Susan was a little angry at being treated like a child in her own backyard. She sat in a pool chair and wrapped a towel around her suddenly chilly shoulders. In a few minutes, the sound of Richie's angry voice intruded in her thoughts. He was in the front yard, so she wasn't sure she understood what he said. It sounded strange, almost like, 'Let's take this somewhere else. This is a nice neighborhood and I wouldn't want to mess it up with the likes of you.' She wondered what it was that Richie had to do so suddenly. Two hours later, Susan woke up and went into the house to bed. Alone.
...As the memory faded, Susan took a swallow from her glass. Richie hadn't come back that night. When she saw him the next evening he told her he'd gotten tied up at work and couldn't get back. Every time she asked him what kind of work he did, he evaded her questions. They had a big argument that night and it was over a week before they saw each other again. Since Duncan left tonight in the same mysterious way Richie often did, she wondered if maybe they worked together. Susan decided that when Richie came back, she was going to find out why he kept disappearing.
"I'm Marcus Chen and I'm here to take your head." He swung his sword in a circle as he walked towards his adversary.
"Richie Ryan." He pulled his sword, and shrugged off his coat. Why now, Richie thought. I'm going to be late getting back to Susan. "Can't we walk away from this?"
"No! You killed a good friend of mine tonight and you are going to pay with your life." Chen was now only a few feet in front of Richie.
"I what?" Richie asked.
"You know what I mean," Chen said angrily.
"What are you talking about?" Richie held his sword in front of himself. "I didn't kill anyone."
With his sword swinging ominously, Chen continued, "Yes, you did, just a few hours ago, down on the docks."
Richie began to understand. "It wasn't me."
"Now I suppose you're going to tell me someone else was there?" Chen asked contemptuously. "I saw the Quickening rise into the sky from a few blocks away. By the time I was close enough to see, you were getting in a car with a sword. I watched you drive away, alone, in the T-bird." Chen pointed his sword directly at Richie's chest. "The same T-bird I followed tonight that you drove in here."
Realizing the man was here to avenge the death of the Immortal MacLeod had killed, Richie tried once more to diffuse the situation. "I did not take Harry Olsen's head."
At the mention of his friend's name, Chen lunged at Richie. A quick sidestep by his opponent is all that kept Chen's sword from piercing Richie's chest. "You say you didn't kill Harry, yet you know his name." Chen advanced on Richie with a series of quick cuts and thrusts. "Spare me the innocent act."
With a sense of determined resignation, Richie returned Chen's blows. Richie knew the man had mistaken him for MacLeod, but Richie was not one to back away from any challenge. It was the fate of all Immortals to fight to the death and even though he didn't like it, tonight Richie felt he was going to have to kill again. Besides, he mused, when he eliminated Chen, that would be one less battle for Duncan to fight.
Marcus Chen feigned a high blow, then put all his weight behind an up-thrust aimed at the taller man's mid- section.
With a resounding crash, Richie blocked the thrust that would have disemboweled him, but he stumbled backwards into a car. Quickly regaining his balance, he went for Chen. The shorter Asian man easily countered every swing Richie made. Suddenly Richie felt the searing agony of steel biting into his flesh as Chen's blade sliced a deep gash in his upper thigh. Richie fell against a pickup. Taking a deep breath to internalize the pain, Richie swung high, then low making solid contact with Chen's ribcage. The shorter man grabbed his side and stepped back. The two combatants eyed each other warily, then returned to the battle in earnest.
As he entered the parking structure Duncan heard the unmistakable sound of steel on steel. Heading down to the level where they were, he screeched the bike to a halt several yards from the action. With his eyes locked on the duel, Duncan stumbled as he got off the machine and started towards them.
Chen spared a quick look at the Immortal who entered the garage. In the poor light Chen couldn't see his face, but he did see him coming closer. "You can't interfere!" Chen shouted. Noticing that his opponent was also looking away, Chen struck a solid blow across Richie's side.
