Disclaimer: I own nothing related to True Blood.
Present Day...
Paige and her men arrived shortly after midnight and reconvened with the C.A.V.D. agents already posted up nearby, who had been keeping an eye on the Fellowship grounds from afar. Using the cover of darkness they were able to sneak onto the grounds easily enough and start searching around, looking for any signs or clues that would lead them to Godric's whereabouts – eventually, after finding nothing of use, the team broke off into separate groups to set up camp for the night and keep watch. Paige herself took five men and posted up near the church's training area, where a barracks for L.O.D.I. members was located, as well as several obstacle courses and work out areas. She sent a few men off to go keep watch over the house Reverend Newlin and his wife were staying in, then sent the rest to guard the church itself.
Though there were a number of guards pacing around the grounds and looking out for signs of trouble for the whole of the night, their camouflaged clothes and the darkness of night made it easy to avoid detection. And so the first night of reconnaissance passed quietly and without trouble, Paige and her team lurking just in the shadows like predators stalking unsuspecting prey while the church guards remained none the wiser of it – it wasn't until the sun was coming up and shedding light on a new day, however, that they were finally forced to retreat a little further into the surrounding foliage so as not to be seen.
As the first full day on the grounds began and the morning dragged on, the team continued their surveillance, waiting patiently for Sookie and Hugo – as well as Gary and his men – to arrive. After a while, though, Paige couldn't help but feel a little restless; she was anxious to find Godric, eager to see Reverend Newlin and all of his lunatic followers brought to justice, but also knew that it would take a bit of time and that having patience was of the utmost importance. That was easier said than done, though.
At the moment Paige was watching through her binoculars as a group of men jogged laps around the barracks, barely aware of the idle, hushed chat taking place between her comrades. She felt a bead of sweat slide down from her temple and started to wipe at it, but stopped when she remembered the camouflage face paint caked on her face. With a sigh of frustration she lowered her binoculars and, ignoring the sweat tickling her face, stooped down to collect a bottle of water from the pack by her feet.
"Where are they?" She finally heard one of the men behind her quietly ask another comrade. "They should'a been here by now."
Paige took a long gulp from her water bottle then looked down at her wristwatch, frowning when she saw that it was past noon already. He was right, Sookie, Hugo, Gary and the others should have been there over an hour ago – what was taking them so long? Had they run into trouble and she just didn't know it yet?
But in the next moment, as though someone had overheard their conversation and decided to ease their worries, a familiar voice finally sounded through her earpiece. "Paige? Come in, Paige." Gary's voice echoed in her ear.
Paige immediately pressed her fingers against her throat microphone to activate her communication system. "I'm here, Gary." She said in a low voice – this drew the attention of the rest of the team, who all turned expectant eyes in her direction. "What took you so long? Are you on the grounds?"
"Yeah, just got here – we got a little held up at the hotel, but it's nothing to worry about." Gary quickly reassured her. "We're with Garrett's team keepin' an eye on the church now." He went on to explain. "Sookie and Hugo are inside, got in without any problems." Paige couldn't help it, she let out a large sigh of relief – at least that part of the plan was going accordingly. "What's your location?"
"About a quarter mile from the training camp." Paige said, raising her binoculars again to see if anything had changed – other than a few more Fellowship members coming to join in on the workouts, there wasn't much to report. "We have a little bit of movement over here, but not much. Just a bunch of people working out and running around – doesn't look like any of them are armed." She explained. "What's it like over by the church?"
"About the same – people walking around, goin' about their days…nothin' attention grabbing." He answered. There was a beat of silence before he asked in a quiet voice, "How you holdin' up, P-Col?"
She knew what he was really asking, of course – he wanted to know how she was coping with Eric's reentrance into her life and whether it was still affecting her. She decided not to venture down that road. "It's just another day in paradise." She said with a hint of sarcasm, watching as the Fellowship members began running through an obstacle course while a large, bald man yelled and barked orders at them the entire time. Paige lowered her binoculars again and shook her head, disgust filling her – she could only guess what, or rather who, they were training to fight against.
Gary's voice sounded in her ear again. "Did you get any sleep?" He asked, the tone of his voice hinting that he suspected she hadn't.
"Some." Paige answered.
