What Are You, Mick St. John? [ch. 13] PG13

[NocturneInCMoll]

My deepest apologies this chapter took so long...but my first draft was sub par, and I've been so busy it was hard to find time to rewrite it. But I finally did, and my beta tells me it's much improved now--so I hope this turns out to be worth the wait! And good news, the next two chapters are pretty much written as well, so I can guarantee it won't be a long wait for the next one!


Author’s note: Some dialogue is borrowed or paraphrased from episodes.

Beta: As usual, much thanks goes to the ever-awesome Barb, Bank1115—she’s fantastic.

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 13

“Lieutenant Davis, may I ask what your intentions are?”

“My—my intentions?” Carl stuttered.

“Yes. You have just discovered that vampires exist. They are dark, dangerous, and terrifying. One almost ate you. Another saved your life. What do you plan to do with this knowledge?” Josef rested his elbow on the desk and his chin on his palm and drummed the fingers of his other hand on the desktop.

Josef’s casual demeanour contradicted the tone underlying his words, and Carl felt a trickle of sweat start at the base of his hairline and creep down his neck. “I—I hadn’t really thought about it…”

“Well, you’d better!”

Carl thought he saw Josef’s eyes flash white for a second. “I imagine you wouldn’t let me leave here if I said I wouldn’t keep your secret.”

Josef broke into a wide grin. “Oh, Lieutenant Carl, don’t be silly! We wouldn’t keep you here!”

Carl raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah—after a while, you’d really start to smell—and with our sensitive noses, well, phee-ew!” Josef waved a hand in front of his nose. “No, it’d be a special place in Le Brea tar pits for you!”

Carl frowned. I knew there was a catch. “So it’s like I thought…either I agree to keep your secret, or you kill me.”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Josef bobbed his head up and down. “It’s nothing personal, you understand—call it self-defence, if you will.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Carl agreed nervously.

“I’m sure you can comprehend that your profession renders you potentially extremely dangerous.”

“Yes…” Carl tried to swallow.

“And you have been investigating us, despite my best effort to subtly warn you off.”

“I must admit, that only made me more curious...”

“Yeah, I must have been having an off-day,” Josef shrugged. “Normally, I’d just have had you killed. But Mick convinced me it would be too suspicious if you suddenly kicked the bucket immediately after visiting me—you know how mistrustful people are of multi-millionaire hedge fund traders.” He made a moue. “Conspiracy theorists would have a field day, and we can’t be too careful—even if nobody ever believes them.”

“Look, Mick saved my life, and I’m not the kind of guy who forgets that.”

“Mick saved your life from another vampire, one who had killed at least two humans you were sworn to protect, and almost killed you. Are you telling me you’re not just a wee bit resentful of our species?” Josef made an appropriate hand gesture to accompany wee.

Carl stared at him. “I’m not. Pollock was obviously an aberration, one who was dangerous to humans and vampires alike. You vampires tracked him down and stopped him—I respect that. I do the same thing with humans who kill indiscriminately, or discriminately.”

Josef folded his hands together and looked at Carl.

Sensing that Josef was wanting him to say more, Carl said, “I heard Mick tell the rogue that you don’t need to kill to survive.”

“That’s very true—we don’t. If we ever do kill to survive, it is usually to eliminate a threat of exposure rather than simply enjoying a meal a little too much—although that does happen on occasion, regretfully.” Josef watched Carl carefully as he nodded slowly. “Does it bother you?”

“Well…we all need blood to live, you guys just get it…differently…” Carl trailed off. Then he admitted, “I’m still getting used to the idea...”

“Yes, of course—but you haven’t yet run down the street screaming.”

“I don’t think you or Mick would let me.”

“True,” Josef smirked, “but if we let you go home without supervision, would you do it then?”

“No,” Carl answered immediately.

“No? There’ll be no sudden quintuple locks on the doors, no triple reinforced walls and windows, no tinfoil hats, no whispered calls to the government from underneath the bed?”

Carl snorted. “You think I could afford all that? On a public servant’s salary?” He raised an amused eyebrow.

Josef’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “You’re not fishing for a handout, are you? Because we don’t pay for secrecy; it tends to make people greedy—and stupid.”

