THE ELIZABETH SERIES
CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR

ITCHING TO TAKE A HEAD

By Jo
EnyaJo@aol.com

RATING: PG

CHARACTERS: Everyone and Milton Milroy, a pissed off immortal

SUMMARY: Elizabeth realizes that it's been a long time since she'd partaken of a challenge and received a quickening.

~~~~~

THE CLAIRE ELIZABETH
MOORED JUST OFF THE COAST OF SPAIN

Getting Claire and Joey to bed had been an undertaking, but Elizabeth and Gina rose to the occasion. Amanda wasn't any help. She, in fact, instigated them staying up so they could join her in celebration of 'the completion of the wedding plans'. Methos, Duncan and Robert had chosen to make themselves scarce as the women used every waking moment on the yacht, as it cruised from Athens to Barcelona, to ensure that the wedding of Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod to Amanda Montrose was the envy of any royal or celebrity ever to walk the earth.

The only thing that Duncan was interested in was his bachelor party. As the wedding date loomed closer, the Highlander became more and more moist with sweat. While the men sat at the table on deck, Robert and Methos simply told him that they were on it, and that he shouldn't worry. Duncan's reply was to swallow more scotch. "I can just imagine what you two have cooked up. Pomp, sacrifices, ceremony..."

"Oh, yeah, sacrifices," Methos told Robert. "How could we forget the sacrifices?"

Robert only shrugged and slumped a little in his seat with a glass of brandy at his lips.

Methos gasped exaggeratedly. "We forgot the vestal virgins, Robert. Whatever will we do?"

"Just give me a couple of strippers and some rock music, a bottle of scotch and," Duncan said before he was cut off by a slap on the back from Robert.

Robert gleamed as he said, "MacLeod, old boy, that is so... frat house. You, a man who has walked metaphorically alone for the last, what? 420 years? Needs more than a couple of strippers."

"And where will we ever find vestal virgins," Methos added. "A vestal virgin, maybe, but plural? I don't think so. And really, who would want to?"

"What did they do back in your day, old man, when they married," Duncan asked Methos.

"I didn't even go to a wedding until my own, my first one, in the year 238." Methos caught himself. He didn't think it would ever happen. That he would actually bring up Naomi in casual conversation. His first wife, so callously killed by Pyrius, just when he was starting to live.

The others didn't noticed his sudden change in mood, and went right on talking. Of course, whenever Robert and Duncan talked for too long, Hugh Fitzcairn became the topic. Since Methos' gut was queasy from remembering that bygone era, and his beer bottle was empty he decided to call it a night. "I'm off. Don't stay up too late now, kids."

"If you can see your way to find our women," Robert said, toasting him, "Please tell them to join us."

"You are so drunk, de Valicourt."

"Yes, Daniel," Robert exclaimed, almost proud. "I am."

When Methos walked below deck, he heard the women chattering in the galley. He saw Guy exit it with a jar of pickles. "For Amy?" Methos asked.

"Nah, I made a tuna sandwich and forgot them. Amy's asleep."

"How is she feeling?"

"Funny," Guy said as he slumped against the wall. "When I ask her that, she only says, 'how do you think I'm feeling?' She looks like a beached whale, so I suppose she doesn't feel thin."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Methos said with a chuckle.

"Um, she did. Before. Yesterday. I ended up bunking with Joey last night."

Methos shook his head and started down the hallway towards his and Elizabeth's room. "Mortals never learn." He yelled over his shoulder, "Tell her that if she needs anything to, of course, just holler."

"Will do," Guy said.

Gina came out of the galley and said, "SH! The kids are in bed. Don't make such a racket."

Guy laughed. "Oh, two guys talking will wake them up, but you ladies' cackling isn't going to?"

"We don't cackle. We discuss with lilting laughter."

"Uh huh."

"Is Amy able to join us?"

"Last I saw, she was sleeping. I'll mention it to her if she's awake."

"It must be so hard on her to be bedridden on such a beautiful cruise. Is she any better this evening?"

"I think so, she isn't as cranky. Although, that could be because she's been sleeping a lot today."

"Guy," Gina smiled. "You don't talk to her like you talk to us, do you?"

"No. Of course not. I want to sleep with her tonight." He headed towards their quarters and said, "Only one more month..."

"She is lucky, you know," Gina said, looking out the porthole wistfully.

"Huh?" Guy asked, stopping in his tracks. "She's big as a house, has to stay in bed, can't eat salt or drink. What's so lucky?"

"She has Joey, and is going to have another baby, and believe it or not, she has you. It's a miracle."

"I have been called many things, but a miracle?" Guy teased.

"Childbirth. I have seen and experienced many things, but that has to be a powerful and magical process."

Guy leaned against the wall again taking in the sight of the melancholy immortal. "Why is it that you gals can't have kids?"

"We just can't."

"Then, how are there more of you? Are you all related?"

"That is the age old question. I have a theory that everyone has the potential to be immortal. It is just the turn of the card."

"But, you can feel each other, even before you turn immortal."

"Yes." Gina smiled. "That blows a hole in the theory, unless it has to do with something before we are born."

"You're not one of them, are you?"

"One of what?"

"A right to lifer?"

"I believe that conceiving is a miracle. I also think that a woman, who's body is going to go through what Amy's has, or if she has a circumstance where her life will be detrimentally or irrevocably changed by having the child, should have the right to say what happens. I would of course prefer she carries the child and gives it a loving home, but that's rather pious of me. This comes from a woman who was a foundling, and was lucky to have been taken in by loving parents. Some children are not so lucky."

Gina and Guy regarded each other for a moment. Then she said, "Back to the point of this, I envy Amy and the gift that she has received. You as well. You will be... an interesting father."

"I can't wait."

The grin on his face told her that he was telling the absolute, unvarnished truth. "I can't either," she said. "I am godmother to that child. After all these years, this is my first." She seriously said, "You take care of all three of them while you live. The rest of us will make bloody sure that they, and all of their offspring , will always have guardian angels."

Guy took Gina by surprise when he said, "I envy you too, Madame de Valicourt."

"How so?"

"You are young in looks and health, you have a man you love, money, and will live forever, if you play your cards right. No matter what I do in life, I'll get older. I will die. Mortality is a burden we all face, but it's harder to do when I know there are others who don't face that problem."

"But you don't have other immortals wanting your head. It could all end in an instant."

"I could get hit by a bus."

"Yes, you have me there, Mr. Barstow. You are a quick fellow. I could too. But I will get up. Look at it this way, I have to keep getting up. Yes, I have money. Yes, I have Robert, and thank God. Yes, I look like I do. But we can never forget anything that we did. That we are ashamed of. The years add up and can crush you. The moral of the story is, keep your loved ones close and appreciate them as long as you have them."

"I'm fixin' to do just that, Madame."

~~~~~

Elizabeth slowly opened the door to their quarters so as not to wake up Claire or disturb Methos, if he was there. She had gone above deck with Amanda and Gina, and shared a glass of wine with them before heading out to find Methos. Being on a yacht didn't make knowing where Methos was elementary . He was an expert at finding hiding places to be alone. She made her way into the bedroom and found him lying on the bed with the lamp on, reading a book. Not just any book, it looked like he had the Gutenberg bible on his chest, it was so thick. How could he hold that monstrosity on his chest and still be able to breathe? That man of mine is a man of many talents, she thought.