Gary let out an audible heave that immediately let her know he didn't approve and had her preparing herself for some sort of lecture about how she was overworking herself. But instead of reprimanding her for not taking better care if herself, Gary caught her by surprise by suddenly saying, "Hold on a second, I think we've got somethin' over here…"
With her interest piqued, Paige frowned and waited patiently for her partner to continue. Finally after what felt like an entirely too long pause, she impatiently asked, "Well, what is it?"
"Some guys just started movin' in a bunch of wood over here by the church." Gary answered quietly. "Looks like they're about to start building somethin', don't know what though."
Paige only thought this over for a moment before nodded resolutely to herself. "Okay, I'm on my way." She told Gary, already snatching up her pack and reaching for her gun. "I wanna see this for myself."
"Okay, but be careful," Gary instructed.
As the earpiece in her ear went silent again, Paige turned back to her team, who were all watching her expectantly. "There's something going on by the church, so I'm gonna go have a look. Ya'll stay here and keep an eye on them." Paige instructed, motioning toward the people training down by the barracks.
After her men nodded in confirmation, Paige slipped away from the safety of their covered position and began to make her way towards the east side of the grounds, where the church was located. It was a long trek since the training grounds were on the other side of the unnecessarily huge property, but thankfully the foliage of the surrounding forest were thick enough to keep her hidden from prying eyes as she journeyed along. Eventually, once she was starting to near the others' position, Paige stopped to pull out her map and double-check where she was, just to make sure she was still going the right way – she lifted her head, peered around for a second to compare her surroundings to the map, then folded it up again and slipped it into her jacket once she determined she was still on course. Just as she was readying her gun again and preparing to continue on, though, a whistle sounded in the air.
Paige immediately turned at the call, eyes scanning the bushes around her until she finally spotted Tyler, one of their fellow agents. He too was decked in camouflage clothes and face paint and was currently waving her over to his hiding spot in a thick brush. Paige hurried to join him. "Hey, boss." Tyler said in greeting.
"Hey." She said, crouching down next to him. "What're you doin' out here alone?"
"Waiting for you." The slightly older agent answered. "Gary told me to keep an eye out and make sure you found us." He quickly explained. Then he jerked his head to the side. "Follow me, I'll take you to him."
Paige nodded, then did as she was told and followed after Tyler when he turned and began creeping his way through the trees. After only a couple of minutes they found the others just by the treeline – most of the men were peering out at the church about a little over a quarter of a mile away, Gary included, but some were taking breaks or napping nearby after a long night of surveillance.
Paige slung her gun over her shoulder and went to join Gary, patting his shoulder in greeting once she was close enough. "Sup, partner?" Gary greeted.
"Good to see you." She told him with a small smile.
Paige reached forward to push a tree branch out of the way, motioning for Gary to pass over his binoculars with her free hand. Once she was peering through them she could see that there were two men, one with blonde hair and the other with dark hair, and that they were currently hammering away at some wooden structure near the church. It seemed innocent enough, but knowing how fanatical these lunatics were, well…she wouldn't be surprised if this work-in-progress had a much sinister purpose.
Frowning, Paige looked around a bit more to see if anything would hint as to what they were building, but, unfortunately, nothing jumped out at her. "What do you think?" She asked Gary, passing his binoculars back over to him. "Think they're building some kinda vampire torture device or somethin'?"
"No idea." He said with a shrug. "It could be anything from a boat to a house to a really big guillotine…we'll just have to wait and see." Paige nodded and then sighed, stretching her neck first to the left, then to the right to try to work out some of the knots beginning to form there. Gary looked down at her and almost immediately frowned in concern when he saw what she was doing. "You don't look so good, Collins." He commented.
"I'm fine." Paige insisted, shaking her head. "It's just, uh…" She almost started to admit that she was still dwelling on Eric, but trailed off instead and shot a look at the rest of the team loitering nearby, who were all not-so-inconspicuously listening in. They all quickly turned their eyes away when they realized they'd been caught, but Paige still decided not to go into any further detail. "…been a long night." She finally half-lied instead. "But like I said, I'm fine. Trust me." Paige said to bring the conversation to a close. Gary didn't look convinced to any degree, but he didn't argue with her about it and nodded slowly in understanding. "I should probably get back to the barracks now – they're starting to get a bit more active over there. You've got this under control, right?" She asked, motioning to the rest of the team.
