Josef's little human

Ch. 4

Note: corrections were made to last chapter (tense and additions) Nov 29th over night

Nothing.

Absolutely fucking nothing, I thought with worried exasperation. Mick hadn't found any leads on Ryan and it had been three weeks now. No prints, no traces, not even an identity. I picked up the remote and turned off the t.v. She could be anywhere now, why couldn't I stop looking on the news for some big disaster?

I tossed the remote aside, why do I even care? I let my head fall into my hands. I thought this would get better once she left. Guess I gambled wrong, huh?

Because I hadn't liked what she'd seen about me. Like she looked right into my soul and just threw a flame thrower on it. Seen that one too many times recently. Absently, I plucked at my shirt. Had I not told Beth a few weeks ago about a similar feeling Mick had gone through with Coraline? This felt like that same insanity. Why would anyone wish for this shit? This wasn't romantic, this was-nuts. Well, you wanted a challenge, I thought bitterly. She called you nuts too.

The problem was that this girl was human-I thought so anyway-and those were not games I liked to play with her kind. She'd known and I'd just fallen into her trap.

"I almost turned a child." What the hell was wrong with me? I moaned as sleep had evaded me time and time again. "Why do I end up with the furiously complicated human? This has Mick's name all over and on it."

My phone buzzed, and I looked at the display. Simone, I sighed and put it back down. I'd still not returned a single call. That was the fourth call, and I hated to just leave her hanging like that. I had bigger fish to fry, ones that could bite me in the ass if I wasn't careful. My gums ached as I thought about a good feed though. Simone brought me little in the way of desire. Nothing had since Ryan. Another thing I could kill someone for.

I stood then, head bent down as I closed my eyes and hands on the desk. Today, I felt the weight of time. A knock sounded, and I knew by interval steps it was Mick before he got to the door. "Come in," I said and stood up straighter. "And why are you hear. You could be followed."

He swung the door open, walked in, and placed the blood work on my desk. Our eyes met, and I took him in. Both of my hands landed in my pockets, and he smirked. In was an old habit I got when upset or nervous. I knew I'd been demanding, but he'd jumped to the cause without hesitation. "Beth and Tablot are here, just a few hours." I moaned again. Why me?

"Oh, you dressed up today," I remarked stalking him with my gaze. "No bed head," I commented with a half ass grin. Mick, severely younger in age than me, was easy to bait. Still had all that human decency or whatever. maybe I needed some. Where do you find that four hundred years later. It's not like my early days were easy.

He wore his classic leather jacket, a dark blue button down shirt and jeans. Me? I was wearing gray fine dress pants, a white long sleeve shirt and a vest that usually went with a coat. I was in no mood to wear it. Style, as I'd so come to love it from my human station, had new meaning now that Ryan had blasted me over it.

Would it kill anyone to know a vampire had a little class? Not all of us were moody and dark and gory. Helpless romantics either. Was it so bad to let go and enjoy what I was? No, I finished almost immediately. I embraced what I was-loved it. So why did I feel like shit?

I lost my grin and looked to Mick who said, "Down to business?"

"A little dramatic on the entrance," I said and gave him my classic smile that said more than words. I knew it didn't meet my eyes, but I really didn't care either.

"Yeah, well. Been a dramatic set of weeks." He held up a white envelope.

I'd taken the envelope and brought it closer willing answers to be in it. "Your human got you in a tizzy? Not enough sex? It took, what, twenty three years?"

Mick chuckled, "And yours? What was she, fourteen, Josef?" He imitated a scoff.

I looked at him over the envelope, "No, but at least nineteen or twenty." I looked up to him, "Perfect age if you ask me. Problem. I'm not sure if mine is actually human."

Mick studied me, and I looked away. "She's got you more worked up than Lola."

"Don't say that name," I glared and waved a finger at him. No one liked to be taken for a fool. Especially me. "Did you know Ryan called me a pretty boy," I smirked again. "She had good taste.

"I'd say her tastes were off. Alright, alright," he waved me to sit and sat down himself. "Open it up."

