Disclosure: True Blood is owned by Charlaine Harris and Allen Ball.

Pre Edit Count –   3,474 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: So Far Away by Staind.

Previously:

She shakes her head, then tells them. “Now that you know what happened, you will work together. There are no other chances. You three have been careful, but the enemy is getting closer and is now jabbing at you, to see if you are the three. Once you have taught each other your skills, this will be the place to discuss your ideas. Be safe. As you just saw, you are the fate of the world.”

Before she could disappear, Eric calls out, “Wait!”

When she pauses, he asks her, “In Godric’s vision, the Mating never happened.”

She laughs. “I cannot even predict when that happens, Eric. If it could be predicted, it would be able to be stopped. No, that is hidden from all. It is coming, I promise.” And with that, she disappears…

Now:

The three stare at the spot that had held a fiery being in it just seconds ago. The screen in front of them is dark, having played out the vision for the other two to see. For right this minute, Godric’s mind is not in the past, but in the here and now…

Then Godric finally moves, pulling Sookie into him, he looks at Eric. “I’m sorry, Eric. I should have never allowed it to go as far as I did.”

Looking back at his Maker then back to the screen that had played out Godric’s most revealing memories on it, Eric thinks. “I understand how you felt. I did the same a couple of years ago. Then, Niall came to me and we talked it all out. He told me that you two didn’t need me because of the damages of that time, that you always needed me. But then he asked, did it really matter? Even if I was here to correct the imbalance from that horrible time and the changes it wrought in the two of you, did that mean that I loved you any different?” He remembers that time vividly, it had been a life changing moment, and now he knows how close he could have been to losing the two best things in his life.

Eric looks into the eyes of the man who had brought him into this life, loved him, and even though he doubted that love, he had never tried to tear Eric from Sookie. “I realized that it didn’t make an ounce of difference. I love you two so much that if one of you were taken from me, I am not sure I could survive being without the other. And it wouldn’t matter who in the equation was lost, I just wouldn’t be whole. So I let it drop and concentrated on the love I felt for you both. It was all I could do.”

He looks at the two, and thinks of the bullet he dodged. However, at the same time Eric wished he had suspected Godric felt that way. He could have helped, or even contacted Hades or Niall to help.

Godric reaches out to his mate, cupping his face. “And that is why you are the better man, my childe. I could not let it go. I could not go through that pain again. I am sorry.”

“The more important thing is, what do we do in the future if something likes this comes?” Sookie asks, still nestled against Godric’s chest. “I don’t know about you guys, but living with this today was not pleasant, and to see how our mistakes would have played out…it cannot happen again. I love both of you the same amount. Differently, but then you are different men. I cannot be apart from either of you. That was evident when Godric saw us those other times. We were worn from Gran’s death, and by the time we were fighting the enemy, it looked as though we were dead and just going through the motions of fighting it.” She snuggles deeper into Godric’s chest.

Eric sits in front of them and leans his head back into Sookie’s lap.

“We do as the being told us. We teach each other the skills we need to stop this from happening. And we come here to talk. Leigh is great, don’t get me wrong, but we need to rely more on each other. There are no other chances; we saw how fast everything unraveled. I take it that since Godric was brought back to now, that nothing is so wrong that it cannot be fixed.” He closes his eyes in enjoyment of being with the two of them, but his mind is running through possibilities.

Smiling, Godric watches Sookie run her hands through Eric’s hair, he sighs in contentment at the Bonds being there and so alive inside of him. He rests his head against Sookie’s, one of his hands holding hers, the other resting on Eric’s shoulder. Eric had a hand resting on top of his. Godric needed this, this reconnecting.

Thinking through the last day, Sookie slowly says, “I was angry because Godric didn’t seem to want to take my needs into account. I need that connection with you two. I can see that we may need to change things, but now that blood exchanges are not so important to keep track of, I want that connection. I love having the little amount of sex we can have now. So what do we do?”

Godric chuckles. “I think it safe to say, meine Liebe (my love), that after years to me of being denied both of you, I will not fight it. Looking back at it now, I can see why I reacted that way. To have that memory forced upon me after that scare? Yes. But I know now I overreacted. I took my position of Alpha of our group and nest and took it too far.”

