"Mick, for God sake, are you getting any sleep at all?"

Katherine stared at the image of Mick, standing pale and haggard in the open doorway, her brow furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine." Mick accepted the bottle of blood from Katherine's proffered hand. Forcing a smile he tried to brush Katherine's concerns aside with the quick wave of a hand.

"Yeah, it really looks like it." Katherine's tone was joined by the pointed raise of an eyebrow. And then she softened, and placed a worried hand on Mick's arm. "How is he?"

"We actually managed to have an entire conversation yesterday afternoon." Mick was forcing himself to sound far more confident than what he actually felt.

"Well that's something at…"

"…last night was a bit rough; I think he might have broken my nose." Mick hurried on, and then saw the questioning look on Katherine's face. "He lashed out in his sleep; he does that sometimes, managed to crack three ribs the night before last."

Mick's attempts at a wry laugh came out sounding more like a half choked cry.

"Well it has only been a week." Katherine kept her manner patient, trying to soothe Mick's not so well hidden anxiety level. "And yes, he did break your nose. It's a little crooked," Katherine offered by way of explanation, "you want me to straighten it for you?"

"Yeah, sure." Mick shrugged, and then drew in a sharp wince of breath when Katherine reached out a hand and wrenched his nose back into proper alignment, snapping fast healing bones and cartilage in the process.

"Thanks, I think."

"Instant Rhinoplasty," Katherine grinned, "just add Vampire." For her efforts, Katherine got the most genuine laugh she had heard Mick give since Josef's arrival home.

Katherine took her leave then, imploring Mick to please try and get some sleep, and telling him she would be up later to see how things were.

She returned exactly one hour later, carrying a fresh bottle of a blood, and a small glass vial in her hand.

"What's this?" Mick accepted Katherine's offerings with a scrunched brow look of puzzlement.

"Something to help Josef sleep," Katherine pointed to the Nembutal in Mick's hand, "so that you can get some sleep yourself."

"You want me to drug him?" Mick's voice raised an octave. His expression fell incredulous.

"No, I want you to get some sleep so that you don't end up collapsing in a heap and not being able to take care of him." Katherine placed a hand over Mick's. "He needs you, Mick, and he needs you to take care of yourself."

Mick couldn't argue with Katherine's wisdom. He nodded a quietly reluctant agreement, and turned to go.

Half an hour later he was downstairs, jacket and cap in hand, a pair of sunglasses already perched on the bridge of his nose.

"And just where in the hell do you think you're going?" Katherine stood in front of Mick, hands on hips and head cocked.

"Just out for a while..."

"Mick…"

"…I'll get some sleep later, I promise."

"Why don't I believe you?" Katherine regarded Mick suspiciously.

"Katherine, please," Mick moved to try and reassure Katherine then. "I promise you I will try and get some sleep, I will give Josef another dose of that stuff, and then I'll crawl into the Freezer next to him and do nothing but sleep for the next twenty four hours. But right now, I just need to go out for a while. I've been cooped up in that room for the last week; I need to get some fresh air, clear my head…"

"…Ok. You don't need to explain any further, Mick." Katherine gestured kindly. "I understand. Just make sure you've got your key, I have to go run some errands so I might not be here when you get back."

"I will, and thanks."

Forty minutes later Mick sat opposite Pierre Lamont at his private office located within the Tour Mountparnasse.

"I need to know what happened to him, Pierre. All of it."

Pierre sat considering Mick's words for a moment, and then walked over to a large, cabinet standing against the far side wall. Taking a small key from one of the drawers, he unlocked one of the secret panels contained within its structure, and drew out a heavy tome wrapped in black cloth.

"The Legion's complete handbook for use by Master Torturer's, and those who serve an apprenticeship under them." Pierre handed the book to Mick. "Everything you need to know is within these pages."

Mick thanked Pierre, grateful for his understanding, and returned home. Settling in on the couch, a fresh poured glass of blood in hand, he opened the book to the first page, and began to read.

