Chapter 4

"So we're back to this again are we, Josef" Mick rolled his eyes and huffed the following morning, in response to Josef's sudden declaration that he was changing the entire design of their wedding suits.

"The colour is wrong, the material is wrong and I don't like the cut of the jackets or the pants" he had declared, screwing up the piece of paper he held in his hands, with the original designs he had approved of before, and bouncing it over the table; as he stood there in the kitchen and threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of complete exasperation.

Mick watched on, pressing his fist to his mouth to stifle the laughter that was threatening to burst out of his mouth at any moment, certain that to laugh at Josef at this point in time would probably not be the best idea. When Josef placed one hand on an angled hip, cocked his head and demanded to know exactly "what's so funny, Mick?"; however, Mick lost his composure and had to take a seat to stop himself from falling over as he doubled up with laughter. He could almost hear Josef fuming just off to one side, as he spluttered and struggled to bring himself back under control.

"I'm sorry", he said finally, wiping the tears from his eyes as he took a couple of deep breaths and choked back another laughing fit, "I'm sorry, really. You just have no idea how much of an absolute queen you look. Seriously, should I call traffic control? Because if you flap your arms around any more you're liable to take off"

Josef glanced down at the position of his body and quickly adjusted his stance to a more neutral pose, rolling his eyes and hissing "Oh shut up, Mick" at the same time.

"I'm sorry," Mick repeated, a little more contritely this time as he stood and walked over to Josef and wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing him gently on the side of the face before pulling him in to his embrace. "The suits are fine, Josef. The material is fine, the colour is fine, the cut is fine, everything about them is fine, but if you need something to distract yourself at the moment, then that's fine too."

"I don't need to distract myself from anything, Mick" Josef was about to protest, but decided he was too weary to make any sort of an argument against Mick's words, responding instead with a simple, "thank you."

"So have you got any ideas, then?" Mick questioned him, "About the suits I mean"

"A few" Josef nodded in response, "I'm meeting with the Tailor this afternoon to discuss them"

"Josef" Mick blurted incredulously in response, "you can't. I have to go to Ryder's today, remember? I mentioned it last night. I need you to stay here and look after Miriam."

"I'll take her with me", Josef replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Josef-"Mick started to protest, but Josef raised a hand to stop him.

"Mick, please. I can't stay here alone in the house with Miriam, not for the entire day," he said, his expression half pleading with Mick for understanding, "I either take her with me when I got out, or you'll have to take her with you to Cologne to visit Ryder. Besides that I've already booked the appointment this morning."
"Josef, we still don't know exactly who is after this baby or her mother-"

"I know that Mick" Josef interrupted him once more, "That's why it's obviously safer for her to travel a short distance with me than spend hours travelling with you across the other side of the country. I can take care of myself, Mick, and Miriam" he added, looking at Mick and waiting for some sort of response or acknowledgement.

"Ok." Mick said finally, after a few moment's hesitation, "just please be careful though, Josef, alright?"

"I will be, Mick. You know I will be. Aren't I always?" Josef replied gently, leaning in to give Mick a quick, grateful kiss before announcing he was going to have a shower and get dressed and turning to go.

"No Josef, not always" Mick called out after him, prompting Josef to wave back over his shoulder dismissively. "That's what I'm worried about" he finished, muttering to himself under his breath.

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"Hi Mick, come on in" Ryder greeted him at the door, several hours later when Mick had arrived in Cologne. "How are you?" he asked over his shoulder as he lead Mick down the hallway and into the computer room, "and how's Josef?"

"I'm fine, Josef is-"he trailed off, unsure of exactly how to explain how Josef was.

"That good hey?" Ryder replied with a look of concern, as he sat down at the desk in front of a large computer display screen and spun his chair around to face Mick, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly" he replied, a little too abruptly. Softening his tone he smiled at Ryder and added, "I can't"

"Fair enough, Mick. The offer's there though", Ryder responded with a casual shrug of the shoulders, as he turned back to face the screen in front of him and asked, "So what have you got for me this time?"

"The woman you helped me track the other day," Mick began, handing Ryder a piece of paper with several key details written on it, "I need you to run a check and see if she's left the country and if not where is she at the moment. Can you do that?"

"Sure, I can run facial recognition software against the closed circuit security systems at the Airports and Train Stations and check to see if she's made any purchases recently as well, that may tell us if she's booked into a hotel at least. There are a few more things I can try as well, give me a few hours to get this all done though, Mick"

"Take your time, I don't have to be anywhere in a hurry" Mick replied, taking a seat on the small armchair against the wall just behind Ryder and making himself comfortable, "and I really need to find this woman" he added emphatically.

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Back in Salzburg, Josef donned his black Fedora hat and sunglasses, wrapped a squirming Miriam up inside his jacket and stepped outside into the light of day. Moving quickly through the streets and alleyways that lined his route, he kept his head down and his wits about him, holding Miriam protectively as he made his way to the appointment with the Tailor.

"Good afternoon Mr Kostan" the tailor greeted him warmly at the door to his shop, then paused and regarded the bundle in Josef's arms with a look of surprised curiosity.

"Good afternoon Reinhardt" Josef returned the greeting, quickly adding an explanation of "just helping out a friend" when he saw the questioning look on the tailor's face.

"Of course" the tailor nodding and smiled in response, "Please, come in" He motioned for Josef to step inside and then lead him over to the table against the far side wall of the shop, gesturing for him to take a seat. "What seems to be the problem with the design of the suits, Mr Kostan?" he asked, when Josef had carefully laid Miriam down on the chair next to him and pulled up a seat at the table, alongside the tailor, "I thought you were happy with them?"

