drumroll...

here tis! The next update! I won't say anything, (well except this...) and let you get straight to the update. Hope it delivers! my take on Josef in this post is that he's kind of not sure how to feel, and so is having mood swings...after all Mick is his friend, and I'm betting the first one in a long time that Josef actually cares about on some level... Thank-you to those who reviewed! I'm glad i've got some followers! : D

okay, shut up silvanelf and let them get to the story...have at it readers! It's all yours!

With Bated Breath

Beth blinked, and found her voice again, "What…what do you mean, I've killed him?" She sounded a little panicked to Josef's ears. Her eyes were wide as she watched Mick spasm. Good, she should be panicked.

"I mean, if you had kept your nosey reporter's curiosity to yourself, we wouldn't be having this problem." He spoke in a tight, clipped voice, focusing on keeping Mick from jerking out of his arms.

"Wouldn't be having this problem?!" Beth said incredulously. "Hey, if is wasn't for me, Mick would have died in the desert."

Josef gave a hallow laugh, "No, he wouldn't have."

Beth's face grew puzzled for a moment, and then her eyes widened slightly as she understood Josef's meaning behind his words, "Mick would never have hurt Leni."

Josef glared at her. Is she serious? "You are so naïve. Mick requires, no, needs blood to live. There is no loophole. It's either blood or death. He wouldn't have been able to stop himself, no matter what high-to-do moral code he tries to live by." Josef looked down at his friend. Mick's pale blue-white eyes were staring up at nothing, and he was still having spasms, which had caused his fangs to cut somewhat along his lips. A little blood was spilling down his chin. Josef pulled out his handkerchief and wiped it off. It wasn't safe to move him yet, but Josef knew that Mick needed to get in the freezer soon, or there really would be no chance of recovery. The link must have gone really bad for him to be having this many spasms.

He returned his attention back to Beth in time to hear her say "Then it was a good thing I was there, or else Leni would have died."

Honestly, Josef thought. "And like I said, then we wouldn't be having this problem." He ignored the shocked look upon Beth's face. Mick's spasms had finally, and abruptly stopped, and that was absorbing all his attention for the moment. Now Mick was lying deathly still, his eyes shut. Josef didn't know which he preferred, this, or the spasms. In a sure, swift motion, Josef rose and swept Mick up from the floor, settling him over his shoulder with a surprisingly gentle touch. There was no response from Mick. But every few seconds his face and jaw twitched, as though he were experiencing extreme pain. His breathing was ragged and harsh sounding.

"What did he do?" Beth whispered from the bed. Josef had almost forgotten she was there. She sounded frightened.

"Your link went south. Mick, like a fool, absorbed it into himself, drawing it from you, where it manifested. In other words, Mick just probably traded his immortal life, for your inconsequential mortal one. His immortal life." Josef realized he was very close to shouting and took a deep breath, calming down. It wasn't often he lost his cool. His temper, yes, but never his composure.

Beth sat frozen, "Oh...oh." She swallowed thickly, trying to think of something, anything, to say. Finally, her flustered mind settled on something Josef had said, "What exactly do you mean, 'your link went south'?"

"I don't have time to spell it out for you!" Josef snapped. "For once, lay off the questions. Now is not the time. Don't you get it? Mick is either going to live, or die, and there's absolutely nothing I can do." Josef admitted to himself that he was upset. He hated, hated, not being in control. And he was definitely not in control now. He swept out of the room, supporting Mick, calling back, "You stay here. You've already done enough." He didn't see the tear that slowly trickled down Beth's cheek. But, as a vampire, he could taste even that miniscule amount of salt in the air. He ignored it. Let her cry. He didn't give a damn. He couldn't understand what Mick saw in her.

He carefully carried Mick upstairs and laid him in the freezer. He stared down at his friend. I can't believe you're doing this to me, he thought. Mick, you had better live, you hear? Don't condemn me to protecting that blonde for the rest of her life, just so I can make sure your sacrifice has meaning. He undressed his friend, tossing the clothes aside in a pile on the floor. There was now really nothing left to do, so he shut the freezer lid. Mick's face was still twitching from time to time.

Josef watched him for a moment, and finally allowed a few of the emotions he was feeling to show on his face. Could Mick have seen him now, he might have been surprised to see the expression of worry and deep concern clearly there for all to see. Josef sighed, and closing his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his emotions in check. It was difficult. Mick was the one friend he had had in a very long time who actually liked him for reasons other than all his money and influence. Josef didn't want to lose that. For all his biting comments, Mick was still his friend.

