Moonlight – Virtual Season 2
Short 8.2 – Why not? Part 2
Rating: PG13/T

Writer: ClChen and Mx wwmickd

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.

This short takes place between virtual episodes 8 and 9.

A muscle twitches in his jaw and Oscar admits to himself that he hates Beth's apartment. Maybe this constant emotional turmoil that surrounds her is disturbing his equanimity. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and thinks, hate is too mild of a word, loath or despise might be better describe his feelings toward this place. There are too many entrances, the window at the end of the hall, the balcony... each night she stays here he sets out motion detectors and cameras. Tonight he watches Mick walk up the front steps. He thinks, Beth, it is only because it is you, that I will speak up.

Mick nods his head at Oscar in greeting but as Mick reaches for Beth's door, Oscar steps forward to block him.

Is this it, Beth told Oscar to keep me out? "What, Oscar?" Can anyone read this guy?

"Mick you're not unusual" Oscar says, his voice low and serious.

"What do you mean...?"

"Sires are our past... The past is revolution; a corrupt monarchy overthrown and a new monster rises in its place.

Mick snorts in disbelief... Coraline is not some metaphor... Fire...Beth said she watched Coraline rise from the flames.

Silent and quick as death Oscar stakes Mick, distracted by his own mind, which is elsewhere. He catches Mick, laying him gently on the floor. Growling, Oscar says, "Get your head in the game, St. John ... Do you think you are the only one who tried to kill their sire?"

Slowly, phrase by phrase, Oscar begins to tell the story of how he was turned... a handsome young man... a noble's plaything. How he killed his sire not once but twice. The second time during the 1917 revolution.

"Break away, Mick, or this thing with Coraline will destroy you and Beth." Oscar extended his hand to Mick, pulling him up. Mick doesn't say a word to Oscar, not even sure what to say. Oscar opens the door and lets Mick pass; he closes it behind him, still watching over his charge.

Once inside the scent of Beth's tears hit him, he closes his eyes, and his thoughts shift from Oscar back to Beth, to the heart he broke again. He quietly makes his way to her bedroom, stopping to remove his boots and jacket. He pauses by the door, just looking at Beth as she sleeps, still in the Henley she had taken from his apartment. He smiles half-heartedly, finally shaking his head before making his way to the bed. Mick lies down, as quietly as he can next to her, gently brushing a few stray hairs from her face. He leans in and kisses her cheek, her temple and then the top of her head before spooning her to him, lacing his fingers with hers.

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Sunlight slowly filters through the closed blinds in Beth's room. She feels a heavy weight over her waist and a shallow cool breath against her ear. Startled Beth looks around, trying to focus before she realizes that Mick's holding her. She tries to move but his "dead" weight and still "sleep" has her pinned. She suppresses a giggle and plops her head back to her pillow smiling and pleasantly resigns to the fact that she's trapped by her vampire. She snuggles further back into him, closing her eyes, but not really sleeping, just relaxing in his arms. She's still upset with him, but this was the first time she had ever woken up in his arms. Every other night he retreats to his freezer, leaving her to wake alone and then searching for him.. His long leg is draped over hers, his powerful arms held her tight, his strong refined fingers entwined with hers. It was like they were one.

"I hope you don't mind." Mick's voice was low and hoarse. "I, ah... I didn't want to wake you..." He stroked the hand he was holding with his thumb, his emotions were threatening to overwhelm him, once again. Beth's scent filled his nostrils; he knew her heart was still aching. Beth pulled his arm closer to her chest and heaved a sigh.

"I don't mind..." she said through a whisper. "But it doesn't change things."

"I know... I know, I'm sorry. I, ah... Josef... He came by, literally right after you left." Mick placed a tentative kiss to the back of Beth's head, then placed his forehead against it. "Old vamp... young vamp talk..."

Beth snorts out a tiny laugh, "I need to start paying him, for all his... sessions." She turned into his arms and pushed him to his back to lay on top of him, looking into his dark eyes. He didn't try to hide his pain, his sad eyes held hers. "I don't want to lose you Mick, not now, not over her."

"I'm not going anywhere." Beth pressed her lips to his, giving him a tender kiss. Mick held her close as she eased from their kiss. "I'm hard to get rid of. I think you should know that by now."

Mick gave her a sad smile and a quick nod, when she notices... "Why is there a hole in your shirt?" Beth sat up and urgently pulled up his Henley. "Mick? Did… Did you get staked?" Mick pulled his shirt back down and sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Um… Never mind that. I owe you an explanation. I… I got carried away last night…"

Beth turned her head to look away and Mick guided it back with his finger. "Because you do things, Beth, to me. You drive me crazy, ever since I tasted you a second time. It was different, not like the desert, and it… I need to be careful. I want what we have to be passionate yes, and it is, but I want it to be tender, loving and none of that happened with Coraline. Do I want you...?" Mick placed her hands to his lips, already feeling his need for her threaten. "I need you, not want. You fill my days, my nights, every waking moment I think of you. If I catch you're scent somewhere in the apartment, I'll linger in that one spot. You consume me, Beth."

"So where do we go from here?" Beth's frustration makes the words sharp and abrupt and Mick feels on edge.

"I don't know what to do, Beth." Mick leaned back against the head board as he continued to hold Beth's hands. "I was obsessed with Coraline... we were violent with each other... I'm afraid I'll be violent with you." Beth was about to speak, but Mick placed his fingers against her lips. "You have faith it will be different... Josef tells me it will be different... hell, even Oscar is telling me not to fuck up with you and keep pushing you away..." Beth considers the last of his words, a playful smile curls on her lips.