"I was, I mean I am" Josef shrugged in response and opened the book of original design sketches that Reinhardt, the tailor, has placed in front of him, "I just want to make a few adjustments" he explained distractedly, waving a hand dismissively as he pulled the bundle of sketches towards himself and picked up the pencil that lay in front of him.

"As you wish, Mr Kostan" the tailor smiled politely and pulled his chair a little closer in as Josef hurriedly sketched a rough drawing of his ideas. The slight changes he was making to the original designs, tapering the cut of the pants slightly, adjusting the line of the jackets, were certainly an improvement and Reinhardt nodded his approval and told him, "You should have been a fashion designer"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Josef snapped in response, still feeling slightly defensive over Mick's earlier comments about him acting like a queen.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I didn't mean…I…I didn't mean to imply anything, Mr Kostan" the tailor stammered.

"Imply? Imply what exactly?" Josef challenged him.

"Well, about your sexuality Mr Kostan" he replied, hurriedly adding "If I made be so bold as to say so"

"What about my sexuality, Reinhardt" Josef replied almost haughtily, folding his arms and regarding the tailor with continued challenge, "I'm not gay, if that was your implication"

"But you and Mr St John?" the tailor questioned with some bewilderment, a look of confusion crossing his face.

Josef saw the look on Reinhardt's face and decided to cut him some slack, after all, he figured, the tailor wasn't aware that he was a Vampire. It was perfectly reasonable that under the circumstances, certain assumptions were going to be made about his relationship with Mick; he was marrying the guy after all.

"-do not choose to place any such labels on ourselves or the nature of our relationship" he explained matter of factly, uncrossing his arms and smiling politely.

Reinhardt nodded his understanding and returned a polite smile of his own, before clearing his throat and changing the subject. "So what colour do you wish for the shirts now, Mr Kostan?" he asked.

"The same, Reinhardt," Josef replied, "I'd just like the shade to be a little darker"

"More like a wine colour then?"

"More like the colour of blood" Josef replied, allowing the slightest hint of a grin to play over his features as he enjoyed his little private joke, forgetting, for the moment, any thoughts or memories of his sister or his former life as a mortal, that had been playing on his mind previously.

"Hmmm, an unusual choice" the tailor replied nonchalantly, flicking through a book of material swatches on the table in front of him, "you're the customer though, Mr Kostan. Here, what about this then" he pointed to a piece that most closely matched what could be considered a shade of blood red.

"Perfect" Josef nodded and smiled his approval. "When can you have the new designs finalised for me?" he asked, as he stood and bent down to pick Miriam up, indicating that it was time he was going.

"Give me a week, I'll send your sketches off to my pattern maker and get started straight away. I'll need you and Mr St John to come in to be properly measured and fitted before I begin any sort of actual cutting of material though"

"Of course, I'll speak to Mick this evening, I'm sure we can arrange a mutually suitable time in the next few days. And hopefully this time, he won't miss the appointment playing Private Eye" he added silently to himself, even though, as he cradled the tiny infant in his arms and wrapped his jacket around her protectively, he understood, more than anyone, the necessity of tracking Miriam's mother down.

Extending one arm somewhat awkwardly, as he held Miriam with the other, he said his final goodbyes to Reinhardt and then stepped back outside to make his way home, moving through the streets with his head down and his senses on full alert as he had done before. Reaching the front door of the house, after a few short tense minutes of hurried walking as he made his way from the tailor's rooms back home again, he allowed himself to breathe a small sigh of relief as he shifted Miriam across to one shoulder and placed the key in the lock, preparing to turn the handle on the door and let himself inside when the a lilting Irish voice drifted up from behind him and said,

"Father"

He froze, one hand gripping the handle of the door mid turn as he cradled the infant in his arms protectively towards his body and sniffed the air around him, noting that whoever it was behind him was mortal.

"Father Luke" the voice repeated, adding the English form of the name he had been ordained with when he had joined the Ordo Praedictorum.

"It is you, isn't it" the curvaceous blonde female, with sparkling bright green eyes and impish features, said knowingly as he turned to face her and prepared to offer a dismissive protest of "I think you must have me mistaken for someone else".

The words caught in his throat as he stared at the woman standing on the lower doorstep in front of him and thought to himself, with a slight inner laugh of disbelief "At least Mick can stop trying to track her down now", then shook his head and blinked, as to check that the vision in front of him was real. Quickly moving to try and regain his equilibrium, he looked over her shoulder, sweeping the background behind her with his Vampire senses to make sure there was no one, mortal or otherwise, who might be there waiting for the opportune time to attack and then turned the handle on the door.

"I think you'd better come in, Katherine O'Dwyer" he told the woman standing in front of him, forcing a polite smile as he fought back a reel of emotions and memories and held the door open, motioning for her to step inside.

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"I recognised you from your portrait" Josef heard Katherine O'Dwyer telling him, after he had ushered her inside and indicated she should take a seat on the lounge as he sat on the armchair just opposite her and perched somewhat nervously on the edge of the seat.

"What portrait?" he asked somewhat hesitantly, still not quite sure what to make of the situation or how much, if anything, Katherine new about him.

"I take it you recognised me from the myriad of news reports and magazine clippings on myself and my associates" she replied casually, as she reached into the small clutch purse she was carrying and drew out a well worn photograph.

Josef nodded and mumbled a distracted response of "yes" as he took the picture from her proffered fingers and tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the look of shock that flickered over his features as he looked at the photograph of a very old painting that had been done of himself, when he was still human, dressed in the robes of a seventeenth century Priest of the Dominican Order of Preachers.

"An uncanny resemblance-"he started to say, forcing a polite smile as he placed the picture face down on the table in front of him.

"-more than an uncanny resemblance, Father" Katherine interrupted him, "that is you, isn't it?"

