*Sorry, I'm a bit late today, but here's the new chapter. Thank you again for your reviews and SG6169 for the beta reading! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter. See you at Sunday again. Best wishes, Jenna!*


Just a misunderstanding

Mick looked at her with that blazing gaze that seemed to burn through her clothes and almost perceptibly got through to her skin to then slowly slide over her heated body. Beth's heart was racing like mad and the shivers flooding her body didn't want to fade away anymore. She breathed heavily and haltingly and her skin tingled with the sexual tension that had built up between them and pierced deeply into her pores - too close was his body, too close his face. He had sneaked up on her on all fours like a feline predator on the hunt and was now above her, and let his warmth affect her without allowing a real physical contact with her. Oh, how she longed to reach for him, to rip his and her clothes off, to pull him down to her, to abandon herself to their passion on the spot. But she felt petrified, could not move, could only let her eyes roam over this beautiful bare man's body and in doing so envision how it would feel beneath her hands, how the hard muscles would move beneath her caressing fingers as he was giving into her entreaty...

His face came closer. He bent down to her and his lips touched gently, like the wings of a butterfly, her forehead, her nose, the corners of her mouth. A delighted sigh escaped her throat as his lips pressed against hers, caressing them, challenging them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth willingly, allowing his tongue to quickly invade and find hers, to start this thrilling game that made her body burn inside.

Equally, willingly, she opened her thighs as he sank down on her, for there was no better feeling than to be pushed into the pillows by his heavy body, wrapped in his warmth, while his deep kisses were taking away her breath. Her hands slid over his shoulders, her trembling fingers felt out each raising and lowering of the solid musculature beneath his seductively soft skin, savoring feverishly this wonderful feeling.

Beth took a deep breath as Mick's lips released her mouth and instead attended with the same intensity to her neck. She closed her eyes and instinctively turned her head to one side, without knowing exactly why she was doing that. She felt his smooth tongue caress the delicate flesh above her carotid artery, massaging it, preparing it for what was to come. It was almost a familiar feeling when his sharp fangs pierced her numbed skin and sunk into her vein. Only a few seconds later this tingling started which spread rapidly through her body and drove a wave of arousal and pleasure through her body, which seemed to be tossed back and forth and appeared to increase steadily through this stimulating suction on her neck. The pleasure-enhancing effects of the substances that Mick's vampire organism was giving off into her blood were incredible. Her senses brightened, got incredibly sensitive, while the hormones inside her went haywire.

Beth not only breathed quickly, she gasped and moaned, although she usually wasn't really such a loud person, but she got carried away. Mick moved on top of her, she could feel the contractions of his muscles through the thin fabric of her shirt almost as intense as if she was naked and again a sensual gasp slipped from her throat as his pelvis pushed forward and the hard evidence of his own arousal pressed into her heated lap. This small movement in combination with the intoxicating vampire bite was enough to cross the line of the endurable. She groaned loudly as the well-known strong contraction of the muscles of her abdomen assaulted her, and couldn't do anything other than addict her entirely to this wonderful feeling. The climax was not as intense as in their first night of love – how could it – but it surprised her for she hadn't expected it so soon. She was not accustomed to crack so quickly without really taking action in a sexual way. That was completely new.

Also this time the continuing suction on her carotid artery made it so the waves of the climax didn't fade away that quickly and she was able to enjoy that feeling longer than usually. But she wasn't as benumbed as she had been the last time and for that reason she quickly noticed that Mick behaved completely different. He didn't cease from her neck - quite the contrary, he still sucked firmer, greedier than before and caused her head to swim. Beth ripped open her eyes confused, tried to clear her head again.

"Mick?"
No reaction.

"Mick!" she got out now even louder and the rhythm of her heart sped up again - this time out of fear. She raised her hands, as slowly a numb feeling was spreading, and tried to grab his head, to bring him back to his senses. But she didn't get far, because his hands grabbed her wrists, without letting go of her neck, and pressed her hands into the pillow beside her head. Now the suction on her neck didn't feel good any longer, it hurt and scared her terribly, because she felt this dangerous faintness creeping up in her, which came along with the increasing blood loss. Mick had lost control, became totally addicted to his bloodlust.

