Beautiful banner by Moonlightlover60
This is an AU Moonlight story. What if Mick regularly fed fresh when Beth discovered the truth about him? Come along for the 5 part adventure and find out!
*DISCLAIMER* If you recognize anyone in this story, I don't own them. Only the story idea is mine.
This chapter is a long one everyone. There is lots happening in the Twisted world of Mick and Beth. Hope you enjoy!
Twisted 4
Mick’s V/O
Destiny…those mysterious twists and turns that lead us down paths we might have avoided otherwise. Sometimes, they took you places you really didn’t want to go, but every now and then, they hit the ball out of the park.
Guillermo and Mick spotted Beth looking in the door of the morgue, trying to see what was going on. This was both pleasing to Mick and alarming all at the same time. Yes, he wanted to see her but only if she wanted to see him. He took a deep, unnecessary breath and headed out to talk to her.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
They looked at one another and smiled and then laughed since they had spoken at the same time. Beth’s heart pounded as she stood right in front of him; was he happy to see her or not?
She decided from the crooked grin he gave her that he was as happy to see her as she was to see him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him; she looked up and down the hall to make sure they were alone before doing just that.
Guillermo spied them kissing from the room and grinned to himself. She sure was a hottie; lucky Mick he thought. And she wasn’t shy either apparently, but then again, he didn’t notice Mick holding back much either.
Beth sighed as the kiss ended, excited to feel the same magic she had felt last night and this morning. She stared into his eyes for a moment and he met her look unflinchingly which made her relax.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Working on a case. You?”
“Word is there is a badly chewed up body; had all its blood drained out. Is it…?”
“Yes, it’s a vampire. Beth, this is too dangerous for you to be working on.”
“Hey, I’ve been working these cases since before I knew about vampires; I’m not backing off Mick.”
Mick groaned; he knew that she wasn’t going to leave it alone. “Well, it looks like we’ll be working the case together then.” He watched her reaction and added, “Okay?”
Her face lit up with excitement that brought a sparkle to her eyes. “Absolutely! It’ll be fun being on the hunt with you. So, what now?” she asked as they headed down the hall.
“I need to go and see a friend of mine; Josef. He generally knows who to talk to about these things.”
“Josef, hm? Well, let’s go!” she said, heading for his car.
A moment of panic rose in Mick’s throat. He didn’t really want to take her with him to see Josef; not after his reaction to her last night. He should have kept his mouth shut and talked to Josef later, when he was on his own. He knew that Beth wouldn’t stay in the car so he finally decided to just go with it and hope he didn’t have to force Josef to back off – he might see her as fair game now that Mick had bit her.
He unlocked the door for Beth and held it open and watched as she slid in. He shut the door and missed her grin at his courtliness, which was actually kind of nice she decided.
He headed the car downtown to Josef’s offices and occasionally cast glances at Beth as they drove. She was thinking about something pretty hard he noticed; her forehead was furrowed in thought. He knew he wouldn’t have to wait long to find out and he grinned at the thought.
“So how old are you? You look about 30, but…”
Here it came; the questions. He laughed and said, “It’s not polite to ask people their ages!”
“That’s just women!” she quipped.
“I’ll be 85 in November. Next?”
“Next what?” she teased innocently.
“Question?”
They played 20 vampire questions on the way to Josef’s. She learned he can’t fly or turn into a bat, that stakes don’t kill vampires, silver is poison to them and that fire would definitely kill them, but the sun wouldn’t do it, immediately any way.
“So where do you keep your coffin? Do you have like a special room for it?”
He laughed out right at that and it startled her at the depth of his amusement over that question. She had been serious and she thought he was being rude. “You don’t have to laugh at me like that!” she sputtered.
“I’m not laughing at you; it’s the old ‘coffin’ thing. Vampires don’t sleep in coffins Beth. We sleep in freezers!”
She wasn’t sure she heard him right. She grimaced as she said, “Fr – freezers? Really?”