"My name" Josef replied, with barely contained frustration, "is Josef-"

"-O'Dwyer" Katherine finished his sentence for him once again, "I know it is, I've researched the family history"

"Kostan" Josef corrected her matter of factly, still trying to hide his increasing nervousness at Katherine's presence and her apparent knowledge of his former life as a mortal. "Where exactly did you get that picture from?" he asked then, attempting to keep the tone of his voice conversational, although he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"It hangs on the wall in my Grandmother's kitchen, has done for as long as I can remember" she replied simply and reached into her purse to draw out another photograph, handing it to Josef with a polite smile and an explanation of "Your brother's house. He lived there with his wife after you disappeared from the Church"

"I didn't even know he'd married." Josef almost said, but caught himself just in time and handed the picture back to Katherine after giving it a cursory glance, saying with more than a note of challenge, "If that is indeed my brother's house and that picture of the Priest that allegedly hangs on the wall of my brother's house is of me, then how do you explain that I'm still alive. The painting in the first photograph looks to be centuries old and judging by the style of that house you've just shown me, I'd say the same could be said for it. So tell me, how do you suppose I'm still alive if I'm as old as that" he sat back in the chair and smiled at her almost triumphantly then stared wide eyed in complete surprise when, without missing a beat she looked him square in the eye and said,

"That's easy, because you're a Vampire".

"How the hell-"

"Weren't expecting that, were you Fa-, I mean Josef" Katherine laughed merrily "You're not the first Vampire I've encountered though, not in my line of business"

"I didn't know Vampires were part of the Irish Republican Army" Josef threw at her, only half sarcastically.

'They're not, but we do have certain, shall we say criminal associations in our group. Funding has to come from somewhere after all and the IRA isn't exactly legitimate, despite what Sinn Fein would have people believe. So that is you in the picture then, isn't it" she said then and waited for Josef to give some sort of response.

"Yes it is" he replied finally, then stood up and announced to no one in particular, "I think I need a drink"

"I realise this must come as a something of a shock to you, Fa- sorry I mean Josef Kostan-" Katherine began, but found herself cut off by a spluttering burst of laughter and Josef's quipping reply of,

"No my dear, anal sex without lubrication is a shock this is…this is" he quickly poured a generous amount of Scotch into a tumbler and drained it on one gulp, unable to find the words to fully express exactly how much of a shock having his past arrive on his doorstep and speak to him actually was.

This time it was Katherine's turn to look surprised at Josef's use of the words 'anal sex', "The other man that lives here with you then, he's your-"she ventured cautiously.

"My partner, yes" Josef completed the question and answered it for her.

"Is he a Vampire like you then?" she asked, looking at Josef curiously.

"What he is and who he is, is none of your business" Josef replied firmly, implying by the tone of his voice and his shift of body language to a more defensive closed position that the subject of Mick was not up for discussion.

"Your protective of him, aren't you?" Katherine responded gently.

"Very"

"I know what that's like" she smiled and looked over at the tiny infant lying at the foot of the lounge where Josef had placed her earlier.

"I think it's time you started answering some of my questions now" Josef began to tell her, following the line of her gaze down towards the baby he thought of as Miriam, but found his words cut off by the sound of Mick's key rattling in the lock and Mick himself stepping through the front door.

"Josef, Josef" he called out urgently as he walked into the lounge room, "She hasn't left Salzburg, Ryder checked all of the outgoing flights, trains and buses, and she's still in the city somewhere. She's-"he stopped dead in his tracks as Katherine O'Dwyer turned around in her seat to face him, "She's right here in our lounge room" he finished slowly, looking from Katherine to Josef and back again, waiting for someone to offer him some sort of explanation.

"Mick" Josef tried to say matter of factly, although the quiver in his voice belied is true feelings, as he walked over to Mick and placed one arm around his shoulder, "meet my several generations removed niece. I believe we both have some questions for her"

"Yes, yes I think we do" Mick replied with a brief nod of his head, taking a seat in the armchair where Josef had been sitting before and looking pointedly at the woman who had just been introduced to him as a human relation of Josef's.

"Oh this should be good, I'm all ears" he laughed and sat back in the chair with his arms crossed, awaiting Katherine's response.

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"Where exactly would you like me to begin?" Katherine asked Mick graciously as she leant forward in her seat and regarded him with a simple smile.

"The beginning is usually a good place" Mick laughed in response and looked up at Josef, standing just off to one side looking decidedly pale faced and white knuckled. He smiled at him gently and gestured for him to take a seat on the end of the couch just next to where he sat, trying to convey the unspoken sentiment that whatever it was, whatever was happening, they would get through it together as they had always done.

Katherine couldn't help but notice the moment of quite trust and tenderness that passed between them and a soft smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, even as she furrowed her brow in confusion, prompting Mick to ask her if there was "anything wrong".

"No, nothing wrong" she replied hesitantly, "it's just that", she paused, trying to find the right words for what she was trying to say, "it's just that, the Josef O'Dwyer I know of is a Priest as well as a Vampire. It's just a little disconcerting for me to see him looking at another man in that way"

"In what way" Josef suddenly snapped at her darkly, "like I've been in love with him for longer than you've been alive" he sneered "The Church didn't quite manage to neuter me entirely you know"

"I never said it did-"she tried to say but found herself cut off by Josef's sharp challenge of,

"And how would you have me look at the man who's been my constant companion for the past fifty odd years" he continued on hurriedly, forgetting for the moment that he hadn't actually intended to reveal Mick as being a Vampire like himself, "I suppose you'd think it more appropriate if I gazed upon him as if he were a sinner and rained fire and brimstone down on his head. Well sorry to disappoint you", he finished with a triumphant snort, "I haven't fed into the crap that the Church feeds people for centuries now".