"Mick!" she uttered once again powerlessly. The panic in her voice was still clearly discernable. "Stop... please... stop it!" But all she got was a disapproving growl. She wanted to scream, call someone to her aid, but she was tongue-tied. Was too weak ... too weak ... She would die. She knew it now… die…

Beth shot up from her pillow with a stifled cry. Her eyes flew through the room in panic while she painfully gasped for air. It took a while before she realized that she was still alive, that everything had been just a dream, had been a terrible nightmare. Her room was brightly lit from the sunlight that flooded through the opened window, and there was no sign of Mick. She ran her hand over her neck and noted relieved that there really was no new bite wound. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried get a grip on her pulse and her breathing again. Mick had not crept into her room and also had not bit her. He had done nothing to her… would certainly never do something like that to her... Wouldn't he?

Beth tried to collect herself, to boil down her feelings again and organize her thoughts. It had indeed been only a dream – one that had felt very real, she had to admit - but her subconscious mind wanted to tell her something with that. Namely that she had to be careful with the things she wished for, that it could become very dangerous to her to do the things she was thirsting for, for a little while now.

Without doubt it was understandable that one side of her being was almost consumed with its longing for physically closeness to Mick. It was more than a year ago since they had slept together. She had waited so long for it to happen and then it had been just once that it had been granted – just once! Of course, that one time had been additionally that good, that breathtakingly wonderful that her animal instinct got immensely fueled and stirred up by the memories currently penetrating up inside her with increasing frequency. But she wasn't allowed to forget beyond these understandable feelings that Mick's body and also his soul had gone through a lot of changes in the past year and was still going through them. He had to get to know himself anew, had to learn to understand his body and his needs and how to deal with them. If she beguiled him now into something that he most certainly couldn't control properly - she herself had had difficulties thinking clearly in an intimate contact with him - then she thoughtlessly diced with death. That was exactly what Josef had tried to bring home to her and her dream had fortunately shown her quite plainly once again how right he had been.

Beth tried to breath calmly and deeply, but still felt a slight tremor running through her body. She ran both her hands over her certainly pretty pale face. The dream had been so terribly real, what had somehow been so exciting in the beginning, but then ... Most times her dreams didn't feel like that... most times...

She opened wide her eyes in horror and froze at the thought that was now clearly piercing her consciousness. What if this had been again one of their common dreams, if this strange connection between them had come to life and had made sure that they had shared the dream? How inconvenient! How embarrassing! How... how cruel! No matter whose dream it had been if Mick had experienced it the way she had, he was now for sure terribly upset.

Beth almost flew out of her bed, slipped in a rush into her jeans, bra and a comfortable shirt, hurried toward the door and ripped it open. As always when she was getting up in the morning, the hall was empty and abandoned. She had no idea how late it was, but judging from the brightness that had not even spared the usually so dark corridor it was already later in the morning. The light came mainly through the opened doors of each room and Beth noted that Peterson, whose room was directly across from her own, was long gone since. She hurried down the hall with a pounding heart and already registered from the distance, that also Mick's door was open. Nevertheless, she threw a quick glance into the room when she had finally reached it only to find that she had been right with her assumption. But real relief didn't want to arrive to her yet. He also could have left the room only a few minutes ago agitated and transformed in the halfway...

Her eyes roamed to the chair in Mick's room. He had thrown his pajamas on it that actually could only mean that he had changed, and this fact still calmed her down considerably. When Mick was in a panic or transformed, he would certainly not take the time to change quickly. So the dream probably had only been hers and Mick was somewhere in the house and did something with Peterson.

She focused on the sounds in her proximity and indeed perceived something from the distance that sounded like the voice of a human or a vampire. She was slightly confused, because it didn't sound as if it was coming from the relatively nearby living room. But she still went on, walked toward the living room. To her surprise it was devoid of people. She frowned. That was strange. Where was Mick, if not here?

Beth listened intensely, and again heard the voice now even more clearly, namely from the opposite wing of the farmhouse. She knew that the rooms there were actually unoccupied and wondered who had retired there and especially for what reason he had done it. It was definitely not Mick's voice.

For a moment she was torn between her need to go on searching for Mick and her occupational desire to find out who of the others had met there for a secret conversation. Maybe Mick was also with this other person in the room and at the moment just listened to him. That would explain why she couldn't hear him. So she simply had to go there necessarily to make sure that he was really well. Her decision was made.

