THE ELIZABETH SERIES
CHAPTER 61

WHAT'S BEST FOR HER

by Jo
EnyaJo@aol.com

RATING: PG

CHARACTERS: Methos, Elizabeth, Claire, Duncan, Guy, Amy, Maloye Gardner, Joey

SUMMARY: Methos has a lot on his plate, including a watcher, Maloye Gardner, who complicates his plan for a new life with only Claire.

~~~~~

Methos was almost a mile from Guy's house with Amanda riding shotgun when he realized she was still just staring blankly out the passenger side window. Two marriages had broken up in a short period of time, but he was taking his own breakup with much greater ease than she. It probably had to do with her being at fault, whereas he was sure he was completely guilt free in his own circumstance. He poked Amanda on the arm and said, "Well..."

"Well what?" she spouted. "I'm not going to tell you what Mac's problem is. He's mad now, but he'll come around."

"As much as I'd love to hear the trials and tribulations of your marriage, Amanda, I have my own frying pans on the fire. Give me your cell phone," he asked her for the third time since getting in the car.

"Oh yeah." Amanda sighed and fished through her purse.

When Methos got his hands on it, he was amazed that her phone was fully charged. Who would have thought Amanda would have that base covered. He clicked out the numbers and held the phone to his ear expectantly, hoping that things hadn't unraveled back in London.

As soon as Amy answered with 'hello,' Methos said, "It's me. You have to do me a favor."

"Daniel?" Amy asked. "Where the hell are you? I've been hanging outside your flat forever, watching all the exits. How did you, and why did you, take off-"

"Remember when I asked you not to talk to a watcher? Maloye Gardner?"

There was a pause, then Amy replied, "Yes. Told me is more like it, not asked."

Methos didn't want to get into any long stories, or have to tell Amy anything, he just hoped she'd do him this one favor. She did owe him, after all. All the while he was living in his dream house with Elizabeth and Claire, Elizabeth kept saying Guy and Amy owed them big time for the year on the ship. Methos had always said they didn't, but now he wanted something. If Amy was to turn him down, he'd be more than pissed. With Amy it wouldn't do to sound as irritated by life in general as he was, so he said, "Sorry. But I know you, and I know that the first thing you did was talk to her. Right?"

Another pause on the phone. Methos caught Amanda staring at him and he winked at her. "You got me there, Daniel. I need to know everything about you, you know that."

"No, I'm not mad. I expected you to and now I'm quite glad you did. Just tell one thing, you didn't make an enemy of her, did you?"

"Do I go around making enemies?" Amy inquired.

He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was frustrated, not what he wanted. "Listen, Amy."

Amy interrupted, "I just cultivate them like a fine wine."

Methos laughed at her little joke, then got to what he wanted to talk about, "Where's Gardner now?"

"She's been sitting on a bench outside your flat all day."

Never underestimate a woman with a mission. He had dangled the nectar of the gods in front of her and he now had to deal with the consequences. "Can she see you?"

"No, Daniel. I'm quite adept at not being noticed. That's why I have the career I have."

"Nepotism is why you do what you do." Knowing he said something that she could take wrong, he quickly changed the subject because he needed her. "Amy, sorry again."

"For what?"

"Oh, okay. Never mind. Listen, can you go over to Gardner and have a conversation that consists only of small talk so she doesn't get mad and do something rash?"

"Why?"

"I'm on my way back, and I want to make sure she doesn't get upset and do anything I'll live to regret."

"Who is she?"

"A watcher."

"I know that. I couldn't get anything more than that out of her when I talked to her before."

"Good!" Methos was quite happy to hear that. The thought of compiling the definitive Methos Chronicle, and being in a position to announce to the Watchers that Methos was in fact alive and well, was enough to make Maloye Gardner behave just as he thought she would. He had made Gardner promise not to tell a soul, and was somewhat amazed she had been so obedient. But Amy had been talking to her... "Wait. What did you say to her before?"

"I just said I've seen her around headquarters and introduced myself. I asked what she was working on."

"And?"

"She was quite tight-lipped. What is she working on?"

"I can be as secretive as the next guy, Amy."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Did you tell her you're my watcher?"