Katherine returned home from her run of errands an hour later, to find Mick looking pale and shaken, dry retching into the Kitchen sink. It was then that she noticed the book dropped haphazardly on the table next to her.

She picked it up, and turned to a page at random.

…Other methods of torture via medical experiments, as conducted by Unit 731, include the freezing and rapid de-thawing of extremities through the alternate application of ice and boiling water. In this way we may achieve a complete de-gloving of the flesh down to the skeletal structure. Further details for the application of this torture when used in regards to Vampires can be found on…

Katherine snapped the book shut, and took a moment to fight back her own rising sense of horror, before placing it back down on the table, and pushing it away from herself with a note of disgust.

"Doing a bit of light reading I see." There was no malice or reproach in Katherine's words. She shifted to stand alongside Mick, one hand drawing soothing circles over the small of Mick's back. "Now why do you want to go reading such horrid things?"

"I just thought," Mick struggled against another wave of nausea threatening to overtake him, "I thought if I knew more of what Josef went through, I could help him better." Mick stood up to face Katherine then. "Katherine, he's almost five hundred years old," Mick gestured an imploring hand, "you don't think he hasn't experienced pain that would break most humans in that time? And yet look at him now; you've seen what he's like, the condition he's in. What the hell did they do to him?"

"They tortured him, Mick," Katherine's words were spoken direct, a matter of fact statement of antidote against Mick's sudden outburst of fury, "we know that much. How on earth is torturing yourself emotionally over every last detail going to help exactly?"

Mick scrubbed a frustrated hand over his face. He didn't have an answer for Katherine.

"It's not," Mick drew a reluctant breath, and admitted finally, "You're right, I know."

Katherine reached for Mick then, drawing him into an embrace.

"I don't know if I can do this." Mick rested his chin on Katherine's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Do you have a choice?" Katherine's hand stroked the back of Mick's head in a comforting gesture.

"No." Mick's reply was absolute in its certainty.

Katherine tightened her hold.

"Well then one way or another, you'll get through it. Just take it one step at a time."

-----------------------------------------------

A week stretched into two, then three, then four.

"You going out somewhere?" Katherine greeted Mick at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, for a bit, I'm closing the office today, just gotta tie up a few loose ends."

"Oh, Mick, I really am sorry." Katherine moved to offer her condolences.

"It doesn't matter, couldn't be helped." Mick smiled, and trailed a dismissive hand through the air. "I've got more important things to worry about."

"How has he been?" Katherine's voice was filled with gentle concern.

"Better." Mick nodded, and tried to sound positive. "We're getting there, slowly."

"That's good, I'm…"

"…Are you going out?"

Mick turned to find Josef standing behind him, expression searching.

"Just for a little while, ok." Mick took Josef's hand in his, and gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. "I need to finish some stuff at the office, remember, what we spoke about the other night? I won't be long, I promise."

"Mick, you don't have to do this, not for me." Josef's expression fell sorrowful, filled with unspoken regret for the impossible situation Mick found himself in.

"I know." Mick stroked the side of Josef's face with a reassuring hand. "I want to though."

Mick hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether to speak the next words already formed on his lips. And then he decided, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'.

"You can come with me, if you're feeling up to it?"

Mick stood nervously, waiting with bated breath for Josef to respond. When he did, Josef's response was quiet, but not so quiet that Mick couldn't hear it.

"Ok."

"Great." It would be the first time Josef had left the house since returning home. Mick had to force himself not to make too big a deal of things. He didn't want to overwhelm Josef by a display of over eagerness. "Grab your stuff, and let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know I remember the day you first opened this place." Josef ran a finger over the graphite top of Mick's office desk. "Damn, I was proud of you then, you even learnt to speak some halfway passable French to make doing business easier."

Josef seemed saddened by the recollection of those memories.

"It'll be like that again, Josef." Mick shifted into Josef's space, and drew his arms around Josef's shoulders. "I promise."

"I just…I really wish you didn't feel like you had to do this, Mick. Not on my account." Josef allowed himself to be drawn into an embrace.

