THE ELIZABETH SERIES CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY By JoLayne RATING: PG CHARACTERS: M, DM, Amanda, Amy, Elizabeth, Claire, Warren, Brynn, Joey, Guy SUMMARY: Where the hell is Mac? SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2008 CALIFORNIA Warren protectively walked Brynn through the courtyard and in through the back door of Tabard Pines after the attack by Chuck Montgomery. Antonio's and Sofia's deaths weighed heavily on them both. When they reached the inside, Warren saw that the front door was hanging open and the house was cold. He went to close it, but as he passed by Daniel and Elizabeth's bedroom, he stopped in his tracks. The room had been completely torn apart. The mattress had been thrown onto the floor, drawers were open or in a heap on the floor, the window seats had been slashed open. On the wall above the bed was a red spray painted heart with "C + E" in the middle. Underneath it read, "Daniel is a dead man". The paint had run down the wall, giving the appearance of dripping blood. Warren didn't know who the 'C' was, but it's didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the 'E' was Elizabeth. Once again, she had brought them all into danger. Swallowing his disgust and anger, Warren tried to shut the door before Brynn saw it, but she pushed past him into the bedroom. "Who," Brynn squeaked as she looked at the mess, at the wall, her throat still burning. Her hand went to her throat, and she ran past the kitchen to the bathroom down the hall. After throwing up in the toilet, she wiped her mouth and pulled off her bloody parka dropping it into the bathtub. She got a look at herself in the mirror and about fainted. Her long blonde hair had started to come out of its braids, and was matted with blood. What really caught her attention was her sweater, it  was slit from the shoulder toward her neck. She pulled it down and saw a wide,  red, jagged scar that ran from the side of her neck down to her sternum. The skin that had been cut by the mysterious immortals' sword from the shoulder to the start of the scar had healed, but her neck looked like it was still a fresh wound. Horrified, she sat numbly down on the side of the tub and wondered if he had sliced through her voice box or something, as she still had a hard time making a sound. Warren walked in and knelt before her. Just having her husband see her wound made her crumble. He wrapped his arms around her and she howled, the tears flowing like water faucets. He cradled her head and asked, "Are you in pain?" ... dead," she said, as she cried. Slowly, as she let out her anguish, her sobs became stronger, her words more clear. "They're dead, Warren." "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, for them. I was riding all afternoon and wasn't around the house. I'm sorry," he wailed, affected, not only by what had happened to her, but by the death of his student and Sofia also. He had failed to protect another student. But before he could get overemotional and blame himself for another's actions, he asked her, "Did you recognize him? Who the hell was that?" She shook her head. "I didn't see..." She started coughing and clutched at her throat that suddenly seared with pain. Warren held her head as the scar closed up a little more. There was still a jagged crease, but the redness and swelling lessened, then disappeared. Brynn stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was still carrying the lines and circles of shock, there was still blood on her skin, and her eyes seemed dead to her, but the wound had closed. "Warren?" she clearly asked, trying out her voice. Her throat was a little sore, but she had the feeling that it would slowly get better with time. Warren stood and held her from behind grateful that one member of the skiing party had survived. He didn't know what he would have done if she had been taken also. During that run up the mountain, he hadn't been thinking. He had horses at his disposal, but all he could think about or do was blindly run to Brynn. He felt guilty that never once during his run did he worry about Antonio. Brynn was the love of his life, and Antonio was a trained immortal who had taken heads of his own. Warren decided there and then that he wouldn't take on any guilt for his death. He couldn't revert back to the shell Duncan had found after Andrew was taken in a fit of anger. He looked at Brynn in the mirror, and then started to unbraid her hair. "You take a shower or bath, relax. I'm going to call Antonio's brother. They should be notified." She stared at both there reflections in the mirror and asked, "What about their bodies? Should we call the police? They need to be buried. They're Catholic." "I have a feeling the watchers are taking care of that. I'll ride up to see if they have." "Watchers...," Brynn said. "They let this happen." "If they saw it," Warren agreed. "But don't think about it. Just relax and take care of yourself. I'll try and find some answers." He kissed her lightly on the lips and cheek and pulled her to his chest again and buried his head in her neck. "If I had lost you too..." She nodded and held him tighter around the waist. "Antonio saved my life, I think. From what I can remember, Antonio stopped him from taking my head with his first swing." Brynn cried out, "Why Sofia?" When she calmed down a bit, she suddenly asked, "After all that happened... Antonio and Sofia... I'm glad I'm still here with you... That's not selfish, is it?" Warren told her, "No. That's very right..." ~~~~~ After Brynn was in the bath, Warren walked back to the bedroom to search for any clue as to the perpetrator's identity. From the red spray paint on the wall, Warren knew that he had to have a name that began with C. Then he remembered the open front door they had found when they had returned to the house. He went to it and looked out... to see Duncan MacLeod's T-Bird in the driveway. There was no mistaking that car, it had to be his. Warren ran outside to look at it, opened the door and sat inside. He had been in this car many times; this was Duncan's car. And it was a mess. Empty and crushed potato chip bags, beer cans, and cigarette packages covered the floor and front and back seats. Duncan's wallet was open and it's contents spread out. "Mac," Warren muttered. "How are you involved in this?" He ran inside the house and called the loft. No answer. He called the barge. No answer. Warren went out the back of the house and to the stables to see if he was anywhere around, calling his old Highlander friends' name. ~~~~~ SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2008 PARIS Elizabeth had fallen asleep with Claire in her bedroom, the Scarlet Star in it's Christie's wrapping on the bureau. Even though Robert and Gina had awakened and were going about their day with the minimal household staff working, the Gordon women were dead to the world as jet lag had them in its grasp. The only thing that woke Elizabeth was the ringing of her cell phone because she knew it was Methos. She was still half asleep when she answered it before the second ring. Methos said, "I have it, Lizzie," and she could almost