"There you are," she whispered as she shed her clothes and then slunk into bed next to him.

"Here I am," he said solemnly as he kept reading.

"Busy reading," she asked, with a smile.

"Yeah. Just getting to the good part."

"You're just getting to the good part?"

"Sh."

She turned in bed and looked at him and the book. She had felt restless for a couple of weeks and was close to the breaking point. Elizabeth wanted Methos' advice, and this was as good a time as any to talk it out, but she couldn't put her finger on what exactly was wrong. So, how could she expect him to help?

She sighed dramatically, but Methos turned the page and kept reading.

We are getting so old, she thought. We are so married. The thought of being in bed together doesn't make us just want to go at it like little bunnies anymore. When did that happen?

"Methos?"

"Hm?"

"What page are you on?"

"1102."

He wasn't even half way through it yet! She wasn't in the least bit interested in what he was reading and refused to look at the spine of the book to find out. He was so deep into it that he probably wouldn't tell her if she asked.

"What paragraph on that page are you on?"

"The fifth," he said. "No, wait, I'm on the sixth."

"Can you remember that?"

"Oh course, I remember everything."

Elizabeth grabbed the book, snapped it shut and tossed it on the floor, just about breaking her arm in the process. "Good. We need to talk."

"I couldn't at least have found out if the Tweetles will ever topple the Magrovites?"

"What were you reading?"

"That was a collection of fairy tales written in the fourth century by a monk."

"Oh, gee. That must have been a page turner."

"It's a compilation. That was the first fairy tale that I actually was enjoying."

"You read how many before you got to that one?"

"One hundred and twelve."

"Diligent. You are a diligent reader."

"I read everything. When I spotted it in the library in Florence, I had to read it."

"You just checked out a book from the fourth century?"

"They don't know it's missing yet. Or if they do, they don't know who has it."

"Amanda help you steal that too?"

"No. Have we just gotten to the point of this interruption? Amanda?"

"Interruption? A conversation with me, in bed, is an interruption of a bunch of fairy tales written by a monk?"

"Well," Methos said, then paused. She could almost see his mind spinning, trying to cover that so very blatant error. She saved him the trouble. She would forgive him, if he became her fairy tale love slave in a couple of seconds flat.

Elizabeth had just laid atop him and started to kiss him when there was a scream then crash on the other side of the ship. They both jumped to their feet and in minutes were running down the hallway towards the sounds, towards Amy and Guy's suite.

Guy was found crouching in the bathroom, holding Amy. Blood was pooling on the floor where she sat cross-legged. Tears were in her eyes as she looked up at Elizabeth and Methos. She wimpered, "I'm bleeding."

~~~~~

Amy had been rushed to a hospital in Barcelona and it was over an hour before they allowed Guy to see her. Methos, Duncan, Robert, Amanda and Elizabeth were on their umpteenth cup of coffee before Guy returned, relieved that the doctors had been able to stop the hemorrhaging. Amy had been alert and talked to him when he was brought in to see her. The only thing was, she would have to stay in the hospital until the baby was born, or until they decided to give her a caesarean.

Gina was with the kids on the ship, since they hadn't wanted to awaken them when they rushed Amy to the hospital. Methos decided to go back. It appeared that Amy was in good hands. Elizabeth and Amanda wanted to stay with her and Guy. Robert and Duncan decided to join Methos, figuring they would get a good night's sleep and be there at the hospital the next day so Elizabeth and Amanda could rest.

When the men exited the hospital and headed for the rental van for the trip back to the harbor, each of three stopped and let the new immortal sensation flow into them. They all searched in every direction. A young-looking blond man, who looked like a kid really, was spotted standing under a street light. His hands were in the pockets of his long black duster. Slowly, he turned and walked out of the ring of light, away from them.

Duncan nudged Methos. "Someone you know?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you kidding? He could be an acquaintance of yours for all I know. Not everyone in the world is after me."

Robert said, "He's probably just like us. Has someone in the hospital and doesn't want a fight. Let's go."

Duncan kept his eye on the area where the immortal disappeared as they walked back to the van. It was parked in a no-parking zone, and had a myriad of tickets attached to the windshield wipers. Methos took them and stuffed them in his pocket. "At least it wasn't towed."

He got in and started the engine, while Robert got into the passenger's side. Methos honked the horn to motivate Duncan, who was still staring off into the night. Duncan jumped and got into the back. "What is your problem?" Methos asked. "There are a lot of immortals in big cities."

"I just don't want to have to face anyone, so close to my wedding."

"Then don't," Methos said as he stepped on the gas. "Simple solution."

~~~~~

The blonde immortal stepped back into the ring of light after the van sped off and looked up at the hospital. He had finally found that rat bastard, after three years of searching. Now all he had to do was wait until the time was right to pounce.

~~~~~

"When was the last time you took a head, Amanda?" Elizabeth asked, they were sitting in the family room the hospital had provided for them.

Amanda had just sat down with a cup of tea after being allowed to see Amy for a couple of minutes. "What a question."

"No one can hear us in here."

"Why do you want to know?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Just wondering. How often do you feel the need to take one?"

Amanda blew on the tea before taking a swallow. She finally asked, "Why? Are you having one now?"

Elizabeth shrugged again. "I know I'm feeling something, but I don't know what it is."

"You're anxious for Amy. It's so exciting to be a godmother. I've never been one from the very start of the child's life."

"It's not that."

Amanda sat next to Elizabeth on the love seat and whispered, "You aren't going through a seven year itch with Daniel, are you? I've heard about that type of thing, but didn't really think it was true. Although, I've never been with a guy for seven years at a time. I like to spread my wealth." Her dazzling smile faded to say, "Except for Mac of course."

Elizabeth hadn't thought of that before. It had been around seven years since they had met at Amy and Kevin's wedding. Then again, they also hadn't been together all of that time. Elizabeth had it in her head that her immortality was speaking to her and she needed a quickening. "Haven't you ever had the itch?"

"What itch are you referring to?" Amanda asked with a smile.

"The Quickening Itch."

"No. Certainly not. How long has it been for you?"

"Pyrius. But that wasn't a challenge. Before that Logan. But that wasn't really one either. Before that," Elizabeth said, then paused as she tried to remember. "Before that I tended to stay away from immortals. I really have no idea what it is like to have an immortal introducing him or herself and challenging. I've only taken heads to save myself or someone else and none have been of the normal variety that I've heard about. Hotohke told me how it was supposed to work. I've never done that."

"Well don't start now."

"Why not?"

Amanda sat surprised. "You're just going to walk up to an immortal and challenge him or her; just to know what it's like?" When Elizabeth didn't answer, Amanda said, "So close to my wedding? I need you to stand up for me. You and Gina have to be there for me. How often does a gal get married?"

"I will be. Why? You think I'd lose?"

"I would hope so if you just willy nilly go up to a strange immortal for the soul purpose of wanting the head. There should be some reason for it, other than you have an itch. There's a name for immortals like that, K'Immie. I don't see you as one, and really.... how could you want to do that?"

"I'm just talking. I tried to talk to Daniel about it, but Amy got sick. There's something wrong and I think that's what it is, but I don't know. That's why I'm asking you a question. I have a name for those immortals too. Assholes. I'm not an asshole."

"No you are not. Don't even talk about this. It makes me nervous."

Elizabeth thought, Try feeling it sometime. But then she wondered if it was normal, what she was feeling. Amanda had lived for 1200 years and from the way she told it, she's never had this feeling.

