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. The series starts with Who Are You? This installment follows the last one The Fountain of Youth.
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Derrick brings the car to stop and turns the it off. He's stopped at one of the many scenic look outs in the hills above L.A. There is a hiking trail that winds its way along this area with many of these little rest stops. Most people don't take the chance of coming out here in the middle of the night but they aren't most people. They are vampires. The muggers don't stand a chance.
He looks out over the twinkling lights of L.A. His window is down and he can feel the warm night air. This would be a nice romantic place to take a lover. He sighs to himself at his wishful thinking. He doesn't know why she came to him but he knows whatever drove her out of the house to seek him out, it isn't about him. He wordlessly gets out of the car and walks around to the passenger's side. Veronica looks up and sees his outstretched hand. She smiles sadly and takes it as he helps her out of the car. He leads her to one of the park benches the city so kindly added for weary hikers and they sit down. She's barley said a word since they left Josef's. He notices her phone still in her hand. He motions to the phone. "You want to talk about it?"
Veronica looks down at the text on her phone and smiles sadly. "That was Mick. They got word from Grant. Logan's blood is finally clear."
"And?" Derrick asks. He knows that can't be all.
She looks at Derrick warily. "And it doesn't really seem right to talk to you about problems with..." she waves a hand in the air, silent again.
"Look, I thought after what happened on the terrace that the likelihood of my seeing you again was slim to none. The only reason I was still around was because Vanessa told me it would be a good idea to stay for bit longer. So, I've already figured I lost you, what's the harm in telling me what happened to make you look like you just lost your best friend?"
She snorts and fights the tears. "Because I did...I lost my best friend." She takes a deep breath, choking back tears, frustration and anger making it worse.
He can't stand to see the look of desolation and heart break in her eyes. He holds out his arms to her. "Come here."
Veronica moves into his arms and he watches as she can't fight the tears anymore. He holds her tight while she cries. It only lasts a short time. He can feel her regaining her control. He leans back from her. "Talk to me."
"Logan told me to leave, to go find you." she says as she wipes the tears from her eyes with the corner of her shirt as she moves away from him.
He sighs inwardly realizing he was right. She's here with him not because she chose to be, but because someone else made the choice for her. "That doesn't sound like Logan. Was his mind clear from the drugs?"
She shakes her head. "No, he could barely stand. Gabriel said it was because Logan could sense that I was...conflicted."
"About what?" Derrick asks
"About how I feel about him, about you." she says quietly.
Derrick shakes his head. "Logan didn't see you standing over his unconscious body. It was pretty clear to me how you feel about him, that you still love him."
"I do, but I'm not sure I'm still in love with him."
Derrick smiles gently at her. "Of course you're not still in love with him, how could you be? The guy you've been in love with for so long died in that cabin. You watched him die. Everyone changes to some extent after something like that." He can't believe he's about to send her back to Logan but he knows it's got to be done. "Dying will do that to a person. I think you need to go back and get to know Logan again before you walk away."
She looks at him shaking her head. "You weren't there..."
Derrick snorts. "So let me get this straight. Logan, who just went fledgling and isn't clear from a major dose of some kind of tranquilizer, who by your own admission could barely stand, is telling you what to do? Don't you think you should at least wait a few days and see if he still feels that way after he's gotten over the shock of all those fledgling drives he thought he wasn't going to have to deal with?"
"It wasn't just him. None of them thought I should stay."
"Who all are we talking about?" he asks curiously.
"Gabriel, Josef and Mick." she answers.
Derrick snorts, realizing they really did a number on her and angry at the idea of her being bullied.. "And you are going to let them tell you what to do? I had no idea you were such a push over."
Veronica narrows her eyes at him and he laughs. That's a girl. "First off my grandsire can be a controlling pain in the ass. He's acting as Logan's sire but with no blood bond he may just find he's going to need all the help he can get. Secondly Mick has always been trying to get you clear of Logan. I'm not sure what that's about but I suspect it's more than just about you two. As for Josef, that surprises me. He's never been my biggest fan."
