Chapter Eight

Sunrise and Sunset

The first thing Mick saw when he blinked opened his eyes was …

"Guillermo?"

Guillermo reached down into the cooler and gently sat Mick up. "Buddy! I swear, you had everyone freakin' out! How're you feeling?"

Mick smiled weakly as his hand brushed against his chest. He glanced down where gauze was taped over his stake wound. "Less drafty," he said. His voice cracked, dry from a lack of moisture. "Where am I?"

Guillermo walked over to a small table by the door and poured a glass of blood. "You're home. You were brought here after you were rescued. From there, sixteen hours of getting pumped with nothing but the purest, freshest A POS grade plasma I could find, plus cooler time. Just what the vampire ordered."

Mick accepted the glass and drained its contents in a single gulp. He handed it back to Guillermo. "The last thing … I remember was fighting off Rehnquist's vampires for a brief minute … at the hotel where I holed up with Leni Hayes."

"Yeah, that's where Beth found you last night. When she and the Cleaner brought you here, you were in bad shape." Guillermo helped him stand upright in the freezer. Once he felt Mick was steady on his feet, he handed him another glass. "Three weeks is a long time."

The glass never made it to Mick's lips. He gave his close friend a confused look. He couldn't tell if it was because of the time or hearing Beth's name. "Three weeks? I've been gone for three weeks?"

Guillermo gave Mick a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. "More than three weeks, but get this. We worked day and night trying to find you, old buddy. No one worked harder than Beth. She worked to find you while keeping the big vampires from taking Josef Kostan's head."

Mick cringed again inside. He shook the weird feeling aside as he looked down at his feet silently for a minute before clamoring out of the cooler. Guillermo reached forward to aid him, but Mick was out and standing on tiled floor with relative ease.

He looked down at himself once again and stretched, feeling his muscles loosen in his chest and arms. The only pain he felt resulting from the movement was in his still healing stake wound. He smiled and consumed the second glass' contents.

"I think you better fill me in on what's been going on."

#

Beth stepped off the elevator onto BuzzWire's bullpen floor. Faith started to walk past her but quickly turned around upon recognizing her boss. "I heard what happened last night! Are you alright?"

"Yes, and before you harass me, I typed up a story to put on the website." Beth walked down the row towards her office. "I may be the managing editor, but I still know a story when I see one."

"Uh, yeah. About that."

Beth stopped in her tracks. She gave a two count before slowly turning around. "You didn't use my story?"

Faith grinned sheepishly. "It's not that I didn't want to use your story, Beth. It was more like … I had another story all ready to go."

"Wh - what? Wait, never mind. That's fine." Beth decided not to force the issue. "I just came in to pick up a few things and I'm heading back out. I trust you can handle the asylum for the day?"

Faith rushed after Beth as she resumed her journey to her office. "Sure. I got you. But aren't you interested in how I got the story?"

Beth reached her office door and pushed it open. "If you're worried about accuracy, I'll read it real quick before -"

She fell silent at the sight of Harper Ryan sitting in her office chair with her feet on top of her desk. She smiled and waved at the two women standing outside the door.

"Oh look. Harper's here." Faith laughed weakly.

Beth sighed and stepped into her office. "I guess you were the one who supplied the story," she said to Harper, giving her a hard look. "Mind getting your feet off of my desk?"

Harper complied, swinging her feet onto the floor. "It made sense. We never really finished that interview the other day. I thought it would be a nice way to get my feet into the door."

"Or on my desk. Take your pick." Beth turned to Faith, leaning against the door jam. "Go ahead and have Nancy draw up new hire paperwork for Harper. And find her a desk out in the bullpen."

Faith cocked one eyebrow in surprise. She straightened and gave Beth a small salute before exiting. Beth closed the door behind her and turned back to face Harper.

"Whatever it is is going to have to wait, Harper." Beth walked around to the other side of her desk and grabbed her tablet. "We found Mick last night."

Harper whistled at the news. "I had a feeling it was something monumental for you to skip out like that." She rose from Beth's seat. "Congratulations. How is he?"

"Unconscious. We're siphoning fresh blood into him now."

"Well, the sooner he's up and about, the sooner you can get him to call Magnus's dogs off of Kostan. I heard six will be arriving tomorrow."

Beth remembered the SD card Josef gave her last night. "Got it covered." She slipped the tablet into her purse and headed for the door.

Before she stepped out into the passageway, she looked over her shoulder at Harper. "I think you will be a great asset here at BuzzWire, Harper. But if you ever put your feet up on my desk again, I'm going to use you to test out the depths at the tar pits."

