Title: Great Expectations
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,786
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.

***

Mick sighed as he looked around the living room, wanting to call out to Josef to ask if he was all right, but forcing himself not to do so. He knew that his boyfriend didn't want to be babied, even though Mick felt the need to keep a constant watch on him.

Josef insisted that Bartolomy wasn't going to come back into their lives; he'd gotten what he wanted, and Josef was positive that their dealings were over. But Mick didn't feel the same way; he'd vowed to himself that he would take revenge for what had been done to his lover.

In his eyes, Josef was the one who had been most wronged. He had been raped, and he'd taken a personal revenge for that rape -- one that Mick felt he had every right to exact on the men who had violated him. That should have been the end of it.

Yes, Bartolomy had lost a brother. But that man had been nothing more than a rapist who had preyed on helpless people -- and in Mick's eyes, Josef had done the world a favor by dispatching him and making sure that he couldn't hurt anyone else.

As far as Mick was concerned, the other vampire had no right to seek retaliation -- it should have ended when Josef took revenge for what had been done to him. It was bastards like Bartolomy, who had no sense of honor or concept of decency, that escalated violence.

Josef had asked him to keep out of it -- hell, his lover had practically pleaded for Mick to let it go. But he knew that he couldn't do that. If it took him hundreds of years, he was going to have his own revenge for what Bartolomy had put the two of them through.

Of course, Josef was only trying to protect him by telling him to let it go, Mick thought with a sigh. But his boyfriend couldn't wrap him in cotton wool and keep him safe all the time, any more than he could do the same for Josef, no matter how badly he wanted to.

The two of them had grown so used to taking care of themselves over the decades -- make that centuries for Josef, Mick thought wryly -- that now, when they had someone else to protect and worry over, they both seemed to be overprotective in a lot of ways.

Josef had protected him above and beyond the call of duty, especially when he'd first been turned, Mick told himself, closing his eyes and resting his head on the soft cushion of the couch. But Josef couldn't always be with him -- and the encounter with Bartolomy had proved that.

He hadn't realized just how vulnerable he could be until then. And it bothered him to find out that any of his enemies -- and Josef's -- now knew that they were each other's weaknesses, and that those enemies wouldn't hesitate to use them against each other.

Mick knew that Josef wouldn't have let Bartolomy touch him if those goons hadn't been holding a sword to his throat. Josef had simply felt that he didn't have a choice; either he had to let himself violated to save Mick, or lose the person he loved most in the world.

If he'd been in that same position, would he have done the same thing? Of course he would have. Nothing would have been worth losing Josef, having to go through eternity without the man he loved -- and knowing all the while that he had been responsible for that loss.

Would anyone else have done that for Josef -- or for him? He seriously doubted it. Beth would have gladly let him be killed to save her own skin, then cried crocodile tears over him; Coraline would have also thought of herself first, though probably with regrets.

And Josef .... Mick was sure that there had never been anyone in his past who would give their life for him, not even Sarah. He was convinced that no one had ever loved Josef as deeply and completely as he did, and that love only grew stronger with every passing day.

No one else who'd ever been in his life would have gone above and beyond what anyone could expect from a lover in the way that Josef had. And for that, Mick owed him more than backing away from a confrontation with the person who'd wronged him, even though Josef had asked him to.

All right, so he would take his own revenge on Bartolomy. And he wouldn't tell Josef about it. Mick's jaw tensed, his thoughts racing. Could he keep something like that from his lover? Did he have a right to? Or would it be best to just let it go, as Josef wanted him to do?

To hell with that. He'd witnessed the man he loved being raped by a monster -- and he couldn't let that go, no matter how much Josef might want him to. He had to take his own revenge for that, no matter how long he might have to wait for the opportunity.

Josef might insist that their dealings with Bartolomy were over and done, but Mick wasn't so sure. He'd seen the covetous look in the other man's eyes when he'd looked at Josef; there had been anger in that gaze, but there had been desire, too. He was sure of it.

What would he do if Bartolomy turned up in their lives again -- and wanted Josef? He knew that his boyfriend would never give himself to that monster, but if Bartolomy threatened Mick in any way again, Josef would once again feel that he didn't have a choice.

Mick's hands clenched at his sides at the thought; that was just one more reason that he had to take his own revenge and make sure that Bartolomy was out of their lives for good. He had to be sure that Josef would be safe, that Bartolomy would never come after him again.

How could he kill a vampire that was hundreds of years older than he was? He didn't have that kind of strength; and even if he could surprise the other man in some dark alley with a sword, he didn't doubt that Bartolomy would have bodyguards with him.

Still, there would have to be some way to get through his defenses. And as long as the other vampire didn't come after Josef again for some time, Mick could wait. He could bide his time, study his enemy, and find out just where those weaknesses in his armor were.

And when Bartolomy was completely unprepared for an attack, when he'd lulled himself into believing that he'd gotten away with victimizing Josef, with taking a petty revenge that he had no right to harbor, Mick would strike -- and rid the world of a menace.

Just the thought of it made him feel better. It might take a while, but he would have his own revenge -- and the world would be a better place for it. Even if it would be safer to leave it all alone and let things stand as they were, he'd never been the kind of person who played it safe.

Josef had gone above and beyond what anyone else in Mick's life would have done to protect him -- and he would do the same for his lover. No one was going to hurt Josef again. Not on his watch. And he would protect his boyfriend to the death, if need be.

Maybe his lover wouldn't expect that from him -- but Mick expected it from himself. He wanted to protect Josef from any and all harm that could possibly befall him, even if he knew that would be an impossible task. It was the least he could expect himself to do for the man he loved.

He'd always had great expectations of himself when it came to his lovers, hadn't he? Mick asked himself with a wry smile. And those expectations had, more often than not, gotten him into trouble -- because he'd directed them at the wrong people.

But this time, the man he was expecting himself to protect was worth any kind of sacrifice he might have to make. He'd do anything to keep Josef safe, even if his boyfriend wouldn't want Mick to throw himself into the path of danger for his sake.

Josef wouldn't expect anyone to sacrifice themselves for him -- because in the past, no one ever had. But he had never known anyone like Mick. And he had never been the recipient of a love that was completely selfless, a love that burned in Mick's soul and would never be extinguished.

He'd do whatever he had to do to keep Josef safe, Mick told himself, his fists clenching at his side again. And if that meant waiting for a hell of a long time to take his revenge on a predator that he was sure had Josef in its sights, he could do that.

He could be predatory, too. He'd gotten really good at that since he'd been turned. Maybe Bartolomy had been around a lot longer than he had, but Mick had honed his skills -- and he'd learned from the best. He was sure that he could give Bartolomy one hell of a fight.

No one was going to hurt the man Mick loved and get away with it. Josef might not have the expectation of being protected -- but Mick was going to do so, even if it meant telling his boyfriend a few little while lies to achieve the objective of keeping him safe.

He hadn't done the greatest job of protecting Josef so far -- but Bartolomy had been a threat that he hadn't known about. Now that he knew what to look for, he could be a lot more vigilant. And he wouldn't let himself be taken by surprise again.

Mick looked toward the bedroom as he heard Josef moving down the hallway; in a few moments, he'd have the man he loved in his arms, and he only hoped that he could hide whatever part of his intentions might be lurking in his eyes from his boyfriend's knowing gaze.

***