Beth moved as quietly as she could. Of course she knew that the male voice - it was really only one voice to hear – belonged to one of the other vampires and that he would probably notice her because of his hypersensitive senses before she could pick up something interesting in his conversation, but it was worth an attempt. She simply tiptoed on, approached the only opened door in that part of the hallway step by step and stopped when she was so close that she could understand what the speaker said but still could not be seen by the person in the room.

"I can't do that," the man uttered constrained and she tried to associate the voice with the persons in her memory. If she was not mistaken, it was Dr. Kendlroe.

"My hands are tied at the moment ... I..." He paused, and Beth yet thought he would have smelled her and would rush out of the room in a rage at any moment but only one second later he continued: "It realized that ... Of course..."

'Ah, he's on the phone,' she noted relieved and tried to let out her held breath as quietly as possible. Actually Josef had taken the cell phones from all the other attendants here to make sure that the Legion could not locate them there. That Kendlroe had hidden another one from him was more than weird, especially since she was sure that he was not talking to Josef.

"I can't get to him undisturbed," Kendlroe explained to his interlocutor, and Beth knew immediately that he was talking about Mick, and an unpleasant feeling spread in her stomach.

"Someone is constantly at his side, either Peterson or this girl..."

Girl? That indeed sounded as if she were a little silly teenager who was hardly taken seriously.
"Yes, maybe it is, but..." Kendlroe heaved a sigh of resignation. "The last time something went wrong when I woke him up again. Perhaps the dose of adrenaline was too high. In any case, he totally went wild and I couldn't calm him anymore much less take a blood sample..."

Beth's eyebrows rose in horror. What exactly did that mean? Was the doctor doing some other experiments with Mick behind their backs?

"You don't understand," he brought out excitedly. "You haven't experienced it! When he turns, he is untamable! … Yes, of course, there is a drug that takes hold, but the mad professor doesn't want to use it anymore! They all agree that Mick has to learn to get himself under control without any tools..."

Who in the hell was the physician exchanging information with, about Mick's condition so confidently? To whom did he need to justify himself that much? Beth couldn't do anything about her quickening pulse because a thought struck her, which was quite terrible in nature. What if Kendlroe was a traitor and in contact with the Legion? What if he gave a report to them at regular intervals and spied on them. The only question was then, why he hadn't betrayed their location to them long ago, why the Legion hadn't attacked them by now and reclaimed Peterson and Mick.

"Not yet at the moment and to tell the truth I'm not sure if he really can do it one day," she heard the doctor go on with his report. "I am surrounded here by nothing but terrible optimists... Oh, ... yes, of course. I didn't want..." Silence.

It was really a pity that she couldn't hear the other person, couldn't tell what he asked, what he wanted exactly. For although she knew that with her behavior she put herself in considerable danger, she was also well aware that it was very important for all of them to find out what the vampire-doctor was doing there behind the backs of them all.

"Yes, but..." All of a sudden Kendlroe sounded quite humbly, almost timidly. "I understand ... yes, of course... I'll do this. But I ... I don't know if I can succeed. Josef and the doctor became suspicious and Mick didn't trust me right from the start... And how shall I do that?" Pause. "Yes, I think he really loves her deeply..."

Beth held her breath. Why was he now speaking about Mick's and her relationship? That was creepy...

"I think so. He made quite a fuss when she showed up again, because he was concerned that his vampire side would harm her..." Again it seemed as if Kendlroe listened into the phone, because for a while Beth heard nothing more than that too loud, much too fast beating of her own heart.

"I can try," was the doctor's frightening reply. "It could really work..." Kendlroe stopped in the middle of his sentence and Beth froze. The vague feeling that something had changed, that he had somehow noticed her presence confirmed with two softly murmured words: "Wait a moment…"

Beth didn't hesitate. She just flung around and ran off along the corridor towards the cellar. If the doctor indeed discovered her, the other vampires down there were the only persons who could protect her from him as long as Mick didn't appear somewhere.

