Moonlight – Virtual Season 2
Short 10.2 – New Findings
Rating: PG13/T

Writer: 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 goes between episode 10 and episode 11.

Ben Talbot tapped the desk with the envelope which contained an invitation to the Blood is Life Ball and considered the implications of this new knowledge of vampires. Vampires were real. Kostan, a vampire, was a respected businessman who invited the political and social elite of Los Angeles to a charity ball. Beth Turner, one of his investigators, was in love with a vampire who had heroically tried to save late ADA Josh Lindsay, pulled a jumper away from the edge of suicide… Ok, maybe he could admit that Mick St. John was one of the good guys… in an annoying vigilante sort of way… and he owed him. Josef Kostan on the other hand… he owed nothing.

Bring a date… exactly who would he bring to a Halloween ball with real vampires…this would have to be business, not pleasure.

Ben Talbot pulled out last year's office directory, looking up who may have worked with Josh Lindsay and helped assemble the file on Mick St. John.

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ADA Jacqueline Benavides looked up to see Ben Talbot enter her office. It was past 7PM and not unusual for her or Talbot to be working late.

"Jackie, do you want to go get a drink, I need a favor or two."

"I can't cover for you in court tomorrow; I'm still working on the misuse of public funds trial."

"Right, the public funds siphoned off by the HEM brotherhood for so-called social programs. That's all that's left of Josh Lindsay's efforts to indict leaders of that organization."

Jennifer, who is almost as tall as Talbot, stretches up from behind her desk, "Ben, that would be great. My eyes hurt and this is a depressing case. No one came after Lindsay with the political will to keep the pressure on the HEM. Gracia is staying with her dad tonight, while I work late, so let's go, I've got time for more than one drink.

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As Jackie stirs her Bloody Mary with a celery stalk, she muses, "Beth Turner, Lindsay's girlfriend works for you now?"

"I had my doubts, but I looked at some of her work, and… "

"Knock it off, Ben, she's a thorough investigator… this isn't going to blow up in your face."

"It already has, Jackie… but not the way you think, you helped with the stuff on Mick St. John?"

"Not Lindsay's finest moment, St. John was sketchy… but it read like a conspiracy theory about area 51… something was going on, but this is LA… lots of things are weird.

You don't know how weird.

"Look, I'm invited to the Blood is Life Ball thrown by Josef Kostan. He knows St. John and Turner."

"Wait, are you saying that St. John is dating Beth Turner?" Jackie presses her lips together tightly, Josh Lindsay was a friend and a colleague… she thinks that somehow Beth should have respected his memory.

"Yeah, I'd like someone with independent eyes to go with me… I'm being pressured by other interests to investigate St. John.

"So am I being asked on a date, or a fact finding expedition?"

Ben is tired, it's been a long day. "It could be both. Let's see how it goes."

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So is this a date? Ben Talbot wonders as he knocks on the door of Jackie's townhouse. He is surprised when Jackie opens the door dressed in corseted red satin evening gown.

This unquestionably shakes him out of his habitual cynical outlook as he catches himself smiling. "This isn't what I imagined when you said you would be the devil to my Daniel Webster… I'm going to concede victory right now, without even a closing argument."

"Come in, I just have to kiss Gracia good night and we can go."

A dark haired 7 year old wearing fairy wings looked up at Ben and considered his costume of a cut-away tailcoat and a vest, "What is your costume, you don't look like a prince."

"I guess I'm still a lawyer, even in costume… I'm Daniel Webster… he ran for president."

"Did he win?" she asked with a serious expression.

"No."

"Then I guess you're just a loser." Gracia said and ran behind her mother.

"Gracia Marie Benavides, you apologize right now!" Jackie and Ben both struggled to keep a straight face as Gracia apologized in a low and solemn voice, reluctantly wishing them fun at the ball.

"Well that was an auspicious way to begin a first date." Ben shook his head.

"So it's a date now?"

"Of course, a kid just called me a loser, I've got to present an opposing argument."

Jackie laughed, "Ok, it's a date, but no work talk… we debrief on Monday."

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Simone Walker and Jackie were seated at one of the tables, high heels temporarily kicked off , comparing notes about Judge Martinez, when Josef Kostan arrived with two glasses of champagne.

"Josef," Simone introduced her, "This is Jacqueline Benavides, Assistant District Attorney; she came with Ben Talbot." Jackie noticed that the mention of Ben's name jarred Kostan out of his possessive hovering.

"Really, what sort of work do you usually do with Ben Talbot?"