hear the proud, relieved smile on his face. "That's great, honey. Nothing went wrong? You and Amanda are all right?" "All body parts still attached," he said with a chuckle. "We're just ready to get on the plane back to Paris, we're on flight 213 and will be in at 3." "I'll be there. I can't wait to see you." Claire sat up and asked, "Is that daddy?" "Someone wants to talk to you," Elizabeth said into the phone and handed it to Claire. As Claire and Methos talked, there was a light knock on the door. Elizabeth opened it to see Pierre. "Madame," he said. "You have a visitor." "Who?" "He introduced himself as Monsieur Barstow." Elizabeth smiled, sure that he hadn't introduced himself in such a way, she was more than a little curious as to why he had come, approached her, to talk. "Tell him I'll be right down." She hurriedly changed from her jersey and robe into jeans and a sweater and rushed downstairs. The door was ajar and she could see Guy outside on the drive brushing his foot against the gravel on the ground. Whatever had made him make himself known to her at that moment had to be something Elizabeth didn't want to hear. "What happened to Amy?" she darkly asked, fearing the worst. Guy looked at her, hesitant to speak, then looked to make sure that they weren't overheard. "Amy's fine. She's on the next plane after Daniel's." "Oh, thank God. Don't scare me like that," Elizabeth said. She was uncomfortable being around him, and wondered if he thought they had a 'friendship' now, after meeting at The Watering Hole. Guy said heavily, "I got an email from Corky a few minutes ago." "Corky?" Elizabeth searched her memory bank, and remembered the strange young woman who was Antonio's watcher. "What about?" "I'm sorry I have to tell you this," he slowly said. "But it's not good. Antonio and Sofia are dead. They were taken by Chuck Montgomery." "Taken? What?" Elizabeth's mind went fuzzy, this was unbelievable. Guy put his hand on her shoulder, but she brushed it off. "What are you trying to pull?" "It's the truth. I came to tell you because there are two confused immortals in your house right now who probably have no idea who Chuck Montgomery even is." "Who? Antonio and ... What are you telling me?" "You didn't know that Warren and Brynn Cochrane were visiting Antonio and Sofia while you were away?" "No." "They're in your house, having just lost Antonio and Sofia." "I have to call home," Elizabeth said, turning back to the house, needing some answers.  "Elizabeth," Guy called out to her. "There's more." When she turned at the top of the stairs, he walked to the bottom of them and told her, "Chuck stole Duncan MacLeod's car. No one knows where MacLeod is." Elizabeth fell to the top step, her legs had gone limp. "Are you telling me that Duncan is dead too?" "We don't know. I've been trying to get a hold of his watcher. I came to tell you this news as soon as I heard. I'll relay whatever I find out." Elizabeth was too dazed to cry, but her body was constricted and it was hard to breathe. Chuck Montgomery had gone wacko... just as Methos had predicted... She needed to call home, she needed to hear what happened from Warren's lips, she needed to know that this was all a joke. Before entering the house, she realized that Guy had actually come to tell her the news, even though he certainly didn't have to. "Thank you, Guy. Please. Let me know what you find out about Duncan." Guy nodded, and stepped back from the stairs, then headed for his car, parked in the drive. He hadn't covertly parked a half mile away, he didn't take any precautions against the chance that Robert and Gina's watcher(s) would see him talking to his assignment. Some things are more important than an ‘oath', and Elizabeth stood to watch her watcher get into the car. She waved at him, and got a wave in return as he drove past the stairs, then back down the drive again. ~~~~~ At precisely three pm, Elizabeth and Claire were waiting at Orly airport, with four plane tickets to San Francisco in her purse. They would all be leaving at 4:45, and she didn't have long to tell Methos and Amanda what had happened at home. She hadn't gotten anymore information from Guy, but had talked to Warren. Warren's mood on the phone was sullen, at best. He told her that he was concerned about Antonio's and Sofia's bodies being returned to his family, as they were gone when he returned to the site of the massacre. After talking with Guy, she relayed back to Warren that their bodies were on their way back to Sintra as they were speaking. No one had any word on Duncan's whereabouts, or even knew if he was still alive. Guy had gotten a hold of his watcher, Yan Kyoto, but Yan had no idea where the Highlander was either. Yan had taken the weekend off to use some tickets to Bermuda he won in a radio contest and wasn't watching Duncan when whatever happened to him happened. To make matters worse, Guy told her that Chuck Montgomery hadn't been assigned a watcher yet. Telling Robert and Gina about Duncan was hard, almost harder than uttering Chuck Montgomery's name to Warren when he asked who ‘C' was and described what he found painted on her bedroom wall. Robert and Gina were so close to Duncan that they were crushed by the news and wanted to go to the United States to help with the search for him. Instead, Elizabeth asked if they could go to Duncan's barge to see if there were any clues there. She had told them that there were five immortals and at least five watchers on the case. They didn't need to come. Also, they didn't need to be in danger also, because of Elizabeth. The guilt was starting to settle into her soul. It was she who had trusted Chuck. It was she who had demanded that Methos not take Chuck's head the moment they found out Chuck had killed himself to turn immortal. Gina had offered to take care of Claire while they did this thing, and Elizabeth knew that Claire would love staying with her and Robert, but Elizabeth couldn't let her out of her sight. Granted, the child was only almost six years old, and it could get touchy at home, but Elizabeth couldn't leave her behind. There was no telling what could happen on any given day and she wasn't misplacing her. The announcement of flight 213's touchdown was heralded over the speakers and people started to converge at the gate. Elizabeth took Claire's hand and moved her and their carry-on bags toward the hall, so they could take off across the airport to their departure gate. She was comforted when she felt their immortal sensations, but Elizabeth was also dreading this. The news about Antonio and Sofia and Brynn's injury would be bad enough to relate, but she also had to look Amanda in the face to tell her that Duncan was no where to be found. He was... somewhere, hopefully with his head still attached. "Papa!" Claire cried out and released Elizabeth's hand to run to him. Methos gathered his child up in his arms and carried her to Elizabeth who held onto him for dear life. "Mom's sad," Claire said. "Why? I'm home," Methos said. Amanda, joining them, said, "I made sure of it," and tweaked Claire's nose. Methos continued, "And I have a birthday gift in tow." "For me?" Claire