It's Friday!!!!!!! (6am PST) New episode of Moonlight tonight!!!!!!!!!!!! And the last, but a least we will have fanfiction to pass the weeks. I have to got to work, but I expect to see reviews when I return!!!!!! This is the entire next chapter. There is no evil cliffies here!!!! I also want to point out an earlier comment "I always have happy endings."

Thanks for all your comments and support.

Enjoy!!!!

The Small Things

Rain continued to pour down in the desert. Mick climbed into the front seat. "You need to stabilize him Beth."

Beth looked frantically at Josef's condition. She knew there was nothing she could do for him. "Turn him, Mick," Beth urged, "Turn him."

"No, Beth. Turnings can easily go wrong, and turnings during traumatic events, almost never work. Besides, we don't know if he can be turned. Turning him now could kill him…" Mick hated admitting it, but he knew there was nothing he could do.

That wasn't going to stop him from doing everything possible though. Mick started the car and speed off toward the highway, the tires kicking up mud. Beth clutched Josef as the Xterra bounced across the uneven terrain. Her soaked clothes and damp skin made it difficult to hold his limp body. She applied pressure to the wound, but it continued to gush blood.

Mick focused on driving, pushing the sceänt of Josef blood out of his mind. He focused on Josef's heartbeat. It had become sporadic. Mick knew there wasn't much time. He urged the Xterra faster.

As Mick speed up, the bumps jostled Josef more. Beth lost her grip and Josef slipped out of her arms. She grabbed him again pulling him back into her lap. She noticed a small vile slip from Josef's pocket as she straightened him.

She leaned over and picked it up, recognizing it from earlier. "Distilled vampire essence. We came up with it long ago. It will cure everything, even cancer. Makes humans heal like vampires.

"Mick!" Beth shouted. "I found a bottle of vampire essence in Josef's pocket."

Mick rejoiced. "Pour it in his wound." He slowed the car so that Beth wouldn't spill any of the liquid. This was Josef's one chance.

"How much?!" Beth panicked. She had no clue what to do. Her hands were shaking so bad she couldn't remove the cap. She also knew this was Josef's last chance.

"Just dump the whole bottle." Mick stopped the car and twisted in his seat to watch Beth.

Beth finally removed the cap and with a deep breath, poured the bottle over Josef's chest. Nothing happened. Josef continued to lie there, wheezing irregularly for breath. Then, all of a sudden, the wound closed. Josef's chest convulsed and he sat straight up, screaming.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

He clutched his chest, continuing to scream silently after all the oxygen left his lungs. Beth jumped back, bumping her head against the handle above the window.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!" Josef screamed massaging his chest.

"You- you were shot," Beth stuttered timidly. "We thought you were going to die. Then I found the bottle of vampire essence in your pocket." She held the bottle up for him to see.

Josef took the bottle from her. "You used all of it?"

"Y-yes," Beth answered.

Josef rubbed his chest again. "A few drop will do the trick, Blondie," he said as snarky as ever. "And what happened to my shirt?"

"You were shot, Josef," Mick said.

"So-" Josef stopped as Beth held up his blood soaked shirt. He swallowed, looking at what had once been an expensive hand-made Italian shirt. Then he saw the blood that was covering Beth hands and the back seat of the Xterra. Mick took Josef's silence to mean that he understood how close he had come to death.

The rain stopped as quickly as it had started and Josef stared out the window. His memories were drawn to other rainy days… This is why I never leave the house when it rains, he thought, This only confirms my superstitions.

"Where's the woman?" Josef asked quietly.

"She and the other vamp are back by their car. Mick and I left in a hurry, trying to get you to a hospital," Beth said.

"Other vamp?" Mick said questionably, after Beth finished.

"Yeah, the other vamp, the male that I paralyzed before you guys got there," Beth explained.

"Way to go Blondie," Josef cheered. "How did you paralyze him?"

Beth gulped. She really didn't want to tell him about breaking his mother's mirror. "Uh… well… Josef, I…" Beth stumbled trying to find an easy way to tell him. There was no good way to say it. "I used the mirror you gave me as a club and it broke, so I used the pieces as a knife and impaled him. Then I threw Mick the other piece and he used it to impale the woman." Beth closed her eyes, held her breath and waited for the storm.

It didn't come. She opened her eyes and looked at Josef. He was smiling. She gawked at him. "Aren't you mad at me? That was priceless, family heirloom and I destroyed it."

Josef did the one thing Beth didn't expect; he chuckled. "Beth, you haven't lived as long as me, so let me pass on some advice… Heirlooms and material goods have no meaning, other than what you give them. It's what gives those objects their meaning that is important."

But-" Beth started, but Josef continued.

"That mirror couldn't have consoled Mick if he had lost you. And it wouldn't have consoled me when Mick died of a broken heart. Believe me, that mirror means more to me broken, then it does intact."

Beth shocked both Mick and Josef when she swung her arms around Josef, hugging him.

Josef hesitantly hugged her back, looking at Mick. Mick smiled and mouthed 'Thank you' over Beth's shoulder. He didn't have to clarify, they both knew, Josef had sacrificed himself to save Beth for Mick. Josef just smiled in response.

Beth pulled back from Josef, "Oh, I almost forgot." She dug into her pocket and pulled out Josef's ring. "I saw this on the woman, and figure you wanted it back." She handed it to him.

Josef gulped a few times, took the ring and looked up at her. He didn't need to say it. The gratitude in his eyes was enough. Mick smiled, All's well that ends well.

"So, the mirror was silver backed? That's why it burned my hand." He held up his hand to show a perfect crescent moon, burned into his palm.

The three laughed. Mick started up the car. "Let's go clean up and then get back to town. I'm sure Adriana will want to hear all about this."

Josef grimaced. "Okay, but can we play down the life threatening parts?"

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