"Of course not. I'm in 'Research'."

"Good girl."

"I'm not a girl. I'm a wife and mother and would love to go home."

"You can lose my trail anytime you want, Amy. Just wait until I get back to London."

"Ha. Ha."

"Please, just talk to her, maybe go to that nice little bistro around the corner, buy her a bowl of soup and noodles. She has to be hungry if she's actually been sitting there all day. Don't tell her anything. In fact, don't ask her about anything either." There wasn't any reason Amy had to know what he was truly up to. The fewer people who knew the better. Just a few years ago, with Amanda's help, he had cultivated the fact that Methos was dead to the Watchers, and some nosy watcher wasn't going to change that.

"I guess I can. When will you be here?"

"Soon. Thanks, Amy. I owe you and Guy a great vacation for this. I'll deliver."

"A Christmas with my kids would be better."

"That's doable as well. See ya later."

After Methos hung up, since he was in the country he stepped harder on the accelerator. "You need to be dropped off somewhere?" he asked Amanda.

"Oh, is Little ol' me included in your plans?" Amanda asked wondrously. "Sounds like you have all those pans frying or something.

"Don't get testy with me because you screwed up your marriage."

"I didn't. Mac just doesn't know the whole story yet."

"Sounds like he's not getting the story if you're in a car with me."

"He needs time."

"To cool off?"

"Something like that."

"What did you do?"

"I think a shopping spree in London will do the trick," Amanda stated with false excitement. "Just drive, cowboy."

Amanda always had been an amateur at changing the subject, but Methos didn't want to investigate the reason for the breakup of the MacLeod marriage anyway. He turned on the radio and sped up to take care of Gardner, then he could get his little girl somewhere safe. He hoped that letting Claire stay with Elizabeth for the short while it would take to get rid of Gardner was enough to lull Elizabeth into thinking things were fine. If she knew that his master plan was to take Claire far away from her and never darken her door again, she might go crazy and do something she'd certainly regret. If she laid one hand wrong on his girl, he'd have no choice but to take her head. To be honest, the idea of taking Elizabeth's head had drifted in and out of his thoughts since he took off. Quid pro quo for her trying to take his was reason enough. Added to that all the years of lying to him about 'protecting' him was another.

When he had taken off the morning he awoke to find her blade over his head, Methos was going to take Claire with him. The only thing that stopped him was that at that moment he didn't want anything to do with anything, especially the responsibility for a child. Knowing that Elizabeth would believe that the first thing he would do was take Claire with him, he left her exactly where she was, thinking it would be the last place on earth Elizabeth would look for her. It had to have been Guy Barstow that told her where Claire was. When this was all over, and he and Claire were on their own, the first thing he was going to do was organize a Christmas for Amy and Guy and lose whoever they assigned to watch him during their vacation. Then, life would indeed be just him and Claire.

To think that Elizabeth had almost taken his head. He still couldn't fully comprehend it all. His hand rubbed the back of his neck and he got a shiver once again realizing what a close call it was. Yes, soon, it would just be him and Claire, and all would be well.

Methos saw a tangle of red taillights and flashing emergency lights ahead and started to step on the brakes. Through the blackness of the night, they saw smoke billowing up ahead, right on the road. "Was there an accident?" Amanda asked, putting on her seat belt.

Methos slowed down more and banged his hand against the wheel. "Damn it! Why would they do that?!"

"I'm sure there was an accident just to make your life difficult, Methos. Slow down!"

Methos was driving an SUV, so he was thinking of taking to the grass to drive past it all, but as they got closer, he saw the railroad crossing lights and realized that this was more than just a traffic accident. "Gods above!" he groused. "You'd think they'd have perfected train travel after all these bloody years!"

He came to a stop behind a line of cars, there was a refrigerated train car on its side in the middle of the road. There had to be fifteen cars that had derailed. He leaned his head on the wheel and sighed. He wasn't going to be able to make it to London anytime soon.

