Season 2, ep 2 'Aquila, Part I' (PG13)

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Tam
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Season 2, ep 2 'Aquila, Part I' (PG13)

Post by Tam »

Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Ep 1-16 of Moonlight, season 1
Summary : Mick accepts a missing person case and we find out more about the List.
First posted: ff.net, October 2008. Re-posted in June, 2009.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, no money is being made and no infringement is intended.
Aquila, Part I
Previously on Moonlight :

Ben Talbot in his office, standing next to Beth's desk :

"Can you take a look at this list and tell me if it makes sense to you?" he asks, laying the copied list on the desk before her. As soon as Ben walks back to his office, Beth picks up her phone and dials Mick's number. Quietly, she says: "We need to talk."


"We need to talk," says Beth on the phone, hangs up, takes her purse, and heads towards Mick St. John's apartment.

She knocks on his door, and he opens it. Mick is wearing PJ-bottoms and a hastily thrown on shirt. His hair is tousled. Beth looks a bit bewildered and checks her watch. 6 pm.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says, realising that she must have woken him.

"'S okay," he replies, stepping aside so she can come in. The living room looks chaotic. There's laundry on the floor and newspapers strewn about. A dirty long drink glass with a rest of red liquid stands by the sink. Mick looks around self-consciously. "Surprise visits are not my forte," he says.

Beth shrugs. "You should see my place," she replies, "you know, sexy lingerie lying around everywhere..." Mick raises an eyebrow. Beth snorts. "Not really. Dirty dishes, more like. I tend to let them pile up until the weekend and do everything in one go."

She sits down on the couch, and takes out the list. "Ben...Talbot asked me to look over this list and see if I noticed a connection. It's for a case, he said."

She hands Mick the list. He scans over it.

"And?" he asks, his expression neutral.
"And...I think they're vampires," says Beth. "Some of them are fictional, though, aren't they?"
"No," says Mick, looking concentratedly at the list. "They are vampires. And they're not fictional."

Beth frowns. "Do you know them?"
"Some. I have heard of them. They are from around here."
"What does this mean? Is this the list Emma Monaghan was talking about?"

"It means I need to go and see Josef," says Mick, resolutely getting up.
"We," corrects Beth, getting up as well. "I want to come."
"No," replies Mick. "It's better when I go. Josef is...not an afternoon person."
"I'm not scared of him," Beth says, looking defiant.
"You should be," Mick replies darkly.

Josef's chamber; a darkened space, empty but for a pedestal in the middle of the room. A large freezer with a reflecting black finish stands humming serenely. There are small blue spotlights built into the walls, near the floor, giving off a cool light.

"This is where he sleeps?" Beth whispers, a few steps behind Mick. He nods.
"What did you expect?" Mick asks quietly. Beth shrugs.
"I don't know, she says, "red plush, mirrors, candles...female freshies?"
"Those are in the playroom," Mick says without blushing.
"The?-" starts Beth, but changes her mind. "I don't want to know," she says.

Mick opens the freezer, and Josef rises up fully vamped, teeth bared and looking angry. He growls. Beth jumps back, terrified. Mick stretches out his arms, shielding her from harm. Josef recognises Mick. He blinks - his teeth retract and his eyes go back to their normal hue. He takes a deep breath, calming himself.

"This better be good," he says, sounding annoyed. "Hi Beth," he adds as an afterthought.
"Hi..." Beth stammers, still looking somewhat stunned. As Josef climbs out of the freezer, she averts her eyes politely, studying the bare wall. Josef is wearing boxer shorts.
"Shirt. Breakfast. Talk," Josef announces, and shows them to the living room before retreating to get dressed.

"So," Josef says, "Tell me why I am awake at this ungodly hour." He has put on a pair of trousers and a shirt and walks into the living room, binding his tie. Mick and Beth are sitting on the couch facing the large windows. The afternoon sun reflects on the pool, but half-drawn blinds protect the seating corner from direct sunlight.