So I did. "I don't know what any of this means," I said after a moment. I drank the stuff, not blood typed it. Of course, it was easier to put a name to the taste and flavor. Blood types were introduced in the early 1900's. It made everything easier, but I still liked it from the source fresh. Mick on the other hand, drank banked crap which was only good in times of stress or when humans were not readily available.

Did he even drink in front of Beth? Probably not, I reminded myself seeing her reaction when he and I were with Simone. I'd done that to Ryan to make it clear she knew who and what I was. I was no Angel or Bill Compton by any means. Maybe an Eric from True Blood, but with better style and hair. "I'm a business man, not a science genus," I threw it on the desk and at him. "make sense of it." I rubbed my eyes.

Mick clicked his tongue to his teeth, as if it said shame, shame. I gave him the 'well read it duh' look and raised my eyebrows and a hand out. "Your expertise would be…" I paused. "Invaluable." I made a face.

Then he snorted, "Yeah, since I've done this twice before. The lab is going to think I've got something going on," he murmured and pulled the sheets aside one by one. It took less than a minute for his grin to fall away. He was so engrossed, I walked over to the other side. "What's wrong?" Or, whats wrong now.

He blinked a few times, "I'm not sure. This is strange," he began in a way that made me uneasy. Here we go again.

"Mick," I started frustrated. "Get to the point."

"When I took a sample of Coraline's-wait just listen-" He started when I began to walk back to my desk. "Listen."

"I don't want to hear the 'cure' speech. I know you don't like what you are…being turned against your will…"

"That's just it!" he grabbed my shoulders in typical excited Mick fashion. I stood there like a big brother awaited for his younger one to calm the fuck down and see reason. Fact was, Mick never saw reason when it came to a cure. What, was he going to re-cure himself into old age? "Her cells show like a child's."

"Well," I said with a half laugh, "I can attest to you she was anything but a child. Physically, speaking."

"Do tell, Josef."

"No," my frown deepened and our gazes locked. "Tell me this wasn't a case of vampire gone human? She's not the cure?"

Mick's face lit up, "No Josef! You're not listening" He shuffled through more papers, "Her blood is purer than Coraline's. It's the same type-genotype as Beth's."

I crinkled my nose. "How can I 'listen' with you running around the room like a frantic lunatic every time someone has lab work done?" I pretended to shoot myself in the head.

His hands fell down slowly as he thought. "What if she's the cure?"

"You will not eat my savior to fix yourself," I told Mick in warning. Someone please end his cure madness. It was getting really old. Hell, if I took a cure, I could die faster and forgo this entire shindig.

"Really?" he retorted. "You said she wouldn't let you bite her." He paused as I ignored like so and sifted through papers. "You really like this one."

How many times would he have this epiphany? I gave him a glare, "No, I don't like things I don't understand, Mick. Too many vampires are getting wrapped up in random shit lately. Explain this to me first," I said and waved my hands, "before you get all worked up on me. It's," I tried to find the right word, "distracting. Not endearing."

He pulled out his phone, "When I took the cure, I had a blood sample done because Coraline's had broken when," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't see why," I began cutting him off.

"She was the cure- or was cured." He pulled up a document that looked similar to these results. "I don't have hers here, I think it's on Google Drive."

"How very modern of you," I said deadpanned. I could feel my unease grow. I'd drunk Mick's blood to turn him back so he could save his lovely Beth, who was probably in town when she was not supposed to be. This was a trend, no? Were there complications? I could feel my fangs itch to get loose. "I hope I don't turn human after all this."

He did a double take when he saw my expression, "Step daddy." I groaned when he started that.

"At least it worked." Well, at least I was assured that part of my blood still worked. "Are you falling for this girl? No, really," he said and grabbed my arm. I looked at his hand and he let it go.

I gave him a devious smile, "No games Mick. Although, I'll share my secrets if you share yours." I knew Mick would never kiss and tell. It was from the time he was turned in. Maybe that's why we got along so well. Who knows?

He waved me over as he went to sit at one of the computers in front of my desk. Once all three were side by side, he marveled at the results. "This is me, this is Coraline, and that is Ryan. What do you see?"

