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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Beth looks in the mirror over her shoulder at the back of her gown. She sees the white gold chains crossing the backless gown and smiles. With her hair swept up its just one long expanse of skin from her neck to the base of her spine, except where the small delicate chains cross to keep the dress from falling off of her. She stands back from the mirror and faces forward. She grins when she sees her reflection. The neckline plunges far enough down that it exposes a good deal of cleavage but not enough to make Mick kill any other man in the room for staring at her. The dress cost a small fortune but it is worth it. If everything goes according to plan this will be her and Mick's last night together as human and vampire and she wants it to be memorable. She finishes the last touches on her makeup as Mick walks into the room. He moves in from behind and wraps his arms around her. She smiles over her shoulder at him. "Gently now, I've taken great pains to make myself up. You can't ravish me before we ever get to the party. I don't want to have to start all over again."

Mick kisses the back of her neck. He moves slowly down her back. A shiver of delight runs through Beth. A low moan escapes her as she feels his fangs gently graze the base of her spine. Mick stands back and watches her in the mirror. She's looks at his reflection in the mirror and sees her vampire staring back at her.

"Mine." He says in a low growl of desire.

She smiles and turns to him. Gently she straightens his collar. "Yes, I'm yours and your mine." She nips him along his jaw. "Now that we're both done marking each other can we go see how Josef is doing?"

Mick gives her his best innocent smile as his eyes and fangs return to their human mask. "Marking you, what are you talking about? Just because you're going to be the most beautiful woman at a party full of vampires, means nothing to me."

Beth shakes her head and pulls on his hand. "Let's go downstairs and see how everything is coming along."

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Rene looks in the full length mirror finally satisfied with the results. She turns at the tapping on the door to her room and sees Sarah standing in the doorway. Josef had quickly introduced them on his way to check on the party preparation.

Sarah hesitates. "Hi, I know Josef didn't really get a chance to see if you are settled in. I was wondering if you needed anything."

Rene smiles widely in return. "That's very nice of you. No, I'm fine. I'm use to do things on the fly as I'm always on the move. I usually have no problem being prepared for every eventuality." She turns so that Sarah can see her dress. "I look alright; don't you think?"

Sarah nods. "You look splendid. Did you get a chance to speak to Vanessa? She's around here somewhere."

Rene shakes her head and laughs. "Mother will be surprised to see me that's for sure. I'll find her some time during the party. She'll be glad I left New York. She doesn't really like the idea of my spending time with Drake, even if he is on the council with her."

"You don't know then?" Sarah asks

Rene looks at her curiously. "Know what?"

"Well, from my understanding all the council members will be in attendance tonight. Vanessa and Josef are both sure it's a bad sign that something is being plotted." Sarah explains.

Rene shakes her head, a snarl not far from her lips. "Drake and I had a terrible fight two nights ago so I left New York without even saying good-bye. I had no idea he was going to come to California. Mother has good reason to be worried. I think she's right. I tried to find out from Drake what he's gotten himself involved in but it was no use." She brightens. "Although if he's here tonight I'll try again. I'm rather fond of him and I'd hate to see him end up on mother's wrong side, especially if this concerns Logan. She will not hesitate to kill anyone who she perceives as a threat to him. I haven't met him yet. Does he really look so much like Josef?"

Sarah smiles and nods "Oh, yes. Last week Logan and Josef had a disagreement and Logan pretended to be Josef and left the estate while the vampires were all asleep. He got away with it because the humans couldn't see or sense any difference. It's very startling the first time you see them together. If you come downstairs with me, you can probably meet him and his girlfriend as well as Mick and Beth. We are all supposed to meet in Josef's library before the party starts."

"Beth is the human that mother is going to turn tomorrow night?" Rene asks

"Yes, and she's very nice. She and Mick have been together for several years and now they've decided it's time for her to be turned."

"I think your right. We need to go down stairs so you can introduce me to all these people. Then I'm going to go in search of Drake and see if I can't save his life. Mother doesn't like him much to start with, if he gets crosswise of her, he will not survive."

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Logan and Veronica enter the library to find Josef with the French doors open watching the last of the preparations being attended to. Logan moves up and stands next to his father. Veronica smiles watching the two men both dressed so much the same with only the cut of their hair to really allow the casual acquaintance to tell the two apart. Well, that and the fact that one still has a heart that beats at regular intervals. Veronica moves to stand in front of the pair. "My, don't the two of you look handsome." She receives mirror smiles from the pair. Logan leans towards her and kisses her softly. "And you are more beautiful than any woman I've ever seen."