“Yep. No coffins, I promise.”
“That seems, um, wrong I guess. I mean, don’t you freeze solid?” she asked, truly puzzled.
“They have temperature controls you know. I keep mine at about 35 degrees; some vamps like it colder and some like it warmer. It’s just a matter of choice. It uh, helps to keep us from decomposing.”
That was a disturbing thought. Obviously they weren’t really ‘alive’ in the way she was, but they weren’t really dead either she knew. She had more questions when they pulled into a parking lot.
Mick again opened her door and waited for her to get out of the car. As they walked into the building she read the information board. “Kostan Industries? Josef Kostan is your friend Josef?” she asked, stunned by the news. He was just about LA’s richest hedge fund trader.
As they walked Mick debated whether to warn her that Josef was the one at his loft the night before. He decided not to; she would find out soon enough and who knows? She might not have gotten a good enough look at him to recognize him today.
She was silent on the ride up to the office. When the doors opened Vincent, one of Josef’s associates greeted them. “Mick, how are you this evening?” he asked politely, glancing at Beth with interest as he scented her.
Mick stepped in front of her, blocking Vincent’s view. “Hey Vincent. Is he available?”
“For you Mick? Certainly. Go on in.” Vincent watched them as they made their way down the hallway. When Beth looked back at him he was still watching her, a small smile on his face.
Inside the office, Josef was standing at a putting green, a putter in hand. He grinned as Mick walked in and then spied Beth, following behind. “Mick! And who do we have here?”
Beth stared at him for a moment and then her eyes opened wide as she recognized him from the night before. “YOU! From last night at Mick’s!” She walked up to him and stared at him, before walking around him as she checked him out. Mick was on guard as she circled him, ready to jump in if necessary.
Josef stood there and grinned. “She’s even cuter than I thought Mick.” He inhaled deeply and realized that Mick had bitten her, marked her. He nodded in Mick’s direction to let him know that he knew and would behave.
Beth stopped in front of him and gazed up with accusing eyes. “You scared me half to death last night with those girls; I thought they were dead!”
“Yes, well I’m sure Mick has explained about all that. They are perfectly fine today, I assure you. Are you always this direct Ms…. ?”
“Turner. Beth Turner. And yes, I am. So you’re one of them too?”
Josef laughed and said, “She doesn’t have any hidden stakes does she? I like you Blondie; you’re feisty!”
Mick didn’t laugh, but he did grin. “No Josef, no stakes.”
“Good. Now, what can I do for you?”
Beth stood toe-to-toe with Josef and glared at him. “My name isn’t Blondie!”
Josef laughed and briefly bowed his head towards her. “Alright, Ms. Turner then?”
Beth backed down and said, “Beth will do.”
They spent the next half hour discussing the rogue vampire issue and Josef told Mick to talk to the cleaners, which Mick agreed to do.
An hour later they were armed with more information as the hunt for the rogue continued. Beth was quiet, thinking about Josh and what she wanted to say to Mick about him. He hadn’t said anything about a relationship between them, but she still wanted to talk to him about it all.
“Mick?” she asked, softly, her voice almost a whisper.
He looked at her quickly, wondering why she was suddenly so serious. “Yeah?”
I, um, I wanted to talk to you about something. I just don’t know how to say it I guess.”
Mick’s breath rushed out of him in a ‘whoosh’; he felt as if he’s just been kicked in the gut. This is it, this is where she tells you it’s been great, but it isn’t going to happen again.
“Last night was incredible; so was this morning. It just made me think about my relationship with Josh, you know?”
He couldn’t say a word, his heart was breaking. He managed to nod while holding on to the steering wheel. You should have known better than to think anything could come of this.
He was so quiet she wondered if she should continue. He probably didn’t want to deal with this, a human relationship, if that is even possible she reminded herself. She was half afraid it would only build a wall between them if she went on, but she had to; she had to take the chance.