"Beth?"
She winced violently and turned her head more out of a reflex to him. The surprise and shock was written large in Kendlroe's face, but nevertheless he immediately began to move and chase her. With her fear in her neck Beth was able to up her speed once more, and she almost slid past the door that she actually had wanted to reach. Her fingers brought the handle down, even as she was struggling with her balance, and she tore the door open. She was able to get onto the landing, but then two cold hands grabbed and pulled her back with such a jolt that she was flying not only back out of the open door, but also were immediately thrown against the opposite wall, and finally fell down. She wanted to scream, but Kendlroe was yet again above her, wrapped one arm around her waist, yanking her, and concurrently pressed a hand tightly onto her mouth.

Beth flailed, squirmed in his arms, pulled at the hand that damped her screams, but she had no chance against the strength of a vampire.

"Calm down! Shush!" he hissed angrily into her ear while he moved backwards into the dark hallway.

Beth bit as hard as she could, and the vampire was so surprised by the sudden pain that he indeed let go of her. She threw herself forward with all her might and called for help as loudly as possible - at least she tried to because only a short sound got out of her throat for in the same second something hard hit her head with full force and the numbing pain robbed her of the control over her vocal cords. She was thrown forward and went to the ground once more. She could still break her fall halfway with her arms, but then slumped down completely, because all her strength vanished from her body within seconds. A loud whistle and hum rang through her head and blackness surrounded her for a moment. Like in a dark mist she became aware that Kendlroe leaned over her and slid his arms under her limp body. Only a heartbeat later, she was floating in the air. He carried her back into the room he had been in before, and put her there onto one of the unused beds.

What ever he had hit her with, the blow hadn't been overly strong, so that her mind slowly cleared again and immediately brought back the panic that had become the driving force of her resistance. Beth backed away from the weird man who now sat on the edge of the bed, and backed up against the wall. Her head was spinning and a sharp pain spread from the back part of her head all over her skull. She wanted to scream but her throat just brought out a rattle.

"Please, don't do that!" the vampire demanded in a tone wavering between extreme rage and terrible fear. "Otherwise I have to really stun you, although I actually only want to talk with you!"

Beth believed him not a word - although he really behaved very unusual for someone who wanted to kill her because of her knowledge. If he really had this in mind, he would have done it long since.

"I will not do anything to you, Beth," he assured her with emphasis. "And about your head… I'm really sorry. But if you called out loudly for help, Mick would probably misunderstand me just like you did, and you can certainly imagine what he then would do to me."

"You... you don't want to kill me?" she could only utter in a whisper.

"Do I look like I'm tired of life?" was the shocked counter question. "Also, I am a doctor with body and soul. I have sworn the Hippocratic oath and believe in it."

Beth wanted to believe him so much. The thought that she had been taken in by a fallacy, that it all was only a silly misunderstanding and she had overreacted terribly, was so seductively comforting... And he still didn't look as if he wanted to lunge at her at the moment. He was not even furious anymore.

"But ... but then what does this all mean?" she asked, already with a little more secure voice and pushed gently along the wall into a slightly more upright position, despite the severe headache that instantly started. "With whom did you phone?"

"With a good friend," Kendlroe said, visibly anxious to smile at her openly.

Beth did not believe a word. It had not sounded like friendship, but more like a boss-subordinate-relationship.

"He's also a doctor and..." Kendlroe uttered a remorseful sigh. "... I've swapped ideas on this case with him for quite a while now because I simply think much of him and his knowledge."

Umm. Maybe there was a grain of truth in that statement, but Beth did not dare to press further on. Alone with this angry vampire she simply did not feel safe enough for that. She had repeatedly witnessed the ease with which Mick was able to kill a man and didn't want the vampire to get angry again.

All the more confused she was when he turned away his face from her almost scared and looked toward the door. She winced barely imperceptible as another figure appeared in the doorway: Tall, slightly overweight, curly hair. Almost an entire mountain fell from her heart when her still dizzy glance revealed to her that it was Logan, who at the sight before him offered a puzzled frowned.

"All right?" he asked, looking inquiringly especially at her.

"Yeah, yeah, why not?" Kendlroe replied for her with a friendly smile.

"I thought I heard something," Logan said and one could tell he didn't trust the idyllic world the doctor tried to lead him to believe in.

"We had just a little misunderstanding here," Beth added now, hoping that Logan understood her penetrating gaze the way it was intended: as an invitation to attend their little talk.

"What was it about?" he inquired at once, and indeed walked into the room. Beth gave him a grateful smile, while Kendlroe slowly began to sweat. "About a call, wasn't it?"