happily asked. Amanda laughed and held her hands out and Claire transferred her body into Amanda's arms. Elizabeth hugged Methos and whispered, "You alive is all the birthday gift I need." "I'll bring back your gift then," he lightly said, suddenly worried about her mood and the way she was clinging to him. "What's wrong?" Elizabeth pulled back and they saw then that she had started crying. "Amanda," she started, and didn't know how to tell them about what happened. "We need to talk. We all need to talk. Away from people." ~~~~~ In a private corner of an airport café, the four of them sat around a table, Methos and Amanda urging Elizabeth to tell them what was wrong. Elizabeth said, "I haven't told Claire this, yet but, you have to know also honey." I was wrong! I was so wrong about Chuck! It was all my fault! It's all my fault... Elizabeth's inner voice cried out. Even though her mind was screaming out, she calmly told them, "Antonio and Sofia..." Methos and Amanda both silently prodded her to continue with polite nods. Methos rubbed her back as Elizabeth held Claire tight on her lap. "They're gone." "How?" "It was Chuck, Dan." She nodded ironically. "You were right. He was insane. He killed them and he injured Brynn." She traced her finger along the side of her own neck, near where her own sword scar was. While they were digesting that information, Elizabeth continued while she still had the courage, "Amanda, Duncan is missing. No one can find him. No one has seen him all weekend. That's why we're leaving for the states immediately. I wanted to tell you now, so no one would hear on the plane. I'm sorry." Seeing Amanda's face fall and her eyes water was more than Elizabeth could handle. She set Claire on her feet and took off for the bathroom. Methos pulled Claire into his lap and motioned for Amanda to go talk to Elizabeth to get more information; he was almost numb. His heart tightened, his head swam from the news. He should have taken Chuck's head. At one time, he would have without even thinking about it. Mac..., Methos thought. What did I get you into now? ~~~~~ In the bathroom, Amanda found Elizabeth at the sink splashing water on her face. She knew that there were women in the stalls, and she had walked past four people standing in line. "Oh, don't give me that face," Amanda told one huffy lady in particular. "I don't have to go." "What is this about Mac?" Amanda whispered to Elizabeth over the sound of toilets flushing, woman talking and water running. "The last time anyone saw him was last Thursday night when he had dinner with Joe and Caroline. His watcher took the weekend off, and I guess he hadn't gotten anyone to cover for him." "Little prick," Amanda mused. "It was probably because Duncan isn't a threat and his life was going along smoothly, except that he couldn't find you." "My man is gone!" Amanda hadn't realized she was so shook up; she was close to losing it. The other woman in the room looked at them both, and Amanda took a deep breath and decided to look on the bright side. "Well, Joe's on the case. He still has access to that kind of watcher information?" "No. I got this information from my watcher, Guy." "You're friends with your watcher?" "No. He sleeps with a friend." They looked at each other as the news sank in. Antonio and Sofia were dead, and Mac was missing. They held each other as they cried, women were looking at them strangely, and reaching around them to get a paper towel from the holder. ~~~~~ On the plane, Methos and Elizabeth were on one side of first class while Claire and Amanda were on the other. Methos gave her the gift that he picked up for her in Bern, Swiss chocolates inside the gold foil wrapped box entwined with purple ribbon. "I love chocolate, almost as much as I love you. Thank you," she said as she kissed him. Then she popped a bonbon into his mouth. "This look extremely rich, and expensive." "They are," Methos agreed. But the chocolate actually melted in his mouth. In that case, money was no object. "You spent a lot of money on me for my birthday gift," she hesitantly said. The Christie's box was in her carry-on bag; she hadn't had a chance to properly present it to Amanda. "You were still angry I needed Amanda and not you, so you went shopping?" "No. But if that's what you want to think... whatever. I bought something at auction. Excuse me." Elizabeth grabbed her bag and stood up. She whispered to Claire, who was sitting in the aisle seat across from her, "Papa wants to finish reading Gone With the Wind." Claire unhooked her seatbelt and took Elizabeth's seat. Elizabeth sat down in Claire's and rummaged through her bag. Amanda was daydreaming as she looked out the window at the clouds, nursing her third glass of wine. Elizabeth tapped her arm and held out the Christie's box to her. From the packaging, Amanda knew that it was something great. "For me?" "Yes." "I'm not the one having a birthday." "It's my gift, to know that it's back where it belongs, with you." When Amanda opened it, she shrieked, startling everyone on the plane. A flight attendant came running. Amanda hugged Elizabeth. "My God! I don't believe it! Is this what I think it is..." She looked at the stone on the black velvet cushion and exclaimed, "Yes! It is! It's Rebecca's ruby!" Methos leaned across Claire to ask Elizabeth, "How much did that set me back?" Elizabeth said, "It set us back a few Francs." "What is it?" "Something that was stolen from Amanda that I found, to return to her," Elizabeth said, expecting him to bicker. There was no way she'd tell him how much she spent, but supposed he'd find out eventually. She also had her own stash. If he got touchy, she'd reimburse him. Instead, Methos smiled and sat back to continue to read to his daughter. "'Warum sie so wundervoll wie die bonny blaue Markierungsfahne ist,' sagte Melanie." Claire looked up at him to ask, "Huh?" "This is a terrible translation," Methos said shaking his head and looking at the front cover for the name of the translator. The translator must have known how terrible it was, as his or her name wasn't to be found. He told Claire, "Georgia's state flag is blue. 