"I know." Mick ran a hand over Josef's skull, noting how differently textured his hair felt under his fingers now, almost softer. "None of this is your fault."

"Mick?"

"What?"

"You know I love you, don't you?"

"I know." Mick stepped back, and held Josef at arms length. "And you know the feeling's mutual. Look, how many times over the years have you been there for me, and helped my sorry ass when I needed it? Now it's my turn to return the favour, ok?"

Josef forced a weak smile, and nodded his agreement.

"Ok."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back home, Mick lay alongside Josef on their bed upstairs, a concerned, tender hand caressing the planes of Josef's face. They had been talking, nothing serious, just trivial matters. Halfway through Josef had once more drifted off into his own locked down world.

"Where are you when you're like this?" Mick wondered out loud, and then leaned in to press his lips to Josef's forehead. "I miss you sometimes, baby."

Josef's eyes suddenly snapped back into focus.

"I'm not your 'baby', Mick. I'm not anybody's 'baby'. Don't call me that."

Mick couldn't be certain if he had seen it or not, it was so subtle, just a fleeting glimpse. But no, no it had definitely been there, brief as it was, a glimpse of the old Josef. Righteous quipped indignation and all.

Mick decided to try and push the issue further.

"I'll call you plum blossom if it means you'll stay and talk to me."

"Don't push your luck, Mick."

There it was again, that tiniest glimmer of the old Josef coming through, small and faint, but it was there.

"Why not?" Mick shifted closer. "Plum blossom."

"Mick, I'm warning you, shut up."

Before Mick knew it they were kissing, lips and bodies pressed together, hands seeking heated contact with planes and angles of clothed flesh. And it looked as if neither one of them had any intention of stopping.

Fingers fumbled with buttons, and zippers, clothes were shed; contact was briefly lost as they removed the remainder of their outer layers, and then found again in another heated clash of mouths and flesh.

And then Mick made the mistake of slipping a hand in between the cheeks of Josef's arse, tracing a finger over his hole, as if he were thinking of penetrating that space.

The sensation triggered something in Josef, something primal, fueled by a memory response of fear and pain.

"Mick. Get out." Josef was on his hands and knees then, eyes wild, taking frantic gulps of unneeded breath.

Mick knew he had about two seconds to run.

Katherine come upstairs to find Mick crouched naked against the wall next to the bedroom door, head in hands, flinching at every blow that shook the walls as Josef tore the room apart.

"Mick…" Katherine tried to approach.

"…Katherine." Mick looked up at Katherine, his expression desperate. "Take Roisin, and get her out of here, now."

"…Mick I don't want to-"

"-Now, Katherine." Mick shouted the words, urging Katherine to leave as fast as she could.

"Ok," Katherine saw the abject terror in Mick's eyes, and relented. "I'm going, right now, I'm going."

It seemed as if an eternity went by before things finally settled down. Mick opened the door of the bedroom and entered cautiously to find Josef huddled amidst a sea of chaos. The destruction in the room was almost total.

"Come on." Mick stood by Josef, and his hand. "Let's go get some rest."

Mick didn't know what else to say, or do at that point.

Josef accepted Mick's proffered hand, and let Mick lead him, unresisting, towards the Freezer.

"I've never lost control of the Vampire like that before, Mick." The quiver in Josef's voice reflected the sense of fear that pervaded the room.

"I know you haven't." Mick lay beside Josef, gaze fixed unwaveringly on the ceiling above, through the plexi-glass lid of the Freezer.

"Mick, If I…"

"Don't say it, Josef. Please, I don't want to hear it."

Mick knew what was on Josef's mind. An almost five centuries old Vampire gone rogue was a danger to all of them, one that would have to be dealt with.

"If the time does come," Mick could tell Josef was trying to choose his words carefully, desperate not to alarm Mick too much. "Will you be there for me?"

"I'll be standing right alongside you, Josef." Mick's response came without hesitation.

"Now who's the one with ridiculous notions of throwing themselves on top of funeral pyres, Mick?" Josef forced a weak laugh, and then moved into Mick's arms.

