Title: Five Ways Eric Might React to Getting His Memories Back

Author: shan21non

Fandom: True Blood (tv series)

Pairing: Eric/Sookie? Sort of? Mostly Eric & Pam's epic friendship

Rating: PG-13 (there's a lot of swearing, but I don't think it's necessarily R)

Disclaimer: Don't own the books or the show. Double whammy of sad.

Summary: Eventually the witches are going to restore Eric's memories, right? Book readers know what happened after that, but the series could go in a totally different direction. Here are a few possibilities. Pam's POV, because she is awesome.

A/N: Spoilers just up through I Wish I Was the Moon (4x06). Pure speculation after that, and a little silliness. I start with a general setup that is, again, totally speculative and spoiler free (it's totally not going to happen this way!), and then list out different possibilities ranging from angst to absurdity. Mostly absurdity.

Now, the reaction I actually want to see is a complex and heartfelt struggle on Eric's part to reconcile the man he was with and without memories, hopefully culminating in character growth that maintains his badassness while allowing him to open up to Sookie in a more meaningful way.

But that is a story for a different fic. You won't find that reaction here, but I hope you enjoy these irreverent ones instead.

Last thing, I love everyone on True Blood. Everyone, Sookie and Bill included. But Pam doesn't, and this is her POV, so I will say nasty things about all of them. Please don't be offended!

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Five Ways Eric Might React to Getting His Memories Back

Pam stared at her reflection in the dark-framed mirror of Bill's office. She traced the contours of her face with her fingers, delighting in the feel of her cool, unmarred skin. Fuckin' Marnie had to die, but luckily, there was another witch queen in town.

"Shit. I'm gonna need a minute before I do that again," Lafayette Reynolds panted.

Barely turning her head, Pam recognized his comment with a vague nod. The cook-turned-spirit-medium sat on the floor of Bill's office, surrounded by tacky candles and holding the hand of his ridiculous brujo boyfriend. She supposed she should be thankful that Lafayette had managed to channel a slightly friendlier spirit to reverse that dead Spanish whore's spell, but fuck him. He was the one messing around with witches in the first place.

"Take your time, Pumpkin, because trust me, you don't want to fuck this next one up," she drawled in a way that made her threat impossible to miss.

"I don't want this."

Her shoulders tensed. In a split second she was behind her maker, draping an arm over the high back of his leather armchair and leaning down to his ear.

"Eric, you don't know what you want. This isn't you," she assured him, running her fingertips down his arm.

He grabbed her hand and pushed it away with a growl.

"This is me. I'm the real Eric now," he said firmly.

He released her hand, only to reach across to the other armchair and take Sookie's. The little blonde piece of vampire catnip was giving him goo-goo eyes. Pam's stomach turned when she saw Eric return the look.

"This isn't you, Eric!" she snapped at her maker. "You had a thousand years of life wiped away and it left you an empty shell."

For half a second, Pam was afraid that Eric might attack her. His eyes blazed with intense hatred, and it took Pam so off guard that she failed to hide the slight hitch in her breath. But before her maker could speak, the fairy princess did.

"That's not true!" Sookie insisted. She squeezed Eric's hand comfortingly.

"It is," Pam countered, cautiously placing her hand back on Eric's shoulder so that he turned to her again. "You were wandering through the woods, vacant, ready to be filled by the first thing available. Unfortunately for all of us, that something was a perky blonde waitress with an 'aww, shucks' attitude. You imprinted on her like a baby duck. That's all."

"Enough of this!" snapped the most powerful man in the room.

It made Pam's newly restored skin crawl to see Bill standing behind that desk like the cock of the walk. But he'd fucked up the mess with the witches enough that Pam could take comfort in the fact that Nan Flannigan would be paying him a visit soon.

"Lafayette, are you sufficiently rested to reverse the spell Marnie cast on Eric?" he asked politely.

That was another thing. Who'd ever heard of a polite vampire king? It was disgraceful. If Eric was king, he'd never speak to humans as anything other than lesser beings. Except that in his current condition, Eric was more likely to offer Lafayette milk and cookies than repugnance.

The witch in question didn't respond, but his lover did.

"Just another second," Jesus said, affectionately stroking his boyfriend's face. "You can do it, baby. Just relax."

"Yeah, baby. Don't choke now," Pam jeered.

"Sookie, I don't want my memories back. I just want to start over with you," Eric said urgently.

Pam could tell just by looking at the human that her heart was breaking. It was almost touching, if you went for that sort of thing. Sookie stood and moved in front of Eric's chair. She knelt at his feet and reached up to his face. He allowed her to pull his lips down to hers for a sweet kiss. Pam saw Bill shift uncomfortably, and she smirked. Well, at least there was one benefit to this ridiculous little tryst.

Their lips separated, but Sookie kept him close, leaning her forehead against his.

"Just because you have the memories doesn't mean you have to go back to being the person who had them," she whispered.

"Like hell it doesn't," Pam snapped.

But Sookie ignored her, speaking softly again.

"You've always had goodness in you. I saw it when you were with Godric. He knew that you had a choice to evolve, and so do I, now. But it's no choice at all if you just get to start at zero, Eric. You have to remember who you were and decide for yourself which person you like better."

Eric pulled back just enough to stare at her in awe. Then he captured her lips in another kiss. This one was desperate and sloppy. His fingers threaded through her golden hair and they both closed their eyes against the pain of the moment.

The kiss seemed to go on for ages. Pam started to pick at her cuticles. Eric didn't have to breathe, but surely Sookie did? Or was this yet another delightful fairy quirk?

After another moment, Pam let out a not-so-subtle sigh, and the pair finally broke apart. Sookie returned to her seat, and Eric stayed where he was, looking scared. Pam couldn't keep the frown off her face. She never wanted to see her maker this sad and frightened again. The man she had devoted herself to for over a hundred years, the man who gave her eternal life, was gone. But soon she would have him back, and everyone else could just fuck off if they preferred this neutered imitation of him.

"He's ready," Jesus announced.

Lafayette's head snapped back. His eyes rolled up to the ceiling until the whites showed, and his body began to rock. The windows were shut, but an impossible breeze filled the air, causing the candles to flicker. The cook inhaled sharply, and then his body went rigid. He jerked upright again, eyes settling on Eric. The vampire stared back, pale and unsure. Lafayette started to speak in a language that Pam didn't recognize. The words were spilling out faster and louder, and Eric was rapt, unable to turn away.

Then, all at once, it stopped.

The candles were back at full flame. The wind was gone. Lafayette blinked to clear his vision. Everyone fell silent, eyes on Eric, waiting.

"Did it work?" Lafayette asked.