okie-doki folks! show time is approaching fast, and i've got an update for you! my ap's are over, AP Euro was the last ap exam i will ever take!! SQUEEEEEEE!! college here i come! WOOOOO!

ok, sorry. i'm done now, i swear.

alright, so seriously, guys you rock. really, thanks so much for sticking with me and this story, and really, i hope to not have such a break like that again. you have no clue how awesome it is to open your inbox and find reviews waiting for your perusle. well, ok, prolly some of you do, but the sentiment is still there. thanks guys!

so all of you are sending postcards, e-mails, and calling CBS right? i mean, we have to fight for it if we want another season of our moonlight. so come on girls! and guys if there are any, sorry, don't mean to leave you out, we have to fight for our right to party! -i hope some of you caught the beastie boys ref. lol, sry, back to my inspirational speech- if we want another season, we have to show those bloody networks that we're worth it and that we'll make them tons of money! we have to be polite and ask them nicely to pretty please give all 8 million of us a home on their network! we have to show them that by association with us cool kids, they by default will be perpetually cool! come on guys! lets fight for McBeth, and Jock, and JoBe, and McJobe, and all the rest of the ships out there-including those OCs that we all love! i mean, if there aren't any more seasons, we wont EVER get to see Jock! and come on guys! who wants to give up that opportunity!? not i! and so, in closing, there's only one thing we can do! SHOW THOSE BLOODY SHOW CANCELLING BASTARDS THAT WE WONT GO DOWN WITHOUT AN OLD- FASHIONED STAND OFF! THIS IS SPARTA! AH-WOO!

ok, sorry for the ending, i can get carried away at times, lol. sorry mr. CBS network and affiliates...

ok, i'm gonna stop bvefore this incriminates me even further, lol. the song's "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake.

The man had been drunk. It was as plain as that. He had been drunk and had picked a fight with the wrong guy in the bar.

It was apparently obvious to the drunk man that the seemingly lone man sitting at the bar was asking for it. Just what made that seemingly obvious was a mystery to everyone else, and what exactly was 'it' no one could tell either, but whatever it was, the man clearly wanted it.

So he had picked a fight with him. The man had calmly sat at the bar, for the most part admirably succeeding in ignoring the drunk, until he broke a chair and started to brandish it.

That's when the fun began.

Seemingly out of no where, another man appeared. Handsome in an expensive suit, he asked the man sitting at the bar,

"Everything alright Mick?" Mick turned and nodded.

"Just getting into a bar fight. You know, the usual Josef. Pretty routine." Josef grinned and turned to face the man with the chair leg.

"You'd better put that away kid. Before someone loses an eye." The man snorted and shook it at Josef.

"Or what fag? You'll kiss me?" he taunted. Josef sighed and rolled his eyes.

"No, you'd enjoy it to much." Mick realized what was coming and groaned reluctantly. He drained his glass and stood next to his friend with a resigned sigh. The two men -or vampires as he later found out- made an imposing pair. Mick was obviously in good shape and Josef gave off an air of power that the drunk man couldn't deny.

The man thrust his chair leg at them and Mick shoved Josef out of the way as both their faces changed. They had fangs! And look at those eyes!

"I told you to put that away." Josef growled before lunging at the man. Mick was right behind him, grabbing the leg in two powerful hands and yanking it out of the man's grasp.

Josef had his hands around the man's neck and was slowly applying pressure as he asked softly,

"You are going to leave right now, yes? And you aren't going to come back. And you won't be telling anyone about this either, will you?" The man gurgled and nodded. Josef let go and straightened his tie. His face, along with Mick's, made the change back to human and he turned around and smiled at Mick.

"All in a day's work, hm?" Mick growled, pulled Josef away and got a stake shoved into him. Josef looked down at his unmoving friend and snarled, face changing back.

He turned to the human and sighed.

"You humans just don't learn. Do not mess with the top of the food chain." He grabbed the man's head and twisted, snapping his neck with a crunch.

He picked Mick up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder -avoiding the stake- and walked out of the bar, growling at the man who glared at him on his way out.