Veronica moves into his arms smiling. "This feels right."

Josef smiles. He's glad to see that they've actually worked out some of their difficulties. He hasn't gotten all the particulars from Logan but it's pretty clear they've come to some kind of understanding.

Josef looks behind him as he senses Beth and Mick enter the room.

Mick claps Josef on the back. "You ready for this?"

Josef nods. "Yes, and one way or the other I want this mess taken care of tonight. I don't care if we have to start flaying scientists over an open fire one at time to make our point. This quest for Logan's blood will end here and now."

Vanessa and Frank enter the room. "Josef I have a hunch you're going to get your wish. I find it very interesting that in one fashion or another we are going to have every member of the council at this party. It has to be a first."

Josef turns to her. "It is. Arthur was here of course at the last party because of Logan but other than that, you and Benedict are the only one who've ever come to one of my parties."

Vanessa nods. "Yes, very curious. Benedict tried to get to Arthur to see what he could find out but it seems Warren is running interference and that gives me pause. Warren has always been reasonable in the past. I tried to contact him and he wouldn't take my calls. Benedict called me earlier he is on his way from the airport. He only decided to attend when I told him the others had accepted. He said he wants to be here for the fireworks."

Mick watches her curiously. "You don't seem very upset or worried about the council members."

Vanessa smiles grimly, "They can do any damn thing they want. In the end I will give them a chance to do the right thing, if they don't I'm with Josef we will start the flaying, scientists and council members alike. They can all be damned. If they think I'm going to stand idly by and let them harm any of the children, let alone Logan and Josie for their power grab they are sadly mistaken."

Mick smiles hearing Vanessa's fierce declaration. He looks around the room and realizes Gabriel is missing. "Has anyone seen Gabriel?" He asks

Josef nods absently. "He and his date are around. They're wondering the grounds looking things over." Josef turns to Vanessa. "Have you had a chance to bring him up to date on what we know or are guessing? I haven't had any chance to see him longer than five minutes since we got back from the beach house."

Vanessa shakes her head. "No me either. He dropped out of sight for a few days."

Finn grins "His been busy renewing an old acquaintance."

Beth grins. "His date? And who might that be?"

Josef snorts. "Victoria. Apparently she hasn't turned Jack yet."

Vanessa rolls her eyes. "I'm going to go see if I can find him."

A few minutes later Sarah and Rene enter the room. Sarah moves to Josef's side. He wraps his arm around her. "You are stunningly beautiful." He murmurs to her as he kisses her temple.

Rene watches the pair. Glad that for once Josef really seems to have found someone who makes him happy. He glances at her smile and smirks back at her. "Rene, I want to introduce you to everyone." Josef moves around the room. When he gets to Logan she studies him and he grins at her waiting. She grins back. "Hello nephew."

Logan grins back "Hello auntie."

Josef gets to Beth last.

Rene hugs her. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you better once you've joined the clan."

Beth nods. "Thank you for making me feel welcome."

Rene turns to Josef. "Sarah tells me that every member of the council is here? Is that right?" Rene asks

Josef nods. "Yes, we got confirmation from all of them. Vanessa thinks it signals that there is something being planned."

Rene agrees and tells him of her relationship and argument with Drake.

Josef snorts. "Vanessa told me about that. From what she's said about him she doesn't think much of him."

Rene rolls her eyes. "Yes, well you know Vanessa. Josef, I'm going to see if I can find him tonight and try again to get him to talk to Vanessa about what he knows. He's very big on self-preservation and I may make the case that he doesn't have much chance of it if she thinks he's plotting against her family. I'll see what I can find out."

Josef nods. "I'll take all the information I can get."

Josef watches Sarah, Beth, Rene and Veronica smile as they talk over the night's plans. Josef takes this opportunity to move Logan aside. "You two seem to have worked things out."

Logan nods. "Yea, it almost feels like it did before she was shot. We spent a lot of time talking."

Josef grins at him. "Is that what you call it?"

Logan laughs quietly. "That too, but really we spent a lot of time talking about what we both want. It helped a lot for both of us to hear the other one say that what we want is each other."