She smiled and exited the office. Harper watched her depart, grinning from ear to ear.

#

Hayley stared at the palms of her hands, lying in front of her on top of her desk. "If Alex was here now, she would fire you," she said. "Hell, I should fire you right now."

Allison nodded. "And you have every right, Hayley. But if it wasn't for Beth Turner, we wouldn't even have this guy in custody. She knew the area better than we did. And her friend took down Ellis. We owed her."

"You owed her, Allison. You owed her lunch, or a bottle of wine. You don't bring her into our facilities to question a suspect in our custody! No one even knows we have him!"

Allison remained silent as Hayley stared across her desk at her. Finally she sat back in her chair and sighed. "You said Rehnquist was staying at the Hardwick. Did our guest say how many he has with him?"

Allison shook her head, slightly taken back that Hayley's words did not include termination. "I called up to see if a Malcolm Rehnquist was in. Front desk said no, though it's possible he could be under an alias."

"And if he is under an alias, it wouldn't matter. He has to know by now that his doctor and St. John are gone." She reached into the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out two tumblers followed by a half-empty bottle of bourbon. "Care for a taste?"

"I thought you were a tequila girl."

"I haven't touched the stuff since that night we went out." Hayley poured an equal amount in each of the tumblers and slid one across the desk to Allison. "Makes me cringe every time I think about it."

Allison grinned as she picked up her glass. They raised them in a silent toast and took a sip. Allison savored the warm flavor.

"We need to talk with Beth Turner. And St. John, if and when he gets well."

"I'll give Beth a call this afternoon. What about the Hardwick?"

"It's probably a lost cause, but still worth checking out. I'll get Nate and Caddie on it. You get a hold of Turner."

#

A smiling Josef pushed open his cooler and sat upright, nodding with approval at the appearance of Adrian standing by the doorway. A robe was draped across his arm. "Good morning, sir. I hope you slept well."

"When I actually slept, I did." He rose to his feet and exited the cooler. "I hope I didn't embarrass you last night."

Adrian shook his head, handing Josef his robe. "Nothing you do really surprises me anymore, sir."

Josef laughed as he followed Adrian into his huge walk-in closet. "Have you checked on our guest?"

"Actually, sir, Miss Whitley departed the premises thirty minutes ago." Adrian pulled a dark blue suit with matching shirt from their racks and set them out across a staging counter in the closet's center. "I had Lyanna drive her to her hotel."

Standing in front of a mirror, Josef glanced over his shoulder at Adrian. "Without so much as a goodbye? Hmmm. We'll need to make a stop to see her after Mick, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

#

"Yes, sir. I'm watching the ground level entrances well as the garage exit. None of their vehicles have left the premises."

Lucas glanced down from his perch on top of the roof of a nearby bank across from Sanders Securities, shading his eyes against the high noon sun. "I understand, sir. I'll wait on your text."

The scent decay in the air was detected just as he disconnected the call. Lucas whirled away from the building's edge as Coraline shot down from the air, her hand preparing to slash at his face.

Lucas rolled forward, vacating the spot Coraline landed in. He flipped onto his hands and somersaulted to his feet, spinning to face Coraline as she did likewise.

"Coraline. Welcome back to Los Angeles." Lucas lowered into a slight crouch, his arms spread to his sides as he began to step to the right in a circular field of range. "Malcolm's not very happy with you."

Coraline laughed. "So he knows I'm here. Well, I guess this is the final straw, Lucas?"

Lucas flicked his left wrist. A stake slid from his sleeve neatly into the palm of his hand. "I don't know. Come with me peacefully and he might not take your head."

Coraline gave a look as if considering the proposal. "You know, I think I'll take my chances with you." She reached into her jacket and pulled out two long knives which she twirled in her fingers. "You could never beat me anyway."

Lucas growled in anger as his eyes flickered from brown to a dull gray, nearly matching the tone of his skin. He marched towards Coraline with a menacing purpose.

He swung first, a punch aimed at the side of Coraline's head. The blow would have crushed any human's skull it made contact with. The power Lucas possessed, combined with his considerable mass, doubled its destructive capabilities.

But for a vampire, it was simple slow motion.

Coraline ducked under the swing, instantly spotting an opportunity to take out her much larger opponent. She thrusted one of her blades into Lucas' abdomen, causing him to stagger back slightly. As his hand reached down instinctively at his wound, she took a step in and swung out with her blade parallel to her forearm, cutting a bloody four-inch long groove in his larynx.