They lay there together in the cold blue light of the freezer then, trying to draw whatever strength they could from each other's presence.

It felt like the start of a long, dark night ahead.

--------------------------------------------

"Mum?"

Katherine looked up from her glass of blood, and morning paper, to find Roisin standing in front of her, brow furrowed in a mark of question.

"What sweetheart?"

"What does it mean when a Vampire turns rogue?"

Katherine looked momentarily taken aback by the unexpected question.

"Why do you ask?" Katherine regarded her daughters questioning expression with concern.

"I overheard Uncle Mick and Uncle Josef talking about the other day." Roisin chewed on her bottom lip. "Uncle Mick sounded scared."

"Uncle Mick's fine darling." Katherine tried to ease her daughter's fear. "He's just worried about your Uncle Josef."

"I know." Roisin's voice was low, eyes averted. And then she locked gazes with her mother, and repeated her question. "So what does it mean when a Vampire turns rogue?"

Katherine drew an unneeded breath, giving herself time to consider how she was going to answer her daughter.

"It means they've lost the ability to control their inner Vampire." Katherine decided to keep her answer simple, and to the point.

"What happens to them? Do they have to go away somewhere?"

Katherine knew what her daughter was asking, Roisin unable, or unwilling, to give voice to her real concern.

"In a manner of speaking." The meaning behind Katherine's evasive response was clear.

"Who was Beth?" Roisin asked her Mother then.

"A friend of your Uncle Mick's." Katherine wondered how much of the story of Beth, Roisin actually knew.

"A girlfriend?"

"Yes, a girlfriend," Katherine nodded, "from before your Uncle Mick and Uncle Josef were together."

"It's weird to imagine Uncle Mick with a girl." Roisin waved a quick hand in the air. "Oh I know. Uncle Mick's not gay. It's just that…he's been with Uncle Josef for so long and…"

Roisin was babbling, stalling for time, wanting to delay the inevitable question formed in her mind. When she did finally ask, Katherine couldn't help but notice how childlike her daughter sounded, a testament to how young she still was. Even at the ripe old age of sixteen.

"Beth died, didn't she? Did she turn rogue, is that why she died?"

"Yes." Katherine didn't know what else to say.

Roisin seemed to consider this for a moment. "Is that what will happen to Uncle Josef if he becomes like Beth as well?"

Roisin looked as if she almost didn't want to hear the answer to her question.

"I don't know, I hope not."

Roisin knew her mother was lying; the evidence was there in her expression, and tone of voice. Roisin forced a smile, and nodded an uncertain agreement.

"Yeah, me too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`````````

"I want to hunt tonight."

Josef appeared at the bottom of the stairs, face a corpselike pallor, and eyes ice cold blue, glistening mad.

Josef's tone did not bode well. Mick shifted towards him, looking for a way to distract Josef from his intentions.

"Do you want me to order in some freshies?"

"No." Josef would not be deterred. "I want you to come on a hunt with me."

Mick wasn't sure what frightened him more, the fact that Josef had suggested they hunt together in the first place, or the coolly detached manner in which he'd voiced that suggestion. He seemed devoid of all emotion.

"Ok." Mick nodded a reluctant agreement, trying to justify to himself that they could always pick a deserving victim. Perhaps some low level street thug already marked for death by those they had double crossed. "If you want to hunt, we'll hunt."

Josef responded with a grin that turned Mick's veins to ice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```````

They were out on the night lit streets of Paris an hour later, Mick trying his best to hide his growing sense of disquiet, when Josef spotted his intended quarry. A girl child about five years of age, all blonde haired, and blue eyed innocence personified. Apparently lost, wandered away from those who would otherwise be taking care of her.

"Josef, no." Mick's disquiet turned to full blown panic. He grabbed Josef's arm. "We don't hunt children. We don't hunt innocents, you know that."

The child rounded a corner in front of them. Josef shook Mick off with a determined growl and followed after her.

Mick stood frozen to the spot. Unable, or unwilling to move, not wanting to watch as Josef crossed over the line of redemption.

Christ what was he thinking? He had to stop him.

