The dark side of forever

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of any part of Moonlight- this is purely a not-for-profit fanfiction to pay respect to a great show I am gutted was cancelled.

Chapter 2

When Beth woke up, it was Saturday afternoon and sunlight was streaming through her apartment. Groaning, she pulled herself upright and realised she was on top of her bedspread, fully dressed and covered only by her red throw blanket. The boots she had been wearing last night were stowed neatly next to her bed. Despite the strange ending to the night, and apparently having been carried unconscious from the car and put to bed by a strange vampire, Beth concluded that was the best nights, well days, sleep she had had in months.

After padding through to the kitchen and fixing a bowl of cereal for a very late breakfast, taking a quick shower and throwing some jeans and a sweater on, Beth looked for her keys. She quickly discovered them on the floor just inside the front door, where Harry had obviously posted them through the letterbox after he had locked the door from the outside. It was difficult to complain about someone looking after you that well, but Beth was fully prepared to make a long overdue call as soon as the sun set and tell Josef to get him and all of his lackeys, however polite and chivalrous they were, out of her life once and for all. Until nightfall, however, there was nothing she could do on that front, and it was only half past one.

Beth had not sat still for one day in the last seven and a half months, since the day she was pulled out of her two week bed bound pity party and back into work, if not life. Today was going to be no exception.

She typed her report from last night's investigations at the paper factory and saved it to one of the encrypted memory sticks Ben had given her. Being a freelance assistant to the Assistant District Attorney's office had been working well for Beth since… well, since eight months ago. Ben gave her no end of juicy stories to follow up on, and full technical support as she needed it. If she was being truthful, some days it was Ben Talbot who gave her a reason to keep going. He was good to work for, without ever trying to make her his partner, which she could not have handled. He was a good friend, without trying to become a lover, which she could not even contemplate. Best of all, Ben had things of his own going on that meant he was not breathing down her neck all the time, wanting to know if she was alright, or treating her like a breakable fragile ornament.

Slipping the memory stick into her pocket and picking up her shoulder bag, Beth headed for her car- left neatly parked in its usual space- and into the office.

Beth popped her head round Ben's office door and saw him engrossed in the papers spread over the entire surface of his desk. He did not hear her quiet knock on the door, or when she cleared her throat, but when she half shouted 'Ben!' he looked up, startled. Beth could not help but notice how he gathered up the papers and pressed the folder closed before she got as far as the desk.

Then he smiled easily and she berated herself for being more paranoid than usual.

'Beth,' Ben greeted her warmly, although his smile was a bit brittle. 'It's a Saturday- you have to stop working sometime.'

'I could say the same for you,' Beth retorted.

'Well I am an ADA. I'm a very important man.'

'Oh I know,' Beth smiled. 'I saw the memo. You're a very important man and sequins are on trend this winter.'

'You didn't finish reading it. It also said Beth Turner must get a life at the weekend.'

'This is why I never read your memos.'

Ben laughed and Beth sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She slid the memory stick across the wooden surface to him.

'Seriously,' she said, 'I just came by to drop this off. It's everything ADA Johnson will need. It was almost appallingly easy to get the dirt on this one.'

'That's my golden girl. And now you're going to have fun somewhere to celebrate? Doing something that isn't work?'

'Right after you, boss,' Beth quipped. She started reaching for her bag when she saw a look flash across Ben's face, one that she knew all too well from family and friends over the last year. It could only mean an 'I'm just worried about you' lecture was on its way. 'Actually, I am going to have to be off,' she said hastily. 'To get ready. I'm going out tonight.'

Ben's eyes widened slightly, before he composed his face into something more neutral.

'Oh?' he enquired mildly.

'Mmm. I'm going to see an old friend,' Beth said. It was not technically a lie, if you read 'old friend' in the sense that she nowadays could not stand to look at him. And she had been slowly coming to the conclusion over the course of the day that a phone call probably was not going to cut it is she wanted to shake this particular deviant. 'I think you might have met him once before, last year: Josef Kostan.'

Beth was unprepared for how Ben's face suddenly darkened and he leaned forward in his chair.

'Kostan? What do you need to see him for?'

Beth frowned, uncertainly. 'Like I said, he's an old friend. He's been out of the country for a while, and we have some unfinished business to take care of. What's your problem, Talbot?'

Ben sighed. 'I just think he's bad news. Beth, be careful, okay? That guy is dangerous.'

Inwardly, Beth groaned at the irony. Josef had a reputation for being a dangerous businessman that preceded him, but most people had no clue that he was an ancient and powerful vampire capable of almost anything, wrapped up in the pretty body of a young twenty-something playboy. If people like Ben had heard and seen things about Josef that caused them concern, and their gut instinct was telling them something was wrong, they had no idea how right they were. Having said that, Beth knew that, unfortunately, Josef would kill anyone who so much as thought about harming a hair on her head. He thought of her as family.

'I'll be fine,' she assured Ben, who looked anything but convinced. 'I thought you wanted me to get out of the office!'

'I do. I know he's your friend, but, let's just say Kostan's name has come up on a… a list that you don't want to see your friends on.'

Beth could not think what he was talking about, but, from the unconscious flicker of Ben's eyes as he mentioned the 'list', she had half an idea it was linked to that folder of papers he was leaning possessively on.

'Okay,' she said, hesitantly. 'I'll be careful. There'll be a bunch of people there anyway.' Which was true, considering Josef's house was one continuous party and he never went anywhere without an entourage. The only problem was that safety in numbers did not really apply when over half of those people were vampires.

As she left the office, Beth vowed to get a look at that file no matter what it took. True, Josef was none of her concern anymore, nor was anything to do with the vampire world, but her curiosity was well and truly piqued. Though 'the list' was no doubt connected to Josef's shark–like business dealings rather than his vampire antics, just in case it was anything to do with Mi… Either way, she was kidding herself if she thought she did not care enough to find out what the hell Ben was on to.

Don't worry chickens, Josef is on the way... please review if you would be so kind! Thanks for reading.