A/N: Sorry for the longer than normal wait everyone, they end of the semester is kicking my ass. But as of Wednesday it'll be over and i can go back to spending my free time writing! I was able to get this one done over the breaks from studying i've taken over the last two weeks, enjoy!

SPOV

I'm not sure how long I've been pacing back and forth waiting for Eric, Pam, Karin, and the people they've captured to get back. I know Eric told me they were fine but that doesn't stop the worry. I'm worried for the vampires because I just want them to get back safe but I'm also worried for myself, it was my land these people were casing, what do they want from me? I guess that's what we're about to find out.

Where are we even going to keep them? I look around to find a good place to hold them and realize there aren't really any, not in this room anyway. It makes me think of another problem, how are they going to get passed the front desk and through the lobby while holding two captives? I shrug, Eric's been through this enough times to know how to handle on-lookers.

Speaking of being through this enough times, I've had my fair share of helping with interrogations, it's a downside of being a telepath, I'm the first one that's called when there's information that's needed and the person doesn't want to give it. There have been times I've been hired thinking I was walking into an interview and walked into the middle of an all-night torture session. Even though I'm not fond of being in situations like that, I have learned a thing or two. I go room from room looking for where would be the best place to hold them and land on one of the empty bedrooms, why Pam reserved a five-bedroom suite for just Eric and me, I'll never know. Then again, Pam is the type of woman to account for situations such as these.

As soon as I'm as ready as I think I can be I'm back to pacing back and forth, I look at the clock and realize it's only been about 2 minutes since the last time I looked. "Ugh!"

Just when I think I'm going to go crazy the door to the suite opens and Eric comes through with Pam and Karin carrying the captives, one is unconscious and the other looks beat up too. I remember Karin was hurt when I notice she's limping, I run over to the fridge and am thankful when I realize there's some bagged blood in there so I quickly put it in the microwave before going back to the group.

I walk into the bedroom just in time to see Eric slap the unconscious Were hard enough to wake him up, the other one is a vampire and is already bound by silver. I'm not sure how much help I'll be in this situation, Weres are a speratic read at best and vampires are a complete blank to me. Maybe I could just sit this one out and let the professionals handle it? I'm just about to suggest that when the microwave dings so I run out and quickly grab the bag. By the time I make it back into the room with the blood in a cup and evenly warm the Were is awake. I hand Karin the cup and take the tick up on her lips as thanks enough.

I'm surprised by how clearly I hear the Were and that's when I remember that I went to the faery with Gramps and drank the cool aid, I haven't had a chance to try out my powers since then. 'It's her, I just have to get her alone and get out of here, she looks dumb, I'm sure I could convince her to come with me. These vampires on the other hand, are going to be a problem, if I could just get my hand free then I could get to my pants leg.'

"Where are you supposed to go after you capture me?" I ask taking the lead. It doesn't seem that he knows what I am so I don't think I want to give it away yet. I still have to communicate to Eric that there are weapons on him.

"I don't know what you're talking about lady, I was just out for a walk."

'Can't tell them, they'll kill me'

"A vampire and a wear walk into the woods, I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere." Pam deadpans.

"Eric, did you check him for weapons yet?"

Eric looks at me and I shoot my eyes to his pant legs. "No, I've not yet had the pleasure."

Eric walks over to him and roughly pats him down, not taking care to keep him safe, at one point while he's patting down his arm the guy makes a weird groaning sound, Eric isn't holding him hard enough to break his arm but I'm willing to bet it's close. I close my mind off from him for a minute with my shields, I don't need to hear his foul language and his pain. I'm not a fan of this whole situation, I think I could get the information out of him just fine without violence but like I said, I know how this works. If I want to stay in this world, with Eric, and all the friends I've made, I have to have a strong stomach and be able to handle situations like this. Plus, after I got all the memories from this dimension I stopped lying to myself about wanting nothing to do with the supernatural world. Before I came over here, both me and the Sookie from here still denied that we wanted to be here but we were just lying to ourselves, at least I can finally admit it now.

