Full Circle - Beth's Story, chapter 15
[x]Title: Full Circle - Beth’s Story
[x]Author: Galaxy451
[x]Rating: This chapter - PG-13
[x]Warning:
[x]Pairing: Mick/Beth, Jo/Beth
[x]Genre: General
[x]Spoilers:N/A
[x]Summary:The year is 2014. Jacqui Kostan (aka Beth Turner) is now a vampire, and she tells the tale of what happened in the years post Sonata, beginning from after the door closed......
Meanwhile, in the present time, little does she know, but things are about to come full circle....
[x]Disclaimer: Not my property, unfortunately. All rights belong to.... whomever they belong!
Previous chapters:- Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14
Full Circle - Beth’s Story
Chapter 15
Mick sat across from me in the chair. He was deep in thought, legs crossed, head turned to the side, his hand pressed absently to his chin. He looked so sad, and I hated that I’d been the one to cause the change. Just minutes earlier when we’d met in the hallway, he’d seemed so happy and relaxed, and I’d have done anything not to have had to tell him about what I’d discovered in Ben’s office.
His eyes flicked back to me, and he seemed to make a decision. “Josef needs to know about this. Every person on that list needs to know.”
“Oh….” I’d forgotten to mention that I’d called Josef earlier, “Josef’s already on his way. I panicked when I couldn’t contact you, so I dragged him out of a meeting. He should be here any minute.”
As if on cue, the buzzer went, and Mick got up to answer it. Josef swept through the door with a scowl on his face and a decidedly harassed air about him, demanding to know why his precious time was being used up on non money-making business. However, on catching sight of Mick’s face, and taking one look at me, he obviously took in the seriousness of the situation, and looked worriedly from one of us to the other. His brows knitted together, and his eyes flicked back and forth between us, as he asked in a concerned voice, “What happened?”
“Sit down Josef”, Mick gestured toward the couch where I was seated, and Josef sat down beside me, a look of growing apprehension on his face.
I put my hand on Josef’s arm, “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem,” he said, smiling at me warmly, and surprising me for once with his lack of witty sarcasm. He turned away to look at Mick expectantly.
“Beth….?” Mick nodded to me, and Josef’s head immediately swivelled back in my direction, fixing me with an intent look.
I hesitated for a split second, caught momentarily by the intensity of Josef’s gaze. I shook my head to clear it, and concentrated on giving him a brief summary of what I’d just gone through with Mick. He listened intently, but if was hard to gauge his reaction from the expression, or more accurately, the lack of it, on his face. When I finished, he was silent for a few seconds, then, with an innocent smile beginning to play at the corners of his mouth, he gave a typically inane Josef style response.
“So, you want me to take care of the D.A.?”
I knew Josef was alluding to the photographer he had ‘taken care’ of for me a few weeks earlier, but the sarcastic remark was lost on Mick, who remained thankfully unaware of the favour I’d asked of his friend.
Mick looked like an exasperated parent dealing with an errant child, as he fixed Josef with an angry glare. “This is SERIOUS Josef!”
The smile gradually slid off Josef’s face, and his face was solemn when he addressed Mick, “Mick… from what Beth just said, it appears he doesn’t even know what connects the people on that list. If it was Emma who sent it, then it looks like she never got the chance to fill Talbot in on the details. And if it wasn’t her, then my guess is that someone wants to use it as leverage. They can’t do that if they’ve already sold us out, so they send the list and threaten to reveal our secret if they don’t get what they want. From the fact that we’ve received no threat, it makes sense that whoever sent it is no longer around to be in a position to intimidate us. Emma certainly fits the bill on that one. It‘s also highly unlikely that anyone outside the vampire community would be able to discover all of those names. This has to be an inside job.”
