Moonlight – Virtual Season 2
Episode 15 - Turning Point
Rating: R/T
Writer: Candomom (with the collaboration of the group)
Beta'd: Writers Group
VS2 Writers Group includes Candomom, ClChen, Conni4, Evilous, Misfit, Mx wwmickd, Night Owl, Phantom Phoenix, Photosue and Sunny.
Disclaimer: Moonlight and its characters are owned by CBS and Warner Brothers. All use of Moonlight and its characters in this venue are for entertainment purposes and completed solely for the pleasure of Moonlight lovers. The original storylines and episodes have been created by the VS2 Writers and Discussion Group. We hope you enjoy.
Over the past few days Mick has tried to physically pull himself together. The mind… well, it was lagging behind a bit. His thoughts would circle back to Beth and what being with him had pulled her into. He was still at Josef's for now……
Trying to quiet the voices in his head he made use of Josef's state of the art gym. He was putting himself through the paces. Exhausted, he heads for the shower.
He lets the cold water flow over him. His mind drifts back to Beth. Is she ok? Does she still feeling guilty? Does she blame him for all this? He hates not being with her... to hold her... to comfort her. Turning the water off he steps out dries off and heads for the freezer.
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By twilight Mick is dressed and heading for the door. Josef steps in front of him. "So where are you headed tonight?" Mick rolls his eyes.
"Out... dad," he snarks. "Ah... well, yes, I can see that. And I'm not your dad," Josef takes a sip of his drink.
"What is it that you want Josef? I have things to do tonight." Mick steps around him but Josef grabs his arm stopping him.
"Mick we are fighting the same war," he offers. Mick looks Josef in the eye, "Really... because sometimes I can't tell." With that he shrugged out of Josef's grasp and was out the door.
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Oscar was glad to have Beth as more than a shell of a person, but since speaking on the phone with Mick almost a week ago, she had been a waterfall of emotions. She had continued to cry and sulk for a few hours, even hearing Mick tell her it wasn't her fault, she was still upset. At least now she was speaking, more like fighting with him, but she was doing better.
Beth leaned up against the wall of the alley waiting while Oscar had his dinner behind the dumpster, the drunk who had followed her out of the bar looking to get lucky. She clutched her forearm, she longed to see Mick again, to hold him and touch him. He had told her he loved her and it wasn't her fault but she was left with so much more confusion and not enough time to talk to him.
Oscar came out of the alley, his eyes returning to normal as he reached her side. "Are you hungry?"
Beth looked at him thinking about his question, she was hungry. "Yeah. I could use something."
Oscar nodded and led the way, she was being civil to him again. He was learning to be more considerate and mindful of her needs and moods. He thought back to when she had finally stopped crying and slept, when she woke she had so many questions, questions he couldn't answer for her.
"So vampires use allure to get us humans to do what you want. Do you use it on me?" Oscar shook his head, his life would be easier if he did. "No. It might make my life a bit easier, but I believe in everyone having a choice.""Like I have a choice. I don't want to be here, I want to be home with Mick. I want my life back the way it was. Did I have a choice to come with you?" "If you would have stayed in LA you would be dead." "Maybe, but I still didn't choose to leave. Frankly, I haven't made a decision about my life since I got on that plane." Oscar could tell she was getting angry, he had after all told her to use her anger to fight. When he told her this he had not intended the recipient of her aggressions to be himself.
Beth ate her meal quietly trying to silence her mind from its millions of questions she had no answer for. She didn't think Mick had ever used allure on her, as Oscar had pointed out to her Mick wasn't the type to enjoy manipulating others, especially her. But still the thoughts came to mind, Mick had said his life was difficult, dangerous, and complicated; she understood now what that meant fully.
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After the Talbot inspired breakthrough with the device, Logan found himself busy in Mick's loft. Wires ran from the antenna on the roof down to the balcony, through the loft door (that now didn't shut all the way), and all the way into the office, where Logan had made a nest of electrical contraptions. He had increased the signal, rewired the ear piece to speakers, and was ready to record the conversations. The only problem was all he could pick up was white noise. Popping and hissing, clicking and grating... it was annoying enough to keep the volume down and just look at the sound spikes on the monitor. If actual voices ever hit the air, the computer would alert him...
