) Anyway, the story is set sometime after the events of Moonlight Episode 15 – and All Hallow’s Fright. 
And very special thanks to Alle, who always helps polish up the rough spots. 
Disclaimer: I do not own Moonlight or its characters. Every once in a while, one of them speaks to me and I try to take dictation, but no disrespect or copyright infringement is ever intended.
Rating: PG-13
First published: 7/25/2021
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The Card
Josef slid into Mick’s office without fanfare.
“You working on a case? Or are you shopping for a new security system on Overstock.com?”
“Very funny. I’m just reading an online auction report.”
Josef moved closer to the desk as Mick continued, “Man, look at this. A Babe Ruth rookie card just sold for over half a million dollars. Half a million. Can you believe it?”
Josef frowned at the screen. “Anything can sell for that – as long as there are two people who want it badly enough. Why the sudden interest?”
“I had one of these, Joz’f – when I was a kid.”
“Sure you did, pal – and I once owned the Mona Lisa.”
“Somehow, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Mick, every kid who grew up in the twenties thought they once had a Babe Ruth rookie card.”
“I had one.”
“Look. Right here. That card was printed in 1914 – eight years before you were born. You sure it’s not just wishful thinking?”
No. I’m telling you, man – I had one. But I did something stupid, and I lost it.”
“Something stupid? You? Was there a girl involved?”
“Twins, actually...”
“My interest is piqued.”
“Well, they weren’t really involved...”
“Figures.”
“I was a kid, just short of my tenth birthday. Thought I was ready to take on the world, you know? It was Halloween night, and a couple of the guys and I snuck out to pull a prank on those girls, but things – well, they didn’t go as planned.”
“You don’t say.” If there was more than just a little twinkle in Josef’s eye, Mick passed it off as his friend’s amusement at his youthful misadventures.
“Anyway, I screwed up and ended up paying for a broken window with that card.”
“What kind of idiot would take a kid’s baseball card instead of cash?”
“I dunno. This guy was different. He...” Mick looked away from the monitor and narrowed his eyes. “Aw, never mind. It doesn’t matter,” he added, shaking his head and returning to the present.
Mick turned back toward the computer, leaning in toward the screen. “I wonder if this was my card.... it says it was in ‘very good’ condition. Probably not. Mine was a little rough around the edges. Maybe mine was the one that went for a quarter mil in 2005. Or the one for two hundred grand in ’07...”
“Geez, Mick – obsess much? ..... It says right there – there are only nine of them known to still exist. If you lost your alleged card when you were ten –”
“Almost ten.”
“– what makes you think it’s survived all these years? It probably decomposed in some landfill, decades ago.”
“Because the guy who took it from me said it was a good investment. And he looked like he knew what he was talking about. I bet he sold it thirty years ago. Or passed it on to his heirs. He’s gotta be dead by now.”
“There’s a safe bet.”
Mick sighed as he closed the browser window and turned toward Josef, who had settled into one of the leather chairs by the desk.
“Did you ever see him play?”
“George Herman? Yeah. Several times. He had quite the presence – for a human.”
“He was one of a kind.” Mick smiled wistfully.
Josef shrugged. “You said you didn’t keep much from when you were human...”
“Yeah.”
“And this card is still that important to you?”
“I didn’t think it was. But all this looking back, thinking about family, about living in that neighborhood --– it brought back memories.”
~~~~~
A few hours later…
A sliver of a moon hung high above the city, as Josef looked out into the night. It was never truly dark over LA – not anymore, but there was a time…
Josef hadn’t made the connection fifty-plus years earlier. By the time he met the Mick that Coraline had made, all traces of the naïve, young human had been erased and there was nothing to tie the new, sorry excuse for a vampire to that chance encounter so many years prior. It wasn’t until a couple of decades after that “first” introduction that Coraline so proudly made, once Mick started sharing tidbits of his life before – of who he was and where he came from – that the pieces began to fall into place. By that point, however, he had begun finding his place in the vampire community and Josef saw no benefit in reminding his new friend of what he’d left behind. He had no intention of ever revisiting that fateful night in West Adams.
