Title: Rush To the Rescue
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: R
Word Count: 1,742
Author's Note: Continuation of There Will Be Blood.
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.***
What was he doing here? He shouldn't be alone, Mick told himself for what felt like the hundredth time. Josef would have warned him not to try to come to his rescue alone; he would have told Mick to gather some other vampires and charge in with a veritable army.
But he couldn't do that. He had to be sure that Josef would be safe, and the best way to do that was to confront whoever had kidnapped his boyfriend on his own. If he brought others in with him, Josef would more than likely be as good as dead.
What worried Mick most was the fact that whoever had taken Josef had access to silver -- and wasn't above using it on their own kind. It terrified him to think that even now, Josef's life could be in danger, that he could be lying somewhere paralyzed and gasping his last breaths.
No, he told himself firmly. They're not going to do that. They were so careful about taking him without a sound, without anybody knowing for a while that he was gone. They aren't just going to kill him and dump his body somewhere.
He closed his eyes, trying to push aside the thought of the man he loved lying lifeless somewhere in this building. That wasn't a mental image he wanted to keep in his head; it would only interfere with actually finding Josef and getting him out of here.
Dare he hope that his boyfriend would be alone in a room somewhere, unguarded because of the paralysis that silver caused? His abductors might have thought that they didn't have to watch Josef if he couldn't move or cry out in any way.
He was surprised that there were no guards; whoever had taken Josef obviously thought that he would be so incapacitated by the effects of the silver dust that they didn't need any. And now, as he moved slowly through the rooms of the abandoned building, he could hear voices.
No, not voices. One single voice. Mick stood stock-still, straining to make out the words. Whoever was talking, they seemed to be addressing their words to one person -- and he couldn't sense more than two people in the room directly in front of him.
"I know what you are. I've known for quite a long time. And you're going to pay for what others of your kind did to my family. I don't care that it wasn't you yourself -- you're one of them. And you have no right to the kind of life you lead, not after what your kind has done."
Josef. Whoever was speaking directed those words at Josef. Mick's heartbeat quickened, his eyes flying open and glowing with vampiric bloodlust, his fangs coming out as he bared his teeth in a feral snarl. He was going to kill whoever was speaking.
The person who had taken Josef was human. He could smell their blood; he knew that there were only two people in the next room, one human and one vampire. And he was going to kill that human and feast on their blood. He was going to make them pay for hurting his love.
Mick crept stealthily forward until he was at the doorway of the room; his eyes swept around him, taking in what he was dealing with. Just as he'd thought, there was one human -- and that man's attention was fully taken up by the vampire who was lying on the floor in front of him.
Josef was obviously paralyzed; he was lying as still as a stone statue, his arms at his sides, his chest barely rising and falling with each labored breath. His eyes were wide, but not with fear; no, that look was one of anger, of defiance, a look that Mick knew very well.
Trust Josef to have an attitude even when he was facing death, Mick thought, his gaze landing on the samurai sword that rested on a bench only a few feet away from where Josef's captor was standing. So that was his plan -- decapitate Josef and take some kind of twisted revenge.
Well, that wasn't going to happen. Not today, and not any other day. Mick had no intention of losing the man he loved to some crazed lunatic who blamed any vampire he came into contact with for something that other vampires had done in the past.
When the man moved to reach for the sword, Mick sprang at him with a roar of anger. The human didn't stand a chance; one moment, he was on his feet, the next, he was lying under Mick, looking up at his attacker with terror written in his eyes.
"You're a vampire!" the man managed to gasp, struggling to break Mick's grip on him. But Mick wasn't going to release him, or give him a chance to escape; his arm came down across the man's throat, cutting off his oxygen and making his eyes bulge as he gasped for breath.
"I'm the vampire who's going to kill you and drain you dry," Mick snarled, baring his fangs at the man. "You picked the wrong vampire to piss off this time. That man you kidnapped is the man I love. And you should never have laid your filthy paws on him."
"You're all destructive monsters," the man whispered, his eyes showing no fear, only hatred. "Dying at your hands will make me a martyr. And there will be others coming against you. Others that will be even stronger than me. You'll never win this war."
"It's not a war. And you won't be a martyr," Mick said through clenched teeth. "You'll just be forgotten, like the trash you are." With those words and one swift movement, he twisted the man's neck, breaking it cleanly before he bent and sank his fangs in.
It took him a few moments to realize what he was doing; the blood lust had come over him so quickly that it had been impossible to separate it from the burning anger he felt at this man for hurting Josef. When he finally raised his head, it took him a few moments to get his bearings.
He could hear gasping from across the room; with a start, he realized that the sounds were coming from Josef's throat. That bastard had obviously used more of the silver dust; he had no idea how much of it was left in his lover's system.
One way to help Josef was by making sure he fed, giving him fresh blood to bolster his strength. Dragging the lifeless body to where his boyfriend lay, he lifted the man's wrist to Josef's mouth, hoping that his lover had the strength to bite down and feed.
Putting one hand behind Josef's head, he pressed his boyfriend's lips to the dead man's wrist -- and closed his eyes in relief when he realized that Josef's fangs had bitten down into a vein. He had no idea how long it would take for the paralysis to dissipate, but at least this should help.
The blood seemed to revive Josef; after a few moments, he moved his head slowly to the side, then raised an arm. Mick let out a breath that he'd hardly realized he was holding; Josef was obviously going to be all right if he could move around.
"Let's get the hell out of here," his boyfriend whispered, his voice hoarse from disuse. "I need to get back home. And I need to walk around and get my muscles moving again. I feel like I'm about to cramp up. That damned silver did a number on me."
"That's what it's supposed to do," Mick said wryly, trying to hide his relief. He knew that Josef wouldn't appreciate him being emotional right now; he could do that when they were safely back in the penthouse, and he knew that Josef was going to be okay.
"I trusted that bastard," Josef muttered, shaking his head. "I let him into my home. I'd been dealing with him for five years. Five years, Mick! It just goes to show that humans are treacherous and that you should never trust them, no matter what."
"You trusted me when I was human," Mick reminded him, helping Josef get to his feet and keeping his arm around his boyfriend's waist as Josef walked slowly across the room. "Before I was turned, and for those few days when I went back to being human."
"That was different," Josef told him, his voice weak. "When you were still human, I was already in love with you. Love does strange things to people -- and even though I didn't want to admit how I felt then, I already knew it. And I knew you were one of the few humans worth trusting."
"I'm just glad you trusted me -- and wondering why you trusted this guy," Mick muttered, glancing with distaste at the body on the floor. "It's not like you to let a human into your private sanctuary, Josef. Why did you get so careless?"
Josef sighed, shaking his head. "It's a long story. Let's just get out of here and go home, and I'll tell you everything. And, Mick --" Josef's dark gaze rested on his boyfriend, his words soft but firm. "Thanks. If you hadn't rushed to the rescue, he'd have killed me for sure."
"You don't have to thank me for coming to the rescue of the man I love," Mick murmured, tightening his arm around Josef's waist. "I'd do anything for you, Josef. You know that. If I'd had to sacrifice myself for you, then I would have. In a second."
"When I'm a little stronger, I'll show you just how grateful I am," Josef whispered, flashing Mick that smile that always melted his heart. Mick's heartbeat quickened at the thought -- and he couldn't help hoping that Josef was feeling stronger very soon.***