"So, Mick, tell me again why I'm here. I mean bioelectromagnitism is cool and everything... but now what, Sputnik? The SETI project?"
Mick explained again, "They were using this to communicate on the roof tops... we couldn't hear them speak to each other."
"You've told me that... repeatedly... and all I'm getting is hissing and clicks. I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a conversation with beetles... bugs, not the band, next to the highway." Logan mumbled, "Turning on, tuning in and dropping out wouldn't make this noise interesting... cosmic... but not interesting.
"White noise?"
"White noise would be like listening to Mozart compared to this..."
"Let me hear it."
Logan winced and reached for the volume control. "You asked for it buddy..."
The knob was slowly turned to a volume level humans wouldn't be able to hear and as the electric impulses began to flow to the speakers both Vampires grabbed their ears in pain.
Mick listened for a few moments before his eyes widened and realization crossed his features.
"It's Morse Code!"
"No... It's torture!" Logan turned down the volume with vamp speed.
"Record it... and see if you can clean it up" Mick looked around at the mess his office had become. All it needed now was toys and posters on the walls and Logan would be officially moved in.
He watched as Logan maneuvered the computers and broke down the signal to more gentle sounds. The recording was done and Logan played it back. The clicking sound was now familiar. The hissing sounded more like a light grinding, almost like the rubbing of a tree branch on a window.
They listened to the recording over and over in silence.
"What are they saying?" Logan asked Mick.
"I'm a little rusty, but I think they said 'draft it out', whatever that means." Mick rubbed his chin. "What does it sound like to you?"
"Like... being underwater."
"Yeah... like tapping underwater, but how do they do that with this?" Mick held up the device.
Logan began to smile... "I've never seen a device with the microphone and speaker so close together. Let alone both in the earpiece, but it does explain the crazy background noise, they're clicking their teeth!"
Mick smiled and patted Logan on the back. "Lets record some more and find out what these bastards are up to."
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The trail of unwashed glasses Logan left, as well as assorted tools, wires, batteries and other material was irritating, but at least human. Mick thought his apartment felt occupied at least, and he could let the house keeping slide as long as he was working on tracking the legion. Sleep, running triangulation programs on the radio signals, mapping the locations, blood deliveries and hunting filled every moment. It had become easier to drink blood than inject it, it helped that Katherine was sympathetic… and fierce… she understood retaliation. She had taken it on herself to deliver him fresh blood and he was expecting her when he opened the door.
"Mick," Talbot walked in talking non-stop, "Warrants have been issued for Leo Holland, Carroll Jennings and other "people" of interest in the recent deaths of prostitutes and runaways." Mick started to object.
"I couldn't delay this any longer." Talbot's voice was harsh. "The police may not be able to find them, but at least I'm going through the motions."
"They can't know about…"
"I know, I kept your secret." Talbot was on edge, "Is there any reason why we can't arrest the killers."
"Aren't you afraid of the Legion, Ben?"
"If scary assassin types tell me to back off I will. Are Legion Ninja's killing runaways?"
"No, Ben, if I catch them…"
"I don't want to know what you do, Mick, but I want to do my job. I want some successful prosecutions."
"So you're saying to hell with us, to hell with the Legion. Whose side are you on, Ben, or have you decided you don't want to live?"
Ben Talbot had had enough and before he turned to leave he said, "I want to look at myself in the mirror, Mick, and respect myself."
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Well that went well, Ben Talbot thought as he rode the elevator down and almost bumped into Katherine Simmons as he stepped blindly out.
"Katherine, what are you doing here?
"Mick asked me to find out more about vampire cult at Hearst last year... I sat on the academic review board that dismissed Dr. Ellis after Kelly Foster's murder revealed he was having affairs with his students."
"How do you know Mick? It sounds like I'm cross examining her.
Katherine smiled at him and continued calmly, "I met him doing some consulting work on Native American artifacts; he helps me with provenance and chain of ownership."
Ben stops himself before he can say something else that sounds rude and finds himself staring at Katherine, and she's looking back at him. "You were very kind to me after the kidnapping, I appreciated that."
"No problem, it's the job... ah... I was wondering… would you like to have a drink some time, someplace a little more respectable."
"Sure, I'd like that... Mick has my number, give me a call."
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