Work Text:
Beth sometimes thinks about just how glad she is that vampire myths are really only myths. Long summer days don't mean any less time with Mick, not when their bedroom is well-cooled and has heavy shutters and drapes. It's a wonderful oasis with her favorite cool body pillow on the days that are too hot and muggy to want to venture out before dark.
Mick sleeps in his freezer as much as he needs to, but he loves to doze in bed with her too, and they'd taken to napping together every afternoon last summer. Beth loves to sprawl against his cool body and let it pull the heat from hers.
When it's cool, well, he doesn't seem to mind if she uses a heated mattress pad on her side; sometimes he lays on it and cuddles her in the warmth.
Garlic doesn't bother him at all since he can't smell or taste it, and he encourages her to eat as much as she wants.
Yeah, she's glad they're all just myths.
It's still daylight when the phone startles Beth awake. She watches sleepily as Mick answers, his voice tense as he agrees to something. He hangs up and turns to her.
"Josef has a problem."
~~~~~~~~
Josef tosses Mick a folder. "These are the companies I've been in talks with. Three buildings in Pasadena were destroyed, 29 humans and 7 vampires killed when the bombs went off. The meeting hadn't been publicized. I was supposed to be there, but I got a flat on the way."
The list reads:
Ardenois Financial, CEO Michael Ardenois, human
Milpitas Electronics, CEO. William Martin, human
Rache Biotec, CEO Arahna Todd, human
J.M. Brookes and Son, CEO. J.M Brookes, vampire
There are photos of all four CEOs – 3 dark-haired men and a blonde, blue-eyed woman.
"Today the note arrived at my offices." Mick looks at it; it reads simply, I'll destroy you, you son of a bitch.
"Unsigned, unstamped, but mixed in with legitimate mail. Nothing on the security footage."
Mick looks sharply at Josef. "Coraline?"
Josef answers impatiently. "Gosh, Mick, I never thought of that. Of course, Coraline. The only thing that surprises me is that she's waited a year to try anything. Patience has never been her strong point."
"The others seem self-explanatory, but what does J.M. Brookes and Son do?" Beth asks.
"Jim has a gift for predicting what investment opportunities will pay off both in short and long-term. I've been thinking of investing a packet with him, see where he can take it. He's been doing the same thing since the mid 1800s, taking over as the son every 20 to 30 years."
"You ever do anything to piss him off?"
Josef gives Mick an irritated look. "Yes, I'm in the habit of annoying people just before I ask them to manage several millions dollars of my money. No, we've gotten along well since I met him in the 20s. And to forestall your next question, I've never met Ardenois, but he's causing a buzz in financial circles. I've had a meeting with Martin but don't know him otherwise. Milpitas is developing some new computer tech that might be able to knock Microsoft from the top spot. Rache is developing some interesting medical products. Todd's based in Europe and hates to travel, but I've had her checked out and she's human. They're setting up a lab in Van Nuys and want me to invest. I've been getting calls from the VP, Lucinda Michaels. Also human, and looks nothing like Coraline.
~~~~~~~
Beth is startled by Mick's abrupt appearance from his freezer in mid- afternoon two days later. He's looking wild around the eyes as he grabs his keys, saying only that something's wrong with Josef.
Beth grabs her purse. She calls Orm once they're in the car, relating the little Mick could tell her, then holds tightly on as Mick drives at terrifying speeds to Josef's.
They stop with a screech, and Mick's in the front door before Beth is out of the car. She follows as quickly as she can to the back of the house, following Mick's voice.
He's talking with Orm outside a closed door, and neither looks happy, but neither looks panicky, either. Mick smiles at her before opening the door, and Orm motions her to stay behind him as they enter.
Josef's suite is, unsurprisingly, luxurious. Beth's shoes sink into the thick carpet as the three make their way across the sitting room to the bedroom. The door is wide open, and after Mick and Orm gesture she follows them in. Matching closet doors are on the north wall. As Orm opens the left one it reveals heavy insulated glass doors, the sort that slide open. She realizes that rather than the sort of freezer Mick has, Josef has had a walk-in freezer installed, the sort found in restaurants. Mick's hand on her shoulder and warning look keep her from getting closer.
She watches as Mick slides the door open, revealing what looks like a custom bed on the floor. Somehow she's not really surprised that it's covered in crimson bedding that looks suspiciously like silk.
Mick's voice is soft as he talks to Josef, but Josef's response is loud, and he sounds drunk or high, giggling and yelling. Mick half carries him out of the freezer, laying him on the bed. He looks at Beth and his eyes light up as he tries to rise. "You brought me LUNCH!"
Mick shoves him back, sitting next and leaning on him. "Beth is not lunch. You know Beth. No snacking on Beth."
Josef shocks them all by sounding close to tears. "But I'm hungry and he won't feed me, and you brought her." Mick looks at a loss, but keeps his hand on Josef's shoulder, rubbing gently. Beth isn't surprised when Josef reaches for Mick's other hand as well.
Beth looks at Orm expectantly. "I don't know what's wrong with him. Dr. Whitaker's on her way to do tests on him and on the freshies he's had the past 48 hours. I'm trying to track down all the bottled blood he had as well, in case it was something in fresh or bottled blood. It could be poisoning, it could be drugs. Hell, it could be contagious." He sees her response to that adds, "I already told Mick to be careful."
Beth looks at him thoughtfully, and asks for the bathroom. Orm points it out to her, and she closes the door behind herself.
She'd been hoping there might be human amenities for the freshies Josef entertains, and she'd been right. She quietly breaks the smaller of the glasses and carefully washes the larger one several times, then makes a shallow cut on her arm. She fills the clean glass, applies pressure to the cut until it stops oozing, and sits until the expected wave of dizziness passes.
