AN: Spoilers for "Arrested Development". This is a oneshot and will not be continued.
Beth, the Bunny
Mick's jaw dropped as Beth marched through his door. She pointed a finger at him warningly and said, "Don't laugh, just don't…. don't say anything."
She already appeared flustered and embarrassed, but as well as he knew Beth Turner, she was determined to do whatever she had to do at this moment – even if it meant being dressed up in a Playboy bunny outfit.
Beth turned her head when she heard snickering behind her.
"I hadn't realized Easter had come early," Josef quipped, and Beth glared at him. Mick put up his hands behind her to ward Josef off. Josef ignored him and instead added, "Are you kind of bunny full of cherries or cream?"
Beth put her fists on her hips and glared at him. "Very funny. Did you even hear, 'don't laugh, and don't say anything?"
Josef smirked at her, and Beth turned to Mick, anxious for him to take her side. Mick shook his head. "Don't feel bad; he doesn't listen to me either."
Beth sighed, wiping a hand across her forehead. "Okay, whatever, I can't deal with this right now." She looked up at Mick and fell into his soulful eyes. Pleadingly, she asked, "I need your help, okay?"
Mick peered at her, way too tempted to allow his eyes to travel down her alluring suit that fit her in all the right places. He might have been an old vampire, but he was still a man.
"Ahem…eyes up here," Beth snapped, and Mick rewarded her with one of his quick, cheeky grins. Beth could hear Mick's vampire-sidekick chuckle in the background. (Of course, she'd never call Josef that to his face; he'd probably rip her throat out.)
"First of all…" Mick paused, cocking his head, and holding his laughter back with an incredulous smile. "Why are you wearing that outfit? Isn't it early for Halloween?"
"Look, I don't have time to explain right now. I need to meet a contact about some Co-Ed conspiracy murder or something," she said with exasperation, grabbing his arm. "Now let's go before I miss the meeting."
"Wait, wait," Mick released her arm gently, halting her and taking her hand into his. Suddenly, when they touched, anyone and anything in the background faded and they were encased within a world by themselves. "Let me know what's going on here first. Why are you in such a hurry?" Mick arched an eyebrow and eyed her skeptically. "And why do you need me to interview some snitch. In your line of work you must have done it a hundred times."
Beth bit her lip in frustration. Okay, so he had her there. She didn't know why she even tried. Inwardly, she chuckled in defeat. Nothing could get past Mick St. John.
"Well, the contact is meeting me in a really dark alley… alone… away from phones and light…" She looked up at him in expectation. Didn't he get it? She waved her arms in front of her. "And I have to do it dressed like this!"
Mick couldn't hold back the toothy smile any longer. He shook his head. "Why don't you just change?" Beth shivered. Both vampires were now watching her with interest, teetering on the verge of laughter that would just add to her embarrassment.
"I lost a bet," she said, exhaling in exasperation, "with my editor. So if I change…" She forced a fake smile and wiggled the camera attached to the dip of her cleavage. Mick looked down, struggling to take his eyes away from it. It was hard, though.
"If I mess with this thing in any way, I have to cough up another clause to the deal," Beth bemoaned, clenching her teeth. "It's an extra 500 bucks I don't have."
"Wow, you guys at Buzzwire sure know how to have fun," Josef added sardonically. Mick shot him an annoyed look, and Josef rolled his eyes in amusement.
"So this camera is seeing everything you're doing and who you're interacting with?" Mick asked her, watching the camera with fascination.
"Yes."
"Does it have sound?" he asked, somewhat worried.
"Um…" Beth's eyes grew wide. "I don't think so…"
"Well," Mick said, smiling wolfishly at her. "We best keep certain topics on the down-low," he replied, looking over to Josef who nodded, "just to be safe."
Beth gaped, and then closed her mouth suddenly in further embarrassment. "Right. Well… should we get going?"
Mick grabbed his coat, and shot a 'see you later' to Josef, and then turned his attention back to Beth. "I still don't understand why you need me to come along. I don't think anyone is going to mess with you…" Humor rose in his tone. "Even dressed like that."
"Well, one can never be too careful, right?" Beth laughed nervously. "Besides, I need to appear somewhat credible to him. You and I both can't deny that I look ridiculous in this outfit, certainly not well enough to interview a potential source."
"I think you look nice," Mick interjected, and Beth shot him a 'be serious' look, and when he smirked at her, it only caused the blood to rise to her cheeks. He liked when that happened; it was sexy.
"Anyway, story is, you're my date, and we're going to an early Halloween party after the interview. Got it?"
Mick shot her a bewildered look. Sometimes her abrasive personality took him aback.
"And just what is my costume going to be?" Mick asked as they were about to exit his apartment door.
Beth stopped and then shrugged. "Vampire, I suppose." She suppressed a smile. "Do you need to pick up some fake fangs on the way to the meeting?"
Mick cocked his head, not amused by her quip. He heard Josef chuckle in the background as he shut his apartment door.
--
"Well, that was uneventful!" Beth announced, throwing her hands in the air. Through that entire conversation, Mick had a hard time keeping a straight face as Beth Turner, Buzzwire reporter, interviewed some lowlife in an alley wearing a bunny suit.
He knew as long as he would live from this point on, the image would never leave his mind.
"I came all this way, and he barely gave me a crumb leading to the Co-Ed conspiracy. All he did was drop a couple of frat boy names, people who I've already interviewed." She sighed heavily. "This is hopeless. This is the worst story I've ever covered. It's just full of dead ends."
"Hn, he didn't seem afraid either," Mick said. He met her curious look and then glanced at the camera on her bust. She nodded, understanding that he'd meant he hadn't smelled any fear on her snitch.
