Chapter two. I let go a bit on this one and the result is rather more in-depth reflection from both Mick and Beth. Expect plenty of angst, soul-searching and a certain amount of logic! It feels bad to make Mick suffer like this (I love him really!) but we all know how things work out in the end. I'm currently wondering if it's weird to look at the image of him at the end of this episode and still think he looks gorgeous...

Rating and spoilers as before.

Disclaimer: The series Moonlight and all characters from it are copyright of Warner Bros. I do not own any rights to the series, or it would never have been cancelled. This story is written for non commercial purposes only.

MPOV

I remained slumped on the floor for a long time, weak from the silver and crushed by the sense of loss. Part of me had wanted her to know what I was but, now that she did, I could only curse myself for having spoken the words that opened her eyes to my true nature. The feeling of misery was overwhelming and I sank into it, allowing the shadows to fill my mind.

I don't know how long I stayed like that, but eventually the thirst drew me out of my stupor. I could not ignore my need for blood and I raised the bag in my hand, pushing the tube into my mouth again. As I gulped compulsively at the blood, its rich tangy flavour both allured and repelled me. An unwanted but unavoidable reminder of the monster within me, it lingered on my tongue, intensifying the craving.

I grimaced in self-disgust, a familiar sense of shame flooding through me as the warm liquid flowed down my throat. How could I ever imagine that I could live like humans, be accepted by them, fit into their world? I was a vampire and I deserved their condemnation. I knew how I must have looked to Beth and the memory of her expression tormented me. She would despise me, and that was probably for the best. I was no good for her.

My thoughts drifted back 22 years to the day I first met her. I had saved her life, it's true, but she would never had needed saving it it weren't for me. Coraline had kidnapped her in an insane attempt to repair our marriage. Right from the start, I had caused trouble for Beth. I remembered the fear in her eyes as she watched the fight that ended in my wife's death.

I had seen that same emotion as she stood in the warehouse, the gun in her hand shaking. I knew that I would rather die than cause her to look at me in fear. Was there any chance at all that she could know what I was and not feel terror? It seemed like an impossible hope, although I did not doubt her courage. I had seen plenty of evidence of it, most recently when she came to my aid this evening, shooting Lee Jay as he was about to kill me.

She had saved my life and all I could say was "I thought I told you to stay in the car," like an irate father chastising his child. I shook my head, angry at my inadequate response. I just couldn't get anything right where Beth was concerned.

I felt some of my strength returning and I stood up, retrieving the two remaining blood bags and hastily swallowing their contents. I walked into the kitchen to dispose of the empty bags, clearing away all evidence of my ghoulish nature. Keeping the secret was a fundamental rule of the vampire community and one that I observed as a matter of course.

A thought suddenly occurred to me - even in my weakened state I should have known better than to leave the door open when I came home earlier on. I couldn't believe I had been so careless. Preoccupied with my inexplicable mistake, I turned to walk back to the seating area, then caught myself as I stumbled against the kitchen counter. I badly needed to get some sleep if I was to recover properly from the poison in my body. I made my way to the stairs, more than willing to climb into my freezer. Right now, oblivion would be welcome.

BPOV

When I arrived at my apartment, I found three messages on my answering machine, all of them from Josh. He had heard about what had happened, of course, and he was worried. He asked me to ring him as soon as I got home and offered to come round and keep me company. That was the last thing I wanted at that moment.

I hung my coat on the hook and dropped my bag next to the couch before walking to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. I had barely started to drink it when the phone rang and I wasn't surprised to hear Josh's voice when I answered. Any other time I would have been touched by his concern and glad for the comfort of his presence. Today I just wanted him to leave me in peace so that I could think about what had happened at Mick's apartment.

It wasn't easy to convince Josh that I was OK, but eventually I pursuaded him that I just needed to get some sleep and would be fine on my own. Then I took another sip of my coffee and settled onto the couch for some serious thinking. I had recovered from my initial shock and my reporter's instincts had begun to kick in. I decided to look at the facts in a logical manner, no matter how crazy the whole idea seemed.

Firstly, what did I know about Mick? Surprisingly little, I realised, and certainly nothing that would directly contradict what he had said to me. What I had observed of him, on the other hand, might actually support his astonishing claim. There were all those odd incidents that had never seemed to add up. For instance, he had a strange way of appearing without warning and disappearing equally quickly. In fact, he did seem to move with extraordinary speed when I wasn't looking.

And I thought I'd seen him on the warehouse roof this evening, but I had dismissed it as my imagination, as I usually did with Mick. Just like those things I had seen when Daniel, Professor Ellis's teaching assistant, had drugged me. No ordinary human would be able to jump onto a moving car that way, or throw a grown man into the air, not to mention being stabbed in the chest with no apparent injury. I had put it all down to the drugs making me hallucinate - now I wasn't so sure.

Then there was the mystery of his 'father'. When I told Mick that the man in the photograph looked like his twin, he gave some glib reply about inheriting "strong genes", but could it have been him in the picture? The old police officer, Bobby Desmond, had insisted that the Mick St John he had known had no children. Supposedly, vampires didn't age, so perhaps it really was Mick 25 years ago. If that was the case, just how old was he? He could be hundreds - or even thousands - of years old! I filed that thought away to consider at a later date.

I scoured my memory for anything else I knew about vampire mythology. Well, they certainly didn't like garlic or crosses and there was something about holy water, but I had no idea how Mick reacted to any of these. It crossed my mind to wonder if he slept in a coffin but, since I couldn't know that either, I moved on to the next question. What about sunlight - wasn't it meant to be deadly to them? Now that I thought about it, most of the time I had seen Mick, it was after dark or in the shade. But I was sure that I had seen him in the sun at least once.

That line of thought was turning out to be pretty inconclusive and I knew that it was time to turn my mind to the most famous vampire characteristic - the one I had been putting off. The disturbing image floated before my eyes again and I could no longer deny what I had seen: Mick had been drinking blood. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't human. I knew from my encounter with the professor how some people could delude themselves, but that wouldn't explain the rest of this craziness.

I couldn't forget the way he had looked. The extreme pallor of his face could be a result of being shot. His eyes, on the other hand... His irises had been a very pale blue or silver, almost colourless. I had never heard of any kind of bullet that could cause that. And there was something else. When he spoke, I had seen his teeth and the fangs were unmistakable. There really was only one conclusion. However unthinkable it was, I had to accept the possibility that Mick was telling the truth. That he was...it was still hard even to think the word but I forced myself to face the facts at last. Mick was a vampire.