DISCLAIMER: The setting and characters belong to CBS, a production company or two, and pretty much anyone who isn't me; I do this for fun and not profit and I only really own the story and any non-'Moonlight' characters. Well, that and a new addiction to the show. ;O)


'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Summary: Samantha Lewis is now working for Mick, as well as Josef. But she has a secret...well, quite a few actually. Josef wants to find out what they are and Mick swears he's just…….curious.

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COMPLICATIONS

Chapter Two - Date

Sam had been working for Mick for six months now with no end in sight. Sadly it seemed that Josef wasn't completely honest about the loan out; and as soon as his own appointments and such began to muddle, she found she was, as her boss so glibly put it with a grin, 'double dating'.

Thankfully Mick was not demanding like Josef, so she could take a lot of her work for him home with her. She worked mornings with Josef, andafternoons if he could swing it, and the rest of the time with Mick.

Mick seemed more annoyed about her workload than she was; which amused her. Her work with the PI had long since faded from secretary and filing clerk to all round assistant; she seemed to have taken the place of Beth Turner as his sidekick on cases.

Sam had found out about the errant 'Buzzwire' reporter by accident from one of the other assistants at Josef's. It seemed she and Mick were, if not already 'hot 'n' heavy' (as the girl put it), well on their way at the time this Beth had left.

Apparently Josef thought this a 'Very Bad Idea', with many capital letters. Sam had smiled; Ania was Polish and her English was more than a little hesitant, so she emphasised things by saying "with capital letters, you see?"

Sam had nodded and pressed a little further to find out that Ania had heard that this Beth Turner had suddenly disappeared; it was thought that she was either insane or stupid by most of the girls at Konstantin's (most of whom had huge crushes on both Josef and Mick, and couldn't imagine any woman not immediately falling in love with them).

However, the fact remained that she had disappeared one day; her fiancé was dead and they'd never met any family, or even knew if they were alive. There was no forwarding address, nothing; it seemed she'd simply vanished.

Sam was also told that Mick had been distraught and not a little angry at the abrupt way she'd gone. Ania lamented that a woman as beautiful as Beth Turner could be so Very Stupid; how could you leave Mick St. John?

Sam had shrugged and said there was no accounting for taste; Ania has sniffed in disgust and said it only proved this Beth had none.

So Sam filed away this little snippet for further analysis; but she'd never been able to come up with a reason why Josef thought Mick and this Beth getting together was a "Very Bad Idea".

Well, short of Josef having a crush on the woman himself; Sam knew he had a penchant for beauty, and by all accounts Beth Turner was totallystunning.

But she also knew, whether he admitted it or not, that he had a genuine friendship with Mick and wouldn't deliberately hurt him; well, not without good reason.

Then of course there was the fact that she'd never seen either one of the two men eat, or drink for that matter. She knew they had coffee and stuff, they'd often get one for her – actually Mick would, Josef would wave a hand in the vague direction of the coffee pot; but she'd never seen either of them partake themselves.

There was much to ponder…..

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Of course all that had been in the early days; now life was too busy for ponderin. She worked late with Mick and then went home with work if necessary.

He preferred working at night, something about an allergy to sunlight – it made him feel poorly if he was out in it for too long and eventually it could even make him so ill he could die.

Apparently Josef suffered similarly and had done for a longer period than Mick, or so she'd been told. It was a little strange that two men who were unrelated could suffer from the same disease; the odds were against it certainly, but then odds were not always infallible.

She sympathized to a point, despite having dark brown hair she was very pale skinned and the sun burnt her very quickly. She didn't entirely trust sun creams so would either cover up or not go out in it.

If it was very bright it could also cause her to have a migraine attack, which could floor her for some time; so in a way she did understand their reluctance to spend much of the day outside.

This evening she sat on Mick's sofa with her head back listening to the song on the hifi. She suddenly sat up "that's Nickelback's 'Far Away'!"

He came in from the kitchen, holding a plate with a sandwich on it and a glass of milk "so?"