'Bonny blue'." "What does bonny mean?" "Attractive, pretty. Like Rhett and Scarlett's daughter, whom they name Bonnie Blue Butler." His mind had been on the fact that none of what had happened at home would have happened if he had just taken the kid's head and got it done with, but he couldn't say that to Elizabeth. She was miserable as it was. But he couldn't help thinking that he should have warned Duncan more empathically than he did, even though the Highlander scoffed at his opinion. No one listens to me! his mind screamed out. He looked at Claire and said, "When I tell you something, that you may not understand or believe, or something that you don't want to do, will you love and trust me enough to listen and obey anyway?" She shrugged, wanting him to continue reading, but Elizabeth caught the jab, and didn't like it. Her face fell as her head swung around in their direction, then she took off to the bathroom. He asked Claire to have Amanda read to her. "Can you read German, Aunt Amanda?" Claire asked. Amanda, in her own world worrying about Duncan, took the opportunity to think of something else so she wouldn't go crazy. "My German is a little rusty, but I can give it a shot." Claire went again across the aisle. While Methos buckled her in, he spotted the scowl on the old woman's face that was sitting behind his daughter. "What?" She said, "Have you all decided where you're going to sit yet?" "Bite me," he said as he walked up the aisle. Amanda looked at the front cover and said, "Ah, Gone With the Wind! I love this book. How far into it are you?" "Scarlett and Rhett's daughter, Bonnie Blue Butler was born and Melanie said something about a flag." Methos tapped on the bathroom door. "Liz?" A fight attendant whispered to him, "We don't condone that sort of behavior, sir." "What? Changing seats? We paid for all of them." "No," she said, tilting her head toward the bathroom door. "Joining the Mile High Club..." Methos grimaced and said, "I'm going to talk to my wife. Can't you hear her crying in there?" He turned to the people in first class and said, "In fact, why don't you all mind your own business?" He got jeers in return, then the door opened. Elizabeth was about to exit the bathroom, but Methos moved her back in and shut and locked the door behind them. Elizabeth had no where to go but sit back on the toilet. Methos looked around the small cubicle and said, "You know, that's one thing I've never done. I mean really, how does anyone actually..." he tried to move, but could only twist. "With two people... I think it's a myth. They were all masturbating and added a mythical partner to make it sound better. Sit on the counter. Let's see if this works." "Are you on drugs?" "No. It's my half hearted attempt at humor because you are definitely not in the laughing mood." "I killed them, Methos. Just as if I held Chuck's sword, which was probably mine! I killed them. Mac is missing... he could be dead..." She started crying again and he pulled her to her feet, then set her up on the counter and held her, tenderly kissing her cheek. "Don't say that, don't even think it." "I wonder where Mac's body is. We at least know where Antonio and Sofia..." Methos said, "I meant, it's not your fault. Mac's body is still attached to his head and we will find him." "You should have taken Chuck's head. You should have taken his head. I stopped you and it's my fault." "As much as I love you, Liz, if I really wanted to take Chuck's head, I would have. You convinced me that he was a good kid. And he was. His turning changed his attitude, his focus, his mind. He turned dark, as I ..." he didn't want to say, ‘as I knew it would,' because he hadn't actually been sure. He only knew of one instance, many centuries before. A premmie, who was a watcher, was told by an immortal that he was one of them, and the watcher threw himself off the White Cliffs of Dover. After turning, he went on a killing rampage, before running into Connor MacLeod. The elder Highlander had accepted the unfair challenge, and rid the immortal world of a mad man. On the other hand,  Elizabeth had the example of Marvin Delancy, who had shot himself, but revived and turned immortal; he hadn't gone dark. Life was a crap shoot. Methos told her, "I only wanted to protect your, Claire's, and my head. I didn't want that kid around, in case it did happen. Mac didn't seem too fazed at taking him on, even after hearing how Chuckie turned himself. There are no guarantees in life, no one is completely predicable. You can't blame yourself. I'll say it again. Blame only eats you up inside. Don't do that. Mourn our friends, help search for Mac, and live." He turned her face up and smiled. "After all, tomorrow is another day." ~~~~~ Air was non-existent. The confines were tight around Duncan's prone body, wrapped in a shower curtain three feet underground, The earth had spilled into the curtain, and into Duncan's mouth, ears, eyes and nose, the last time he had revived and struggled to break free from his confinement. As he sucked in the last bit of fresh air, which was only a flutter, Duncan died for the last time. Just as Nefertiti had spent over a thousand years in hibernation after being interred in Ancient Egypt, Duncan was one with the earth. ~~~~~ When Methos, Elizabeth, Amanda and Claire saw Warren and Brynn at the Seacouver airport, it wasn't a happy occasion. Warren hadn't said anything besides 'Welcome home', but his judgmental stares at Elizabeth weren't missed by anyone. As they put their bags into a rented black minivan and Duncan's T-Bird that Warren and Brynn had driven up from California, Elizabeth was hesitant to ask to see Brynn's scar. As she watched Brynn being strong, Elizabeth chuckled to herself from extreme anxiety, What do you expect, Liz. That we can compare scars? Amanda used Methos' cell phone, walking a bit a way from the others while in the parking lot, to call each and every person she knew that Duncan knew to see if anyone had heard from him. Methos knew it was a mute exercise, but it gave her something to do. He stood by Warren by the driver's door and asked, "What have you heard?" Warren was brusk. "Not much. We just arrived in the city ourselves. I don't even know where to start to look for MacLeod." "I meant from Sintra. When will their funeral be?" Warren chuckled. "You're going to show your face at Antonio and Sofia's funeral? I don't think that would be a good idea, Dan, Adam, David, Methos, whatever the hell your name is. I thought you were dead." "Setting pettiness aside," Methos said. "Of course Elizabeth and I will be at their funeral, and I'm waiting to get my cell phone back from Amanda, and I'm being sociable." "Don't do it on my account." "No problem." Methos walked to the back of the van where Brynn and Elizabeth were, in time to see Brynn lower her cowl neck collar for Elizabeth to see her scar. He grimaced and turned around again. Claire was standing by Amanda, who was pacing along the lot, only paying attention to moving cars when one honked at her to move out of the way. Then, he heard Warren say, "How long has your wife been having an affair? You haven't been keeping her happy, so she had to look elsewhere?" Methos slowly turned back to Warren, who had gotten into the van and started the engine. Methos tapped on the window, and Warren pushed the down button. "Excuse me?" "That whore got my student and his innocent mortal wife killed," Warren said. "And there's proof of it on your bedroom wall. Liz didn't tell you about the artwork that I described to her over the phone? Hm... I wonder why not." Then Warren chuckled. "I've heard you're used to running away, like in Greece after the Pyrius incident. I'd do it fast if I were in your shoes. She's going to get us all killed one day." During her dark quickening in Greece, during their annihilation of James in Paris, and now, Warren had been in the middle of most of the traumas of Elizabeth's life after meeting up with Methos. What Warren had said angered Methos to the bone, but he swallowed it and took a deep breath. It wouldn't do any good to lose his temper, and Methos knew that. It would only make matters worse... Regardless, Methos