!" she snarled, with fangs exposed.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't fuck you," I said. "There's a bug burrowed so deep up your ass that I doubt any man would fit."

Her keys were in her hand and she had it the gate before she realized who awaited her. Chained or not, I would break her neck if she walked in here alone. She remembered it too before she made the mistake. Damn, I really would have liked adding the humiliation of being beat to shit by a bound prisoner to her list of issues.

"I headed cleanup after you murdered half that village two hundred years ago. I arrested you and brought in just so you could skate on your charges. Then I am partnered with you. Do you have any idea how insulting that was for an Enforcer of my caliber?"

"By your anger issues, I'm guessing very," I quipped. "Especially because I skipped the Academy and you probably got sent back after I ditched your overenthusiastic ass."

That was the last straw. She was inside my cell with a silver baton in her gloved hands. I let her land the first blow. Then I head butted her in the face so hard that her head was introduced to her spinal column. Within the same instant, I kicked her in the face and sent her flying out of my cell. I was polite enough to coax the gate shut with my booted foot. And people said I was a degenerate brute! Unbelievable!

Catching the scent of blood, three other guards came down. They looked into the cell where I stood behind silver bars, and then down at the unconscious vampire. Knowing I was guilty and figuring out how I accomplished it were two different things. In the end, they carried her out and no one returned.

In the interim, I was thinking about Kai. I wondered if my son had initiated my sister into the club of his favorite people by spitting up on her. Pam's reaction was enough to have me laughing to myself. I wondered who was watching Kai tonight because for once it wasn't me. I wondered if he noticed my absence. I wondered what he was wearing, what he had eaten, and if he was asleep yet.

My mind moved to Sookie. I knew she was trying to comfort me and wanted me calm. I was trying to do the same so we just ended up annoying the shit out of each other. That was the only comfort either of us needed. My daydreams were interrupted when my docket number was called. I was led into the courtroom by a dozen guards. It was overkill in my opinion, but no one asked.

The Ancient Pythoness sat behind her raised bench. Her expression was severe. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes.

"Eric Northman, you are being charged with the following crimes," the head scribe read. The piece of parchment she had fell to her waist. "Desertion from the Guild of the Enforcers, violating the law of the Pythoness…" It went on and on. She listed every Enforcer I had injured during my time on the run. It was a long list. It even involved the vampire at the gate.

"You have disgraced the Guild of Enforcers," the Old Bat said.

Finally, I thought. I'd been trying to do that for ages now.

"You are immediately stripped of you title and your rank. Your bail has been set at five hundred thousand. Can you provide that amount?"

I nodded. "Yes, and I ask to be released on my own recognizance. I surrendered with the intent to throw myself upon the mercy of the court."

"No, lest you disappear into the wind for another year. You have broken an oath and cannot be trusted." she said blandly. "You will pay your bail after which you will be granted due process and remanded to my hospitality until your trial, whenever that may be. Next case."

I rolled my eyes internally. The Old Bat was really laying it on thick.