Silver Haze (Mick/Beth, PG-13)

[allegrita]

Luxe de Luxe, that makes me sooo happy--knowing that this kept you on the edge of your seat.

cassysj, thank you! I get all thinking of people actually using my idea for their own personal canon...

Phoenix, thank YOU... for encouraging me to post it!

[PNWgal]

Oh Alle...thank you for this. This is probably one of my favorite ML moments, and you filled in the blanks between Mick getting shot and Beth finding him at his apartment SO well.

I especially LOVED the beginning - you captured Mick's desperation to feed SO well, and then swept us along in his frantic desire to just. get. home. The pace is perfectly frenetic and tugs you along at breakneck speed.

Just wonderful!

[GuardianAngel]

I don't think I took one breath from beginning to end. Of course I KNOW he makes it home and gets better but you established such a sense of urgency I got swept up.

Until reading this it did not occur to me that one of the reasons Mick hightailed it out of the warehouse was because his need for blood would endanger Beth. Makes perfect sense.

[coco]

This is a fabulous fill in the blank story, Alle. It's a crucial moment in the episode that isn't often (if ever?) touched on. The episode leaves you with quite a few questions and this story answers them all perfectly.

There is a fabulous frenetic pace about this story. It's perfect and it allows us to be in Mick's head and witness the events as he did. The fear and the panic at the beginning to the relief to be home and then to the panic moment again at his home.

The best fill in the blank stories are the ones where you will forever view the episode differently and this story does that for me.

Fabulous, Alle.

[jen]

Allegrita

This is wonderful! It beautifully fills in the details that were missing from these scenes. Now I am going to have to watch that episode again to make sure but think Lee Jay was shot at the warehouse at night and there was a brief scene showing daybreak before Beth finds Mick in his apartment trying to consume a bag of blood so there was a lot of time between those two events.

Thank you for filling in the blanks so well!! (Hope there is more...hint, hint)

[allegrita]

Thank you, Pgal! You really are the arbiter of tortured Mick for me... and if you felt it, I think I did it right.

GuardianAngel, thank you! Honestly, I didn't think of it either, till I started writing it. And it all fell into place. He was in such anguish, and all that blood--dead and dying, just screaming at him... of course he had to get out of there.

Thanks, coco! I'm so happy this story works for you, and that it has actually affected your view of the episode. It's the ultimate compliment to a writer that her story makes someone think about the show differently. I'm just thrilled.

jen, you're absolutely right. By the time Mick gets home, the dawn is beginning to break. Of course, we don't know how late it was when Mick confronted Lee Jay in the warehouse... but I figure it was the early hours of the morning. In my mind, it had to be more than an hour between the time Beth shot Lee Jay and the time Mick got home. I hope this scenario works for you.

If you'd like to see my idea of what happens to Beth after she shoots Lee Jay, see my story "Digging," here: viewtopic.php?f=117&t=2403

[janicevictoria]

Alle, thanks for filling in the blanks for this episode. You've captured Mick's desperation perfectly here with your wonderful writing....Now what happens right after he tells Beth he's a vampire (Okay, that was a blatant plea for a continuation! )
Hugs,

[allegrita]

Thanks janicevictoria! I have a story that continues the story (actually, tells it from the point where Beth shoots Lee Jay, and continues past the end of the episode), from Beth's point of view. There are links to bunches of wonderful stories about what happens after Mick says "I'm a vampire" to Beth in the Champagne Challenge #103 thread, here: viewtopic.php?f=137&t=2368 My own story is called "Digging" and it's available here: http://moonlightaholics.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=2403

[Shadow]

Wow, this totally blew me away ... starting with it being written in the second person, which is so hard to do well ... and this is beautifully done; it makes me feel like I'm right there in Mick's head. What a great set of questions you answered, too, which I'd never even thought of, and they're big ones - (I suppose I always assumed he'd kept a couple of bags of blood hidden in his car, which, when you think about it, makes no sense at all.) Your explanation is perfect - that's the way it's going to be in my head from now on! I too just love the image of Mick trying to be nonchalant about things at the morgue ... and that sudden awful realization getting home is not going to do him a bit of good. Fantastic story!

[janicevictoria]

Thanks janicevictoria! I have a story that continues the story (actually, tells it from the point where Beth shoots Lee Jay, and continues past the end of the episode), from Beth's point of view. There are links to bunches of wonderful stories about what happens after Mick says "I'm a vampire" to Beth in the Champagne Challenge #103 thread, here: viewtopic.php?f=137&t=2368 My own story is called "Digging" and it's available here: http://moonlightaholics.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=2403

Hey Alle, It's me again...You know what right after I entered that post I realized that yes, you had continued that story-actually written it quite a bit before Silver Haze and I'd even written you a comment about how much I'd like that one and that I figured that Beth wouldn't have just turned around on her heel and left after Mick's admission...Chalk it up to memory loss It's just that I love your stuff so much, I'm being greedy

[Moonlighter]

Alle, this is wonderful - the second person feels like your inside Mick's brain as he's frantically trying to get away from Beth before he does something he'll regret.

No – you’ve gotta get away. Away from here, away from Beth. Get away fast, before the silver makes you so sick you can’t stop yourself from going after the dead. Or even worse… after Beth.

The way you've written this, the reader feels the tempo shift from panic (gotta get away, fingers won't work) to in control (car has started) back to panic (not Guillermo in morgue) to relief (made it home, drinking blood) back to the ultimate panic that Beth has found him. You made the reader feel what Mick was feeling. By the time I got to the end, I was breathless, even though I knew in advance what the end was....and that's meant as a compliment.

This is exactly how I felt, too! Your take on Mick's encounter with the morgue attendant who was not G was great -- otherwise Mick would have definitely fed there and not had to continue his desperate journey home to his safe haven. It's amazing that after all this time, this show and you writers still have the ability to continue to take my breath away. Excellent.

[allegrita]

Shadow, thank you so much. I adore your writing and I'm honored that you like this story. I did kinda like Mick leaning against the door, trying to be nonchalant when he was about to fall over. Thank you for your praise, and my apologies for taking so long to respond.

janicevictoria, I will never complain about you saying nice things about my writing.

Moonlighter, thank you! The morgue attendant not being Guillermo came to me in the middle of writing the story. I honestly feel sometimes that I'm taking dictation, and this story was one of those times. Things I had never considered came to me and just put themselves into the story as I wrote it. I'm very proud of this one, looking back on it, and I'm so happy you liked it.

[Marigold]

All that food wasted.

It would have been so difficult for Mick to resist Lee Jay's fresh blood. He knew that the blood would help heal his injury, and yet he was unable to have any. It must have been absolute torture.

You try to grin. “You should see the other guy.” You’re leaning against the door, trying to look casual.

Poor Mick. He's injured and in pain, and just wants to have some blood, have the silver removed, and get home. It's just his luck that Guillermo isn't working that night. Now he has to hide his true nature and make light of the situation.

Thank you Allegrita! I have always wondered about what was not shown in Out of the Past. Now I know.

[nutmegger911]

Alle, this is wonderful! You captured Mick's internal dialogue so well I can hear it clear as day. Brava! Well done.

[jen]

Alle

I always assumed that Mick couldn't get the blood he needed from Lee Jay because his heart had stopped and a vampire needs the pump to be working, but this is equally plausible. At this point, Mick is equally afraid of her knowing the truth about what he was.

How well you have explained Mick having those blood bags from the morgue right at hand when he got to his apartment, just when Beth walked in.

Wonderfully done! Thank you!