Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

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Emma-lee
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Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

Post by Emma-lee »

A/N: This is a freshie story that was rattling around in my head. I have not done many of these outside RP. But thought you readers would enjoy it. Many thanks to Jenstc2003 for being my Beta and giving me the title. Why is that always the hardest part??

As always I don't own Moonlight...Just wish I did.


CRISIS OF FAITH

The ruling came down from the council- it was no longer going to financially support the Vamp ambo, otherwise known as the unit. Supposedly, the unit should be able to recoup all its costs from billing the vamps that use the service. The council was tired of supporting the unit when, in their minds, they should not have to. Em was pissed, to say the least, as were the rest of the unit’s personnel. They already charge more than the cleaners as they use more resources on each call, so they all know it will just cause a good deal of not so caring vamps to use the cleaners for their freshies instead of the unit.

Em knew her guys would look to her for guidance on what to do. As Captain, and the only human on the unit- not to mention an exclusive- she had very strong opinions on this. The main result of losing financial support from the council was that some of the security measures they had in place were removed. They no longer could afford to have an extra Captain on every shift to help the crews on more difficult vamp calls. After only one week of the decreased support, the worst that could happen, happened. One of the unit’s crews was in trouble with a difficult fledgling and sire. As a result, one of them- Liam- was killed. Morale on the unit died with him.

It was after Liam’s funeral that Em and a few of her guys were sitting around talking. Actually, they were musing about the changes and assigning blame when Josef walked in. The room went quiet except for Tim, who nodded to Em.

“Hey Cap. Your vamp is here.” Em turned around and saw Josef. She had been his exclusive for about 6 months, and she hated mixing unit business with her exclusive duties. She tried very hard to keep them separate. In fact, it was an unwritten rule between herself and Josef.

“Josef.” She nodded her voice devoid of emotion. She moved to stand behind her guys, protectively.

“Emma,- gentleman.” He nodded to Em and then her crew. “I wanted to stop by to send my condolences for the loss of Liam. I wish there was something more that could have been done to prevent this tragedy.” His words set Em off. Her anger flared and she spun to face Josef.

“What?! There was more you could have done. Not take away our funding.” Her fists balled up as she spoke, all the anger she had stored up over this decision and the subsequent death. “How dare you come in here acting like you cared about Liam. If you and the council had cared, you wouldn’t have stabbed the unit in the back.” Josef’s eyes flashed to silver as a warning to Em.

“Emma, watch your tone. You don’t want me angry.” Em’s eyes turned cold and she took a few steps towards Josef. Tim put a hand on her arm, but she brushed it away.

“I am making you angry? Is it because the truth hurts? Or is it that I am speaking what you on the council already knew and do not want to admit... that you are the reason Liam died.”

“Emma…” Josef growled, his eyes silver. “Enough!” Em continued on undeterred, her anger unleashed.

“You and the other council members sitting on your high horses, protected from the danger the rest of us face, not caring for much beyond your own homes and purses. We don’t want or need your false sympathies now…”

Em did not get to finish her statement. Josef growled and had her pinned to the wall. His lower body pinning her from the waist down and his hands holding her wrists to the wall. His face was inches from hers.

“You need to learn your place, freshie.” His hands were pushing harder against her wrists, his nails digging into the flesh of her wrists. Em was doing all she could to keep panic from creeping into her mind. She took a deep breath and stared into his cold, silvered eyes. She had never seen him like this before, but she knew better than to let him see any fear.

“Speaking to me in that tone is not acceptable. What we do on the council is of no concern to a human.” He said the last word like it was distasteful to him.

Em felt the trickle of blood going down her hand from his nails. The scent of it caught his attention and he smirked. He brought her wrist up to his mouth and licked the blood trail. For the first time since she became a freshie, it brought no pleasure to her at all. He leaned back into her talking in a low growl. “I could kill you on the spot for talking to an elder AND your vamp like that. Nobody would bat an eye.” He released her wrists and backed up a step. “We WILL continue to discuss this later, back at home. I have a council meeting to get back to.” He turned, nodded at her crew and left the room.

Em watched unmoving as Josef left the room. She was angry, hurt, and humiliated. He had belittled her in front of her guys. She looked to Tim and the rest of her crew, then turned and left through the other door. She did not want them to see her like that. She got into her jeep and headed back to the Casa. If she had another place to go, she would have gladly gone there.

She went to the kitchen and washed out her wound from his nails, then got some ice and put it on both wrists. They were now starting to change to black and blue, in the shape of finger prints. He had never hurt her before, nor had he ever spoken to her like that. She sighed shakily and leaned on the counter. She knew that the way she had acted was wrong, especially in front of other vamps. But he did not have to hurt her either. She felt a hot tear fall down her face, which made her angrier. She was about to head to her room when she heard someone at the door. She looked at the camera monitor and saw it was Mick. She quickly wiped the tear from her face and threw the ice away. She pulled her sleeves down to hide the bruises, just as he walked into the room.

