Title: Find Another Fool
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,677
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Josef Kostan or Mick St. John, unfortunately. Please do not sue.***
Josef stood up, closing the folder on his desk and raising his eyebrows at the man sitting across his desk. There was an eager expression on the other man's face, as though he expected Josef to say something that he very much wanted to hear.
"What do you expect me to do? Whimper and snivel at your feet?" Josef leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers under his chin and raising his brows. "Do you really think anyone's going to believe I"m a vampire? What kind of trash is this?"
"Don't you believe in vampires, Mr. Kostan?" His visitor's face had gone from being sly and secretive to an expression of doubt -- and fear. Josef scowled at him, drawing his brows together in what he hoped came across as a ferocious frown.
"Are you kidding me? There's no such thing as vampires," Josef told him, putting as much scorn into his voice as he could muster. If this man could be deflected from his purpose, then he might stand a chance of finding out who was behind this.
Whoever it was obviously wanted to single him out -- but that wasn't unusual. People came after him all the time; he was highly visible in the human world, and anyone finding out what he really was had to be dealt with, quickly and quietly.
But he couldn't do that until he found out who had sent this idiot here. This man wasn't smart enough to have done any digging and found things out himself; no; there was a higher power behind this messenger boy, and Josef was determined to find out who it was.
"B-but I was told .... people have seen you do .... things. They have proof that you're a creature of the night," the man protested, standing up and moving stealthily towards the door. "You're not of this Earth, Mr. Kostan. And they have proof."
"And just who would 'they' be, pray tell?" Josef raised an eyebrow again, crossing his arms over his chest and regarding the man who had invaded his office with a calm expression. "How do you know they have this 'proof'? And if they do, why not show it to me?"
"You're an unnatural creature," the man whispered, shaking his head. "That's what they told me. They're going to pay me a great deal if I expose you -- but I came to you first. You're a very rich man, Mr. Kostan. You can afford to pay me more to avoid that exposure."
"Do you really think I'm going to give in to some kind of blackmail when the people you're working for sound like they escaped from a mental hospital?" Josef inquired with a snort. "You must be as crazy as they are. I should have you thrown out of here."
"I may not have seen these things they speak of, but you're a very mysterious man, Mr. Kostan," his visitor said, obviously trying to salvage what was, for him, a losing game. "You should listen to what I have to say. It could save you some embarrassment."
Josef laughed, shaking his head and standing up. He glanced down at the folder on his desk that he had been perusing when the man was ushered into his office, almost as though he was more interested in its contents than in what was being said.
"Embarrassment?" he echoed, arching a brow and tossing his guest a sardonic look. "The embarrassment is all yours, if you ask me. Coming in here and expecting me to believe that people actually think I'm some kind of fictional creature? Are you out of your mind?"
"This isn't over," the man said as he backed towards the door, obviously wanting to get out, but not yet ready to admit that he was beaten. "There will be more proof against you. And you'll be sorry that you didn't deal with me when you had the chance."
Josef stepped out from behind his desk, making the man gasp and take another step towards the door. "I don't think so. Find another fool to listen to your bullshit. I'm no fool, Mr. Endicott. And I'm not going to stand here and be talked to like one."
As Endicott turned towards the door, it opened and a tall, dark man stepped in. He closed the door behind him, standing in front of it with an implacable air, his arms crossed over his chest and an expectant look on his face. Endicott stepped back, his face going pale.
"Mick, listen to this," Josef said, his tone conversational. "This idiot actually wants me to believe that people think I'm a vampire, and that they have proof of it. Have you ever heard anything so stupid in your life? I mean, seriously. Vampires!"
Mick laughed, showing even white teeth. "Vampires? That's crazy. There's no such thing as vampires. Do people think you're a fool?" He looked curiously at Endicott, who had given up edging towards the door and was now standing helplessly in the middle of the room.
"You're the fool," Endicott told Mick, his voice trembling. "He's dangerous. They told me so. I had thought to help him -- but he doesn't want that help." He made an obvious effort to gather what was left of his dignity about him. "If you'll excuse me, gentlemen --"
"Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out," Josef murmured as Endicott beat a hasty retreat. The moment he was gone, Josef's countenance took on more serious lines. He moved back to his chair behind the desk, sitting down heavily and looking up at Mick.
Mick didn't have to ask what his boyfriend was thinking. He knew that by sometime late tonight, Mr. Endicott's body would be found, neck likely broken. Or, even more possibly, his body would never be found at all. He would just .... disappear.
"He's got to vanish, Mick." Josef's voice was quiet, his tone flat. "He's trying to play both sides -- and that's even more dangerous than somebody coming after me who knows what I am. It's either the tar pits, or some other mysterious disappearance."
Mick nodded soberly, moving to the chair that Endicott had vacated and dropping into it with a sigh. "I know you've got to take care of threats, but this is getting more and more common, isn't it? How do they find out what you are? Are you being careless?"
"Me? No." Josef shook his head, looking annoyed. "Come on, Mick, you know me better than that. I'm not careless -- but sometimes the people who work for me are. I don't know who could have let anything slip, but I'll have to be a lot more watchful."
"Yeah, you will." Mick sighed, closing his head and leaning his head against the back of the chair. "I might think some of what you said was funny, if it wasn't so dangerous for people to know what you are. 'Find another fool to listen to your bullshit?' Not very professional."
"I couldn't hold it in any longer," Josef confessed, looking a little shamefaced. "I know I shouldn't let idiots like that make me angry, but I couldn't help it. I felt like he wasn't just threatening me -- but us. You and me. Hell, the whole damn vamp community."
"It's also not going to be very professional to kill him at the tar pits," Mick pointed out. "But I'm guessing that's the direction you're leaning in." Mick crossed his arms over his chest, regarding his lover somberly. "It might be the best thing for all of us."
Josef nodded thoughtfully, obviously agreeing with him. "He has to disappear, Mick. I just wish that I could find out who he's working for. If somebody out there knows what we are, and they've got the power to expose us in a big way -- then we're in trouble."
"I think you're in more trouble than I am," Mick told him, his brow furrowing with concern. "You're the head of a well-known company. I'm just a private investigator that nobody outside of this city has ever heard of. I'm not as high-profile as you are."
"Don't worry, Mick." Josef's voice was soft, though Mick could hear the steely, determined undertone. "This isn't going to be a problem. He'll disappear, and even if I don't find out who he's working for, I'm used to watching my back. I'll be protected."
Mick nodded, releasing a long, slow breath. "I wish I was the one who could be around all the time to protect you, Josef. But you've existed for nearly four hundred years as a vamp. I know you can take care of yourself. Even though you know I worry."
"Hey, if you didn't worry about me, then you wouldn't be Mick." Josef flashed him that insouciant smile that he'd grown to love so much, getting to his feet and stretching. "What do you say that we look into the question of whoever Endicott might be working for?"
"Good idea." Mick nodded, standing up and moving around the desk to slide his arms around Josef's slim waist and pull the other man into his arms. "I'll find out who they are, Josef. I'm good at that, y'know. And what do we do when we find them?"
"That," Josef told him, tilting his head to the side and giving Mick that smile again, "remains to be seen." Mick couldn't help wondering what his boyfriend had in mind -- and he almost felt sorry for the fools who had been stupid enough to try and tangle with Josef Kostan.***