Shaking off his fear, Mick took off after Josef. Just in time to see Josef walking towards him, child in arms.

"You know you really shouldn't be out here all by yourself, little one." Josef smiled at the small bundle of mortality he had hold of. "You never know who you'll run into."

The little girl giggled with childish delight, tiny fingers prodding and squeezing Josef's face as Josef proceeded to play a game of what could only be described as 'peek-a-vamp' with her, morphing seamlessly from Vampire to human and back again.

Mick was on tenterhooks watching the exchange. He couldn't be sure if Josef had changed his mind, or if this was his way of making the kill as perverted as possible. By gaining the child's trust and making the destruction of innocence all the more complete.

"You want me to take her?" Mick forced a smile, trying not to let his voice shake too noticeably.

"I've got her, Mick." Josef furrowed his brow in an expression of barely disguised annoyance, and turned the child away from Mick's reach.

They weaved their way through streets and alleyways, an unlikely trio. Mick followed close by, one hand at the ready, prepared to snatch the child from Josef's arms and run if it came down to it. He just hoped he could out run Josef if need be.

The child led them to a frantic looking woman, tearfully recanting a description of her missing daughter to an overworked looking police officer.

"Oh my god, where did you find her." The relief on the woman's face was palpable as Josef handed the child over to her. "I've been beside myself. One minute we were enjoying a family dinner together, and the next she was gone. I only turned my back on her for a second."

The woman spoke French with a strange accent. Josef surmised her to be a tourist, and responded to her in English.

"Well sometimes that's all it takes."

Mick stood nervous watch as Josef and the woman exchanged pleasantries, and Josef very politely gave the Police officer the necessary details for him to file his report.

And then Josef was taking Mick by the arm, and leading him away.

They rounded a corner into an alley, and Josef stopped Mick in his tracks, turning towards him with his hands raised in a placating gesture.

"Mick, I'm sorry I had to…"

"You…Son of a Bitch!"

Josef had been about to explain that he needed to test himself, to see if he would cross that line, the one that would indicate he was too far gone. His words were cut off by Mick's fist connecting with his jaw, knocking him flying clear across the alleyway.

It was only then that realisation dawned on Mick. Josef was back, wherever he'd been for the past few months, the little glimpses of his old self that Mick had kept close watch for, all of that had just evaporated in the blink of an eye.

"Josef?" Mick rushed over to Josef's side, and helped him to his feet. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, Dorothy." Josef cocked his head, and grinned. "It's Toto."

"Oh shut up, Josef." Mick laughed, and threw his arms around Josef's neck. Too overjoyed to notice that Josef hadn't chided him for the punch he had just landed.

"Well what sort of a stupid thing was that to say, Mick?" Josef returned Mick's embrace.

Mick found himself being swept down a small laneway then, off-shooting the alley they had just been standing in. Out of the way of prying eyes, bodies and mouths came together in a heated exchange of contact.

"God I've missed you." Mick matched Josef's vigour with his own.

"Yeah, well, I've sort of been away for a while, needed the break." Josef managed through fervent kisses. "Thought it was about time I returned though. I was beginning to worry people would mistake me for you. And I'm so much better looking."

Josef tried to brush Mick's words aside with a trademark quip. Nevertheless Mick could still hear the underlying tone in Josef's voice. The past weeks and months had been spent in darkness, for both of them, Mick got the feeling Josef's return was by sheer force of will alone. He'd quite simply decided to pull himself up by the bootstraps, and climb out of whatever pit of despair he had found himself trapped in.

Whatever the reason, Mick wasn't going to question it. He had Josef back, for now at least, that's all that mattered.

Hands fumbled with belt buckles, fingers worked urgently at buttons on pants. And then Mick found himself being pressed down onto his hands, and knees, kneeling amidst the asphalt and grime of the street beneath him. As Josef slicked himself with a hurried application of saliva and took him from behind.

Josef's fangs gripped the back of Mick's neck, his growls of pleasure reverberating, deep and guttural, throughout Mick's body. It was sordid, and desperate, and it was exactly what they both wanted.

