I can't believe it's Sunday again already (at least here it is). Let's get back to the story!

This chapter is unbetaed.

Disclaimer: Sometimes I wonder who took over this story without asking the characters if they like it, but it certainly wasn't me.

Previously:

A light-bulb went off in my mind and suddenly I knew exactly which card I could use to play it my way. I remembered Eric's reaction when I had first told him about Mickey coming to Merlotte's – it was evident that Eric didn't want me to get involved in any of that mess and it crossed my mind that he might help me just so I wouldn't do something crazy like taking things in my own hands if he left me out of other options.
I stood up to take the phone. I sent Tara a supportive look over the table while I waited for someone at Fangtasia to pick up.

"Fangtasia, the place where your bloodiest dreams come true. How can I serve you tonight?"

I wondered if the way Fangtasia's waitresses answered the phone were the effect of Eric's marketing skills, Pam's sense of humour or the girls' own creativity.

"This is Sookie Stackhouse. I have an urgent matter to discuss with Eric."

Luckily for me, the girl who picked up the phone was familiar with my name and knew that I worked for Eric – otherwise she would have probably just made some excuse not to put Eric on the phone since I was sure there were many people calling every night who wanted to talk to him.

"He's in his office," I heard and sighed in relief. I wasn't sure if I was going to catch him. "I'll check if he can talk right now."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

I waited impatiently listening to some 'Gothic' music playing in the background when she put me on hold. I was lucky that night, because only about a minute later I got switched to the other line and connected with Eric's office.

"Sookie," Eric greeted me with his deepest voice, smooth and cool. Listening to it was like touching dark silk. "What a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to hear from you tonight. Is everything all right?"

"Thank you, I'm fine," I said awkwardly because while it wasn't clear what I was thanking for, I understood perfectly well that Eric wasn't asking just out of courtesy.

The very fact that I was calling him so soon after seeing him probably got him thinking and considering that our last meeting had been at the hospital I felt that I needed to reassure him that my crisis didn't involve any new injuries before presenting him with my current request. I took a deep breath.

"Eric, I need a favour," I said nervously and shut my eyes.

He kept quiet for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry, did you just admit that you need help?" he said finally.

"Yes," I replied trying to keep my voice neutral.

"You?" he said slowly. Are asking for my help?"

I gritted my teeth. I didn't even want to think about possible consequences of what I was doing. It was like signing a pact with a devil without reading it first.

"Yes," I quipped again.

Eric chuckled. I didn't know what to think of that.

"And what can I do for you, my dear Sookie?"

Clearly, he was in a great mood. I hesitated – and then I merely sighed and told him about Tara's problem. I mean, how bad could it be even if I did owe Eric? He wouldn't want something… well… too crazy in return, right?

"If she really wanted, she could always run away during daytime," he noticed.

I looked up at Tara.

"She would have to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life," I replied, though I had to admit that it did surprise me that as desperate as she was, she didn't seem to even consider that option.

Eric let the meaningful silence hang for a moment, letting me know exactly what he thought about that.

"Franklin seem to be stuck in the old ways of thinking," he commented.

"Old ways? What do you mean?" I had a bad feeling about that.

It turned out, I was right. My fear was not without merit – Eric pretty much confirmed that the way Franklin had handled Tara's situation used to be a common thing among vampires before the Great Revelation. The image I could draw basing on his explanation was disturbing.

I had known that vampires had been prying on humans for centuries, but that vision reminded me more of farming than hunting – people kept on stand like cows and milked until they were no longer useful and then ending slaughtered. All of that was even more repulsive when you realized that such 'meals on legs' had also served very often as companions and lovers of the vampire who 'owned' them. I shuddered, more from disgust than fear.

I wondered which ones of the vampires I knew used to pick up and hand over humans in such way, but I had no intention of ever asking any of them that question. Nothing good could come out of that kind of knowledge.

"Surely, that's no longer allowed though with vampires living in the open, right?" I said. "You're the sheriff - can't you just punish him for that?"

"For what? Domestic violence? That's not really within my scope of competence. Since your friend doesn't belong to another vampire, he committed no crime against vampire law, only human one. Ironically, it would be easier to nick him before the Great Revelation - then his actions could have been considered threat of exposure, but that's no longer the case. The only thing I can charge him with now is damaging vampires' image, but that's not too hard offence considering he didn't do much in public."