"But you did, once" Katherine replied simply and reached for her purse once more, pulling out a length of well worn Rosary beads and small silver crucifix that she carefully dropped into Josef's hand with the words, "I believe this belonged to you"

Mick looked on with concern seeing what little colour there was in Josef's face drain completely away. He reached out quickly to try and steady him only to be brushed aside; as Josef let the rosary and crucifix slip from his fingers onto the floor and rose to his feet somewhat shakily, muttering under his breath, "I think I need another drink".

"Josef" Mick said gently, getting up and walking over to place a steadying hand on the bottle of Scotch he was trying unsuccessfully to pour himself a drink from, guiding the rim of the bottle over the tumbler and holding it in place as he helped fill the glass with a generous measure of the dark liquor, "drink that and go upstairs. I'll handle this"

"I'm sorry" he heard Katherine say politely, as Josef quickly threw back his head and drained the contents of the glass in his hand in one hurried gulp, before placing it back down with a sharp resounding tap of crystal on wood, "I'm forgetting my manners, I should have offered both of you a drink by now"

She rolled up the sleeve of her shirt and extended her arm out towards them, in a clear invitation of exactly what she was offering and Mick shook his head in a distracted gesture of refusal, keeping his attention focused on Josef and trying to gauge his reaction to Katherine's outstretched arm and the blood that flowed in the veins beneath her skin. Far too late, he made a grab for him, intent on holding him back and preventing him from doing anything rash, as he saw the dark look of anger, mixed with the pain of being forced to remember a past he'd tried so hard to forget, flood across Josef's face and his eyes flashed to ice cold blue. In the time it took Mick to even partially lift a hand, Josef has already let out a Vampiric snarl and covered the distance between himself and Katherine in one fluid and inhuman movement, grabbing her arm roughly and sinking his fangs sharply into her flesh. He had no real intention of feeding from her, despite the way he began sucking at her wrist, drawing draughts of blood into his mouth which he swallowed in loud repeated gulps, as he growled and dug his fangs into her arm even deeper. He was trying to punish her, to hurt her physically as she had done to him emotionally when she decided to waltz into his life and reopen old wounds he'd long thought healed or at least roughly bandaged over and forgotten about. Mick sensed this and quickly moved to take hold of Katherine's arm with one hand as he very gently but firmly prised Josef's mouth and fangs away from her, eliciting a snarl of protest, before he had a chance to do anything that Mick knew he was going to regret later on.

"Well at least she won't mistake me for a man of the cloth again in a hurry" Josef smirked at her, as Mick carefully caught the drips of blood that were hanging from the corner of his mouth with a finger and then held his face in his hands, pressing his forehead against his as he repeated to him in a whisper, "Josef, please just go upstairs. I will handle this".

"No thank you, Mick" he stated with cold indifference, pushing his hands away from his face then softening when he saw the look of concern that had furrowed Mick's brow, "I'd like to hear what Katherine has to say for herself as well" he explained in a far gentler tone of voice, leaning in to give Mick a quick kiss on the lips before the tiny infant laying behind him stirred fitfully and began to cry, prompting Josef to flinch momentarily and then pick her up, cradling her over his shoulder as he took a seat back on the couch next to Katherine and challenged her to,

"Start talking"

"Can I have my baby first please" she asked in a tiny voice, the words muffled by her arm as she pressed her lips to the wound Josef's fangs had created and tried to stem the flow of blood.

"Oh so now she's your baby" Josef hissed at her in response, "she certainly wasn't your baby when you decided to just abandon her on the doorstep of two Vampires.

"I did it to protect her-"Katherine started to say, but Josef raised a hand and shot a dark look at her, silencing any further protests.

One of whom" he continued "you may have thought was your dear long lost Uncle Josef, who's image of false saintliness hung on your Grandmother's wall for all those years, returned from the dead, but at the end of the day you don't know me and you don't know what I am capable of."

"Oh I'm beginning to get some idea, Uncle" she replied in slightly mocking tones, pressing the small handkerchief that Mick had handed to her with a brief nod and tightlipped smile against the small wounds on her arm, "but like I told you before, you're not the first Vampire I've encountered" she added tauntingly, "and many of them are nowhere near as gentle as you when they're feeding"

"Alright, that's enough" Mick snapped suddenly, quickly moving to try and defuse the situation as he plucked the baby from Josef's arms and laid her down in her mother's lap, then pulled Josef to his feet and instructed him to, "go upstairs and wait for me, you're not helping."

Josef hesitated for a moment, his fists clenched and his mouth set in a grimace of challenge, before he let out a soft sigh of defeat and nodded his agreement, then turned and began to walk away without saying another word to either of them.

"I've upset him, haven't I?" Katherine said apologetically, as she watched Josef mount the stairs with a distracted and downcast pall over his features.

"Yes, you have" Mick replied darkly, gritting his teeth and taking a seat back in the armchair opposite her sending a firm look in her direction.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it's just that I'm so used to dealing with thugs and brutes and having to play stupid mind games with them to gain the upper hand, "she tried to explain, choosing her words carefully as she smiled a soft smile of regret and glanced over towards the staircase that lead up to the bedroom where Josef now lay with his eyes closed trying to quell the tide of emotions that washed over him as he listened to the conversation that drifted up from downstairs, "that I tend to revert to type, even when I am in the presence of someone who is a gentleman"

"A gentleman," Mick laughed and shook his head in response, "well I suppose that's one way of describing him, although I hardly think he was being very gentle with you before" he added, pointing at the wounds on her arm. "You're lucky he didn't seriously hurt you"

"I suppose I am" Katherine replied with a simple shrug, "but I knew he wouldn't have. He's not a monster, I can tell. I've dealt with monsters Mr-" she paused, realising she didn't actually know Mick's full name.