Josef stepped up the pace, reaching a hand underneath Mick's body to stroke his cock, matching sync with the increasingly urgent rhythm of his thrusts. Moments later Mick felt Josef's fangs sinking deeper into his flesh, and then Josef was coming inside him, filling him with a series of hot, wet pulses as he continued to work his hand over Mick's length, pulling Mick over the edge with him, and offered the other for Mick to bite into.

"Oh fuck I needed that..."

Mick's words, formed on his lips, were cut off by Josef already moving inside him once again. The pace harder this time, assisted by Josef's own fluids, friction and wetness creating delicious heat.

"Oh, Jesus, Fuck." Mick gritted his teeth, and moaned under his breath. His vocalisations of pleasure quickly turning to inhuman growls as Josef slammed into him at an increasingly frantic pace, and sent the both of them spiraling into their second, fangs biting into flesh, snarling conclusion.

Josef let Mick go when they were both finished, grinning as he watched Mick scrabble away a short distance. Before he grabbed Mick's leg, and pulled Mick back towards him.

"Christ, Josef." Mick felt the need to protest at that point. "Don't you think we should maybe go to a hotel, or head home, or something? We've already pushed our luck with someone spotting us out here."

Josef wasn't listening. He was already stripping Mick out of his lower garments entirely and hooking Mick's legs over his shoulders as he flipped Mick over onto his back and entered him with one hard, and sudden thrust.

Mick clung to Josef's shoulders, and drew fine lines of blood with his nails. It was all he could do to hang on as Josef placed a hand underneath Mick's arse, raising his hips up more, and started pounding into him with abandon.

And then they were both sailing into the abyss for a third time, sinking fangs into flesh as they each roared their way through the respective waves of climax that tore through them.

"Ok," Josef raised himself up onto outstretched arms when they were both spent, looking down at Mick with a grin plastered over his features, "now we can go to a hotel."

For a moment Mick was tempted to ask Josef if he was sure, but then decided the better of it. He had the distinct feeling that would be too much like pulling the tiger's tail.

Josef withdrew himself from Mick's passage, and waited for Mick to redress, adjusting his own clothing back to a more respectable state at the same time, before getting to his feet and reaching for Mick's hand to pull Mick up alongside him.

"Mick, wait." Josef stopped him, just as Mick began to move off. "I just wanted to say thank you," Josef drew his arms around Mick's waist, and wrapped Mick up in an embrace that was as sincere in depth, as it was in its intended affections, "for everything you've done these past months, you gave up a lot for me. You know I really didn't think I could ever be any more in love with you than what I already was, but I've been proven wrong."

"Yeah, well, you would have done the same if the roles were reversed." Mick sounded sheepishly overwhelmed by Josef's lavishing of praise.

"Come on." Josef said then as he began to lead Mick down the street, noting Mick's embarrassment, and deciding to make a joke to ease the situation. "The Meurice is just nearby, we'll head there. My cock's got an extended date planned with your ass."

--------------------------------------------------

"What the...?"

Mick awoke the following afternoon to find the hotel bed sheets saturated with water. The result of several bags of ice they had packed around themselves the night before, bursting open, and leaking defrosted contents all over previously dry bed linen.

Mick kicked the offending objects away from himself. It was then that he noticed Josef standing by the window of the hotel room, his expression clouded, seeming to look beyond the limits of the city below, into a realm Mick wasn't privy to.

"Josef?" Mick's voice bore a distinct note of fear. He rushed over to Josef's side, convinced for a moment that Josef's seeming return, only the night prior, had been all but a cruel trick of the universe.

"I'm fine, Mick. Don't look so worried."

The smile on Josef's face appeared to be forced. Everything about his manner appeared to be forced to Mick. As if he were still struggling against a dark undercurrent, and keeping himself afloat through sheer willpower alone.