I stifled my urge to curse. I refused to believe that this was it. There had to be something that could be done.

"Okay, so you can't help me as sheriff, but can you help me as you?" I tried another approach.

That gave him a pause, because he didn't answer immediately.

Making it personal was a tricky move and it might easily backfire on me later, but for now it might work in my favour.

"You're not asking me to help you. You're asking me to help Tara."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I am."

"The question is: why would I stick my neck out for her?"

It was time to swallow my pride - and test my theory.

"Because I'm asking you to. Eric… just tell me. Are you going to help me or not?" I asked cutting to the chase. "I need to know. If not..."

"Listen, Sookie…" Tara started suddenly, obviously picking up on the direction of the conversation, but I didn't hear one more word of what she had to say, because as soon as she spoke Eric interrupted me:

"Is Tara with you?" he asked using a completely different tone.

He heard her, of course. I squeezed Tara's hand and put a finger on my mouth.

"Yes."

"Put her on the phone," he said sharply.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"I have a proposal for her."

I moved the phone away from my ear unsurely and slowly passed it to Tara, who raised her eyebrows but took it. I watched her listening intently to whatever Eric had to say to her. Unlike him, I didn't have a super-hearing, so I didn't know what was it he was telling her.

"Deal," was Tara's quick answer. He gave the phone back to me.

"I'll be there in half an hour," Eric tossed and then he hung up before I could voice my hope that he didn't just make some hellish bargain with Tara.

I didn't know what to think, but when I put the phone down and looked back at Tara, there was a smile on her face. She looked grateful and relieved.

"Thank you so much," she said before hugging me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. "Did Eric promise to help you?"

"He did. He said that Mickey is going to be gone by tomorrow."

This time I breathed with relief, though still not quite convinced if I should drop caution yet. It looked like it worked out even better than I thought, but all of that just seemed a little too good to be true – I couldn't stop myself from wondering if Eric didn't do anything tricky… unless he was just waiting with that part for later when he would ask for some kind of favour in return.

"I'll be out of your hair," Tara said getting up. "You need to rest."

But even though she looked genuinely pleased, I felt that she was hiding something from me and I dived into her mind.

"What an ass!" I exclaimed irritated. "He has no right to kick you out of my house!"

My blood boiled. Tara made a face like she was a kid caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

Eric told her to leave immediately. He agreed to take care of Mickey only on that condition.

"What problem does he have with you visiting me?"

"I think he's afraid that Mickey might come after me," Tara said quietly. "He didn't want me to get you in trouble."

I looked at her incredulously. How could she be so calm? And how could she say that with so much understanding in her voice?

"All the more reason for you to stay! It's dangerous for you to leave now!"

"No, Sookie. I'll go. He's right. He told me to look for shelter in some human house. I'm going to spend the night at one of my friends' house."

"Why not here?"

Tara sent me a long and meaningful look. She didn't have to say anything for me to know that was exactly what Eric forbade her to do – what was worse, she agreed with him.

"He's worried about you," Tara said with a hint of surprise and melancholy in her voice. "And I'm glad he is. You have no idea how lucky you are to come across a vampire who cares about you. I wasn't that lucky. I would never wish someone like Mickey on you."

Since there was nothing I could tell to make her change her mind, I walked her to the door. I was so mad at Eric I could spit nails.

I couldn't sit still while waiting for him to arrive. I was walking from one room to another every few minutes. I had no idea why he even wanted to see me.

He stood on the threshold when I opened the door for him. The rain had caught him too on his way to Bon Temps – I took in his darkened hair and wet leather jacket. A smile ghosted on his face when he looked at me and I realized that I was still wearing his shirt. What can I say? It was comfy.

"You have to invite me in," he said. "I've never been inside this building."

"Oh, do I?" I replied glaring at him. "I don't know about that. I'm angry at you. What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk inside? It's raining."

I sighed. It was also cold and while that probably wasn't an issue for Eric, it was for me.

"Come in, Eric."

I led him to the small living-room.

"Take a seat, please. I'm sorry, but I don't have any True Blood in the house," I said. "I didn't do any grocery shopping today, since I didn't want to risk driving just yet."

