En route to Fangtasia

[onceaviking]

He moves through the air, silent and fast, the crazed King of Mississippi and Louisiana next to him, cradling the slimy remains of his dead consort encased in crystal in his arms.

Honing in on Sookie.

He can feel her.
Giddy with relief. Having escaped.

And yes, there she is. Or rather, there is her tiny car.
And he can hear her too. Chattering away, high on adrenalin.
"..,happily married. And I'm not a waitress anymore. I'm - I'm going to college. No! I'm a real estate agent, and I'm really rich."

Happily married? Happily married?!
Oh, for fuck's sake. She wants to play house with Bill Compton. And he had been so sure he'd planted enough doubt in her mind.

And then there's the dulcet tones of Compton, trying to one up her in the sap department.
"I teach third grade," he says, voice sincere, "and I love my job."

Third grade?!

And he sounds like he means it. He's either a much better actor than Eric would ever have given him credit for, or he's beginning to believe his own mainstreaming bullshit.

William Compton, the shredder of whores, no wait, sorry, the third grade teacher.

Next to him, Edginton starts laughing.
Manically.
It drowns out some equally, sappy shit about gardening and dinner parties.

Then Sookie says, "We don't even know Eric Northman."
"Everything is peaceful."

They land in the road in front of the speeding car.

Sookie screams.

Edgington slams his hand down on the hood and the car's rear end lifts high into the air, almost toppling over, and Eric can't help himself, quickly bending to see if she is alright. To make sure that she is alright.

He needs her alive for this.

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[dobadthings]

He's been dreading this. It's the blood, isn't it. The bond now goes both ways.

With vampire speed, Bill rushes to stop her, standing in front of her and firmly grasping her arms.

"Sookie..."

[onceaviking]

She glares at him.

They're just alike, aren't they? Eric and Bill.
"You don't own me," she spits out and then she pulls free of his grip and pushes past him.
Through the door, out into the sun.

It's a gruesome sight. Both vampires down on the ground, steam and smoke rising from every part of exposed skin. Their faces and hands are charred and blistered, and it smells.

She hurries over and stands over them, staring down.
"Eric, this is just stupid," she says. Because it sure needs saying.

And he answers, but somehow it seems like he isn't really talking to her.
"Go away." It's almost whispered.

He sees her. Sort of. But he is having a hard time focusing on her. Because of the pain. Because of -
"Forgive him. Before it is too late".
"No forgiveness."
And Godric keeps looking at him. With that look in his eyes. But he won't. He won't forgive Edgington. No.


"I won't let you do this," she says, full of determination, kneeling down between them. And then Russell speaks up, his eyes glinting and full of madness, "Sweetie, please. Use your gift." His voice full of saccharine pleading.

"I don't know how," she says, flustered enough to deign him with an answer, getting back up again,
"Yes, you do," the King wheedles. "Don't think about it. Don't try."

She holds out a hand.

Nothing happens.

"I will not surrender to the true death." It's Russell again, all hints of sweetness gone.
"I will find a way to come back and kill your precious Viking and your brooding Mr.
Compton and his unbearable progeny and anyone you ever cared about, and all because you didn't use your fucking power!"

Eric manages to turn his head to look at him. Ranting and raving. He doesn't feel anything. It's all too distant.
He can feel Godric's eyes on him.

Perhaps it was all a sneaky ploy on Russell's behalf. Hoping to shock Sookie into action.
If that is the case, it works. She angrily thrusts her hand forward and a ball of light leaves her fingertips, shattering the handcuffs. She looks down at receding glow with awe and uncertainness.
And then Russell proves that he is not all that good at reading people, crowing, "Well, it's about fucking time. Now drag me the fuck inside."

Sookie Stackhouse straightens her back and looks down at him with contempt,
"You watch your fucking language," she hisses. And then she bends to grab hold of Eric,, dragging him down back to the bar.
He doesn't react. His half open eyes stay looking ahead. Dully.