"Damn, what time is it?" She grabbed his wrist and looked down at his watch. "Finally, I can take this stupid outfit off. I paid my debt." She took the bunny ears headband off and pitched it onto the ground. She removed the camera, flinging it into her purse. "Ridiculous. I'm never betting with her again."
Mick picked up the rabbit ears and gave her a playful grin. "I'm curious, just what was this bet for?"
Beth ran a hand through her hair and slapped it on her thigh. "This crazy Co-Ed conspiracy. She bet me that if I couldn't find a lead in 24 hours, I had to wear the bunny suit for a day until midnight. If I could get a lead, then I'd get three weeks vacation time." She paused. "And dammit, I wanted to go to Reno with Josh next month, but I don't think I can make it now. I just have gotten way too busy." She shot him a look, and her expression changed as she met his eyes. "And other things have just sprung up out of nowhere too."
When they finally arrived at Mick's apartment, he turned to Beth before opening the door "Did it ever occur to you that the Co-Ed story is bogus?" Her eyes widened and he returned her reaction with a grin.
"No… she wouldn't…" Beth's mouth opened wide, and anger tensed in her face. "No way … that little …"
"Look at it this way; you've had no leads, and this Co-Ed conspiracy?" He paused, and Beth didn't like the smug expression on his face. "It's old news, about ten years old, actually. You were right, it was at that frat house, and there was a Co-Ed Greek house too for honor students. One of the female Co-Ed students got caught up in a crazy hazing ritual."
"Which was?"
"Vampirism, and not of the undead kind either…" Mick stated.
Beth gasped. "It was a cult?" She covered her mouth in surprise.
Mick tilted his head. "It was you're standard issue, sacrificing virgins, sodomizing little boys, and holding Anne Rice book clubs – it was just completely evil. Josef and I worked together on closing that case." Danger and mischief swirled in his eyes. Beth shivered. "And you're not going to find anyone to talk about that case ever again," he whispered. Beth gaped at him, unsure on how to take that. Mick shrugged it off. As he remembered, correctly, they hadn't done any real killing. It had been purely coincidental the place had crumbled over the heads of the fraternity members during one of their underground induction ceremonies.
Tragic, indeed.
"Okay, so say it is a bogus story and my editor set me up to lose the bet?" Beth said, caving into logic. "Question is, why?"
Mick looked down at her and then grinned like the Cheshire cat.
"Probably because you look so cute in that outfit."
Beth's cheeks reddened again, and she lightly punched him on the arm. Once they were inside, he grabbed her arm and pinned her against the door. The lights were still off.
"Have you talked to Josh about the other night?" His voice was low and seductive. Beth swallowed hard.
A quick, harsh 'no' escaped from her lips, and she settled her hand against his chest. "I don't know how to tell him." She scoffed audibly. "I don't know what to tell him." And suddenly, she was resting her head against his body. She felt safe here, blanketed with love and nostalgia. Mick was everything and nothing she'd ever encountered before, and though there was still Josh, he seemed like this bothersome entity planted beside her as her heart chased after mystery and moonlight.
Her breath hitched, and she felt his arm reach up and cup her jaw into his hands. The stark silence of the room washed over her, and she felt strange as she could feel his warmth, but could not hear his heartbeat.
"Beth," he whispered, and she could sense an entire lifetime of struggle and discourse painted on the tip of his tongue. He held her so softly, and she desired him so unconditionally, but when they tried to move beyond that point, something always had blocked them.
She craned her head up, surprised that tears had welled up in her eyes. She closed them and felt his embrace. His soft lips traced lightly over hers, and memories of their first night of burgeoning impulses shot into the forefront of her mind.
His kisses were soft, tender, but she could tell he was holding back. He was holding back to be gentle – to shield the monster that he knew he really was.
And when he wanted to be soft, she wanted to be demanding. She opened her mouth and traced her tongue over his bottom lip; he responded lightly, but Mick would only let her lips graze against his teeth. She sifted her fingers through his hair, pulling him down close to her as much as she could.
She wanted to push him, to see how far he would go before he'd reach his limit. She was scared; if Beth pushed him too much, maybe he would break away from her forever.
She shivered, and she knew she could only try. There was something here – in between the glances, the touches, and the unsaid signals. With the way the fire burned within her as he touched her, she knew she had to hold onto it.
Beth had to hold onto him.
He broke away from the kiss and took a deep breath. Beth licked her lips, and she looked away as he stared down at her through the dark. She didn't need to know what his expression had said. She knew.
"Beth, you need to talk to Josh," Mick stated, killing almost all the intensity they had just shared only seconds ago.
"Yeah," she said listlessly. She put her hand on the door, looking into his eyes one more time before she left him yet again.
Nothing had changed, really. They were still at this standstill. Mick stared at her, and she was surprised when he reached out and handed her the bunny ear headband.
Beth smiled. "No, thanks." Her lip curled slightly, and she shot him a seductive glance. "You can keep it."
Mick looked down at the ears, twirling them around in his hand as his classic smirk returned. He looked up, meeting her eyes before opening the door. She turned away from his gaze, a forced smile plastered on her face, threatening to break.
When the door closed behind her, she sighed, leaning her head back in exasperation.
"What am I going to do?" she whispered, chuckling at her own misfortune. She took a step forward and smiled at an errant thought.
'Another night of brooding at Casa de Mick St. John,' Beth mused, knowing full well she'd be brooding tonight just as much as he would. Though, she thought it was only fair that both of them share in their misery. This 'thing' between them, whatever it was, wasn't going to be defined so easily. And until that happened, they'd just have to suffer with their forbidden thoughts alone.
"Well," she said aloud to herself. Her lips thinned with a twisted delight. "If he gets lonely by any chance, at least he'll have the bunny ears."
END