opened the door, pulled Warren out of the van by the collar and punched the living shit out of him. Methos could have killed him, hovering over Warren on the ground, his fists moving so fast they were hard to see. Elizabeth and Brynn came running and pulled Methos off of him. "What the hell are you doing?" Elizabeth screamed. "Protecting your non-existent honor," Warren slurred as he wiped blood from his mouth, slowly sitting up. "Warren!" Brynn yelled in warning. "We discussed this!" Methos lunged at Warren again, but Warren got a punch in before they were once again at it. Claire seeing the commotion walked back to them, and started to cry. Elizabeth was mortified that someone thought the worst of her and blamed her for all that happened. Brynn tried to stop the fight, and got Warren's well connected fist in her chin and flew backward onto the concrete. "Stop it!" Amanda yelled, pointing the cell phone at them all. "We can't fight each other while Mac is still out there!" They all froze where they were and looked at her, trying to keep it together. "We have to work together on this. After MacLeod is safe, I'll rent an arena and play referee. Until then, stop it!" Warren quickly stood up and brushed himself off, waiting for his broken chin to heal. Even though he couldn't talk, he thrust a finger at Methos' chest and managed to say, "You stay away from me." "Not a problem." Claire said, "I have to go potty." Brynn, who was still holding her cheek from the hit, took Claire's hand and said, "Let's go find one. I want the air to be cleared before we all get into a car together." After they walked back to the terminal, Elizabeth softly asked Warren as he opened the door she was standing alongside, "What was that about my honor?" Methos said, "He thought you were having an affair with Chuckie boy." Elizabeth almost choked and said, "Why in the hell do you think that?" "That sick fuck was in love with you! But he must have gotten the idea on his own, right?" "I was nice to him, I set him up so he would be taken care of," she started to explain. Warren said, "It doesn't matter now, does it? They're all dead, lady!" "And you want to blame someone," Methos said darkly. "Fine. I'm all for blame, if you assign it to the right person. How about this?" He stood threateningly close to Warren, who was a little disarmed by Methos' low, controlled voice. "How about blaming Chuck Montgomery? He was the one who found out his was pre-immortal and wanted to be one of us. He was the one who had delusions of grandeur regarding my wife, who only cared about him as a friend." When Methos said that, he waited for a juvenile reaction from Warren, but didn't get it. "He committed suicide to become one of us, which turned him dark. I knew it, I expected something to happen, and I got my family out of danger. If you want to blame anyone, Warren Cochrane, poster boy for always making the right choices and never hurting or killing other people, you can blame me." Warren asked, "You knew something like this could happen and you arranged for Duncan MacLeod to handle the dirty work? You are a piece of work." "Thank you, but I assume you mean that as an insult. In which case, you're insulting Duncan MacLeod. Duncan knew exactly what happened, Liz told him about Chuck, I told him about Chuck, he made his own decision. He became Chuck's teacher through no one's influence but his own." "So now you're blaming Mac," Warren said. Methos laughed and tightly shook his head. "There's no blame to be assigned. Bad things happen all the time, you just hope like hell you're not living next to it when it goes off." Amanda asked, "To commit suicide to become immortal would make one dark? I've never heard of that before." "No one else had either. Obviously, it doesn't happen very often because pre-immortals don't usually find out they will be immortal one day. No matter how it happened, Chuck found out." Filling with new anger, Amanda asked, "And you knew something like this would happen, and you didn't take care of him? You're always saying just take the head and ask questions later if the immortal's a threat! Why didn't you do that?!" "I asked him not to," Elizabeth meekly said. "Yes, you asked me not to, but I made the decision!" Methos yelled in a booming voice startling them all. "I didn't want to commit murder! All right? Has the blame been properly assigned? It was my fault! I should have done it, okay? Are we all happy now? Can we get on with finding MacLeod?" ~~~~~ Yan Kyoto, a 25 year old watcher, having just arrived back from vacation after getting an email about what happened to his assignment, picked the lock on the dojo. It was the middle of the day, but the dojo was closed and had been since Duncan left it for the last time. Yan had been in the establishment once before, when he knew that Duncan was across town, just to see it, to learn more about the immortal he had just started watching. This time, his footsteps echoed on the hard wood floor of the gym. The only light came from the overcast gray sky, so the normally active room now felt cold, dead. He looked at the elevator and knew that Duncan lived on the top floor in a loft, but hesitated about going up there. For one, Yan didn't have a key and for him to do so would entail him breaking into two doors. Very much against his watcher oath. But he was going to help, not invade or harm or interfere. What happened, whatever it was, already happened. Yan walked outside the dojo, through the halls, and took  the public elevator up to the loft's door. He was inside in minutes, and was shocked when he saw the loft's condition. It was completely torn apart. There was dirt or blood smudged on the wall in the shape of a cross, where a tapestry had hung above the bed. The ground below the cross in the drawing looked like a pile of rocks, as if it was a grave. It had the words, "RIP DM of the clan MacLeod". A grave? That didn't sound at all comforting. Had Chuck Montgomery actually taken Duncan MacLeod's head? He examined the grave on the wall, and wondered about it's significance. Chuck wouldn't have taken the time to draw it, if it didn't mean something. A grave... He kept searching the mess for other clues. ~~~~~ The five immortals and the six year old premmie walked out of the elevator on the floor of Duncan's loft. As soon as they got to the door, they could hear someone inside. Warren immediately drew his gun, he was a police officer in Australia, and moved the others back. He scared Yan half to death, he was holding a pair of women's underwear in one of his raised hands. "Don't shoot!" he cried out, as the panties fell to the floor. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Warren demanded. "I'm... I'm a friend of Duncan MacLeod's." Methos slammed him onto the bed and laid his knee in the small of his back, holding Yan's hands together behind him. "Right. Tell us another one. What did you do to him?" Amanda picked up the panties and inspected them. "These aren't mine." Elizabeth was horrified and grabbed them. "They're mine!" "How can you tell?" "I'd know my underwear anywhere." Guy casually walked in and greeted the faces that stared at him. "I figured there'd be a disturbance up here." He walked toward the bed. "Dan? That's Yan Kyoto, Duncan MacLeod's watcher." Methos didn't move off Yan, casually saying, "That doesn't make me less stressed at finding him in Mac's flat." "Let him go. He's on our side." "And who's side is that?" Methos turned on Guy. "What were you doing while Antonio and Sofia were losing their lives?!" "I was in Paris with your wife!" Guy shoved him back.  