A glance towards the newcomer told Richie it was Duncan. He saw his friend take a couple more steps, then stop. The rules of the Game dictated that this was Richie's fight and, regardless of his feelings, he knew Duncan would honor that. In the split second their eyes locked, even without being able to see Duncan's face clearly, Richie felt respect and concern from his friend and mentor. He paid for his moment of inattention with a savage cut between his ribs when he failed to stop Chen's blade. Richie gasped at the pain and stepped back. He then pushed the attack forward and struck at Chen with renewed resolve.
Duncan backed up against a concrete post. He choked out a strangled, "Richie." Knowing the man attacking Richie was probably Marcus Chen come to avenge Harry Olsen's death, Duncan wanted desperately to shout that he was fighting the wrong man. But their battle was intense and Duncan feared if he said anything, he would break Richie's concentration even further. Experience had taught Duncan that such a distraction could be fatal.
Having made that one good body blow, Chen hoped the battle was turning in his favor. He managed to land his blade on his opponent's body several more times but inflicted no serious damage. This latest of his rivals was either quite experienced, or he had a good teacher.
Richie felt himself tiring. Except for some minor cuts on Chen's arms, Richie had been unable to get through Chen's defenses. Richie's own skin was on fire in several places but he did his best to ignore the pain.
It was agony for Duncan to watch the battle. Not since he'd seen Fitz fight Kalas had Duncan felt so impotent. With the eye of a warrior trained in the art of killing, Duncan admired Richie's skill. His young, former student was doing quite well.
The searing fire in Chen's chest with each breath told him he was exhausted. His opponent was gaining the advantage, and Marcus knew he was going to lose if he didn't take a chance. He advanced on Ryan, got very close, then dropped his guard.
Duncan gasped as he watched a replay of his own combat just hours earlier.
Richie thrust his sword into Chen's right side. Encouraged by finally making some headway, Richie tried to draw his sword back to strike again, when he realized he was too close to be effective. As he stepped away, he saw Chen throw his sword into the air with his right hand, catch it in his left, and swing. It was the last thing Richie Ryan saw.
"Noooooo," Duncan groaned as he fell to his knees and closed his eyes against the sight of Richie's head lying separated from his body. As the first white tendrils of the Quickening began to strike Chen, Duncan bowed his head.
The energy transfer shattered the parking garage lights, and all the glass on the vehicles anywhere close to Chen. When it was over, Chen leaned on his sword in exhaustion and eyed the other Immortal in the pale light coming from the street lights outside the garage.
As he heard the power of the Quickening fade, Duncan looked up...up into the eyes of Richie's killer. MacLeod's mind went numb with the denial of what he'd just witnessed. His limbs felt like lead weights. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand removing the tears that threatened to overflow.
Chen struggled to stand, and staggered towards his Jeep. He didn't think the wound in his side was fatal, but he wanted to get away to have time to heal.
Duncan was on his feet in an instant, advancing on the other Immortal with sword drawn. He wasn't about to let Richie's killer get away.
Marcus stopped when he recognized the man approaching him. While he had not seen the Immortal who killed Emily Olsen, and Harry had seen him only briefly, Harry had described him in as much detail as possible. The long black hair, the katana, the man's height all convinced Marcus he was looking at the murderer. "You...you're the one Harry was tracking. You're MacLeod." A cold fury engulfed Marcus and stabbed at his insides like a hot poker.
"Are you Marcus Chen?" Duncan shouted. The blood pounded in his head as the adrenaline rush pushed him forward.
"Yes," he acknowledged with barely controlled anger. "And I am the man who will be back to take your head." Chen kept his sword ready as he eased towards the Jeep. "I plan to keep my promise to Harry and finish what he started. Ryan killed him before he could kill you, but you won't get away from me."
"Harry...Harry Olsen," MacLeod asked, "the man who challenged me tonight?"
"Challenged you?" Marcus glanced at Richie's body. "But he was driving away from the Quickening."