“Mick, I don’t know what happened, uh, is happening with us, you and me, that is, but I don’t want it to stop…”
Mick interrupted and said, “You want to be with me? Beth I…”
Before he could continue she said, “Please Mick, let me just say this while I still can okay? I’m going to tell Josh that it’s over between us. Not just because of you and me but because it isn’t working between us, uh, Josh and I and hasn’t for a long time now. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy, just not for me. I – I don’t know if anything is possible between a vampire and a human, and I don’t even know if you are remotely interested in that, but I wanted you to know that I am.” She watched him as he digested her words and softly chewed her bottom lip while she waited for him to speak.
“Beth, I’m, I don’t…”
Oh God, here it comes, the ‘I don’t want that speech’;. Shoulda kept my mouth shut…
“Beth, I’m so happy that you told me this. I couldn’t have gone on if you were going to stay with him. I don’t want to come between you and Josh, but I can’t deny that I want to be with you.” Inside Mick was doing cart wheels, he felt about 16 again and it felt so good.
Beth grinned like a fool at his words. He does care about me! She wanted to yell it out the car windows at all the other cars. Control Beth, control…
She took a deep breath and said, “Is it possible, between vampires and humans?”
He threw her a look that said, ‘What, are you crazy? What do you call last night and this morning?’ But he understood her concerns and truthfully, he had them too. Since he had become a vampire he had never had a relationship with a human. “It can be done, but I won’t lie to you Beth – relationships between vamps and humans can be complicated, difficult, and dangerous. Does that change anything for you?”
She listened to his words and considered them. She understood what he was saying to her; they were in two different worlds and things wouldn’t be easy, but she didn’t care. Right now she could slay dragons to be with him and knew that regardless of how hard it was, she was in for trying it.
“Okay, I get it. We’ll never know if we don’t try, will we?” She gave him a mischievous grin and added, “Besides, you know you want me!”
“That I do baby, that I do.” He quieted for moment and realized it was time for his true confessions. This could break the deal, but he had to tell her. “Beth, I have to tell you something and it could change everything between us. But just hear me out; listen to everything I tell you before you decide on anything, okay?”
His somber tone almost scared her. What could he tell her that would change anything?
“Okay, I’ll listen.” What she heard stunned her. Never in a million years would she have guessed what he told her. Or would she? Hadn’t she been seeing his face in her dreams since Daniel tried to kill her? Part of her knew she realized; it just hadn’t let the other part know it yet.
She was quiet as she let it all sink in; she was quiet for so long in fact that Mick was scared to death. He pulled the car over into a parking lot so that he could focus on her.
“Beth?” he probed quietly, watching her face. He saw tears streaking her cheeks and he pulled her to him, setting her on his lap and holding her close. He knew it was all a huge shock to her.
She sobbed into his shoulder and he rocked her in his arms, rubbing her back as she clung to him. “It’s alright Beth, it’s going to be okay, I promise.”
“Oh M-Mick. Part of me knew, I did. It’s why I always feel safe with y-y-you. Even last night, I knew I was safe even though I was scared. It explains so much, it does.”
“Yeah, I know Beth, I know. I didn’t want to freak you out when we first met again, you know, so I didn’t tell you.”
He felt her head nodding against his shoulder. “All those years you watched over me, kept me safe. Do you know I always felt your presence? I always felt safe Mick, because of you. I always thought of you as my Guardian Angel.”
Mick smoothed her hair off of her face and kissed her cheek. He could taste the salt of her tears and he kissed as many of them away as he could. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his chest, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. She knew that this was where she was supposed to be.
Just then her cell phone beeped. She pulled it out of her pocket and told Mick it was some information they had requested. It brought both of them back to the case they were working on.
Before he started the car Mick looked at her again; her cheeks and nose were red from the tears and her eyes a bit watery still but he thought she had never looked better. “Well, let’s get going to Dr. Pollack’s house then.”
