What Are You, Mick St. John? [ch. 11] PG13

[NocturneInCMoll]

Happy Valentine's Day! Here is my present to you.

Author’s note: Some dialogue is borrowed directly or paraphrased from the episode.

Beta: As usual, much thanks goes to the ever-awesome Barb, Bank1115. She’s so awesome.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


What Are You, Mick St. John?—Chapter 11

“Everything’s going to be okay…I’m a doctor,” the bloody man said.

“Um…what?” It only took Carl’s mind a split second to process that something wasn’t right here.

And that’s when it happened.

Before Carl could even blink, the doctor’s face changed. His irises turned bright white and fangs hissed in his mouth.

Carl turned to run but tripped over his shoelace and fell hard to his knees. He turned, attempting to keep his eyes on the Thing as he tried futilely to scramble to his feet. Kicking and scuffing his heels on the ground, he progressed backwards mere feet on his hands and buttocks. And still, the Thing advanced. Suddenly it was in his face, staring at him with ice white eyes. Carl could feel his cold breath on his cheeks, nostrils moving in and out as he scented his essence. Carl tried to swallow, again and again, but his mouth was dry.

The Thing reared his head back, opening his jaw as wide as he could, poised to plunge his teeth into the pulsing artery just inches to the left of Carl’s wildly bobbing Adam’s apple.

But then something whizzed in front of his head, knocking the Thing out of the way. When Carl’s eyes were able to focus again, a man in a long, dark coat was standing protectively in front of him, facing the Thing.

The Thing spoke: “I can smell you…you’re like me.”

“I’m nothing like you,” the man said darkly.

The Thing seemed to ignore that remark. “We’re vampires…aren’t we? The strength…the speed…the blood—I figured it out.”

Time stopped for Carl as things fell into place. Vampires!!!…holy crap…holy crap…holy crap…And then he snapped himself out of it. There was something familiar about his saviour…

“We don’t have to kill to survive,” the man was saying.

“Mmm…I like killing,” the Thing shrugged.

“If your sire hadn’t abandoned you, you would know it’s against our rules.”

“Rules, schmules,” the Thing scoffed. “We’re top of the food chain, man!”

“And with that comes responsibility.”

The Thing just laughed.

“You can’t feed like this!” the man seethed.

“Why not? I was doing just fine—until you showed up and ruined the party…Come on! I’ll share.”

“You’ll expose us all. I can’t let that happen.”

The Thing shook his head. “I won’t stop killing.”

“Yes. You will.”

“Wanna bet?” the Thing grinned.

“Dead men can’t pay up,” The man intoned, low and deadly. And then he lunged.

A flurry of snarls and growls erupted until suddenly the two men broke apart, facing each other in fighting stances.

Carl finally got a look at his rescuer’s face and his eyes bugged out of his head. St. John!!!

And just as suddenly it was on again. Mick’s eyes went icy and he bared fangs with a snarl.

Carl gasped.

Mick and the Thing started circling each other, looking for a chance, waiting for the other to make a move or be distracted.

The Thing lunged first, but Mick was ready—blocking him and throwing him hard up against a dumpster. The Thing immediately bounced up again, really angry now.

Mick just grinned, displaying his fangs. “If you’d had a sire, you’d know. The older a vamp gets, the more powerful. You’re a newborn baby compared to me. You don’t even realize your weaknesses.”

With that, the Thing lunged again, only to meet Mick’s heel as he roundhouse-kicked him into a wall. The Thing slumped on his back to the ground long enough for Mick to leap over and drive something into his torso. Breathing hard, Mick sat back on his heels enough for Carl to see a wooden stake protruding from the Thing’s chest.

The Thing’s eyes were wide. “Wait…” he gasped, “I understand now…I’ll stop killing! I’ll go back to my old life!”

“You can’t,” Mick said huskily. “You destroyed it.” And he pushed the stake in as far as it would go. The vampire’s eyes and mouth froze open in terror.

Mick gently closed the vampire’s eyelids, then stood and brushed off his clothing, his face morphing back to its human façade again. He took a cell phone from his pocket and made a short call.

“Mick St. John. I caught the rogue. Clean-up in the alley behind Sacred Angels.” He hung up.

Finally he turned to Carl, who was still reclined on the roadway. Mick stepped over to him and held out a hand to help him up. Carl took it.

“Carl…” his voice sounded broken. “You okay?”

Carl stood in front of him, open-mouthed. “Yeah…” he finally breathed. “Thanks to you…”

Mick shook his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch him sooner.”

“I’m glad you didn’t catch him later.”

The corners of Mick’s mouth turned up slightly at this, despite the situation. But then he sobered again. “Carl…I think we need to have a little talk.”

“Yeah…I guess we do.” A vampire just saved me from a vampire.

They regarded each other a moment, each sizing the other up, until a black van turned down the alley and pulled up near the body. Three women in skin-tight black leather bodysuits disembarked.

The tallest, a longhaired redhead walked up and nodded to Mick. “St. John. We’ll take it from here—thanks.” Her gaze flicked to Carl.

Mick clapped a hand on Carl’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of him.”

The redhead glanced between Mick and Carl—looking down at the latter like he was an insignificant bug under a microscope. Finally she shrugged. “Fine.”

Mick nodded to her and nudged Carl along. Carl cleared his throat, attempting to regain some of his composure. “How you doin’, ladies?” Carl eyed the other women as they walked past them.

Mick cocked an eyebrow, shaking his head. “Uh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned him. “It might piss them off—and it’s almost their lunch break.” He looked at Carl pointedly.

“Oh…Oh.” Carl’s eyes bugged. “Well…if I had to choose between being their Happy Meal to go and that guy’s”—he referred to the staked vampire’s body—“all-you-can-eat buffet…”

“Yeah…got it,” Mick smirked.