~~~~~

DAYS LATER

The Doctors had determined that Amy should stay in the hospital to be monitored until her baby was born. Elizabeth and Guy were in her room with her. He had turned into an absolute mother hen, constantly asking her what she needed, holding her hand, revealing his hope for what the child would be like. It was cute in the beginning, but now he was driving her crazy. "Would you go for a walk, Guy? Please?" Amy finally asked.

"I just went for one about an hour ago."

"I know. I think you need another one."

The door opened and Joey and Claire bounded in with Gina right behind them. "Hey, you," Amy said, beaming at her son. "How was school this morning?"

"Daniel is cool. He told us about the Conquistadors in Spain. Mom?"

"What?"

"He tells these stories like he's been there. How does he know all that stuff?"

"Dad reads a lot," Claire said as she was showing Elizabeth her art work. It was a watercolor of mountains and a sunrise.

"Very nice, Little One," Elizabeth said, admiring it. "You are so good at painting. I can see a house on one of the lower hills there. How do you get that detail in watercolor?"

"Just fooling around. It's the mountains of Greece. Mom? I like this. Can I paint this, only bigger, on one wall of my room."

"On the boat?"

"Yeah."

"The whole wall?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, Little One, but you're short. How are you going to do the whole wall? You're not getting on a ladder."

"Dad said he'd help. He'd do the sky and I'll do the mountains. He said it's all right, but I should ask you."

"You can do whatever you want to your room. But mountains? You're seven. What about hearts and flowers and rainbows-"

"I liked it in Athens. I was even thinking of putting all the places that we've been on the wall."

"Like a montage?"

Claire shrugged. "Little paintings of all the places we've been on this trip on the wall."

Elizabeth smiled. "A montage." Her daughter was so much more developed than a regular child and it was delightful to see that in some areas, she was still seven. "That sounds wonderful."

"Goodie!" Claire smiled and hopped, then hugged Elizabeth as if she had just gotten a new puppy or something.

"Guy?! Would you go for a walk?" Amy suddenly said. "I don't need my pillow plumped, I don't need any water. I'd just like some peace and quiet." She laid back on the bed, her stomach ballooned in front of her.

"Are you laying comfortably?" Guy asked.

"No. But when you're in my condition, there's no such thing. Please, honey. Just leave me alone for a little while."

Elizabeth said, "Why don't we take the kids back to the boat, Guy?"

Joey said, "I just got here. Gina bought me a cool hand-held game."

Amy told Gina, "You buy him too much."

"It's my pleasure," Gina said.

Claire said, "Gina was going to bring me into the market to do some shopping. We just came to see Amy."

"We didn't just come to see Amy," Gina said. "We'll stay as long as you want."

"Go shopping," Amy said. "And bring Guy with you."

Joey looked hurt. "But Mom, I haven't seen you since yesterday. I have my game to play. I'll be quiet."

"I didn't mean you," Amy said, pulling him toward her. "I meant him," she pointed at Guy.

"I can take a hint. Fine. I'll go do something. I'm sure a single guy in Barcelona can find something to do."

"Don't you dare."

"I kid." Guy leaned down and kissed Amy. "I'll be back and you'd better be in a better mood."

"I'd just like to take a nap, with my buddy here," Amy said, scruffing Joey's head.

"Let's go get some lunch," Elizabeth suggested. "Do you want anything to eat, Joey?"

"We already ate with Daniel and Robert," he said, already into his game.

Gina said, "Claire and I ate also," Gina indicated Amy and said, "You take a nap. Joey, play your game, Guy, you take Elizabeth out for lunch, and you pay, and Claire and I will go shopping and we'll all meet back here in a couple of hours."

"Sounds like a plan," Elizabeth said, then teased, "But you can't buy Claire anything over a thousand dollars."

"Ah, mom," Gina whined, smiling. "I hear you. You don't mind that I buy the children things, do you?"