~~~~~

Elizabeth, Guy, and Duncan were having a beer after cleaning up the dishes from dinner while Claire and Joey were working on the new laptop Elizabeth had bought for her when Claire's back was turned. Katie Rose was jumping around with a new doll in her arms, and mostly fell down. Guy ran to her when she started crying, and he said he would put her to bed.

Elizabeth looked at her watch. "Time for bed for you too, Little One."

"Ah, mom. I just got Joey's game loaded," Claire said with her new voice recognition laptop on her lap. "I haven't had the chance to play it yet."

"There's always tomorrow," Elizabeth said with a pleasant feeling knowing that there would be many tomorrow's with Claire. "Go to bed now and wake up early, then you can play on the computer all you want."

Claire grumbled, but stood up when Elizabeth walked to her, then gave her mother a big hug. "How did you know I wanted a laptop? Everyone has one at school."

"A little bird told me." The dread of starting all over again with earthly possessions gripped her again. All that she owned, even her swords, had been lost in the fire. Not wanting to think about it now in front of Claire, she hugged her and said, "I'm glad you like it, honey. I want only what you want from now on."

"Cool!" Claire picked up her laptop and asked, "Can I bring it to bed with me?"

"For a little while, then lights out. Another long day tomorrow."

"What are we doing? I'm still on holiday."

"We have to find a place to live, make sure we have enough of life's essentials."

"More shopping?"

"I thought you love shopping."

Claire shrugged, and hugged Elizabeth again. "Night, mom. Thanks for the stuff."

"Oh, I missed your big hugs." Elizabeth held her daughter longer than Claire wanted.

"It's your own fault you did ." Claire told Joey, "Come on. Show me how to use the holograms in the game."

They were sharing Joey's room for the evening, Elizabeth had visions of them being up all night shooting demons and saving the world. If only life was a computer game. It would be so much easier than real life. You could always start a new game from scratch when you felt you were losing. For now, she was going to concentrate on making things up to Claire if it was the last thing she did.

That night, Elizabeth was laying on the couch in the living room with a blanket over her that she remembered Amy having while living in New York with Kevin. Joey's door was closed, but she could see they were still awake since light drifted out from the crack under the door into the hallway. Elizabeth had trouble falling asleep; she kept thinking that just the previous night she was in a house full of ghosts. She felt that same uneasy weight on her heart. The night before, Duncan had been with her. Now, she seemed completely alone. She remembered Duncan being so affected by the presence of one of the ghosts. Not affected as in scared, but as in being full of guilt. That young man had to be Richie Ryan, Duncan's student that he had accidently beheaded. Just as she had almost done to her husband. She cowered under the blanket as she remembered Methos lying in bed and her standing there with her sword raised, her entire being wanting to take his head.

"It's all over," she told herself, and had to repeat it many times to try and convince herself that the dread she had felt in the house was over and done with. It wasn't working. She even thought she could hear the low voice of her tormentor laughing at her.

"It's not over, Elizabeth," the voice said. "It will only be over when Methos is headless. You know that. You want that."

"No I don't!" she yelled. She pulled back the blanket and saw Pyrius standing in the middle of the living room.

Pyrius just laughed louder and shook his head at her silliness. She wasn't going to be overtaken by him again. She bolted off the couch and rushed to tackle him. She fell into the Christmas tree when she ran right through him. She felt the pine needles scratch her back as she dropped to her butt after spinning around to see where Pyrius was. He turned around and offered his hand to help her up as he tisked at her.

"Get away from me!" she kicked out at him. Her foot went right through him.

He put his hand to his chin. "Hm. I must do something to get your head back to where I had it before Mr. MacLeod joined us."

"Never. It will never happen again," she assured him.

Then he smiled, obviously having thought of something. His eyes drifted to the hallway. "Yes. That might do it."

When Pyrius walked to the hallway, Elizabeth screamed out, "Claire! Run, Claire!" Shocks of fright rushed through Elizabeth as she tried to get up from the ruined tree. Opened boxes and pieces of wrapping paper made her slip as she tried to make it to Claire before Pyrius did.