Both of Lucas' hands shot up to the front of his throat in a fruitless attempt to stop the blood flow. He collapsed to one knee and painfully looked up at Coraline as she sheathed one of her knives. "Such a shame, Lucas," she said, slowly circling him. "I actually liked you. You don't talk much."

Smiling as she considered the irony to her words, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a blade long as her forearm from a sheath strapped to her back. Stepping behind him as he remained on the ground, she grabbed a handful of Lucas' hair and pulled his head back until his eyes were looking back into hers.

She stared back impassively for a minute before shoving the blade into the back of his neck.

#

Beth began to step into the elevator, but stopped when she noted Josef on board. "What are you doing here?"

He did not answer until she stepped inside and the doors closed behind her. "I'm here to see my best friend."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Josef. Mick was pumped with some type of drug that had the ability to somehow change a vampire. There's no telling what he will do if he sees you."

Josef scoffed. "News flash. I'm a vampire. I can defend myself. My question is what do you think you could do if he sees you."

Beth fell silent as the elevator finished its ascent. "I never really considered it," she admitted as the doors opened.

Josef gestured for her to exit ahead of him. "Then I suggest this. Let's see him together."

Beth looked up at Josef and sighed. "Fine," she growled, leading the way to the apartment. "Chances are he's not even awake anyway."

She opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Josef. Guillermo, standing in front of the couch, turned his attention to their entrance. "Hey, guys. Guess who's back from the dead."

Beth and Josef gasped simultaneously as Mick rose from the couch and turned to face them. Beth took a single step forward. "Mick?"

Mick looked from her to Josef back to her, and once more to Josef. He took a cautionary step forward, keeping himself in front of Beth. "Mick, old friend, he said, smiling nervously. "How are you feeling?"

Mick lowered his head. A growl slowly began to rise from within him, causing Beth to take a step back. Guillermo reached for his arm. "Mick -," he began.

He never got to finish as Mick swung his right fist back at the medical examiner. The force of the blow into his chest was so powerful that Guillermo flew across the room and the kitchen island, slamming into the cabinets. Shards of glass flew into the air, falling on top of him as he collapsed against the lower cabinets.

Josef instantly shoved Beth outside the door into the hallway. She barely had time to brace her head as the rest of her body slammed hard against the opposite wall and slid to the floor.

Beth was a fraction of a second out of Josef's grasp before he turned and caught a diving Mick by the throat. He lifted him in the air, preparing to slam him into the floor. "Mick, snap out of it!"

Mick struggled in his grasp, causing Josef to nearly lose his grasp. Guillermo was back to his feet and came in from behind, hooking his arms under Mick's and placing him in a full Nelson wrestling hold. Mick fought to free himself, but the leverage Guillermo had on his center of gravity was too powerful to overcome. "Can you knock him out?!"

Josef pulled his right fist back and launched a solid blow to Mick's jaw. He staggered wildly, Guillermo holding on for dear life but steadying Mick just enough for Josef to punch Mick again. Both he and Guillermo fell together on the floor.

Josef quickly pulled Guillermo to his feet. "Are you alright?"

Guillermo nodded, pointing to Beth in the doorway. She held her arms around her midsection as she took in the scene before her in disbelief. "What in the hell?"

Josef helped her over to the couch and gently sat her down. She winced in pain at the motion. "Guillermo, check her out."

"Uh, you do realize that I normally work on the dead. Not the living. Huge difference."

"Humor me."

Josef stood over his unconscious friend as Guillermo quickly examined Beth. "Do you feel any pain?"

Beth nodded once, pointing to to her lower front right side. "Where Josef shoved me."

Guillermo gently probed Beth's abdominal area, his head slightly canted. When his fingers pressed against the lower right portion of her ribs, her face contorted in pain.

"It sounds to me like you have a rib cracked. Maybe broken. Nothing can be done with that except to wrap it up tight for now."

All three heard the bell from the elevator dinged down the hall through the opened door. Josef started to rush through the door in full attack mode, but halted his motion almost immediately. "It's fine," he said. "She's alone."

The Cleaner came into view in the doorway, frowning at the scene before her. "What happened?"

"Mick was about to go full berserker mode on these two," said Guillermo. "It took both of us to bring him down."

The Cleaner moved past Mick's still form to Beth on the couch. "Are you hurt?"

Beth slowly rose to her feet, ignoring Guillermo's hand. "I'll be fine," she said, looking down at Mick. "The question is what are we going to do with him."

