Moonlight – Virtual Season 2
Episode Sixteen – Check Mate
Rating: M/NC17
Writer: ClChen (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.
Mick's POV
Ever since that day in the desert, the day that Beth's blood saved my life, there's been this undeniable connection. The first time I felt it was when she came to my apartment the day after I fed from her. I felt her through the door, even then it made my heart ache.The second time I took her blood, she demanded I bite her, it was only a small amount. That connection grew a little more until it was unbreakable. From the night before she left, she was in my blood, her blood pumping mine. But this connection comes with a price, I feel everything she feels, her pain, her fear, her loneliness, and its amplified.When she left, the connection was gone, and I was just as lost as she was. But when she was home, back in Josef's house, I didn't even have to see her, I just knew. . Like now… She's here… In my room….
Mick's eyes immediately opened, Beth's erratic breathing and heart beat filling his ears. His hand pushed the freezer lid up to see Beth standing naked, her eyes vacant. He jumped from his freezer and touched her shoulders, gently shaking her. "Beth... Beth, what's wrong?" His voice was filled with concern, his eyes shown with worry.
"What? Huh? Mick, nothing's wrong, I'm fine." Beth starts to shake her head, she was dazed and confused.
"Then why are you standing in my freezer room, shaking?" A gentle smile eased across his face, "Here, put on a shirt." His eye's softened, his finger lightly guiding her beautiful blues eyes to meet with his.
Beth pulled her chin away, her mind still confused. "I don't know... really."
Mick didn't give up, he gently tipped her chin back up and brushed his lips against hers.
"You're still trying to deal with.... everything." Mick stroked Beth's cheek with the back of his knuckles, trying to calm the both of them.
"Yeah, I guess." Beth's words were still unconvincing as her body trembled. Then in a single beat of her heart, Beth's eyes went from unsure to hard and pissed. She pulled out of Mick's grasp.
"Come on, Mick, make me forget everything… use that vampire allure of yours." Her venomous words stinging at his undead heart. Mick shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What the hell, Beth!" He yanked on his pajama pants and guided her out of the freezer room. As soon as they were in the hall, Beth pulled away from him, stomping down the hall to the bedroom.
"Why would I use allure on you, Beth?" He asked incredulously as he followed her down the hall.
Beth felt like she was outside her body watching this. Why was she treating him like this? She just wanted it the way it was before. "I hate this! I don't know you, I don't know me… I… I…" She grabbed at her stomach as she placed a hand at the edge of the bed, slowly sinking to her knees, fresh tears falling down her face.
Mick's heart broke seeing her in pain. Beth yielded as he pulled her into his cold arms he kissing away her tears. "I wished you had never been put through this, Beth," he smoothed her hair back, "but baby, you have to talk to me." The pain in her eyes was mirrored in his, both had wounds that would take time to heal.
"Oh, God… Mick," she sobbed, "I'm sorry." Mick held her tight as she gave in to the pain of the past months. "Shh… shhh… baby, I'm here," Mick tried to sooth her even as his tears began to fall.
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"That went well," Josef Kostan muttered to himself as Mick collected Beth and left without a word. Lance Duvall had practically pranced out of the room, acting like the Sun King himself. Damn it! Even Mick should see the benefit of not fighting a war on two fronts. We've got the Legion mapped in LA, thanks to Mick… what's that quaint human expression "underwater," the costs of this war have me "underwater." Paying human agencies, to keep information compartmentalized and cross reference, vamp intelligence tracking the cure. Double, triple crosses, Coraline, the Legion…
The New York Stock Exchanged was opening lower than expected and Kostan Industries' stock was dipping. Probably following the market… Josef thought as he reviewed security reports for the day.
"Wake me, for the short list, only," were his terse instructions, WWIII, meltdown of the world markets, Mick turns Beth… the Earth stands still, the shooter on the grassy knoll comes forward… "I've got another meeting tonight."
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"Calm down… no, I haven't talked to Josef… I'll look into it. I have stock in Kostan Industries too." Mick's voice was tense, his day going from bad to worse in one phone call.
