1. Vigil (midnight) - PG

[AussieJo]

Oh My, Red.
Oh My!
What a story!
Thank you.

[rijane]

He tuned out the machine noise, a poor replication of the soundtrack of her dying body.

Lovely sensory moment here.

He had to allow another step back into her orbit if he were to retain the sense of self that had become his bedrock.

This is true and very Mick.

"Give her the one thing she never gave me."

It was here I realized what was going on and what Mick's vigil was all about. The field of vision constricts in the next few paragraphs and this becomes about something very important, maybe more important than life and death, about decisions and self-determination.

The doctor nodded, mute with relief, falling with ease into an explanation of the procedures, taking refuge in practicality.

I love the simple realism of this moment.

"Just stay."

Sigh. A simple and fitting last request from Coraline.

I'm very excited about this new series - it's leading down a simply beautiful path and I'm already enjoying the journey. This is the ending I'd wish for Mick and Coraline.

[Shadow]

I love the role reversal here; I would not have ever imagined Coraline dying a mortal death. This makes her sacrifice for Mick just incredibly compelling. (And what a horrifying punishment for a vampire who loves what she is ....) This story really brings out just how deeply their lives are intertwined - you can really feel all of their complex history in every moment here. It's incredibly beautiful.

[Phoenix]

"Just stay." He tightened his arms around her, drawing her close, her head falling to his shoulder. A hint of perfume, perhaps imagined, but enough to overcome the present, to transport him back to a simpler time, a young man holding his love in his arms, imagining the wonders of their future together. The briefest, tranquil moments, a rare peace.

"Will you open the window? I want to hear the ocean."

Moving aside tubes and drips, he lifted her, feather-light in his arms and crossed to the window, settling them into the armchair as the moonlight rippled over the water. The gentle ebb and flow matched his soft strokes, cool and soothing against her skin.

It was there, rocking gently, his lips pressed to her brow, that the nurse found them, the monotone alarms finally silenced, no heartbeat, no pulse, no sound, no fanfare, just the distant wash of the retreating tide.

*no words*

[redwinter101]

cassysj, thank you. I agree about Mick and his attitude to vampirism and how his outlook changed. Thanks for the lovely comment.

AussieJo, thank you.

rijane,

This is the ending I'd wish for Mick and Coraline.

That makes me very happy indeed. My thanks, as always.

Shadow, thank you. I'm so pleased you liked it.

Phoenix,

Red

[RangerCM]

Absolutely stunning. This one will forever be set in my mind for what could have..... no, SHOULD have happened in season 2! Perfect.

[librarian_7]

I've been thinking about this story--a lot--since I read it, and something else I wanted to mention, is how natural it seems that when Mick goes to France, and escapes to England with Coraline, OF COURSE Josef is there, watching over him. How natural and right that seems.

Lucky

[RangerCM]

I've been thinking about this story--a lot--since I read it, and something else I wanted to mention, is how natural it seems that when Mick goes to France, and escapes to England with Coraline, OF COURSE Josef is there, watching over him. How natural and right that seems.

Lucky

You're right! Have we even seen that in any other "Mick rescues Coraline" stories?

[redwinter101]

Ranger and Lucky, thank you both. I love that this story got you thinking. This is pretty representative of how I saw Josef in the show. Not much screen time, not a huge amount of dialogue (with the obvious exception of a couple of episodes) but vital and ever-present. He's got Mick's back - always. As well as making sure that he's in the loop...

Re other Mick rescues Coraline stories, I'm afraid I have no idea. Sorry.

Red

[librarian_7]

I definitely see Josef's relationship to Mick that way...he is going to have Mick's back, same as Mick's got his. He might gripe about it (The Ringer is such a great example of this) but he's there. And Josef also has struck me as one of those guys who has to be in the know about everything in his sphere of influence. So, yeah, he's not about to let Mick go running off on a dangerous rescue mission without being right there. Just in case.