Josef sits down in a chair opposite of them. Mick looks at Beth and takes the list from his pocket. He hands it to Josef.
"The DA asked Beth to look into this," he says. Josef reads the list.
"He asked me if I saw a connection between the names," Beth adds.
"Did you?" Josef asks, looking up from the sheet of paper.
"Yes," says Beth, a little unsure of what Josef wants to hear. "They're vampires."
"What does he want with it?" he asks, looking at Beth.
"I don't know," she replies.
"Can you find out?"
"I think so," Beth says hesitatingly. "He said it was for a case." Josef looks at her, his expression unreadable. He takes a deep breath and lets it out before speaking, collecting his thoughts.

"Right, find out what you can. Where it comes from. What he plans to do with it," Josef says, businesslike. Beth nods. "When we know the source, we'll know where we stand. Talbot needs to be convinced that this list is random and irrelevant, yes? One way or another..." He looks at Mick and runs his tongue over the edge of his upper row of teeth. Mick nods almost invisibly. Beth sees, and looks from Mick to Josef, frowning.

"What, are you going to kill him?" she asks straight-out. There is doubt on her face.
"No!" says Mick, looking at Beth - "Maybe," says Josef simultaneously. Mick turns to his friend. "Josef, there's no need to get ahead of things..."
"But you might, eventually," Beth cuts in, looking at the two of them with dawning horror.

Ignoring her, Josef looks at Mick. "A word, please," he says, and gets up, walking away from the couch. Mick glances at Beth, who looks irritated, but gets up and joins his friend. Josef looks into Mick's eyes concentratedly, and lowers his voice so only Mick's supernatural hearing can pick it up.

"I will not have my morals questioned by a human," he says angrily. "If Talbot poses a threat to us, he must be eliminated. It's the only way we can protect ourselves. I refuse to walk around with a t-shirt that says 'Torch me, I'm a vampire!'"

Mick shakes his head, putting his hand on Josef's arm, trying to calm him. "We'll see what we can find out. If this is Monaghan's list she might have left instructions on how to proceed. If Beth doesn't get more information out of him, I can search Talbot's office."

Beth is looking at them, concentrating hard, but she can't hear their voices.

"If this is Emma's list, it's incomplete," Josef says. "There are more vampires in Los Angeles, and she knew them."
"I know," says Mick. He frowns and looks out of the window overlooking the city.
"Do you trust her?" Josef asks.
"Yes, I trust her," Mick says in his normal voice, looking over to Beth and offering her a small smile. She smiles back, looking unsure.
"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Josef says resolutely. "Now that I am up, I might as well get some work done."
"Me too," says Mick.

Mick's car. Mick is driving. Beth is looking out of the window. There's an uncomfortable silence. Mick opens his mouth to speak, but changes his mind. Beth turns to him.
"I see how you mean Josef's not an afternoon person," she says sarcastically.
"Look, have a little faith in me, okay?" says Mick, glancing at her before turning back to traffic. "I will deal with this before anyone gets hurt. Human or vampire."

The corridor to Mick's office. Mick is on his way. Mick Voice-Over : As usual, my loyalties are torn between humans and vampires. But Beth won't be able to investigate until morning. And I apparently have a client.
A lanky teenage boy stands in front of the door, about to knock. He is wearing tight dark jeans and a longsleeved black shirt. Mick walks up to him.
"Can I help you?" he asks. The boy looks startled, but not overly so.
"Are you Mick St. John?"
"Yes."

Mick opens the door and steps back to let the boy enter. As he passes, Mick breathes in deeply. Mick Voice-Over : There's blood on him. When they are seated, the boy takes out his mobile phone, scrolls through the menu and hands it to Mick. It shows a photo of an older man with light-blonde hair and casual clothing, looking out of the window of a car.