"Tonight, none at all… if anything we both support the DA when we are called to do so." This youngster annoys Jackie, she imagines him shorter than those cutouts at the carnival rides which set a height limit. "I used to work with Josh Lindsay before his death, I helped put together the case on Chemma Tejada." It sounded like Kostan hissed. It certainly caused him to inhale sharply. St. John was all over Lindsay's death and Kostan was connected to St. John… that much was clear in the Monaghan case. She could see why Ben asked her to the gala, too many coincidences

"An unfortunate mess, I believe that parties involved received a memo indicating that 80's style death squads are passé, at least in LA. Assassination… well a good assassination never sees the light of day.

"Ok, Ben, I'm in."

"What?" Talbot led Jackie through another turn of the dance, her comment dragged him back to the present. The gala turned out to be a fairly typical LA society/charity event, a mix of politicians, socialites and celebrities who made the Red Cross their cause after the tsunami and the earthquake in China. It was impossible that all of LA was part of some grand vampire conspiracy. He had been relaxed, enjoying how she smelled felt in his arms. "I thought this was a date?" he said with a half smile.

"Ben, you should know… it's not curiosity and cats… it's curiosity and lawyers."

"Shhhhh, don't say that." Ben Talbot suppressed a shudder and pulled her tighter. "Just keep watching and we will talk tomorrow."

Jackie pulled back to look at him, "Ok, but I'll tell you my opinion of St. John and Beth Turner now. If they were any more in love, I'd collapse in a diabetic coma."

Talbot thought, That's not exactly what I would say, St. John still seemed scary and possessive. Jackie's comment intrigued him, "So, are you a cynic about love?"

"Maybe it's just a long time since I've been in love, Ben."

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On his way to the bar Ben meets Beth on the edge of the crowd, and she smiles up at him, eyes sparkling.

"I'm glad you brought a date, Ben it looks like you're having fun."

"You know her, Beth, that's Jackie Benavides who used to work with Josh.

Ben enjoys Beth's double take, she is flustered over not recognizing Jackie. She had been Josh's senior and always serious and businesslike. "I didn't recognize her, she looks so different."

"Well she's the devil," Beth raises her eyebrows at the comment, "and I'm Daniel Webster. Beth, so how many of these guests are, you know..."

"I can't tell, but Mick once told me that there is a few hundred living in LA." Beth hopes this information is reassuring as she watches Ben survey the room, calculating.

A few hundred, a thousand or less in the room... I'll be damned if I research vampires on the Internet, Ben thinks irritated.

"Hey Ben, I'VE got to go... I can see Mick looking territorial over at the other end of the bar."

Stopping her by placing a hand on her arm, Ben asks "Seriously Beth, are you in danger dating a..."

Beth laughs somewhere between a snort and a giggle, "Mick would ask himself the same thing, but he treats me like I'm made of glass... let's just say, sometimes I think I'll never... oops, Ben, that was too much champagne and TMI."

When Beth reaches St. John, she is swept into his arms and out on the dance floor to sensual and heart pounding Latin music. I wouldn't exactly call THAT a Hallmark moment... more like, Get A Room!" Ben rubs his hand across his mouth; It's time to find Jackie for another dance.

A cowboy, Internet avatars, two people as a mattress, a giant cigarette and of course the wide assortment of cross-dressing and almost naked... wait, was that Oscar, "the intern" as a gladiator? Since I can't tell vampire from human, what? I'll have fun or pretend to have fun? Ben thinks as he pushes down the feeling of slow burning anger at hidden vampire crimes.

Over Jackie's shoulder he notices Mick and Beth together in another dance. OK, vampires are people too and Mick St. John is just another guy crazy in love, over protective... or...

An alcohol fueled edge was beginning to drive the gala as he and Mick exchanged stiff greetings by the champagne fountain... small talk he forgot in the aftermath of Mick disappearing and a pirate... Captain Hook, a patch but no claw taking a hold of Beth... did that make her Wendy?

He had said something to piss the pirate off and then "human" was said in a tone that made it sound like a dirty word. Talbot was thrown into a crowd... Jesus, that will sober you up.

He was starting to get up when a woman dressed as Catwoman extended an ungloved hand. "Are you all right?" She pulled him up with ease and cautioned, "Watch the claws, THEY'RE actually sharp."

Shaking her hand off, Ben gasped, "Yeah, I think so... what was that?" Catwoman cocked her head in a familiar way... and some memory was escaping him, was this Michelle Pfeiffer

"The in-laws from hell, St. John's ex-wife doesn't seem to believe in divorce."

"What, she's Catholic?" Ben looked a the cold and beautiful woman glaring at Kostan and the pirate... definitely hissing mad with silver eyes and then glanced back at Catwoman, her chin, mouth and eyes looked very familiar.