Knowing all this and agreeing to be a part of this world doesn't mean I have to sit back and watch the guy get tortured in front of me, there are better, nicer, and honestly faster ways to get the information. Eric finds the silver laced stake in the Were's pant leg, unfortunately, he just took his gloves off so he got burnt as he dropped the stake and cursed in his native tongue. I quickly walk over to him to check his hand but the burn is already starting to heal by the time I get to him, though it's healing slower than other injuries because of the silver, he held it for less than a second so the burn isn't too bad. I run my thumb over softly once the burn is completely gone and look at his face to see him giving me a strange, almost soft look that I've never seen before so I can't really decipher it, not right now anyway. A second later he pulls his hand away and looks back at our captives.

I put my shields back down and get back to work too. Eric decides to take up the questioning. "Who sent you and what were you sent for?"

"Fuck you." The vampire answers. Eric looks at Pam and it's all the signal she needs to walk up to him, slap him across the face in a way I've heard being called 'bitch slapping' before, and drag him out of the room, Karin follows right behind her with a smile on her face that'd make me nervous it if were aimed at me. I guess they're going to work on him separately, it makes sense, I can't read him, and we're much more likely to get the information out of the Were but not if he knows that his accomplice could rat them out if they were somehow to get free.

Eric looks back at the Were and quirks his eyebrow. "I told you, I was just out for a walk, I have no clue what any of this is about."

'Her, he wants her.'

I can see Eric's intention to hit him again but I speak up first, "Did they tell you why I was valuable enough to be stolen?"

"I don't know what you're talking about lady."

'I don't ask questions, especially not with a payday that big.'

"Listen Mr…"

He clears his throat, "Uh, Norman."

"Mr. Norman… is that your first or last name?"

"Last."

"Great, Mr. Norman, that's private property, and I know you know that, it's labeled very clearly, every 100 yards or so, my brother made sure of that after, I think it was the second, yeah the second kidnapping attempt. So that excuse just doesn't work here. Plus, you're not human, you're a Were, you know all about enhanced senses, so you know damn well my friends know that you and your two vampire buddies have been stalking my house for days now. And not only that but you've been eluding the vampires Eric here paid to watch over my land while I've been gone. So how about we try that question again, who paid you that big payday you're so set on getting and where were you supposed to take me?"

"I—I—I." 'Think think you fucking idiot, you're better than this, don't say, Nevada, don't say Nevada' "Listen you've got the wrong idea here, now I'm not saying those fangers aren't doing what you think they're doing but not me, I don't even know them. I just found a place I like exercising. There's a lot of land, it's easy and safe to stretch my legs, if you know what I mean, even all four of them. At least I thought it was, didn't mean no disrespect, I can promise you that."

Sometimes it isn't easy keeping track of what people are thinking while they're talking right at you, especially if they're good at lying, it's like listening to two people with the same voice talk to you at once. This guy has already proven himself a decent liar but he's slipping up a little now. I blame it on yet another man underestimating the small blonde girl, he wasn't expecting me to take the lead and he wasn't expecting me to so easily shut down his bull crap lies.

"Did they ever let you know why I'm so valuable? What about me is so special that I've had so many kidnapping attempts that I don't even know what number this is, at least in the double digits, right?" I turn my head to Eric on the last word and he nods with a small smirk on his face.

"At least." He concurs.

"Right, so do you have any idea?" I turn my attention back to Norman.

"I don't ask questions, lady." He replies finally breaking his cover story, from his thoughts, I hear he's telling the truth and he's even a little curious now.

"Who in Nevada paid you to try to capture me?" I don't have to be looking at Eric to know his fangs came down when he heard where the wannabe kidnappers are from, if it's Nevada it can only mean one thing, DeCastro.

"Nevada?..."

'Just a lucky guess, it has to be. They probably already know who wants her for himself.'

"I'm a telepath, so I hear every single thought that goes through your head."

Eric apparently is tired of staying quiet, he's angry now and he growls as he walks over to the Were and grips him up by the neck. "I grow tired of these games, you will tell me who is after my lover. It's the king, yes? Think carefully before you answer, you're not making it out of this room alive but it's up to you how painful your ending will be."

I shiver at his words but I'm not positive why, I know part of it is how he's so callously talking about ending this man's life but I also can't deny, selfishly, it's because he called me his lover and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to hear that term of endearment from him again. Granted, I didn't always like when he called me that, and not many people would think it was sweet but I do, mostly because of our history and how he's been calling me that since before anything ever happened between us.

"I-I don't know, really, I just got a call and was given an address in Vegas to go to, there some low-level nothing special vamp came up to me and gave me a packet with what I needed to find her!"