"I am looking for this man," the boy says. "His name is Christian Johansen. We had...an appointment every Tuesday, and this is the second week he's missed it. I've been by his house, but no one was there."
Mick nods. "Could he be out? On holiday, a business trip? Perhaps he forgot to tell you?"
"No. No, " says the boy vehemently, "It was important to him, he wouldn't miss it." He looks at Mick. "Something must have happened. Can you find help me find him?"
"Have you filed a missing person report?" Mick asks. The boy bites his lower lip, and studies his hands. "I haven't," he admits. "I don't want any trouble with the police."
Mick frowns. It's a delicate question, but he decides to ask it anyway, even if he can guess the answer.
"Was Johansen paying you for your company?"
The boy looks up and into Mick's eyes and then smiles warily. "Look, it's not...what you think. It's not about the money. It hasn't been about that for months. That's why I am certain he didn't just...stood me up, okay?" The boy fiddles with the buttons on the cuffs of his shirt, the heel of his foot drumming a nervous rhythm on the floor.
"I understand," says Mick. "Just tell me all you know about him, and I'll see what I can find out."
The boy nods. "I met him about a year ago. A friend introduced us. He told me it was easy money if you're not easily freaked out-"
Mick raises an eyebrow, but catches himself and schools his expression into a neutral one.

((flash back - two boys stand on the sidewalk, talking. A car drives up, slowing down. The lanky boy gets into the car. Christian Johansen smiles at him friendily, and they drive off. Johansen's house - the boy is sitting at a table, eating. Johansen sits opposite of him, watching the boy eat. His own plate is empty. He smiles at the boy, and raises his wineglass in a toast and drinks. The boy grins. He gets up, walks over to Johansen and kisses him on the lips.))


Mick's office. "He hasn't missed a Tuesday since, until last week. It's not like him. He's...one of those people with strict habits, you know? A specific order, like...a ritual..for everything, from the way he dresses to the way he speaks, everything has to be as it always is. He can't...I dunno, put his left shoe on first. It's always the right shoe. And it had to be Tuesdays." The boy looks at Mick hopefully. Mick can't suppress a smirk. He knows people like that, though he himself could never live that way. Looking encouraged, the boy takes a deep breath and lets it out, before continuing.

"About the money," he starts to say, and he wills himself to relax his nervous leg, his hand going up to the collar of his shirt, opening up the top button, "I was hoping...maybe we could arrange something."
Mick sits back in his chair, shaking his head and smiling a little incredulously. "I'm sorry," he says kindly, "but I can't accept that."
"Are you sure?" the boy asks, opening another button and baring his neck. "I'm O negative."

"What...how? Who told you?" Mick asks, looking unsettled.
"Mr Kostan sent me to you," the boy says, "I met him at one of Christian's parties, and I didn't know where else to go. He said you might be able to help." Mick's jaw drops. He closes his mouth, shaking his head a little as if to shake off a strange illusion, and - upon realising the boy is still in his office and he is not hallucinating - picks up his mobile phone. The boy looks worried he might have said something wrong. His feet start drumming the floor again.
"Excuse me," Mick says, "I need to make a call." He walks away from the desk, keeping his eye on the boy. Josef's voice is on the line.

"Mick, what's up?" he asks, sounding friendlier and more awake than earlier.
"Josef," Mick says, keeping his voice down, "Did you send me someone's freshie to find his vampire?"
"What? Oh! I remember, yeah - O negative, right? He came by a few days ago. I was going to tell you..."

"I can't believe this," Mick says, sounding annoyed. "He offered to pay me in blood."
"It's good currency," Josef says dryly. Mick stays silent. "Look," Josef offers, "I find him on my doorstep in the middle of the night, distraught, love-sick...I thought you could help him out so I told him to go and see you."
"And then you bit him," Mick says. There is disapproval in his voice.

"I cut him- more hygienic, who knows where he's been? Hey - he offered. I helped him. He was grateful."
Mick rolls his eyes. "Josef, as much as I appreciate your efforts to get me clients, I can't-"
"If he can't afford it, send me the bill," Josef cuts in.
"Why would you do that?" Mick asks, his eyes still on the boy. He is not moving, keeping his hands trapped between his knees and staring out of the window.
"What, I can't be concerned about a fellow vampire's whereabouts?" Josef asks innocently. Mick just waits, looking exasperated.
"I always get my money's worth, Mick, you know that," Josef says.
"Yeah," Mick replies, shaking his head, and he disconnects the call.