"Why would I? Saves on our bank account," Elizabeth said.

~~~~~

WATERFRONT

Elizabeth and Guy had lunch at a very expensive outdoor café. Guy insisted on picking up the check. "I'll put it on my expense account."

She didn't argue. After the way they had messed with her life, the Watchers could certainly buy her lunch. As they were walking along the harbor, Elizabeth laughed. "I can't believe that I'm actually spending the afternoon with my watcher. I just can't get over it."

"Your watcher almost lives with you."

"Who'd a thunk it?"

"We're not that bad," Guy said, nudging her arm as they kept walking.

"I had an ex-watcher as a best friend for five years and didn't know about it. By the way, who's watching Daniel the last couple of months while Amy's been out of commission? You?"

"No, the watchers wouldn't allow that. I mentioned it, but was shot down. If we look around, we might be able to see her."

Elizabeth stopped and looked around. Guy laughed. "She's not going to do anything. Daniel isn't even here."

"No. It's not that. I feel an immortal."

Guy looked around the area also. There were a lot of people milling around in the shops and galleries. With so many people walking past it took a while to zero in on the blond, male immortal watching them from across the cobblestone street.

"I don't have my sword. Let's go."

Guy didn't have to be told twice. They walked between the people on the sidewalks, passing them, almost at a run. Blocks away, Elizabeth felt the buzz fade. She stopped and caught her breath. She had been thinking she'd like to get into a challenge, but when one was so close, she got scared and ran. She asked Guy, "You're not going to chronicle that, are you?"

"Of course. Once again you display the fact that you're an immortal who doesn't want to cause trouble."

"Gee, thanks. That means I'm a coward."

"It means you're not an asshole, as you like to call them."

"Gee, thanks again."

They looked up and noticed one of the most beautiful churches that Elizabeth had ever seen. Santa Maria del Mar, the stone sign read. Elizabeth looked back to make sure that the immortal wasn't close by and just out of sensing range. "Let's look this over. Being on holy ground wouldn't hurt right about now."

Inside the church was made out of granite, marble and ivory, Elizabeth looked up to see the foyer was almost four stories high. She whistled. "They did know how to build them back in those days didn't they?"

People going into the rectory to pray or filling out donation cards looked at her in a stern manner for making noise. She felt bad. It had been a while since she had been in a church and she was just overwhelmed at the sight of this one. They exited by a side door and entered a very lush, green, meditation garden. A cobblestone path lead the way through the flowers toward an area of lawn. A high stone fence surrounded it and it was dotted with tall trees. The hot afternoon sun was blotted out by all the shade. There weren't many people on the benches or walking around. The smell of flowers still hung in the air from the gardens; it was a relaxing area. They kept walking to see how far back the area went. This had to be prime land, judging from the expensive businesses that lined the harbor.

They reached the far wall and stood taking in the quiet. They were in the middle of a busy district, but all they could hear were birds and the slight ruffle of the breeze on the leaves of the trees. Elizabeth sat down on a bench and said, "I could stay here all day. It's so peaceful."

Elizabeth was glad when Guy took a load off also and sat on the bench next to her, but then she tightened. That immortal sensation was invading her senses again. Through the trees, she saw legs and the bottom of a long black duster. Guy was about to speak when Elizabeth held his arm. "Careful," Elizabeth whispered.

Looking behind them for a quick exit, she didn't notice that the immortal had started to stalk toward them. Guy stood up and said, "There's that same guy."

Elizabeth put herself between them before the immortal could get closer. "He's immortal," she said. The blond man just kept walking toward them, he was on a mission. She told him, "Hey! This is holy ground."

"I know," the blond immortal said, reaching into his coat.

She didn't have her sword, and didn't quite know what to do. Elizabeth pushed Guy to the side, behind a tree, then noticed that the man's focus was on Guy, not her. Not being comfortable with being pushed, Guy walked out from behind the tree. When the immortal was ten feet from Guy, Elizabeth saw that he had pulled a gun out of his pocket.

Elizabeth hadn't let the training she had received from James go completely to waste. She went immediately into action, yanking the gun from him, twisting his arm, and while locking him down, she embedded the gun's nuzzle into his neck. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she hissed. "Don't you know you shouldn't play with guns in public?"

"It's him I want, I have no quarrel with you."

Elizabeth looked quizzically to Guy, but couldn't read his expression. "You have this backward, sir," Elizabeth said. "We don't have any quarrel with mortals."

"We do if they kill our fiancé!"

Guy stood up, defiant. "I haven't killed anyone!"

"He has to pay!" the immortal screamed, shaking from having the gun in a precarious position.

"He isn't one of us," Elizabeth said.

"He let my fiancé die!"

"What?" Guy bent forward to see him eye to eye as Elizabeth had the immortal hunched over.

The immortal grunted and tried to break free from Elizabeth, but she cocked the gun and said, "One more move, you're dead. While you are dead, we will carry you off church grounds and I'll use your own sword to free your body from the burden of carrying that fat head around."

"You're a watcher," the immortal spat out the word as if it were trash. "Guy Barstow. I know all about you."

Guy straightened. He slowly asked, "Vicky Monroe?"

"Yes! It took me years to find you. Hunt you down like Lance McCormick did my Vicky. I found out you were chummy with your assignment. It's pretty safe being surrounded by immortals."

Elizabeth looked at Guy. "You killed an immortal?"

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did!" The immortal struggled again, and this time got free. Only Elizabeth still held the gun. "As if you had cut off her head yourself, you killed her!"

Elizabeth tried to figure out what was happening and also couldn't take her eyes off Guy. His face was going through the motions of remembering and processing. The immortal said, "You just stood there and watched it happen! How could you do that?"

"You must be Milton Milroy," Guy said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I didn't recognize you. You cut your hair."

Elizabeth said, "So, this is about your fiancé, Vicky, losing a challenge while Guy was her watcher?"

"Yes! The bastard let it happen!"

Elizabeth tightened. She had the same thoughts of bitterness, anger and spite that Milton had to be going through after Cole Roberts had waltzed into her house.

"It was my job. It is my job. I only watch and record. Vicky challenged and she lost."

"We were going to get married, you rat bastard! She should have walked away."

"But she didn't, did she?" Guy asked, getting angry. "You were actually going to shoot me for some chick who didn't know when it was time to quit?"

Elizabeth said, "Guy. Stop," before he could make her angry too. Guy didn't have the best manners in the world and in this tenuous situation, his silence would be best. She told the immortal, while the gun was still trained on him, "He's right. The watchers aren't supposed to interfere. It's immortals' who fight."

"That sucks!" Milton screamed.

Elizabeth chuckled tightly. "Yes, it does."

"Are you Elizabeth Bennett?" Milton asked her.

Elizabeth was taken back, but realized that if Milton was searching through the watcher database for Guy, he would have found out about her. "Yes. I am."

"He's your watcher?"

"You know that he is."

"You're chumming around with him? Are you lovers?"

"We're friends."

"Then you are just as guilty as he is."

"For what?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"For Vicky!"

When Milton rushed her, Elizabeth shot on instinct. The bullet went right into his chest and he dropped like a limp noodle. Guy stood frozen, then he turned on Elizabeth. "What the hell... you killed an immortal on holy ground!" He looked as if he was actually waiting for some adverse reaction from Mother Nature.

"I only killed him, I didn't take his damn head," Elizabeth muttered as she put the pistol in her pocket, thankful that the idiot immortal had put a silencer on the gun. She could see through the tress that people were only yards away, but no one had been alerted that anything out of the ordinary had happened, until Guy started hollering. "Shh!" she ordered the mortal, and then asked no one in particular, "I don't suppose there's any way to get him out of here before he wakes up?"

"So you can take his head, off holy ground?"

"I'm not going to take his head. I just don't want those kids over there to get any closer to this maniac when he wakes up in case he does something he shouldn't."

"How long will he be out?"

"I don't know. We're all different."

Guy put his hands under Milton's shoulders and told Elizabeth, "Well, help me here. We can say he's feeling ill. Drunk. Passed out. Something."

Elizabeth helped get Milton to his feet and they each put one of his arms over their shoulders, then ran toward the church, through it, and out the front door before anyone could ask questions. People had many, Elizabeth could plainly tell, as she saw their expressions. She only smiled and half nodded to them and kept her legs moving.

When they were two blocks from the church, Milton came back to life. It took a while for him to figure out what was going on; Elizabeth and Guy just kept right on walking. When they were in a grassy area in Olympic Park, Milton finally got free from them. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Getting you away from people, in your condition," Elizabeth said. She motioned for Guy to shut the hell up, since she knew he was ready to say something. Whatever he had to say wouldn't help the situation at all.

A smile curled Milton's mouth. "We aren't on holy ground anymore," he said as he leered at Elizabeth and went for the sword in his coat.

For an instant, Elizabeth wondered why she hadn't gotten rid of his sword. But then again, she wasn't used to this. "Is that why you finally attacked Guy after all this time, because you knew that we would be on holy ground and you thought I wouldn't do anything to defend him? What kind of a coward are you?"

Milton started to stalk threatening towards her, but Guy stepped in the way. Elizabeth pushed him back. "I have his gun, Guy. Go behind that bush like a good watcher."

"What?"

Elizabeth had obviously injured his manhood and regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. With Milton looking at her, he had enjoyed the jab at Guy, she couldn't relent. She ceased her attack on Guy, which was really an attack against the situation that she found herself in. Elizabeth wondered if she hadn't gone looking for a fight; she could have just walked away from the dead Milton at the church yard. She stared down Milton. He was a good head taller than she was, and in a game of one-upmanship, his long reach would be in his favor.

Then, Milton's stare softened as he watched Guy stand strong, not about to be told what to do or where to go. Milton told Elizabeth, "I have no quarrel with you. It is him that I want dead."

"If you have a fight with him, you have one with me."

"Why? Are you still going to try to tell me that you two aren't-?"

"He is my friend, and he is a mortal. Those are two very good reasons why you have a fight with me. He doesn't play our game. Immortals do not hurt or kill mortals. How old are you, anyway," she said in a tone that said he was a two year old. To really rub his nose in it, she continued, "What the hell kind of lousy teacher did you have?"

To put down one's teacher was catamount to calling someone's mother a bad name. Milton's reaction was typical of a man who's closest 'family' member had been wronged. "Lady, you got yourself a fight. You say when and where and I will be there."

Elizabeth smiled. Her stomach did a flip-flop. Had she gone looking for this fight? Had she wished too hard for it? Or, was this guy a prick who had set his sights on killing a mortal, something that immortals should never have cause to do? Whatever the reason, Elizabeth stepped closer to Milton and said, "Midnight. Right here."

"You got yourself a challenge." He looked down on her and said, "I do so hope that you grow an inch or two before then or you will be done by 12:01. Say goodbye to that new husband of yours." Milton laughed. "Oh yes, and also to your mortal friend here." Before he left, he stuck a finger under Elizabeth's nose and said, "Your head is mine, and then I will kill this murderer after he just watches and records your death."

Elizabeth watched Milton pompously walk away; she was taking mental notes. One thing James had taught her was that she had to scope out her opponent. Information only helped if it came to him or you. Guy nudged her, breaking her concentration. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? I was too shocked to even talk, let alone stop this."

"What do you mean?"

"You were looking for a fight with him? I'm flattered that you took my life into consideration, but you can't fight him."

"Why not?"

"Because. He's a wacko."

"He's an immortal. In case you've forgotten, so am I, and we play a game."

Guy said, "It's a fucking, stupid game. Don't do it, Liz."

Milton was completely gone from view, so Elizabeth shoved her hands in her pockets and started to walk in the direction of the hospital. The pistol with the silencer was still in her pocket. Taking a quick look around to see that no one was watching, she took it out and unloaded the clip. Milton had come loaded for bear, the clip only had one bullet missing, the bullet that had gone into Milton. She smiled. He was so easy to overpower at the church, this fight was going to be a walk in the park.

Guy walked along with her and said, "He's got at least six inches on you, he looks like he works out. The only exercise you get is between the sheets with Daniel."

"That's quite a workout, Guy."

Guy pulled her arm, stopping her. "I'm serious. You're going to lose, and I'm not going to let that happen."

"You have nothing to do with it anymore, Guy."

"Like hell I don't. I'm going to be there at midnight and I'm going to shoot that fuck so you can take his head."

"Like hell you are."

"Liz, you're going to lose."

"Excuse me?"

"You're going to die tonight. Think about what you're doing. I'm not going to live with that guilt."

Guy stopped talking only when Elizabeth slapped him hard across the mouth. "Don't you ever impugn my fighting ability again, you son of a bitch! You just watch and record. You should be happy and thank me! I saved your ass!"

"We should just pick up and leave here. I can go to the hospital and check Amy out, we can hire a doctor and nurse to sail with us," Guy started to say.

"Are the watchers going to pay for that?"

"I'll pay for it! I'm serious!"

"Milton is not going to go away. I've seen that look in immortals before. It is the one that displays persistence. He will not stop until you are dead."

"Immortals can hold their grudges," Guy said, shaking his head. "All those years with nothing to do but think about what bothered them, and it festers and makes--."

"We are not crazy. This is my fight."

"Damn it, let me take his head. You can have the quickening."

"It's my fight. I'm taking it."

"Don't do it on my account."

"I'm not. I'm taking it for mine."

"How can you possibly beat him? He's a brick wall."

Elizabeth tisked and walked on. "He has a lot of weaknesses."

"Like what?"

"He's left handed. That's a big one. I practiced fighting against Louis, who was left handed."

"Oh, great, in practice". "He's protecting his right leg. Something must have happened to it before he turned. I can use that to my advantage."

"How do you know that?"

"I was watching, weren't you? Isn't that your job? He also wears contacts. A little bit of dirt under one of them, and he's got a little pain coming to him. Also, I took a look at the layout of the area and I won't be surprised by a dip in the ground or a bench."

"You have it all figured out."

"Not all, but a lot. Enough to win. Also, I'm on the right side of the argument. That never hurts."

"So, what if he shoots you as soon as he sees you?"

"I'll be on the lookout and I have his gun."

Guy stopped and took it all in. She had actually thought of a lot of the angles, something he hadn't expected. He slowly smiled. "Damn, Liz. You may just take a head tonight."

"That's what I've been saying all along, Guy."

"Let's go tell the others, then I gotta get back to the hospital."

"You're not telling anyone."

"What? Daniel at least has to know."

"Nope," Elizabeth adamantly said. "I'll just have to go through this whole thing again with him.

No, I'll tell him after the fact."