Chuckling from his place on the ground, Eric shares with them, “I think it is kind of funny you made the vision run to the very end. But because you did, we have some additional information that we otherwise wouldn’t.” His brain has been giving him some ideas and positive outcomes to what they watched.

The two look at him with questions on the tips of their tongues, but Eric continues before they can say them aloud in this place.

“We know we need to keep an eye on Jason. I will be talking to him tomorrow and helping him out. We know some of the spies that will be at Fangtasia, and how to use that. We also have learned what my little trick will be and that I learned how to control it in a very short amount of time to keep you from finding us. Likewise, we know that there is an enemy moving behind the scenes, who is probably responsible for the unrest in the world. There is probably a lot more we can learn from the vision you were given. And, even more, we can see how our reactions caused the world to be destroyed.”

Eric’s brain is turning over the information, but he knows his mates have their own unique ways to look at stuff. Often with the three of them looking at information, they get a much clearer idea of what is really going on.

They all are in agreement.

“So from my mistake, we have gained alot, but we also know how much on a tightrope we are walking,” Godric adds. “In addition, we know that our instincts to bring out the others that are on the fringes attacking us is needed. They were the ones who were circling in the back of the vision, cutting you two, weakening the both of you. So we need to find them. I think it is time for me to be that jealous vampire, keeping the two of you close to me. The opening of the new club comes at a time that is most fortunate. When can you have the one in Dallas done?” He looks down at his mates, waiting for theim to come to the same conclusions.

Eric and Sookie have no trouble following his thoughts since they can see it all in this place.

“I can have it completed in the next few weeks, maybe even week,” Eric quickly replies. “I can call in some favors.”

Nodding, Godric sighs. “I will need to make a call to Wesley. It is time for him get ready to step down. Eric, we know your queen is trouble. We will be here until the opening for the new club, the one in Dallas, then I will take you both with me there. We have that long to find out anything more on Bill’s other employers. If the Queen wants to take Sookie, she will find it much harder to do now. Things need to move. There is no more time to waste. And know that when the Marks are done, that will be the sign that things will be above the vampire level. But we cannot ignore them. Gather a list tomorrow of the ones you suspect, and we will start eliminating them.”

Eric grins, happy that the Godric he has known is back. “Yes, Master.”

Feeling the happiness from the two of them, he shakes his head in amusement. “Eric, even though I know you can ignore the makers command, do you wish me to release you?” The thought was there, in case his child wanted that freedom.

The shock that comes from Eric is unmistakable and he is on his knees before the two of them.

“Please don’t. I cannot survive that. Just… don’t.” He relies on the bond with his Maker, maybe a bit too much, but at the same time, they are mates. It doesn’t matter.

Godric stares at him, and feeling the Bond between them for the truthfulness, then smiles at his childe. “I wanted to offer it to you if you wished it. If you feel this way about it, then it will not be asked again. If you or Sookie, ever wish to be free of it, just ask me and I will gladly release you.” He sends his love through the bonds to both of them, letting them know that he will do it to give them that freedom, that he was now that secure in their bonds.

Eric shakes his head. “I don’t know about Sookie, but for me, I gladly Bonded to you because as Mates, we will be closer. None of this matters. When the Marks appear, we will become equal. Let people think what they may, but you are my Maker, my Mate.”

She quietly inserts, “And our husband.”

Sending his love and appreciation to them, Godric settles back. “This week is not going to be like the vision. We need to figure out who the murderer is and Sookie needs to get Bill to go to the DoD meeting in two days time.” It will help them flush out the trouble makers sooner. No more playing around for them, the broader picture is showing them that this petty stuff does nothing but cloud up the real reasons for their needing to be ready for war.

Snorting, Sookie tells him, “He will be calling on her tomorrow, Godric. I am amazed he didn’t try to call on her before we got home! No worries. Though I think he is leery of Leigh.”

They all laugh remembering the face of Compton when he realized that the familiar will be with her all the time now.