"That girl will be quite handy," she heard Pyrius say. "Let's see how hard she can cry."

"You bastard! Stay away from her!" Elizabeth felt the branches of the Christmas tree wind around her arms and legs and screamed out, "Claire! Run away and don't look back! Please!"

She felt as if she was being swallowed by the tree and couldn't move. The branches of the pine tree were wrapped around her. Her skin was bleeding, but she couldn't feel it. She heard Claire cry out from Joey's room, which made Elizabeth scream out again. Her voice was her only weapon. "Duncan! Guy! Help! Run, Claire!"

She saw Pyrius return to the living room, yanking Claire behind him by the hair. "Mommy! Papa!" Claire cried out. Tears had stained her cheeks red and she looked so much younger and vulnerable than Elizabeth remembered her.

"You get your hands off her now!"

Just as Pyrius produced a dagger from his belt and laid it against Claire's throat, Claire screamed and tried to get away. Pyrius had a tight hold on her. All Elizabeth could see and hear was screaming, she couldn't tell if it came from her or Claire. Suddenly she felt hands on her, not branches. "Get away! You fucking bastard! Get away from her!" she cried out, but couldn't get free.

Just then, she was slapped hard across the face. Startled, she looked around to see that she had fallen off the couch. The blanket had gotten twisted around her body, and Duncan was holding her. "It's all right," he told her.

"No, it's not!" Elizabeth twisted around to see where Pyrius and Claire were, but she saw Claire walk out of Joey's room along with Joey. Guy was standing in the middle of the room staring at her. She batted away Duncan's hands and tried to crawl away. The damn blankets made it impossible.

"Liz!" Duncan yelled. "You're fine. You had a nightmare. Everything's all right."

Taking deep breaths to calm her nerves, she finally realized that Claire was shocked at her behavior. "Mom? What's the matter?"

Duncan said, "She just had a nightmare. It's all right. Go back to bed."

"Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked as she untangled her feet from the blanket. "Is he here?"

"Who, Mom?"

She was going to scream out, 'Pyrius, you idiot,' but Duncan grabbed her and the look in his eye made her realize she was talking nonsense. But it had felt so real. She was still gulping in breaths to calm herself. Sweat tickled the back of her neck. She allowed Duncan to pull her into a hug when she realized she was going to call her kid an idiot just because she didn't see what Elizabeth had dreamt. "It was just a dream," she said, then looked at Duncan. "Right?"

"Yes," he said emphatically.

"Did you have one?"

"No," he replied, but she wanted to believe he was shading the truth.

Elizabeth noticed that Guy yanked Joey by the arm and whispered to him, then Joey went back into his room. Claire walked to her mother though, and asked, "What did you dream about mom?"

There wasn't any way she could explain anything that happened in that house, especially when she didn't fully comprehend it herself. "Your dad," she finally said. It wasn't really a lie. Pyrius was Methos' fault.

"I miss him already," Claire said, her head down.

"So do I," Elizabeth told her, almost believing it. She missed him and their life together, but she didn't miss his new attitude toward her. When they argued earlier, it felt as thought he drained her life force out of her.

Claire shook her head and said, "You must have really messed up."

"I did. I admit it. I really messed up."

"How?"

Elizabeth looked to Duncan, who still held her and was rubbing his hand against her back, which felt really good. "I'll explain it one day."

"Will you?" Claire asked hopefully.

"Yes, I promise." Elizabeth meant it. For so many reasons, she couldn't wait until Claire grew up and turned. She would be able to explain a lot of things, if she understood it all herself.

"What did you do Mom?"

"Something he can't forgive me for."

"Dad said you're getting a divorce."

"He did, did he?"