~~~~~

Guy and Elizabeth got to the hospital to meet with the others in good time so no one asked why they had been so long. Claire showed Elizabeth all of the things that Gina had purchased for her during their shopping spree. Elizabeth smiled at Gina, who just shrugged. It was Gina's money and she wanted to shower it upon Claire. For an instant, Elizabeth felt jealous of Claire and Gina's relationship, it had happened so fast, but then came the nagging thought that she might not live to see the morning. Elizabeth was certain that she could win the challenge, but there was always a possibility that something could go wrong. Elizabeth was glad that her child had someone she loved and admired in Gina. But, she would live to see morning. Elizabeth couldn't allow the thought that anything else would happen. I'm on the right side of this! she said to herself.

When Amy's dinner tray came, Duncan said, "I'm sorry, Amy. You have to eat this grub, but we can't eat another meal in the cafeteria. Would you mind if we go and get a proper dinner?"

Amy said, "Thank you, Duncan! I feel so bad about everyone feeling like they have to be here with me. You all don't... really. I'm just going to eat this... whatever it is, and read a little bit and go to sleep. You all have fun and enjoy yourself tonight. Please, go."

Guy glanced at Elizabeth with a worried look on his face. She knew what he was thinking, that no one would be with Amy that evening while he had to go and fulfil his watcher duties. Before he could say anything, Elizabeth said, "Well, since you're doing okay, why don't we rotate visits here? Guy can stay with Amy while we have dinner and then we'll take turns being with you, Amy? Would that work?"

"I don't need anyone to watch me sleep, Liz, but that's a nice thought."

Amanda hushed Amy and said, "You just get yourself better. I'll come to sit with you after I get Guy out of your hair tonight."

Both Guy and Elizabeth reacted well to that little spot of good luck. Elizabeth said, "Sure. Then I'll take the early morning shift." She tried to hide her smile; this would work out well. She could take Milton's head and be back in time to relieve Amanda in the early morning hours after her walk. Elizabeth knew that she would need a walk after Milton's quickening. Elizabeth was actually looking forward to taking a head the old fashioned way, not as a result of fighting a cripple or taking a head to save Methos. She could hear Gunner's laughter in her ear as she had walked away from their fight in Philadelphia. Maybe her need to take a head the right way was because she secretly wished she had taken that fat bastard's head. To heckle an immortal for not accepting a challenge... Jeez!

Elizabeth was feeling really good about everything, until she saw Methos' face; he was glaring at her. She immediately flushed. While everyone said their goodbyes to Amy and spread out, wanting quiet time with their significant others, Methos took Elizabeth's arm and brought her, silently, back to the ship. Back at the hospital Elizabeth had intended to tell Claire that Gina and Robert probably wanted to be alone for their dinner and she should come with her parents, but even Robert said, "No, we love treating Claire. In fact, we will bring Joey with us also. There's a café with, what I hear, are the best American hamburgers you will ever find in all of Spain."

Methos had been quick to agree that was a good idea and hustled Elizabeth out the door. She pulled her arm free to gather Claire into her arms and kiss her as if was for the last time. She stroked her daughter's cheek and kissed her, and smiled at her, looking at how beautiful Claire was. "I'll see you in the morning, Little One. I love you."