Eric doesn't seem to like that answer but I can hear from his thoughts that the Were is telling the truth so when I see that glint in Eric's eye that I know means pain for the person he's looking at I speak up, "He's telling the truth, Eric. We're going to have to figure it out another way, maybe the vampire? I mean, it's got to be the king right? That's his area, I don't know who would be ballsy enough to order the kidnapping of someone right in their king's state, right?"

Eric drops the Were back on the chair and looks at me. "Yes, but that might be the point, setting up DeCastro as a contingency plan in case their kidnappers got caught."

"Oh yeah, that makes sense, I didn't think of that. So what should we do now?"

"Wait for Pam to finish and tell us what she learned."

I nod at Eric and wait for him to make sure the Were is properly secure before following him out of the room. We go back into the kitchen area and as we pass one of the extra bedrooms I hear Pam do what I can only describe as an evil cackle, I shiver, I'm so glad I'm not in there with her right now.

Eric sits down, takes out his phone, and starts typing away on it almost as if I'm not even here. I still don't know how to act around him most of the time but at least it seems like things are getting better between us. I sit down next to him when my stomach growls, he pauses what he's typing and lifts his eyes up to me with his brow quirked.

"Oops, I might have forgotten to eat while you guys were gone, I was too worried."

"Hm. Well order your dinner now, we're back and everyone is safe. It'll be a long night though while we strategize how to get you safe again."

"I feel pretty safe here right now," I say idly while reaching over to the room service menu.

"You are safe here with me, as well as when you're with Pam and Karin though you'd be infinitely safer if you didn't have yet another person trying to take you without permission."

I laugh lightly, it's hard for me to remember a time when I didn't have someone who was trying to capture me in one form or another for themselves. "It's not as if this is out of the normal, as soon as we get one person off our back another one pops right up. It was quiet while you were away but that was only because of all the stipulations you put in your contracts, now that I got you out of it, it's pretty much open season for me again."

I look up from the menu when I feel his eyes on me and he's looking at me in a way I can't decipher again. Before I can think better of it I reach over and put my hand on top of his. "What is it, Eric?"

Eric shakes his head and looks away, I don't bother to try to stop the sigh of disappointment at his lack of communication. The sound gets his attention and he looks back to me. "You've, or rather Sookie has always been the type to put herself in danger's way when it comes to people she loves or cares about, and a few times she's even done it for me but this is different Sookie. You're right, this does undo all the work I've put in to keep you safe, you've signed onto a long life of fighting, living in the dark, and dealing with 'vampire bullshit' as you've so aptly put it in the past. You'll never be able to have that normal life that you've wanted so badly, you understand that, yes?" He speaking as if he's having trouble differentiating me from the other Sookie now and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing right now. He's looking at me so earnestly but also like he doesn't understand me and why I'd do that for him.

"I know that Eric, I knew what I was doing when I decided to come for you and I'm okay with the consequences. I love you." I say with a helpless shrug because I don't know what else to add. I don't know what to say to get through to him that I was willing to do whatever I had to so that he'd be free.

I feel his hand tense under mine along with his whole body. I know he's never really been good with emotions but I also know it's more than that, this is extra confusing adding the dimension switches on top of everything else. He'd just gotten used to exposing his feelings to the other Sookie, I might be pushing for too much expecting the same for me so I decide to keep talking so he doesn't have a chance to deny my feelings or say something mean to me so he could feel more in control. "I guess all I'm trying to say is I knew that I'd be right back in the thick of things again, from what I remember about DeCastro he's persistent to put it lightly and I know that we're not done dealing with Freyda by a long shot and I'm okay with that, I'm in it for the long hall with you, Eric. Or I guess as long as you'll have me."

I'm not sure if I've made it any better with my words or worse, I was originally trying to cool the conversation down and not put as much pressure on him but it's like as soon as my mouth started to move I just couldn't stop. He stares at me for a few long seconds before letting out an uncharacteristic sigh seemingly changing the conversation completely. "Pam and I had quite the talk on the way over to your farmhouse today.

"Oh?" I'm not really sure how else to reply to that. So for the sake of conversation, I add on, "A good talk?"

"Depends on your point of view." He grumbles under his breath so low that I almost can't hear him. He continues louder, "She gave me what she called some 'hard truths.'"

I giggle, "I've had a few of them given to me by Pam before too. What were they about today?"

