The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.

This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.

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Derrick watches the men in the room as he sits down. He knows that they aren't going to like what he has to tell them.

Grant sits down, setting his briefcase down next to his chair. "Alright I have everything that I know about Logan and Sarah with me. What's the problem?"

Josef turns to Derrick "Tell the man what you know."

Derrick sighs, "My brother is Conrad Baker."

Grant nods "I know of him…. in fact, we've both spoken a couple of times at the same conferences. A brilliant man but….."

Derrick nods. "But…. he's a little ethically challenged?"

Grant shrugs. "Yes, but only in comparison to human norms. He's no more compromised than most vampires. Obviously I don't have to conform to the human's rules anymore than the others but I do for the most part because the man I work for likes to make money." Grant glances at Josef and smiles. "As far as the government is concerned I work for Josef and he's a legitimate businessman."

Josef snorts. "I am a legitimate business man."

"A legitimate human business man. In order for us to make money by selling to the human drug companies and the like, we have to be able to get FDA approval for any discoveries. In order to get FDA approval, I have to be able to produce my research and if I haven't conformed to the riggers of their structure I'm not going to get approval. I'm still usually way ahead of most humans in my field if for no other reason than I have many more years to work on a problem then they do. Most members of the community don't see it the same way."

Derrick nods he wants to tell them that Conrad wasn't always like that but he lets it go. They aren't going to care how this obsession has changed him. "For many years Conrad has been working on a way to give our longevity and recuperative abilities to humans without them having to die or drink blood or all the pesky things the rest of us have to go through."

Grant nods. "I would imagine it would be a very lucrative and powerful secret to know. You could control humans very easily if you had that ability."

Derrick looks a bit embarrassed. "I think with Conrad it's more about the notoriety of being the scientist who did it. He's become rather obsession about it. He only cares about money in so much as he needs it to fuel his research. The thing is he's been up against a block for quite a few years. Now he thinks that Logan or should I say, Logan's blood is the answer to that problem."

Grant sits back and Josef can tell he's processing the information. Finally, he looks back at the men in the room. "Understand, it's not my field so he may know something I don't but I just don't see what it could be. Is there any chance I can look over Conrad's research material?" Grant asks hopefully.

Derrick shakes his head. "No, a couple nights ago he tried to take blood from Logan by force. I stopped him but he knows I'm dead set against him on this so he's gone under, he's in hiding."

"I'll find him." Mick snarls

Derrick shakes his head. "I doubt it. I'll email you the information I have so you can try and track him but I taught him well. He's always been ready to go at a moments notice. He took what he needed and no one is going to find him until he's ready to be found, although I'll keep looking."

"Do you know any aliases he might be using?" Mick asks.

Derrick snorts. "No, I really screwed this up. I taught him how to set up his own aliases. I was afraid if someone was after him that they might grab me in order to get to him so I made sure I didn't know any names he would be hiding under."

Grant shakes his head. "Josef, I can't even make an educated guess as to whether he's on the right track without his research notes."

"Grant do you think he's the only one who might want a pint of Logan's blood?" Gabriel asks.

Grant sighs and shakes his head. "Let me tell you, I feel privileged to have been able to study the children's blood but I would never have thought to use it as an agent in anything I was working on no matter what. A part of that is obviously because Sydney was in the same position at one point and the idea is repugnant." Grant senses Derrick's confusion and turns to him. "Logan isn't the only child born to a vampire. My daughter Sydney was born forty years ago. She's a vampire now so I'm not risking anything by telling you this. Her blood won't do anyone any good." He continues. "Truthfully though there isn't a scientist, even the human ones if they knew about us, that wouldn't want to run tests on Logan's blood. As far as the greater community knows, he's one of kind and that breeds curiosity. Although anyone who truly thinks Logan is the only one is an idiot."

Gabriel sits forward. "What if you ran every test imaginable on Logan's blood and posted the results some where so that interested parties could look them over. Do you think that would mollify them?"

