The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.
This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover. It follows Possession, which followed Who Are You?
This takes place a couple of years after Possession.
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Veronica scoots back from the table the little crossbow in her hand once again but down by her side, under the table where it can't be seen. Logan does the same with his gun. Mick stands up and moves apart from the group with his gun in his hand hidden behind him. Josef hears the front door open and instantly senses who it is. He holds up his hand. "Easy everyone. She's a friend."
Everyone relaxes their trigger fingers but no one puts down their weapons. They watch as a tall slightly built beautiful woman with long red hair walks through the door. She smiles at Josef. "Josef. I'm sorry. I should have just come to you when I found out about Logan but when you didn't come see me I began to worry. I just wanted to see him and maybe have a talk with him if Ashley could get close to him."
Mick can feel the power this vamp possesses. She's very old. Mick smiles to himself as he realizes she's much older than Josef.
Josef stands up and crosses the room. He kisses the woman on the cheek. "I was just telling them about you." He turns to Logan. "Logan this is Vanessa. Vanessa, my son, Logan and his girlfriend Veronica and over here is my friend Mick St. John."
Vanessa smiles warmly at the group. "It's nice to meet all of you. You can put the weapons down children, you too Mr. St. John. I promise I mean you no harm."
Josef smiles. "Really, it's alright."
Logan and Veronica exchange a glance and both lay their weapons on the floor. Mick puts his gun back in his holster, not far from his hand.
Vanessa approaches Logan. "Josef, my goodness he looks so much like you, it's uncanny." She turns to Mick. "Mr. St. John's does your Josie carry your resemblance so closely?"
Mick looks Vanessa straight in the eye and hopes he can pull this off. "Logan is one of a kind. Shannon's father is a human."
No one in the room contradicts him.
Vanessa gives him a small nod and moves on.
Vanessa turns to Josef. "Let me help you protect the children." She glances at Mick. "All of them, if need be."
Josef turns to Logan and Veronica. "Can you two gather up your things and come with me? I'll walk you to your car. It's time you two went home."
Josef glances at Vanessa who is scowling at him but says nothing.
Logan narrows his eyes at Josef. "You're sending us out of the room so the adults can talk. I don't like it. We're not little kids."
"I know but I need you to do this for me. Since we've identified the threat, I would just a soon you went home. Logan, we'll talk about it later. I promise." Josef is relieved to see that at least this once, Veronica is doing as he asks.
Veronica stands up and tugs on Logan's arm. "Come on. It's time to go home."
Logan stands and looks at the two of them wondering for a moment why they are agreeing. He shrugs and turns to his father. "You promise?"
Josef nods and they begin to walk towards the door. Logan turns back to Vanessa and Ashley. "It was nice meeting the both of you."
V smiles and nods in agreement. She glances at Ashley. "Sorry about the stake."
Ashley shrugs. "At least we know you two can defend yourselves."
Vanessa smiles, "It was very nice meeting the two of you as well. Take care children. I'll look forward to meeting you again."
Josef walks them to Logan's car. V remembers her car is parked some blocks away. "You'll have to drive me to my car and I'll follow you home."
Logan nods and turns to Josef. "Can you at least tell me why you're hustling us out of there?"
Josef smiles sadly. "Because Vanessa and I are going to have an argument and I would rather you weren't here for it. Your first real exposure to her should not be watching us argue. She's better than that."
Logan looks alarmed. "Are you in any danger? You said she was very old. She won't….."
Josef quickly realizes Logan sometimes still thinks in terms of family as anger and violence. "No, nothing like that, I'll be fine."
Logan smiles a little warily. "Yea. It's just that if she's really old then she's really powerful."
Josef smiles reassuringly at Logan. "Vanessa isn't like that. It's just that I would rather you not be around while we discuss this."
Josef turns to Veronica. "You've been pretty quiet. What are you thinking?"
Veronica smiles, "I'm thinking that this whole thing seems odd to me. If you and Vanessa are as close as you say, why wouldn't she have go directly to you? Why involve us in this thing with Ashley unless there was something stopping her from going to you? Also, I wonder how long she's known about Logan and how she found out."