Claire nodded sadly and Duncan lifted his arm. She nestled next to Duncan on one side while Elizabeth held him on the other. Soon, the three of them were huddled on the floor, the girls softly weeping. Elizabeth wondered if Duncan had woken up because of her screaming or because he had dreamt something awful as well. For now, all she wanted to concentrate on was how her little girl was taking the collapse of her parents' marriage. When Methos had saved her from James, helped her rid herself of Angel and brought her home, he was so patient and loving with her, Elizabeth thought they would never break up. If she could just explain to Methos what had happened to her in that house. Be able to ask him about it all, she was sure they could make it work once again. However, Methos was probably so angry and disappointed in her right now, and she was still trembling from that very vivid dream, that if Methos put in an appearance right now, she wouldn't know what in the world to say to him.

~~~~~

Methos didn't have time to sleep even though what he wanted most in life right now was to crash at his flat and not come out for a year. The whole last month had been playing havoc with his mind and body and he wanted nothing more than, once again, to hide away and recoup. There would be a time for healing, right now he had to calm what he imagined was one riled watcher. He remembered Maloye Gardner as a smart, capable researcher who didn't have much of a life plan. Each day he had spent with her 'correcting' the Methos Chronicle, he could see her getting more and more determined to be the 'one' who found the true, living Methos. Since she hadn't seen or heard from him in a couple of days, she had to be pissed.

He arrived at her flat flowers in hand, and a plan to take her out for a nice breakfast, then get her someplace quiet to tell her that it was over. If she wasn't willing to just produce the new Chronicle to present to the watchers, or rest on her laurels, he would have to do something rash. He had his pistol in the deep pocket of his trench coat in case things got dicey. For a moment, he was a bit sad that he wouldn't be able to read and 'fix' his chronicle. Joe had done well with it while under his command, but he knew that he would have another opportunity one day. In some way, he would always have access to the Watcher system, he was sure of it. For now, all he was concerned about was Gardner.

True to form, when Maloye answered the doorbell, she was dressed in a skirt and matching suit jacket, high heels, with her red hair done up in a perfect twist. It was six in the morning, and he thought he'd catch her just getting out of bed. She had always been someone who applauded perfection, and even though she wasn't much to look at, she did clean up well.

"Good morning, partner," Methos said with a smile, producing the yellow roses indicating friendship from behind his back.

She took the roses and huffed a thank you. She tossed the dozen roses onto a chair and stared at him. Her lips pinched, her hands at her hips. "Where have you been?"

He didn't like her tone that was reminiscent of a spurned lover, but he ignored it and continued on in a friendly vein. "Did you hear about the train derailment south of the city? Well, I got stuck behind it. I would have been here late last night, but... what could I do?"

"Why were you south of London? We were supposed to continue our work."

"I had something to take care of."

"What? I need to know for my chronicle."

Your chronicle? Methos put on his apologetic face, the one that he had perfected over the millennia and said, "I'm sorry, Maloye. You know how much I've enjoyed our work on your chronicle. Come. I'll buy you a nice breakfast and then we can get right back to work on it."

"That's more like it," she said, grabbing her coat out of the closet by the door.

He was pleased that she was willing to start again, though he could tell she was still mighty put out. Women... they always think they own you.

While walking to the restaurant that he allowed her to choose, their conversation consisted of Maloye demanding to know where he was and what was more important than her work. He tried to side step the issue, but she was determined to be a nuisance. "The Chronicle is full of lies, and we are going to make it right, right?" she asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Well, how can we possibly do that if you skip town on me?"

The crowd of early morning commuters on their way to work was getting thicker and thicker, and he didn't like that she was indiscriminately spouting words such as 'watcher' and 'chronicle'. All this time he was certain that she could keep a low profile, and there she was madder than a wet hen and not being at all discrete. "What have you been doing while I was away?" he asked expectantly, hoping she'd tell him exactly what she had been doing, but quietly.

"I was an idiot. I was just waiting around for you. I tell you, Methos, if you hadn't shown up today, I was going to call a meeting with the Tribunal."

First off, she had called him Methos in front of a load of people, for another, what the hell did the Tribunal have to do with anything? "Oh? What for?"

"They should know how you've been beating their system. I promise you, Methos. If you screw with me again, it will be your own undoing."

He yanked her arm, almost making her fall off her high heels, and pulled her into the nook of a store front. "Are you insane or just jealous?"

"I beg your pardon!"

"You're using my name. Is that a habit I'm just now seeing?"

"I'm angry with you! Right now, I don't care about our deal. I can get ahead with what I have on you now."

"Maloye," he tried to appease her, but his hand was in his pocket, the touch of the cold steel felt great against his fingers. "I'm just a guy who has a life. Sure, I'm old and have many stories to tell, but I have a life to lead. Isn't a living, breathing, old man in a young body more interesting than a myth and whatever my history happens to be?"

"What are you doing now? You haven't told me anything!"

"We're walking among common people!" He felt his cool demeanor rile more and more with every word she said. His hand closed around the butt of the gun in his pocket and he tightened his left arm against the hilt of his Ivanhoe, loving how it felt. "Later, when we're alone and working, I'll tell you all about it!"

"Will you?" Her eyebrows were squished together to make one long line over both eyes and her mouth was set in a prominent pout. "Will you really? Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"I promise!" he said, making an attempt to get her someplace where the gun firing wouldn't cause a panic situation in the middle of Bloombury. This area was mostly academia, professors, book store owners. A gunshot was almost unheard of in this neighborhood.

"You're just saying that to make me get past my anger!" She pulled away from Methos and out into the sidewalk. People passed them as Methos tried to grab her arm, and finally hooked his hand on her coat flap. "Get away from me! I've decided to go this alone, you haven't done one thing to make me believe you're still on my side, you bastard!"

He pulled her back to him in order to whisper a threat to quiet her down. Judging from looks they were getting from passers by, her behavior was not common around these parts. "Cool down!" he said with his teeth clenched. "Be a good girl and you will have all that you deserve."

"Promise?" she asked looking at him for the first time.

"Oh, yes," he slowly stated. "Everything."

She must not have liked the look in his eyes. There was something there that he was unable to conceal, her eyes widened and she jerked away from him. She stumbled back over the curb, and he thought she was going to run away. He took two stalking steps toward her, but just then a bus' horn blared, making him stop cold. Maloye's head spun as she stepped into the street in front of the bus, and before Methos knew what happened, the red, double-decker ran Maloye Gardner over, solving one of his current problems.

The commuters on the sidewalk congregated around the bus after it came to a screeching halt, the people on board clutching the seats in front of them. All Methos could think about at that moment was that he was free. He felt his heart sing and almost started laughing. He relaxed the grip on the gun in his pocket, and lowered his head as he made his way through the mass of people around the bus.

Five blocks away, Methos finally stopped walking. He was free. Thank gods almighty, he was free! He looked around to see a wireless company just down the block and sauntered over to it as if he were walking on clouds.