"Josef," Mick drew his arms around Josef's waist, and rested his head on top of Josef's shoulder; "you don't have to pretend to be ok for my sake. I know what they did to you. Pierre gave me one of their handbooks on torture. It damn near made me sick." Mick paused for a moment, swallowing back the bile that had risen in his throat at the memory of what he had read in those pages. "You don't have to force yourself to pretend everything's ok, not for anyone, and certainly not for me."

"I know, Mick." Josef smiled, a genuine smile this time, and leant back into Mick's embrace, drawing strength, and comfort.

Josef didn't need to say anything more. Mick understood then. The unspoken words hung in the air between them.

"I'm not doing this for you, Mick. I'm doing it for myself. If I don't force myself back from the depths now, I might not have the strength to come back at all."

For a moment Mick could do nothing more than close his eyes, and allow himself to be swept along by overwhelming tides of emotion. Even saying the words 'I love you' somehow seemed inadequate.

"Hey, you're not getting all ridiculously sentimental on me there are you?" Josef's voice, brimming with trademark tones of pointed cheek, broke through Mick's private reverie.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Mick laughed, and placed an affectionate kiss on the side of Josef's face.

"Oh, why not?" Josef pretended to sound crestfallen. "I like it when you get all ridiculously over sentimental. You always could turn dog shit into puppies you know." Josef snorted a laugh, and turned his face towards Mick's, one eyebrow cocked in a teasing expression. "That is of course when you weren't too busy angsting about the mess they'd left on the rug."

"Well what can I say," Mick's voice swelled with mock pride, "It's a gift."

"What? Turning dog shit into puppies, or angsting about messes on carpets?" Josef grinned, and arched another pointed eyebrow.

"Both." Mick shot back with a barely stifled laugh.

Josef turned to face Mick then, one hand gripping the back of Mick's skull, drawing him close.

"Care to show me what other gifts you have?" Josef's breath fanned hot against Mick's neck.

"Only the ones you've given to me." Mick trailed a series of heated kisses along the line of Josef's jaw, and then sank to his knees.

Mick's hands went to the belt on Josef's robe, undoing it to reveal Josef's naked form beneath. Josef shrugged the robe from his shoulders, and let it slide to the floor in a crumpled heap.

And then Josef was drawing in a sharp breath, fangs biting into his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood as Mick took him into his mouth, and began working his lips and tongue over the length of Josef's erection.

It was good. Oh fuck it was so good…

It was a little too good. Within moments Josef was already feeling his balls tighten, threatening to spill over.

"Mick." Josef tapped a pointed finger against the side of Mick's face. "Mick, stop, I'm way too close, I don't want to…"

"…so?" Mick halted his attentions and looked up at Josef, his hand still gripping the shaft of Josef's cock. "What's stopping you from coming twice?"

Without warning Mick covered Josef's length with his mouth, and drew him deep into his throat. Two fingers pressed firmly up against Josef's perineum.

"I…Oh Christ, Fuck." Josef's grabbed onto Mick's skull, more to keep from toppling over as the orgasm ripped through him, hard enough to leave weak kneed tremors in its wake, and he exploded down the back of Mick's throat.

"Shit, that was…" Josef didn't have a chance to finish his clench teethed appreciation of Mick's talents. Mick was already on his feet, body seeking contact, his lips pressed against Josef's in a fervent exchange of kisses as he began to manoeuvre the both of them over to the bed.

They fell amidst the sheets in a tangled mess of mouths and limbs. Mick's vocalisations becoming more urgent as his arousal quickly built. Deep growls emanated from his chest to reverberate throughout Josef's body.

"Wait." Mick had been about to swap their positions, placing his own body beneath Josef's, when Josef placed a hand in the centre of Mick's chest and stayed him for a moment. "I want you, to fuck me."

Mick raised himself up onto outstretched arms, his eyes searching the expression on Josef's face, looking for any hint of uncertainty.

"Are you sure?" The memory of Josef's previous reactions, when confronted with the possibility of such activity, still lingered in the back of Mick's mind.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Josef's arms went around Mick's neck, drawing Mick into his space. And then his lips were pressed against Mick's ear, and he was exhaling a heated command, breath fanning hot over Mick's face.