“We need to start the lessons and not spend too much time here or each others brains,” Sookie reluctantly tells them. “We don’t want to tip off our little trick. So mostly, we need to move ahead with the plans…”

They all nod reluctantly and the rest of the night is spent with Sookie teaching shields before they finally exit. They had found a way to shield from others, but allow each other in. The same method Sookie has been doing unconsciously, but now they are all training to make it automatic. Their connection may make the difference between life and death. It is no longer something to pass time before their mating, it is now real to them that this starts now.

The next day they found they were awake later in the morning and sooner in the afternoon. Both Eric and Godric needed only a few hours being ‘dead’ and even then, Sookie told them, it wasn’t like they were actually dead. Since Godric is sure that he would have remembered this, they can only take it as part of their Mating. Sookie, still tired, lays back down, with both reassuring her that they don’t mind.

Eric leaves his mates, finding Jason in one of the rooms down below. Sitting down next to him, he softly says, “Jason.”

Jason looks up at him, tears in his eyes. “She’s gone. Why?” He cannot understand why someone would kill Dawn.

Sighing, Eric pulls him to him, holding him as he cries. When his cries get softer, Eric tells him, “We think that the murderer is doing this to tear us apart. He might have succeeded if we had not had a visitor from another realm. Even then, it was close. Jason, I know you loved her. But right now, you need to let the nest help you. When you get angry, let us know. Godric or I will spar with you. Even Sam would help. Do not bottle this up inside of you. It will do nothing but hurt you more. There is nothing you can do. If you go after the murderer yourself, you may end up getting yourself killed. And what do you think that will do all of us?” He can feel the tears in his own eyes thinking of the loss of Jason would do to all of them. “I for one, don’t want to lose my human brother.”

Jason looks up at him. “Are you going to find out who is doing this?” There was anger in his face, but he trusts Eric.

Eric nods. “I have already called in an outsider to come in and help us out during the day. By the time Godric and I are available to find anything, too many scents have overlaid the scene. In fact, Godric has mentioned that the Bon Temps police seem to be doing everything to make it harder to catch this killer. That makes me think that there is another person behind him or her, cleaning up the mistakes. But now, we may have a chance.”

He tells Jason the truth; Eric never wants to lie to him.

One of the things Sookie had brought up earlier was that if Godric or Eric cannot get there to scent out the murderer, they would need to call in someone during the daytime that could. So Eric called in a favor owed and they should be here soon.

Jason sits there and finally looks up at Eric. “If it is Bill, I want a shot at him.”

Nodding his head in agreement, Eric tells him, “Now you need to get moving. Talk to us. Use the nest to get out your anger and frustration. Too much is coming at us faster than we expected, and we need to be united.”

“I will,” Jason promises.

Eric sighs and gets up, clasping him on the shoulder.

“You need to up your lessons. You will be needed soon. We will be moving ahead on those plans and Bobby will need help soon.” When he sees Jason nod at him, he leaves.

As Eric is walking away the doorbell ring again, causing him to chuckle. Sookie will be surprised with all the gifts coming in. And yes, Bill has used the chance to send her Roses, but he and Godric had gotten some things ordered for Sookie last night when she fell asleep and they had been waiting for their death to come.

Imagine their surprise that they were able to plan out the rest of the week, then be able to talk quietly to each other about everything going on. Eric and Godric had ended up talking about much more than just what Sookie meant to them. Godric admitted how much he had been torn up about the issue of Eric being added because of his pain. Now, it helps a lot, knowing that Eric was supposed to have always been with them and even the memory helping support that they had known something was missing and that was what drove them to want a child.

Godric himself feels more settled, at peace with himself and his past, for the first time in over 2,000 years. He even told Eric he is suspicious of how fast his emotions had escalated when Sookie was attacked. Eric admitted that he himself had been frightened also.

They talked through many issues, and both agreed to talk more. Yes they love each other, but they obviously need to communicate more.

He walks into the office area of their room, and sits down. Something Sookie told them when they had talked, is making him audit the finances of Fangtasia. It is not even surprising, since he has done it a couple of times, and will look like he is getting his house in order before he leaves the club.

Sitting down and pulling up the finances, he starts going over the numbers…

Godric is working in the control room, checking out the videos. He laughed and saved the one of Leigh getting the drop on Bill. He is actually looking forward to seeing what the excuse is for him to be on their land.