"You," He says bluntly before turning over his hand that mine has been resting on top of for a while so that we're palm to palm.

He opens his mouth to explain more but Pam and Karin come out of the room where they are 'talking' to the vampire, Pam has a self-satisfied smile on her face. I ask, "Good news?"

"Huh? Oh yes, he gave up all his information rather fast, I must say I was disappointed, vampires are supposed to have a higher tolerance for pain than shifters and humans, and they're also supposed to have a higher fortitude too but he sang like a canary not even five minutes in."

"You've been in there for a long time though."

"Oh yes, just because he gave us the information he was looking for doesn't mean we stopped having fun with him."

"What did you learn?" Eric asks cutting straight to the point.

"He wasn't given many details, he was hired in Oklahoma, given a time, place, and person to capture, and was told to bring them to Nevada and to call this number when they had Sookie." She says handing a phone number written down to Eric.

"Wow, he was given a lot more information than our guy was," I say.

"It makes sense, anyone who wants you to know you're a telepath and can't hear vampires, of course, he was trusted with more. He wasn't the leader though, if we'd have caught the one that got away he'd have had even more information." Eric says.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense." I agree.

"What did the Were say?" Pam asks.

"Not much different than the vampire, though he was hired in Vegas."

"Does… does this mean Freyda and DeCastro are working together?" I ask.

"It'd seem that way. It's not surprising, they were working well together while the marriage contract was in negotiations, they both wanted the same thing, me away from you and in Oklahoma. As far as I can tell, their wants still coincide with each other."

I look down at my knees, I don't like this, they were quite adept at keeping Eric and me apart, and I can't help but worry that they'll be able to do it again. This time I'm willing to fight to keep us together but I don't think it's the same with him. I realize my hand is still resting on top of his when I feel his fingers wrap around my hand and squeeze gently, trying to comfort me. I look up to him and offer him a small smile in thanks.

"So what do we do?" I ask after another moment.

"I think it's time I call our king and officially let him know I'm back in town."

Pam nods her head at Eric. "Yes, and I will reach out to our contacts in the king's compound to see if there is any noise about whatever they're planning."

"When do you think we'll be getting the letter or whatever from the council saying there's going to be a vote for whose marriage is the legal one? We still need to make sure we have the last vote we need. Alcede said that he'd get me in contact with the Were but I have to wait until the council vote is official because apparently, he's a real by-the-books type of guy." I say, adding yet another thing to our to-do list.

"We'll have a few more days before we hear anything from them. Appealing to the council takes time, dedication, and getting through a lot of red tape. It'll take Freyda sometime before she's ready to go to them and longer still until we get our notices." Pam answers and I nod.

"Order your food and eat while we attend to the phone calls we must make," Eric suggests, when I nod my head at him he stands up, bends down to place a kiss on the top of my head, and makes his way to the bedroom we're staying in. Pam quirked her eyebrow at me wondering when Eric started showing me affection like that but I'm just as surprised as her and I must just be sitting here with my mouth hanging open, surprised and if I'm being honest, a little confused myself. She eventually snacks her lips before getting up and walking away to make her phone call. Her exit snaps me out of my shock so I go back to looking over the menu.

It isn't until I'm almost done with my filet mignon and baked potato that Eric comes out of the room. I look at him with my eyes wide and worried, I'm not really sure why I didn't try to go in the bedroom with him to listen to the phone call, it's not like I enjoyed the meal at all I was so worried and wondering what was going on. It turns out that he doesn't seem inclined to tell me how it went because he doesn't even look at me, instead, he goes right to the fridge, takes out one of his blood bags, and warms it up. He still doesn't look at me when I clear my throat, then clear it a little louder clearly wanting his attention.

"Eric!" I eventually let out a half yell half whine. When he turns around to face me he has a small smirk on his face.

"I was wondering how long it'd take you to get annoyed at not getting the information you sought. You lasted longer than I'd have bet."

"Yeah well, you got me," I huff and cross my arms, "I'm impatient, it's not like you didn't already know that about me."

"True, though it seems you're improving."

I sit and wait, still waiting to hear how the conversation went, eventually, I can't hold it in any longer. "Eric!"

He chuckles again, "Be calm Sookie, it is fine, for now at least. He pretended to be surprised that I was in the state, he acted as if he still thought I was with Freyda, he made sure to praise your beauty and brains when I told him of the reason our marriage still overrules the one I made with Freyda. He wants to give me some time to settle in before setting up a face-to-face with him to start us back on our duties."

