Title: Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, locations, etc. from True Blood, and I'm not making any money off this thing, so please don't sue me, 'cause I'm poor as fuck and all I really have claim to in this world are my cats. They love me. They wouldn't appreciate it. Kthanks.

Author's Note: All I've written in as long as I can remember are academic papers, so bear with me, and please be kind, but do review and give me all the constructive criticisms! Also take note, it's looking like it's gonna be kinda long. Already have the second chapter near ready, just need to put some finishing touches on it.

Ch. 1

At the first hint of fresh air they ran, some faster than others. Jason stomped up to the black truck as the rest of the group were already settling in and looking back towards the compound, worry and anticipation in their worn faces. The two Authority guards who hadn't charged into the building at the first sign of trouble appeared at his left in a flash, but he made short work of them.

Nora positioned herself behind the steering wheel and started the ignition, ready to be on their way as soon as her brother and Sookie Stackhouse joined them, with or without Bill Compton. A touch of regret settled on her jaw. She had gotten Eric into this mess, and now she had no idea what he was going through. Her beautiful brother. She knew he bore her no ill will, not yet anyway, but if they all made it out of this mess she was determined to make it up to him somehow. If, however, certain members of their party didn't, she knew she may never be able to and she tried to settle that within herself.

Jason climbed into the cab, squeezing in next to Jessica who's blue eyes searched for any sign of the human she had recently fallen in love with; the man she had forsaken her first love for, and all the warmth, security and normalcy that he afforded her. His brow was furrowed, not at all excited at having seen a vampire behind the wheel of his ride, again, but too overcome with fear for his little sister to argue the matter.

"Where the fuck are they?" he muttered, successfully avoiding the desperate blue orbs that were still fixed on his face.

"She's okay, Jason," Jessica tried to reassure him, "Bill would never hurt her...and...well, Eric is with her," she finished with a weak smile.

Jason just stared, ignoring her for several moments, before whispering under his breath,

"Fucking leeches."

Jessica's shoulders slumped at the insult, and she finally broke her stare, refocusing her eyes on her hands, on her lap, on anything but his face. Something was wrong with him, and she couldn't put her finger on it, but she figured now wasn't the time. She decided she would just stay beside him, watch his back, and hope. Yes, that seemed the best course of action for the moment. She turned to Nora.

"Are you able to feel him at all? Um...Eric? Being his sister and all? I don't exactly know how..." she started.

"No," Nora cut her off, but turned her head towards the small window that accessed the bed of the truck. Pam and Tara sat there and appeared equally as focused on the direction from which they'd run.

"Pamela?" Nora called, "Eric...?"

"No," Pam answered her curtly, but her voice was slightly shaken and her eyes never moved, "I don't know. He released me."

Pam couldn't feel him, not even a hint of him, and it was tearing her apart. She had made it out of that cell. She had made it up those stairs and onto that elevator after having gotten to experience his presence for not long enough before he left her again. She had made it out of the building and onto the truck where she now sat and waited, and all she wanted to do was run back in after him.

She wouldn't though. She couldn't. Tara had come for her and Pam wouldn't just throw that away. Not now. Eric had released her after over a century of devotion and service. Tara, who was kneeling in the bed of the truck behind her, who had placed a hand on her waist as Pam spoke, in a futile but appreciated attempt to comfort her, and who's thumb was slowly carving a two inch path into the fabric of her corset; Tara was her priority now, after just weeks together, weeks mostly filled with a whole lot of strife. Pam would not leave her. She would simply let her hand meet Tara's at her waist, she would link their fingers together, and she would keep watching.

Pam didn't quite know how to process the last hour of her life. She had been sure she was going to die inside the building that she now looked back at. She was sure that she would never see her progeny again after taking the blame for Tara's dumb stunt, and if it meant that Tara would be safe Pam knew that she would take the blame and face a true death for her again. In a second. She was not, however, entirely sure how she felt about that fact, or the fact that Tara had readily put her life and the lives of others on the line to save her. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the kiss they had just shared; a kiss that rocked her world in ways she didn't even realize it could be rocked. She wasn't sure how she felt about their flirtatious banter in the elevator, or the protective eye and hand that Tara kept on her on their way out of the compound. She was rolling with the punches, matching Tara where she could, which was no easy task. The younger woman was shocking her with gallantry every step of the way and Pam could not help but be moved by it. Romantic Victorian sensibilities that she was sure had died in her ages ago had started surfacing and they were scaring the fuck out of her.

Tara was impressive, and Pam was not easily impressed. She clearly realized then what she had only guessed at thus far. She had done well. Her arrangement with Sookie Stackhouse for the creation of her progeny was proving a win/win, and while she had no fucking clue how to process so much of the last hour, Pam was finding it impossible to create any distance between her body and Tara's in that moment.

Eric wouldn't want her to, anyhow. It was why he released her. To spare her, and she would respect that given the situation. She would respect it and guard Tara as Tara guarded her. She sighed, her eyes still unmoving. Tara squeezed her hand.