Now, however – now, things had changed. Mick had danced with rediscovered mortality and made his own choice to surrender it. He made the decision on his own terms, and he did it without regret. Ultimately, the card was an all-too-tangible symbol of the seemingly impossible choices Mick had faced in his life – between his two boyhood treasures, between his love for Lilah and his commitment to his friend Ray, and the most significant of all – between mortality and love. That last choice he had made without a moment’s hesitation, Josef reflected. It seemed there was a finer line than he had been willing to admit between the weakness of sentimentality and the strength he now recognized and valued as honor.
Josef was a master of secrets, and he had amused himself with this particular one for decades. He had to admit he wasn’t eager to give that up, but at least he’d enjoy the reveal. It was time.
~~~~~
Two days Later, Josef’s office…
“I got your text. Kind of cryptic – even for you.”
“Mystery is the vampire’s friend.” Josef smiled. “You still interested in getting your hands on a Babe Ruth rookie card? Turns out I know where you can get one. It’s been off the radar. And, it’s going to cost you.”
“I don’t know – how much are we talking about?”
“One dollar.”
“One… dollar??”
“Yes. One particular dollar. A 1922 silver Peace dollar with a Denver mint mark and a heavy ding in the rim above the –”
“Above the ‘E’ in Liberty. How – how could you know?”
“Lucky guess.” Josef smiled impishly.
Mick’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open in silence. Finally, the words tumbled their way out. “It couldn’t… You’re not…”
“Well, I was taller then.” Josef winked and held out a plain, flat mahogany box.
“You son of a bitch!”
“You’re welcome. Number 3.”
Rendered once again speechless, Mick collapsed into the chair behind him. As he slowly lifted the dark, polished lid, Josef added, “I have to warn you, it’s not in the same condition as you remember it.”
Mick glanced up at his friend, puzzled. Unfolding a white silk handkerchief, he found encased in a protective, archival capsule, the card he had carried over 75 years earlier. He would have known it anywhere. But when he turned it over, scrawled across the schedule of the Baltimore News’ “home” and “abroad” games, there was a signature.
He looked up at his friend, who was now grinning broadly.
“How??”
“I told you I saw him play a couple of times. I might have failed to mention… that I met him, too.”
“And you had him it sign it?!”
“I believe in growing my investments.”
“How long? And why now?” Mick was still in shock, but trying to make sense of this unfathomable revelation.
“Let’s just say, as much as I hedge my bets, I never intended for it to play out like this. But you live long enough and things have a way of cycling back around.”
“You mean fate?”
“I don’t believe in fate.”
“Right.”
“So, do we have a deal?”
Mick turned the card over again in his hand, the smile on his face thoughtful and genuine. “What makes you think I still have that dollar?”
“Never a doubt in my mind, Boy-o. You may not carry it around anymore, but you’ve still got it.”
Mick chuckled.
Josef’s face grew serious.
“The card is yours, Mick. No strings.”
“What? No quid pro quo? This thing is damn valuable – and you know it.”
“Yes. I do.”
The friends looked at each other, as three-quarters of a century passed between them. Josef faced a young man whose sense of honor outshined his awkwardness and fear. And Mick saw a polished, inscrutable avenger who had – against all reason – always had his back.
Mick re-wrapped the card and gently placed it back in the box. “How ‘bout you hang onto it?”
Josef raised his eyebrows. “What happened to the Mick who was practically salivating over auction reports a couple of days ago?”
“Somehow knowing where it’s been – and why – that’s enough.”
“Suit yourself. Kid.”
Mick rose from the chair, nodded to his friend and turned to go. Halfway to the door, he stopped suddenly, another realization washing over him.
“You change your mind already?”
“That woman. In the car. She wasn’t….?”
Josef winked. “Like I said, we mostly stayed in.”
I've been wondering about that rookie card since I first read All Hallow’s Fright lo, these many years ago. 
I am absolutely tickled that you shared this follow-up story with us. 
Your Mick and Josef ring so true, I can always hear them speaking, and this story is no exception. It's a jewel, and it just makes me so damn happy to find out how Josef finally gave the card back to Mick -- or tried to, at least. 
I kinda hope Mick changes his mind one day and takes it. I can picture it in his office, on top of those old-fashioned file cabinets. 
(Maybe after Mick finally gets a good security system, not one of those funky Overstock.com ones! 
)
I apologize for my late response - I've been on the road a lot lately.
)