She arched an eyebrow as she took the plate and glass with a nod of thanks "you hate Nickelback."

"You like them, you work here too – I can suffer them for a while." He smiled "anyway this song is pretty nice." there was a knock at the door.

Mick went to answer it and in strolled Josef "you're eating" he waved his hand "continue."

"Gee thanks" Sam grumbled, her boss merely smirked.

"You were saying – about the song." Mick prompted. It wasn't often he got her to open up about her thoughts and feelings, so he was going to make the most of this opportunity.

"What? Oh right, it is a nice song. But I always find it sad though." She bit thoughtfully into her sandwich "before you ask, it's because my take on the song is that he left someone he loved very much and regretted it; maybe he went to prison or something. Anyway now he wants her back but he's not sure she feels the same; hence it's sad."

Josef nodded as he took a seat opposite "you read a lot into a few words."

"Words are all we have Mr Konstantin. Words wound better than any weapon, you know." She gave him a searching look "but sometimes the lack of them hurt even more."

"What do you mean?" she was well aware that even as he asked he dropped his gaze.

"Physical wounds heal or you die; either way the pain stops eventually. But words can cause wounds that stay forever. Open sores that never really heal; that can change our whole personality" she shrugged with a sad smile "they can also prove that life throws us curve balls when least expect them."

Mick chuckled; Josef seemed to be listening with interest, but as she looked at him his friend noticed the shutters roll back down and he changed the subject "I do have a littleerrand you could run for me…."

Sam rolled her eyes "oh no! I am officially off the clock! Mick gave me a sandwich and then I get to go home. I have a date with….."

Both men looked taken aback and spoke together "a date?"

Sam bridled "don't sound so damn surprised I do have a life away from you two you know – not much of one admittedly."

"What about Ellie?" Mick asked.

"Yes what indeed about Ellie?" Josef added "she gonna ride shotgun?"

Sam really didn't like their bossy and, dare she say it, angry attitude; though God only knew why they'd be annoyed "she's having a sleepover with her friend Hayley. I'll pick her up tomorrow morning and, as its Saturday, we're off to the zoo."

"Thezoo?" Josef looked even more horrified.

"Yeah; you know, that place where they keep all the foreign animals. If you two weren't mostly nocturnal you could go there and find out what people do for fun – you must remember fun, right? That thing most of us do that makes us laugh or just happy."

She slapped her forehead "oh right 'happy'; you two don't do happy either, do you?" she shook her head "no, you do angsty suffering" she pointed at Mick "and you do disinterested mistrust" she indicated Josef.

The other vampire ignored her sarcasm, even as Mick chuckled; she certainly had Josef down and, dare he admit it, him too.

Josef shook his head "Why would I want to visit a place that has sad animals caged up against their will? If I wanted to look at that kind of misery, I can just go visit my secretaries cubicles."

Sam rubbed a hand over her eyes; these two would drive her insane she knew it. "Look, as much as I'd love to stay and debate the pro's and con's of captive breeding for endangered species including, apparently, secretaries; I need to go home."

She stood, gathered her things, shoved another bite of sandwich into her mouth and left. Mick turned to Josef "she has a date?"

Josef snorted in derision "I doubt it; she always puts Ellie first, and I doubt that little demon would let any guy get past her."

Mick wasn't so sure and said as much "Ellie's only really just now coming to terms with the loss of her parents, so I wouldn't be too surprised if she didn't want to share her aunt. I figure that if Sam met a guy I doubt she'd immediately introduce him to her niece; so perhaps Ellie's not aware of any boyfriend."

Josef shook his head "you spend way more time with her than me and yet you really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"Sam's not the dating kind; she can't be bothered."

"And you know that how?" Mick sounded skeptical.

"Because the mini monster told me; actually Ellie wants her aunt to be happy, but Sam says dating these days is like jumping in a pool full of hungry sharks wearing nothing but raw steaks." He smiled as remembered the conversation with the kid "apparently Sam can think of nothing worse."