Yan said, "I'm sorry this happened," knowing exactly who they all were from their photos in the chronicles. The little girl puzzled him, but he said, "Look at that," and pointed at the grave and cross. Amanda groaned and sat heavily on the couch after looking at the drawing and words that Chuck had left on the wall. Elizabeth sat alongside her to comfort her, and hide Claire's eyes from it. Amanda didn't want to dwell on the situation that Duncan had to be in, she needed to focus on how he got into that predicament. She thought back to her time working with a detective, and wondered what Nick would do at this moment. She asked, "Where did Chuck live?" Elizabeth said, "Duncan got him an apartment after bringing him back here." "Where is it?" Amanda pointed at the wall. "If he left Mac's place in this condition, God knows what we'll find at his place." Methos said, "Mac never mentioned where." "He's a methodical record keeper," Amanda said, heading for the elevator. "If he paid the down payment or a month's rent, Mac has the paper work. I'm sure of it." Elizabeth and Claire, along with Methos all got into the elevator after Amanda lifted the grate. Methos said to the others, "You keep searching up here for clues, we'll look downstairs." As they descended, Warren told the others, "The T-Bird was clean." "It wasn't clean," Brynn said. "It was filthy. Mac would have a hemorrhage if he saw the condition of his loft or car." Guy said, "Sure, whatever happened to him wouldn't cause him to lose sleep at all." "I meant of clues," Warren said. Guy and Yan were studying the wall. "That's a pretty in-depth rendering," Guy said. "Considering it came from a bloody finger." The grave definitely had stones on it. "Would that kid have taken his head, buried him, and come back here to draw it out? Why?" Yan shook his head. "The kid was a neat freak as far as I could tell. I never got too close to him but did follow him once to a tavern." He explained to Guy, Brynn and Warren, "He didn't have a watcher assigned to him, so I thought I'd keep an eye on him until he got one. Duncan MacLeod wasn't in hunting mode nor had he received any threats lately." "Yes, he did," Warren said. Yan shrugged. "Well, we didn't know that Chuck Montgomery was a threat. And they seemed at ease with each other. I didn't see a problem." "Some watcher," Warren alleged.  Brynn asked, "You saw them together... what did you see?" "They were like buddies," Yan said, bewildered. "They'd walk down the street and talk and laugh. Duncan would put his hand on Chuck's shoulder, like a protector would, or if he said something funny. One night after the gym closed, they practiced with boken. There wasn't anything threatening about it. I was watching from the hallway. I didn't see anything to indicate Chuck would... snap. Maybe something happened." Brynn started opening whatever drawers hadn't been left open or dumped onto the floor to search for anything. Warren asked Yan and Guy, "Daniel mentioned that Chuck committed suicide to become immortal, and that if we do that, we turn dark. Is that true? Are there instances of that in the chronicles?" The look that past between Yan and Guy irritated Warren, as it indicated clamming up. "Come on! We did watcher dirty work getting rid of James, Mac too. You owe us!" Guy pushed Warren back as he appeared close to punching and calmly said, "Back off. I would tell you, but I don't know of such a thing happening myself. I was looking to Yan to ask if  he had any knowledge. Flying off the handle won't get us anywhere." "It would go a lot faster if you stop talking and start looking," Brynn suggested as she looked under the bed. ~~~~~ Downstairs, Amanda went straight for Duncan's locked office. She sat in his chair and looked through his filing system in the bottom right drawer. Claire, worried, looked to her father to ask, "What happened to Uncle Mac?" "He's missing," Methos said, taking her out of the office and setting her on the bench press. "But we'll find him. Don't worry about a thing. Mac is tough." "Chuck did something to Uncle Mac?" Elizabeth saw that she was too young to figure this all out; she was having a hard time of it also. Claire had probably heard and seen too much already. Just when she was thinking of taking Claire to a hotel, help arrived in the form of Amy Randall. Amy tapped on the window of the door, and Claire ran happily to her. "Aunt Amy!" Elizabeth went to unlock the door and Amy pulled Claire into her arms. "Hey Little One. How was Paris?" "Monsieur and Madame de Valicourt are nice." "How was Bern?" Elizabeth asked Amy. Amanda and Methos had been mum about their adventure and played down any trouble or anything else they might have encountered or done. "Interesting. It's not every day you see..." Amy stopped talking because of Claire, so she said, "that sort of break in." Amanda whopped and stood up holding a paper in her hand. "I found it!" Methos snatched the receipt from her hand. Elizabeth said, "Will you take Claire for the day, Amy? We have some work to do and I'm afraid she'll be bored by it." Amy took the hint and smiled at Claire. "What will it be, Little One? Shopping? A movie? The zoo?" Claire said, "I want to stay with you, Mom." "We'll be done by dinnertime." She saw Amanda and Methos take off in the elevator to tell the others, and wanted to know what was going on. But then again, she would like to spend a quiet day with Claire and Amy. "Stay with Amy for a second, okay? I just have to do something." Amy nodded and told her to go upstairs, then immediately got Claire's attention by showing her a hand held solitaire game that she bought at the Bern airport to bide her time on the flight home. Elizabeth went to the elevator just when everyone was coming down. Amanda said, "The Vivaldi Apartments on Shea. That's where we're heading," as she walked by them and out the door. Methos said, "Hey, Amy," as he kissed Claire on the top of the head and told Elizabeth, "You know what? Why don't you and Claire spend some time with her? We'll be right back." "Good  idea," Elizabeth said, his suggestion echoed her own thoughts. She didn't want to see anything more of Chuck anyway, and tensions might be less strained if she didn't tag along. Methos smiled and walked after Amanda. Guy hugged and kissed Amy then introduced Yan to her. Before Amy knew what was going on, Guy and Yan also went out the door. She could only nod at Warren and Brynn, as they  passed through the dojo. The sudden commotion caused by people coming into the gym quieted again when they all walked out, leaving Amy, Claire and Elizabeth behind. ~~~~~ Twenty-two year old, blond, statuesque college student, Candy Morgenstern, was