The man woke with a shudder. Those were the dreams he dreaded most. The dreams of that calm, cool killer who had dispatched his brother with no remorse. It was those images that kept replaying themselves in his head that drove him on his search. And was it a search! The man had combed every record in Los Angeles, California and after seven years, had come to an awesome and frightening conclusion: The man that had killed his brother was no man at all.

He was a vampire.

And so the hunt began. In honor of his dead brother he tracked the vampire everywhere for four years. He didn't kid himself. He knew the vampire knew he was being watched. But the man counted on his brother's anonymity and the vampire's own plethora of enemies. He obviously had counted his eggs correctly.

And it was time for them to start hatching.

Josef woke to the sound of an extra heartbeat in his room. His freezer room. AKA, not the one the extra heartbeat was supposed to be in. He rolled his eyes as he flipped the lid open and confirmed his suspicion.

"Samantha, you need to get back into bed." Josef commanded, standing over her. Rather, the lump of comforters, pillows, and blankets that smelled and had the same heartbeat as Sam. Sam peeped out and looked at him. And blushed.

"Your body can't regulate your temperature so you need to- what?" Josef threw up his hands in frustartion. "What's wrong? Your body isn't hot enough for that blush to be a fever so what's your deal?" Sam pulled her comforter over her head and shook with silent laughter.

Josef looked around and rolled his eyes again.

"Are you twelve?"he asked in aggravation, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist. He bent down and picked up the bundle of baby vampire that it was his responsibility to take care of.

Walking through the bookshelf, he tossed her unceremoniously on the rumpled bed and walked over to his dresser to grab a pair of boxers. Pulling them on, he turned to face the now emerging blanket monster.

"You hungry?" he asked with a smile. Sam's entire head shot out of her cocoon and she nodded, fangs extending fast. Her tongue hit one and she jumped, feeling her face with her hands. Josef smiled.

"It's still an instinctual response. Control is going to be difficult for the first few months." he told her walking over to the bed and sitting down. Sam sat up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, licking the vein right below his ear. Josef shuddered and sighed as she bit him, stroking her head as she started to drink.

"Sam?" Beth called, knocking on the door to the study she assumed the baby vampire had appropriated. "Sam has Josef fed you yet?" Sam opened the door and smiled at the sheepish looking human. She gestured for Beth to come in saying,

"No need to worry Blondie, the big bad four day old vampire has been fed watered and isn't likely to attack anytime soon." Beth smiled and tossed her purse onto Josef's desk.

"Just checking. I still have too many things I want to do in my life before I make a grand exit." Sam smiled and threw herself onto the couch where she spent most of her time.

"Like jump the PI?" Beth blushed. "Can't blame you really." Sam continued.

"Hey, the PI will not be jumped by any fledgling of mine." Josef informed them from behind his desk. Beth jumped and twirled around.

"Josef!" she screeched. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" Josef smiled.

"Blondie, I was here all along. What? You didn't see me as you threw your bag at me? Oh, I'm so hurt." Beth rolled her eyes at him.

"If I start talking about tampons and my period will you get embarrassed and leave?" Josef grinned at her in a way that made her very uncomfortable.

"Now, why would I do a thing like that? After all, I consider myself an expert in blood."

Beth blushed and covered her ears.

"OK, that's just gross and disgusting." Sam made a face and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going with the human on this one, you're just nasty Josef." Josef grinned and sat back in his chair.

"Vampire: 1. Human: 0."

Sam shook her head and turned to Beth who had taken a seat across the coffee table from her.

"So, Mick call yet?" Josef looked up from the computer screen in front of him.

"Mick?" Beth rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Mr. Tall Dark and Immortal. Why does it matter to you? Jealous?" Josef grinned again.

"Oh, if you only knew..." Beth whirled around in her seat with a shocked expression on her face.

"You're shitting me!" Josef leered at her.

"You'll just have to ask him." Beth rolled her eyes and turned around.

"No, he hasn't. And I have to say, I'm getting kind of annoyed with him. God, it's one kiss! We're both adults! We should be mature about this, instead, I feel like I'm in High School again!" Beth ranted. Sam smiled at her. Beth stopped and studied her friend's smile. There was something in it that looked eerily similar to Josef's and that set her on her guard.