He put his calls through to his service. "If it's regarding Kostan Industries, tell them I'm on it..." His voice drifts off as he looks up to see Beth coming down the stairs. She looks like a waif in his shirt and her too loose jeans… fragile, beautiful and thin, she brings tears of relief to his eyes.
"Mick, is that it…" the phone squawks… a disembodied voice.
"Yeah… Yeah, tell everyone I'll get back to them as soon as I have news." He ends his call as he makes his way to her.
"Hey." Beth closed her eyes as Mick pressed kisses to her forehead, his hands rubbing her shoulders gently. He takes in her scent, his mind still wanting to make sure she's real.
"There's a rumor that Josef was killed this morning, out in Huntington Beach. His people are close mouthed as usual and he doesn't pick up his cell phone." Mick starts to guide her to the couch, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Can I help?" Beth asks tentatively.
Mick gives her a shaky grin in return. "Could I stop you?" Would I even want to.
A quick smile followed by a quick short breath, her uncertainty suddenly showing through. Months with Oscar have suppressed her initiative. Like Mick, she's blinking back tears. "Okay, what's first?"
"You call your police contacts; I'll start with the news services on the internet
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"Mick," Beth clicked off her phone. She'd worked contacts in the sheriff's department and the media as they drove toward Huntington Beach. "The bodies have already been moved to the morgue in Orange County. Do you have contacts there?"
Mick changed directions, taking MacArthur Blvd in Santa Anna to get to the Coroners office, "Guillermo does…" Mick stopped mid-sentence as he swerved over two lanes to get in the center left turn lane and then another quick left.
"What are you doing, Mick?" Beth gave a nervous glance over her shoulder. This kind of driving she expected from Oscar, not Mick.
"Feeding you." he jerked his head to indicate the Krispy Kreme shop as he parked the car.
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"Yummmm, Mick," Beth licked crumbs of sugar glaze from her lips, "I went around the world and never saw another Krispy Kreme place, thank you." A familiar grin started across her lips as she licked them again.
"Around the world?" Mick only turned to her slightly, a playful grin being coaxed out by her own.
"Yes, around the world... we're here." Beth pointed to the building with an excited voice, wiping her hands the best she could.
At The parking lot at the Orange County Sherriff, the Coroners Building was packed with media vans and other gawkers as Mick and Beth picked their way through the crowd. Mick held his hand up to shield his face from the sun.
"We'll never get though." Beth sounded discouraged, not like the pushy reporter Mick remembered meeting.
"Let's just get close." They shouldered their way in towards the microphone being set up for a press statement, the gossip swirling around them.
Mick listened, "If it's not Kostan, then he's officially a cat with nine lives…""I can see outrage at executive salaries… but…" Suddenly switching directions, he steers them, a strong hand at Beth's waist, out of the crowd. "Let's go… The body was mistakenly sent to the LA Morgue, the sheriff was having kittens… no one told him."
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By the time they pulled into the parking lot of the morgue, Beth felt more like herself than she had in a long time. She wasn't thinking about mere survival anymore. She was at Mick's side in the Benz. They were working a case together. Yes, this was good. A little bit of the old mojo was back. Despite the worry and uncertainty about Josef, Mick could see a bit of sparkle coming back to his Beth's eyes.
"I'm going to need to find Guillermo, but he's still sleeping." Mick said as they exited the car and made their way inside. They walked to the reception desk and Beth asked which morgue attendant was on duty at the moment. Hearing the answer, she nodded and turned to Mick.
"It's my contact Jordan. I'm sure I can hold his attention for a while so you can find Guillermo and take a look at that body." Beth looked down the hall, her eyes darting nervously from room to room. A new habit she had yet to break.
"Oh…" He cocked a suspicious eyebrow at Beth, but a teasing smile was on his lips "…and how are you going to do that?"
"I don't think I've completely lost my touch, Mick. I'm sure I can think of something." Beth smiled back, enjoying the familiar light banter.