Mick stood up and started to pace restlessly in front of us. “And what if it wasn’t Emma, Josef? What if someone’s just playing us with this? Waiting for the right moment to hold it over our heads. It could be anyone. We don’t know for certain that Talbot doesn’t already know. Being told that vampires exist can’t be an easy pill to swallow; he could just be trying to gather some evidence to support it.”
“Look…..we could spend all day second guessing ourselves,” Josef replied, leaning back against the couch, “the fact is, I have absolutely no intention of re-inventing myself right now….I’m bang in the middle of a massive deal, and I could really do without ‘dying’ at short notice. Besides… it’s Simone’s birthday next Saturday, and it’s more than my life’s worth to cancel the party. She’d kill me!” He turned to me and gave a hen-pecked grin, “You know what women can be like…”
I laughed despite the gravity of the situation, “You’ve really got it bad don’t you?”
He just looked at me and puckered his face comically in reply.
“It needn’t come to that Josef,” said Mick “but I think we need to be prepared for the worst. Maybe get some new ID ready in case we need it quickly. Decide on a plan of action if we need to leave L.A….” he glanced at me as he said it, and for the first time it occurred to me that this could be the beginning of the end for Mick and I. If he was forced to move on, where would that leave us?
Josef let out a sigh, running his hand over his hair in a gesture of resignation. “I guess it won’t hurt to be prepared….. I know someone who handles re-locations, I can have him prepare the necessary papers just in case.” His gaze flicked to me, “What about you Beth?”
“Me?” I looked at Josef, confused.
“Well…if the worst comes to the worst, and Mick has to re-locate, you can’t very well continue to see each other, or you’d provide a lead straight to him. We’d have to assume that whoever is behind this threat knows about your relationship.” He paused, looking from me to Mick for some kind of response, but neither of us was forthcoming. “If you’re planning on staying together, we’ll need to re-locate the both of you.”
I didn’t know what to say. I opened and closed my mouth without any words coming out. It wasn’t something I’d considered, or even thought about until now. I’d always assumed that if Mick was ever forced to move on, that would be the end for us. But that was before the events of the last few days. I knew how I felt about it…. I’d follow Mick anywhere. I’d re-locate to the arctic if necessary… well maybe Alaska….The question was, would he want that too? I glanced at Mick, hoping for some kind of clue as to how he felt, but he just looked back at me, saying nothing, his face sombre as I struggled to come up with an answer.
Sensing my predicament, Josef waved a hand dismissively, getting to his feet and preparing to leave. “No problem, you can let me know later. Just give me a call when you’ve made your decision. In the meantime, try to find out what you can from Talbot about those names he asked you to look into,” he paused on his way to the door, adding, as if as an afterthought, “and don’t go giving him any information that could compromise anyone, or link them together.”
I raised my eyebrows at him pointedly, “Do I look like an idiot?”
He started to say something, then stopped short, giving me a sardonic grin, “Well.. you never can be too careful……. Anyway, I have things to do, people to see, and time won’t wait. Bye Beth,” he nodded in my direction, then turned to Mick, giving him a rather pointed look, “Mick…”
As the door swung shut Mick and I looked at one another. I went to speak, but Mick started to say something at the same time, and we both stopped short. He raised his eyebrows and gestured with his hand that I should go first. It was strange… even as close as we’d become over the last few days, the short time we’d been apart seemed to have erected a barrier between us, and as much as I wanted just to go to him and put my arms around him, and in turn to feel his arms around me, I hesitated, unsure as to what reception I would get.
I stood up, wondering if I should leave now that we’d finished discussing what I’d come to talk about. I half turned toward the door, hesitating, in two minds as to how to proceed, when something made me turn back.
“I missed you….” I blurted out.
“Me too.” He gave me a shy smile.
“I’m sorry I ignored your calls… I needed some time to think,” I bit my lip nervously, “if you want to know the truth, I was upset because it seemed like you wouldn’t have felt the same way about me if I had turned out to be a vampire. Did I imagine that?” I looked at him questioningly, “Was I just over reacting? Or did you push me away when I went to hug you?”