Beth was still sitting on the bed down in the spare bedroom, staring at the door that Josef had walked out of moments before. She heard his footsteps on the stairs and then a door shutting. She gave a few sniffs, and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve, before remembering she was wearing Mick's shirt. Somehow, she didn't think Mick would care that much right now.

Her mind felt numb. The last thing she had remembered was passing out at the club, Mick's voice sounding distant and far away, all echo-y in her head. The next thing she knew, it was like someone had thrown ice water over her, and she found herself back in Mick's apartment, lying in his bed, and dressed in his clothes. And then the worst part, seeing him in spasms on the floor, being supported by a vampire Mick had told her was dangerous. Could the situation get any worse? It didn't comfort Beth any, either, that this Josef friend seemed to be furious with her. It couldn't be her fault! If Mick died, Beth knew it would haunt her the rest of her life.

How could their evening together start off so wonderful and then turn on them so quickly? All Beth could clearly remember was the sudden, unexpected, explosion of pain in her head. It had been so hard to focus with so much pain. It had been agony. She barely even remembered Mick guiding her to the table at the club.

So she sat on the bed, and cried a little. Beth was confused, upset, and frightened. Not of Josef, (well, maybe a little of Josef, she thought) but of Josef's words. It sounded like Mick didn't have a good chance of surviving whatever...whatever it was that he had done, exactly. Beth still wasn't sure if she understood what had happened. And Josef certainly wasn't taking the time to 'spell it out for her,' that had been made abundantly clear. She hated, hated, not knowing. It was why she became a reporter, to fill that need to know, which was inside of her. And right now, she felt completely in the dark. All she knew was that Mick had apparently acted to save her life, offering up his own in exchange. She found that extremely humbling. Mick was willing to sacrifice his immortal life, for hers. And yet he still worries that I might see him as a monster?! As if I ever could.

Beth found that she had calmed down a bit. Waking up, not knowing at first where she was, and then seeing Mick like that, and encountering Josef... it had all thrown her off-foot, having to scramble to recover. But now that she was having time to process it all, she began to feel a little more like her old self. She glared through the doorway in the direction Josef had taken Mick. How dare he act like he's Mick's only friend! I have a right to be with Mick, too. Squaring her shoulders and taking in a deep breath, she readied her nerve. She confessed to herself that she was slightly nervous about what she was about to do. She rose from the bed, glad to find she wasn't too shaky on her legs. That would help. Her forceful attitude probably wouldn't impress much if she had to clutch at the doorframe just to remain standing. But her legs were okay. Not at their best, but steady enough.

She walked out of the room and up the stairs. She moved quietly, cautiously. She reached Mick's room and the door swung open silently before her. She had just a quick glimpse of Josef's face before he noticed her. She was surprised. For some reason she had the fleeting impression the man who had been snapping at her downstairs was trying his best not to cry upstairs. But the moment was gone, and he was glaring at her with what she was quickly beginning to suspect was his default expression. But she knew what she had seen, and reminded herself that as frightening as Josef seemed, he and Mick were apparently still close friends. She took a deep breath and entered the room.

For once Josef forgot to pay attention, and didn't actually notice that she was there until she opened the door and stepped inside. Instantly, he tried to compose his face, but he knew she had seen a glimpse of his true expression. This infuriated him. She, of all people, was the last one he wanted to know about how he truly felt. He snapped, "I thought I told you to stay in the room?"

He could tell that Beth had clearly prepared herself for exactly this reaction. It worried him slightly that she could already read him so well. The woman before him squared her shoulders and boldly took another step into the room. Josef arched his eyebrow. Finally, she was doing something interesting. Downstairs, he had been under the impression that she didn't have a spine. But now...

Beth's voice, when she spoke, had only the slightest trace of a tremor to it, "Mick's my friend, too, and I have just as much right to be up here as you. So just try and stop me from being with him." She crossed her arms, and shot him a glare right back, looking slightly silly to Josef with the large sleeves slipping past her hands. He finally began to get a glimmer of understanding of what Mick saw when he looked at her. There was something...alluring about this woman. Idly, Josef wondered what she might taste like. He bet her blood was rich.

He realized that Beth was still expecting some kind of response from him. He had to own up, he was slightly impressed. Beth obviously didn't seem to care that he could rip her throat out before she could even blink. So he decided to let her win this battle. He turned his back to her, a sign of dismissal, "If you're going to wait in here, go get your own chair. This one is mine." He dragged Mick's chair next to the side of the freezer, spinning it around so he was facing Beth again. Throwing himself into it, the way only a vampire could, smooth and cat-like, he flashed his true vampire eyes at her. Daring her to play the game with him.