"I'm sure you can." Mick gave her a wink and then placed a light kiss on the top of her head. "Just don't try too hard."
They continued down the corridor a ways until Beth paused.
"I'll go ahead and find Jordan, get him distracted so you can slip by and find Guillermo. Mick nodded and Beth continued on, looking around until she spotted the morgue attendant, tidying up in one of the examination rooms. Okay… Beth thought to herself. Game face on. This should be a piece of cake. She knocked on the door. Jordan looked up, mild surprise on his face.
"Beth? Geez, I haven't seen you in a while." Beth gave him most winsome smile and sashayed into the room.
"Yeah. I've been out of town for weeks. Sick Aunt to take care of." She took a few steps forward and closed the door behind her. Mick, listening in, moved down the corridor. That's my girl.
Reaching the main storage room, Mick looked at the bank of steel drawers. Guillermo usually slept in the same drawer and hopefully that was true now. Mick cautiously made his way over and pulled the drawer out. Guillermo's naked slumbering body lay on the slab, a tattered brown teddy bear clutched under one arm. None too gently, Mick pulled the bear out of his friend's arm and lightly bonked him on the head with it.
"Hey, G! Rise and shine, hombre." A groaned emanated from the sleeping vamp and a flailing arm shot up to grasp at the stuffed bear being smacked against his head.
"Mick! Man what are you doing here?" Guillermo moaned, sat up and swung his legs over, easing his bare feet to the floor. He walked over to a desk and opened a drawer. Reaching in, he pulled out a pair of scrubs and began to dress.
"What's going on, Mick?" Guillermo asked as he finished dressing.
"There's speculation that Josef was killed last night." Mick's face sobered as he idlely looked around the sterile room. "I haven't been able to reach him. There was a body from Huntington Beach that was mistakenly brought here. We need to take a look."
"Could it be Josef?" Guillermo asked. Mick pushed the drawer closed and sighed.
"I don't know. Even if it isn't, it could be a vamp's body, and that's still a problem. We need to find out." Guillermo walked over to the entry door and glanced at a clipboard.
"Ok, I know which drawer its in. Let's take a look." He took a few steps and turned to Mick. "Beth back?" Guillermo only looked up for a few moments, his eyes locking with Mick's. Mick nodded, unable to fight back a smile. "How's she doing?"
Mick smiled lessoned just a bit as he replied "She's a bit shaky, but doing better. As a matter of fact, she's here." He cocked his head listening for minute. "Flirting with the morgue attendant to keep him occupied until we're done."
"Oh, really? Which guy?" Mick thought for a moment.
"Jordan, I think she said." Guillermo gave a little snort and chuckled.
"Oh, man. Good luck. Jordan is batting for the other team." Mick started and looked confused.
"What other team?"
"Jordan's gay, Mick. Beth is playing to an empty theater, man." Mick drew his hand over his face and groaned. "Come on, Mick. We'd better get this over with quick."
Beth drew an internal sigh of frustration. She was beginning to wonder if anything short of a table dance was going to keep Jordan's attention long enough for Mick to finish what he had to do. She'd smiled, she'd batted her eyes, done everything but drop a hanky and wiggle her behind at him. The only response she got was something short of a gas attack. Hmmm… maybe the hanky dropping thing had some possibilities.
"Uh, Beth." Jordan said as he maneuvered himself near the exit. "I really have to get going now." No way she could let him go before Mick was through. A small plan formed in her mind.
"Well if you really have to go." Beth said. She made her way towards the door and as she came closer to Jordan she mock tripped, dropping her purse and scattering the contents across the floor. Beth's purse was nearly a fourth dimensional space, housing a vast assortment of makeup, candy bars and feminine products that went flying everywhere. As she hoped, Jordan bent down to help her retrieve her dispersed items. While Jordan's eyes were elsewhere, Beth quickly popped a couple of buttons on her blouse and dropped to the floor on all fours to collect her property. She made sure Jordan got a serious flashing as she crawled around him, picking up pads and safety pins. Jordan continued to look more disturbed than excited, but at this point, Beth didn't care as long as she kept him occupied for a while longer. Her ego could be soothed later.