He is also looking through the items that have arrived from the vampires of the area wanting to suck up to them. He chuckles, as most of them are for Sookie. And not what she likes. He actually grins as he sees Bobby come in and stop as he sees them all. They are not going to let anyone know of their new sleeping habits, so it is interesting to see Bobby in real time.

Bobby is just shaking his head. He looks over at Adele and asks, “How long has this been coming?”

Adele puts down her book and laughs.

“All Morning. I was going to ask you if they could be taken elsewhere. Maybe a picture so they know of them. But none of them are going to use any of these things.” She waives her hands over the mess.

Bobby picked up a wine basket and shakes his head. “Idiots. As if the masters would allow their Bonded to consume something from another, much less wear it. I will take care of them.”

“I put the ones we need to keep in the kitchen,” she tells him, chuckling.

He looks up, his eyes questioning.

“They are from Eric and Godric, or people that the nest knows personally. And there is a bouquet of roses from Bill.” Her eyes are twinkling as she adds, “He also sent a bouquet to me, asking for some of my time tonight.”

Bobby cannot help but to laugh. “Sucking up to the grandmother, huh?”

She nods. “Needless to say, he will not be meeting me alone tonight. But yes, please get rid of these others. Do whatever is proper with them.”

Chuckling, he walks into the kitchen to make some calls. Finishing a few minutes later, he returns to where she’s sitting.

“I have some weres coming to take care of it. They will give the password for the day when arriving.”

She nods, this has been something since the beginning. She lifts an eyebrow to him. “Since you are not here about the gifts, is there something I can help you with?”

Bobby smiles at her, then sets his briefcase he is always carrying on the table. Opening it, he takes out some boxes. “I have some gifts for her from the masters. I will leave them in the usual spot for them to give to her.”

“They are going all out aren’t they?” Adele’s smile gets bigger.

He nods. Then his face loses the smile as he asks, “Jason?” He cares about his young protégé.

Taking a breath her eyes move downward for a second as she replies, “Still upset. But I am hoping Eric will be helping out with that.”

Jason mad and upset is not a good thing, she is worried his times of not being thoughtful and acting before thinking them out will not come back.

Nodding, he gathers the items he had brought for Miss Sookie and soon deposits them in the space beside the doorway to the underground area. He carefully waits until the green light goes off and closes the door.

He turns and with a smile, asks. “Is there anything I can get for you today Adele?”

She shakes her head. “Thank you, Bobby, but I am fine today. I am just adjusting to Sookie being on vampire hours. But Tara and the rest come by to check on me so I am fine.” She makes a shooing motion with her hands to the man. “Go on and run the rest of those errands.”

His lips twitch and he nods to her again. Looking around the room full of gifts he shakes his head as he heads out.

Having watched they entire exchange, Godric is grinning and makes a mental note to tell Eric to give him a raise, but that grin is quickly wiped away as he feels anger from Eric.

Eric had gone through the financials and is frowning. It is not adding up. Then he double checks the figures on his spreadsheet and his anger starts to build. He quickly controls it with a glance to his small mate still sleeping.

In seconds, Godric is there and Eric indicates the sheet.

Godric stands there, looking over the numbers in front of him, his eyes darken. “I cannot think that a human is doing this. Sookie has been there on the nights. In fact…”

Eric snarls out, “It looks like it happens only on the nights she is there. They are trying to frame her. And the only one there that is not human or not us–”

“Is Longshadow.”

They both turn to Sookie who is up on the bed. “I am sorry, Eric,” she sighs. “I knew something was off. I should have told you earlier.”

He shakes his head. “No, you did the right thing. We need to pay attention to these details.   Now I will work within the system to get the right to punish him. And, in the meantime, have Pam silver him until we get the word.”

Godric goes over and kisses her. He looks down at her and then murmurs into her ear something. When she grins, he looks over at Eric. “Come on. Tonight we woo our little one. Send what you need out, and also send notice that Bill has disobeyed both of our orders. Let’s shake the tree and see what is going to fall out.”

Eric’s face soon smirks and he honestly tells Godric, “It is truly a great thing for you to return, Master. The fun has just begun…”

Final count, 3,929 words.

Fairfarren~