Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Moonlight, anything that occurs in this fanfic from the show, or any of its characters. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz!

The week that had passed since Christmas Eve had been relatively peaceful. Mick was thankful for he fact that even the crime rate had taken a break for the holidays. No new cases had been brought to his attention, and he even had time to work on some of the ongoing ones.

Currently, Mick sat at his desk, going over his notes on the case of the hunter that was running loose in L.A. Even after a year, not to mention dozens of vampire slayings (Good, respectable vampires, to make matters worse), he was no closer to finding the culprit than he had been on the night Rory had been shot. He, Rory, Josef, Dante (Seth had finally given up on being called Seth and let them call him by his first name), and Beth had all been on edge because of the vampire slayings. They were definitely very careful nowadays as to what they said and to whom. They knew that the only people they could trust completely were each other.

Mick gave a frustrated sigh, tossing the file haphazardly on top of his desk and rubbing his eyes. He looked ruefully at the clock on his desk and groaned. It was noon, and Beth wouldn't be home for a few hours; he should be sleeping right now. But with New Year's approaching, and the fact that he was nowhere near close to catching the culprit for the vampire killings, let alone the ever-elusive vampire Jeff, he felt the need to stave off sleep and keep going over his case files, in the hopes that he might find something that might lead him to solve one or both of these cases.

Anger bubbled up in Mick as he thought about Jeff. The vampire that had turned an innocent girl against her will. The vampire that had attacked the woman he loved. The vampire that had continued killing women for the past two years. The vampire he was nowhere near finding.

Mick gritted his teeth. He had a score to settle with Jeff. The last time he'd seen him was the night Jeff had attacked Beth. Mick had sworn revenge on him. He'd half-hoped that, one of these days, the hunter circulating L.A. might kill Jeff, finally doing something right and ridding the world of a truly evil vampire, rather than the decent vampires they'd killed so far. But there was no such luck.

Mick finally decided that he needed a good rest before continuing to read over his files. Perhaps, looking at his notes with a fresh mind, he might be able to spot something he was missing in his sleep-deprived state. He sighed, got up from his desk, and went to go lay down in his freezer. He had time to kill before Beth would be home. He might as well take advantage of it.

Stripping down, Mick climbed into his freezer, allowing himself a satisfied sigh as he settled in. Sleep overtook him almost immediately after he settled down into the freezer.

MLMLMLML

As Rory climbed out of her freezer at home, she glanced at the clock. It was nearly eight o'clock at night. And the apartment was still empty. There was no sign that Dante had even been there since she'd gone to sleep.

She got up quickly and dressed. She wandered through the hallway in her apartment and into the kitchen, using the remote to reveal her hidden refrigerator. She pulled out a blood packet (O , her favourite) and drank it down quickly. She then crossed into the living room and turned on the TV, waiting for Dante to return home from his first-year med school classes…

MLMLMLML

Mick awoke to a sensation that something was horribly wrong. He wasn't sure how he knew that something wasn't quite right, but he knew nonetheless. He checked the clock. Eight o'clock. Beth wasn't due home for at least another half hour. She should just be leaving work by now. He couldn't help worrying about her. The uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach only intensified as he thought of Beth. He prayed to God she was alright. Climbing out of his freezer and quickly dressing, he ran downstairs just as his home phone rang…

MLMLMLML

Rory was watching the TV, engrossed in her favourite TV show, Supernatural. She glanced at the clock again; mildly concerned about the fact that Dante still hadn't shown up. She was becoming a little annoyed, even. What the hell was keeping him?

She turned and glanced quickly around her as she heard her cell phone ring. She finally spotted it sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She grabbed it quickly, expecting to see Dante's number on the caller ID. She was more than slightly annoyed to see that it was Mick, and she made it clear in her voice as she answered the phone.

"Hello?" She snapped. She knew she probably shouldn't have directed her frustrations toward Mick, but she couldn't help it. For some strange reason, she was very on edge at the moment, and she was becoming angry with Dante for not bothering to call her to tell her he'd be late. There was silence on the other end of the line. This was immediately sobering. Mick never called without a reason, and if he wasn't speaking, something must be horribly wrong. By now, she knew him well enough to be able to sense when he was troubled, even over the phone.

"Mick?" She asked, her voice sounding concerned. "Mick? What's wrong? Is everything alright?"