"St John"

"Mr St John" she continued with a thankful smile, "and he certainly doesn't strike me as being one, even with those inhuman eyes and sharp fangs of his" she added with a cheeky wink, eliciting another laugh from Mick before he looked at her and said with quiet sincerity,

"No, no he's not"

"Have the two of you really been together for fifty years?" she asked then, smiling fondly as she thought of her own Grandparents, only one of whom was still alive, and their own 40 years of wedded bliss.

"Yes, we have" Mick responded with a polite nod.

Katherine couldn't help but notice the way Mick's face had lit up, even as he'd tried to keep his response polite and matter of fact and she smiled at him once more and asked, "Do you think you'll be together for another fifty years?"

"Well we're getting married," Mick replied with a note of laugher in his voice." So yes, or at least I would hope so"

"Well congratulations to the both of you then" Katherine responded warmly, "and I don't think you have any worries about being together for another hundred years" she added merrily, "he loves you, that much should be obvious to anyone"

"As I do him" Mick stated simply, then folded his arms over his chest and sat back in the chair, regarding Katherine with a determined look as he told her, "We're not here to discuss my relationship with Josef though, are we?"

"No, no we're not" Katherine shook her head briefly in response then heard Mick saying to her "So tell me about these monsters you've encountered". Pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts, she took a deep breath and began to talk.

"So what do you want us to do about it?" she heard Josef ask her quietly, after he had rejoined them downstairs, somewhat calmer than he had been before although Mick could still see the rage of emotions he was struggling against just below the surface, and Katherine had finished telling Mick of her involvement with the IRA.

How her future husband had recruited her from the local Catholic Sunday School at an impressionable age, how they had both believed wholeheartedly in the cause and the rightness of a unified Ireland, how they had pushed back each and every moral doubt they had when carrying out various acts of what might be considered minor domestic terrorism, such as vandalising the houses of those who dared to oppose them by covering them with spray painted IRA slogans and papering their doors and windows with pro IRA leaflets or setting off small homemade bombs under the bonnets of British soldier's cars rendering the vehicles a complete write off, because the means justified the end.

How she had stood back and watched with growing concern as the group she had once proudly been apart of, had followed with unquestioning loyalty, became increasingly corrupted by power, throwing it's collective hat in with a seemingly never ending parade of thugs, criminals and other shady underworld characters with the excuse that it was all just part of raising funds that they could use to help fight for the cause. How she had kept her concerns to herself, not even daring to share them with her own husband, partly out of loyalty, mostly out of fear for her own safety and that of her unborn child as she found herself pregnant and being drawn further into a dark world that bore little resemblance to the early days of just and self-righteous protests at what she had come to consider as the "unfairness of British invasion".

How she had continued to go along with the group in reluctant silence, too scared to speak her mind and risk being on the receiving end of one of the many brutal bashings and torture sessions they had begun to dish out with relish for the most minor of perceived infractions against the cause, right up until the time she had been forced to witness her own brother callously bashed to death by a particularly vicious thug by the name of Patrick Brogan, under the justification that he was a traitor for daring to speak to an outsider, when she knew the truth was that somebody had planted the idea that he was hiding a large amount of funds made from an illegal drug operation and his subsequent murder was nothing more than a shakedown resulting from greed and having gone horribly wrong.

How, after that, she had waited until a month past her daughter's, whom she had named Roisin in honour of her tiny rosebud cheeks, birth and then fled from her home and her country with little more than her passport, a change of clothes and a wad of cash stolen from the latest drug enterprise her husband had been involved in and hurriedly sewn into the lining of Roisin's bassinet.

How she had spent the next few months in hiding and moving from place to place, determined to stay one step ahead of those who she knew had labelled her a traitor and sought to kill her, preferably as slowly, painfully and with as much brutal relish as they could possibly muster, until one day she found herself in an Austrian city, exhausted and tired of running, fearing for her life and Roisin's life if the people who she was running from ever did catch up with her, and knowing deep down that it was only a matter of time before they did, when she happened to see the image of the man who had always gazed down at her so serenely from the old portrait in her Grandmother's kitchen, very much alive and in the flesh and stepping out of the Blood Bank in the middle of downtown Salzburg. How she had known, right then and there, who and what he was and she had made the decision to lay her tiny infant on his doorstep in an instant, relieved that at last she could move on, to flee unencumbered to a place where those who would do her harm could never find her, knowing she had found someone to at least protect her daughter and provide her with the life her mother wasn't going to be able to give her.

"It's really very simple" she replied with a determined smile, "I want you to take care of them for me, all of them. I don't want them coming after me or Roisin anymore. I want them gone and I want us to be safe again"

"Ro-sheen" Josef repeated slowly, half to himself, "it suits her, it means-"

"Little rose" Katherine finished for him, "I know it does, it's why I named her that. Can you help me or not?"

"That depends on exactly what you mean by 'taken care of' doesn't it" he replied with a casual shrug, looking down at the infant now cradled in her mother's arms "I named her Miriam, you know" he murmured distractedly, still loud enough for Katherine to hear him, "it was my-"

"Your sisters name" she hurriedly replied, "Yes, I know. I've studied the family history remember. Just as you know exactly what I mean by 'taken care of'. Unless of course you'd like me to spell it out"

"I thought you said I wasn't a monster" he challenged her then, taking a seat perched on the armchair where Mick sat and feeling Mick wrap an arm around his waist.