Lucky

[redwinter101]

*nodding*

[RangerCM]

I definitely see Josef's relationship to Mick that way...he is going to have Mick's back, same as Mick's got his. He might gripe about it (The Ringer is such a great example of this) but he's there. And Josef also has struck me as one of those guys who has to be in the know about everything in his sphere of influence. So, yeah, he's not about to let Mick go running off on a dangerous rescue mission without being right there. Just in case.

Lucky

Yep. So true.

[allegrita]

OK, I'm back, after reading this story several more times, and thinking. A lot.

Ah, Red... you make me weep and love you for it. Every one of your stories moves me, but this one... this one's somehow bigger and more profound. This is the closure, heartrending as it is, that Mick and Coraline deserved, that was stolen from them by the writers' strike and by those last four episodes. He would not have ignored her suffering. He would have tried to rescue her. And he might very well have failed.

Of course, Josef is there. He's got Mick's back, as you said...and, being Josef, he's keeping an eye on things. But mostly, he's there for Mick as Mick's been there for him. A practical friend--I love that he brings a flask for Mick--and a companion who knows what it's like to have secrets and burdens that are nearly impossible to share. I like the symmetry: when Mick thought Josef was dead, he told Coraline, and she understood his loss. Josef is the companion Mick needs now. He gets it. No need for explanations or excuses: he's just there for Mick. An unconditional friend.

Coraline's punishment is the essence of bitter irony. What more "fitting" torment could her family devise for what they see as a betrayal of their very core, than to turn this vital, consummate vampire into a human--and then torture her to death? And in that horrible scenario, it would be just another level of Hell to allow Mick to rescue her after it's too late--when she can't survive--knowing that he'd have to make the shattering choice as to whether or not to turn her back. And worst of all, she has to break the news to him that, not only does a real Cure exist--but it's been employed to take away his ability to choose. And Coraline, who granted him immortality, now loses hers in his arms. Their relationship has come full circle, and what a tragic circle it is.

But the beauty of this story, the beauty of your vision, is that there's no defeat here, not really. There's love, and sacrifice, and a final, stark acceptance of fault on both sides. There's a release of bitterness, a nurturing and warmth that had eluded them for all those decades.

This is the tipping point:

"They gave me mortality, knowing it would only be…" She paused at the hope sparking again in his tired eyes, "Don't ask me how - even I didn't know about it until it was too late. Take my blood if it'll help you. Take what you want." A brief, weak struggle to push him away.

"That's not what this is about." Neither knew the measure of truth in his words as he held fast. "Coraline, I…" There were no more words, no more miracles, nothing extraordinary, nothing supernatural, just the stark reality of death. "I don't know what to say."

"Just stay."

At first, it seems like that other scene in a hospital room, where Mick seemed blind to everything but the cure--and Coraline is resigned to that, trying to push him away, to keep some semblance of dignity amidst the depths of despair. But Mick has changed since then. He's grown. Finally, it's not about what she took from him or what she can grant him. Death breaks down the barriers between them, and brings out the deepest compassion and the deepest trust. He holds her in that chair by the window, carrying her as far as he can go... and then he lets her go on without him.

And afterward? He thinks back to the night of the fire, when he thought he'd killed her, and realizes the difference. Before, he was still chained to Coraline, even though he thought she was dead. Just as Josef told him--he couldn't let her go. But now, finally, he can set down the burden of his anger and blame. At last, he can grieve for her, for them, for what might have been but never could be.

And finally, he can move on, that anchor of hate and blame left behind, but the love always there with him. He can finally mourn, and heal, and go on living.

Thank you so much for this story.

[redwinter101]

Oh, alle. I'll be back (too) with a proper reply once I've stopped sniffling..

[seamus3333]

Dear Red, You take that pesky English language and make it soar. You are magic. I can't believe (i before e) you have made me feel sorry for Coraline.