A house in the suburbs, night. Mick walks to the door quietly, looking around to see if someone's noticing him. The neighbourhood is dark and the street is deserted. Mick Voice-Over : Finding a vampire isn't easy if they don't want to be found. They have centuries to perfect their hiding skills. Those who blend in with the human world have to be careful. They need to relocate about every half a century - when people start to notice they don't age. Some leave the state, or the country. Change their names, their identities. Others just go underground for a generation.

Mick takes out his small tool kit and picks the lock on the door. As he pushes the door open, a pile of newspapers and mail rustles behind it. He closes the door, lights a small flash light and picks up a paper. It is dated early October. Another is dated 10 days later - the mail has been there for a while. He enters the living room. Everything looks orderly. A large painting on the wall shows a replica of Sandro Botticelli's 'Saint Sebastian'. Mick walks to a wooden drawer, opening it. Rummaging through some papers, he finds a thick envelope and looks inside. It's a stack of pictures of his client, smiling coyly at the camera. The last pictures show the boy with a bare chest, looking away from the camera. A small cut just above his collarbone is bleeding. Mick flips through the pictures. Christian Johansen steps into the frame, his arms wrapped around the boy. He licks the blood off his chest. Mick frowns and puts the pictures back inside the envelope. Mick Voice-Over : However, when we do go underground, we don't usually leave our property unattended. This includes incriminating photographs.

Mick's Mercedes drives down the street his client described. A few young men are standing on the side walk. As they see Mick, some of them wolf whistle and laugh. One young man walks up to his car. He is wearing faded jeans and a summer jacket, its collar turned up to protect against the chilly autumn. "Are you looking for someone?" he asks seductively.
"Yes," replies Mick, and takes out the picture of Christian Johansen. "Do you know him?"
The young man takes a step back, frowning. "Are you a cop?" He looks over his shoulder to the others.
"No, I'm a P.I.," Mick says, taking out his wallet and showing him his ID, "And I am on a case to find this man, not to interrupt your business."
The young man studies the ID carefully. "Do you have a tenner for a coffee for me and my friends?" he asks. Mick nods. "I don't know him," the young man says, accepting the ten dollar note. "But I can take you to Clemence, he knows all the regulars."

A shady bar. The clock on the wall shows 5 am. The few men who are still there are minding their own business, looking down their glass of beer sleepily with half an eye on a news broadcast that is running on a tv-screen in the corner. The sound is turned low. Mick is sitting opposite a middle-aged man with a leather jacket. The man is looking at the picture.
"Yeah, I know him," he says, "I introduced him to Jamie. I know they'd get off well, it became exclusive almost from the start. Jamie's pretty lucky."
"Have you seen him lately?"
The man looks out of the window. He takes a sip of the coffee in front of him. Then he looks at Mick, his eyes widening a little, remembering. "Yes - he stopped by last week. I thought that was weird, because it was a Monday, and he usually comes on-"
"Tuesdays, yes, Jamie told me," Mick cuts in. He glances out of the window as well. Dawn is breaking. "Did you notice anything about him?"
"Yeah, he looked bad, man," replies Clemence, "like he was sick or something. He was looking for Jamie. I told him Jamie wasn't there, he was visiting his mother. Then he left."
"Did he say where he was going?" Mick asked. At that moment, Mick's ears pick up on the news broadcast. On the television screen, a news reporter stands in front of a towing truck, pulling up the wreck of a car from a pit at a construction site. Mick looks at the car, then down at the picture of Christian Johansen. The part of the car that is visible on the picture is the same brand, the same colour. The news reporter says : "...near to the airport. It appears as if the driver must have ignored the signs, running straight into the construction site, where the car caught on fire. The identity of the driver remains unclear."

Benjamin Talbot's office, in the morning. The door to Ben's office is open. Beth knocks on the doorpost. Ben looks up, smiling at Beth. "Good morning."
"Morning," says Beth, a little tired. She takes out the list. "I..er- looked into it, but it makes no sense. Can you tell me a bit more about the background?"
Ben looks at her, trying to judge her intentions. He decides to offer her a part of the truth, for now. "Someone sent it to me," he admits, "I'm not sure what to do with it."
"Who is it from?"
"I don't know. It was sent anonymously."
"Without an explanation?" Beth asks, curiously.
"Yeah. It might be just a joke. It's almost Halloween. But it could also be code names. I had hoped you might be able to make something of it."
"I'm sorry, nothing yet. Maybe the sender will get in touch and explain?"
"Yes," replies Ben, "Maybe. If they do, I'll let you know."
"Thanks," says Beth. "The Buzzwire-girl in me is always curious for mysteries." She smiles at Ben.