Godric turns a little, the light breeze playing with his white shirt, with his cropped hair. He looks at Eric. Expectantly. He looks at him.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam, still watching the monitor, sits bolt upright when she sees Sookie intervening. Her eyes grow wide when she shoots light from her hand--

what the fuck


She scrambles off the bar stool and rushes to the door. Standing behind it, she opens it, letting the sunlight stream inside.

"Hurry!" she yells at little Sookie, powered by vampire blood and adrenaline, as she singlehandedly drags the dead weight of the 6-foot-4 Viking across the asphalt.

[onceaviking]

"That's easy enough for you to say," Sookie yells back. "He weighs a ton."

She makes it through the door, panting and sweating and lets go of Eric's armpits.

The back of his head hits the floor.
Hard.

He doesn't react.

The stench of burnt vampire flesh fills the room.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam drops to the floor beside Eric.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," she mutters under her breath as she gently sweeps his hair back from his blistered forehead. Smoke rises from his charred skin. His eyes are dull and staring into space.

"Eric. Eric. Oh, God."

Pam looks up at Sookie and Bill.

"He needs blood," she says urgently. "Human blood. He's too weak to drop fang."

[onceaviking]

Sookie looks down at him.
Then she turns to Bill and holds up her wrist.
"Bite me."

It's not a suggestion.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Bill doesn't look very pleased about this non-suggestion. But Sookie is Sookie, and she gets what she wants.

His fangs drop, and he takes hold of her arm. Reluctantly, he bites her.

Meanwhile, Pam quickly searches through Eric's pockets.

"Oh, thank God, the key," she says, relieved, when she finds it in his front jeans pocket. She gets up and rushes to the bar for a pair of rubber gloves and pulls them on. Kneeling back down by Eric's side, she unlocks the silver cuff and removes it from his wrist, where it had burned into his flesh.

[onceaviking]

Sookie walks over to Eric. And then she looks back at Bill, saying, "Keep an eye on him. We both know he could loose control."

That any vampire could loose control.

She kneels down and presses her wrist to his mouth, trying not to cringe at the feel of his torn and charred lips.

-

Eric feels the blood trickle between his lightly parted lips.

Sookie's blood.

Everything hurts. His wrist where the silver cuff has ingrained itself in his skin and flesh, his face.

Inside. Godric looking at him with disappointment and so much -

He swallows. And then he lifts one large, ravaged hand, and closes it around her hand.
Gently.

Drinking.

[lazy_but_loyal]

That particular phrase gives Bill a pang of guilt.

But he bites it back and looms over them, watching Eric, especially when he starts to regain his strength.

Pam watches, too. The blood that streaks her cheeks could just be the bleeds. Or she could be silently weeping out of relief. She lays a hand on Eric's leg, eager to feel him recover.

She may hate Sookie, but she's a handy food source.

[onceaviking]

The wounds on Eric's face begin to close. The charred flesh slowly returns to its natural, pale state.

He makes a small growly sound and changes his grip on Sookie a little. Holding her tighter. Drinking deeper.

She darts a glance at Bill. Looking slightly worried. And in pain,

[dobadthings]

Eric is healing quickly with Sookie's blood, and it's easy for any vampire to get carried away when feeding from her. But it might be just Bill's imagination (or his jealousy) that leads him to believe that Eric is drinking more than he ought to just because he thinks he can. Just because he's drinking from her right in front of his face. Because she offered.

"That's enough," he mutters.

And when Eric doesn't stop, he forcibly tears Sookie's arm from his grip. Letting his fangs down, he pricks his own finger and rubs his blood on her wrist to heal the wound.

Pam looks on. There's a faint smile on her lips. She has Eric back, he's all healed up, and judging by what just happened, he's okay.

[onceaviking]

She does taste unlike anything else.
He sighs. Softly.

Then he realizes that nobody is spewing vitriol anywhere near them.

" Where's Russell?"

"Outside," Sookie answers, seemingly a little puzzled as to why he asks.