Grant shakes his head. "No, in fact it might make it worse. There might actually be something there that might be useful to someone's research and the urgency to get his blood before he's turned could become even worse. Not only that but, scientists tend to be an arrogant bunch. We tend to think that just because someone else didn't find something doesn't mean we won't. Nothing worse than a brilliant scientist with the longevity of a vampire." Grant sighs as he stands thinking of his and Sydney's part in this mess. He looks at Josef. "If there is anything I can do…..all you have to do is ask. I think for now, I should get back and check the scientific community and see what I can find out anything about what Conrad is working on. I have a few safe contacts that might be more familiar with his research. I'll also send out some feelers and see how much interest there is and if anyone is willing to take the chance to get killed trying to get a look at Logan's blood."

Mick stands. "Grant there is one more thing I need to talk to you about."

Grant nods for him to continue.

Mick turns to Derrick. "No offense, but you need to go out in the hall for a bit."

Derrick snorts. "None taken." He gets up and walks out into the hall he leans against the wall. Out of curiosity he reaches out to his surroundings. He senses two human heartbeats across the hall. That would be Ms. Turner and her little girl. He also senses a vamp, an old one like Gabriel so that must be Finn. Suddenly Derrick smiles as he senses a young vampire down the hall in Mick's office. Veronica. But what is this? She's crying. He walks down the hall and softly taps on the door.

Veronica quickly wipes the tears from her eyes. She can't stand the idea of someone finding her sitting alone feeling sorry for herself. With all these old vampires around she knows they will know what she's feeling, but that's not the same as seeing the evidence in her eyes. She frowns and wonders why anyone of them would knock. She doesn't even think the door is locked. Since no one but family is allowed on this floor it doesn't seem all that important.

She opens the door. "Who…..why are you…." She stops when she sees Derrick grinning down at her.

"Hi." He says to her softly. Veronica is right. He can sense the pain she's feeling.

Veronica scowls at him. She can see in his eyes that he's sensing her emotions. It embarrasses her, and makes her angry. "What are you doing here? In fact, how did you get in here? Where's Mick?" She looks behind him to the hallway. "Does he know you're here and just wandering around like this?"

Derrick shakes his head. "Questions, questions questions. I'm here at Mick and Josef's request. He knows I'm out here because he asked me to leave the room so I couldn't hear whatever it is that they are talking about at the moment."

Veronica looks at him with her natural suspicion. "I'm glad you rescued Logan the night he was attacked. I want to thank you for that but it was awfully convenient, you being in the right place at the right time twice."

Her sarcasm isn't lost on Derrick. He also guesses that Mick hasn't told her anything yet. He smiles. "Not just convenient, I'm sure you've guessed that by now. Can I come in and sit down while I wait?"

Veronica nods somewhat reluctantly. "I suppose I owe you that much for helping me at Jenny's." She grouses as Derrick follows her into the office smiling.

Derrick spins her around and looks down at her. "I can assure you the night at Jenny's, I really was in the right place at the right time." He smirks at her. "It was a pleasure to be able to help out two beautiful ladies as yourself and Miss Whitley."

Veronica takes a step back. "You didn't know who we were? You weren't trying to get into Josef's good graces?"

Derrick looks at her curiously. "No, why would I?"

Veronica shrugs. "Well, Josef has all this power and when you count Vanessa into the mix he's pretty well connected. I just thought maybe you had an angle and were trying to find a way to get to Josef." Veronica almost laughs at the indignant look on his face. "I'm sorry if I've insulted you."

He waves his hand dismissively. "It's ok. You don't know me…..yet. You have no way of knowing. You can make it up to me but letting me sit with you so we can remedy that."

Veronica looks at him suspiciously. "Why?"

Derrick laughs at the look on her face. "I can't believe you don't know." He sees the confusion on her face and reaches out. He gently runs his finger across her cheek.

Veronica ducks away as she feels him trying to make a connection by reaching out in more than one way.