She nodded and Mick pulled back onto the road. The smiles they both wore told the story of their happiness.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
The next few days went by in a flash for Beth; working with Mick had been exciting and like nothing she had ever encountered. Her only regret was that she hadn’t had a chance to speak with Josh. He had cancelled dinner, twice and she was determined not to tell him on the phone. She and Mick kept a safe physical distance from each other; neither wanted to be together again until Josh was out of the picture, but it was difficult for them both.
They caught the rogue vampire, who had killed three people, including his wife. It was a shocking discovery for Beth and made her ask Mick about rogues.
“How does this happen Mick? Are they mentally unstable?”
“Well, I guess they can be; usually though it’s a newly turned vamp that hasn’t been trained. But not always – sometimes are just older vamps that are bored or think that human laws and rules no longer apply to them.”
“Are there vampire rules or laws?”
“Yes, there are and they move a lot swifter than human laws do. When we catch a rogue, they are immediately executed.”
“Wow, that uh, must save a lot on prison costs then huh?” She grimaced at her own feeble attempt at humor, but it was a really scary situation they had faced. Mick had incinerated Dr. Pollack as soon as he caught him.
Mick reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll always protect you Beth, okay? I promise.”
She believed that, but what if he wasn’t around? How did she protect herself?”
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
When Josh called her early that Sunday morning she was excited at first; here would be the chance to set up a meeting so she could tell him she didn’t want to see him any longer. Unfortunately, he had something else in mind.
Which is how she found herself, with Josh at Mick’s loft that morning. They had chatted about the case a bit and Beth began to understand why he had been so preoccupied with it. Now, the safety of a brave young woman lay in Mick’s hands. Beth didn’t know what he would say or do about it.
The scene was awkward among the three of them. Mick and Beth often exchanged looks that Josh couldn’t decipher; looks he knew he needed to get to the bottom of but right now his main concern was for his case – Beth would have to wait.
Mick agreed to try and find Leni and they all agreed that Beth would be Josh’s ‘go between’ in case there really was a leak. The three of them went to the crime scene, although Beth had to wait outside as Josh and Mick combed it. Mick quickly determined that Leni was alive, hadn’t been shot and had escaped through a fire escape and stolen one of the officers trucks.
Mick and Beth set off in search of the truck, with a little help from Steve, Beth’s camera man who tapped into the Lo-Jack system. When they found the truck they also found that Leni had been there and had caught a bus to Victorville. Mick decided to go on alone from this point, which Beth didn’t like.
Mick was worried because Leni had a gun with her and if he got shot, it wasn’t an issue, but if Beth got shot he could lose her and it wasn’t worth the risk. When he found Leni in Victorville, that’s exactly what happened; he got shot.
Leni was scared to death when she shot the gun; it went into Mick’s forearm but Leni didn’t know that and he convinced her that it had missed him. She finally agreed to talk to him and ultimately, to go back to LA with him. What they didn’t realize was that thanks to the leak in Josh’s team the killer knew exactly where they were. Mick caught on pretty quickly that the officer sent to ‘escort’ them back to LA wasn’t an officer at all. He and Leni escaped through a bathroom window and stole the police car. Things got worse when it was blown up and they ended up on foot in the desert.
When they finally stumbled onto the run down motel it was already almost too late for Mick; he was afraid he was going to bite Leni and immediately sent her to get ice and to try to call Beth. Sitting in the bathtub full of water and ice, Mick reflected on how he had gotten here.
He thought of Beth, and the brief time they had together. It hadn’t been enough, not nearly enough and seeing her this morning with Josh had shot holes in his heart. She didn’t belong with him, she belongs with me. He kept repeating that to himself, along with another; that he had to make it through this.
