Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

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Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by Phoenix »

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original character, Emma, 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.

Characters: Mick; Lance; plus, Coraline; Josef; Emma; and Beth.

Rating: PG-13 for adult themes.

This story is a collaborative effort between Grace & Phee for Champagne Challenge #106. Grace, it's been an honour, and I hope I've done your story justice.

A/N: This story is a mix of canon and AU. In order to create a timeline, I borrowed from my Josef & Emma series. Accordingly, this takes place after Sonata. Mick and Beth are a couple; Josef has just married his fledgling, Emma; Coraline survived and has returned to L.A., (where she gatecrashed the wedding); and Lance DuVall travelled to the U.S. to formally offer the DuVall family’s congratulations to Josef...

**********

Family Reunion. By Phoenix & wpgrace.

Ten feet from the door, Mick stopped dead in his tracks and inhaled sharply.

Lance DuVall? What the hell?

Mick opened his door and met Lance’s stare head on. The European was wearing a mildly smug expression, yet he remained still and silent. When it became clear that he was waiting for an invitation, Mick stepped aside and motioned for Lance to enter.

Lance barely nodded and strode into Mick’s apartment. He looked around appraisingly, and when the door clicked closed, he murmured, “Thank you, Mick.”

“What do you want, Lance?” Mick’s voice was colder than his freezer.

Lance turned; his cashmere coat swirled elegantly, and he faced Mick with a smile.

“Now, is that any way to greet your brother-in-law?”

Mick’s jaw tightened. His chin jutted forward.

“My sire sent me – as a representative of the family – to formally extend our congratulations to Josef Kostan on the occasion of his marriage.” Lance walked to the sofa and sat down. “Josef’s infant bride is beautiful, isn’t she, Mick? She reminds me of my sister.”

Coraline. Lance has come to talk about Coraline.

Mick walked into the kitchen, selected two glasses and poured himself a scotch.

“Would you like a drink, Lance?”

“No, thank you.”

Mick walked into the living room, sat down opposite Lance, and waited. The older vampire watched with an expression of mild amusement while the younger one nursed his drink.

The sharp scent of the expensive liquor competed with the testosterone that hung thick in the air.

Finally, Lance effected a bored expression and sighed.

The corner of Mick’s mouth twitched.

After all these centuries, Lance is still a spoiled aristocrat.

“Mick, I’m a busy man ... but since I was sent to this backwater, I decided a family reunion was in order ... even though you haven’t been entirely civil on the three previous occasions we’ve met.”

Lance leaned back, stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa, and pinned Mick with a cold stare.

“Are you here to discuss my manners, or is there a point to this visit?”

“Ah, Mick,” Lance smiled slowly. “I’m beginning to see why Josef has kept you as his pet for these last few decades ... you really are quite amusing at times.” He paused and waited for Mick to react to the insult, and was secretly pleased when the younger man refused him the satisfaction. Lance pretended to pick a piece of lint from his coat, and then continued. “The first time we met, you looked me straight in the eye and lied to me. And twice you’ve tried to fight me. Apparently you are either very stupid or very brave. According to Coraline, it’s the latter.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “Mick, I want to know what your intentions are regarding my sister.”

“Coraline is my ex-wife. I don’t have any ‘intentions’ towards her.”

Lance relaxed and resumed his former position on the sofa.

“I am well aware of your beautiful, blonde paramour – but if you honestly believe that you and Coraline are no longer married, perhaps you are stupid after all.”

Mick stood and glowered at his unwelcome guest.

Lance rolled his eyes and said, “Really, Mick, these little scuffles are growing tiresome.”

Bastard.

Mick clenched his jaw, raised his glass, and pointed to the kitchen, indicating he was going for a refill. When he returned to his chair, he took a deep slug of the scotch and grimaced at the burn.

“I know you’ve seen your wife–”

“Ex-wife.”

“–since she returned to L.A.” Lance continued as if Mick hadn’t interrupted. “But did she tell you what she suffered at the hands of our sire, after she sacrificed herself to save your ungrateful hide? He really made an example of her.” Lance paused, lost in clearly unpleasant memories. He looked into Mick’s eyes. “You know, there were a few times when I feared that he had gone too far, and that even Coraline’s vampiric healing abilities wouldn’t be enough to preserve her beauty – or her life.”

Mick closed his eyes. Bad move. His mind was flooded with images of the terror in Coraline’s eyes as she knelt before her brother – waiting for him to plunge the stake into her heart.

“Coraline spoke of you often during the months our sire held her. She still loves you, Mick.” Lance paused, and Mick wondered if the concept was one the French aristocrat was capable of comprehending. “My sister said – many times – that she was glad you hadn’t risked your life, yet again, to try and rescue her. Even so, as the months wore on, I know she wondered why you made no attempt to rescue her.”