“No…..you didn’t imagine it,” he was looking me directly in the eye, “but it wasn’t what you thought. I wouldn’t love you any less if I turned you…. I was just horrified at the thought that I might have done it accidentally… without your consent. I think I thought that you might reject me for doing that to you. That’s why I didn’t let you hug me….. I didn’t think I deserved it. I’m sorry…” He sighed heavily, putting his hands on his hips as he stared at the floor and shook his head.
“I want to come with you,” I stated. He looked up, a slightly confused look on his face. “If you have to re-locate I mean…. I want to come with you….” I held my breath, praying that the answer to my question would be yes, “if you’ll have me….?”
“Beth….” he was across the room in the blink of an eye, and his arms went around me, hugging me tight for what seemed like the first time in absolutely ages. I pressed my face into his chest and breathed in his smell, delighting in the feel of his shirt against my cheek as I wrapped my arms tightly about his waist and closed my eyes. His voice was choked with emotion as he answered my question, “Of course I’ll have you….”
For a long time we just stood there, not moving, holding onto each other like our lives depended on it, until finally I pulled back slightly to look up at him. The love I saw in his eyes as he looked back at me took my breath away, and inexplicably I suddenly felt a lump rise in my throat. I’d never loved anyone the way I loved Mick. He wasn’t just my lover, he was my friend, my guardian angel, and the love of my life, all rolled into one. I don’t know what I did to deserve him, I just thank my lucky stars for the twist of fate that brought him to me all those years ago. I despised Coraline for what she’d done to me, but the fact was that without her, I wouldn’t be with the man who was now the most precious thing to me in the whole world. The fact that I could nearly have lost all of that because of a silly misunderstanding, filled me with dismay.
I tried to hold it back, but a stifled sob escaped me, and Mick raised his hand to gently wipe away a tear as it spilled over and ran hotly down my cheek. “What’s wrong Beth….. why are you crying?” he asked me, concern etched all over his face, as my face crumpled and the tears began to fall in earnest.
“I’m just so happy…” I choked out between muffled sobs, feeling like the worst cliché in the world. “Oh.. that sounds so cheesy…” I shook my head, starting to laugh despite myself, and he pulled me back into the circle of his arms, squeezing me tight as he stroked my hair, and placed a tender kiss on my forehead.
Disentangling myself slightly, I wiped at the tears on my face, feeling rather foolish at my sudden display of emotion. “So stupid….” I muttered.
“Beth…. no….. it’s not stupid at all,” Mick caught my chin and turned my face to his. He gazed at me intently, and all I could think was how beautiful his eyes looked. The shirt he wore seemed to reflect the light, lending the impression that his eyes were the same startling blue, although I could have sworn they were hazel the last time I’d looked. I could get lost in those fascinating eyes… they melted my heart as they stared into mine, and I found myself mesmerised, staring in wonder at the long lashes framing the radiant blue irises. He must have realised my mind was wandering, because he smiled, asking, “what?”
“Oh…. I was just thinking how I might approach Ben about that list tomorrow..” I fibbed, looking away.
“No you weren’t!” he accused, laughing as though he could read my mind.
I blushed, scuffing my foot as I tried not to smile, “Okay… so maybe I wasn’t…”
“What were you thinking about then?” he asked in a rather lecherous tone of voice, and I laughed.
“Not that!”
“I could make you tell me, you know,” he threatened, pulling me against him, trapping me once more in the circle of his arms, “using my vampire persuasion skills….” his voice trailed off, and he ran his tongue suggestively over his teeth. “Resistance would be……” he paused, smirking, as he slid his hands up under my shirt and undid the clasp of my bra, “…… futile…” he finished.
Gasping as his hands moved around to my front and skimmed over my breasts, I shook my head vigorously. “No way I’m ever telling… you’re just going to have to beat it out of me….”
To be continued/…………………….
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Chapter 16