"I don't like that smile." she told Sam suspiciously. "It looks too much like Josef's. What exactly are you planning?" Sam shrugged and looked at her nails.

"If all else fails, there is one signal that you can give him that even men aren't thick headed enough to miss..." She looked up after a pause to see Beth staring open mouthed at her and Josef shaking in his seat with silent laughter. She grinned again and shrugged.

"I'm just saying, nothing says 'I want to sleep with you, you stupid vampire' then jumping him." Beth sat there, speechless, as Josef turned his chair around to compose himself.

"I think I'm changing the subject now." Beth said eventually, regaining the ability to speak. "So, why were you in LA Sam?"

Sam sighed and stretched out on the couch.

"I was looking at law schools down here, I would have graduated in about a year and I need to start applying soon." She laughed ironically. "Well, needed to start soon." Beth frowned.

"Where did you go to college?" Sam smiled, a real smile this time.

"Canisus." Beth grinned too. "I played soccer, I fenced, I ran, did crew."

"Imagine how awesome you'll be at those now that you're a vampire." Beth said, a grin on her face. Josef looked up again. If that human beats me to cheering up my own fledgling, I think I might eat my tie, he thought to himself in disbelief. Sam frowned.

"I never thought about that before." she wondered aloud. Beth grinned in triumph and Josef smacked himself on the head. Sam turned to Josef.

"You're old, you know how to fence, right?" Beth snickered, and was silenced by a glare from the 400 year old. He shrugged.

"It's been a while, but yes, I can fence. It was the only suitable way of defending one's self when I was a human." Sam grinned.

"Wanna try it?" Josef rolled his eyes.

"No. I want to get some work done so I can afford to replace the shirts of mine that you've ruined." Sam grinned proudly and Beth smiled, an evil twinkle in her blue eyes.

"You ruined some of his precious shirts?" she asked. Sam grinned and nodded.

Beth looked at her watch and sighed, standing.

"I have to get back to work, but we should all get together sometime. Like soon." Sam nodded and Josef rolled his eyes.

"Blondie, go jump your vampire." Beth stuck her tongue out at the vampire and smiled at Sam.

"See ya Sam. Ruin another shirt for me please." Sam nodded as Beth grabbed her purse and exited. She reached down and pulled her laptop from under the couch.

Josef looked up as an obnoxiously loud song came pounding out of the speakers. Sam glanced up at him than back to the screen. Josef continued to glare at her and Sam looked up again. She smiled innocently.

"Yes Josef?" He glared at her and asked calmly,

"Samantha, would you please turn that rubbish down?"

"No."

Josef sighed and asked again.

"Samantha, please turn it down?" Sam grinned at him.

"Only if you sing a song of my choosing." Josef scrunched up his forehead.

"No." Sam shrugged with a good natured smile.

"Then it's not going down." She smiled impishly at him and turned it up. Josef sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What song Sam?" Sam smiled at him and without looking up, said,

"Sexy Back." Josef frowned.

"What?"

"Sexy Back." Sam said again. "That JT song that was popular last year." Josef shrugged. Fine, whatever, it could be worse right?

No, it couldn't have been worse. It turned out that Josef really did know this song. And had his own moves.

"I'm bringing sexy back." he sang.

"Yeah!" Sam interjected.

"Those other guys don't know how to- Mick!"

"Yea- hey, that's not how the song go..." Sam trailed off as she followed Josef's eyes to a stunned Mick standing in the doorway. Josef straightened his tie and glared at Mick.

"I believe it's considered the polite thing to knock before entering a room." he admonished the younger vamp. Mick stood speechless as Sam turned the song off and sat back down on her couch. Josef continued to glare as finally Mick found his voice.

"Where exactly was sexy before you brought it back, Josef?" he asked before doubling over laughing.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Josef looked over at his sleeping charge and then back to Mick.

"So, you manned up and kissed the human?" he asked bluntly, standing and making his way back to his desk. Mick glanced back at the baby vamp and nodded.