"So, is umm… That why you got staked?" Mick looked at the hole in his Henley and then back at Beth, chuckling softly.

"Maybe… let's say Oscar has a way with words." He was about to lean forward for a kiss, when Beth's alarm went off. She glared at the time and then pouted back at Mick. This time he finally laughed, seeing her expression. She swatted his chest and climbed off his lap. She kissed him quick and bumped her head against his.

"You owe me a date, so tonight after I get off, you pick me up, get flowers, do the whole sweet boyfriend thing, take me back to your place, and you get to plan from there." Mick jerks forward to steal one more kiss and before he lets go of her hands. He doesn't take his eyes off her as she walks towards the shower. Mick stands and rubs his face with his hand to breath in a sense of relief. What was that Josef said about my having to get in the last word. He yells to Beth in the bathroom. "You're pushy, you know that…"

Mick bit his lip, fighting back the fit of laughter as he watched Beth pop back out of her bathroom. Her hands were on her hips as she glared him. "Don't you have a freezer to go to or something? You need to be rested for tonight, Mr. St. John!"

Then she was back in the bathroom and Mick listened to the water turn on, obscuring the sound of her heart beat. "Fine," he said, knowing she couldn't hear him, "Call me when you get off."

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Beth looks at the backlogged pile of reports which have accumulated on her desk. She is still not caught up after the trip to New York and takes a last glance at the small picture of Mick she keeps on her desk… one from the beach when he was human and clearly happy. Mick was sweet… well Mick could be sweet whenever… but especially when he was apologetic. He'd had coffee ready for her when she'd gotten out of the shower. He'd been ready to cook breakfast, or do something…

"Mick, I don't do breakfast…" she gives him a quick peck on the cheek, "…and thank you for the coffee. I really need to leave for work. Are you taking me?"

"Yeah,"

"Then, let's go."

Logging on to her computer to check her e-mail, Beth sees she has an urgent e-mail from Talbot requesting that she schedule a meeting with him.

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Beth walks into one of the older courtrooms at the courthouse and sees Ben working at the prosecutors table. He told her to meet him during the lunch recess and to bring them both a salad. It was odd; he'd never asked her to do something like this before… like she was some kind of glorified assistant.

Hearing the door, he turns to see her, "Hi, Beth, sorry about asking you to bring us lunch."

"I wondered when my job description changed."

"It didn't, it was just an excuse to meet outside my office." He pulls out the chair next to him, indicating that she take a seat.

"So what's this about?"

Ben's glance at her is appraising as he considers the mysterious phone call about the alleged list of vampires in LA.

"How's the vampire hunting in New York?"

Beth swears she can hear her heart skip a beat, "No vampires were killed in the course of my investigation." Unfortunately I only had a stake and not silver bullets for Coraline, "Seriously, scary… there's nutcases competing for Whitley's fortune."

"I was given a list, Beth, and told it was a list of vampires." He looks away to spear a leaf of lettuce. I should be watching her reaction. Is she in danger? From St. John? From these crackpots who call themselves the Legion?

In a tentative voice, Beth offers, "There was a list in New York, historical names mostly, Howard Hughes, William Randolph Hearst…"

Talbot turns to look at her raising his eyebrows and letting the silence build between them. He has reviewed his father's statement to the police. It reads like a horror movie and it gives him nightmares. Dreams where he relives the crime scene where the two children died... probably at the hand of the serial killer who killed his mother. Talbot knows that real, human horrors exist and he isn't going to be railroaded into a witch hunt in the name of some mythical creature.

"The list I received had historical names and some other more familiar names… but you know that."

Mick!

"Watch yourself Beth… what did you call these guys, 'seriously scary?'"

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It was a quiet evening, they hadn't talked much but cuddled and held on to each other. Back to square one, Beth thought, but she knew it wasn't entirely true. They couldn't stay away from each other... not really... two steps forward... one step back.

A dozen red roses sat in a glass vase on the table behind the couch, the crystal fireplace was the only light in the room. Two half empty glass of red wine sat on island in the kitchen as soft music played.

Mick finally spoke, "It looks like we're staying in..." with a tilt of his head toward the music he suggests, "May I have the next dance?"

Beth sighed as her head rested on Mick's chest, the gentle swaying of her body kept time with his. Mick's hand caressing her back with soft circular motions, his body centered on the soft beats of her heart, the gentle rise and fall of breast crushed against his hardened muscles.

"So how was work?" Mick broke the quiet of the evening, his velvet baritone voice pulling her back into the here and now.

"It was… strange. Talbot e-mailed me, I met him at one of the old courtrooms in the courthouse. It was like a spy novel... choosing a random place to meet." Beth raised her head so she could see into Mick's eyes. "I think he is starting to put two and two together about vampires... He implied that he knew I'd taken the list and that you were on it. It seemed like a warning. Like he's more worried about me, than hunting vampires." Mick jerked his head up and back, an eyebrow slowly raising.

"Really, worried about you..." Beth giggled as she saw Mick's jealousy slowly march across his face.

"Stop it! You have nothing to be jealous of..." She pushed up on tip toe to kiss his lips. She started to giggle again as she heard a soft purr emanate from his chest. "Stop teasing me!" Mick smiled against her lips and held her close again.

"Mick..." she said softly.

"Hmmm..."

"Next time let me lead... and I'm not talking about dancing."

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