Mick dragged his eyes open – and to his shock, he saw real concern on Lance’s face.

He really does love his sister.

Lance stood, and the immaculate line of his coat fell smoothly into place.

“You’re a confusing man, Mick. You’re really still a fledgling, and yet you went head to head with me when I could have killed you without wrinkling my clothes. You fought as hard as you could to protect Coraline. But in the end, you abandoned her to her fate. Yes, she needed to be taught a lesson ... she deserved it for the way she betrayed us ... even so, more than once I thought that I was about to lose her. One night ... when my sister was too broken to drink, and we both feared it was the end ... she lay curled up, whispering in the darkness, telling me what an honourable man you are. That made me wonder why you didn’t try to find your wife.”

Ex-wife. Coraline is my ex-wife!

Mick closed his eyes, determined to hide the tears that threatened to spill at any moment.

“Mick, you should know that I told my sire what I’d learned about you. I told him that I saw in you the potential to be truly worthy of our bloodline ... eventually ... and I suspect things wouldn’t have been quite so bad for my sister if you’d come to plead on her behalf. Though we’ll never know, will we?”

Mick’s hands tightened into fists. The glass shattered and sliced into his flesh, yet he ignored the pain and the blood. He was only aware of the deafening roar in his ears; the banshee’s cry.

And when at last he opened his eyes to face Lance, Mick realised he was alone.

**********

Forward to Facing Demons.
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by redwinter101 »

Oh yum scrum, this is wonderful. Bravo, ladies. I love the complexity you give Lance (finally, someone writes him with a bit of soul) and the ending - the banshee - of that's magnificent. Poor Coraline - of course she'd believe Mick would come for her eventually. Eventually. But he didn't - that's a struggle for me, but it is canon, so...

Brilliant.

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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by AussieJo »

Lance sure knows how to press Mick's guilt button.
Very good Phee and Grace,
This had a 'there could be more chapters' feel to it?
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by Fleur de Lisa »

Wow. You did a helluva a job fleshing out Lance here. You almost made me feel some sympathy for the guy---he apparently does have feelings. Who would have thought that?!

Whether or not Mick went back to help Cora is of no consequence to me. That was his past. Beth is his future. Though Lance certainly did a great job of twisting the guilt knife in Mr. St. John. Just goes to show, that you don't have to go too far to hurt Mick, he's more than capable of hurting himself.

Wonderfully done, ladies! :heart:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by francis »

Stunning story! Congratulations, Phee and Grace.
You give Lance a character that is beyond cardboard villain, and I love it. He is arrogant, taunting, loves his sister, wants to punish Mick, is curious about him, is loyal to his sister and cruel. Complex.
Mick has so much guilt over so many things, but it seems he had no guilt whatsoever over leaving Coraline to her fate. Lance lays his fingers into a wound Mick didn't know he had.
I especially love how through their conversation Coraline is pictured like a third character that isn't even there.
Well done!!!
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by cassysj »

I really like the depth you gave Lance here. I do think in his twisted way he does care about Coraline and he wouldn't understand why Mick wouldn't try to save her. I still don't understand that myself.

Well done!
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by wpgrace »

Phee!!! You posted! I really love this story, for many many reasons, but as much as any other because it was such a pleasure "watching" you work! She is truly brilliant! She took an odd idea (mine) and created a marvelous, quiet, but deeply emotional moment here (hers). I don't think Phee thought, when we were paired, that I was gonna ask for a conversation between Mick and Lance. :giggle:

But that final scene in TMC was very compelling to me. "Welcome to the family." A man who thought he had lost all family suddenly discovers he is a part of one he would not have chosen... tho aren't we all? And while Lance was clearly a "villain" in the episode, he certainly didn't see himself as one. Like Josef, he saw himself as a survivor. So even AS a villain, he is hardly one-dimensional. And he was SUCH a worthy opponent for Mick... he got the better of Mick, every time. Who else did that?

And I think he and Mick share much in common, beside their alpha-maleness, their height, and their exquisite outerwear... primarily Coraline of course. They both loved her in their way... they both let her down and hurt her. And she loved them in HER way. And she betrayed them both.

Plus, the Final Four left a big plot hole for me... what happened to Cora, why didn't the Do-Gooder go to save her, and how DID he react to this news of his blood "family"? It killed me that the show writers dropped this ball... and btw that is the part that I think bugged Alex too, so I am in good company. :biggrin:

So I asked Phee to grapple with what Mick and Lance might say to each other... with what might have happened to Cora... and with how they might relate to one another when they met again. And she crafted this amazing conversation, with the Sire backstory, and even made it fit into her Emma universe, which I also love. And gave Mick a little something else to have a bit of angst about. Which I think he deserved in this case. In this fic, is Lance a villain??