"A bunch of…" I narrowed my eyes. "Coraline and Ryan's look almost identical. This looked clearer than that one," I said motioning to Ryan's then to Coraline's sample. Mick's human version wasn't the same type. "Nothing in yours except whatever this is over here."

"That's free radicles. Ryan's blood is very …pure for lack of a better word. Or younger. When the tech took the first sample, she suspected it was from a child."

"And Beth was the same type of blood as Coraline?"

Mick pulsed with excitement again. I didn't share it, and hell if I wasn't full blown scared shitless.

"Beth asked me or told me rather, that she thought there was something more to Coraline taking her. I thought it was to kill her later on, because let's face it, Coraline was not going to let that girl live. It's why I killed her in the first place."

"Or tried," I added. "So if they were the same, it's the best blood to drink-one that matches the vampire's. Shared type and all, yada yada. We all knew she was a sick bitch Mick, but what are you getting at?"

He said, "There is no AO- blood type per se. Genotype is the genetic makeup of an organism which alleles it has which that refers to. Phenotype is the expression of an organism's genetic makeup. If I asked Beth for a sample, I wonder if it would match." I noted his tone fell off. "She would show A- on a test and that's rare. But she carries O also, so A and O One from each parent. O is recessive meaning she carries it but won't show on a test unless it's a genetic test. A and B are dominant to O and always express over it."

"We knew Beth had rare blood."

"Don't know yet." He paused, "She could be A2," he mumbled. "A variant. Ryan is not the same as Coraline though. She's AB-."

"Enlightening." Then it occurred to me, "What is Ryan's type?"

Mick looked over, a gleam in his eye, "AB-. Hmm, I do think the plot thickens."

"Figured and I hope not." It was better to turn someone who also matched the vampire's blood type, but as long as they were compatible, it would work. "And why does Beth know this off hand? It's rare, but not super rare," I told Mick knowing that much. "Mine is rarer still." I failed to see his reasoning. "Ryan matched mine. You think that's what was happening between us?"

"Ah, makes sense why you like her. Maybe why Coraline went after me. I'm A- but got both from each parent. Isn't that what you drink?" I mean, we ordered our own blood.

Me? I preferred AB-. It didn't mean that was what we were, but as far as healing properties, then the best type for us was a child who matched our type. In this case, I liked my type best. It was very rare indeed. "The negatives are sweeter than positives. More unique or better aged."

"Don't you see a connection?" He stood up. "There are two blood groups here with very similar properties and one constant between both of them. Your Ryan has these properties on her blood naturally and she's not a vampire so she never had the cure. Coraline and I had similar properties based on having taken the cure. Beth matches Coraline almost exactly down to the markers. Minus a few, but that's evolution for you. Her markers are constant with those found in old France. You cannot mistake the evidence of ancestors."

"And in English that means?" Was this going to be about the cure? "I'm seriously hoping you have other motives to find her." Then I mumbled, "Figures we'd get tied up in this shit."

"Coraline said there was a family that was turned-Royalty." Mick matched Coraline's sample to Ryan's. "They match pretty closely, Josef. Maybe a different family line? It has to be something in the A- type."

I had been quietly thinking this over. "You said Lance took Coraline? Did he know you were involved with Beth?"

Mick stopped what he was doing, "He knew things about me. That we were married and she made me." He looked like he was remembering. "He said welcome to the family. Ryan found I was being monitored. Who knows, why?"

"Lance and his family only allow their linage to share their blood line with few rare instances." Fuck, this was bad.

"And how would you know anything about this?"

I cursed and then I paced, "it's why they let you live. It explains her behavior with you, too. That attraction you both shared," I said looking my 'brother' in the eye. Lance will use you to control her. Think about it Mick, unable to sire your own child because most of the population is outside that? Needing permission. Who else could turn Beth if not him? Someone of his line, someone compatible? Coraline herself offering Beth as a stand in for you?"

I'd hoped this fever he spoke of was linked int he blood somehow, but that wasn't the case. Mick loved Beth deeply, but she didn't make him nuts. And she was a descendant of his ex wife. It felt a little Jerry Springer in here all of a sudden. "well, that doesn't explain why me and Ryan want to..." I left the insinuation there.