A blessing, if one was equipped with a hearing like that of a vampire. Now, that Logan was there and could protect her, she could maybe presume to be a little bit bolder. Of course she had to make sure she didn't force the doctor into a corner too much.

"About a call with a doctor friend," she added explaining.

"You've told someone from outside something about Mick?" Logan probed in disbelief. "Does he also know then, where we are?"

"Of course not!" Kendlroe rose up. "It's much too dangerous. It's just..." He took a deep breath. "In some things concerning Mick I'm not the same opinion as Peterson is. And I simply cannot understand why Josef lays Mick's fate entirely in the hands of the man who actually has done all those terrible things to him!"

Logan shrugged his shoulders undecided. "He will have his reasons."

However, Beth had a much clearer idea of the whole thing. "Well, the most important reason will be that Peterson, precisely because he did this all to Mick, knows at best what's going on in him and how one had to react to his attacks and problems..."

"I don't doubt that at all," Kendlroe immediately cut in, "but because of that we don't need to leave all to him! He would have to be much more controlled. We would need more blood tests with Mick to document his progress and everything else that goes on in his body, and to be able to intervene in an emergency if something goes wrong. Only then can we also prevent the man from manipulating Mick behind our backs and in fact continuing his weird research! We just cannot give him such free reign, without covering our backs in some way!"

Beth shook her head reluctantly. "He wouldn't do that. He really regrets what he has done, he..."

"He belonged to the Legion, Beth, don't forget that," Kendlroe interrupted her again somewhat brusquely.

"He... he wasn't one of them," she contradicted him a little insecure. "He was kidnapped by these people!"

"Says who?" It was not really a question, more an indication that even Peterson could very well be a liar, trying only to save his skin. But Beth did not believe it, could not believe that a man could convey emotions with such intensity as he did, without really feeling them.

"Sometimes it's enough to change only a very small detail of a story, and yet a completely new image is created for a person who had been previously assessed completely different," said Kendlroe quietly and with that effectively managed that she started faltering.

Perhaps they really were a little too open when it came to Peterson dealing with Mick. After all, the two were even now already gone off somewhere together, and nobody knew what the professor was doing with their friend at this time. Perhaps Kendlroe was not so wrong when he asked to control the professor's work a bit more and maybe to get a second or third opinion from time to time. On the other hand, Beth was also not so sure if August really told her the truth or maybe also denied her one or the other spicy detail of his story. But even a less sympathetic person as he was deserved a chance - even if he sometimes tended to frighten poor, innocent women to death...

"And what, exactly, has all of this to do with this phone call," Logan brought the conversation back to the starting point and Beth was really grateful to him for that. Sometimes she let herself get distracted too easily.

Kendlroe was immediately floundering. "That... that... I... I sent my friend blood samples from time to time to document Mick's progress and to get a better idea of his condition and whenever the analysis was back, and the opportunity was favorable, I contacted him and talked to him about it. Only today I was caught for the first time here..."

Beth eyebrows skeptically moved toward each other. "It sounded a little different earlier," she expressed her doubts as calmly as she could.

He looked surprised. "Really? Sometimes you can also misunderstand things."

He wanted examples? He would have some. "You said something about an overdose of adrenaline, which you have given to Mick..."

"Yes, that's right," the doctor admitted surprisingly honest. "I wanted to take a blood sample just before the transformation, and injected him with adrenaline. But I wanted to tranquilize him again right away. Only it did not work quite so well."

"Then it was your fault?" Logan exclaimed in disbelief and mild annoyance showed in his boyish face. "You made him freak out?"

"It was not intentional and I certainly didn't want to endanger anyone. It was a stupid idea and it will never happen again," Kendlroe promised with a soothing gesture. "But I couldn't think of anything better. Peterson was suddenly the specialist for Mick and they barely let me work with him anymore." He sighed heavily. "I'm a doctor - a pretty good one actually. I cannot stand sitting around idly! I think - no, I know, that I could support Mick's development very well, especially in regard to his vampire side, if you would just let me do it."

"And you would of course only act in his best interest," Beth brought out clearly in an ironic tone.

"As far as I can, yes, but also in the sense of the vampire community," he corrected. "But in contrast to Peterson, I would never exceed certain limits. I have and will never torture vampires in the interest of the greater welfare of the community and kill them. For the simple reason that I'm a vampire myself."