"You know it." Gary confirmed. "I'll keep an eye on them, too." He added, inclining his head in the direction of the men working on the new mystery structure. "Once we figure out what they're working on, I'll let you know."
Paige nodded, patted him on the shoulder again, then, after calling out a quick, quiet goodbye to the rest of the team, turned to leave and head back for her original post. She had no idea what this new structure was going to be, didn't know how Sookie and Hugo were doing on the inside, and had absolutely no clue what was going to happen from there, but Paige knew, again, that she'd just have to be patient and see what happened as the day progressed.
The rest of the day went by much like the previous night had. There were a few close calls with some church members when they wandered a little too close to their position for their comfort, but Paige and her men were always able to duck out of sight just in the nick of time to avoid being seen. Other than those near run-ins, however, there was nothing substantial to report from any of the C.A.V.D's positions around the Fellowship grounds, which in hindsight probably wasn't a bad thing, but it was starting to leave everyone feeling antsy and a little frustrated.
"It's been hours." George, one of her fellow agents, hissed at her impatiently. Paige glanced up at the sky, frowning as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the trees. "What if something's happened them?" He continued. "What if they've been caught? We're just sittin' ducks out here, Collins – if they talk and tell the Fellowship we're here, we're all screwed."
"I realize." Paige told him, shooting him a pointed look. "But don't you think we'd know if something had happened to them? There's no way that everyone would be this quiet and this calm if they knew that someone had tried to infiltrate their organization – something would have tipped us off by now if things had gone badly." She said matter-of-factly, ignoring the fact that she herself was not completely convinced that Sookie and Hugo were alright – the one thing they hadn't discussed back at the hotel was how long the two would be staying in the church; Paige was unsure whether the fact that they'd been inside for this long was part of the plan or not. "Besides, do you really think Bill and Isabel would just stand idly by if something was happening to Sookie or Hugo?"
George thought it over for a long few seconds, then nodded his agreement. "You're right." He said, though his tone hinted that he was a little skeptical. "Maybe they are fine. I guess…I guess I just didn't expect for them to be in there for so long. Not on the first day, anyway."
"Me neither." Paige admitted with a sigh. "But until we know for sure what's going on, we're gonna have to be patient." George nodded at hearing that, and Paige returned the gesture before shifting her eyes back in the direction of camp.
A few hours later, once the Fellowship church members had all retreated to their respective quarters for the night and the grounds had cleared of everyone but the guards from the previous night, Paige instructed a few select agents to scout the property again then sent word for everyone else to tighten up their positions and move in closer now that they had the cover of darkness on their side again. She and her team moved to a suitable thicket of trees about forty yards from the barracks and decided to set up camp there – they were close enough that, at first, they were able to see people moving around inside. It wasn't very long before the exhausted church members settled in for the night, however, and the barracks went dark.
Paige propped her rifle up against a tree once the last light in the barracks went out and turned toward her team, who were all looking to her for instruction as they awaited their next move. "We'll stay here and watch over the barracks in shifts while the others look around." She told them. "In the meantime, it's been a pretty long day…I think everyone should take advantage of the calm and get a little rest while you still can." Paige added when she saw a few of the men hide a large yawn behind his hand. "You guys get settled in – I'll take first watch tonight." She said before moving closer to the tree line.
"You sure?" One of the men spoke up unsurely. "You were on watch most of last night, too, boss…"
Paige waved his concerned away. "I'll be fine." She reassured him. "You guys get some rest, I'll wake you up if anything happens."
There was no protest after that and the rest of the men quickly got as comfortable as they could on the hard ground while Paige leaned against a nearby tree, crossing her arms as her gaze locked intently on the barracks in front of them. A few guards were ambling around the building unhurriedly, but seemed none-the-wiser of the fact that there were a half dozen C.A.V.D. agents nearby.
Once the rest of the team was still and silent, Paige sighed and pulled off the black gloves covering the pale skin of her hands, immediately stretching and popping her fingers once they were free. As had been the case last night, now that the others were asleep – or getting there – and she was left to her own devices, her thoughts almost immediately turned back to Eric Northman.