"Basically what I told Beth ws the same. It felt like a fever, or a sickness. No matter what went down, I couldn't get enou-holy shit," Mick said eyes wide. Then he looked over at me, "is that how you feel?"

"I don't know how I feel, Mick."

"Like you are going crazy, without a reason? Like you cannot think of anything else, Like-"

"Yes! Ok yes." I'd seen what he'd gone through. Fuck that. "So her blood will drive me to stupidity?"

"Josef," Mick said. "No."

"When he took her, did it bother you?"

"What?"

"Beth aside…Mick, did it bother you when Lance took Coraline?"

He was quiet which spoke in of itself. Great, he still felt something.

"Then Lance knows about Beth, and the past." I looked straight ahead, squinted into the glass. This was getting worse by the moment. I sighed, and cut it off nervously. Maybe it was time to share a little information myself. There were reasons I'd met Mick, and while I hadn't known truly why, it made sense. I was supposed to watch him, but we'd become friends anyway. Coraline was a sneaky bitch. "We need to talk."

"What?" Mick said once I stood and looked at the floor for too long.

"Lance," I said with a hoarseness in my voice. "He sires very selectively." I swallowed remembering how he and his brothers had come into the village and killed everyone, everyone but me. Was this why I lived now? If Ryan and I shared the same blood type with whatever Mick was talking about, then she was in serious danger. If Lance knew, we needed to hurry. She'd said she wasn't safe.

"How selectively?" Mick asked. "Will he take my Beth?"

I swallowed and turned toward my friend, knowing that the pit in his stomach matched mine. "Beth, if selected by Coraline, is of her line. Bait and switch. he's already marked her for it. He will come for her. Turn her before he does, otherwise he will. He won't let her alone Mick. She will still be of his line. Part of Coraline is in your DNA. Their line, I mean. French royalty goes back further and longer than you think. I've only heard in passing one other line they turn, but I never understood until now." I turned toward him. "I told you he made me look like a Pauper, and I wasn't kidding when I said stay away. How do you think that family got as powerful as they are?"

Mick looked down at Ryan's results. "You think…he's going to go after her?"

"Mick, Lance killed an entire village of people until he came to me. I was nothing special, but it seemed like he knew what he was looking for. Let's just say I didn't get off as easy as the rest."

"What are you saying, Josef."

"Lance is my sire. Not by choice, either my friend."

There was a very large pause, "You never told me that."

"That he made me what I am? Where do you think I get the murderous streak from?" I paused and closed my eyes remembering how painful turning had been for me. "Yea, well. I never told anyone. If I could be capable of what she is, then he will take Ryan and use her. I got away, Mick because I am nothing like her. I turned, maybe I was a carrier like the O you said with AO- in Beth and Coraline. Look, I meant what I said. Stay away from this Mick."

"What about Beth? I can't just leave her to that fate or mine." He sighed, "What was it he thought you had?"

"I don't know Mick, but can you get Beth over here, and that lab person. Get whatever you need. The answers," I said, "could save their lives. I need to see how Ryan and my blood are like." I stared him down, "And we need to talk to Beth-prepare her."

MICK POV

Josef had everything brought to my house. He'd been holed up in his office for over a week. The technician looked a little put off, but remained quiet once Josef came back in the door and handed her an envelope of large bills. We'd done regular sweeps of my office and apartment to be as secure as possible. As she and Beth stood over the table, my mind ran fifty miles an hour. Her eyes fell to mine, and I could see worry laced in them. I didn't want to have this talk with her right now.

She looked worried, like she would cry almost.

For the better part of her life, Beth had been cornered into a fate no one should have to worry about. I kept wondering why Lance had waited this long, but I still pondered the other things that may have to take place in order for Beth to be kept safe. She didn't want to make those choices now. I tried to push for further answers, but Josef was tight lipped. I'd never seen him this way. Lance, I thought thinking back to the decay I smelled on him. Christ, I can't let him have Beth. Josef's eyes told of horrors I didn't even want to contemplate.