He was afraid he would feed on Leni; in fact he knew that if he didn’t feed soon he wouldn’t be able to control himself and he wouldn’t stop until he got the blood he needed. It was in his vamp DNA or something, but he knew it would happen. He just couldn’t bear the thought of hurting Leni, who already had seen so many problems in her life. No, Beth had to get here and take Leni away. When he couldn’t hold back any longer he supposed he’d go after the sleazy motel attendant who had signed them in with a lascivious gleam in his eye as he looked Leni up and down. He would be okay with that he decided – he had to be.
Before he knew it Beth was there and she wasn’t buying it that she had to take Leni away. Mick knew he was close to the point of control and when Beth started unbuttoning her shirt to expose her neck he almost came out of the tub in revulsion.
“Don’t be ridiculous Mick. You need it.”
“NO, not like this!” She didn’t get it, she would never be food for him; he’d die before he fed from her like this.
Beth was quickly losing patience with him. First, she had believed that he and Leni had died in the ashes of the police cruiser and her heart had broken. Did she love him? She realized she did and suddenly the thought of life without him was unbearable. It wasn’t supposed to be this way; the person who is your mate doesn’t get ripped from you like this. She refused to believe he was dead because she knew she could feel it inside if he was.
Now here she was in the disgusting motel room with a reluctant vampire and it was pissing her off. He needed blood – she had blood and he had drunk it before, what was the deal now?
“You’re going to drink my blood or I’m going to force feed it to you Mick; make your choice. She started digging around in her purse for something sharp to cut herself with; she figured that if the blood was there he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.
“Wh – what are you doing?” he asked when she pulled a pair of nail clippers out of her purse.
“Which vein will you get more from?” she asked, hoping he would call her bluff. She loved him but she really didn’t want to have to stab herself with nail clippers.
“No! What the hell Beth? No, I can’t do it like this.”
“Why? Just explain to me why Mick.”
“I – I, you’re not food for me Beth. I just can’t.”
It slowly started to make sense to her. He cared for her and as he had said, he differentiates between food and, dare she hope love? “Mick, I get it, I do. But these are extraordinary circumstances and I need you to help me protect Leni. And me too Mick, I need you to keep me safe!”
Her emotional plea sunk in and for a half a moment he felt guilty. He reached for her arm and felt shame wash over him. He held her arm and immediately spied the exaggerated highway of blue veins that stood out starkly against her skin. They sang to him, called him and wooed him with their warmth and scent. He felt heady just holding her arm and he shook with the need to taste her.
“At some point, you’re going to have to stop me,” he said before his fangs sunk into her arm.
It wasn’t the gentle bite she had previously experienced but it was Mick and she soon relaxed into him. She was saving his life and that was all that was important. She ran her hand though his wet curls as he fed, trying to let him know it was alright. She wondered when she should stop him; when she felt light-headed?
But in the end he stopped on his own and lay back in the tub. He had a bit more color to his face and his eyes were no longer yellowed as they had been. He stared at her as he licked his lips and then swiped at them with his hand. Had he been capable of it he would have blushed with embarrassment.
She could only smile at him, a weak smile but she wanted him to know she was okay. She shakily got to her feet and grabbed a hand towel and wrapped it around her arm and applied some pressure as she sat down on the edge of the tub.
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Okay. Well, we need to get you back to LA and to you friend Josef’s for some more blood, don’t we?”
He looked at her, surprised that she had suggested that. It was exactly what he needed, what he intended but he was surprised she had suggested it first.
“I’m going out to check on Leni. Come out when you’re feeling better, okay? I think we need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
He nodded and sat up as she left the bathroom; she was amazing. How on earth did he ever get lucky enough to find her?
Would he be lucky enough to keep her?
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
Later that night at Beth’s apartment Josh was bustling around, worried about her. She knew that this was her opportunity to talk to him. She only wanted to get to Mick and she couldn’t do it if Josh was here.
When they got back to LA he literally disappeared; Beth knew where he was though and for the first time it occurred to her that some other woman was going to let him drink her blood. She got it that he was a vamp and that was going to happen but she wasn’t crazy about it. But he needed the blood and she knew she couldn’t give him anymore yet so she supposed it had to be. She inwardly sighed with that disconcerting thought.