The morgue. Mick walks in. Guillermo is listening to music on his iPod with his back turned to the door, but smells the air and turns, smiling. "Morning Mick," he says cheerfully, pulling off his earphones. "Not your usual time, is it?"
"I have a usual time?" Mick asks, surprised. Mick Voice-Over : And I thought I wasn't like Johansen at all. Predictability is dangerous, I must mind that in the future.

"Have you come to see the vamp?" Guillermo asks. "Not much left, you know." He walks to a freezer and opens it, pulling out the rack and opening the body bag. The body is heavily burnt. Mick turns away for a few seconds, wrinkling his nose. Getting over the first gag-reflexes, he turns back. A small plastic bag lies next to the body, containing a few items. "I found those on his body," Guillermo says. "Mainly rubbish." Mick takes out a blackened set of keys and a metal cigarette case.
"Can I borrow these? I might be able to identify him." Guillermo shrugs. "I haven't filed them yet, be my guest. This case will be closed by the end of the week anyway. They should have the licence plate infos by then."
"I'll hurry," says Mick, pocketing the cigarette case.

Jamie turns the cigarette case over in his hands, looking crestfallen. "So he's dead?" he says sadly.
"I'm sorry," says Mick.
"What happens now?" the boy asks.
"Nothing," replies Mick. "We go on with our lives."
Jamie looks up at Mick. There are tears in his eyes. "Christian was going to turn me," he says. "When I was eighteen."
Mick swallows. He senses the boy's grief, but can't offer him more than consoling words.
"I'm sorry," he says again, "I can't help you."
Jamie nods, getting up. He offers Mick his hand. Mick shakes it and watches him leave. Mick Voice-Over : Someone will find him eventually. Our scene is small, and talk is fast. All I can do for him now, is to clean up Johansen's house before the police gets there.

Johansen's house. Mick tries the blackened keys one by one until he finds one that fits, and opens the door.
The place is wrecked. Furniture is overturned, and the contents of cupboards are strewn over the floor. Mick walks over to the drawer. The pictures are gone. The painting is slashed and sprayed with red graffiti. It's a crudely drawn bird, and the letters S P Q R. Mick frowns, taking out his mobile phone and photographing the image. Then he notices an envelope, pinned to the painting. It is addressed to D.A. Benjamin Talbot. Mick hesitates, then takes it off the wall and opens it. In it is a page of the list. Christian Johansen's name is on it, but crossed out. He flies over the note. There are several names on it that weren't on Beth's part of the list. He takes his mobile phone and sends the picture to Josef. While he waits for a reply, he looks around the rest of the room. His phone buzzes. He picks it up.

"Order the Cleaner for that place and get over here. It's the mark of the Legion," Josef says ominously, and hangs up.
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wollstonecraft61
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Re: Season 2, ep 2 'Aquila, Part I' (PG13)

Post by wollstonecraft61 »

Wow, this just gets better and better. Mick is really out of touch if he doesn't realize he can be predictable. He hasn't had to go underground yet. Your Guillermo is spot on, too. Is Ben suspicious of Beth? She better be careful. However, I hope that Ben doesn't become a problem. Josef WILL eliminate him!!!
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francis
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Re: Season 2, ep 2 'Aquila, Part I' (PG13)

Post by francis »

The plot thickens. So there are male freshies who walk the street? Seems dangerous to me to let them know so much. Then again, why should they be less loyal than the freshies Josef has?
I feel sorry for Jamie. And did his vamp commit suicide or did he know he was hunted and changed habits just to still be found and die in a staged accident? Interesting case.
The legion wants Ben to make the connection, but with Mick and the Cleaners destroying the evidence before the police finds out the name of the victim, they got ahead. Hope they will be able to do this a bit longer.
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