"You're not" Katherine replied simply, "but I also don't think you're exactly averse to killing to protect a member of your family"

"Ah yes, my family" Josef responded with a slightly disbelieving snort, as he laughed and shook his head at what he perceived to be the sheer incongruous of those words. Up until a few short hours ago, aside from a number of fellow undead that he considered to be friends, the only family he had known of were either a long buried painful memory of his past or now sitting next to him and tracing lazy circles on the small of his back with one hand as they looked up at him with tender concern.

"You'll do it then?" Katherine asked hopefully, watching as Josef bent down to pick up the Rosary and crucifix he had dropped on the floor earlier.

"I'll consider it" he said, glancing at the collection of beads and silver in his hand briefly before shoving it into the pocket of his trousers and standing up, taking Mick by the hand and pulling him to his feet with him, "you are family after all" he added with a wry smile, "but not before I've had some time to sleep on it" he told her firmly and wished her a curt goodnight, before he turned and started to walk away, leading an obedient Mick along behind him.

"Uncle?" she called out just as he reached the bottom step and started to ascend the stairs.

"Oh for the love of...call me Josef" he turned to her and snapped in frustrated response.

"I'm sorry, Josef" she replied softly, repeating his name back to him with a careful smile, "I know you heard my conversation with Mick before, but I just wanted to repeat what I said to you directly. I am sorry for how I acted earlier. It was rude and unfair of me and" she hesitated, unsure of exactly how to explain herself to him, "look I'm just sorry is all" she finished with a smile and nod of contrition.

"Don't worry about it" he replied dismissively, "I think we probably both said and did things in the heat of the moment that we perhaps should have thought about more first. How's the arm by the way" he asked her with a slightly forced smile.

"It's fine, I'll live" she responded with a note of laughter, "I told you, I've had worse. You're more than welcome to have a nightcap before you retire to bed or wherever it is you retire to" she offered with a polite smile, as she placed Roisin back down on the couch next to her and extended her arm in another gesture of invitation.

"You don't need my permission to feed, Josef" Mick smiled at him indulgingly when Josef gave him a questioning look, as if permission was exactly what he was looking for, silently knowing they were probably in for a restless night as Josef continued to try and come to terms with the events of the day and hoping some fresh blood might just be the thing to at least help him get a few hours rest in-between time.

He hesitated for a moment, then let go of Mick's hand and walked back over to where Katherine sat, kneeling on the ground just by her feet and taking her arm in his hand with greater care and consideration than he had done earlier.

"Just so you know" he told her with a polite smile, before he lifted her wrist to his mouth and gently sank his fangs into her delicate flesh, "We sleep upstairs in a large industrial freezer, custom built for two people"

"Really" she replied with a mixture of interest and disappointment, a soft gasp escaping from her lips as she felt his sharp teeth biting into her, "I was so sure you slept in a coffin"

Josef looked up at her with one eyebrow raised in response and as he drew the blood from her arm and into his mouth, he laughed almost in spite of himself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you alright" Josef heard Mick ask him gently, after they'd finally retired for the evening and he stood under the warm spray of the shower, hands braced against the cold tiles in front of him as he let the water beat down on over his neck and back and Mick stood propping the glass sliding door open and regarding him with a mixture of concern and arousal.

I'm fine" he muttered dismissively, then turned and reached for Mick, pulling him into the small cubicle with him, not caring that Mick was still fully clothed and pressing his lips against his own, circling the inside of his mouth with his tongue as he kissed him deeply and gripped the back of his skull with his hands.

"Are you sure?" Mick whispered to him, breaking away from the kiss to run the edge of his tongue along the side of Josef's neck as he encircled his cock with one hand and began to stroke him with light teasing strokes.

"I just said I was, didn't I" Josef replied with the same dismissive tone, shifting his hands to place them on Mick's shoulders and pressing him downwards in a clear indication of what he wanted Mick to do.

Mick hesitated for a moment and then smiled, grabbing Josef around the waist for one last quick open mouthed kiss before he sank to his knees in front of him and used one hand to stroke the inside of his thighs, then skim over and grab onto his arse, the other grabbing hold of the base of his cock and directing it towards his mouth. He carefully drew his lips back over his teeth then encircled the head with his lips and tongue, slowly working his way down and along the shaft, consciously relaxing his throat muscles and taking as much of Josef's erection into his mouth as possible and then drawing back again to swirl his tongue over the head and flick lightly against the frenulum, gradually building up a steady rhythm of warm sucking wetness.

Josef moaned a soft snarling moan and let his head fall back against the tiles, feeling the water of the shower falling over his face and chest with an almost relaxing rhythm, in stark contrast to the rhythm of Mick's mouth and tongue, as he continued to work both of them over Josef's cock, making Josef feel anything but relaxed. He felt the first twinges of impending climax begin to curl up from the base of his penis, as his balls tightened upwards and he reached down to grip the back of Mick's head with one hand, guiding the pace a fraction as he groped for Mick's hand and prepared to come.

Mick looked up at Josef then, saw the way he was staring off into space, his eyes ice blue, vampiric, blotches of dark red standing out against the inhuman paleness of his skin, the look in his eyes a mixture of desire, arousal and-

Mick hesitated for just a moment, furrowing his brow slightly before he stopped what he was doing and stood back up again, too quick for Josef to stop him and just in time to feel the sudden sharp sting of Josef's fangs in his neck as he let out and snarl of pleasure and grabbed for Mick, biting into him as his cock twitched and pulsed and Mick felt Josef's climax flood over his fingers as he hurriedly steadied him one hand and reached down to grab hold of his cock with the other.

"What the hell did you stop for?" Josef blurted out incredulously when the last pulses of orgasm had died away.