She still couldn't believe that she'd actually told Eric she was still in love with him, and as cringe-worthy as that was in and of itself, it irked her even more to think about how awkward it would be the next time they were face to face.
Judging by his not-so-wonderful reaction to the confession, Paige certainly didn't expect him to just grab her, kiss her senseless, and confess that he loved her too after everything that had happened; it would have been nice, maybe even a miracle if he did, of course, but she knew better than to foolishly hope for something like that. On the contrary, Paige fully expected that Eric would just be even angrier with her because of her little revelation. It was obvious that he was just as confused with everything that was going on as she was, and, undoubtedly, her telling him that she was still in love with him had just made things even more confusing. The confession had probably done more harm than good.
"Paige, come in." Gary's voice sounded in her ear out of nowhere, startling her and making her jump. She nearly knocked her gun over in the process, but quickly recovered before it could fall and make too much noise. Paige glanced toward the guards to see if they'd heard anything, but let out a long breath when it seemed they hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.
"Jesus Christ, scare the shit out of me why don't you." Paige snapped as she pressed the button on her throat microphone and responded to Gary.
"Now I might be wrong about this, but isn't it doubly-blasphemous to take the lord's name in vain on holy ground?" Her partner asked in mock-confusion, seizing the moment to make a smart remark.
Paige snorted. "Call me crazy, but I think the fact that they go around kidnapping vampires with the intent of murdering them kinda takes away from the whole 'holy' aspect."
"Depends on who you talk to, I guess." Gary said nonchalantly.
"As much as I love our playful banter, did you need something, Gary?" She asked impatiently, getting down to business.
"Yeah." He answered. "That thing from earlier? It looks like it's a platform."
Paige frowned for a second. "What thing?" She asked in confusion, not sure she knew what he was talking about.
"Whaddya mean, 'what thing'?" Gary asked, not bothering to hide his incredulity. "All that wood that was brought over to the church earlier today? The thing those two guys from the Fellowship were building? Remember now?" Paige immediately felt like an idiot for having let that slip her mind, feeling even more stupid because of the condescending undertones to her partner's words. "Well, it's a platform with a huge cross on it, placed on the east side of the church." Gary continued before she could answer him. "Now I'll give you three guesses what you think it's for."
Paige took a moment to consider the facts – a vampire hating church had just kidnapped a very old, very powerful, very influential vampire and had now built some sort of platform that would be hit with the sun's rays as soon as dawn approached. It was impossible not to conclude that it had something to do with Godric. "Shit…" Paige hissed, closing her eyes for a moment and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Yeah, shit." Gary echoed. Then he continued. "Look Paige, I understand you're upset about what happened with Eric, but you need to focus." He suggested irritably, making her spine stiffen a bit in response. "Clearly there's some serious shit going down at this church, so you need to be in the right state of mind – not worrying about him."
Paige's jaw dropped in shock at the straightforward, but very unexpected, lecture. "I am focused, thank you very much." She snapped back once she'd recovered. "Maybe if you had been keeping me posted on the progress of that vampire sacrificer now standing tall right in front of you like you said you would, I wouldn't have forgotten what was going on over there." She then added angrily.
Gary was silent for a long few seconds, but eventually came back over the speaker with a sigh. "Alright, alright." He said in surrender. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's just…you haven't been yourself since Eric came back into the picture." He explained. "I'm only trying to look out for you." Paige let her hand fall away from her throat microphone and released a massive heave, knowing Gary had a point but too stubborn to admit it aloud – after a few seconds passed and she still hadn't responded, his voice sounded in her ear again. "Paige?" Gary asked skeptically.
Deciding she'd rather just end this conversation before Gary had the opportunity to lecture her about Eric any further, Paige raised a hand up to her mic again. "Do not take your eyes off of that platform." She instructed in an unfeeling tone. "If they move Godric out there tonight, we need to be ready to take action."
And before Gary had a chance to say anything in response Paige ripped the ear piece out of her ear before taking off her entire communication system and tossing it in the near vicinity of her pack.