In this point he was right - it was really a too simple reason. Even being human had never stopped humans from torturing other humans and murdering them. But she did not want to continue to harp on it. There were a few other important questions to consider.

"You have also talked about me and my relationship with Mick," she reminded the vampire.
"Yes," he admitted with a small sigh. "Gabriel has made the suggestion to leverage your relationship."

"How?" she asked sharply.

August's uneasiness was now so great that he had to avoid her gaze. At least he still had a decent dose of a sense of shame.

"He said I should talk to Mick that he should accept any help - also mine – to head off the fight with the vampire inside him, so that you're optimally protected."

"You want to insinuate yourself into his confidence through his fear for me?" It burst out of her upset; her body punished her for the outburst, with a further sharp pain in the back of her head. She grimaced and closed her eyes for a moment. When she lifted her lids again, outright two pairs of eyes looked at her with concern. Logan had now also approached the bed and bent down to her a little bit.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, while unseen by him August's eyes begged her imploringly not to betray him. A heartbeat long she really thought about it, but then decided to spare the doctor for the time being.

"Yeah, yeah," she said quickly, calming Logan with a wave of her hand. "I've just quite a headache today."

Although August's previous behavior was still stirring her up and she had the feeling that he concealed something from her, she was now almost convinced that he didn't belong to the Legion, and hence posed no immediate threat to her. Many of the things he had said were just too inconclusive to serve only as a simple excuse. Probably he was really a just a bit too overactive doctor who could not bear to play second fiddle regarding Mick. And also his argument against too much confidence in Peterson had been - even if she didn't like to admit it - pretty good.

"There's for sure something in our little drugstore here that helps against headaches," Logan said confidently and cast a side-glance at Kendlroe. "With all these quacks in the house..."

A little smile escaped Beth's lips and she had to put it off with great effort as she turned back to August. "You'd better speak calmly with Mick and explain everything to him that you have just done with me," she said seriously. "And the same thing you should do with Josef. I would bet that they both have no problem with running more blood tests, August." She struggled a bit with being on first name terms with the doctor but that way it sounded more convincing that she forgave him his previous behavior and she moved in Josef's absence on a safer side.

Kendlroe hesitated for a moment but then nodded understandingly and rose from the bed. "I suppose you're right," he said, and offered her his hand. "But now let us first see whether we can do something for your headache."

Beth stared thoughtfully at his outstretched hand in front of her. She knew that he hadn't reached out his hand only to help her to get up but also as an offer to make peace with him, hoping that she would not betray him to the others and forget the little incident between them. Of course she was not that naive to believe that all things were smoothed over with that, but because at this very moment she saw no more need to continue to talk about this topic - at least not as long as Josef was gone - she took his hand. The relief and gratitude that Kendlroe felt was written only too clearly in his face and he drew her as gently as he could onto her feet. She staggered a little but Logan was quickly at her side to support her and also Kendlroe grabbed one of her arms. His proximity was after the incident in the hallway not that pleasant for her, so she escaped his grasp.

"Thanks, it's okay," she murmured and also freed herself from Logan, who looked a bit dejected. She quickly won back the rhythm of walking, even though the pain in the back of her head now pounded into her forehead with every beat of her heart and caused a queasy feeling in her stomach.

"Does anyone of you actually know where Mick is?" she asked without turning around when she slightly staggered down the hall towards the living room, closely followed by the two vampires.

"He wanted to check the new wireless ECG together with Seth and Peterson," came the immediate reply from Logan.

Beth turned around to him in surprise. "It's ready?"

"Hey, this house is full of geniuses," Logan grinned at her and pushed past her through the entrance of the living room. Beth followed him into the kitchen area, smirking half-heartedly, while Kendlroe went to one of the cabinets in the living room, opened a drawer, and busily rummaged around in it.

Beth watched him secretly over Logan's shoulder, who, while he was drawing on the blood in the refrigerator, explained to her strictly why he and Seth were so unique and their acts in the background actually needed a lot more attention and credit. Even if the doctor had tried to settle the things between them as well as possible, Beth didn't really want to trust him – he had shocked her too much and something about him was still very strange. She wouldn't feel really comfortable beneath the same roof with him as long as Josef was not with her again, or at least Mick.