Josef's eyes met Beth's, and then he looked away. It was strange to me, at times, they seemed to have an understanding between them that I was not privy to.

"Ok, got the results," the tech said.

I got up and went over taking Josef's first. She wasn't allowed to see those as was the bargain. I also took Ryan's to compare the two. Beth worked with the tech on her own and compared it with mine and Coraline.

I walked over to my troubled friend. "Here." I sat next to him and he took it hesitantly. "You think she's distant family?"

"No, there were no more in mine. He made sure of that."

"OK," here it goes."

Josef's lips parted as he read through the results. He grabbed Ryan's and compared to his. Then he flung the paper aside and covered one leg over the other while one of his hands came to rest on his mouth and he sat back in the chair.

I picked the paper up. "I'm sorry Josef."

Beth's quick intake of breath caught my attention, and I saw Josef close his own. "What is it?"

Beth had tears fall down her cheeks, so I stood and went to her.

The tech answered by placing her's and Coraline's together. "What is it?"

"I match," she said with all the hatred I'd ever heard in her voice. "That bitch!" I grabbed her wrists and held her to my body as she fought me.

I studied the tech, "they match?"

"Distant relatives, though I haven't seen these markers in some time. Where did you get the first sample?

"We don't pay you to ask questions," Josef barked. Next, waved the tech out and reminded her that if she spoke about any of what she saw today she would regret it. Then Josef slammed the door closed and stood at the end of the counter as he took us in. "As long as Lance is out there, he will come after her and Beth. I have no idea what he wants, but if she's a family match…" Beth's eyes fell on his and he looked away with a gulp, "I'm sorry." His eyes roamed over mine and I knew what he was thinking. "Turn her before he does." his eyes fell on Beth's, "you don't want this man's blood under your skin."

Beth was as hostile as I'd ever seen her, "that's it?"

"Beth," Josef said fixing his coat. "I'm sorry. Mick didn't know. Pack, Mick. We can't stay here." He turned with a final look, left.

BETH POV

I cried my eyes out as Mick held me and I continued to sob relentlessly for hours on end. Or maybe it was just ten minutes. Just as before, each time Mick and I had a chance at happiness, things got complicated. I already knew how he felt about turning me, and truth be told, I wasn't sure I was ready for that. Was love forever? I thought back to the two vampire's Mick said that were burnt. A hundred and fifty years. Maybe it was fear of losing him or myself that made it so hard. Imagine being out there all alone. I thought of Josef, the way he'd taken care of Sarah. it was scary and complicated.

"A sire never leaves a bond. He always shares it with his child."

It was just too confusing. "I'll be alright," I said as I moved back from Mick's chest. "Do we have a little time?"

"I don't know Beth. I don't want this for you."

"Its been my life, god, for so long."

The recent cool calmness descended on him as he rubbed my arms to keep me warm. He'd been different since that night we fought. Like something he'd accepted about himself rushed to the surface. Still, he hadn't fed on me, but we'd finally made love-a feat in of itself.

"I don't know how, Beth," he said tapering off. I wiped my eyes and gave him a small smile. "You think I am linked to the cure?"

"We'll figure it out, together." I'd given my job up based on Josef's words. He seemed older, wiser, and I felt like I should heed his advice. Whatever was between him and Ryan, it had come on quickly. he looked like shit tonight. Still, his words struck me, not not as much as the haunted look on his face.

"Stay," Mick offered.

"I have to Go soon."

"I know," he said and kissed my forehead.

"Lance was his sire-Coraline's brother. I'd like you to stay closer to me until…"

I felt my face flush, "You'd really want me over here twenty four seven? Wouldn't I cramp your vampire style?"

"We need to talk, Beth." Mick stated matter of factually. "Seriously. I need to get this settled in my head."

"I know," I accepted. "But what is going on with Josef?"

I watched him pause, then decide to pick up the papers as he brought them over. "This is Ryan, and this is Josef." He put them both in my lap as I swirled the whine I'd had earlier. I placed it back on the table and held them up. "They have the same type. What are all these?"