Now that she didn't have Gary harping at her anymore, Paige raised a hand up to her face to pinch the bridge of her nose, letting out a long, heavy sigh. When she'd demanded this mission she had not expected it to be so difficult, nor had she thought that it would end up being so personal. But as much as she didn't want to admit it, Paige could not deny that Gary was absolutely right – she hadn't been the same since Eric had come waltzing back into her life. Seeing him again after all this time had completely shaken her normally calm, collected persona and thrown her for a complete loop. This will all be over soon, Paige reminded herself internally, closing her eyes and sucking in a steadying breath, As soon as Godric has been saved, Eric and I will go our separate ways and I'll be able to put this whole mess behind me. I'll never have to see Eric again.
Paige had told herself this in an attempt to bring herself some sense of comfort, but found that it was having the opposite effect. She opened her eyes again and frowned to herself, suddenly realizing that she didn't want to put this mess with Eric behind her. She loved Eric, she always had, and she had never wanted to part with him in the first place – now that he was back in her life again, Paige wanted him to stay in her life. Saying goodbye to him the first time had all but destroyed her; she wasn't sure she'd survive having to say goodbye to him for a second time. Paige had never thought she'd see him again after they broke up, but now that they were around each other again she wanted to make him listen, wanted to force him to hear her side of the story, wanted to try to fix the catastrophe that had become their once incredible relationship…but Eric hated her now, she remembered with a sinking feeling. She had broken his heart, had betrayed him, and he had made it clear that he despised her for it.
She shook her head and leaned heavily against the tree. What wouldn't she give to go back in time and do things differently? Then they would have never broken up and things would have been completely different – hell, they might have even been married by now, for all she knew.
Paige didn't really know how long she stayed on watch for, but eventually her eyes began to grow heavy with exhaustion and it was all she could do not to fall asleep standing up. She'd gotten little sleep over the past few days and the rest she had gotten had been fitful and full of bad dreams – it was all starting to catch up to her now, making her body feel heavy and her mind muddled. A wide yawn escaped her before she could stop it, then she rubbed her eyes to try to force them open again before trying to shake herself awake.
"You should get some sleep." A voice suddenly said from somewhere to her right.
Paige jumped at the unexpected voice, her exhaustion fading in an instant as she automatically grabbed for her gun, raised it in front of her defensively, then whipped around to face the direction the voice had come from. When Eric stepped out from behind a tree, however, her eyes widened in surprise and she slowly lowered her gun again. "Eric?" She asked in confusion, not entirely sure she hadn't fallen asleep and was just dreaming all of this – why was he here? And how long had he been watching her for? "Is this real?" She had to ask.
Eric walked toward her and stopped a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest. "As far as I know, yes." He answered with a hint of sarcasm. "You are confused." He then pointed out when she continued to stare at him with uncertainty.
Paige blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, then set her gun off to the side. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you to show up here." She informed him with a shrug. Then a thought struck her, making her immediately frown with concern. "Why are you here? Has something happened?" Then her eyebrows came together angrily. "Is Stan leading a group into the church to get Godric?" She demanded to know.
Eric simply shook his head, making her instantly relax and nod in relief. "Stan isn't here. I came with Isabel to have a look around and thought it would be wise to check on your team before we left." He proceeded to explain, shooting a glance in the direction of her sleeping comrades some ten feet away. He quirked an eyebrow, disapproval clear as day in his eyes when he shifted his gaze back to her. "Some help they are."
"We're taking it in shifts." Paige immediately defended. "I volunteered to go first." When Eric nodded and turned investigative eyes toward the training camp, she remembered what Gary had told her about the platform by the church. "The Fellowship built a platform on the east side of the church today." She told him in a quiet voice, drawing his attention back to her. "Gary and I think it's for…" She hesitated, not sure how Eric would take this news. "We think its for Godric." She finally finished in a gentle tone.
Eric looked angry for a second, then his expression shifted to that of determination. "It will not happen." He said resolutely.
Paige nodded, thinking it better if she didn't argue with him on the subject. She paused, then asked, "Have you heard from Sookie and Hugo?" to change the subject.
"No." Eric said, sounding a bit calmer now. "Isabel said that Hugo is fine, and if Hugo is fine then Sookie is fine. There is no need for panic." He assured her firmly. Silence fell between them for a few moments before he took another step toward her, his eyes suddenly burning with intensity and taking her by surprise. "I did not just come to check on the church." He admitted. "I also came to talk about what happened between us. After last night, it seems as though we have some things to discuss."