When Josh teased her about the puncture marks on her arm she pulled her arm away from him immediately. She felt repulsed by his touch; she couldn’t have him touching the same place Mick had.
“Josh, we need to talk.”
“Beth, you’ve had a really trying day. Why don’t we talk tomorrow?”
For half a moment she considered it, but come tomorrow she would feel guilty for not telling him and then there was the problem of getting his attention long enough to do it. No, it had to be tonight.
“No Josh, now. I, um, I can’t go on in this relationship Josh. I think it’s over between us.” She watched his face as she told him and it was almost like it didn’t sink in to him what she was saying.
“Sweetheart, you are really tired. You don’t mean that do you?”
“Yes Josh, I do. Look, you’re a great guy, really, but you are so busy with your career and I’m the same way with mine. It’s just not right between us.”
He frowned as he finally heard her words. She really did want to break up. It stunned him. She would make the perfect wife for a DA, politically savvy and beautiful as well. He was going to ask her to marry him and now she was saying she didn’t want to be with him anymore? He felt bile rise up in his throat as anger overtook him.
“I take it Mick St. John has something to do with this? You know, since you met him screwed up has started to seem normal! Look Beth, he’s just a fly in the ointment and this crush or whatever you feel for him will pass. And I’ll bet my next paycheck that he doesn’t feel the same as you; the dude has ‘player’ written all over him.
Beth fought the urge to slap him; how dare he insult Mick that way when he didn’t know him. “He saved your ass today, Josh! Saved your case and that’s how you speak about him? Well, for one thing this really had nothing to do with him; I felt this way before Mick even came along but since I’ve gotten to know him I’ve realized that there is more to life than two people who have little in common and even less time with each other to discover if we can even find common ground. You’re a great ADA Josh and I know that someday you’ll be a great DA, but I’m not the one who is supposed to be with you when you get there. I want an equal partner; not to be some decoration on your arm that can look good for the camera during your acceptance speech. It’s over. Now, I’d like it if you left now!” She turned away from him and tried to catch her breath.
There were no tears, a fact that Josh noticed as he looked at her. He sighed and stood up before saying, “Beth, when you’ve had time to think about this I’ll be around, okay?”
She turned around and glared at him. “Just leave Josh, please.”
He did.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
After Josh left Beth gathered a few things in an overnight bag and headed over to Mick’s. She didn’t know how he would feel about her invading him right now, but she needed to be with him, to see him and feel his arms around her. She debated over calling a cab to get there because she was still a bit fuzzy headed but she didn’t want the delay.
When she got to Mick’s he didn’t answer the door. She wondered if he was home and sleeping already or if he wasn’t back from Josef’s yet. She didn’t know how long it would take for him to get enough blood into him, but it had been at least two hours; surely that was enough time? She was debating whether or not to call him when she heard the elevator door open.
Mick scented her as soon as the doors scooted apart on the elevator and when he looked up there she was. Pale, but beautiful and he walked straight into her arms. He needed her as much as she needed him. He smiled when he saw the overnight bag.
“Planning on staying?” he teased.
“If you’ll have me,” she answered, unsure of his answer would be.
“Sure, come on in. Have you eaten Beth? You still look kind of pale.”
“Yes, I ate. I uh, I told Josh. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Did he threaten you Beth?” Mick immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.
She smiled and said, “No, he took it amazingly well actually. I really don’t know if he loved me or if I was just a good ‘prospect’ wife for him. He’s ambitious, and that’s great for him, but I don’t want to be a part of that political machine.”
Mick nodded as he picked up her bag and unlocked the door to his apartment. “I don’t have a bed Beth, I’m sorry.”
She grinned and said, “It seems to me we did okay on the couch!”
“Yeah, we did. Want to try it out again?”
“I thought you’d never ask!”
To be continued…
No comments:
Post a Comment