Fate seemed to be gracious today, because only a split second later she heard footsteps and voices on the veranda and then a sweaty and visibly irritated Mick entered the house, followed by a concerned Peterson and a cheerfully beaming Seth.

"... abide by certain agreements," she heard the last bit of Peterson's complaint and Mick rolled his eyes for the professor who walked only a few feet behind him and so couldn't see him. Beth raised her eyebrows questioningly when their eyes met and Mick gave her a wry smile and a short shake of his head making it clear to her that he was inwardly totally calm.

"I'm fine, okay?" he addressed the professor over his shoulder and headed for the kitchen area. "The quarter of an hour more didn't harm me."

"But it's hot and sunny outside," the professor protested. "And you saw what happened yesterday because of that! In my eyes a test run is something very different!"

Beth's eyes slid over Mick's body as he pushed past her with a further small smile and she quickly realized why Peterson was bothered so much. Mick's T-shirt was so wet that it stuck to his body like a second skin and also from his face and neck the sweat was already dripping off, while his chest was still rising and falling in a fairly rapid pace. Mick had probably somewhat exaggerated his physical training to get rid of excess energy. But he didn't seem to think so. He made a contented and relaxed impression he hadn't made for a long time.

"I have certainly worked off more energy than I've taken in, Frank," he explained calmly, without turning to the old man. Instead, he took a large glass from the cupboard and filled it with tap water.

The professor followed him still very upset into the kitchen area and jostled Logan, who had yet backed away from Mick. The vampire shot an indignant glance at him to then leave the much to narrow area with an angry shake of his head and an inviting nod into Seth's direction. Beth knew he would now go back into the basement.

"To run around like a madman is not the right way to get back into shape," the Professor admonished his patient. "You have no idea how wild the ECG went. I thought we needed to collect you somewhere in the desert..."

Peterson really looked slightly the worse for wear. His face was ashy and he was sweating as if he had at least run a part of the trail with Mick.

"Then the device is perhaps not quite right," Mick replied with a shrug and instantly pitched into his glass of water.

Seth's cheerful smile abruptly vanished from his face. "Really!" he intervened with an admonishingly raised finger. "The ECG works perfectly well!"

"It's just," Peterson tried to filter down to Mick more calmly, "that even I don't know exactly how your body will respond on certain things, such as extreme stress. We've never gotten as far as we are now and for me this is all new territory as well. I only want you to slow down a bit more. You should be a bit more careful..."

Mick had completely emptied his glass and poured it full again. "You told me to listen to what my body tells me, and to try to satisfy the needs of both sides as well as possible," he replied off-handedly. "And I'm doing this now. I felt the need to run, to test the limits of my strength ... and I... I feel good - really good." He also looked at Beth, as if he would have to convince her too, but she rather took a back seat. She hadn't realized yet what had happened out there and was just glad that Mick was back and she didn't need to worry about him anymore.

The professor heaved a sigh of resignation and stopped in front of him with a worried look. "I don't want you to switch off your mind completely and blindly trust your instincts. They can also lead you completely astray. After all, your body is still in a state of... how shall I say ... self-discovery..."

"Frank," Mick put a hand on the old man's shoulder in a calming gesture, "I just ran."

Peterson opened his mouth to say something, but Mick didn't let him speak.

"And the next time I'll take it more easily and abide by the agreements, okay?"

One could tell that the professor didn't really believe in Mick's promise but he finally nodded to him for, as well as Beth, he was aware that currently there was no use in discussing this issue further on.

"Will you give me the device?" he turned to Mick instead, "then Seth and I can set down and evaluate the data."

"Yeah, sure." Mick quickly put his glass aside and before Beth registered what he was about to do he had already peeled the shirt from his body and pulled it over his head. The command of her mind to turn around fizzled out even before it had really penetrated her brain. Instead, her eyes literally sucked in the sight that was offered to her. It was one thing to look at a critically ill person lying half-naked in a bed, but an entirely different one to watch a very athletically built man whose body had clearly regained its strength undress. Mick had always been blessed with a natural light tan, which meant that even as vampire he had never looked really pale, and which now, coupled with the moisture of his skin and the golden light of the sun falling through a window into the Kitchen, gave his masculine body an almost bronze luster. Once more she had to notice that his weight loss didn't damage the attractiveness of his body as much as she had suspected earlier. The sight of him still had the same attraction on her as before, still awoke the same indecent thoughts in her, the same desires.