Tara's eyes had shifted from the Authority compound where they had been set for minutes now to her maker's face when she heard Pam's quiet sigh. Pam's emotions were so heightened that through the blood they shared Tara could feel so much of what was plaguing her maker. So much fear, confusion and helplessness with bits of desire and surprising warmth added into the mix and directed at Tara, which served to further bewilder both of them. It was beyond intense. Tara knew they shared a bond, but thus far in her experience with Pam the older vampire had made her walls near impenetrable, and Tara knew that Pam had been far more privy to Tara's output of emotion than Tara had been to hers.

Tara wanted to comfort Pam. She couldn't remember ever wanting anything more. She wanted to rescue her all over again, but she just tightened her hold on Pam's hand for the moment, knowing that much else from her would be unwelcome and even inappropriate. She kept watching her, figuring that she would probably be able to see a sign in Pam's eyes of Eric and Sookie's emergence before she would be able to see it with her own, even as keen as her senses had become in her afterlife.

And there it was. Pam's eyes widened a fraction of a millimeter, and they brightened, which caused a knot to form in Tara's throat.

Pam was a vision.

She turned to face Tara.

"He's coming," she said, meeting Tara's gaze for a second, just long enough to send a jolt through the both of them, before turning her attention to Nora, "He's coming."

In the blink of an eye Eric was in the bed of the truck, Sookie in his arms, both of their faces petrified.

"Go!" he yelled, banging his hand on the side of the truck, his wide eyes aimed at the building he had just escaped, "Go!"

Nora had the truck in gear and the group on their way before the second word even left his mouth. Dust and gravel shot out behind them as they started to speed away. Her brother was panicked and as such she wasn't going to fuck around. The group reached the gate and the truck rammed through it, but as soon as they hit the open road Eric and Sookie's eyes widened and they looked at each other. Eric then shot his eyes to meet Pam's and his terror stricken gaze made her stomach turn.

"Eric, what the fuck..." she started, but before she could finish, it hit her. A pain like none she had ever before experienced; a high pitched wail that entered through her ears and immediately made its way to cut at every nerve ending in her body. It felt like she was being bathed in silver and sunlight; like her gut was being filled with the shit, and like she was being bludgeoned in the skull all the while. Her face contorted as it began to take her over. Eric's did as well.

"Tara!" he yelled, trying to maintain focus through his pain. He looked over at his grand progeny then, fearing that the compulsion that he and Pam were currently experiencing to leap from the truck and speed heart first into the nearest tree branch they came across would prove too much for the infant vampire. Pam had never let go of Tara's hand, however. She turned to her and she was able to pull Tara's body towards her to hold her in place rather easily despite the torture she currently suffered.

They all suffered. The vampires more so than the humans, but the humans were not spared. Tara had doubled over and her scream was animalistic. Blood tears poured down her face, and her hand grabbed at her ears and hair and tore at them.

"Go!" Eric yelled at his sister, and she went, but even the strength that she had developed over centuries was not enough to keep her entirely composed. She shrieked as she drove erratically and tried to keep one arm around young Jessica, who was frantically trying to claw her way out of the truck, buckets of bloody tears flowing from her eyes. Jason buried his head in his hands and pulled at his hair. He cried out for his dead parents, and kicked at the dash. Sookie was the least affected of the group, but the pain hit her as well. Eric held her firmly against his chest and she sobbed into him, her hands gripping his shirt, which was all that she could do to hold him to her. His ears started to bleed.

Pam and Eric heard it first. An explosion. Seconds later they felt a drizzle from above. Blood. It was raining blood. Pam had no idea what the fuck was happening, but Eric knew. Bill had come to the surface and he was after them.

"Nora, faster!" he screamed, and she obliged, careening the truck down the abandoned industrial road at well over one hundred and twenty miles an hour. It wasn't fast enough though, and he knew it. He grabbed Pam then and forced her eyes to meet his.

"Pamela, take Sookie," he commanded before grabbing Tara by her arms and raising her body so that he could see her face.

Pam did as he said with no argument, releasing her progeny as he took her into his hands, and taking hold of the half-fairy, focusing all of her strength in an effort not to drain her right then and there. She smelled amazing, and Pam was beside herself, in a world of pain.

"Tara," Eric growled at the young vampire. She tried to look up at him, but her face twisted in pain again and she violently pulled away.

"No. TARA!" he yelled again, shaking her, finally able to get enough of her focus to continue, "You. Follow. Us." he ordered, his head gesturing towards Pam and Sookie.

She nodded and he cupped her cheek in praise for just a second. When he released her she grabbed onto the side of the truck bed and braced herself, staring at Pam as if she was the only thing left in the world. Eric made his way to the window then to address his sister. Despite having to contend with her own pain, the truck she was handling, and a crazed Jessica scratching at her face, Nora managed to look up at him through the rear view mirror.

"We need to run," he yelled, "You lead Jessica!"

She nodded and brought the truck to a stop as quickly as she was able to without sending it's occupants flying. In the blink of an eye, Eric sped to the passenger's side of the truck and grabbed Jason who was in no position to fight off the vampire, as much as he would have wanted to. Tara was behind him in a flash, and Pam who had an arm around Sookie's waist and the halfling's feet off the ground. Nora took hold of Jessica and they were off.