RPOV
Sookie and I jumped in Alcide's truck and drove to Shreveport. We arrived at Fangtasia after sunrise. Three men stood outside the door with guns. "Lily wasn't kidding," I mumbled.
We both took a deep breath and climbed out of the truck. The men walked towards us. "Hi, we're here to see Eric Northman," I said. "We're friends of his."
One of them yelled something at us in Japanese. I glanced at Sookie. "Do any of you speak English?" She asked sweetly.
"I do," one of them said. "What is your business here?"
"Like she said, we're here to see Eric."
"You are very brave," he said, stepping towards her. "Brave and stupid."
"So I've been told." The man went inside. After a few moments someone yelled out and the men standing around us suddenly grabbed our arms. They led us inside. Lily, Eric, and Pam were sitting across from another man, who I assumed was in charge. Lily was shooting me warning looks, but I just glanced away.
"Look at Eric," Sookie whispered. I did, his black veins were gone. I knew what Lily said, but it was hard to believe without seeing it in person.
"Is this your sister, Lily?" A man, who I assumed was in charge, asked.
"No, never seen her before," Lily said dryly. "Rachel has a habit of butting into things she shouldn't concern herself with."
The man said something in Japanese and his men pulled out their guns. Lily and Eric both shot out of their seats. "They shouldn't be here," he said to them.
"If you touch a hair on either of their heads, this deal is done," Lily said. "They haven't done anything but show up to check on their friends."
He looked us over. "Fine, they can leave. But if I see either of them poking their heads into places they don't belong..." he trailed off, but we all heard the threat.
Rachel, I told you not to come here! Lily shouted at me telepathically.
"However, they've seen that Eric is cured. You sister is fae, so she can't be glamoured. How do we know they won't tell anyone what they've seen?"
"I can glamour them, I've done it before. It was part of my gift, even before I was turned."
Don't you fucking dare, I said to Lily telepathically.
She walked towards me. Listen to Gus, she said in her head.
"Sookie, you're going to forget about what you saw here. You're going to go home and forget you were ever in Shreveport." Sookie nodded, looking entranced.
"Rachel, go back to Bon Temps, forget everything you've seen here. I'll find you when I can."
Sookie and I walked out of Fangtasia and got in the truck. Neither of us said anything until we were in Bon Temps. "Did we go to Shreveport?" I asked.
"Yep," Sookie said. "And your sister made us forget what we saw."
"But not what we heard," I realized. "Ooh, she's good."
"Gus was thinking about something in the basement," Sookie told me.
"That must be where they're keeping Sarah."
"Then that's where we've gotta take Bill."
We pulled up outside the house, it was getting close to sundown. I heard the living room door slam the moment we threw open the front door. "Crap, sorry, Jess!" I called. Sookie closed the front door behind us.
Jessica came out of the living room looking confused. "What's going on?"
"There's a cure!" I told her.
"What?" She asked.
"Long story, but there's a cure and it works. Eric is fine. I can tell you everything on the way to Fangtasia, but we've got to get Bill up so we can go." Sookie and I started up the stairs.
"Wait," Jessica called. We stopped. "Are you saying that Bill is going to be okay?" She asked quietly.
I took a few steps down to her. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying."
LPOV
"I've had enough of these guys," I said. Pam, Eric, and I were standing in the office, one of the few places not infested with Yokonomo Corp men.
"You don't really play well with rules, do you?" Eric asked.
"No, I don't, and that's precisely why you liked me," I said.
"Liked?"
The door opened and Mr. Gus entered, I repressed a groan. "I've got to hop on a plane to Dallas, but I'll be back in the morning," he told us.
"Just let us know if you need anything," Eric said.
"What I need is for you not to do anything stupid while I'm gone, Mr. Northman." He looked over his shoulder. "My guys will keep you company while I'm gone, sound good?" We all nodded reluctantly. He left, shutting the door behind him.
"I hate to agree with Lily, but I'm over the baby sitting," Pam said.
"We've got to get blood to Bill. He's sick, and it's escalating fast. He doesn't have time to wait on NooBlood." I looked between Eric and Pam. "He's family."
