Author's Note: The characters and universe of SVM belong to Charlaine Harris. The first portion of this story, in particular, belongs to her—a significant amount of the text in italics is taken straight from her book 'All Together Dead'.

As the summary says, this story starts with Quinn and Sookie together. If you aren't a fan of Quinn, don't be deterred: I'm not either. But, Sookie is and sometimes you need to let your favourite characters make their own mistakes. So, while there is some explicit content in this story surrounding Eric, none of it involves Quinn. And just know as you're reading, that I'm as excited to get to the Eric content as you are!

I was surrounded by rubble. The coppery scent of blood filled the air. A woman was crying somewhere behind me. My shields were ragged from the shock of the blast and I felt two minds flicker and then extinguish somewhere below me. A man dashed through my line of sight. He was wearing a fluorescent yellow jacket. Some sort of emergency worker, I realised in a daze.

I got the impression of a live brain, and I recognized it at once. I scrambled over piles of rubble, following the signature of the brain of the man I wanted most to find. Quinn and Frannie lay half-buried under a pile of loose rubble. Frannie was unconscious. Quinn was dazed but coming to full awareness.

Quinn tried to smile at me. I fell to my knees beside him. "We might have to change our plans, babe," he said.

My face was wet, and I realised I'd been crying. "You do what you have to do," I said. "You call me when you can. Okay?"

I heard a groan from a few feet away, a breath on the air. Quinn heard it, too. I crawled away from him, pushing aside a large chunk of toilet and sink. There, covered in dust and debris, under several large bits of drywall, lay Andre, completely out of it.

"It's Andre," I told Quinn.

There was a nice, long wood splinter right by his leg, and I was so tempted. I crouched there beside him, hating him, but after all…I knew him. That should have made it easier, but it didn't I duckwalked out of the little alcove where he lay, scuttled back to Quinn.

"You can leave now," Quinn said, his voice getting stronger by the minute.

"You want me to leave?"

His eyes were trying to tell me something. "You could be finding someone else."

"All right," I said, not knowing how to take this, and pushed to my feet. I'd gone maybe two yards when I heard him start to move. I paused, a moment of stillness, then two, passed. I willed my feet to keep moving. I could hear the rubble shifting under Quinn's weight. I turned on my heel, grabbing Quinn's arm before I had the chance to think it through. His wide, purple eyes met mine. His hand was holding the splinter less than a foot from Andre's chest, angled over his heart.

"Leave," Quinn growled. "I've got this."

I shook my head.

"Why?"

"I just…" I searched for the words, "It's too much. No more," I was speaking quietly, conscious there were vampires in the vicinity. I couldn't say the words, but I was sure he knew my meaning. Too much death. Too much violence. I hated Andre, I hated him with every fibre of my being. But this wouldn't be a fair fight, it wouldn't even be a fight. It would be an execution.

"Think about this." His voice was barely a whisper. "He's not going to let you go."

I hesitated.

There was movement from the corner of my eye, and Quinn and I turned as one to Andre's lifeless form. And then, so swiftly the movements were a blur, Andre rose, pulling Quinn toward him with an impossible force. Quinn's face contorted in pain. I screamed, scrabbling at Andre's hands, trying to pry Andre's face from the smooth, tanned skin at Quinn's neck. It was no use. Quinn's beautiful violet eyes turned a dull brown as he died. Then Andre turned to me, his eyes glowing red, and pounced.

I screamed, kicking out at Andre with such force I fell out of bed. Amelia burst into the room, "Sookie!" She cried out. "Are you okay?"

I blinked. I was in my room. It was night. Amelia was here. Andre was not. "Sorry, I–" I started, "I had another bad dream." I reached up to my bedside table and flicked on the lamp.

She stared at me for a moment, and I had enough sense to shore up my shields before I was hit with an onslaught of her thoughts. Amelia was a very clear, very loud broadcaster. "Please, Amelia. Just, I'm tired, I need to sleep."

She eyed me. "Okay, but let me get my herbs."

"I don't nee–" I started, before Amelia cut me off.

"If you let me do this, I'll leave you alone."

I was too tired to argue. I grumbled my assent. She disappeared to get her herbs and I rose, bundling up the mess I'd made of my blankets and putting them at the base of my bed. I was sticky with sweat and couldn't imagine using a blanket.

I opened my bedroom window as wide as it would go, hoping the breeze would come through. I washed my face and dried it. Then decided a shower was in order. It wasn't a particularly hot night but I wanted to wash off the sweat.

It had been weeks since the convention and my nightmares were getting worse. I didn't need to be a genius to figure out what they were about. The dream was always the same. I find Quinn and his sister Frannie amidst the rubble. Andre is unconscious. Quinn tries to kill Andre. I stop him. Then Andre kills us.

In real life, of course, Andre hadn't woken. He remained pale and lifeless. The seconds had dragged as I hesitated and the opportunity had vanished as swiftly as it appeared. The emergency worker had returned, Andre was found and carted away to safety. And I had gotten to work, trying to save other minds I found in the wreckage with Barry the Bellhop.