Claire kissed and hugged Elizabeth and said, "Ditto."

Methos said, "See you all later, and get Claire to bed at a decent hour, please?" Then he took Elizabeth's arm again and marched her out. He didn't speak again, even though Elizabeth half-heartedly prodded him to, until they were safely on the ship and Methos was sure that none of the servants could hear them. He lead her to their cabin and shut and locked the door, then turned on the stereo in case there were any passers by. She hadn't wanted to have the conversation that she figured was about to happen. How he found out was anyone's guess.

"You're so transparent," Methos said. "What are you up to tonight?"

"What?"

"You can't hide anything from me so don't even try. I saw the look that pasted between you and Guy. You spent all afternoon with him. I know you're not... tell me you're not!"

"Not what?"

"Are you sleeping with him?"

"Are you insane?"

"NO! Answer my question!"

"No," Elizabeth calmly said, somewhat relieved that sleeping with Guy was Methos' first thought. Then she wondered if she should have let that... no. She didn't want to lie to Methos, she would just not give him any information that he didn't ask for. With a quick check of her watch, she realized that if she was to have a good meal before the fight, they'd better get a move on now.

She was just about to mention that, when she looked at his face again. He was still putting together the pieces that just didn't fit. "Liz," he began, "With everything we've been through, everything that we mean to each other, because you haven't seen Claire all day and were happy to get rid of her for a little while longer, and because you can't look me in the face,..." Methos continued as he walked closer to her and maneuvered her face to look him in the eye. "Even though I know that you love our daughter, you don't make a habit of telling her so when she's only going to be gone for a couple of hours with Robert and Gina. Tell me what you're up to."

Elizabeth always did find it hard to lie to him. Many excuses came to mind that she could use, but she realized that most importantly she wanted to be alone with him for a while before her appointment in case the worst happened. "You're going to get mad."

"You never know. If what you're about to do is important, I'll try to understand."

"I," she began, but it wasn't coming out as easily as she wanted it to. She didn't want to lie to Methos; she actually wanted him to know, to wish her good luck and know what she was doing. Then why couldn't she say it?

"You what?"

His question wasn't accusing or anxious, just Methos wanting to know. She took a deep breath and hoped for the best. "I accepted a challenge. It's at midnight."

You could hear a pin drop in the room. Methos didn't seem to be breathing as he stared at her. He was taking it well and that made Elizabeth feel somewhat better. She had expected him to be angry for some reason. Silly me, she smiled as she thought to herself. Then she noticed that he was starting to turn red. The veins on the side of his oh so perfect neck started to throb. Elizabeth went to sit down, she suddenly knew that it was going to be a bumpy night.

He whispered, "Excuse me?"

"I'm meeting an immortal at midnight, with swords."

He was still processing it all in his mind and she wished he'd say something, anything. She didn't appreciate that he was making assumptions without her input. When she explained it, he would have to see it from her side and he wouldn't look like he was going to explode. But she didn't start explaining in time. Methos paced like a caged animal, then knocked over the dresser that held a 9^th century Chinese ming vase. It had been a gift from Robert and Gina and Methos treasured it. Now it was fifty pieces of worthless china.

Methos said, in a very calm voice, "I made a life for us on this ship where no outside immortal would tread on our space. I made sure that we were surrounded only by friends and our children, with travels to teach Claire our only plan. You go out walking today and find yourself a challenge, and you accepted it." Methos turned and stared at Elizabeth and said, "Please tell me this just happened today, that you haven't had this on your schedule for a week or so."

"No, just today."

"Don't speak!" he raged.

"You asked me a question."

"No, I didn't. I was talking to myself."

"Oh, really. Well, keep talking. I'll leave you alone with your thoughts."

"You aren't going anywhere. I'm going to keep talking and you're going to listen."

"I'm not a child!"

"You could have fooled me! How dare you endanger our lives! How dare you accept a challenge without... How dare you accept a challenge!"

"That's what we do!"

"No it isn't! Do you even know this person?"

"No, not really."

Methos looked as if he was going to throw something, and instead violently rubbed the back of his head and groaned. "You endanger our lives to fight an immortal you don't even know?"

"I know what his beef is, and--."

"Oh! It's a HE!"

"Yes," Elizabeth softly said. "And I'm not endangering our lives."

"Yes you are," Methos pleaded. He needed her to realize what she'd done.

"This will all be over at midnight."

"What if it isn't? What if you're taken, and he knows about us and comes looking for us, for Claire. Did you at least have a conversation with this man? Does he know about me? About Claire?"

"Don't," Elizabeth warned. "I'm not an idiot. I love my life and would not endanger it or you or Claire. I'm on the right side in this."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better, Elizabeth," Methos said dryly.

She defiantly said, "Thank you. It should!"

"The right side." Methos slumped on the bed and put his head in his hands, his elbows were planted on his knees. "I'm so angry with you right now, I can't even look at you."

"Well," Elizabeth let out a little laugh as she said, "You're not at the top of my favorites list right now yourself."

He looked up at her and squinted. "Why? What have I done?"

"You think I'm going to lose."

"When's the last time you fought?"

"When I was almost raped and beheaded by Roberts."

"And look what happened."

"Yeah, you took his head! I had him under control, and you took his head from me!"

"Yes, I did! You're fatter now. You're slower. You're--."

"I think you'd better stop talking."

"Why? Because I'm pointing out the obvious? I'm not taking this guy's head to save your ass again!"

"Shut up! I never asked you to. I will handle it! And I'm a little more than pissed that you have so little faith in me! You didn't have to take Roberts' head. I had him tied well. I was just collecting myself before--."

"Would you have untied him to have your fight?"

"I don't know! I didn't have that opportunity, did I?! I also had Chuck to worry about!"

Methos laid back on the bed and sighed. "And we know how well that went."

"You son of a bitch!" she said as she went to the door.

He was off the bed in a flash and slammed the door. "I'm trying to impress upon you that things happen with a domino effect. Sure, you could take this guy, for whatever reason you want to take him, but it could make something else happen that you haven't thought about."

"So, not only am I a terrible fighter, but I'm also stupid."

Methos dropped his head and wondered why she was acting like a brick wall. She wasn't listening to a word he was saying unless she could interpret it as a barb. Methos pulled her into a hug and said, "You know better than that. I love you and I'm a bit jarred by this piece of news."

Elizabeth felt better in Methos' arms, but then she realized that he was testing her arm muscles. She pushed him away, offended. He said, "So sue me for seeing how much strength you have in your sword arm."

"Why are you behaving like this? It's my fight! It's what we do. Did I stop you when you fought Jennings in the middle of a romantic night of dinner and dancing? Did I think you could lose then? Sure. Was I scared? You bet. But it was your fight, so I didn't stop it. It wasn't my business."

"I'd known Jennings for centuries. How long have you known this challenge for midnight?"

"A couple of hours."

"Wonderful," Methos moaned.

"You could ask who he is and why I challenged him."

"You challenged him?!"

She thought back and couldn't remember how it actually played out, she had been so angry at the time. "Maybe."

Methos grabbed her wrist and pulled it behind her back. He pulled it higher and higher up, making her cry out in pain. "If it's uncomfortable, get free," he said as he held her around the waist.