Derrick watches her intently. "When I saw you at Jenny's, at first I admit, I wanted to get to know you because you are so beautiful." Veronica scrunches her nose at him as he continues. "But then when you stood your ground to protect the freshie and your friend…. when you stuck that knife in a vamp so much older than yourself, I knew that there was so much more to you than just beauty that I had to meet you."

Veronica looks at him suspiciously and backs up.

Derrick moves a step closer. "When I realized who you are and that you and your sire are not lovers I asked Mick if I could ask you out and he said no." Before she can ask a question he continues. "He said you were in love with a human and that you were too young to be out on your own." He cocks his head and studies her. "I told him I was giving him fair warning that I would watch for you to be out on your own." He looks into her eyes and sees sadness. "Are you still in love with the human…" Veronica scowls at him. "Sorry, with Logan?"

Veronica slowly nods. "I always will be." She tries desperately to keep the emotions from her voice and the tears from her eyes. "He's having trouble dealing with who I am at the moment. He thinks he's set me free but….."

Derrick shakes his head. "He's a fool to let you go. He could lose you for good."

Veronica snorts and tries to keep the tears from her eyes. "I don't want to talk about Logan." Derrick has been slowly closing the gap between them and she backs up trying to put the desk between them. "How old are you?"

Derrick smiles. "I'll be two hundred and fifty on my next birthday. Why?"

Veronica shakes her head. "I think you've had two hundred years to perfect your technique."

Derrick never takes his eyes off of her. "You don't trust me….I can understand that, you don't know me….but my guess is that you don't trust anyone easily." He gently reaches for her. "What did they do to you to make you so afraid?" He takes in her defensive posture as she steps away from him again. He turns and moves away from her. He sits in the chair opposite the desk. He watches the set of her shoulders relax as she sits in the chair behind the desk.

"They didn't do anything to me. Just because I don't trust most people, doesn't mean I'm afraid, I'm not. I'm not afraid of you or anyone else."

Derrick smiles. "I bet you can count the people you trust on one hand." He smiles softly. "I want to be one of those people."

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Once the door closes and Derrick is out of the room Mick turns back to Grant. "Beth and I have decided that it's time for her turning…"

Grant smiles "And you want her blood tested ahead of time to make sure there are no complications?"

Mick nods. "Yes, her father left when she was very young and beyond that you did say that there could be a vamp in the family tree anywhere….I just don't want to take any chances."

Grant nods. "Of course. You and Beth can be one of my first beta testers." Grant smiles mischievously. "I've worked up a test that can be done at home to make sure that a human's blood doesn't have any of the things that made Sarah go into her coma. I need volunteers to test it out and since the problem isn't wide spread, or we don't believe it to be there aren't a lot of humans out there banging down my door for testing."

Josef laughs. "I bet you didn't ask the FDA for approval on that one."

Grant smiles. "No, I didn't. Mick call me and we'll set up a time." Grant begins to turn and suddenly stops frozen in place. Mick and Josef both move towards him thinking something is wrong. Grant quickly turns back to Mick. "There's something else you need to do before Beth is turned. Something very important."

Mick looks at the worry in Grant's face and fear begins to creep into his gut. "What, what's the matter?"

Grant sees Mick's distress and puts his hand on Mick's arm. "I'm sorry. I don't want to alarm you. It's just that…..Beth needs to have a pregnancy test before she's turned."

Mick stares at Grant in dumb silence at the implications. Mick shakes his head. "I would know. Josef and I knew before Beth did when she was pregnant with Shannon. I would know."

Grant shakes his head. "I'm sure you would but do you really want to find out the night before you decide to turn her that she's pregnant? Even I know what the decision would be as far as going ahead with the turning. I assume since you've decided to do this now that you don't really want to wait another two or three years. Have you been taking precautions? Is Beth on the pill?"

Josef begins to snicker at the stunned look on Mick's face.

"Well…..no…..I mean…..we….figured the first time was a happy accident, so the odds were pretty long that Beth could get pregnant again so…..you know…and…..I…ah….we….." Mick looks very annoyed at Josef who is grinning at his discomfort.