Paige's jaw fell a bit as she looked at him in complete surprise. He actually wanted to talk? This was not at all the reaction she'd expected from him after confessing to him that she still loved him – she'd expected him to be furious and for him to start yelling and hurling all the same insults he'd shouted at her the day she'd broken up with him, possibly even demand that she leave this mission and just get out of his life once and for all. But he looked perfectly calm now. Even somewhat…willing to finally hear the truth.
"Now?" Paige blurted out dumbly.
Eric pulled a face. "You have been adamant about trying to explain yourself to me, yet now, when I present you with the opportunity, you do not want to?" He asked her with an undertone of disbelief in his words.
Paige shook her head. "No, no." She said quickly. "I do." She then insisted. "We…we can talk." Suddenly she felt nervous. Paige shifted on her feet and wrung her hand together, trying to figure how best to approach this. "Where should I start?"
"The beginning would be a good place." Eric offered condescendingly.
Paige nodded, ignoring the sting of his slightly biting remark. Now that Eric was finally willing to hear her side, she was dreading telling him. Every time she thought about what had happened she felt more and more idiotic for the way she'd handled the situation. Now that she was about to tell Eric, she was surely going to feel like a downright fool. "I had a problem…with gambling." She started lamely.
Eric quirked an eyebrow. "Continue. Surely that isn't all."
"No, it's not." She said with a sigh. He waited with a patient look on his face as she paused. "I had a problem," Paige began again, "and I lost a ton of money one weekend before I came to see you at Fangtasia. But I was way too embarrassed to tell you – to tell anyone – that I had a gambling addiction and that I was so broke I wouldn't even be able to buy a pack of gum. And my debt was so bad by that point that I didn't really have much choice – instead of going to you or to a friend for money, I sought outside help." She explained. "That ended up being a really big mistake." Paige added as an afterthought, eyes downcast.
"You went to loan sharks?" Eric asked, filling in some of the gaps himself.
Paige nodded. "I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Borrow some money, pay it off in time, and then leave it in the past." She said with a shrug. "But…well, I was so in love with you and so distracted by our relationship that I just sort of…forgot about it." Paige said, feeling like a grade-A idiot as the words left her lips. When she finally felt brave enough to look up at him, he seemed a bit baffled. "Anyway," Paige continued, "they came to my townhouse the Thursday after that big fight we had." She said, pausing when his eyes flashed at remembering their argument. "They wanted the money – I didn't have it."
"And then what?" He urged, eyes trained on her with rapt attention.
"They knew about us. They'd been following me, keeping tabs. And…and they threatened to kill you if I didn't pay the money back within two weeks."
"They threatened to kill me?" Eric asked incredulously, looking both shocked and a little amused. "And you believed they actually could?" He asked her sharply, the look on his face clearly stating how stupid he found that notion to be.
Paige instantly frowned at him. "Yes, I did." She said defensively. "They took me to a warehouse where they'd been holding a vampire nearly as old as you captive and killed him right in front of me, Eric." His expression changed at hearing that, his eyebrows coming together with consternation as he frowned a bit. "His name was Willelmus – he was seven hundred years old and they turned him into a pile of blood and flesh with one silver stake…that's something I will never forget." Paige paused to collect her thoughts, then shook her head. "I wasn't going to let that happen to you, Eric. I loved you too much to let harm come to you because of my own stupid mistakes." She said sharply.
Eric looked away, his jaw clenching. "Love…" He echoed gruffly. "You seem to be fond of that word these days, Paige." She wasn't sure how to take that remark, but didn't have time to fret over before Eric was saying, "Continue."
Paige sighed and shifted on her feet. "Well, I didn't think I'd be able to get the money in time. And I thought that if I wasn't with you anymore then you'd at least be safe – if I did get the money to them in time, then I wanted to make sure they wouldn't come after you just out of spite. They hated vampires and were practically salivating over the idea of destroying you." She explained gently. "At the time, it seemed like the only way to protect you from them."
She wasn't sure if she was just seeing things or not, but it seemed like some of the harshness left his features. "Were you planning to return to me once you were finished with them?" Eric asked in a neutral tone.