#

The Cleaner gave the chains a tug before giving a nod of approval. "Thank you, guys. I'll take it from here. And remember. This is between us."

The women, dressed in black overalls nodded and walked downstairs. Beth, leaning against the parapet, watched as they departed. "I must say. You women are efficient."

"We come prepared for everything, Beth." She walked behind Mick, restrained to a small folding chair by his wrists, ankles, neck, and waist. The chains extended down into hooks bolted into the concrete. "No vampire can break these chains."

"Really? You had them tested?"

The Cleaner smiled as she straightened. "Oh course. I had one of the strongest, most experienced and adaptable vampires I know test them. He gave up after about two hours."

She looked down at Mick. "That happened before you came in the picture, I believe."

Beth shook her head, smiling to herself. "Can you leave us alone for a few minutes? I … I just want to talk to him."

The Cleaner gave her a doubtful look. Beth gently but firmly guided her to the stairs leaving to the office. "I'll be fine. You said it yourself. He can't break those chains."

"Okay." The Cleaner gave Mick one last look. "I'll be close by, but will respect your privacy."

"Thank you."

Beth waited until the Cleaner finished her descent before turning her gaze back to Mick, who was beginning to stir in his seat. She walked over, careful to remain a safe distance away.

"Mick. I know you can hear me. I know you're in there somewhere. I know the Mick St. John who saved me all those years ago when I was a little girl, the one who I fell in love with …. I know he's in there."

Mick slowly raised his head and focused his eyes on Beth. He sighed and shook his head. "Please tell me … please tell me I didn't hurt you," he whispered. "Please, Beth. I will kill myself if I ever hurt you."

Beth lowered herself to one knee, careful not to flinch as the pain from her damaged rib intensified. "No, Mick! You didn't even touch me! Josef pushed me out of the way, so I might have broken a rib."

Mick squeezed his eyes tightly and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Beth. I truly am."

"Mick, it's not your fault. It's Malcolm Rehnquist's. He is the one who interjected himself into our lives and tried to destroy us either physically or mentally. He's messing with us."

Mick raised his head from his chest to look at Beth. She stared back into his eyes and saw not the self-assured, courageous, loyal Mick she fell in love with, but a shell of a tortured soul on the verge of collapse. She leaned close and placed a hand on his knee.

"Mick, what did he do to you?"

Mick looked down at her hand and then back into her face. Beth forced herself to remain still mostly to prevent further injury to her ribs, but also to show that she still had trust in him. She returned his gaze with as much confidence as she could muster. "Please, Mick. What did he do?"

Mick sighed and sat back in the chair. The chains rattled as they adjusted to his movement. "He showed me all the things I regretted in my life, Beth, and then he showed me a path I could have taken that could have prevented me from becoming … what I am today. He showed me what it could have been like if I made my way back to Ray and Lilah all those years ago. How I was forgiven. How I could have been Robert's godfather, instead of finding out about his existence on television.

"I relived the pain I felt from not attending my father's funeral. And countless other things I've experienced throughout my lifetime. But there was one thing, a possible … future. Something that consisted of you and me."

"Mick, he … he pumped you with drugs designed to weaken vampires like yourself. We have no idea what true effect they have on you other than the fact that you tried to attack me and Josef."

Mick's eyes shot open wide at the revelation. "I can't be around you two," he whispered, his head lowered and shaking erratically. "I won't be responsible for hurting the two people I love more than life."

"No." Beth leaned close and cupped his face with both of his hands, tilting his head back until she could look into his eyes. "At a time like this, the people you love will be the ones who will help. I trust you, Mick St. John. Trust me to help you."

Mick looked back at Beth for a minute, raising a chained hand just high enough to wipe a tear from Beth's face. He glanced over the parapet at the setting sun.

A hint of a smile appeared in his face, as if he recalled a pleasant memory. "A sunset is always as beautiful as a sunrise. They always look the same with subtle, noticeable differences: one starts your day, while another finishes it."

He looked back into her eyes. "I promise I'll never hurt you. But you have to promise me to protect yourself, okay?"

Beth got up and circled around Mick to hug him tightly from behind his chair, ignoring the pain in her lower rib area. He closed his eyes at the touch.

"All that matters is that you're back. You're here with me. Promise that you'll never leave me again. That's the only promise I want from you."

For the first time since she saw him, Mick's eyes flickered with confidence. He looked up over his shoulder at her and gave a solemn nod.

"I promise.

#