Guillermo pulled the drawer on the Huntington Beach victim. It was male and pretty battered up, but definitely not Josef Kostan. Despite the damage, Mick recognized the vamp. "This vamp worked for Josef." He said. Guillermo took a good sniff.
"Are you sure, man? I mean, he smells human. Can't you tell?" Mick closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. There was no trace of vamp decay, but he was certain this guy was a vampire.
"Help me turn him over. There might be an explanation for the confusion." Mick and Guillermo carefully turned the body over. Mick turned his attention to his neck and hairline. He quickly found a puncture wound behind the left ear that confirmed his suspicions. "This guy's been injected with the cure. He was human when he was killed."
"So what now, Mick?" Guillermo was confused and concerned. They had just found some peace with the Legion.
"I don't know. I need to find out what happened to Josef." Mick's brain was flooding with ideas as to where Josef could be. But he was coming up empty. "I'd better get out of here and collect Beth. She's just about to run out of ideas to keep Jordan occupied." The two vamps made their goodbyes and Mick headed out to rescue Beth from any further humiliation.
Jordan handed Beth the last of the stray tampons. Fortunately, he was facing away from the door and Mick caught Beth's eye and headed back to the reception area.
"Thanks so much, Jordan. I can't believe how clumsy I can be." She said, her voice hiding her bruised ego.
"Oh, don't worry, Beth. It happens to everyone." Beth gave him a rather relieved smile and started for the door. "Say, Beth." Jordan called after her. She stopped and turned, wondering what he could possibly want after his complete indifference to her charms. " I was wondering…"
"Yes?"
"You know that PI that you hang with sometimes. What's his name? Mick St John?" Beth nodded and Jordan looked a bit nervous but he continued. "Well, I think he's really hot, you know. Do you think I could get his personal phone number from you?" It was all Beth could do not to choke.
"Uh, sorry, Jordan. I don't have that information. And I think he's seeing someone right now." She turned and fled down the corridor. Mick was waiting for her in the lobby. He had heard the last bit of her conversation and was trying hard not to laugh.
"Let's go." She mumbled as she tore past him. "Next time I get the corpse."
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"Wipe that grin off your face, Mick, or I will give him your private number."
"You want to know what I found out?"
"You're changing the subject." Beth wrinkled her nose, remembering how Jordan enjoyed showing her the dead escort's body in return for fifty bucks. She shuffled her mental address book, moving the morgue tech from 'creepy and straight' to 'creepy and gay.'
"It's not Josef, but a vamp who worked for him."
"How would a vamp end up in the morgue, was the body decapitated?"
"No, he was injected with the cure and killed while he was human."
"Like when you were shot with the cure," Beth sounds breathless with anxiety. "Are you in danger?"
"We knew they were targeting Josef," Mick is suddenly serious as he realizes how little he knows about the Legions actions toward Josef. "I figured he could take care of himself." Mick's jaw muscle twitches with tension as he slides the car over a lane for a left turn.
"Mick?" Beth touched his hand that rested on the shifter, forcing Mick to continue.
"Josef… and I haven't exactly been talking."
"I was there last night Mick… when Josef made a deal with Lance," she adds quietly, I don't matter… only my blood matters. Beth wonders if Mick even heard her, until he reaches over and squeezes her hand.
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"Call him at home and tell him that I'm on my way." Mick was beginning to get agitated the longer he stayed on the phone with Jane.
"I'm sorry, Mr. St. John," Jane, a former freshie, was a tough receptionist. "Our last instruction from Mr. Kostan was that he not be disturbed at home."
"How do you know he's not lying in the morgue?" He barked his response as he turned the Benz to the exit that headed to Josef's office.
The blood drains from Jane's face… as she puts the call through.
Dead again! Josef Kostan curses in the back of his limousine as he tracks the plummet of Kostan Industries stock. If this brings the SEC to my door, I'm going personally torch… no make that tar, feather and torch... whoever is responsible.
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