Josef shrugs. "First part is simple. She wants her own way and she knew ahead of time that I would say no"
Veronica smiles, "Now I know where you get it from."
Josef smiles at her. "As to how she found out, believe me, that's at the top of my list of things I want to know. Now get going. I'll talk to you later and if anyone else pops up." He trails off
Logan holds up his hand. "Yes, I know we'll call."
"Good." Josef watches as they drive away. He really has no desire to fight with Vanessa over this. He has to make her see that his way is the best.
He turns and sees Ashley leaving the house. "I'm leaving. I don't want to watch the two of you argue either."
Josef stops her. "Ashley, does anyone else, any of the rest of the family, anyone at all, know about Logan? I want the truth this time."
"Josef, I don't really know. Mother came to me with this so I don't know who told her. I only know I haven't told anyone and I won't."
Josef nods. "Thank you. Please keep it that way. His life depends on it."
"I know. Josef, it will be okay, one way or the other." She kisses him on the cheek, turns and goes down the walkway to her car.
Vanessa turns to Mick. "So, Mr. St. John, while we are waiting, maybe you can tell me about your little girl."
Mick starts to protest and she holds up her hand. "I let you get away with that while Ashley was in the room, but believe me, I know she's yours even if you don't want the world to know it. You can trust me."
Mick smiles. "Please call me Mick." Vanessa nods as Mick continues. "She's beautiful. She has dark hair and her mother's beautiful blue eyes. Vanessa, Beth and Shannon are the most important people in my life and I will do whatever I have to in order to keep them safe." Mick looks at her closely. "I mean that sincerely. I will not hesitate to eliminate any threat to them."
Vanessa nods. "That is as it should be. Believe me when I tell you, I in no way want anything but good things for all the children. They all need to be guarded closely."
Josef walks out on the deck having just heard the exchange between the two. He pours himself a glass of scotch and thinks about Veronica's questions. He glances at Mick and Vanessa who both nod so he pours two more as well. Vanessa is staring out into the dark looking out over the ocean.
"Vanessa, I want to know how you found out about Logan. Before we discuss anything else, I need to know who told you."
She turns and smiles at him ruefully "You aren't going to like it."
He snorts at her. "Probably not, but I don't like wondering where the holes in my security are either."
Vanessa braces herself for his anger. "Periodically, meaning whenever I start to worry about you too much, I have people, good people who check up on you quite extensively, they check where you go, what you do, who you meet, that kind of thing. It was on their last fact finding missions that they found out about Logan."
Josef cocks his head at her. Trying to decide just how mad he should be. "Do you do this to all of us or just me?"
"You're the only one that forces me to. The others come visit; the others keep me in the loop. I never know what is going on with you or how you are. It makes me worry so I send people to check on you. I will say your security people make it challenging when you are at home or at the office but you drop your guard considerably when you are visiting friends and family." She waves her hand airily. "I really could care less about the business anyway. You've always had a great deal of talent in that area. As it turns out friends and family is the best part of what's going on with you anyway."
"Vanessa, I can't believe you check up on me like I'm some fledgling you just kick out of the nest. What is the matter with you? I am four hundred years old. You are a worse control freak than I am." He slams his hand on the table for emphasis.
Mick rolls his eyes at that and Josef shoots him a nasty look.
Vanessa looks at him impatiently. "Josef, stop that. You knew that about me when I asked you if you wanted to be turned. It should be no surprise to you now. What I want to know is when were you going to bring the boy around to meet me? Do you have any idea how rare he is? Do you have any idea how much danger he is in? You, of all my children have the worst assortment of enemies."
Josef's head snaps around. "What do you mean; do I know how rare he is? Vanessa, have you heard of many vampires fathering children? Just how often does this happen?"