It was a repeat of when they had gotten married in Sintra and he was concerned about her fighting ability. She told him, "Methos, I'm not playing this game again."

"You like games. You like The Game, play my game. Get free."

"You don't want me to. I'll hurt you."

"I can take it," he said, as if he was certain that she wouldn't be able to even move.

She looked back at him and thought about kissing him as she had during their first match in Sintra, but was too angry at him. "I will say this one more time. I will hurt you." Elizabeth knew that he was unaware of the extent of the training she had with James or that she remembered every bit of it.

"I'll heal," he said, pulling her wrist higher.

She grabbed hold of his hand anchored at her waist. She stomped on his foot and spun to pull her arm over her head and in the process, flipped Methos over her body. Her shoulder was dislocated, but she was free. She put her shoulder socket back in and in a second, she was ready to fight again. Her shoulder throbbed, but she could ignore it. Methos on the other hand was lying in the china pieces from the ming vase on the floor. He sat up and his back was peppered with blood stains from the embedded glass. "See?" she told him. "I can do things you know nothing about."

She glared at Methos as she walked to the door. The sooner she got away from him now, before the fight, the better. But, he pulled her foot and she landed right on her face. She thought that her chin was bleeding, but ignored it. Methos was suddenly locking her arms and legs to the floor; he was on top of her prone body.

She focused all her energy on pulling one locked arm free. When it was, she immediately spun around. Methos grabbed the freed arm. While he was concentrating on that, she got a leg free. She laid it straight out to the side so that he couldn't anchor it while still keeping her two arms and other leg down. "I'll hurt you," she warned again.

Methos, still intend on showing her where she could go wrong, tried to capture that leg, but when he left himself open, she thrust her knee into his crotch and threw him off. She quickly rolled and got to her feet. She was ready to fight again. He laid in a fetal position, beet red. "I'm sorry, but I warned you. The fight isn't going to be hand to hand combat anyway." Elizabeth wiped the blood from her chin and felt the wound closing up.

While his back and then his crotch healed, he was silent. He lifted the back of his shirt and all the pieces of china that had been expelled in the healing process fell to the floor. He wouldn't look at her. Elizabeth started crying, but she wouldn't let him see it. Yes, she was worried about everything that could go wrong during the fight and it would have been nice if her husband could have cheered her on. She hadn't wanted to hurt Methos, but he had it coming. She'd wanted to have a nice dinner and maybe a little sex before her 'date', but that wasn't going to be in the cards. In fact, if they kept talking, she may get the desire to go walking and keep right on walking.

She told him, "I'm going to get a nice protein filled meal, go for a walk and clear my head, visit Amy, and then go take a head. I'll be back at 12:30."

Methos finally spoke. "I'll stay up until one. If you're not back by then... I'll know."

"And you'll be able to sleep?"

"Like a baby," he said, hard.

"Liar," she said as she once again opened the door.

"Liz."

She stopped and then looked at Methos still sitting on the floor. He turned to look at her. She could see that he had tears in his eyes. "Be back by one," he said.

She knelt beside him and he wrapped his arm around her neck. She told him, "I wouldn't have taken the fight if I didn't think I could win and it's important that he die." Elizabeth kissed Methos, but on the cheek. "This isn't goodbye. This is 'I'll see you later'. Then I'll kiss you properly."

"I don't like this."

"See you later." With that, she took the rental car keys from the china dish on the table and walked out.

~~~~~

Elizabeth hadn't eaten. When she left the ship, she went looking for food, but the smells from the cafes and restaurants along the harbor weren't appetizing. Instead, she took a cab to Olympic Park to study the terrain again. She had Milton's gun in her pocket and her sharpened sword at her side. She wanted it done now. It was only 10:30. She decided to go and see Amy for a little while before the big event, so she put her claymore in the rental car's trunk and the gun in the glove compartment. Elizabeth was more than a little pissed at Methos the more she thought about it. He never did ask why she had chosen to accept the challenge, or make it in the first place. Elizabeth honestly couldn't remember how the challenge happened. But he should have asked, damn it.

Elizabeth wanted to see Claire again, one more time before the challenge, but then stopped herself from seeking her out. She knew the restaurant with the burgers that Robert had mentioned, besides they were probably on their way back to the ship, and Elizabeth didn't want to have another go round with Methos, or see him without empathy for her plight.

As she walked into the hospital, Elizabeth decided that her need to see her child again would be another motivator for her to win the fight. But she couldn't let Claire's face, her smile and jokes deter her from what she had to do at midnight. She had to get her head together, but she was thinking too much. Why didn't she set 10:30 as the time for the fight, or just fight then and there when the challenge was made? Sure, there were people around, but this waiting was hard. Waiting is the hardest part.

Elizabeth walked into the elevator singing the old Tom Petty tune in her head, "The wa-a-aiting is the hard-est part."

As the doors opened on Amy's floor, she could see a flurry of activity in front of Amy's door. Fear gripped Elizabeth's heart as she ran down the aisle toward her friend. She got a peek into Amy's room to see many hospital workers gathered around her bed. Guy was no where in sight. Elizabeth was going to walk in, but a nurse ushered her back out and said, "We are taking Ms. Kendall down to the birthing room."

"She's in labor?"

"The doctor induced her a while ago."

Amy's bed was brought out into the hall and the four people surrounding it moved it toward the elevator. Elizabeth went along, "Amy? It's Liz."

Amy moved her head back to look behind her. "Lizzie?" Amy's voice sounded scared and her hand reached out blindly above her head to hold hers.

Elizabeth grabbed her hand and stood at the side of the bed so Amy could see her when they stopped at the elevator. "Hey, Junior's ready to make an appearance, huh?" The fact that she wasn't due for another three weeks made Amy's face pale, wrinkled with worry, and also with pain. "Have you been bleeding again?"

Amy nodded, scared stiff. "I'm so glad someone is here."

"Where's Guy?"

"He took Joey back to the ship for the night and then was going to 'run an errand', whatever the hell that means! An errand in the middle of the night? We can't get a hold of him."

"Amanda's not here yet?"

"No one's here." Amy flinched and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.

The male intern told Amy to relax and breathe. "Dr. Castellón is waiting downstairs. Just hold on."

While Elizabeth was holding Amy's hand, she got a look at her wrist watch. With how far away Olympic Park was, she couldn't stay at the hospital long and still make the midnight meeting. Then, seeing Amy's worried face, Elizabeth knew that she couldn't leave her friend alone. Hell, she didn't want to leave her at all, her baby, Elizabeth's godchild, was going to be born! Elizabeth smiled and kissed Amy's cheek. "It will be all right. I'm here with you."

"Thank you, Lizzie."

As her bed was wheeled into the elevator, Amy called out, "Can someone try to reach Guy again?"

"Si," a nurse said. "We are calling constantly, Senora Kendall. We will find him in time for delivery."

~~~~~

3:15 AM

A little after two am, Amanda had finally showed up. Her excuse was that she was with her fiancé, and what could be a better excuse. It was, actually, and no one begrudged her and Duncan time alone. Elizabeth had already missed the challenge, but had experienced something she would remember the rest of her life, Amy's baby being born. Since Amanda immediately went to work getting the scoop on everything that had happened and controlling the nurses and making sure Amy and her baby girl were as comfortable as possible, Elizabeth felt it safe to leave. She pulled Guy aside and said, "Don't leave this hospital without an immortal escort. I don't think Milroy will approach you unless you're alone, or on holy ground with another immortal like yesterday. So, until he's taken care of, don't go anywhere alone."