I LOVE this Phee! Thank you so much for writing it and writing it so beautifully! :smooch:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by darkstarrising »

Phee and Grace,

Wonderful story.....you bring out the complexity of vampiric relations....Lance does care for his sister, and wonders why Mick didn't do the honorable thing and come to aid, yet all the while he stood by and watched as Coraline as punished...
Yes, she needed to be taught a lesson ... she deserved it for the way she betrayed us ... even so, more than once I thought that I was about to lose her.
I really like the way Lance puts Mick on the spot
I am well aware of your beautiful, blonde paramour – but if you honestly believe that you and Coraline are no longer married, perhaps you are stupid after all
He knows how to push Mick's buttons....
I suspect things wouldn’t have been quite so bad for my sister if you’d come to plead on her behalf. Though we’ll never know, will we?”
With his words, Lance has caused Mick more pain than if he had beaten him senseless.

Wonerfully done :hearts:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

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:giggle: Dark, you oughta know... you're the one who beat Mick senseless... :smooch:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by Phoenix »

redwinter101 wrote:Oh yum scrum, this is wonderful. Bravo, ladies. I love the complexity you give Lance (finally, someone writes him with a bit of soul) and the ending - the banshee - of that's magnificent. Poor Coraline - of course she'd believe Mick would come for her eventually. Eventually. But he didn't - that's a struggle for me, but it is canon, so...

Brilliant.

Red
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Thank you, Red. :biggrin: :hug:

Grace and I had quite a discussion about Lance, and his relationship with both Coraline and Mick. Grace and I were completely on the same page about Mick not going after Coraline ... sooner or later. And we both thought that sooner or later, Mick would be forced confront his choice.
AussieJo wrote:Lance sure knows how to press Mick's guilt button.
Very good Phee and Grace,
This had a 'there could be more chapters' feel to it?
Thanks, AussieJo. :hug: Grace and I both felt there was enough between the two vampires to turn it into a multi-chapter, but we narrowed the focus to keep it short enough for a Champagne Challenge.
Fleur de Lisa wrote:Wow. You did a helluva a job fleshing out Lance here. You almost made me feel some sympathy for the guy---he apparently does have feelings. Who would have thought that?!

Whether or not Mick went back to help Cora is of no consequence to me. That was his past. Beth is his future. Though Lance certainly did a great job of twisting the guilt knife in Mr. St. John. Just goes to show, that you don't have to go too far to hurt Mick, he's more than capable of hurting himself.

Wonderfully done, ladies! :heart:
Thank you, Fleur. :smooch: Yep, Lance has feelings. (It was something of a surprise to me, too...)

In Phoenix-world :giggle: both Coraline and Beth are Mick's present. (Mick is in a relationship with Beth, but he and Coraline have something approximating a friendship, now.) And despite the fact that Lance hunted his sister down and returned her to their brutal sire ... I do think he loves her in his own way. :chin:
francis wrote:Stunning story! Congratulations, Phee and Grace.
You give Lance a character that is beyond cardboard villain, and I love it. He is arrogant, taunting, loves his sister, wants to punish Mick, is curious about him, is loyal to his sister and cruel. Complex.
Mick has so much guilt over so many things, but it seems he had no guilt whatsoever over leaving Coraline to her fate. Lance lays his fingers into a wound Mick didn't know he had.
I especially love how through their conversation Coraline is pictured like a third character that isn't even there.
Well done!!!
Thanks, Francis. :hug:

Lance is equal parts fascinating and terrifying. :gasp: And it never made sense to either Grace or me that Mick would risk his life (more than once) to protect Coraline, and then simply desert her. :noway:

Mick feels guilt with a passion, so it's inevitable that sooner or later he'd question his actions - or lack thereof. :bmoon:
cassysj wrote:I really like the depth you gave Lance here. I do think in his twisted way he does care about Coraline and he wouldn't understand why Mick wouldn't try to save her. I still don't understand that myself.

Well done!
Thanks, Cassy. :smooch: Grace and I sort of imagined Lance and Coraline as having sibling-rivalry from hell. Torturing each other, yet getting angry if anyone else did the same, or less...
wpgrace wrote:Phee!!! You posted! I really love this story, for many many reasons, but as much as any other because it was such a pleasure "watching" you work! She is truly brilliant! She took an odd idea (mine) and created a marvelous, quiet, but deeply emotional moment here (hers). I don't think Phee thought, when we were paired, that I was gonna ask for a conversation between Mick and Lance. :giggle:

But that final scene in TMC was very compelling to me. "Welcome to the family." A man who thought he had lost all family suddenly discovers he is a part of one he would not have chosen... tho aren't we all? And while Lance was clearly a "villain" in the episode, he certainly didn't see himself as one. Like Josef, he saw himself as a survivor. So even AS a villain, he is hardly one-dimensional. And he was SUCH a worthy opponent for Mick... he got the better of Mick, every time. Who else did that?