"You looked like you weren't even here, Josef" Mick replied, repeating his same question before with the same tone of concern, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine" Josef pushed past Mick and grabbed a towel off the rack, briskly drying himself as he watched Mick strip out of his saturated clothes and step into the shower, "and what do you mean I wasn't here, where exactly did you think I was?" he added, rolling his eyes at Mick.

"In your head trying to direct and control everything as usual, Josef" Mick thought to himself, but kept silent and merely offered an apologetic shrug instead.

"What are we going to do about her downstairs" Josef asked then, the tone of his voice matter of fact but the sudden stiffness of his movements belied his emotional state.

"I'll make her up a bed on the couch in a minute; she can stay here for tonight at least, maybe find a hotel in the morning"

"Sure" Josef offered a forced smile and a brief nod, before announcing he was "going to the Freezer to get some sleep" and turning away, leaving Mick to watch after him with a look of concern on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as Mick had suspected, apart from a couple of hours of restless sleep snatched just before dawn, Josef didn't rest easy. He stumbled out of the freezer with a distracted "I need to get some work done" shortly after, leaving Mick to sort out Katherine's accommodation arrangements himself.

"The hotels in the city are all booked out" he stood in the doorway of Josef's office a short time later and announced.

"So, what do you want me to do about it" Josef replied, pretending to be thoroughly preoccupied with the computer screen in front of him.

"I don't want you to do anything about it, Josef" Mick said patiently, "I'm just letting you know, she'll have to stay here again tonight"

"Fine, whatever, I'm a little busy at the moment, Mick"

"I can see that, Josef" Mick replied trying to keep the tone of his voice as casual as possible, but finding himself gritting his teeth just slightly, and thought to himself "No what you're trying to do is stay in control of a situation you have know control over by hiding away up here and pretending to do work that doesn't actually exist"

"What?" Josef half mumbled under his breath, quickly shutting off the computer screen in front of him as Mick walked over behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck, leaning over to plant a quick kiss on the side of his face.

"You can't control everything, Josef" he told him gently.

"I know, I'm not" Josef replied dismissively, before reaching up to squeeze Mick's arm in a gesture that was meant to be reassuring but came across more as a brush off and muttered under his breath, "I need to get back to work".

Josef spent the rest of the day working, or rather hiding away and becoming increasingly withdrawn into his own dark reverie of trying to maintain control and order in is mind over a situation that had been dropped in his lap without any sort of instruction manual on how he was supposed to cope with it, or so Mick thought. Several times he came back upstairs to ask if Josef was alright and if he needed anything, only to find him staring intently at an object in his hand which he hurriedly shoved back into his pocket when he realised Mick was standing in the doorway of the office looking at him. Mick assumed it was the crucifix and rosary that Katherine had given to him previously. By that evening Mick knew he had to do something to try and snap Josef out of his current brooding state and make him see reason, there were just some things that were beyond his control and it wasn't always such a bad thing to just let go and accept that, or else you ended up driving yourself and those around you insane.

"Josef, come on come to bed" he said, leaning against the doorway of the office once again and regarding him with a reassuring smile, "you can finish whatever it is you're doing tomorrow"

"Just give me a bit longer, I need to get this done" he replied with the same dismissive tone he'd used all day, absentmindedly tapping away at the keys on the keyboard in front of him, "go on without me, I'll be there later"

"No, Josef. Now" Mick told him firmly, walking over to press the power button on the computer to off and extending a hand towards him, dropping the tone of his voice to a gentler level and saying with a pleading smile, "Come on, please."

"Mick I was-"Josef started to protest but then stopped, looked at Mick and nodded a simple agreement, allowing Mick to take him by the hand and lead him down the short passageway and into the bedroom.

"Come on, lie down" Mick instructed him, manoeuvring him over to the bed and pushing him back onto the mattress below.

'Why, what are we doing?" Josef asked distractedly.

'What do you think we're doing, you idiot" Mick laughed and shook his head in disbelief, before climbing on top of Josef and running the tip of his tongue along the length of his neck and starting to undo the fastenings on his shirt and pants, "You've been hiding away in your office all day, I want to spend some time with you"

Josef gave a half hearted shrug in response and wrapped his arms around Mick's neck, pulling him in closer and probing his mouth open with his lips and tongue as he started to kiss him, then looked at Mick questioningly when he felt Mick pull away.

"Oh no you don't" Mick told him with a sly smile, "I'm setting the pace tonight"

"Fine" Josef mumbled in response, the word partly swallowed up by Mick's lips pressing against his once again, kissing him with light teasing pressure. Again he tried to deepen the kiss, but Mick pulled away once more and smiled knowingly at him, quickly finishing the task of removing and helping him out of the rest of his clothes before he caressed his face gently with one finger and then continued with the same soft, teasing kisses.

Josef let out a soft snarl of appreciation, arching his back slightly and drawing in a sharp breath as Mick rolled over to lie next to him and encircled his erection with one hand, stroking the length of him with the same light, teasing pressure he'd used on his lips. He heard Josef moan when he increased the pressure slightly, picking up the pace of his strokes just a fraction, before returning to the same teasing rhythm as before.

Josef reached down and tried to grab hold of Mick's hand, undulating his hips at the same time to urge him go to faster. Mick pushed his hand away and whispered to him "relax", kissing him gently before returning to teasing his cock mercilessly with alternating hard and light pressure as he continued to stroke the length of his shaft, varying the pace as he did so.

"Mick, for fucksake come on" Josef hissed as his frustration increased, bucking his hips against Mick's hand "quit with the teasing bullshit, either jerk me off or fuck me or do something"

"You can't always expect to be the one in control of everything, Josef" Mick whispered to him, kissing his way along his neck and quickly fumbling under the pillow just above his head, as he halted his hand movements on Josef's cock for the moment and reached for what he'd placed under there earlier. He saw Josef's hand go down to try and stroke himself and hurriedly snapped one end of the handcuffs he'd just retrieved around his wrist, quickly grabbing for his other hand at the same time and forcing both his arms above his head, looping the chain of the cuffs around one of the metal posts of the wrought iron bed head and then snapping the other end around the wrist he still had free.