But, that moment kept gnawing at me. In my waking and sleeping hours. Maybe I shouldn't have stopped Quinn. It might have been my only chance to be free of Andre. His behaviour at the summit had made his intentions clear: he wanted me. Whether that was for the Queen, the kingdom of Louisiana or himself, I wasn't entirely certain.

If it wasn't for Eric's intervention, I'd be blood-tied to Andre right now. I sighed and turned off the shower. The last thing I wanted to do right now was think about blood ties, or I'd find myself having nightmares of a different sort.

I got out of the shower and dried myself in a faded pink towel. It was worn but soft. When I emerged from the bathroom I found Amelia carefully moving around the room, sprinkling a grey dust onto the floor from a small green cloth bag.

Amelia may have well been the mindreader, because she seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. "I know you cleaned yesterday but this is meant to help with bad energy. It's Bay Laurel ashes, I prepared it today just in case." She was far too perky for the middle of the night.

"Did I wake you?" I asked. My throat was hoarse.

"I was up studying. There's chamomile tea on your bedside," she added. She was kneeling on the floor sprinkling ash underneath my bed.

"I already tried chamomile."

"This one was harvested at full moon which is meant to increase its potency, I got it especially." Amelia's tone was that you'd use for a petulant child. I resisted from stamping my foot, and instead stepped around my friend and sank into my bed. I drank my tea dutifully as Amelia finished sprinkling ash on my window sill and on either side of the door. I tried not to think about cleaning it up tomorrow. Heck, if it worked, maybe I wouldn't.

"That's everything," Amelia whispered. "This should work. Goodnight Sookie, sweet dreams," Amelia whispered as she backed out of my bedroom, clicking the door shut behind her. I turned off my lamp and laid back in bed. The scent of lavender engulfed me. I sat up, feeling in my pillow case. I pulled out a handful of lavender Amelia must have placed there. Sighing, I stuffed it back into my pillow and rolled onto my side, willing myself to sleep.

"So, it worked?" Amelia was chirpy the next morning at breakfast. She was sitting at the kitchen table, a bowl of porridge topped with berries in front of her.

"Did what work?" I asked, still groggy with sleep. I heard her disappointment before she answered aloud. "Oh, the herbs. Well, I didn't wake, so that's progress right?"

"But did you still have dreams?" She pressed.

I poured myself a coffee, using the time to think about my response. "I had dreams about that night, but at least I slept."

"That's true," she scooped up a spoonful of porridge, chewing thoughtfully. "I'll figure it out Sookie, we just need to the right mix of magic. I'll ask around for any other remedies."

"Thanks Amelia," I smiled but it felt strained.

I hadn't told Amelia about what had transpired in the rubble of the convention centre. I hadn't told anyone. If I was smart, I would forget it had happened at all. Otherwise Quinn could be in real danger from Andre, and I could be next.

"Quinn called this morning," Amelia said. "I didn't want to wake you."

"He did! What did he say?"

"He said Frannie is almost better and that he'd be here by the end of the week."

So he was coming. My mood lifted at the thought. Before the summit, Quinn had promised to take a month off work so we could spend some time together. Ever since we'd met he was so busy and constantly working, I felt like I'd barely gotten a chance to spend any time with him. It was meant to be a chance to see how we work together, to see if we work together. And more than anything, just to be a normal couple.

But then there had been the bomb at the summit. Quinn's sister Frannie was hurt in the blast. So he'd stayed back to care for her in hospital. It had been a few weeks since the summit and I'd barely heard from my boyfriend. To know that he was coming, and so soon, was a welcome surprise.

"The end of the week!" I mentally went through my schedule. Today was Tuesday, so I still had time to prepare. I'd need to do a proper clean of the house, figure out meals, stock up on groceries, I might see if Jason would come over and mow the lawn…

Amelia interrupted my train of thought. "I've been wanting to go to New Orleans and get some supplies. I might go this weekend, give you two some time alone." She waggled her eyebrows at me. I appreciated her trying to lift my mood.

"You don't need to do that, this is your home too."

"Sookie, you two have barely been alone together. I'm not going to rob you of a proper reunion." Her intonation left me with no doubt as to what she considered a 'proper reunion'.

I smiled. For all her flaws, Amelia could be real considerate sometimes. With Quinn here, I hoped my bad dreams would settle down. I had a feeling they would. "I might give him a call back to talk logistics."

"Good idea," Amelia cleared her bowl, washed it up and put it in the drying rack. I jotted down a list of meal ideas as I drank my coffee. I was about to dial Quinn's number when I noticed the answering machine blinking. Seemed I was popular today.

I pressed the play and a familiar voice filled the air. "Sookie, you are required at Fangtasia tonight. I will expect you by eight."

Author's note: Let me know if you're interested in hearing more. I am writing this as I go so updates will come when inspiration hits (and between my work on my larger story/the sequel to Finding Normal).