It troubled me that I couldn't offer him anything. Hospitality was something that had been ingrained very deeply in me and it bothered me when I couldn't follow the unspoken rules – no matter that it was a little funny considering that just a moment ago I didn't even want to let Eric in.

"No problem," Eric said smoothly, looking around curiously.

He sat on the couch and I took a seat on the armchair facing him.

"Why are you angry with me?" he asked.

"I know what you told Tara. Why are you here?" I answered and asked a question of my own.

He didn't even pretend to be sorry about giving Tara orders.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"Oh, pleeeease… See? I'm fine. Happy now?"

He nodded. Apparently he decided to ignore my sarcasm.

"What did you do with Mickey?" I asked because my curiosity got better of me.

"I contacted Salome. She's his maker and she's going to call him off. He should check in with her before dawn."

"Does that mean that you're planning on sitting here until dawn?"

Eric shot me a disapproving look.

"Aren't you supposed to be a little more polite? After all, you came to me for help and I granted it."

I couldn't stop myself from giving him a hairy eye-ball.

"The point was to make sure Tara would be safe – kicking her out from my house to wander around in the middle of the night with Mickey still in the area doesn't quite fit the description in my book."

"If she's smart she'll hide in the closest safe place and lay down for the night. Really, Sookie, show a little gratefulness."

I shook my head.

"I am grateful that you got rid of Mickey – but I'm also angry at you. I would be just grateful if you weren't so high-handed. Eric, I want to thank you, but I'm worried about Tara. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

He shrugged. He was, of course, completely convinced that he was right and not at all worried about my friend's fate.

"You asked me for a favour. Since you wanted me to handle this problem, I'm going to do it my way."

A favour. Well, since we were already on the topic, I could as well get it over with. I had no idea what Eric was going to wish for but not knowing wasn't making me feel any better about it.

"You're going to want something in return, aren't you?" I asked.

Eric only grinned at me. Oh, hell, did that mean that he intended to keep it hanging over me? Would I have to live, who knows how long, constantly aware that I owed him and that he could lord it over me any time he wanted?

"What do you want?" I spat defensively.

Eric's eyes unexpectedly flashed with anger.

"Why do you assume that I have bad intentions?"

I shrugged. That only angered him more.

"Why do you always expect me to hurt you? Have I ever? Why do you keep being so suspicious of me?"

But my temper took the same moment to flare. I had no intention of letting him make me feel guilty. I had my reasons to be wary.

"Eric," I said slowly and coldly. "No longer than two months ago you were standing in my kitchen and threatening me with torture to get information on Bill out of me. I say you shouldn't be surprised that I'm being cautious."

Eric looked honestly surprised at my words. For a second his expression morphed into something I've never seen on his face before – he looked sick.

"Sookie, you know that…" he paused as if he was searching for words. "I didn't plan to follow through with that threat."

"Well, that's very noble of you," I mocked. "Next time you're trying to gain someone's trust take it into account that suggesting something like that might not be the best way to go about it."

I raised my voice at that point. I was upset. This conversation forced me to remember that the Eric who had stayed and watched over me the night before and the Eric who had tried to blackmail me in my own house where the same person. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was also the truth and it hit me hard. I knew that from the logical and chronological point of view it wasn't quite fair to use that kind of argument against Eric, but his question as to why I was so bent on keeping him at the arm's length hit the sore spot I hadn't even known existed.

"Sookie," Eric said, clearly unnerved himself. He leaned forward toward me. "I'm not a nice guy. I've never been. You know that. But I've never wished you harm nor have I ever meant to hurt you, and after everything I've done – many times – to get you out of trouble, I think you should realise that by now."

"Did you notice that usually I wouldn't even be in trouble in the first place if it wasn't for y…"

But I've never finished that sentence. I was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass and before I could wrap my head around what was going on, I saw Eric's body going limp and hitting the ground, face down.

So, it wasn't exactly a nice chat, but I felt like some issues needed to be addressed. What did you think about what they said? Who do you think is right here? As always, I'm curious to hear your opinions.

Feel free to comment! (even if it's to point out some of my more bizarre mistakes - I appreciate that too. Sometimes even I don't know where they come from, lol).

Next time: as you can see, it's going to be more action-packed chapter. Let's see where Sookie's head is going to be by the time this particular crisis is over, shall we?