"Mick, what the fuck" Josef protested, tugging at the cuffs and trying to break the metal that held him in place in vain. It was one thing for him to submit to Mick on occasion, he'd done that plenty of times before, but this was different, he wasn't being given a choice and he wasn't entirely sure if he exactly liked being placed in that position. "Come on, take these things off of me, this isn't funny"

"It's not meant to be funny, Josef" Mick told him, quickly adding, with the same sly smile he'd used earlier, as he watched Josef continue to strain against the cuffs, "it's no use trying to break out of them either, they're a titanium alloy, special make, strong enough to hold the largest testosterone fuelled gorilla in place…or Vampire"

"Mick, please" Josef pleaded with him through gritted teeth, "I don't like this, now take them off me"

"I told you before, Josef" Mick responded to his protests matter of factly, "You can't always expect to be in control of everything and besides" he added as he straddled his legs and leaned down to tease the skin of his neck gently with his fangs, "not being in control can have it's benefits you know"

"Oh yeah like what?" Josef muttered darkly under his breath,

"Like how about you relax, stop struggling, let me take control and see what happens"

Mick waited for Josef to reluctantly stop fighting against the cuffs and chain that bound his arms and wrists above his head and then slowly resumed the teasing hand job he'd started before, reaching for the tube of lubricant they kept in the drawer of the night stand next to the bed at the same time and squeezing a small amount of the slippery fluid onto index and middle finger of his other hand. He instructed Josef to draw his knees up then carefully inserted his fingers, palm up, into his anus, pressing them against the front wall of his rectal passage and locating his prostate, massaging it lightly with firm gentle pressure eliciting a deep growl of pleasure from Josef as waves of pleasure hummed through his body. Mick bought him to the brink of orgasm, using every technique Josef had taught him, and a few he'd learnt for himself along the way, varying the pressure and stroke rate of both his hand on his cock and his fingers in his arse repeatedly, waiting until he had him on the very edge of no return before stopping and letting him fall back down again.

"Mick, please" Josef pleaded him with in a strained whisper, resuming his struggle against the handcuffs that held his wrists tight.

"Shh, just relax" Mick soothed, cutting off any further protests from Josef's lips by pressing his mouth against them and kissing him deeply as he continued to work his fingers inside him and stroke the length of him with his other hand, stopping and starting in a rhythm of merciless teasing until he had Josef whimpering and begging him "Please" over and over again.

"Not yet" Mick whispered in response, breaking away from the kiss momentarily, "you're still trying to control things, Josef. When you give in completely, that's when I'll let you come"

Josef fell immediately silent, trying to lay as still as possible and finding it no easy task with what Mick was currently doing to him.

"And I don't mean just lie there and pretend you're giving in either, Josef" Mick told him with a knowing smile, prompting Josef to roll his eyes and snarl in frustration.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mick finally sensed Josef let go, no longer struggling with him for control of the situation but allowing him to take over completely, submitting his mind and body to him entirely and he quickly undid the handcuffs around his wrists and positioned Josef across his lap, letting his head cradle against his chest as he resumed his previous administrations, this time not stopping until he'd bought him to the very brink of frenzy, listening to him moan and repeat his name almost incoherently in breathless tones, and then pushed him over the edge. He felt Josef's entire body stiffen for a brief moment, before he arched his back and let out a single sharp cry of release and then sank his fangs deep into Mick's neck, his fingers clawing at his face and chest as he snarled and growled with pleasure and went into near convulsions as shockwave after shockwave of climactic pulsations burst through him and his fluid flowed over Mick's fingers and down the length of his hand.

"See, I told you not always being in control doesn't have to be a bad thing Josef" Mick whispered to him when the last pulses of his orgasm had ended, kissing him gently as he lay him down on the bed and then quickly wiped his hand off with a tissue grabbed off the side table, before he lay down alongside him and draped one arm over his chest. He didn't really expect a reply, he figured after a session like that Josef was going to need some time to come back down to earth before he could form a coherent thought let alone a response. He waited, stroking the side of his face gently, until he heard the rhythm of Josef's breathing change and knew he had fallen asleep, then carried him effortlessly over to the freezer and placed him inside, undressing and climbing in next to him, wishing him a "good night" before pulling the lid shut and drifting off to sleep himself, one hand placed protectively on Josef's arm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mick awoke sometime early the following day, with a start, finding an empty space in the freezer next to him. He stretched and yawned, waiting for the last vestiges of undead sleep to leave his body, before slowly climbing out of the cold receptacle and wrapping a robe around his naked body, taking his time assuming he would find Josef in his office or waiting for him downstairs. Checking Josef's office first he found the room empty and headed down the stairs into the lounge room, passing by a still sleeping Katherine on the couch, as he made his way into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of blood with still no sign of Josef anywhere to be found. He sipped the glass of crimson liquid with distracted concern, wondering if Josef had seen reason to go out without telling him. It was then he finally noticed the handwritten note on the kitchen table in front of him.

My Beloved Mick, it began, eliciting a smile from Mick at Josef's use of the term they had coined for one another all those years ago in Paris.

You were right. I can't control everything and I can't run from the past forever. I need to face some demons; I think it's time I went home. I'll contact you when I'm ready.

The note was signed simply, I love you. Josef"

Mick read the note over again, trying to make sense of the words on the paper as his mind reeled and the only thing he could think of to say was,

"Crap."