“Em how are you? I came looking for Josef. Have you seen him tonight?” As he walked up closer to her he could sense something was not right. “Em is everything all right?”

She swallowed hard before answering him. “He is at a council meeting. And I…I am fine.” Em tried to clasp her wrists behind her to hide them from Mick. But as she did, she winced. Mick saw the wince.

“Em what is wrong- and no lying.” He stepped closer and gently took her arm. He pulled up her sleeve and though she tried to pull her arm back, he saw the bruises. His eyes flashed silver. “Who did this and does Josef know?”

Em closed her eyes and the feelings of guilt and shame washed over her. Mick looked at her and then closed his eyes deeply scenting her. He growled low when he saw what had transpired between Em and Josef. He took her other wrist and looked at the wound and bruising there. His eyes softened.

“Em…I am sure he never meant to hurt you. You both have been under enormous amounts of stress lately. You need to talk to him.”

She shook her head. “No…I can’t... not right now.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want me to talk to him for you?”

She stiffened up. “NO!..I mean no thank you Mick. That might make it worse in the long run. I think we can work this out. Please don’t tell him you know what happened.” She looked at him pleadingly.

Mick nods. “I won’t if you think it will be better this way.”

“I do, thank you.” She hugged him briefly and grabbed more ice before she headed to her room.

Mick watched her go and shook his head. He was about to leave when he sensed Josef’s return. He turned as his friend walked in.

“Mick, bored at your place again?” Josef asked his foul mood very apparent on his demeanor.

“Bad council meeting?” Mick asked already knowing it was not the meeting that had him in such a foul mood. Mick followed Josef into his office and sat on the leather couch.

“That went the same as always. It was a discussion I had before the meeting.” Josef looked at Mick. “With Em.” He made himself a scotch at the bar.

Mick nodded. “So I have heard…”

Josef became defensive. “What have you heard?”

Mick put up his hands in defense. “I scented it on Em. She didn’t tell me anything, besides to NOT tell you she was hurt.”

“Hurt?” Josef briefly looked concerned and then downed his scotch in one gulp. “I didn’t think I was that rough.” He didn’t want Mick to know how worried he was. He knew he had gone too far, but he did not need anyone else to know that too.

Mick nodded. “You should talk to her.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have it under control.” He fixed another scotch for himself and then one for Mick. “Besides, I have other business I need to discuss with you.”

“Of course I will worry about it. I consider you both friends.” He took the scotch with a nod.

Josef and Mick spent the rest of the night discussing tribe business. Just before dawn the two parted ways and Josef headed to his freezer. He walked through the freshie wing on his way there and stopped outside Em’s door. He could hear she was asleep, though very restless. He quietly entered her room, a rare intrusion for him. He didn't see another way, though. He wanted to check on her. The smell of salt in the air from her tears made his chest tight. He hated to be the cause of one of his girls’ sadness. He walked over to her bedside softly and took her hand and turned it over. He saw the nasty bruising and slight swelling, then he shook his head. How could he have done this? It certainly was not what he intended to do. He was angry and her anger directed at him set him over the edge. Not that it was any excuse for him hurting her. He softly kissed her wrist and then took the other wrist. He saw the wound and bruising which made him wince. He gently kissed her wound and was about to close it when Em mumbled in her sleep. She pulled her wrist back to herself and rolled over. Josef closed his eyes and sighed deeply. His girls never pulled away from him, even in sleep, and it broke his heart all over again. He pulled the covers up over her and kissed her forehead before he turned and walked out. His sleep in the freezer was as fitful as Em’s was in her room.

Em awoke the next afternoon and hoped the previous night was a dream. She looked at her wrists and sighed: nope, not a dream. They looked worse today then last night. More swelling and the colors much more pronounced. There was no sense in staying in bed, so she tried to go about her daily routines so nobody else would know that there was anything wrong. As she left her room, she put on two thick freshie bracelets, big enough to hide the bruises. She quietly went to the kitchen and made some hot tea, then took it outside to the patio. She wasn’t up to any company today, nor really up to anything.

Josef was awake early today, since he couldn’t seem to sleep he might as well get some work done. He was in his office when he first sensed Em was up. He watched her on the security monitor. She definitely was not acting like herself, and he hated knowing that he was the cause of her distress. He sighed and headed out to the patio where she was sitting. He walked up silently and sat down behind her on the patio.

Em sipped her tea and sighed as he sat behind her. She did not want to talk to him right now, so instead she just sat there and let him make the first attempt at conversation.