Josef looks at Logan thoughtfully "Then she's not going to go out with any other vamps?"

Logan shrugs. "She will, but I won't ask her about it and she won't let it interfere with out time together."

Josef watches Logan closely. "You're ok with that?"

Logan nods. "Yea, the vampire time is important, she needs that but the only person she loves is me and I have to remember that. I'm going to do what Beth said and just believe in us and trust her."

Josef lets out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I haven't seen you this relaxed since she was turned and as happy as I am for you, could you keep your guard up tonight?"

Logan nods and smiles. "Of course. Once we leave this room I'll be as paranoid and watchful as you are. Veronica's already said she won't leave my side and that helps."

"Do you have the GPS watch on you that Ryder sent over?" Josef asks

Logan pulls up his sleeve. "Yes, right here. Mick put the chip in my shoulder and gave me this. He also gave me one more thing." Logan pulls up his pant leg and strapped to his ankle is a small handgun. "It's not a very high caliber but Mick said it never hurts to have even a little help in a tight situation. I'm sure Veronica is armed in some fashion, although where she's hiding anything in that dress I'll never know."

Josef nods. "She has a knife sheathed between her shoulder blades. Mic also said she has one strapped to her upper thigh. That's good. In addition to that I don't want to alarm you but a couple of my security people will be watching you all night."

Logan nods in acceptance. "Whatever you think. I just hope we can end this entire thing tonight."

Mick catches Finn's eye and the two men move to the other side of the room while Beth is occupied talking to the other women. The two men move away to the corner of the room. Mick pours them both a drink to look as though they are doing something.

Mick glances at Beth and sees her narrow her eyes at him.

Finn smiles. "She's not stupid. She knows you and I are plotting to keep her safe."

Mick shrugs. "I don't care if she likes it or not. I need to know that I can move freely to help Josef and I can only do that if I know you'll gather her up and get her to safety if there is trouble."

Finn pats him on the back. "Don't worry. I'll watch her like a hawk. No one will get to her."

Mick nods. "Thank you. I'm glad we decided to move Shannon back to the apartment for the night."

Finn readily agrees, "Yes, I think that was wise. No one knows where she is and having Emily and her in lock down in the apartment ensures that no one can harm her or use her as a bargaining chip."

Beth watches Mick and Finn and snorts.

Rene catches the look Beth gives the two men "Problem?" Rene asks

Beth sighs. "No, nothing really. I just know that Mick is making sure that Finn will whisk me away if any trouble starts."

Sarah smiles softly at Beth. "You can't really blame him. As long as your human you're vulnerable."

Beth laughs. "You say that now but I'll bet you even money you end up with a minder of your own." Beth smiles at Veronica. "As will Logan and Veronica."

Sarah scowls back at Beth. "I'm sure you're right."

Veronica shrugs. "I'll take all the help I can get to keep Logan safe."

Rene sees that this must be an ongoing point of contention. She clears her throat and looks at the two women. "Now stop that both of you." She chides them. "First off, you both have men who love you very much. Don't whine. Secondly Beth you are vulnerable and Sarah so are you. One of you is human and the other hasn't been a vampire more than a year or so." She turns to Veronica. "As for you, if I know my brother, I'm betting you each get a minder."

Veronica scowls at her. "You could at least have left me the illusion that they were both for Logan."

Rene laughs and shakes her head. "You'll be happy to have them if all hell breaks loose and knowing Josef and Vanessa that could very well happen."

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Gabriel and Victoria are watching the cameras in the security chief's office.

He turns. "Do you see any weaknesses?"

Victoria straightens up and shrugs. "Looks like Josef has it all covered to me. Do you really think they would try and make a grab for Logan here in Josef's home? No one can be that stupid."

Gabriel snorts. "I've found that people can be blinded by all sorts of things, money, power, revenge just to name a few."

Victoria nods. "You're right of course." She moves into his arms. "Come on let's go check out the grounds again."

He kisses her nose. "I've missed you."

She scowls at him for a moment and starts to pull away. "You knew where I was, which is more than I can say about you."

He pulls her back. "You know I'm not good at staying put."

"How long are you staying this time?" She asks

"I'll stay until I know Logan is safe from Josef's enemies and himself. The boy is a bit self destructive."

Victoria watches him curiously. "What is the boy to you? I've never seen you take this kind of interest in a human before."