I scoff, "Our duties" Pff, "Any deal or contract I had with him ended when you divorced me in the way of your kind. I don't have any duties and now that I think about it, neither do you, you're not the sheriff anymore, that's Pam now. And she loves that job."

"He's trying to contest that since the whole marriage contract between Freyda and I will be null and void, everything should revert back to how it was before the contract happened."

"Yeah, well, tough luck with that one. I don't want to work for that jerk. If I'm going to be paid for my telepathy I want a choice in who I'm reading for, freelance all the way."

"His argument might hold some ground, unfortunately, I'll have to speak to my lawyers before we can make any arguments or refusals."

"Oh…" I'm not really sure how to respond because I know he's right.

All of a sudden getting out of Louisiana doesn't sound like such a terrible idea. What do I have that's holding me here anyway? It wouldn't be too hard to rent out my house, Jason has a family of his own now, which is crazy, and I have a niece and nephew I've technically never met before. Tara has a family of her own too. I have this strange feeling and realization that I've been living my life and making important decisions based on people who don't need me. They don't think of me when they're making important life decisions, if Jason got a great job out of town the only people he'd be worried about were the ones under his roof, and I'm not mad at him about that, that's how it should be but I'm not doing the same. I've fought so hard to stay in Bon Temps near family and friends that would be completely fine if I left, shit if I didn't say goodbye they'd probably not even realize I'm gone for a while.

Huh, it's a strange realization to have, it's kind of sad, knowing that the people I consider the most important to me don't have me quite as high on their list, but it's also freeing, and it's not like I don't have anyone, Eric and Pam are people that factor me into their decisions, even though things are strange between Eric and I right now he's my family, and Pam is too and not just because I'm married to Eric who's her vampire dad, it's not like I look at her as some weird version of a stepdaughter.

I shake my head, cheese and rice my brain can go to some strange places when I let it wander. Without thinking too deeply about it I look at Eric, walk right over to him, put my hands on his chest, and look at him in the eye, "We could leave."

He quirks his eyebrow, "Leave? We just got into town this morning."

I realize how close to him and in his personal space I am when I flex my fingers and feel his hard chest under them. I almost back up and take my hand off of him but decide to be bold and stay right where I am.

"I mean we can go, go and find somewhere new to live, anywhere. Neither of us has anything holding us here anymore. I could find someone to rent the farmhouse, heck Tara would probably love to and her big family could make better use of it than just little ole' me. We don't have to deal with DeCastro's BS, we can just you know, go find somewhere better, and have fun. I've always wanted to travel and last I talked to Sam I told him he should figure out a way to buy me out of Merlotte's so I'll have some money soon."

"Sookie…" The way he says my name makes it clear he doesn't think it's a good idea, or maybe doesn't believe I actually mean it. I open my mouth to keep talking but I'm surprised when he shuts me up by leaning down and kissing me. It's a little tentative, which is a very strange word to use to explain a kiss from Eric Northman but it's accurate.

I lean up on my toes and kiss him back while moving my hands from his chest to around his neck so I can pull him closer. It's strange how much I can miss something that I've technically never experienced. Sure I kissed amnesiac Eric, kissed, and a whole bunch more but I've never done this with an Eric who has all his faculties, experience, and skills. God, it's good. I remember the kissing and the more from the memories but it's nothing compared to living it myself.

His hands that were resting on the island behind him move to my hips to pull me closer and I feel his whole hard body against me, I can't help but let out something of a mix between a moan and a groan. This part always worked between Eric and me, it's so easy to get lost in the kiss and it's not surprising when it becomes hotter and his hands start roaming my body. Well, if he's going to get handsy with me there's no reason I can't do the same, right? It's completely natural for me to move my hands right to his perfect butt. It is surprising when he chuckles into my mouth before kissing me once more slowly and pulling back. He doesn't move far, just enough so that he can move his nose into my neck and inhale deeply, I move my head to the side to give him better access.

I hear him murmur my name quietly as he exhales my scent and something about how he says my name this time is different, more comfortable, less distant. I'm not exactly sure what that means but I know it's a good thing, I can feel it in my bones. He doesn't seem like he's in any rush to move from the spot we're in now and I'm just happy to be this close to him so I close my eyes, lean in, and let him hold me.