"Yes, in my car," Duncan hissed. "Olsen challenged me, we fought, he lost."
"Ryan didn't kill Harry?" A knot formed in the pit of Chen's stomach as he realized he'd just killed the wrong man, probably an innocent man.
"No, but you killed Richie, and now I'm going to have your head." Duncan swung his sword at the neck of the much shorter man.
Still confused about why Ryan had been at the scene of Harry's death, Marcus almost missed MacLeod's move. Chen barely deflected MacLeod's blow and stepped back. He grabbed his side as a spasm of pain hit him from the still open wound. "You'd attack me when I'm not at my best - when I'm seriously wounded and after a Quickening?" He countered a second move from MacLeod aimed at his injured side. "But then, I suppose a man like you, a murderer of mortals, has no honor."
The statement stopped Duncan for a few seconds. It wasn't really against the rules to fight someone so soon after a Quickening, but it wasn't considered fair either.
Using MacLeod's hesitation to his advantage, Chen sprinted the last few feet to his Jeep. "We'll meet again soon, Highlander." Thankful his vehicle hadn't suffered any damage other than its glass, Chen turned the ignition key and sped away.
Duncan started after Chen on foot but stopped when he heard a voice from the dark.
"We've got to get out of here, Mac. The police will be here soon and..." Joe's voice cracked, "...and we can't let them find Richie."
For a moment, Duncan's eyes met Joe's as he stepped out of the shadows into a sliver of light. Duncan wondered if Dawson was here as a friend, or a Watcher until he saw the glisten of tears in the other man's eyes. Silently Duncan put away his sword, and walked over to stand above Richie's body.
The smell of death, the blood, the bodily fluids, was familiar, yet tonight it sickened Duncan. He knelt beside his friend, reached out and picked up Richie's still hand. As the tears came, he took several shallow, ragged breaths. "R...Ri...Richie..." Duncan's voice caught in his throat. "Why," he cried out, "why did you have to die? You were so young...Tough Guy."
MacLeod hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the horror in front of him. But he kept seeing Chen's body impaled on Richie's sword -- he kept seeing Chen's final downswing and the slow motion of Richie's body as it fell to the floor. "Oh, Richie, if I'd shown you that move earlier, would you have been able to counter it? Would it have made a difference?" Duncan shook as the deep sobs continued to rack his body. "Sometimes, even for Immortals, tomorrow is too late." Duncan wiped at his tears, but they continued to come, seeping out through his closed lids. "It's too soon...too soon. You had so much more living to do."
Several minutes passed as Duncan cried silently. He didn't want to believe Richie was dead. But, there was nothing to say...nothing to do, except to go on. He'd done it countless times before, but it never got easier. Richie had been there for him when Tessa died. They had helped each other through her loss, remembering what a wonderful person she was. Now, Duncan was alone again, with no link to the most wonderful years of his long life, with no one to help him through his latest loss. Who would be with him to remember Richie? The family they had been for such a short time was gone - shattered by Immortality.
When he felt a hand on his shoulder, MacLeod looked up. Maybe, he wasn't completely alone. "Why, Joe? If Chen wanted to avenge Olsen's death, why did he kill Richie? It was me who should have fought him."
"Some Immortals don't need a reason to kill. You know that," Joe said angrily. He paused, remembering some of Chen's Chronicle. "But, Marcus Chen is an honorable man. From what I heard tonight, he truly believed Richie killed Olsen." Choking back his tears, Joe continued, "It was an honest mistake, a case of mistaken identity." Blowing his nose, Joe said gently, "We really need to leave before someone comes. We'll come back tomorrow and get Richie's bike."
By the time they located the T-bird, and Duncan had Richie's body and sword in the trunk of the car, Duncan's grief had hardened into a resolve to find and kill Marcus Chen. Duncan left the garage with a single-minded purpose.