She steps out of the bathroom with the glass, carrying it to the bed. Josef is moving restlessly on the bed and she carefully stays out of his reach as she hands the tumbler to Mick. "Fresh from the cow, and I washed the glass 3 times first." Beth knows it's a measure of his concern for Josef that he doesn't object.
Mick lifts Josef up slightly, holding the glass to his lips, and with a growl Josef changes, taking a sip then staring at Beth for a long moment before drinking more. He lies back down when he finishes and mutters quietly, "She makes a GOOD lunch," before closing his eyes.
Orm's arm is suddenly around Beth, guiding her to a chair as she wobbles. "That was unnecessary," he informs her. Her eyes are bright and her voice tart as she reminds him that Josef is her boyfriend's sire and best friend, and that she's pretty fond of him on his own account as well. Orm acknowledges it all with a nod. "Mr. Kostan did warn me to not underestimate you. I believe I just did. I apologize." It's Beth's turn to nod, then they both focus on Josef. He's not moving now, but he's still holding on to Mick.
He refuses to budge when Dr. Whitaker arrives, and she has a time examining him. When she draws blood, she takes the precaution of asking Mick to hold Josef. Josef watches the needle go into his arm without flinching, raising his eyebrow at the doctor as Mick releases him.
After some discussion, Beth heads back to the apartment while Mick stays with Josef, who's only calm when Mick's touching him. Beth is eager to go back over what they've found about the earlier attack and see if there could be a connection with Josef's illness.
~~~~~~~
It's one of the freshies. A compound shows up her blood that the doctor can't identify, but when a very small amount of her blood is given to another vampire, he develops similar symptoms. He's also far more seriously affected that Josef; the doctor suggests it's Josef's age making the difference. The younger vampire seems to be having something like a violent psychotic break.
The young woman is devastated that she's the cause, and insists that she doesn't use drugs, rarely drinks, and has no idea what happened. Josef's the only one who's ever fed from her, and she's devoted to him.
None of the bottled blood or the other freshies are contaminated, and the treatment is to drain Josef of as much blood as possible, then feed him fresh blood to flush out the contamination. He's much better after the first round, but Whitaker suggests repeating the process 3 more times, once per day, each time draining him as thoroughly as possible.
Beth returns with all the files and her laptop, setting up shop in Josef's sitting room, much to the consternation of the parade of young women who are providing blood. Beth ignores them, determined to find out where Coraline is and how she orchestrated this.
None of Josef's contacts have had any information since the explosion. Something is nagging at Beth's subconscious, and finally she remembers Mick's comment when he introduced her to The Cleaner last Christmas – 'The Cleaners know everybody's dirty laundry'. She snoops in Josef's office until she finds an email address, and sends a detailed note. She and Mick have handled several very sensitive jobs within the Community, and she suspects that between that and Josef's position in the hierarchy, the Clearer might help. It's worth a shot.
She startles herself yawning, and realizes the house is still and bright. It's late morning, and when she looks in the bedroom, she sees that Mick and Josef have moved to the freezer for the day. She considers going to the suite she and Mick use, but in the end feels more comfortable curling up on top of Josef's bed so she's nearer to them, and she quickly falls asleep.
Beth wakes up to a darkened rom and smiles to see Mick and Josef awake for the evening, curled up together on the coverlet and chatting quietly next to her - until she realizes they're still nude from the freezer. She's about to say something when she realizes she's the one who slept on Josef's bed without so much as a by-your-leave. She's trying to ease away without disturbing them when they both turn to her and smile, and Josef surprises her by apologizing for waking her. Neither seem at all uncomfortable, but Beth feels as though her face is lighting up the room and quickly excuses herself to shower and change.
She stops to check her email and lets out a whoop when she sees a response from the Cleaner. Mick and Josef both appear at the door as she's reading it and move closer to read over her shoulder: Thank you for your information. You'll be contacted if further information is required. The situation will be rectified.
"You wrote the Cleaner?" Josef looks at her, bemused.
"Mick said at Christmas that she knows everyone's secrets. I thought if anyone knew anything about Coraline, the Cleaner might. And I made sure to mention the explosion and your poisoning, as well as the threatening letter."
Mick is still staring at her when Josef leans over and kisses her cheek with a loud smack. "Now that's a Christmas present. I'm actually going to have trouble topping it." He's looking at her fondly and Beth smiles back, then nudges him.
"Actually, you're getting Buffy from me."
Josef looks blankly at her. "You're giving me my own freshie for Christmas, Beth? Gosh."
It's Mick who explains while Beth is giggling. Josef insists he'll set fire to every DVD.
It's good to have him back.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Augsburg, Germany
Aranha Todd smiles in the mirror, tilting her head back and forth in the sunlight. The surgeons had done beautiful work. Her face is rounder, her jaw narrower, her nose and ears smaller. The scarring is minimal and easily hidden with makeup. The experiments she had them do with scalp transplants on the people she'd provided mean she's got a healthy growth of wavy blonde hair and a different hairline, although she dyes her eyebrows to match. The blue contacts make a difference as well. She's gained weight to be curvier.
She doesn't look much like Beth, but she no longer looks anything like Coraline, either. And based on her experiments on fledges, when she reverts this time, she'll keep her current looks.
She will destroy Josef and take back what's rightfully hers. Lucy is completely devoted to her and knows exactly how – and how badly - Mick and Josef hurt her. She'll handle everything State-side.
She closes her eyes, leaning back and picturing Mick when he's forced back to her.
"You disappoint me, sister." The unexpected words and the cold press of steel against her neck are simultaneous. She opens her eyes and sees Lance's mocking expression for just a moment before the end.