"She's really coming along Josef. She hardly spilled anything." He gestured to the rapidly closing puncture marks on Josef's wrist. Josef smiled, a bit of fang showing.

"Spillage was never the problem my friend." He unrolled his sleeve and buttoned it back up. "Trancing was." Mick frowned.

"No good?" Josef grinned a predatory smile again.

"Too good. It came before she knew about it." Mick nodded in understanding. "You're still here though." Josef snorted.

"That's true. But you aren't changing the subject. How was it?" Mick groaned and glared at his friend.

"Can we not talk about this please? It's bad enough avoiding the subject with Beth." Josef sighed.

"Well, you could try not avoiding the subject with Beth." Mick glared at him.

"It's dangerous. We can't be anything other than what we are now."

"And Mick, just what exactly are you two?" Josef asked pointedly. Mick sighed and held his head in his hands.

"I have no idea..." he mumbled. Josef sighed and told him,

"Well, Blondie wants us to double date tonight, so figure it out. I have a feeling that she's heading to your place right about now, so be prepared to be shanghaied." Mick looked up and frowned.

"But Sam can't mingle with humans yet. She's too young, she'll expose us!" Josef rolled hie eyes.

"You think I didn't realize that? We're going to a vamp friendly venue." Mick sighed again and stood up.

"Thanks for the entertainment Josef." he said with a small smile. Josef bared his fangs at his friend.

"I swear on my Ferrari if you tell anyoneabout what you saw, I'm telling Blondie just what happened three years after you were turned." Mick paled. Which was difficult, I mean, he is a vampire.

"You wouldn't..." Josef growled.

"Just try me , St. John." Mick sighed and walked out the door calling,

"I'll see you tonight I guess!" Josef smiled, pleased with himself.

"What did happened between the two of you?" Sam asked from the couch. Josef looked down at the vamp curled up on the couch, face pressed into the soft leather and grinned.

"If tonight goes down without any incidents from you, I promise you'll hear all about it."

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Josef pulled out Sam's chair for her and smiled down at the fledgling.

"Don't act all surprised, who do you think taught Mick all that chivalry?" Sam snorted as Mick started to protest.

"OK Josef, whatever you say." Beth rolled her eyes good naturedly as Mick passed her a drink menu.

"So what is this place? I've never even heard of it before." she asked, looking over the wines with surprise. Mick and Josef exchanged a glance and Mick cleared his throat.

"It's a vamp place." Beth looked at him.

"I thought you guys didn't eat." Mick blushed and cleared his throat again. Sam looked at Josef quizzically as he stepped in.

"We don't. But freshies do." She 'oh'd and went back to the menu without another word. Mick looked at her expectantly.

"That's it?" he asked eventually. Beth looked at him in confusion.

"What's it?" She asked.

"No more questions?" he prodded. Beth shrugged.

"Not really. I mean, it stands to reason that a vamp like Josef would want to take out a freshie/date and still be able to use his 'charms' on her in a semi-public place. And the girls are human so they have to eat too." Mick sat stunned into silence as Josef shot him an 'I told you so glance' while looking over his own menu.

"Good evening Mr. Konstantin. Pleasure to have you back sir." a waiter in an expensive looking tux greeted, coming over to their table. Josef smiled up at the man and nodded.

"Pleasure's all mine Nigel." The man nodded respectfully at Mick who nodded back.

"May I start you off with something to drink?" Josef nodded and ordered two scotches and a bottle of white for Sam and Beth. Nigel scurried off to place their order and Beth whispered to Sam,

"Hey, was he like you guys?" Sam nodded.

"Yep, part of the fang gang." Beth smiled and leaned back in her seat.

"So, come here often Josef?" she asked with a small smile.

Josef grinned back, ready for her banter.

"Oh no, never, haven't ever been here in my life."

"Wow," Beth grinned. "That's a pretty long time to avoid a place Josef." Josef smiled and nodded, conceding the point to the reporter. Mick looked between them and sighed. Sam smiled sympathetically at him.