Beth stood blinking a few minutes. She had clearly been expecting to have to put up more of a fight than that. "Well...right then. So long as we're clear," she finally said, and turned to go downstairs to drag up her own chair.

"Bring back up some of Mick's blood bags," Josef called after her, and then added in a singsong voice, "Unless you want me to eat you…" His eyes flashed again. He realized that Beth had excited him. Spineless, wimpy Beth from downstairs? No. Dear god, no. But this new Beth he was encountering...very interesting. He licked his lips.

Beth heard his singsong voice and shuddered, forcing herself to remain calm. She knew if Josef smelled even the slightest fear on her, she could be in very big trouble. She had never faced a hungry vampire who had no qualms about who he ate before. She began to realize that Mick was probably something of a rarity among his kind. Maybe that's why he has such a hard time not seeing himself as a monster, she realized. Because so many of his kind around him do act like them.

Stepping into the kitchen area, she dragged a high backed chair from the corner to take back with her. Then she hurriedly crossed the floor to the hidden refrigerator. Peering in, she grabbed three bags of blood. She turned back around, shutting the fridge, and nearly screamed.

Josef was standing right behind her. She hadn't even heard him. She hadn't even heard him! A cheshire grin was upon his face. And his eyes were like Mick's when the inner vampire came to the surface, all frosty white. He's really enjoying himself, oh my god. Beth, what have you gotten yourself into? She swallowed, and only then realized that drawing attention to her throat was probably not the best thing to do at the time. For Josef's eyes had instantly flicked to her neck upon the action.

"Here." She thrust the blood bags towards him, surprised at how steady her voice sounded, "Have these for a snack." Not me! she added silently to herself.

Josef laughed, and his eyes returned to normal, "Impressive." With a start, Beth realized he had just been playing with her. No, not playing, testing me. He was testing me. She began to let herself hope that she might not get eaten. Josef laughed again at the off-kilter look on her face, "Don't worry Miss Turner. You have nothing to fear from me. 400 years is more than enough time to learn a little self-control. If Mick dies, I will not have his sacrifice be in vain." He took the units from her and returned upstairs.

Beth stood standing in the kitchen for a few minutes more, waiting for her hands to stop trembling. Josef's mentioning of Mick only re-stirred all the worry she had momentarily exchanged in lee of fear of his friend. But now it all came crashing back down on her, and she grabbed her chair and rushed up the stairs as fast as she could. Re-entering the room, she plopped her chair down right next to Josef's, determined to show him that she couldn't be intimidated. He smirked at her. She saw that he had already drained two of the bags. He must have been a little hungry after all.

She rose to peer into the freezer, staring down into Mick's unconscious face. He didn't look peaceful, but rather like he was suffering greatly. If he was feeling the pain that Beth had been feeling earlier...

"He is, and even more. A bad link is worse for the vampire." Josef said softly, breaking upon her train of thought. Beth realized that she had, once again, let the vampire get the sneak on her. He was right next to her, standing, looking down into the freezer as she was.

Beth looked up at him, finally allowing a little fear to show on her face. She knew Josef would understand it wasn't because of him, but for Mick. "Do you really think he's going to die?" Now her voice did tremble.

Josef stared into her face for a long time. Beth wondered what he was searching for. Finally he answered, calmly, quietly, "I honestly don't know. I'm sorry." It was the apology that threw Beth off. Suddenly, needing the comfort, she reached out and took Josef's hand, squeezing it hard. Josef jumped a little at the touch, a surprised expression flashing across his face. Then after a brief hesitation, he gave her a little squeeze back. But only one. And it was very little. However, he also didn't force Beth to let go. Together they stared down at their mutual friend, Beth praying with all her might that Mick would pull through. Please, God, oh please, please! But staring down into Mick's twitching face, what Josef had just said echoed ominously through her brain, I honestly don't know. Looking at the man who she was beginning to think she might actually love, Beth realized that she honestly didn't know either. All she could do was wait with bated breath, pray, and cling to Josef's hand like it was her only lifeline.

Finis!

Oh yeah, you really though I was gonna let you know if Mick was gonna be okay in my next post? Think again! I'm dragging out my Mick angst! Mwa ha ha ha!

I also tried to set up a little symmetry between Josef and Beth, tried to have their thoughts echo each other a little bit, don't know how well that came through, it was just a little bit...oh yeah, and my line about Josef's biting comments? That was pun intended. I couldn't resist. lol.