"We have to bring him in," Eric says. As if it should somehow have been obvious to the rest of them.

[dobadthings]

Bill frowns, bewildered at his request.

"Are you insane? Why?"

Pam's expression falls, too, as if she's wondering if the sun had somehow boiled Eric's brain.

[onceaviking]

"Godric appeared to me and asked me to spare Russell."

He says it like it is the most reasonable thing in the world.
He did see him.
Just like Jay's little witch girl had.

[dobadthings]

Pam raises an eyebrow at the name Godric.

Okay, she knows Eric misses him and all, and that is one thing. But having visions of him is another.

She's certain that the sun did get to him.

Bill remarks, "You are insane."

Thank you, Mr. Compton.

[onceaviking]

"Sookie ..."

Now, Sookie could join the chorus of insanity accusers, aka Bill. But she doesn't. Somehow she doesn't feel right saying anything about Godric.
Lord knows that she has wanted to see Gran often enough. And who's to say that vampires can't come back, once they've met the True Death?

Anyway, she doesn't even need to go there, because there are other things here that are just plain wrong.

"You want me to go get the guy who wants to kill us all and bring him inside? Really?"

He can't be serious.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam just puts it out there.

"Eric, do the world a favor and let that little fuck fry."

She is not having any of this bullshit.

[onceaviking]

Eric suppresses a sigh and sits up, a little stiffly.
As he swings his legs down, he says, "I'll just go get him myself."
If that's the way it's going to be.

He gets to his feet and turns to hiss at Bill, fangs down. Bill hisses back - and Sookie cuts them both off.

"Oh, for The love of God," she spits and jogs to get the silver chain that is still wrapped around the stripper pole from when Yvetta chained Pam there. She wraps it around her hands and heads outside again, mindful of closing the door behind her.

Then she runs to where Russell is laying, looking like a charred corpse. "I'm here to save you," she tells him and Russell manages a drawled, "Ah, thank you, Miss Stackhouse."

She slings the chains around him - oh God, please don't let anything fall off - and tells him harshly to shut up. And then she drags him back to Fangtasia, none too gently.

She is just about fed up with vampires.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam watches Sookie drag this groaning lump of charcoal into the bar and her expression contorts with disgust.

Are bits of him flaking off? Ew.

She looks to Eric. Everything about her is saying what are you doing and please don't be stupid.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with him?"

[onceaviking]

"I've got a plan," Eric says. Which - might be a big word to use.
Still. Kind of a plan.

"It'll have to wait till tonight though."

The sun is making itself felt. For all of them.

[lazy_but_loyal]

A plan.

They had just gone through all of this, and now Eric has a new plan. Apparently one that doesn't involve him killing Russell. That's just great.

"Okay. But we can't just leave Russell here. He's staining the floor."

[onceaviking]

Russell groans.

Everyone ignores him.

"It'll just be for today," Eric says."he'll get to live. And I'll take care of everything tonight."

[lazy_but_loyal]

With a huff, Pam pulls off the blue rubber gloves with a snap and hands them over to Eric.

"At least chain the crusty piece of shit up. I'm not touching him."

Bill folds his arms and shakes his head.

"You're a fool not to kill him," he tells Eric.

[onceaviking]

Eric pulls on the gloves with an equal - and equally satisfying - snap.

Then he picks up the chain, arranges Russell (who's flaking, his exposed skin black and cracked like the cackling on a roast pig) against the stripper pole, and starts winding the chain around his neck.


"Killing him won't solve anything," he replies.

After what Godric told him - no. He won't kill Edgington.

"No," Sookie retorts. "But it would keep him from killing us."

"Oh, he won't be doing any more killing," Eric says, tightening the chains.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam could throw a fit. For all Eric's desire for revenge, everything they'd planned and worked for up until now, this isn't like him at all to throw this opportunity away.

"Eric, who the fuck are you right now?" she says, equal parts disbelief and frustration.

"He killed your family. Rip off his fucking head!"