'Think of your dream, Turner,' her reason gave a shout, but it as well couldn't prevent that she was envious in some ways, as Peterson and Mick together eased off the ECG electrodes from his skin. It urged her to go to help them quickly, just as Seth did now, and she was almost about to give in to her need when a soft cough behind her, reminded her that she was not alone.

She turned around and looked directly into Kendlroes eyes, which looked at her again almost pleadingly. Her mind was still working well enough to understand what concerns burdened him and forced her to a little smile when she took the box of headache tablets he reached out to her.

"Thanks," she said softly and nodded to him, indicating that she certainly wouldn't breathe a word to Mick about the incident between them. Kendlroe was right - Mick would freak out if he heard it. Already as a 'normal' vampire he had had a problem if someone had threatened her or hurt her at all. That was now in his new state certainly not better.

The doctor had visible difficulties to turn away from her again. He also didn't seem to trust the peace between them, but he had to accept the situation as it was if he didn't want to catch Mick's or the other's attention with his behavior. Beth had a strange feeling in her stomach as the doctor disappeared toward the basement stairs, but had no time to worry about it because Mick again drew her attention. She noticed from the corner of her eye that he approached her - still too naked - and, as she turned to him, he gave her a gentle smile again.

"Let's have breakfast together," he said with excitement in his eyes that tickled out a slight laugh from her throat. Apparently he hadn't forgotten yet that his taste buds were reawakened.

"I would love to," she said far too excited and her eyes roamed illegally over his bare, slightly hairy chest. She only needed to quickly reach out her hand...

'Beth! Think of your dream!' Yes, exactly, her at first so wonderfully erotic dream...

"I'll just take a quick shower," he smiled and for the second time that day pushed past her much too close to make his way to the bathroom. Her fingers jerked slightly and the words "Wait, I'm coming with you!" were already on her lips. But this time her reason was able to wake up the cruel end of her dream in her mind and gained the narrow victory over the control of her body. How could a half-naked man get her out of step that much? In the near future she simply had to leave the room when something like this happened again. She turned around and winced, startled, as the professor's face got oversized in her field of view. She had completely forgotten him. She took a small step back and got a puzzled gaze.

"Are you all right?" she heard him ask with mild concern.

She nodded, approving of his question, and raised the box of tablets. "Just a little headache," she explained shortly. The professor was certainly the last person with whom she would talk about these kinds of problems. What she actually needed was a good girl friend or at least another woman for emotional care. Only unfortunately there was not really one here and she was sure Josef would hardly bring Simone along...

"As for the breakfast...," the professor said slowly and she knew that he was going to slip completely into the role of the conscientious physician. "I've done a little planning concerning his nutrition for the next few days…" He whipped out a long list and reached it out to her. "… which he should adhere to. But he didn't really want to look at it earlier. He is so..." Peterson was looking for the right word.

"Stubborn?" she helped him with a grin.

The professor gave a little laugh. "Yes, exactly. So if you could... maybe appeal to him a little bit?" He looked at her pleadingly, and Beth strove to maintain her smile, while she simultaneously asked herself how she could cope with that all on her own: keeping an eye on Kendlroe, controlling Peterson, motivating Mick and heading him into the right direction while keeping her own emotions under control.

"Of course," she replied nevertheless, and a beam glided over the old man's face. So 'making the professor happy' she could yet tally... Oh, that didn't belong to her jobs.

"And it is essential that he drinks his nutrient drink!" Peterson added. "It's in the refrigerator, because he didn't want it earlier."

He waited for her nod, and she rewarded him with another smile. "Then I'll go do my work," he said now much happier than before and was as well on the way to the basement.

Beth looked around briefly. Suddenly she was alone, and an unaccustomed silence descended on the room like a thick canopy of cotton wool, which shielded her from all noises of the environment. A silence that allows you to intensively deal with your own thoughts - and that was what she really wanted to avoid for her thoughts were all charged with more or less serious concerns. However, recently she was able to do something against the silence! She straightened her shoulders and walked back into the hallway towards her room. She wouldn't get discouraged so easily through the concerns these early hours had brought along - even if she already knew that there was a turbulent time in store for her.