just applying the last bit of makeup to her face; her long hair was wrapped in rollers. Her feet were tapping with the rock music blaring from the cheap radio on the counter. The bass and treble sucked, but it was all she could afford. She took the rollers out of her hair and shook it as she bent over, then brushed it all out. There was a commotion in the hallway that made Candy uneasy. This wasn't the greatest neighborhood in the world, and the noise was right outside her door. She turned the radio off and stood still. The rap on her door made her jump and yell, "Who is it?!" Then she cringed. Smart move, Candy... She went to the door and looked out the peephole to see a long haired blond woman. She didn't look too scary, and Candy had the hair brush in her hand... she tossed it and picked up the baseball bat she kept in the corner. She kept the chain on as she opened the door and asked, "What do you want?" Brynn smiled and said, "We're sorry to bother you, but you seem to be the only one home. Do you know a Chuck Montgomery?" "Yeah," Candy answered tightly. "Why?" She there were more people in the hallway. "We're friends of his and--," Brynn began, but Candy shut the door in her face. Brynn knocked, "Hello? Please. We need to find out... where Chuck is." "He lives down the hall," Candy yelled. "If you're friends of his, you're not friends of mine. Get lost." Brynn asked, "Which apartment?" Candy opened the door again and stared at Brynn. "You're not friends with him or you'd know." Amanda forced her way to the woman and said, "No. We're not friends of his. He kidnapped a very good friend of mine and I want to get into that little shit's apartment and find out where he took Mac! All right?! Now spill it!" Methos pulled Amanda back as Warren and Brynn asked Candy again for the apartment number. Warren said, "Then we'll be on our way." Candy lifted the chain and opened the door all the way. "Chuck did what?" Brynn said, "A friend of ours is in trouble and we don't have a lot to go on to find him. Can you please help us?" Candy said, "4A, at the end of the hall. But he's not there, he hasn't been home all weekend. I have a key to his door though." Methos was already on his way to 4A. "Won't be necessary." Amanda ran ahead of him. "Let the mistress do it." With a few twists of her hair pin in the lock, Amanda opened the door. Methos looked at her and smiled. "I knew there was a reason you grew your hair out." When they walked into Chuck's apartment, they both stopped, their hearts fell. Stuck with tacks to the wall were pictures of all shapes and sizes of one person, Elizabeth. They were all in profile or from the back of her head. While she was in Redding, in the stables, on Callie. Taken either with a telephoto lens or in long shot. Amanda asked, "She didn't have a clue he was so sick?" "Not that she let on to me," Methos replied. "Let's get this over with. You take this room and I'll search in there," he pointed to the only door in the place. Meanwhile, Brynn and Warren were talking with Candy in her living room, all the while Candy held that baseball bat to her chest. "He was one fucked up dude," Candy said. "He seemed so normal. I was excited about going out with him the first night he moved in. And it was nice, but then he just started getting weird." Warren asked, "In what way?" "It was little things at first. He'd laugh at the oddest times over things... that just weren't funny. This last week, he scared me so much I wanted to move. But when you live in a dead end neighborhood already, there aren't many options." Brynn said, "You went on dates with him?" "Not the first night. We never left the apartment," Candy said, blushing. "But he took me on a really nice date the next day. He even brought me flowers. He was so sweet, until you got to know him." Warren asked, "Where did he take you?" "Out to the shore. He drove a really cool car, an older car, like from the 50s or something." "A Thunderbird?" Brynn asked, surprised. She had been under the impression that Chuck had just stolen Duncan's car after ... whatever he did with him. "Yeah. Chuck was proud of it, said a friend lent it to him. We went for a long drive along the coast. We had a picnic lunch that he had bought from a deli." Candy shrugged. "That was about it, but it was nice." Guy, who had been loitering in the hall, just listening, came into her apartment to ask, "Where along the coast?" She shrugged. "Along the highway. But we did stop to eat lunch at Oak Point, you know, where the lighthouse is? It wasn't too cold that day." "Are there rocks near that lighthouse?" "Oh yeah, I broke a heel walking on them," Candy said. Amanda and Methos came in with a piece of paper. Amanda said, "Listen to this. It's a love letter, to Elizabeth." Methos could see that Warren got hot under the collar again and gave him a glance that meant if he said one word, he was dead. Candy said, "Elizabeth? Do you know Elizabeth?" "She's my wife," Methos said in an even tone. "He really liked her. In fact, she's all he could talk about the last couple of times I saw him. Is that her on his walls?" Amanda read, "Dearest Elizabeth, Time here under Mac's tutelage is so hard. I don't know why I need to train, but if I do, why can't I learn more about..." She stopped reading, Candy the mortal, was in the room. "Blah, blah blah," Amanda said, skipping down in the letter. "Don't worry, Lizzie. Even though Mac makes it hard for me to even breathe without his say-so, I will make it possible for us to be together. I know you dream of being in my arms, just as I do every night, waiting until I can hold you forever. Now if we can only get rid of Daniel and Claire. So many people are trying to keep us apart. Tell you what, I'll take care of Mac on this end. You see to killing your--." "Whoa," Candy said. "He was farther gone than I thought." Methos said, "We're wasting time," glaring at Warren. Guy tapped Methos' arm. "Oak Point Lighthouse. It would fit the drawing of the rocks." They all went out the door while Candy said, "What's going on?" Brynn turned around and said to her, "Don't worry. Chuck died over the weekend. You have nothing to worry about. He won't hurt you." Then they were all gone. Candy's head spun. She walked out into the hall, and hesitantly to Chuck's door. As soon as she saw the pictures on the wall, many more pictures had been pinned up since the last time she had seen it, she shut his door and went back to her place. She had a creepy feeling, and didn't know if she would lose it anytime soon. To her delight, Cory arrived for their date. She tossed the baseball bat into her apartment and locked the deadbolt. She told Cory, "We have to have a lot of fun tonight." "That's what I'm planning on, babe," Cory said as he opened the door at the end of the hall for her. ~~~~~ Nothingness. That was all Duncan knew for the last six days. His body was rigid from rigor mortis, his brain was inactive. The last thing he remembered was that he was in a tight fit underground, the next thing he knew, he was lying prone on top of jagged white rocks. He didn't know where he was, or how long he had been there, but he coughed out