"Josef didn't say anything until Logan came out and told me to leave."
He smiles at her. "Veronica, I want to be with you, you know that, but I want you happy and until you and Logan really work things out you aren't going to be. Let me take you back to Josef's. Give Logan a few days, before you let Gabriel run you off" he hears a small snarl from her and grins again as he continues. "and if it doesn't work out, call me, I'm not going anywhere until the hunters are taken care of." He gently caresses her cheek. "I'll be more than happy to take your mind off your troubles."
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Vanessa looks up as Logan staggers out of his freezer room. "What on earth are you doing out of your freezer?" she moves quickly across the room to help him. "You can hardly stand."
Sarah move to the door. "I'll get Josef and Gabriel."
"NO." Logan croaks out.
Sarah looks startled and a little afraid.
Logan grimaces. The last thing he wants to do is frighten Sarah. "Sorry. Please don't."
Sarah nods and moves back into the room, for the moment staying close to the door. She watches as Vanessa helps Logan sit on the couch and she sits across from him. "Now, you tell me what the hell is going on or I'll call Gabriel."
Logan tries to explain in a sketchy half coherent ramble what he thinks happened earlier when Veronica was in his room.
"You sent her away?" Vanessa asks quietly. He nods "Yes, I'm so afraid I'll hurt her...but I can't stand the idea of losing her." the anguish clear in his voice. Then before she can comment, she watches as his eyes roll up into his head and he slumps back on the couch, once again dead to the world. Earlier she had sensed Veronica's heartache and loss, which was why Vanessa had kept Derrick from leaving and sent Veronica to him. Vanessa had thought at the time, that Veronica had made a tough decision on her own. She smiles grimly at her mistake. If she understood Logan correctly Veronica had been helped along that line by three very meddlesome male vampires. They all should have stayed the hell out of this.
Vanessa turns to Sarah and Coraline. "This is what happens when you leave men to take care of things like this on their own."
Coraline looks up from her magazine and smiles. "At least we agree on some things."
"What are you going to do?" Sarah asks. "Should I call Gabriel?"
Vanessa snorts. "Not very damn likely." She pulls out her phone.
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Veronica frowns at her phone when she sees Vanessa's name pop up. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" Vanessa asks not bothering to explain.
Sudden fear that something is wrong with Logan strikes her. "What's wrong?"
Vanessa hears her fear in her voice and slows down. "Nothing, I'm sorry for frightening you. Everyone is fine. Now let's start again. Where are you?"
"Derrick and I are on our way back to Josef's. We're about..." she trails off looking at Derrick.
"Ten minutes away." He tells her.
"Good." Vanessa says. "Let me speak to Derrick for a moment."
Veronica hands the phone to Derrick. "Vanessa?"
"Gabriel is going in after Serena tonight and unless I miss my guess he's taking Mick along." Vanessa tells him.
"I didn't even know he knew where she was." Derrick growls.
"Ryder called after you'd left the room. He traced the plate Veronica and Mick came up with."
"I'm going." he bites out
Vanessa smiles. "They're in Josef's study arguing. Now let me talk to Veronica."
He hands the phone back. "Yes," Veronica answers.
"When you get back I want you to go straight upstairs to the wing Mick and Beth are staying in."
"But..." she begins to protest.
"Veronica, do you trust me?" Vanessa asks softly knowing the answer.
"Yes, but..."
"Please, do as I say. I promise it will be ok." Vanessa tells her gently.
Veronica sighs. "Ok."
"Good. Now I'll speak to you later." Veronica puts down the phone looking at it puzzled, wondering what Vanessa is up to.
Ten minutes later Derrick parks in the circular driveway. He and Veronica both get out but before he gets to the door she stops him. "Yes?" he asks smiling when he feels her hand on his arm.
She shrugs. "I know I said this before but thank you for everything, for being my friend, for caring about me."
He smiles back at her. "With you it's easy. Now hurry up and do as Vanessa said." He's already said good-bye to Veronica once he doesn't need to draw it out and do it again. They enter the house and he watches as she makes the climb up the stairs. He turns taking the hallways to the back part of the house. As he nears Josef's study he can hear Josef and Gabriel arguing. "I am not taking anyone with me." Gabriel snarls.