“Emma…” He spoke softly and gently. “We need to talk.” He reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off and turned around to face him.

“Whatever you want Josef.” She said in a very matter of fact voice.

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Last night, was a… mistake.” He took one of her hands in his and turned it over. “I never meant to hurt you. For this…” He pushed her bracelet up and exposed the bruising. “I am very sorry.”

She tried to pull her hand back and when he exposed the bruising, her feelings of guilt washed over her. Josef sensed her guilt and it made his undead heart heavy. She was feeling guilty over the pain he had caused her. He raised her wrist to his mouth and kissed it gently. It took everything Em had to not respond to the feel of his lips. She managed to get her wrist free and looked at him.

“Sorry does not erase what you did. In a matter of a few seconds, you destroyed what took me years to build up. You just cost me the respect of my crew.” She felt herself getting angry again at the thought.

Josef ran his hand through his hair. “I realize that I went too far last night- but you also have to realize that your tone was one of a challenge. As an elder in the community, I could not let that go unchallenged. Especially by a human.” He sensed her getting angrier and he held up his hand to her. “However, I did not have to go as far as I did.” He reached for her other wrist. “And this did not need to happen.” Josef gently pulled her closer, his other arm wrapped around her waist. He allowed his fangs to drop and he carefully closed the wound he had made the night before.

Em leaned against his chest, tears slowly fell down her cheeks. Josef said nothing, just rubbed her back softly. They stayed like that for awhile before Em wiped her eyes and looked up at him.

“Josef, I’m sorry. I should not have taken it out on you either. It was just the stress of Liam‘s death and…” He stopped her.

“I know it was hard on all of you losing Liam like that. And I think you should know that I did not want to pull funding from the Unit. But it was voted on and I was outvoted.” Em shook her head and started to say something but he stopped her and continued. “And last night we revisited the issue and you will pleased to know that we have decided to reinstate the funding to the unit.”

Em pulled back from him a little a smile on her face. “Really? They gave us back all our funding?”

Josef nodded. “Yes. It's just too bad it took losing a member of your Unit for it to be reversed.”

Em nodded sadly. “Well, at least he did not die in vain.” She sighed and snuggled into Josef. “But now what am I going to do about my reputation on the unit?”

Josef chuckled. “Well I can guarantee you that, if anything, they will have more respect for you.”

She looked at him confused. “What? I was..” Josef interrupted her.

“Yes you challenged an elder vamp, and when I pushed back, you did not back down. You showed no fear, and you left alive. That will earn you some respect.” He smiled. “And you earned more respect from me as well.”

“You mean all I had to do to get their respect was to challenge an elder and live….huh...” She sat for a second and smiled with a twinkle in her eyes. “So if I were to do it again….?”

Josef’s eyes flashed and he growled softly. “You would not make out so well. A second challenge means you did not learn your lesson the first time.”

She nodded. “I thought so. Don’t worry- I really don’t want to do that again.” She gently rubbed her wrists as she thought about it.

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Good. I would hate to lose you like that.”

They both fell silent as he continued to rub her arms and back. She snuggled into him and felt herself relaxing for the first time since last night. It did not take long before she was asleep in his arms and Josef smiled at his peacefully sleeping exclusive. He held her for a little while longer and then carried her to her room. He placed her into the bed, tucked her in, and kissed her forehead. Softly, he kicked off his shoes and slipped into the bed behind her, protectively cradling her as she slept.
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francis
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Re: Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

Post by francis »

This is good. A conflict, a really bad one, and they both have to deal with it, trespassing limits, dealing with guilt and stress and shame. It makes them stronger. I really liked this.
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Re: Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

Post by cassysj »

A real argument between Josef and one of his exclusives is always serious business.

I really liked this story and thought it showed both Emma and Josef's POV's very well.
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Emma-lee
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Re: Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

Post by Emma-lee »

francis wrote:This is good. A conflict, a really bad one, and they both have to deal with it, trespassing limits, dealing with guilt and stress and shame. It makes them stronger. I really liked this.

Thanks Francis! I was a bit worried about it, not sure how it would come out.
cassysj wrote:A real argument between Josef and one of his exclusives is always serious business.

I really liked this story and thought it showed both Emma and Josef's POV's very well.
Yes Cassy it was very serious business. I am glad you like it. Thank you.
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Re: Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

Post by jenstc2003 »

Very nice!!! *Syn runs in to defend her Twin*
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Emma-lee
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Re: Crisis of Faith--(Freshie/Josef(pg-13))

Post by Emma-lee »

jenstc2003 wrote:Very nice!!! *Syn runs in to defend her Twin*
Thanks Jen!! And Em appreciates Syn's dedication... :hug:
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