"Follow me." Eric motioned for us to follow him out of the office. We walked down the stairs to the basement where Sarah was chained up.
"We're doing something stupid aren't we?" Pam asked.
"We'll get some blood for Bill, I'll go out through the tunnel and fly it to him. You two will stall, if necessary."
"Great," Pam said. "Bill, one again, is putting us all at risk."
"Thank you," I told Eric.
"You're right, I like you because you break the rules," he told me. He walked over to Sarah.
"Present tense," I whispered. Just then someone slid the grate off the tunnel, I looked up to see Rachel leading Bill into the basement. "I told you that I'd find you!"
"We're running out of time," Sookie said.
"You look like shit," Pam said to Bill.
I walked over to him and he hugged me. He kissed the side of my head. "Come on, Sarah's the cure," I told him.
He looked at Eric. "You look well."
"I feel well." He looked between Rachel, Sookie, and Jessica. "You tell no one about this."
"You know we won't," Sookie said.
Bill walked up to Sarah. She flinched, as he got closer. "The fuck are you waiting for?" Pam asked. "Drink the bitch, before you get us all killed."
Bill looked at Sarah for a moment and then stepped away. "No," he said. "I don't want the blood."
"What?" Rachel and I said at the same time.
"Why not?" Jessica asked.
"I've accepted my fate," Bill said.
"That'd be all well in good if you didn't have a choice," Jessica said. "But there's a cure right here!"
"Bill, please think about what you're doing," Rachel pleaded.
"You're making a choice that you won't have to live with," Sookie said. "But we will."
"You're right, I'm making a choice," Bill said. He looked at each of us. "I'm choosing the true death."
"Fuck you, Bill!" Jessica said, heading towards the tunnel.
I could see a fire burning in Rachel's eyes, I wasn't sure I'd ever seen her look this angry before. "You've gone a lot of shit, but this has got to be one of the most pointless, selfish things you've ever done."
Sookie walked up and slapped Bill. "Why?"
He shook his head. "I can't explain." Sookie slapped him again. I walked over and touched her arm, before she could hit him again.
"You should leave," I told him. He walked towards the tunnel.
"Wait," Jessica said. "I want you to release me."
"Jess-" Bill started.
"Do it!" She snapped.
He walked towards her slowly. "As you know, I never wanted to make you a vampire. But I am so proud of what you've become, and I know that you will stand beautifully on your own two feet after I'm gone." He touched her cheek and she grabbed his hand. "I renounce the ties of our blood, and my dominion over you as my progeny. As your maker, Jessica, I release you." He walked away and disappeared into the tunnel.
My calm finally broke and I started crying. Eric put his hand on my shoulder and I turned towards him, pressing my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and let me cry. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
RPOV
"You guys, um, want to go home or-" I started to ask Sookie and Jessica as we got near town.
Sookie cut me off. "Can you take me by Sam's first."
I nodded. "Yeah, we can stop by Bellefleur's and get a drink while we're there," I said. I groaned. "You can get a drink, I'll just eat my feelings, I guess."
I pulled up outside Sam's trailer. The lights were off. "Maybe he's at the restaurant," Jessica suggested
Sookie walked up to the door and pushed it open. Jessica and I followed after her. "He's gone," Sookie said.
Jessica walked over to the coffee table and picked up an envelope. "Um, Sookie, he left you a letter." She walked over and took it. "Want us to go outside?"
"No, I don't really want to be alone right now." We sat on the couch with her while she read the letter. She looked up at us finally. "He went to Chicago with Nicole. He says to tell you we're both invited to visit after the baby's born."
I smiled sadly. "Good for him, at least one of us got out." I picked up the other envelope. "This one's for Andy."
"We can leave it inside for him," Sookie said. The three of us went into the restaurant, the lights were on, the music was playing, and Arlene was all dressed up. "What's going on?" Sookie asked.
"Well," Arlene said happily. "Business has been nonexistent, but we figured, it'll never pick back up if we don't open up! So we all came into work and we're gonna keep the party rolling until customers start flowing back in!"
"Well, if the kitchen is open, I'll take a cheeseburger," I said.
"Hear that?" Arlene called back to the kitchen. "Get this future momma a cheeseburger, and add some bacon, she's eating for two!" She ushered me over to a booth. "I'll go grab you a Coke too, honey."