"Fuck me."

Mick felt his cock spasm in anticipation at those words, Josef's tone so inviting. His hand scrabbled inside the top drawer of the small bedside cabinet, seeking the bottle of make shift lubricant they had procured from the bathroom the night before.

Josef shifted onto his side, Mick positioned behind him. One leg hooked over Mick's hip, giving Mick access. Mick pressed his cock, now slick with lotion, against Josef's passage and began to penetrate him, slowly, letting the shifts in Josef's breathing, and body language guide his pace.

At one point Josef drew in a sharp hiss of breath, his eyes flashing to momentary, fleeting panic. Mick had gone to withdraw then, prepared to forget the whole idea and insist that he be the one on the receiving end instead.

"Don't." Josef reached a hand behind Mick, grabbing hold of Mick's arse, stilling Mick inside him. "Stay with me."

Mick nodded his understanding, and drew an arm across Josef's chest, holding him close as Josef began to move his hips back and forth, thrusting himself over Mick's cock, building the pace in a subtle exchange of motion.

"I love you." Josef snaked his own arm behind Mick's neck, and pressed Mick's face forward to meet his lips. "Don't ever forget that. None of what happened was your fault, Mick."

"I know." Mick buried his face against the side of Josef's neck. "I just…I should have been there, I should have protected you."

"Why?" Josef arched his back and uttered a stifled cry of approval as Mick's hand encircled his cock, and began to stroke. "You're not my keeper."

The conversation ended with a single command uttered from Josef's lips.

"Harder."

Mick complied with Josef's instruction. Silence permeating the room, save only for the sound of ragged breath hitching in throats, and soft whimper moans of pleasure cascading into urgent growls.

"Oh Jesus, yes, that's it, that's it, Fuck me…" Josef urged Mick on, his vocalisations shifting to an almost rhythmic chant of pleasure, eyes squeezed shut and mouth hung open.

The pace became increasingly erratic, Mick's hand a blur of motion over Josef's length, the tension building inexorably, leaving both of them desperate for release.

And then…'Oh Christ, fuck, don't stop, don't stop, don't stop'…they were both exploding in a simultaneous fever pitch of heated passion. Fluid pulsating into, and over one another, they sank sharp fangs into soft flesh and rode out wave after wave of climactic bliss.

They lay together in silence after they were both spent, feeling the last pulsations of orgasm slowly fade away to be replaced by a series of after shocks that hummed through them. Until Mick finally gave voice to the one question he had been longing to ask since the nightmare had first begun.

"Who was it, Josef, who did this to us?"

"Remember when you said you hoped we wouldn't end up regretting something?"

Josef didn't need to say anymore, Mick knew instantly who he was referring to.

"Shit." Mick took a moment to collect his thoughts; not having been prepared for Josef's answer. "Does Roisin know?"

"No. And she's not going to either." Josef's tone was final.

"Agreed." Mick nodded his affirmation, and then changed the subject. "Look, I meant what I said before. You don't have to pretend everything's ok. If you need more time…we'll go away somewhere, take a holiday, get drunk in wayward freshie bars, and stagger back to whatever hotel we're staying in at four in the morning…"

"…What? Clutching rosebushes in our hands, and showering the floor with dirt and petals?"

"Something like that." Mick snorted a laugh, and then withdrew himself from Josef' space, and waited for Josef to turn facing him. "I mean it though, Josef," Mick's voice fell serious then, a finger tracing its way across the contours of Josef's brow, "whatever you need, ok?"

"Whatever I need?" Josef repeated back, one eyebrow arched in a pointed gesture, and a grin playing over his features. "Right now," hands reached up to grip Mick's skull then, drawing him close, "All I need is you…and for us to go to Ireland so I can finish my obligations to Father Patrick, but mostly, just you."

Mick didn't have a chance to respond to Josef's casual announcement of their intended travel plans to the country of his birth. Josef's lips were covering his own, his words silenced by Josef's tongue exploring the inside of his mouth.

And they were both moving back towards the abyss, hands clutching, and bodies shifting together once more.