Beth was sitting in Mick’s Benz when they rounded the corner. She scrambled out, wide-eyed, as soon as she saw them. “Oh my gosh—Carl!” She looked frantically to Mick, searching his eyes, as if asking what Carl was doing there and what he knew.

“Carl was almost Pollock’s midnight snack.”

Beth’s eyes somehow became wider. “Are you okay?” she asked Carl.

“Yeah…thanks to Mick, here…” he exhaled and shook his head. “I thought that was it. I thought my number was up.”

Mick laid a comforting hand on Carl’s arm. “We were just tracking Pollock to the hospital when I caught his scent and followed him down the alley.”

“Boy, am I glad you did,” Carl muttered.

But Mick’s attention was already elsewhere. “Beth, you stayed in the car this time! I’m so proud,” he grinned.

Beth wrinkled her nose at him, but her eyes sparkled.

Uh-oh…Carl eyed them. Are they flirting?! Beth is flirting with a vampire. Josh is so not gonna like this…

Mick abruptly turned to him, eyes narrowed. Carl’s heart jumped. Can vampires read minds?!

“We can hear heartbeats…smell emotions,” Mick said suddenly, almost as if he had read Carl’s mind. “Yours just jumped and you smell nervous—what’s wrong?”

“I-I just…” Carl’s mouth went dry again.

“Let’s go have that talk, shall we?” Mick grasped Carl’s elbow and guided him into the back seat of the Benz, shutting the door on him.

Mick opened the front side passenger door for Beth, then walked around to the driver’s seat and hopped in. He started the car and put it into drive.

“Where are we going?” Beth asked.

Carl strained to hear, but couldn’t quite make out Mick’s answer. Beth, of course, could—but didn’t seem to like what she heard. Seeing this, Mick said, “He’s one of the elders in the LA community. He needs to be apprised of these new…developments.”

Elders?! …Developments?!

Carl saw Mick’s eyes flick to him in the rearview mirror. Then Beth turned around and gazed at Carl worriedly. She looked back to Mick.

“Shouldn’t you…you know…prepare Carl for him a little?”

Mick looked over at her, seeming amused. “You handled him okay.”

Beth glared disparagingly at him.

Carl swallowed.


To be continued…

[coco]

How fantastic
Mick saved Carl and now he knows.
Is he going to tell Josh?

[lynnrxgal]

What a unique turn of events - loved it!!

[mitzie]

Wicked cool chapter!! Love the spin you put on this with Dr. Pollock and Mick coming to Carl's rescue!!! Now they're going to see Josef...I can't wait for that!!!! This story just keeps getting better with each chapter!!!!

mitzie

bet you never would have guessed I love smileys??!!

[ash]

he took that well...too bad he now has to deal with the smart-ass punk again

[RangerCM]

Fantastic job! Carl is in for one HUGE surprise, me thinks.

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks so much, Coco, LynnRx, Mitz, Ash, & Ranger!

Glad you all enjoyed Carl vs. Dr. Pollock. Josef will appear again soon, of course, for a little heart-to-heart talk about Carl's new knowledge. I guess I should finish writing those chapters and get them to my beta, eh?

[kpyle]

Oohhh this is getting so good!! I always liked Carl on the show, so I hope that he will work with Mick and Beth now!! I am not sure how this will all turn out with Josh, but I can't wait for more! Great update!

[darkstarrising]

nice twist... now what's Carl going to do? Poor Josh is going to be even further out of the loop than he is now

and I just dying to see Carl's reaction to the 'elder' he's about to meet.

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks, Kpyle & Karen!

Josh won't appear probably for another couple chapters, but then he'll have a prominent part to play in the couple after that. Up next is Carl meeting the 'elder'

[redwinter101]

I loved this scene, Julie. The interplay between Mick and Carl was wonderful.

“Carl…” his voice sounded broken.

This really struck me. Mick has endangered himself (and everyone else) because he couldn't leave Carl to become Pollock's next victim.

Mick shook his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch him sooner.”

“I’m glad you didn’t catch him later.”

And even in these dire and freaky circumstances, Carl still has his wits about him. And enough to hit on the Cleaners too!

Lovely.

Red

[lionsonleashes]

Nocturne! This was completely wonderful!!!!
I love it when a human finds out for the first time that there's a 'lion' in their midst, and they find the 'lion' is gentle!
I loved Mick saving and protecting a confused Carl! And I thought Carl kept pace with his rapidly shifting reality quite well.
I especially loved his trying to flirt with the Cleaners and Mick warning him that it was almost their 'lunch break'..... and Carl 'getting it'.....and then adding that if he had to be 'someone's Happy Meal', he'd rather be one of theirs....as opposed to the Doctor's! So funny!!!
So....now he's being taken to meet Josef???? This time as a human-who-knows? Hopefullly both Mick and Beth will stick up for Carl! He seems to be adjusting to the knowledge quickly....he's grateful to Mick....and seems like he could be trusted.
I wish the TV show had gone this route! Would have been loads of fun to have Carl knowing too!
Loving your story Noc! Keep going!

PS......I hope you're feeling better soon! Stay warm....chicken soup.....plenty fluids....curl up on the couch, girlfriend!

[Fleur de Lisa]

“I’m glad you didn’t catch him later.”

Great line! Really needed to help diffuse the tense situation.

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks so much, Red, Lions, & Fleur!

I think I have the flu, so my head hurts too much to try and formulate comments...so...yeah...glad you liked how Carl's handling things so far.

[darkstarrising]

Thanks so much, Red, Lions, & Fleur!

I think I have the flu, so my head hurts too much to try and formulate comments...so...yeah...glad you liked how Carl's handling things so far.

sorry to hear that....hope you feel better soon