He hesitates for a moment. "He's my grandson."

Victoria looks at him in confusion. "But Vanessa is Josef's sire."

Gabriel nods. "Yes, and I'm his father."

Victoria lets out a hiss of surprise. "Does Josef know?"

"Vanessa told him when she found out about Logan. We finally met when Veronica was shot." He tells her quietly.

"I'm surprised Josef's forgiven you for not telling him sooner."

He smiles at her warily "It was tough at first but we've put aside the past for the sake of the boy. We both want what is best for him. Now you are only one of about ten people who know the truth. When are you going to turn Jack?"

She smiles at just the touch of jealousy she hears in his voice. "Soon. I have to find one more person to fill out my crew." She kisses Gabriel "You know my tastes run beyond any fledgling. I'm doing this because he's worthy. He will make a fine vamp. He's been around the community a long time and he should come along quickly. I'm sure I can find him someone to keep him occupied."

Gabriel pulls her closer. "Sounds very good to me." He kisses her hard.

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Derrick leans comfortably against the black Maserati watching the plane, wondering what he will find when the hatch opens. He knows she will look the same as she did the last time he saw her but how she will react to seeing him again, that is the real question. It hurts to remember back, thinking of her laugh and her smile. He wonders if he'll see any of the delight that was so apart of her when they first met.

Serena peaks out the window of the plane. From her position she can only see his broad back in the setting sun and even that makes her pause at her plans for the evening. He will not approve. She shakes her head with regret. This was not one of my better ideas. She straightens up and looks at her maid. "How do I look?"

The maid smiles back at her. "Oh mistress you're more beautiful than ever."

Serena hears her phone ringing in her bag. She grabs and seeing it is Vance growls into the phone. "What?"

"Mistress I have Conrad ready to go. When do you want us to arrive?"

Conrad watches Vance wondering what the night holds for him. He's resigned to the fact that he'll be lucky to come out of this alive. He feels a little better having read Grant's invitation to the party and his assurance that as long as he doesn't hurt Logan, he will not be harmed. Now he just has to contact Derrick during the evening and tell him everything and hope Derrick forgives him and is willing to help him. He snaps back to the present when he hears Serena telling Vance to leave at once and to keep Conrad away from his brother. Not good.

Serena snaps her phone shut and takes one last look out the window and sighs. "Have them open the damn door." The frustration of her situation making its way through her voice.

"Yes, Mistress." Serena watches as the girl scurries off to tell the pilot her orders.

Derrick looks up when he hears the hatch being opened. He sees her standing at the top of the stairs. They lock eyes and it's as though the time falls away.

Serena closes her eyes trying to get her wits about her again. She takes the first step and the heel of her stiletto catches in the grate of the stair. She tugs it slightly hoping to dislodge it and her foot neatly slides out of her shoe. The frustration she felt earlier turns to anger and she begins to growl and swear softly. She hasn't seen him in a hundred and fifty years and when she finally does she looks like a damn fool hopping around with her shoe stuck in the grate. Damn Ferragamos.

Derrick immediately sees her difficulty and is at the top of the stairs in the blink of an eye. "Here, lean on me. I'll help you with that." He murmurs as he reaches down and pulls the offending shoe lose. She hangs on to his arm and takes the offered shoe. She slips it back on and tries to stand on the grate without getting another heel caught. Derrick shakes his head and picks her up, cradling her in his arms. Serena stiffens for a moment and then relaxes against him. She leans close to him as he walks down the stairs trying not to jostle her. He tries valiantly to ignore her intoxicating scent that assaults his senses. Once at the bottom of the stairs he looks down at her, caught in her gaze for a moment. He sets her down all the while looking into her eyes, trying to find the woman he remembers. His intent is to kiss her cheek but her scent pulls him, the memories of her flashing through his mind and against his best intentions he brushes her full lips. The electricity that erupts between them is at once old and new. Derrick growls and deepens the kiss for one instant and then anger at himself for being pulled in again allows him to clear his mind long enough to pull away. "Serena" he chokes out.

She looks at him wondering how she ever let him go. Somehow she finds her voice when all she really wants is to move back into his arms. "Derrick"

Without another word he opens her car door and she gets in. He is glad now he didn't get a driver and a limo. If he had, he would be ensnared in her lovely body before they left the airport.

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done done done….