After what seemed like an eternity, Mick drew in a shaky breath, attempting to say something. Rory knew from the sound that, whatever Mick had to say to her, it didn't bode well. After a final moment of silence, he finally spoke.

"You need to get over here. Now. There's something you should hear."

With that, Mick simply hung up. Rory's unease evolved into full-blown panic. Obviously something was very wrong, and she needed to find out what. Grabbing her car keys and cell phone, Rory headed quickly out the door.

MLMLMLML

Mick just stood by the answering machine, shock and fear engulfing him. He didn't move, barely breathed, just stood there, as though in a trance.

Mick was still standing like that when Rory burst through the door of the apartment. She didn't even bother knocking. Finding the door locked upon arrival, she simply fished out the emergency key Mick and Bath had given to her and Dante and opened it. Seeing Mick standing like that did nothing to ease Rory's fears. In fact, if her undead heart could beat, she was sure it would most likely end up bursting out of her chest.

Walking over to Mick, Rory waved a hand in front of his face; drawing his attention away from the spot on the floor he had been staring unblinkingly at. He looked up into her face, a mixture of terror, pain, and sorrow on his face.

As Mick looked into Rory's terrified, icy blue eyes, he felt a pang of guilt rise up in him. He swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall. He should have protected them. He should have caught him. Now…

Brushing some of her long, jet-black hair out of her eyes, Rory looked at Mick and felt an extraordinarily potent wave of fear sweep over her, threatening to send her over the edge. Mick looked as though he were ready to break down. She could feel Mick's weakness. Mick wasn't one to break like that. He was the one constantly in control of the situation. If he were about to break, then whatever had happened was bad. Really bad.

"Mick?" Rory asked, fear clearly filling her voice. Mick just looked at her and gestured to the answering machine. Rory approached it, hesitating before playing back the message recorded there. She wasn't completely sure if she wanted to hear it.

As soon as she'd pressed the play button, a cold, cruel voice filled the air. A familiar voice, Rory noted. She knew immediately whose it was. It was the voice that had haunted her nightmares for the past two years, ever since she'd been turned. A voice that sent shivers down her spine the moment she heard it. It was Jeff.

"Hello Mr. St. John. And, of course, hello Rory. I'm assuming that you both probably remember me very well. At least I should hope so. Especially you, dear Rory. Anyway, I suppose I should get straight down to business. You see, I was rather affronted by the both of you at our last meeting. Quite frankly, I felt rather spurned. After all, Rory, I am your sire. I felt I deserved slightly more respect than you cared to show me. And Mick, bursting in like that, interrupting my meal…you know how impolite it is to disturb a feeding vamp…" There was a pause. "Needless to say that, after much thought, I decided that I needed to set things straight. After trailing you both for quite some time, I realized where your true weaknesses lay; in your worthless human companions. So, to teach you both a little lesson on common courtesy, I've taken your precious humans." He gave a quiet chuckle and allowed another voice to fill the line. "MICK! HELP US! PLEASE!" Beth screamed, sobbing. There was a sound like fist meeting flesh and there was deathly silence once more. "Now, Mick. I believe you have something I want. And just to make things perfectly clear to you, I always get what I want." There was a short silence before Jeff continued. "Bring the girl to the abandoned Jackson butchery at midnight. Come alone and unarmed. And Rory, you will co-operate. Unless you want the deaths of the pathetic humans to be on you. If you decide not to show, or if you bring any uninvited guests…consider the humans dead."

With a final, chilling laugh, the line went dead. Fear rose in Rory's throat as she looked at the clock. It was nearly nine. Midnight was fast approaching.

"Well?" She said, looking at Mick expectantly. Her fear ran rampant through her, although her iron will overpowered it. "What are we waiting for? We have to go!"

Mick just looked at her sadly. "That message is from nearly an hour ago. For all we know, they're dead. And if we go, we're most definitely walking into a trap." He paused, turning around and pacing the floor. He ran a hand through his hair, fighting back tears. "I can't hand you over, Rory. I swore to protect you. Just like I swore to protect Beth." He walked over to a wall and slammed a fist through it. Rory was startled. She'd never seen him lose it like this. He looked back at her, guilt an self-loathing written across his face. "If I'd just protected them, if I'd just done my job and caught that son of a bitch, we wouldn't be in this mess right now! It's all my fault! And now, they're as good as dead!" He yelled, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. He let out a frustrated, enraged howl and upturned his sofa. Rory just stared at him.