Vanessa smiles, "It's rare, but it does happen. I personally know of more than two-dozen cases but that's over a very long time. The amazing part of it is not so much that you've fathered a child. The amazing thing is that fate has touched you both." Vanessa smiles at Mick. "Oh and one other thing, all the other children have been male. Josie is the only girl I've ever heard of being born under these circumstances. It doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but it's probably rarer still when it does."
Mick just shakes his head, not knowing what to say.
Vanessa returns to questioning Josef. "As I said, do you have any idea how much danger he is in?"
"Yes, I know how much danger he's in. Why do you think I didn't bring him to New York to see you?" He sees the disappointment in her eyes. He reaches across the table, and covers her hand with his and continues softly. "Vanessa I know you would never hurt him, and that you would do whatever you could to make sure he is safe. It's not about you. It's about us and who we are."
He hears her growl a little. "Are you ashamed of being a vampire? Has this child made you regret the life you chose? I understand your friend Mick here doesn't like what he is, has he convinced you this isn't the life you were meant to lead?"
Josef shakes his head. He can hear the anger in her voice. "What a ridiculous question. You know I love being a vampire. To this day, I have never wished to be anything else. I don't want to bring him into our world any farther than I have to, for his own safety. The more vamps that know about him the greater the danger that someone will talk out of turn. Certainly, you could help me keep him safe but he would never again be able to live a normal human existence. Do you know he's never been to my home; he's never been to my office. I want to be part of his life but I don't want him endangered by coming to L.A. before there's no choice. He's too young to be turned, you know that, and until he's old enough to make that decision, I would like him to live here with his girlfriend. I come down here, and surf and go to a few parties and have a very nice time with them. The humans think I'm his brother. There are one or two vamps that live in the immediate area, and they are old friends that have a vested interest in keeping quiet. Once he comes to live with me in L.A. all that over. He won't be able to do any of the things he really loves and I'm not going to make that happen until there is no other choice."
Josef glances at Mick with a smirk. "And your information on Mick here is out dated. He's coming along quite nicely. If not for Josie, he would have turned Beth already. Once he does that, it will complete his move into the fold, as it always should have been. He just needed the right woman to show him the way."
Mick snorts but keeps his comments to himself, wanting to hear the rest of this discussion.
Josef watches Vanessa and realizes Veronica is right. "Veronica brought a very good point tonight. She wondered why it is that you felt you had to go around me to see Logan. She also wondered just how long you've known about him."
Vanessa smiles, "She's going to make a very nice vamp someday. Ashley said that she was the one that shot her from far enough away that Ashley didn't even know she was there. I will say this for them, they are well prepared for trouble. Mick, you have taught them well. Ashley said she never saw the trap coming. She couldn't even read Logan."
"Vanessa, answer the question." Josef says with some irritation.
"I just found out about him, a couple of weeks ago. My people just gave me the latest details on you. I didn't come to you directly because I didn't want you to find out how I found out. I also was upset that you hadn't brought him to see me and I thought you would say no if I just asked."
Josef nods. "You're right. I would have. Vanessa, the fewer people that know about him the better, surely you can see that. Now there is how many more vampires know about him? How big a team do you have checking up on me, four, maybe five?"
Vanessa sighs and nods her head.
Josef shakes his head. "And then you involve Ashley, your driver and probably Frank, if you two are living under the same roof again, all people who I trust with my life but not Logan's. Let's see that's almost ten more people who know about Logan and that's hoping that your people can keep their mouths shut and that there are no written reports laying around in a desk for just anyone to find, or better yet, sitting on a computer somewhere just waiting to be hacked."
His tone and sarcasm aren't lost on her. Vanessa gives him a sour face. "How was I supposed to know you were hiding someone so important? It's not like you ever give me any idea about what is going on in your life and I will have you know my security people and the people I've entrusted with this information are completely trustworthy."
Josef shakes his head. "No one is completely trustworthy, not human or vamp. Anyone can be coerced; it's just a matter of the inducement. It just means you have to have the patients to find the right leverage."