Mick smiled "or perhaps Ellie's just making sure you don't get any ideas?"

His friend glared at him "I don't date women with shorter shelf lives than me."

"Ellie wouldn't know that though would she?" he hesitated before adding "unless you've said…?"

The other vampire looked a little sheepish "no; you?"

"No" Mick did the same.

"We should; you know, tell her."

"Mmmm, but she's really good at her job."

"Oh absolutely – it'd be a shame to have her freak out and leave."

They nodded together; Mick changed the subject "so how do we find out who the guy is?"

"You want to?"

"Of course; we should check up – you know, make sure she's alright."

"It would be the right thing to do, I agree – as her friends as well as employers, it almost our duty to really."

Mick grinned "you care!"

His friend glared again "I do not– take that back!"

"Nope; you do - and that is so funny!!" Mick couldn't help the chuckle.

Josef merely glared angrily "think what you like, but I suggest we get a move on. Sam isn't like most women who take two hours to apply make-up; when we went to a business function it took her five minutes to apply it in the ladies." He smiled "she really is the exception to the rule in that area at least."

Mick refrained from reiterating his friend liked the mortal and merely nodded "better get going then; she's already got a head start on us."

"I can't." Josef looked belligerent.

"Can't or won't?" Mick sighed "look, I was only kidding; you don't like her and you don't care, fair enough. Now come on."

"I'm not going – I can't. I have a reputation to protect." Josef stood resolutely "you go."

"What about my reputation?" Mick asked; almost half expecting the retort that followed.

"It's common knowledge amongst the clans that you have a soft spot for mortals. You haven't got a reputation to ruin, let's be honest." Josef replied smugly.

Mick sighed and nodded; he knew better than to argue with the other vampire when he was in this sort of mood; they'd spend hours going back and forth as to who was right and get nowhere.

Meanwhile Sam could be being murdered by some charming psychopath. He ignored the triumphant smug look that Josef gave him as he left.

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Half an hour later he was banging on her door; she finally answered it, dressed in a bathrobe and sniffling. She'd obviously been crying and Mick just saw red.

He pushed past her into the apartment and started scanning for a likely intruder. "What is your problem?" she asked incredulously.

"Whose hurt you – seriously Sam, I can deal with him." Mick came up to her and took her gently by the shoulders "you don't need to cover for him."

She looked completely confused for a moment and then realization dawned "oh for the love of God!!" She took a deep steadying breath "Look I am crying because I am watching a sad film and yesterday was the second anniversary of my brother's death." She shrugged "I miss him."

"What film you watching?"

"Dracula – the one with Gary Oldman." She led him further into the living room and he saw the movie paused on the screen.

"You're crying at Dracula?" Mick couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice.

"Yeah" she coloured in embarrassment; her discomfiture making her snippy in her reply "I feel sorry for him okay? I mean what a terrible life to lead; and all because he loved this one woman so much."

"He killed people." Mick felt obligated to point out.

"Yes he did; and that was so wrong I can't tell you. But overall he cuts a pathetic figure. For all his strength and abilities, he becomes what he is purely for love." She nodded "how many women can say they have the love of a man who turned his back on heaven to be with her?"

Mick smiled "who knew you were a romantic at heart?"

"I'm not really. But I just feel sorry for this guy – of course real vampires don't behave like this." She gestured to the screen "I mean how could they turn into bats or rats, even more than one – or a werewolf? Lycanthropy is a totally different disease anyway."

Mick looked closely at her "you believe in them?"

She gestured to a chair "Possibly." She knew he could tell she was hedging and sighed "some people think they do. I watched a show on Discovery about it last night."

Mick had sat down "I see, and what do you think?"

"I think, if they existed, they could take blood from willing….ummm…. participants and they wouldn't need to kill them. I don't think vampires need to drain a body; people who know of them but are willing to help. Or there's blood banks now, where they could get human blood and slaughter houses for animal blood. There's ways round the problem of……hunting, I'm sure."