"We don't know for sure that they're dead." She said, as calmly as she could muster. "And we know what he wants. He wants me. If I just give myself up, maybe…"

"He has no intention of letting them go." Mick said weakly, leaning against a wall and sliding down to sit on the floor. "I failed. I failed them. My family. And if I let you turn yourself over to him, I'd be failing you too."

Rory allowed anger to fill her. At least the anger was easier to deal with than the fear she was feeling right now.

"Look Mick." She said sternly, commanding his attention. He snapped his head up to look at her, seeing the pure fiery determination that filled her eyes. "You haven't truly failed them unless you give up on them. I, for one, am not about to let him kill them without a fight. I'm going, whether you come with me or not. Although I could really use an extra set of fangs to watch my back. Now, are you coming, or what?"

Mick just looked at her. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle the possibility of losing you. Or Dante. And especially not Beth. You're my family." He said sadly, shaking his head. Rory walked over to him and knelt down beside him and put a hand on his chin, forcing his eyes up to meet hers.

"You haven't lost us yet. But by just sitting here and wallowing in your own self-pity, you're guaranteeing their death sentence. And mine. Because I'm not going to sit here and watch them die, and god damn it, I'll die trying to save them. So are you coming, or do I have to drag your sorry ass behind me?"

Mick looked up into the eyes of the woman kneeling before him. The younger sister he'd never had. His protégé. He was afraid of losing her, on top of Dante, who was practically his brother, and Beth, the love of his life. She radiated raw determination, and something in him was inspired to follow her example. She was right. Now was not the time to lose it, to give up. He nodded, allowing Rory to pull him up from off of the floor.

"Good." Rory said. She grabbed her jacket and keys and walked out of the door, trying not to let herself feel the apprehension that threatened to overtake her. She knew there was no way that Mick was going to let her hand herself over. But she knew she had no other option. And if it meant saving Beth and Dante, then so be it.

MLMLMLML

Rory pulled the car into the parking lot of the designated rendezvous place. She cut the engine, sitting in the driver's seat, gripping the wheel as though preparing herself. After taking a deep breath, she looked over at Mick, who sat in the passenger seat. Mick looked back at her.

"You ready?" He asked, looking concerned. Rory nodded slowly.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied with a weak smile. They both nodded to each other and got out of the car. They approached the entrance of the building and were immediately ambushed by armed guards. Human armed guards, to be specific. And they were armed with large quantities of silver. Mick and Rory could smell the horrible stench radiating off of them and fought the urge to vomit. The mere smell of silver was enough to turn a vamp's stomach easily.

The guns the guards carried, which were obviously modified to fire silver bullets, were aimed directly at the two vampires. Rory and Mick raised their hands in surrender, and after they were given a quick pat down by two of the guards, they were deemed to be 'clean' and led into the building. Rory and Mick were led through a confusing series of twisting hallways, deep into the heart of the building, until they were brought to an old, sub-standard looking elevator shaft. They were ushered into the elevator and taken to the very bottom floor, the basement of the building, several stories below ground level.

As the armed guards ushered them into the enormous room that made up the bottom floor of the building, Rory caught the scent of fresh blood. More specifically, Dante and Beth's fresh blood. Listening closely, she was relieved to find an additional two heartbeats added to those of the guards that had ushered them down there. Apparently, Mick sensed the additional heartbeats as well, judging by the look of relief that swept over his face.

Taking a quick glance around the room, Rory took in their setting. The room had seemed to be a large storage area at some point, but it had fallen apart over the years since it had been used. The entire room was cold, almost like a giant freezer, and everywhere Rory looked there were bits of broken rubble strewn across the floor. There were several small, thin copper pipes sticking out from the cracked foundation around the room. There were several old, rusted barrels marked 'flammable' scattered around the room. The place seemed to be held up by the concrete pillars placed strategically around the room. Old, grimy chains hung from the ceiling. Figures, thought Rory. What better place to hold someone against their will than a spooky, dishevelled old abandoned building. Why can't people ever hold someone at a classy five-star hotel or something?.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up!" Jeff's voice rang out from across the enormous room, magnified several times by the echo it produced. The guards shoved Mick and Rory forward roughly, forcing them into a kneeling position on the ground, guns trained on them.