Mick clears his throat. He doesn't like what he's hearing. "This is all very interesting but are your people really trustworthy?" He taps the table with his fist for emphasis. "Listen, both of you. I haven't discussed this with Beth. She would be furious if she heard me say this. My best guess is that most vamps will think that Shannon's father is some random human and I'm such a nice guy, I'm willing to raise her because I love her mother. If it means she stays safe, I can live with that." Mick smiles, "There is no reason Shannon has to grow up thinking that I'm not her father. When she's old enough to understand we can make sure she knows the truth, but I've gone to great pains to make sure the vamps don't know who her father is."
Vanessa looks at Mick as if she wants to hug him. "You're a wonderful father."
Mick, growls. "I told you, whatever it takes to keep them safe. Josef doesn't have that luxury. The problem is, now you've managed to group her in some vamps minds with Logan who can't be anything but Josef's son. So, do I have to kill everyone who you've invited into my secret? Vanessa what you and Josef don't seem to understand is that it doesn't matter to me if you threaten and bribe everyone to keep their mouths shut because if they don't and something happens to Shannon or Beth, none of your threats will matter. There is nothing that will ever be enough to make up for the loss, not one death, not hundreds. They will still be gone."
Josef silently nods. He does understand, completely.
Vanessa smiles at Mick. "Actually Josie is still out of the loop. I was bluffing about knowing that she was your daughter." Mick narrows his eyes at her. She smiles at him sheepishly and continues with a small shrug. "All the reports I've gotten back list her father as being of unknown human origin. No one is even thinking that, not one of you, but both of you could possibly have fathered a child. It's pretty far out if you think about lightening striking that close, not once but twice."
Mick finally relaxes and leans back. "So that means we are back to Logan's protection being our primary focus."
Josef bites back a nasty retort.
Mick feels the anger rolling off Josef. "Listen, I just meant that there are now two less people and one less residence we have to take special care of. We've always had to be extra careful with Logan and Veronica and at least they are old enough to do some damage on their own. Don't be mad at me because I'm glad my baby daughter is less of a target."
Josef relaxes. "I know. It just rankles me that I now have another ten people to worry about saying something, even unintentionally." Josef glares at Vanessa.
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Logan watches Veronica as she goes about her routine to get ready for bed. "How come you let Josef get away with making us leave tonight? It's not like you to be so agreeable."
Veronica thinks about it for a minute. "Because I've always gotten the feeling from Josef that he wants a wall between us and his world. It's why he always comes here and we never go to L.A. It's very important to him for some reason and I think it's a safety issue. Plus, when it comes to vamps I still think it's better to do what he and Mick think is best. They know them better than we do. Let's face it, until tonight the only vamps we've even met are Mick and your dad and my guess is they aren't all as cuddly as those two."
Logan snorts. "Cuddly is not a word I would use to describe vampires."
"Oh for heaven's sake, have you watched those two with Shannon? That little girl has those two men wrapped around her little finger. Mick's a big teddy bear and your father may not be as emotional as Mick, but he's just as bad with you as Mick is with Shannon. He would do anything for you. Any man, vampire or human who loves his children, as much as those two do are cuddly. Take it from someone who has one of those cuddly fathers of her own."
Veronica moves to the bed and Logan pulls the blankets back for her. He wraps his arms around her. "How on earth did I ever get this lucky? I had such a crappy life as a kid and here I am with people who love me and a girl friend who means everything to me."
Veronica loves hearing the contentment in his voice. It's been a long time coming. She turns in his arms. She smiles as she begins to kiss him all over. "I'll show you lucky."
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Josef and Mick sit in silence, both men deep in thought about the night's events. Vanessa has taken her leave with the promise from Josef to keep her up to date on Logan and find a way for her to spend some time with him as soon as Josef deems it safe.
Josef finally turns to Mick. "So what do you think?" Josef thinks he knows what Mick going to say but needs his suspicions confirmed.