He had a family to think about now, and nodded his agreement. Guy hugged Elizabeth and said, "Thanks for being here with us instead of fighting that maniac. And you be careful when you find him."

"I'll let you know what happens, so you can get it right in my chronicle," Elizabeth said, smiling. She shook her head, "I can't believe I'm helping a watcher, but I want to make sure there are no mistakes in it this time."

"Mistakes? By moi?"

Elizabeth drove to Olympic Park and with her sword in her coat and the gun in hand, she went searching for Milroy. He wasn't anywhere to be seen and she realized that if she did find him, she wasn't in any shape to fight. She hadn't eaten, she had been up all night, and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed with Methos. She stopped herself and smiled. Even though they had said awful words to each other and she was still a bit mad about his reaction and lack of faith in her abilities, and she had injured his manhood, she wanted nothing more than to hold him.

Elizabeth walked up the plank to the Claire Elizabeth to find it quiet. Dark and quiet. There weren't any lights on except the lights on the outside of the ship indicating a ship moored in port. She did feel immortal sensations, so she knew that it wasn't a ghost ship. After she went below to go to her bedroom, she met Duncan in the hallway outside his and Amanda's suite. "Oh, it's just you," he said.

"Thanks."

"Well, you know what I mean. I thought Amanda would have come back for her bag. She left for the hospital so fast, she forgot it."

"I wondered what took her so long to get her butt to the hospital. You were keeping her busy?"

Duncan's smile gave away what he and Amanda had been doing all evening. Elizabeth said, "She didn't have to go, I was there. Amy had her baby, a girl."

"She did? That's great!" He looked back into his cabin and then back at her. "I think I'm going to get dressed and go up there. Nothing to do here while Amanda's away anyway and I can't sleep."

Elizabeth shook her head with a smile. "Ah, the engagement period... Amy would like to see you and show off her daughter."

"Does Joey know?"

"No, it all happened so fast. She started bleeding again and they induced labor."

"Why didn't anyone call us?"

"I assumed that they had, but there was also no time, Duncan. It's the middle of the night. Amy didn't want us to 'bother' you all after Guy showed up."

Guy had been camped out in the park waiting for the fight to happen and had turned off his cell. When he finally got the message, he had rushed to the hospital and was surprised that Elizabeth was there. They didn't tell Amy what had been planned, because the delivery was more important at the time.

Duncan said, "I'll hustle Joey out of bed and bring him up, or should he have a full night's sleep?"

"I think it would be great. Tell her I'll be back up after a couple of hours sleep. Is Methos sleeping?"

"I heard him moving around about an hour ago, but I would assume he would be by now."

When she went into their bedroom, Methos wasn't there. An hour ago... he may very well think that she had lost her head. Elizabeth went searching the ship for him, hoping he hadn't taken Claire and taken off the way Duncan said he had the last time he thought Elizabeth was dead. She opened Claire's bedroom door to see if she was still there when she felt a full blown buzz from inside. Claire was sleeping soundly, but Methos stirred on the floor where he was sleeping when the light hit his eyes. It was confusing for the immortals on the ship to know what was a new buzz versus one of the immortals that they had already sensed moving around. He covered his eyes for a moment and stared at Elizabeth as she stood in the doorway, a wall scone lit behind her.

Then Methos realized that she was standing there and jumped up and rushed to her. He lifted her into his arms and walked them back to their suite. When they were inside and the door was shut, Methos kissed Elizabeth and couldn't hold enough of her. "The fight took this long? I'm so proud of you, you did it!"

"Well," she began.

Methos said, "I'm sorry I thought that you may lose, but by looking at you, you didn't even get cut! I'm so proud of you." He kissed her again and held her. "You must have tried to talk him out of the fight, huh? What took so long?"

"Actually," Elizabeth said.

"I was mortified when you didn't come home and I thought I had lost you. I went to be with Claire. I didn't know how I was going to tell her."

"Methos, stop, please? I have something to tell you. Well, a couple of things."

"You're alive," Methos said, satisfied, and set them down on the bed. "I put so much into our life together, I'm sorry I acted like I did. I should have known that you wouldn't bite off more than you could chew. Forgive me?"

She was floored by his change in attitude and wondered if the knee to the crotch had anything to do with it. She was sure that it had been a wake up call for him; she wasn't the same person that she had been before James. She kissed Methos to let him know that the words that they flung at each other, the heat of the moment, were just words. But, she had to tell him that the challenge wasn't over. How would he react to that? "Thank you, yes, of course," Elizabeth told him. "I have good news and bad news, well, it's probably not bad news per se, but it's not excellent news."

"Spill it."

"The good news is that Amy had her baby. I haven't been at a birth since my mother was a midwife. I was fifteen years old the first and last time she used me as an assistant. Needless to say, I wasn't much help to her. The miracle of birth though..." Elizabeth was speechless as she stared at Methos with the starting of tears in her eyes. "It's a miracle. I saw her little head coming out of Amy and I saw the doctor pulled her out, or catch her was more like it. A whole little body came out of that little hole, Methos. It's..."

Methos nodded, smiling. "I know. I've delivered a few."

"It's gross, Methos. It's wonderfully grotesque."

Methos laughed. "She had a girl?"

"Yes. Her name is Katherine, after Amy's mother. She's beautiful. Ten fingers, ten toes, a little matting of dark hair on the top of her little head. I got to hold her for a minute. I saw Guy cut her umbilical cord. I got to watch Amy breast feed her for the first time. It was truly a remarkable experience. I got to see our godchild arrive in the world."

Elizabeth stopped as the well of emotion overtook her. She clasped onto Methos, who made her feel even more loved when he held her tightly and caressed her head. "We did call Joe in Paris and he and Caroline are on their way. I think we got him while he was on stage."

"This is the good news I presume?"

"Yeah," she said, then took a deep breath.

He reacted to her face and asked, "I'm not going to like the other news that isn't bad, but isn't excellent?"

"That depends on what outlandish circumstance you wrap your head around in a split second. I'm not used to that, and frankly, your mind does keep me on my toes."

"You should always be amazed by me."

"I am. And you know that," she said as she chuckled. It was time to tell him, and the best way was to come right out and say it. "I didn't go to the challenge."

"I see," Methos said.

Elizabeth couldn't tell what he was thinking, or if he was thinking at all; his face was a blank slate. She waited for the fireworks and prepared herself to take flight if need be. She wasn't going to be told that she made the wrong decision. She wasn't going to explain that being needed by her friend was more important than taking a head. She didn't want to argue with the one person she loved more than anyone or anything in the world.

"You stayed with Amy instead of fulfilling your end of the bargain with the immortal?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said softly.

"Well," Methos said, smiling. "After I'm done with you, you'll have to explain this immortal and what his problem was and we'll figure it out together."

"After you're done with me?"

"Oh yes, I have plans for you, my dear. I almost lost you tonight. I'm going to show you how pleased I am that you're back, safe and sound."

Methos laid Elizabeth back on the bed, and did just that.

CONTINUED