"You are?" Mick was amused, but also intrigued – she seemed well informed for a mortal.

"Yeah, I mean this is the 21st century – twenty four hour living. There's ways round most things these days." She thought for a moment "even so, I feel as sorry for them as I do for him" she gestured at the frozen image on the screen.

"You think immortality should be pitied?" Mick used the line he'd heard from Josef a thousand times.

"Yeah; look, Mick, we're not meant to live forever. We're meant to have a finite lifespan; like a maybug – we're born, we live and we die. If we're lucky and done our best we leave someone behind who'll remember us fondly."

"Ah but think of all the developments a vampire could've seen if they've lived long enough. The fall of Rome at best or at least the development of penicillin, the invention of the car; from 1900 to 2000 alone they would've witnessed the change from candles and gaslight to everyone accessing the world wide web." He smiled as he realized just how like Josef he sounded; God his friend would be proud.

But Sam shook her head "oh and let's not forget the development of the atom bomb, the two world wars and also the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts too.

But it's not just general stuff; it's the personal things too. Like never being able to eat again; watching loved ones age and die whilst they stay forever young. Knowing there is no end in sight and therefore nothing to strive for – after all, why hurry to do anything when you've got all of eternity to achieve it?"

"You sound like you know that for a certainty?" Mick was suspicious.

Sam coloured "no, not personally. I mean you've seen me eat and drink – as for drinking blood" she pulled a face.

"So how do know so much?"

"I….I read about it." She wouldn't look at him.

"Oh – last night?"

"No" she knew he was digging and she hated it "a few years ago….." she hesitated and then added "just for fun you know."

"Hmmmm" but he wasn't convinced; she had secrets of her own it seemed. He took a deep breath….she jumped up.

"Don't do that!" She flapped a hand at him.

"What?" He opened his eyes and tried to look innocent.

"That…that thing you do. I've seen you do it when you're on a case. You….sniff the air and can tell what happened. But I'm not a case Mick, and you should believe what I'm saying." She sounded hurt and he nodded.

"Yeah, sure – sorry." He rose "so, no date then?"

She smiled "yes, I….."

But before she could go further he put in "was stood up?"

She frowned "what is it with you and Josef that makes you think no man would want me?!" Too late Mick realized he'd annoyed her "if Iwanted a date, trust me I could damn well get one!"

"But not tonight obviously" Mick gestured to what she was wearing.

"Obviously" she continued to glare.

He ignored it knowing that Josef would want more info on his return "so why say you had?"

"AllI said was I had a date – you two never let me finish what I was saying before your incredulity at this made you butt in and I was annoyed you were so disbelieving, so I let you believe I had a real date."

"Instead of which you had a different one?" Mick frowned; no wonder men didn't understand women when they spoke in stupid riddles.

"Yeah I had a date with a dvd, a tub Ben & Jerry's and a box of tissues." She nodded at the table.

Mick smiled "I'll let you get back to it" he nodded at the still frozen screen "sorry for interrupting your date Drac."

She punched his shoulder but was grinning as he left; he turned and brushed her cheek with his thumb "don't cry for him Sam; sometimes even the hardest sacrifice is worth it if you love someone enough. I doubt he regretted it."

She nodded; but tears swum again – he gave her brief hug and loped off.

Carol, a neighbour was just coming out to go on the evening shift at the local diner "wow! Who was that Adonis?!"

"One of my bosses; Mick St. John." Sam smiled "he's a really nice guy."

"Got a great butt too….you could bounce apples on it!" Carol grinned "lucky girl!"

Sam sighed and shook her head "get your mind out of the gutter Kaz we're just friends!"

"Try and get some benefits with that 'friend' if you know what I mean!" the other woman winked as she headed to the elevator.

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Mick's hearing meant he heard every word of the exchange – and could also picture the burning embarrassment on Sam's cheeks.

He went back to his car chuckling; Josef was going to love this!