Mick sighs. "I think that Logan's got about another year of normalcy, if that. We are losing control of the information. You have to figure for every person that knows your connection to Logan there is an infinite number of variables that they each present. Even if we killed them all, at this point you don't know who've they may passed the information on to. Vamps are no different from humans. Most of the love a secret and will guard it for a while but at some point, knowing isn't as much fun as telling. Even if all those people keep quiet, Ashley is right, it's easy for someone to come down here and stumble across him. We aren't that far from L.A. where you're well known in the community. We may be able to keep a lid on this thing for another year if we're lucky. Josef, you need to seriously do whatever you have to at home and at work so you're ready for him to come live at the mansion."
Josef nods. "That's pretty much what I thought you were going to say. What about V? Do you think she will go with him? I don't know what it's going to do to him if she refuses."
Mick shrugs. "I just don't know. She loves him but you're asking her to walk away from everything to a world where she is going to have little if any control. That's a lot for Veronica to deal with and then there's her dad. She's very close to him and she's use to coming and going, as she likes from his place to theirs. At least with her, the move can be in baby steps. She shouldn't be in any immediate danger like Logan. It might be something she will agree to once he's moved and she can do it on her own terms. I don't think she can be pushed into it like we are going to have to do with Logan. Josef, be prepared to put the full court press on him. Especially if Veronica refuses, he's going to really have to be sold that there is no other way."
Josef shakes his head. "I am not looking forward to this falling apart. Let's hope we get lucky and it takes a while. He has a good life here and I hate like hell to be the reason it has to change. I don't want him to end up resenting me."
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Vanessa looks across the car at Frank. "Frank, you wouldn't believe it. He looks so much like Josef. I wish I could have spent some time talking to him. The girl friend, Veronica is plainly going to make a good vamp. I can see it in her eyes. Logan is much harder to read. From what information I've been able to gain from my investigations into his background, I can guess that he is use to keeping his guard up with people he doesn't know. Between his mother and stepfather's notoriety, I think he's very good at protecting himself from strangers. With what happened to him as a child, I hope he's not too fragile for this life."
Frank smiles in the darkness of the car. "I think you'll find that he's tough enough. I found an old news story on the net about him taking a gun away from a teenager that was trying to kill the girlfriend. Reckless, maybe, but it shows if he's pushed, he can strike back. He just may not be aggressive, which is fine as long as he can stand his ground when he needs to. Josef won't let you spend any time with him at all?"
"No, not until he thinks it's safe. It makes me mad. Josef knows how I feel about family and that child is my family too. The point will most likely be moot though a year from now. No matter what Josef thinks, even if I hadn't found out from my people, he's too prominent in the community to keep this quiet forever. I can wait that long. Once things are out in the open, Josef and I will both make it, known that Logan and Veronica are under our protection and that should help a great deal. Josef is so intent on the boy having as normal a human life as long as he can. I'm guessing it stems from his guilt over what the stepfather did before Josef knew Logan was his son."
"And Josef doesn't suspect the real reason that you continue to always check up on him?"
Vanessa scowls at him. "That is the real reason. I do worry about him. He just doesn't know I've always suspected he could father a child."
"Airport?"
Vanessa sighs, "Yes, we might as well go back to New York until this thing blows up. I am however, going to take measures to make sure Logan makes it through this whether Josef likes it or not. I will not have his safety left to chance."
As Frank leans forward and taps on the glass between them and her driver, she hears him chuckle across the car from her. "What's so funny?"
"You and Josef. Turning him was one of the best things you ever did but I'll tell you, the two of you are so much alike it's fun to watch you drive each other crazy. I'm sure that Josef isn't leaving the boys safety up to chance. There are more than likely plenty of precautions in place you don't know about. He loves the boy, yes?"
"Oh, very much. You can see it clearly written on his face and you know Josef, he's not one given to emotional displays."
"Then odds are he has the boy's safety well in hand but if you think you have to meddle go ahead."
Frank senses her start to pout and he pulls her across the back seat of the limo. "Come here. I meant that in the best possible way. I love you, you know that."
Vanessa snuggles up close to him and sighs. "I love you to."
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A/N remember these three chapters happened six months ago in the stories time line. From here we go to the present.