"Yes you are and you're going to be smart about this and follow the plan Mick and I have come up with." Josef answers snarling back.
Derrick opens the door. "With one addition. I'm also going."
Both men's heads snap to the door when they hear his words. "Excellent idea." Josef says with a smirk
Gabriel throws up his hands. "How about a brass band? The more people who go, the higher the chances of them discovering us."
Derrick glances at Mick and Beth who are sitting on the couch, each with a drink in their hands.
"Where's V?" Mick asks.
"She's going upstairs to your family's wing." Derrick answers, conveniently leaving out Vanessa's call.
Mick nods knowing her father is upstairs. He raises his drink to Derrick. "You might as well pour yourself one and wait the two of them out."
Derrick sighs, knowing Mick is right. He walks over and pours himself a drink, prepared to let the two angry vampires wind down.
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Veronica moves slowly up the stairs. She wants to veer off and go to Logan's room but she told Vanessa she would trust her. Half way up the stairs she hears Vanessa's voice in her head.
Veronica come to Logan's room. Don't let anyone see you.
Veronica smiles. Quickly she looks around, not seeing anyone she quickly changes direction. Why didn't you tell me this on the phone? Veronica asks.
Because when Mick asks Derrick where you are I want his answer to be truthful as far as he knows. If Mick thought, he were lying to him about your whereabouts he'd be hunting for you in no time and right now it's best if he and Gabriel stay where they are.
Veronica wants to laugh out loud but she stays quiet and slips into Logan's wing on the house. She opens the door leading to Logan's suite of rooms and smiles when she sees Vanessa. "Hey." She glances at Sarah and greets her as well.
"What about me?" Coraline says with mock sweetness. "Aren't you going to say hi?"
Veronica rolls her eyes and turns her back on Coraline who watches her intently, wondering if she could snap the blonds neck before Vanessa could stop her.
Vanessa looks around Veronica at Coraline. "The answer is no."
Coraline narrows her eyes at Vanessa but says nothing.
Vanessa once again turns her attention to Veronica. "When I called you, you were on your way back here, why?"
Veronica sighs and sits down. "I decided I'd let other people determine the outcome of my relationship with Logan without giving Logan and I a chance to adjust to our new lives. We've both had a rough year and it's easy to make hasty decisions that seem good at the time but just aren't. I think we need to slow down and get to know each other again."
Vanessa nods her agreement. "Logan woke up a little bit ago and I didn't get much out of him. I need you to tell me exactly what happened when you were up here earlier."
Veronica takes a deep breath and relates the evening in Logan's room and then she adds in what she and Derrick talked about.
Vanessa sees the determination in Veronica's eyes and smiles. "So, what do you want to do about it?"
"I got a text from Mick saying Logan's blood is clear..." Veronica trails off.
Vanessa nods. "Yes, Josef stopped in and told me before he went to his study to talk to Mick and Gabriel. It's good news."
"I'd like to do what I planned in the beginning. I'd like to wake up next to him. We have problems, and things to work out, maybe we will, maybe we won't but I still want to be there when he wakes up."
Vanessa smiles. "When Logan woke a little while ago he regretted telling you to leave. I did get that much out of him." Vanessa frowns. "Veronica you have to be very careful with him. If he hurts you he will withdraw from you again for your own good."
Veronica nods. "I know, but I think he'll listen to me. I've always been able to get through even when no one else could."
"Alright but for everyone's peace of mind I'll stay where I am for now. On top of that we can't have him roaming the house alone. There is Shannon and Beth and the rest of the humans to think of. He could still be very dangerous."
"Yes, we can't have anything happen to sweet Beth." Coraline mumbles sarcastically under her breath.
Everyone ignores her.
Veronica wrinkles her nose at Vanessa thinking about all of them being in the next room when Logan wakes up if things progress as she anticipates.