dirt and phelm from his throat, rapidly blinked his eyes to clean them out and blew out his nose. He turned over as he sucked in clean, chilly air, to see Methos' face above him. "Hey, Highlander. Enough nap time. Let's get a beer." Duncan's mind was still in a fog, but he realized that Amanda had grabbed him and he was now leaning against her. She was kissing his mouth, nose, cheeks and forehead. Then her long fingernail started to clean out one of his ears. "Can you hear me? Mac? Talk to me." "Where the hell have you been?" he weakly asked her. Amanda laughed and kissed him again. "I'll tell you on the way, my darling. This beach couldn't be more uncomfortable." Warren's hand appeared out of nowhere and Duncan grabbed it. When he was once again steadily on his feet, Duncan looked down at the grave his friends had gotten him out of. "How long was I in there?" "This is Thursday," Warren told him. "Welcome back fellow Highlander." Duncan lightly hugged Warren, then Brynn, and smiled to all of those gathered around him. He didn't know the Asian man, or the tall one that stood next to him, but it was wonderful to see Methos, Warren, Brynn and most of all, Amanda again. He remembered the argument he and Chuck had after Duncan returned from dinner with Joe and Caroline last Thursday. Chuck was planning to take off and was pillaging Duncan's private stash of money for emergencies. Then, he was hit on the back of his head. He didn't remember anything else, but needed to know one thing. He asked, "How is Liz?" "She's fine," Methos said. "How are you? Can you walk?" "Sure. No problem," Duncan said, putting his arm over Amanda's shoulders for support. Walking out of the stony beach was a tough thing to do, even for the immortals who hadn't spent time in a grave. He looked to Methos. "Once again, you found me when I was lost." Methos shrugged and smiled. The last time had been after the plane crash. When everyone else had left him for dead, Methos and Joe knew that he still had to be somewhere. Methos asked, "Which do you prefer, water or earth?" "A nice soft bed," Duncan replied, his head still pounding as it healed from the lack of oxygen for so long. "I will arrange that," Amanda said, helping him into the back of the van. Brynn was going to introduce Guy and Yan to Duncan once they were all seated in the van, she on one side of Duncan, Amanda on his other. But, to her surprise, they were gone. The Watchers had retreated into the woodwork again. Well, she thought. Let them find their own ride home. ~~~~~ HOTEL Methos and Elizabeth were cuddled together watching TV. Their lives were harmonious once again with Claire asleep in the other room of the suite and Methos was holding his Ivanhoe. Methos hadn't asked Elizabeth all that happened between her and Chuck while he was still living with them. Elizabeth suddenly said, "There's not much to know, Methos." "Hm?" "I didn't have an affair with him, if that's what you're wondering." "You are getting really good at mind reading. I should take you on the road." He held his arm tighter around her as she was lying on his chest. She said, "I was trying to be a friend to him, but he took it the wrong way I guess. There was only one instance where I thought he went too far, but..." "When was that?" "When he killed that wolf. He held me and called me Lizzie. I just thought it was because we were both shook up." "It's done with. Mac's safe, the kid is dead, Warren and Brynn are on their way to Australia." Elizabeth asked, "It was odd that Antonio and Sofia were buried so fast. Why didn't his family tell any of us that they were going to rush it?" "We can still make our pilgrimage." "I thought you weren't setting foot in Sintra for a long, long time." "I will on this occasion." Elizabeth happily squeezed him, then lifted up and said, "You know what? I'm going to take you up on that." "On what?" "Taking me on the road." Methos hadn't felt comfortable returning to Tabard Pines either. He certainly wasn't looking forward to seeing what condition the house was in, if Warren's report was any indication. "You don't feel at home in Redding anymore?" "I was talking with Amanda in Paris, and spent time with Robert and Gina. They are all world travelers, and I'm married to one, and my daughter is interested in foreign languages and travels well. Amanda told me that there's a big world out there that I should see. You know what? I'm born and bred American, but I think I'd like that. What better tour guide could Claire and I have than you?" Methos for the first time since settling in the hotel room, dropped his sword on the floor and leaned over Elizabeth and kissed her gently. "You know what? I think that's a marvelous idea. When we bought Tabard Pines and Canterbury Stables, I was looking forward to work. But... I'm over it now. Work sucks. Work sucks. I want to show you and Claire the world. Claire can be home schooled, what better teachers does she need?" "Yes," Elizabeth said. "We have all this money and I think we need to spend more of it. Enjoy it, like Robert and Gina. I really like them a lot. They're going off on their world cruise again, it would be great to join them." Methos smiled. "That's a very good possibility." Elizabeth cleared her throat and said, "Now about Amanda..." "I was pretty proud of how she helped get my sword back, and how she used her smarts to get Mac back." "You were pretty comfortable walking in on her while she was in the bathtub." "Nudity isn't a problem with me, you know that. And I didn't see anything." "And she didn't have a problem with you walking into the bathroom while she was in the tub." "She has a great body, so she isn't shy about it..." "I have a great body but I don't show it to just anyone." "I'm not just anyone." "That's exactly my point." "You have a point?" He started kissing her, to change the subject, but she pushed his face back. "Methos," she seriously said. "Do you know Amanda because Duncan introduced you, or do you know Amanda because you've known her for a very long time?" He stared at her, remembering the awful situation following his encounter with Amy so long ago. Debating his choices and carefully finding the right words because he didn't want to lie to her, made him mute. She said, "It's all right if you did know her from long ago. Even if you've slept with her. That's in the past, so it doesn't matter now, but I'm curious." "Yes. I've known Amanda for a very long time." "I knew it the moment we were all in Duncan's loft, when you introduced us. There was a spark in your eye when you saw her. There always is." "We are not sleeping together. We haven't slept together in over 500 years. Is that why you were so touchy when I wanted Amanda to go to Bern with me?" "No. I was touchy because you didn't trust me to help you. And that's good news. Will there ever be a chance that you and Amanda might... you know." Methos laughed. "You know?" He shook his head. "You're so young. Not as long as I have you will I ever look at another woman." "Don't pile it on. I know you look." "Well, I'm not dead." "Thank God, or the gods, as you say." CONTINUED in Chapter Fifty-Three -  A Carefree Life