Sookie found Andy and they went into the back, Jessica went to talk to James. Lafayette joined me at the table. "How ya doing, Rayray?"
I shook my head. "Well, Bill's Hep-V positive."
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with him?"
"We had a bit of a disagreement, he's given up hope. He's ready to face the true death."
"You've got the worst luck."
"Tell me about it," I said. "I'm cursed."
"Don't be so dramatic. We've all gone through tough shit, but we've all come out stronger on the other side." He shook his head. "How's Lily holding up? Haven't seen her in a while."
"She's good. She and Eric are gonna be okay, I think."
"He sure is a pretty one."
I laughed. "That he is."
Arlene sat my burger and Coke in front of me. "Enjoy, sweet heart."
"She's certainly in a good mood."
"It's Keith," Lafayette said. "She's Hep-V positive and still managing to land all the good ones."
I laughed again. "Good for her. She deserves to be happy, we all do."
LPOV
Long after everyone had gone, and I had finally stopped crying, Eric had decided to go to Bon Temps to talk to Bill. I'd had him take me along, but now that I was standing on the front porch, I was beginning to regret it. Bill opened the door. "Eric, Lily?" He looked at us. "Come in."
"I'm just, going to...Call Rachel and see what she's up to," I said. I walked into the living room as they went into the study. But I couldn't help myself from wondering what they were talking about. So I started eavesdropping.
"I'm doing this for Sookie."
"This isn't what she wants."
"But it's what she needs," he said. "She'll learn to love someone else, but not while I'm still on this planet."
"Oh get over yourself, Bill."
"If she wasn't fae, she wouldn't be drawn to us, we wouldn't be drawn to her," Bill said. "Think about Lily and Rachel. We could have saved them all from so much pain just by staying out of their lives. I want to set Sookie free. Will you talk to her for me?"
"If I had an aptitude for marriage counseling, don't you think I'd know by now?" Eric asked.
"She deserves an explanation, but I can't give her that if she won't talk to me."
"Alright, I'll talk to her."
I moved out of the way as Eric opened the door and stepped into the foyer, he looked at me. I walked past him to the study. I ran to Bill and hugged him. He hugged me and rubbed my back. "I love you," I told him.
"I love you and your sister more than you could ever know." He kissed the side of my head. "Thank you for being the family I didn't know I needed."
"Thank you for being there for us."
"You have to be there for each other now," he said. "Have a good long life. Enjoy immortality. Eric is a good maker, I wouldn't want anyone else to be by your side for eternity." I smiled, trying to fight back the tears pooling in my eyes.
"I'm going to miss you."
He put his hand on my cheek. "I'm so proud of you." I squeeze his hand and then turned towards the door, knowing if I stayed any longer I'd start crying. "Lily, one more thing." I turned back to look at him. "Convince your sister to keep the house and pass it on to her family. Maybe one day you'll find them here the way I found you." I nodded and then hurried out of the room. I had a feeling that was the last time I was ever going to see Bill Compton.
Eric was waiting for me just outside. "I suppose you were listening in," I nodded. "Then you know I have to go talk to Sookie."
"Doesn't seem like you, to let yourself get dragged into other people's lives," I noted.
"No, I guess not. Maybe I've changed."
"People don't change." I took a step towards him. "But that's a good thing, because I like you just the way you are." He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. I had a sudden realization that this was the real Eric. There was no desperation, no fear of dying tomorrow, just passion. This was the carefree Eric that Rachel had once known. Maybe things would be okay, we'd all get through this together. Tomorrow would be better.
"I'll stay at the apartment tonight, I need to start packing up my stuff anyway. You go talk to Sookie. I'll convince Rachel to drive me back to Shreveport tomorrow."
His expression darkened. "Don't come back to Fangtasia until I tell you to."
"What, why?"
"I don't trust the Yakuza. It's better if you just stay here for now."
I groaned. "I'm really tired of the constant threat of dying hanging over our heads." I kissed him again. "See you soon." I stepped back and he took off into the air. Out loud I repeated to myself what I'd just been thinking. "Tomorrow will be better."