As Joe drove back to the bar he thought about the many Immortal battles he'd witnessed in almost thirty years as a Watcher. None of them had bothered him like seeing Richie beheaded. All the other men and women were strangers and he could view their deaths with complete objectivity. Their death was just something that happened when Immortals fought. He had no emotional attachment to them like he did with the energetic young man who'd become such an important part of his life.
"Well, old man," Joe said aloud to the empty car, "I suppose that's one good reason the Watchers have rules about not getting involved with Immortals. It's too hard to remain objective when it is a friend's life on the line." Pulling into his parking space at the back of the bar, Joe wondered how MacLeod was going to deal with this latest loss. Richie was more than just a friend, he was like a son to Duncan. How could anyone survive all the killing and death for hundreds of years and not lose their sanity? Getting out of the car, Joe remembered Susan, sitting alone in his bar waiting for her lover to return. He dreaded having to be the one to tell her that Richie was dead. He didn't know how she was going to deal with the loss either.
MacLeod felt the rage course through his body. He stared across the cemetery, a look of hatred on his face. After several seconds he looked down at the closed casket in front of them, Richie's casket. Duncan clenched his fists, unconsciously reaching inside his coat for the hilt of his sword. With deliberate effort he relaxed, then faced Susan. "I've always believed those who do evil will be judged and pay for their crimes."
"Susan," Joe began, "I told you it was complicated."
"Yes, and you said to not ask a lot of questions." Susan wiped her teary eyes again. "Knowing he was an undercover policeman does explain why Richie was so secretive about himself, but he wasn't working Saturday night. What happened?"
Duncan looked at the Watcher and raised an eyebrow. He'd not heard the story Joe told Susan when he returned to the bar.
With a quick glance at MacLeod, Joe explained, "Anyone who does what Richie does...did...is never really off duty. I don't know exactly what happened, the police won't say, but I do know Richie had to be on guard constantly." Joe hesitated for an instant as he heard a sharp intake of breath from MacLeod. He continued, "I can only guess that someone with a score to settle caught up to Richie."
A stab of pain pierced Duncan's heart. He shut his eyes against the tears that threatened to overflow again. Even though he knew Joe's tale was meant to satisfy Susan's need for an explanation, it was uncomfortably close to the truth.
"But I need to know more," Susan said with resolve. She couldn't believe the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with was dead. Richie had become her best friend, her lover and now he was gone. "I...I have to know why. After the holidays I'm going to talk to the chief of police."
"No, you can't do that," Joe pleaded. Swallowing hard to control his moment of panic, he continued, "Richie believed in what he did. Being an undercover officer was dangerous work and he wouldn't want you to ask a lot of questions and maybe put his fellow officers at risk."
Susan sighed in resignation. "I guess you're right, but no one will ever know Richie was doing something important."
"We'll know," Duncan said as he took Susan's cold hands in his, "and we'll remember him. It doesn't matter that his death won't be reported on the nightly news or show up in some police department data base."
"He was a good friend." Joe placed his hands over top of Duncan's and Susan's.
"He could make me laugh when there was nothing to laugh about," Duncan said.
"He was always there when I needed comfort or a shoulder to cry on," Susan added.
"I'm a better person for having known him," Joe continued.
"He was always there to listen to me, to help me, even when the times were hard," Duncan added.
"I'm going to miss him," Susan whispered.
"So will I," Duncan agreed. "And I'll always regret not telling him how much his friendship meant to me." He swallowed hard and blinked to hold back his tears. "I never told him I'd miss him..." Duncan's voice caught in his throat. In an almost inaudible voice, he finished, "...when he was gone."
"We'll never have another friend quite like Richie," Joe said.
"No, we won't," Duncan added, "but we can remember him and through our memories, his spirit lives on."
"Yeah," Susan's tears returned as she took one last look at Richie's grave. "I know I'll remember him until the day I die." The three of them stood and Susan hugged Joe, then Duncan, then walked away.
As he watched the young woman leave, Duncan whispered, "So will I, no matter how many centuries that may be."
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