Mick took Josef's genetic test and explained, "When a vampire feeds his blood to his child, there is a bond that forms. His blood attaches to the cells and tissues of his child as the child nears death. He takes the blood out, weakening the fight of the human's immune system to make it a faster process and rejuvenate what he will lose basically. It spreads faster than any virus you can imagine. Vampire blood acts quickly and is painless most of the time and it takes over the cells and re-writes the code. Like when I had to use my old DNA to see if that was my son."

I nod following, "So you are part of Coraline? Do you feel her?"

"No, but its hard to resist her. Hard wired into my DNA, actually. It's there so we survive and I'd done that my entire time with her. You-you've made me live. That maybe what forms the bond, but the sire is part of the child for all his life. The modified DNA strand then becomes unique to the child while showing some traits for both. His old cells are similar but enhanced, while also sharing a linkage to whoever turned him. It follows the same rules for donations. They have to match or be compatible."

"So you could tell who belongs to who, relatively speaking?"

"Ya, I guess." Mick said. He took Josef's blood test and put it beside Coraline's. "Do you see it? Even as a human, she will show many similarities."

"I don't see anything in the human types for you and Coraline."

He smiled and explained it to me, "She is A-, like you." He amended, "her genotype is AO-, but O is recessive to A and B blood types. It only shows up if both parents carry it and pass it along. In your case, one parent had O type and the other A. You'll show as A-. I am also A- but I have the alleles for A- and A-, one from each parent. I am compatible to her, or a match. I still wonder why Lance left me alive." He looked at me, "I'm a match for you as well. it may be enough to keep you with me."

"But my type won't change, right?"

"Right, and it won't hurt. If Josef tried, as an example, it would a bit more since he carries something else which is his B. You'll get the A- from me, and enhancements on your O genes. The A- will mingle and make its own Beth version. It will tie us closer than humanly possible."

I put my head down on his shoulder. "Is Josef related to Ryan?"

Mick laughed, "No. But he would have to turn her."

"Do you think he will?"

Mick's head leaned down and rested on top of mine, "I think he feels driven to. Very acutely and maybe even maddeningly so."

"Is that a word? 'Maddeningly'." I snorted.

"He seems really torn up over her." I studied him wondering why Josef had stormed out of here earlier.

A weird expression came over his face, "Yeah, he seems to get the shit end of the stick when it comes to love." Mick was looking ahead always lost in thought. "I think she made him feel something he hasn't for a long time." He met my eyes, "She called him a pretty boy and told him off." We laughed totally being able to see that reaction. "He said…that they had a moment in the shower."

"Oooh, not like him to kiss and tell," I remarked.

"You two seem pretty tight lately. And they didn't do anything, but the way she affects him doesn't seem normal."

"Like Coraline and you?" I asked it lightly, because I know I can't complete with history. Or madness. "He gave me good advice, Mick, that's all."

Mick did a double take, rubbed the side of my face with the hand that was strumming through my hair, and looked aside.

"It's ok Mick," I said softly. "We'll make our own history."

"Josef's never had anyone like that, I mean aside Lola who popped in. Ryan is different. She's smart and strong."

"What about Sarah?" I asked him. If we were all going into hiding, what would be come of her?

"But even Sarah was a human. I think Ryan is his equal. He thinks she did something to him when she saved him." Mick smirked.

"Do you?"

"Nah," Mick said with a grin. "I think he will want to find her. I like that he wants to protect her. His old games won't work, though."

"What about…"

Mick opened his mouth, paused, and then tried again. "Beth, he let Sarah go while he was in New York."

I was stunned. "Shit." I said sitting up straighter.

"Plus Lola and the other vampires…is he going to be ok?"

"You seem very concerned for him." Micks tone was light, but I smiled. "You jealousy flatters me. It's just tragic is all."

"I have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better. I just hope we can find her."

A/N: moving along. Going to add in some info for ADA Talbot and all the stuff he was getting, leads on Ryan, and move forward from there. I think we need a little sizzle next chapter. Going to bump us up another few weeks next chapter.