"Don't worry Mick. Unless I've fed recently I don't get the two of them either." Josef grinned and bumped her shoulder with his.

The evening passed succefully for the four friends, and it was almost over when Sam asked Josef,

"Hey, why exactly can't I eat food anymore?" Josef looked at her and replied,

"Your body can't digest it anymore, simple as that. It doesn't recognize it as sustenance." Sam frowned.

"What happens?" Josef and Mick shared a rueful grin, each remembering when they asked the exact same question.

"Well, the only way to really explain it to you is if you try it and see." Sam shrugged and grabbed a piece of broccoli off of Beth's plate.

"Thanks Beth," she said with a grin as Beth was about to complain. Beth rolled her eyes.

"Too much like Josef for your own good." Sam grinned at her and popped the vegetable in her mouth. Josef repressed a shudder and sighed. Mick shot her a sympathetic smile.

"What? I don't get what the big deal is? It just tastes nasty, that's all. Which isn't that surprising considering the fact that I've hated broccoli for as long as I can remember." Josef sighed and patted her shoulder.

And then Sam frowned and put a hand to her stomach.

"Bathroom." Josef ordered, standing and grabbing her hand. Mick laid a hand on Beth's arm as she made to get up and follow the couple.

"Trust me, you don't want to be there." he told her seriously. Beth sighed and folded her arms.

Sam and Josef just made it before the reflex to purge a now foreign body hit Sam harder than a sucker punch. A day's worth of blood and a piece of broccoli came out, leaving Sam shaking and violently hungry. Josef took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeve sitting on the sink and gesturing for Sam to sit next to him. She didn't even bother as she grabbed his arm quickly and sunk her fangs into the delicate skin in his wrist. Josef flinched when she didn't use her trancing and stroked her head softly as she swallowed gulp after desperate gulp.

"It's alright, just take as much as you need, it'll be fine, I promise." he soothed as Sam purred gently in the back of her throat, her sire's blood running through her parched veins.

When she stoped, Josef tilted her chin up to face him and asked seriously,

"Are we done with human food now?" Sam nodded sadly and he chucked her chin.

"I'm gonna miss it." she said gently. Josef smiled sympathetically.

"I still miss smoked ham. I'll never forget the taste. Fowl I did, for which I'm grateful. I hated fowl. But I still miss ham." Sam smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna miss pizza most. The pizza back home was amazing. And wings, oh God were those wings good." Josef smiled.

"You can stiill drink you know." Sam snorted.

"For which I bet you're eternally grateful." Josef smiled and nodded.

"Can I eat anything?" Sam asked sadly. Josef thought about it for a bit.

"You know," he said suddenly, a small smile erupting on his handsome face. "I think I heard a younger vamp say that they tried to eat suckers and it worked." Sam's eyes perked up.

"Seriously?" she asked, excited by the prospect. Josef smiled back at her.

"Maybe we should wait a few days before trying this out, all right? I want to give your stomach some time to recover first." Sam nodded, but hope was in her eyes. Josef smiled at her and unrolled his sleeve. Grabbing his jacket, he offered his other arm to Sam and they made their way back to their table. Mick looked up at their approach and smiled at Sam, who shrugged back. Beth glanced between the three vampires and sighed impatiently.

"You know, being the odd human out really kinda sucks." Josef smiled and told her,

"I wouldn't say that word to loudly in here Blondie, there are vampires present."

Beth glared at him as Mick glared around the room. Sam shook her head and sipped her wine.

"Josef," she told him. "One of these days I'm going to help the reporter out-smart you, and I don't think you'll like the results." Josef grinned.

"Yes, well, until that day comes," he tossed back the last of his scotch. "I'm going to continue to tease Mick's human."

Beth rolled her eyes.

"Lovely."

"Do you have that picture scanned yet?" The man growled moodily. The other man clicked a button and nodded.

"Samantha Jameson, 20 years old from Buffalo NY. Well, Miss Jameson, looks like you're going to be my bait." the man said. "Put a trace on her phone and don't ever let it move without my knowledge." The lackey nodded and did what he was told. You didn't disobey The Boss. Well, if you wanted to live anyways.