Josef smirks at Grant. "What he's trying to say is that they don't like…."

Mick slaps his hand over Josef's mouth. "What I'm trying to say with as little help from my friend here as possible is that, no we have not been taking any precautions of any kind."

Grant nods. "Then I would suggest that you make very sure she's not pregnant at the present time and then use some form of contraception until she's turned."

Mick shakes his head at the thought of finding out Beth's pregnant again. "Thanks Grant. This isn't something that would even have occurred to me. Come on, I'll walk you to the elevator." Mick key's the elevator for Grant and starts back to Veronica's apartment. He stops suddenly when he hears quiet laughter coming from his office. He turns to the door and swears softly when he realizes he'd forgotten about putting Derrick out in the hallway. He nudges the door open and sees the smile on Veronica's face. Derrick is telling her a story of some sort and for the first time since she and Logan broke up she doesn't look quite so sad.

Derrick senses Mick behind him but continues on. He is curious to see Mick's reaction to finding him here with Veronica.

Mick clears his throat and Veronica looks up. Derrick turns to look over his shoulder at him. Mick knows full well that Derrick was aware of him long before he made his presence known. "Are you ready to go back? We need to finish this."

Derrick nods. "Sure." Derrick stands, never taking his eyes off of Veronica. "I'll see you again some time?"

She smiles. "We'll see."

Once they are out in the hallway once again Mick turns to Derrick. "If you do one thing to hurt her, you will be very sorry. You understand?"

Derrick nods solemnly and follows Mick back into the apartment.

Mick turns to Josef and Gabriel as he enters the apartment.

Josef watches Derrick. "Derrick is there any chance at all that you can get a line on your brother?"

Derrick shakes his head. "Like I said, I'll keep looking. I checked his credit cards, the usual stuff. My people are monitoring his lines of communication. No sign of him. I drilled this into him because I never thought I would be the one looking for him."

Mick stands up. "I'm going home. The only thing I can think to do is keep a low profile, keep on guard and wait to see what happens. Maybe Conrad got the message and he's got his tail tucked between his legs waiting for you to find him."

Derrick nods. "I hope your right." I doubt it, but I hope your right. "Derrick glances at Mick's office door. Mick hustled him out of the office before he had a chance to ask Veronica for her phone number. He wonders if Mick will let him go back in and see her.

Mick watches Derrick eyeing the office. "Derrick, I'll key the elevator for you so you can leave."

Derrick looks at Mick and for a split second he thinks about challenging Mick and begins to smile at the stupidity of that move. Not only is Mick on his own turf, but Josef, Gabriel and Finn are well within striking distance. No, if he wants to see Veronica again she's going to have to come to him. He just needs to nudge her in the right direction. Derrick thinks of asking Mick if he can have Veronica's cell number but stops the question in his throat. No way is that going to happen. Derrick smiles as another idea pops into his head. He watches Mick turn the key in the lock for the elevator and he gets in. "If I hear or see anything I'll call you or Josef right away."

Mick nods. "I'd appreciate that. Take it easy."

Derrick nods as the doors close. "You too."

Josef shakes his head at the thought of Veronica dating Derrick. When Josef had thought it would be good for Veronica date a vampire, a wild card like Derrick is not who he had in mind. "Are you going to let him ask her out? A better question is, are you going to let her go? Maybe she would let me find her some one more suitable."

Mick burst out laughing at the thought of Josef choosing Veronica's dates. "You know her as well as I do. What do you think the odds are that she's going to put up with any of that?"

Josef glowers at Mick. Never going to happen. "Yea, I do but she's still your fledgling." Josef says sourly. "You can put a stop to this."

Mick glowers at him. "Not for much longer. This last week has made me see just how far she's come. Unless it's really important I don't want to second-guess her. It's time for her to start making some of her own decisions. As long as she doesn't put herself or anyone else in danger she should be able to decide whether she goes out with Derrick."

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One more down….