Vanessa smiles reassuringly. "The room is sound proof, and unless I feel fear coming from you or Logan I won't eavesdrop."
Veronica looks a little embarrassed but then thinks of Gabriel and gets a little worried. "What about Gabriel? He's not going to like it."
Vanessa snorts. "Another reason for me to stay put. You don't worry about my brother. I'll take care of him. Besides, I have a hunch he's going to be very busy tonight. Now, go get some sleep. "
Veronica and Vanessa both stand. Veronica quickly hugs Vanessa. "Thank you." She turns and walks through the freezer room door, shutting the door softly behind her. She looks down into the freezer as she strips. She opens the lid and reaches down, gently caressing Logan's face. "One way or the other we'll figure out something. I may not know if I'm in love with you but I will always love you." she tells him softly. She grabs the side of the doublewide freezer and gently boosts herself inside. She snuggles up next to Logan. Even groggy from the drugs he instinctively pulls her in next to him and wraps his body around hers. Veronica smiles, tucking her face into his shoulder as she drifts off to sleep.
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Josef smiles grimly as he watches Marie whirl about the room. Her agitation palatable. Marie is hot tempered Spaniard and right now her dark brown eyes are flashing with anger and fear. Josef glances at Mick who raises an eyebrow questioningly. Josef has known Marie for decades but even now he has no idea if she will let Shane take this chance. She's deeply in love with the human and they all know how fragile that can be. They've all lost a human they loved at one time or another, save Mick and with Beth it's been a near thing a couple of times. No one really blames her for her fear.
Shane crosses the room to her. "Calm down, it will be fine. I'll be fine. I do this all the time." He stresses
She shakes her head. "It's not the same. On a movie set you have protections built into the stunt. This..." she waves her hand at Josef and Mick. "thing they want you to do is on the fly, there is no preparation, nothing to keep you from being killed." For a moment she stares at Josef and Mick. Then turns back to Shane. "This is not how I wanted to turn you. I wanted..." she trails off. He knows what she wants and he smiles softly. He traces a finger a long her cheek. "I know baby but if we can help, shouldn't we?"
She turns to Josef again. "You ask too much." she points at Beth. "Let her do it."
Mick shakes his head. "Won't work. They know her face. We can't be sure they won't check on the 'accident' and if they do, they will know as soon as they see Beth that the whole thing is a set up."
Beth doesn't blame Marie for her agitation. There is a chance she could lose Shane. Beth would do this herself if she could. She sighs turning to Josef. "Maybe there is another way."
Josef shakes his head a snarl on his lips. "There isn't. If they are going to get in there undetected we need a diversion that will look convincingly or they will know and scatter. I for one do not want to spend the next how many years wondering when Elliot or one of his followers is going to pop up again without warning and cut a swath of destruction through our people."
Gabriel wants to protest that he's perfectly capable of getting in and out undetected but he's already lost this argument. The clincher was when Mick brought up the possibility of cameras. Mick is right, there isn't anything he can do about them, short of blowing them out and that would be the same as leaving a calling card.
Josef turns to Marie. "You're right, it's a risk but if there is anything Shane needs to make it safer all he has to do is tell me and we'll get it. We'll do whatever we can to make this as safe and real looking as we can. Look I need a human to hit a power pole and take out a transformer. Shane is a stunt man he can most likely do it with his eyes closed, and if for some reason he's hurt too badly you'll be on hand to turn him as the ambulance takes him away."
Shane smiles at Josef and takes Marie's hand, leading her towards the terrace doors. "Can we have a moment?"
"Of course." Josef says
The couple exits the room and Marie jerks her hand away. She crosses her arms and stares into the night. Shane watches her and she turns staring at him accusingly. "You're going to do this aren't you?"
He smiles at her. "Of course. Listen, Josef wouldn't ask me to do this if it wasn't so important. These men are a very real threat. They want to kill all your, no, all our people."
She sighs at him. "I love you. You better do this right and not die before I can turn you."
He kisses her. "Don't worry my love, with any luck you won't have to turn me at all. I'm good at faking accidents. After all it's what I do."
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