"What made you think we wouldn't?" Rory asked politely. Jeff smiled cruelly.

"Well," He began, gesturing lazily over to two of the pillars to his right. "It appears that your filthy human lapdog here was under the impression that you wouldn't make an appearance."

Rory looked over to where he'd gestured, and a horrible sight met her eyes. Chained to the pillars with some of the rusty, grimy old chains that hung scattered around the room were Beth and Dante. Beth looked to be the less injured of the two. Her left ankle stuck out at an odd angle, her feet dangling just under a foot off the ground. Her face bore signs of a recent and brutal beating, bruises welling up on her face, one eye blackened, and there was a deep gash above her left eye that was bleeding profusely. Her arms, chained above her head, were covered in blood that had dripped down from her wrists, which bore deep cuts from attempting to struggle out of the chains that bound her. Rory could sense the intense pain she was in at the moment due to her injuries, but her injuries were minor compared to those of Seth.

Seth's wrists, like Beth's, were chained above his head, holding him several inches off the ground. And, like Beth's, his also bore the abuse of the chains that had cut into his skin in futile attempts to break his bonds. His face, though, unlike Beth's, had been beaten to the point where it was almost completely unrecognizable. It was cut in several places, blood pouring down onto his torn t-shirt. His face was swollen, with bruises and welts obscuring his normally handsome features. His left eye was swollen completely shut, while his right was bruised and showing some signs of swelling. His stomach, which was exposed through the numerous gaping tears in his shirt, was nearly as bruised as his face was, and Rory could feel that he was in absolute agony, although he gave no outward signs of it. If he'd had the capacity to do so, he would most likely be curled into the fetal position on the floor at the moment.

Mick also looked over the two, feeling the rage bubble up inside him. Seeing Beth, covered in blood and clearly in pain, he cried out to her.

"Beth! Are you okay?!" He asked worriedly.

"Mick, you're here!" Beth cried back happily, tears streaming down her face.

Mick was about to respond when Jeff cut in.

"I thought I told you, no talking!" He hissed, motioning to one of the seven guards stationed around the room. One of them stepped forward and punched Beth in the face, making her cry out. Her yelp only got her another blow. The guard was just about to deliver a third one, when Dante, seeing the beating, yelled.

"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT! BEAT ON THEPOOR, DEFENSELESS WOMAN! IT'S CAUSE YOU CAN'T BE A REAL MAN AND TAKE ON SOMEONE WHO CAN DEFEND THEMSELVES, IS THAT IT? HUH? IS IT 'CAUSE YOU'RE A FUCKING COWARD?!"

The guard, enraged by Dante's outburst, forgot about Beth and proceeded to beat Dante instead, leaving Beth whimpering. Mick went to stand up, to tear the head off of the man that had hurt Beth, but the cocking of several guns behind him stopped him. Knowing that he would be shot with silver bullets if he tried anything, Mick watched helplessly as tears spilled from Beth's eyes and as Dante was struck several times in the stomach and the face with the butt of the guard's rifle. Mick silently reminded himself to thank Dante later for saving Beth from the wrath of the armed guard.

The guard finished beating Dante as Beth let out a painful shriek. One of the guards bustling past her had jostled her broken ankle. Her eyes widened in realization as the guard turned to give her another beating, but Dante again stopped him. Dante spit on the floor, expelling the large quantity of blood that had built up in his mouth.

"Is that the very best you've got, you worthless sack of shit?" He asked the guard, whose eyes widened and he returned to mercilessly beating Dante.

Jeff watched in amusement as the whole scene unfolded before him, and let the beating go on for a few minutes before finally calling off the guard.

"That's enough, McGregor." Jeff said loudly. The guard looked at him and nodded, punching Dante one final time for good measure before backing away from him.

"Well, I should think that it's about time to get down to business, wouldn't you agree?" Jeff asked, an evil grin spreading across his handsome features, ruining them.

"I'm here." Rory said. "I'm more than willing to co-operate with you. No questions asked."

Mick shot her a look. Jeff smiled.

"Well Rory," Jeff began, clearly savouring the moment. "I'm flattered that you're so eager, but you see…" he paused, adding effect. "Your gesture is simply too little, too late."