"I wanted to, but I knew you would never take me back. Not after everything I had to tell you to try to make you believe that I didn't want to be with you anymore." Paige admitted softly, heart pounding against her ribs. "I never wanted to leave you, Eric. Ever. But I needed you to be safe. I would do anything for you." She said, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I would do anything to keep you safe, anything to keep you alive. I would gladly give myself up for you if I had to."
Eric shook his head and she saw him swallow hard. "I would never ask you to do such a thing." He said, his tone much less abrasive now. Paige waited as he took in all the information she'd revealed to him, then watched as he reached up and ran a hand through his hair. It was something he rarely did, but she knew from experience that he was either extremely frustrated or conflicted, even if his expression didn't show it. "This wasn't what I had expected to hear." He finally admitted. "I had thought…" He then started to say, only to stop himself short.
"Please, go on." Paige urged, wanting desperately to get some kind of hint as to what he was thinking.
Eric stared at her for a long moment then shook his head, a wry smile pulling at his lips. "I had thought it was me. That I had pushed you too far, that I wasn't…that I wasn't what you wanted or that I wasn't pleasing you anymore." He confessed. Then he shook his head again, looking angry with himself for admitting this to her. "And it seems I'm incapable of holding my tongue around you."
Paige smiled gently, even though she hated herself all over again for filling his head with such doubts. "It was never you." She told him earnestly. "You're everything I've ever wanted and that has never – and will never – change." Paige said, watching as he took a deep breath, his eyes darting over her face again and again as he searched her features – she had to wonder if he was looking for hints of deception. "I don't expect you to forgive me or for you to take me back, Eric." She continued softly. "I don't expect anything from you – I just wanted you to know the truth about what happened between us."
Eric watched her unblinkingly for the longest time, but, finally, his stiff posture seemed to relax some. "I have spent a year and four months building up my guard and disconnecting myself from the things you made me feel, Paige." He admitted so quietly she almost didn't hear him, the gleam in his eyes impossible to read. Then he said something that had her heart skipping a beat. "That won't change overnight."
Paige couldn't help feeling a flicker of hope. What did he mean by that? Was Eric implying that now because he knew the truth that there might be some hope for them in the future? Was he asking her to wait for him until he was ready to let her back into his life? If so, it was more than she could have ever asked for. Still, she tried not to let her hope get the better of her just yet. "I understand." She managed to get out, her voice suddenly deciding it didn't want to work properly in her excitement.
Her heart began to beat wildly when Eric moved just the slightest bit closer. "We will discuss this further after our mission is complete and Godric is safe again." He said with a note of finality. He was close enough to reach but she wisely kept her hands firmly at her sides, ignoring the tingling that entered her lips as they burned with the desire to reacquaint themselves with his. Eric stared at her for another long moment before he started to move a hand in her direction. It only made a few inches, however, before he decided against whatever he'd been considering doing and dropped his hand back to his side. "Paige, just…please be careful." Eric asked of her. "I do not like you being involved in the mission this way." He said, motioning to her gun.
Paige nodded. "I will be, I promise." She told him, butterflies forming in her stomach at his obvious concern for her safety.
Eric nodded once. "I must go now. Get some sleep before you fall over." He said before turning on his heel and leaving at vampire speed, disappearing into the night within a second.
Paige sucked in a deep breath once she was alone again, willing her heart to calm down after their encounter. Then she couldn't help it – she smiled to herself. Up until a few minutes ago she had been positive that Eric hated her, but if she allowed herself to read into it, it seemed as though Eric was reconsidering the ill feeling he'd held for her since they parted ways. Maybe, just maybe, he was considering giving their relationship another chance now that he knew why she had really left him. Paige would admit that she very much hoped he was – they had always been good together and their love had been strong; she knew that if he gave her a chance and that if they worked at it together, they could overcome their past and start anew.
Paige grabbed her gun and walked back over to the rest of the team, waking up the first person she came across to take over watch before flopping onto the ground and using her bag as a pillow. She stared up at the stars for a long moment, thanking whatever God above that had chosen to smile down on her tonight, before her eyelids fell shut, her body relaxing as exhaustion began to overtake her again. Then she fell into one of the best sleeps she'd had in a year and four months.
A/N: Review!