“No, no,” Carl hastened to reassure him. “I was just making a joke…you know…like you were…weren’t you?”

Josef glared at him. “Yes…what’s your point?”

Carl gulped. “Um…perhaps I don’t have one?”

“It bodes well for our future relationship that you so easily submit to me,” Josef smirked.

Carl braved a scowl. “So…I take it there’d be more to this than me agreeing not to mention vampires exist, us shaking hands on it, and me walking away from here.”

Josef tilted his head in acknowledgement. “You are correct.” He regarded Carl carefully for a moment. “Mick’s far too young to have been chased by a torch-bearing mob, but I’ve had to run from a few in my day—they’re no fun. That’s what would happen if vampires were outed. But in this day and age, it would be much worse—the news would go worldwide in a matter of seconds. Can you imagine what would happen then? Instant chaos!”

Carl shuddered. “A lot of humans and vampires alike would die.”

“That’s right. That’s why keeping our secret is of utmost importance. It is more than a vow of silence—it requires active participation. You must be ready and willing.”

Carl gulped. “Does that mean you want to turn me into a vampire?”

Josef threw back his head and laughed. “No, no. We try not to turn people against their will—it just tends to breed whiners like Mick.”

Carl whipped his head around to stare in surprise at Mick, who scowled at Josef.

“Anyway,” Josef continued, bringing Carl’s attention back to him, “I just meant that you have to be proactive. People do sometimes see things, but they dismiss them—or no one believes them. But if enough happens, or someone catches something on a digital camera, well…it could have disastrous consequences. Keep your eyes and ears out for anything that could lead to unwelcome investigations—I’m sure you have some inkling of what I mean, seeing as you were heading up one”—Josef smirked at Carl’s sheepish and concerned expression—“and defuse what you can, however you can—tall tales, lies, sabotage, that kind of thing. And always keep us informed.”

“I can do that.”

Josef suddenly looked at Carl. “I suppose in the interest of mutual disclosure, it’s only fair to tell you what really happened that night at the warehouse. That is, if you want to know…”

“Well, yeah.” Carl plopped eagerly into a nearby seat. Beth remained standing near Mick, who simply crossed his arms and leant up against a bookshelf.

“None of this goes in your police report, mind you,” Josef warned.

“Do I look like an idiot to you?” Carl snorted. “—Wait, don’t answer that.”

Josef shrugged innocently and began. “Well, for starters: Mick didn’t kill Lee Jay in self-defence.”

Carl’s mouth dropped in shock. “He didn’t?!”

“No…I did.”

Carl’s wide-eyed rapture led Josef to continue. “Lee Jay knew Mick was a vampire, and he’d done some research. To be on the safe side, Mick told me to follow him to the warehouse. I came in just after Lee Jay shot Mick. I jumped down—”

“So those were your fingerprints on the roof along with Mick’s.” At Josef and Mick’s surprised expressions, Carl added, “Mick’s fingerprints weren’t on the door. Julia Stevens’s then-crazy statement that’d he’d jumped down from the rafters was bothering me, so I went and checked it out myself. Found two sets of prints up there, Mick’s and an unknown’s.”

Josef shot a disapproving glare at Mick, then scowled at Carl. “You didn’t mention that when you interrogated me in my office the other night.”

Carl drew himself up straighter in his seat. “Poker, remember?”

Josef’s face relaxed into a smirk, and he tilted his head in acknowledgement. “Well…I’m impressed. Yeah…Mick doesn’t seem to like using normal doors, for some reason. He must have had a bad experience when he was a fledgling.”

Mick rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” Josef continued, “sure enough, Lee Jay had shot Mick with silver buckshot—silver being poisonous to vamps—and Mick wasn’t doing so good.”

“Sorry about the little white lies, Carl,” Mick broke in. “But it was my blood on the floor, and by the time I talked to you, I no longer had injuries to account for it...”

Carl nodded at him. “I understand…now.”

“Can we get back to my story? It’s way more interesting.” Josef interrupted with large hand flourishes. “—So an-y-way, I jumped down to save the day. I engaged Lee Jay in a little verbal sparring—although I got in all the good jousts—then Lee Jay shot at me, too, but I anticipated it and jumped to avoid being hit. Miss Turner walked in just as I was getting more air than Michael Jordan in his entire career, then heard me expressing to Lee Jay how much I was going to enjoy tearing his throat out…”

Beth shuddered.