And I think he and Mick share much in common, beside their alpha-maleness, their height, and their exquisite outerwear... primarily Coraline of course. They both loved her in their way... they both let her down and hurt her. And she loved them in HER way. And she betrayed them both.

Plus, the Final Four left a big plot hole for me... what happened to Cora, why didn't the Do-Gooder go to save her, and how DID he react to this news of his blood "family"? It killed me that the show writers dropped this ball... and btw that is the part that I think bugged Alex too, so I am in good company. :biggrin:

So I asked Phee to grapple with what Mick and Lance might say to each other... with what might have happened to Cora... and with how they might relate to one another when they met again. And she crafted this amazing conversation, with the Sire backstory, and even made it fit into her Emma universe, which I also love. And gave Mick a little something else to have a bit of angst about. Which I think he deserved in this case. In this fic, is Lance a villain??

I LOVE this Phee! Thank you so much for writing it and writing it so beautifully! :smooch:
When this journey began, I fully expected Grace to ask for a MickCora fic - so a MickLance was definitely a surprise. :rolling: Yet as Grace has already mentioned, the two vampires are connected by their relationships with the same woman; they are both alpha-males; and for Mick, (who could intimidate any vamp part from Josef), being beaten up by Lance must have been hard to take.

I did my level best to bring Grace's story to life, and in particular show a different side to Lance.

:rose: Thank YOU, Grace, for teaming up with me to create this glimpse into what might have been...
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by Phoenix »

darkstarrising wrote:Phee and Grace,

Wonderful story.....you bring out the complexity of vampiric relations....Lance does care for his sister, and wonders why Mick didn't do the honorable thing and come to aid, yet all the while he stood by and watched as Coraline as punished...
Yes, she needed to be taught a lesson ... she deserved it for the way she betrayed us ... even so, more than once I thought that I was about to lose her.
I really like the way Lance puts Mick on the spot
I am well aware of your beautiful, blonde paramour – but if you honestly believe that you and Coraline are no longer married, perhaps you are stupid after all
He knows how to push Mick's buttons....
I suspect things wouldn’t have been quite so bad for my sister if you’d come to plead on her behalf. Though we’ll never know, will we?”
With his words, Lance has caused Mick more pain than if he had beaten him senseless.

Wonerfully done :hearts:
Thank you so much, dsr. :hug:

Yes, Lance is a scary and complicated man. :confused2: He has been around long enough to know how to get to people. And I agree, Mick probably was in less pain after Lance beat him senseless. :hankie:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by coco »

Oooh that was fabulous ladies. :clapping:

I love what you've done with the character of Lance - you've fleshed him out and made him someone real. Great job. He knows what he's doing when it comes to getting to Mick and you've highlighted that superbly well too.

I'm someone who believes that Beth is Mick's future BUT I've always thought that Mick should have and would have (eventually) gone after Coraline so I love that you've made that part of your story.

Great story Phee & Grace. :biggrin:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by Phoenix »

coco wrote:Oooh that was fabulous ladies. :clapping:

I love what you've done with the character of Lance - you've fleshed him out and made him someone real. Great job. He knows what he's doing when it comes to getting to Mick and you've highlighted that superbly well too.

I'm someone who believes that Beth is Mick's future BUT I've always thought that Mick should have and would have (eventually) gone after Coraline so I love that you've made that part of your story.

Great story Phee & Grace. :biggrin:
Thank you, Coco. :hug:

I believe if there had been a second season, we would have seen more of Lance, and we would have seen Mick go after Coraline. (Mick doesn't leave people behind...)
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

Post by NocturneInCMoll »

Wow...well, I don't know what I can say that hasn't already been said. Boy...if Mind Games were an Olympic sport, the DuValls would get gold every time. Lance even had me feeling a little sorry for Coraline (though I don't trust him still...or Coraline). Mostly I felt for Mick, all the anguish and guilt this must be bringing him.

Brava, ladies. :clapping:
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Re: Family Reunion. (challenge #106 with co-author Grace) PG-13

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NocturneInCMoll wrote:Wow...well, I don't know what I can say that hasn't already been said. Boy...if Mind Games were an Olympic sport, the DuValls would get gold every time. Lance even had me feeling a little sorry for Coraline (though I don't trust him still...or Coraline). Mostly I felt for Mick, all the anguish and guilt this must be bringing him.

Brava, ladies. :clapping:

The fic and the words are all Phee... just the idea is mine. And I, too, am all about Mick, Nocturne. As is Phoenix... we are definite MickChicks! But I felt him ignoring Cora's sacrifice, after she gave him the cure of all things, was just not being true to himself. Phee did a wonderful job starting him, and us, pondering that decision... We didn't try to say WHY he didn't go save her... but it starts the thinking anyway...

And yes, the DuValls seemed pretty adept at mind games, for true. I liked that. They were intelligent, and beautiful, villains.
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