Rory just looked at him. Jeff looked back, still grinning evilly. He turned to face Beth and launched into an explanation.

"You see, I brought you here for a slightly different reason than the one that I gave you on the phone." He walked over to Beth, stroking her cheek with one hand, as she turned away. He turned back to look at Rory, anger burning in his eyes. "I didn't actually bring you here in the hopes of persuading you to return to me. The truth is, I brought you here for revenge. So you can understand exactly what you did to me when you ran off with your precious human!"

He turned to look Mick in the face. "And I want you to suffer for keeping me from my fledgling! You, the humans, you've all kept her from me. Now you will pay!"

With a deranged smile, Jeff turned back to Beth. He resumed his stroking of her cheek before looking once more at Rory.

"I gave you everything! I gave you power, immortality. I made you a goddess! I chose you, Rory! And this is how you repay me? Running off with some god damn human and another vampire! Deserting your sire, your creator, shying away from your destiny to reign supreme over mere mortals?" He vamped out, anger blazing in his now milky white eyes. His fangs descended. He smiled his deranged smile once more, looking intently at her.

"I chose you because I sensed your strong will and loyal nature. I chose you because I saw reflected in you so many of my own characteristics, characteristics I highly value. But I see that spending so much time around this poor, pathetic excuse for a vampire has influenced you beyond repair. He's ruined you. It's such a pity…you showed such wonderful possibilities." He paused, looking once more at Beth and allowing himself an even wider grin.

"Oh, well. No matter. To be honest with you, I was going to make you watch as I drained your friend here. Make you both suffer as you watched her die, unable to prevent it. But perhaps there is a way to make you suffer even more. She is such a pretty girl…and with such vitality. It would be a shame to waste such a treasure in the pursuit of revenge." Jeff paused, enjoying the looks of rage on the faces of Mick and Rory. "And she shows such promise. Besides, judging by your apparent self-hatred, you would much rather let her die than see her become what you so passionately hate. So who knows…I might just turn her yet. I haven't quite decided."

With a maniacal grin, he turned to Beth and prepared to sink his fangs into her neck. Just as his fangs were almost touching her neck, Jeff was distracted by a sudden outburst of laughter. He whirled around to see that the source of the laughter was…Rory?

Rory allowed the humourless laughter to erupt from her, drawing all eyes to herself.

"Don't you see?" She asked quietly, standing, ignoring the guns pointed at her back. The guards prepared to fire at her but, to their immense surprise, Jeff raised a hand to stop them. He was even more intrigued than everyone else in the room as to what she had meant by that. Grinning, Rory walked slowly over to Jeff, making as much of a spectacle of herself as she could possibly muster. Then, finally coming to a stop in front of Jeff, she smiled widely, threw her arms around his neck, and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. All eyes were on her.

Mick just stared at the scene unfolding before him. This definitely wasn't part of the plan…

TBC

AN: Wow…didn't see that one coming, did you? (Gasp) Yeah…probably my best plot twist yet…and my most evil cliffie. Well, I know it's been quite a while since I've updated, and I just want to say sorry for the wait. It's been hectic lately. And I've had some writer's block that I've had to work through. This chapter didn't exactly turn out like I'd originally imagined it, but I think it turned out okay nonetheless. Anyway, I hope it's slightly believable. So, just so you know, it'll probably be a while before I can update. What with exams going on now and such, it's a bit hectic for me, and it's hard to find a spare moment to write. Hopefully, I'll be able to update within the next few days…after exams are over. And just to let you all know…only a few more chapters left of this story. (Gasp) Yeah, I know. I knew this story couldn't go on forever…but it's always sad when you have to bring something good to an end. And it's really hard for me. Considering that this is my baby and all. I just want to say that I really appreciate all the positive feedback I've been receiving from you wonderful readers…I look forward to all of your wonderful reviews. It's a real confidence booster for me, and it makes me feel appreciated. I'd also like to thank all of you that have been here right from the beginning, giving me encouragement and inspiring me to keep going with it. And thank you to all of you who have stumbled upon this long the way and have continued to read. Anyway, enough of my ranting and raving about my feelings and whatnot…I guess I should probably save the rest of it for when I finally end the story. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Luvz always, Cat.