“After I dispatched Lee Jay, I hastily removed Mick from the building and left Beth to cover things with the cops and bring Mick’s car home. Then we had a little chat.” Josef smacked his lips. “And you probably know most of what happened after that.”

“Hmm,” Carl grunted.

“Now,” Josef clapped his hands together, “you must have some general questions.” He looked at Carl expectantly. “Ask, and I might answer.”

“Okay. Do werewolves exist?”

“Oh-kay…” Josef drawled. “I meant questions involving vampires…not, you know, supernatural creatures in general.”

“Sure. But do they?”

Josef rolled his eyes. “No! No werewolves.”

“Are you sure? Because, up until tonight, I didn’t think vampires existed either. Who knows, maybe vampires don’t know that werewolves exist.”

“I’m pretty sure we’d be able to smell them.”

Carl shook his head. “Damn, Maizie will be so disappointed.”

“Excuse me, who?”

“Er…lab tech at BioAnalysis. She was doing the DNA analysis for me. She has a thing for werewolves.”

Josef’s eyes glowed. “Is she the only other who has any potentially incriminating knowledge?”

“Well, no…Sam at the police lab. And”—he glanced quickly at Beth—“Josh Lindsey, in the DAs office.”


To be continued...

[RangerCM]

Carl is so cool under pressure. Love him.

Once again, wonderful treatment of Josef. I just love it when people get him right. You've got a top notch Josef Muse.

[kpyle]

I love the conversation between Joseph and Carl! The last line has me wanting more! Can't wait to see how Beth responds to the information of Josh having Mick inverstigated!! Can we have another update now? Probably a little to soon to ask, but thought it was worth a try! Thanks for another great update!! Kelly

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks so much, Ranger & Kelly! Glad you enjoyed Josef and Carl's little chat--and, as always, I'm glad my Josef holds up to your high standards. The continuation of it should be up within a few days, hopefully.

[mitzie]

I was so happy when I saw this update here and believe me, you did not disappoint!! I loved the conversation between Josef and Carl, you hit the nail on the head with both of them!!! And the ending of this chapter just made me want more!!!! Excellent chapter, excellent story!!!!

Can't wait for more...

mitzie

[NocturneInCMoll]

Yay, thanks so much, Mitz! Your symphony of emoticons amuses me, as usual.

[mitzie]

Yay, thanks so much, Mitz! Your symphony of emoticons amuses me, as usual.

I love emoticons, as you can see! And they keep sneaking in new ones too!!


mitzie

[redwinter101]

Absolutely no apologies necessary, Julie. It takes as long as it takes.

And this was worth the wait - I am loving Carl so much. Just the right amount of grace under pressure; you've made him one of the genuine good guys.

I loved this line,

Josef threw back his head and laughed. “No, no. We try not to turn people against their will—it just tends to breed whiners like Mick.”

but the whole scene sparkled. Marvellous dialogue. And a wonderful ending.

Bravo!

Red

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks so much, Red! Glad you enjoyed.

I don't know that Mick liked that line so much, though...

[darkstarrising]

Julie,

Wonderfully done....and as Red said, it takes as long as it takes.....

Carl did well under Josef's inquistion...wonder if he's going to need a good stiff drink when he gets home

uh-oh....the incriminating evidence has spread beyond Carl to three others....looks like there is more damage control to be done, with Josh being the most dangerous of the three.....Josef and Mick have their work cut out for them

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks, Karen!!!

They all have their work cut out for them, I think... but I agree, Josh is the most dangerous. More so now, after that last conversation with Beth...I wonder what he's been up to while Carl has been off almost getting eaten by a vampire?

[redwinter101]

Thanks, Karen!!!

They all have their work cut out for them, I think... but I agree, Josh is the most dangerous. More so now, after that last conversation with Beth...I wonder what he's been up to while Carl has been off almost getting eaten by a vampire?

Julie, you are such a tease...

Red

[NocturneInCMoll]

[coco]

Loving Carl. He survived that interrogation well

[wollstonecraft61]

Um, Noc...do werewolves exist? Great update! Gotta love that Carl!!!!