"Cate!" What was his sister doing here? He looks more closely and realizes that this isn't Caitlin, this woman is too short, curvy and petite. Ben no sooner speaks and she is gone so quickly that Ben started doubting that this exchange was real... had he hit his head?

Beyond a ring of vampire security, the gala continued uninterrupted. Scary men and women wearing a lot of black leather; Is this, the vampire dress code? God, he was glad Jackie had gone to freshen up and was outside this crazy world. His anger was cold now, clear-headed, pissed at himself for bringing her here... territorial, protective. Ben Talbot looked across the opening in the crowd to see his expression mirrored on the face of Mick St. John.

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"Come on in, Ben, I've got to pay the sitter and then we can say goodnight."

Jackie hands him a tall glass of ice water before she goes over to lounge on the sofa. "I had a great time, Ben." She smiles at him. "Just enough politics and Hollywood gossip to stay interesting and enough alcohol, dancing and masked strangers to feel..." She laughs a delightful laugh, "at least modestly uninhibited."

"I don't know if I could top this evening," Ben muses as he reviews the events he witnessed. As his attention returns to Jackie he notices her humorous eyes and appreciates her generous mouth. He finds himself smiling back, she's smart and pretty, "But, if you're interested, I would like to go out again"

"I'm definitely interested. Shall we seal the deal with a first date kiss?

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Ben finds himself grinning as he walks to the car, he's looking forward to the next date, more kissing and maybe... Jackie is so straight forward and able to set aside the serious nature of their jobs, and… she is beautiful. Settling into the car he feels his phone vibrate; an unknown number. He ignores it as it vibrates again and again; jaw tightening, resenting the intrusion on his evening.

At home, it's more of the same until he unplugs the phone... tension keeps him awake and staring at the ceiling, in spite of the stiff drink he poured himself after the fourth or fifth call. Tomorrow he will go up to San Quentin and talk to his dad. He has been holding on to the paperwork to become his father's representative aware that it creates a conflict of interest. Damn it, I've got to have more than a visiting room conversation. What if my mother is a vampire?

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It was late Monday when Talbot returned to his apartment. He sighed as he dropped his briefcase on the couch, replaying his conversation with his father. Should he have even suggested his father's experience was real, verifiable, if not in a court of law?

"So how do we interpret my mother's actions? Is she culpable, it seems like you may have prevented an assault on Caitlin and me?" They had avoided mentioning the nature of the attack and the word vampire entirely.

His father had rubbed his face in consideration, "I've had a long time, too long, to think about it. We'd grown apart, I was working too much and I realize now that raising two little kids alone is difficult. Lots of these men have children and their families suffer in all kinds of ways. Wives and girlfriends move on, it's too much alone... and some men can't recognize they are a danger to their own family. I recognize myself in all kinds of way how they react; the anger, wanting revenge when they realize love has died and moved on.

"Your mom loved you... and that night was the only time she ever seemed a danger to you. She didn't assault herself... whoever he was, assaulted her. You know as much as me and the Internet about such things.

They were two of a kind, he and his father cynical and cursed to see all sides of a situation.

Ben had been surprised at his father's neutrality. "Why aren't you angry?" Ben's anger goaded him, justice for his dad... the loss of his mother. In the past and now those vague memories of love and care replaced by fear.

"Anger only causes grief in here... and until you contacted me... well the future looked different, and I had accepted it."

"I think I saw her, Dad, Saturday night."

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Ben was thinking of a shower, a shave and e-mailing Jackie about lunch tomorrow when the phone rang.

Breathing in to steady himself, he answered the phone.

"Have you seen enough?" The now familiar voice rasped.

"What? To believe..."

"To believe the threat, that Julius Caesar is and was Caesar. Shit, one of his law professors from UCLA was a vampire.

"What? And Zorro is really Zorro?" Talbot asked in irritation.

"Talbot, don't be naive, just because the guests were dressed in costume. Consider the guest, dressed as the "Teflon Don," who arrived from New York. He said he was a long time "associate" of Kostan. Are you ready to have killers like Kostan in positions of power?"

"That sounds like a rhetorical question. Do I really have a choice?" Threatened by vampires and threatened by wannabee vampire slayers. Damn it, his willingness to joke in the face of threats of death... scared him. Could he prevent future crimes, like the one which tore his family apart? Human justice was imperfect... vampire justice...

That actually caused the voice on the other end of the phone to pause. "I don't see how I can help."

"When asked, you will give us what we want." Only his curiosity kept him from slamming down the receiver before his caller clicked off.

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