~~~~~

Elizabeth and Duncan didn't sleep a wink after she had her nightmare. They spent the rest of the night trying to make sense of what happened in the house when they were together. Guy was in the kitchen making fresh coffee as the pot Elizabeth had made hours before was almost gone. When he had gotten up, he hadn't said much to Elizabeth and Duncan except good morning when he walked by the living room to the kitchen. He must have known they were having an intense conversation and had shed a few tears. The time in the house had been long and arduous for her, but Duncan had only spent the one night.

The way he told it, that one night was enough. He said that he hadn't experienced that kind of mind game since he killed Richie. Elizabeth had been overjoyed that there was someone else who experienced the house in all its glory. It confirmed that she wasn't crazy, but she felt awful that Duncan, who had only come to help her had to go through that trauma.

The phone rang and Guy answered it in the kitchen. "Hey kitten, good morning," they heard him say.

"Kitten?" Elizabeth asked Duncan.

He shrugged. "Amy?"

"You're kidding!" they heard Guy react, and they both bounded off the couch and into the kitchen. Guy covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand, and said, "There's been a watcher death, this morning."

"Oh, is that all?" Elizabeth groused and grabbed an orange from the counter.

Guy was listening to Amy's report on the phone as Duncan asked, "It wasn't Joe, was it?"

Guy shook his head as he continued to listen. "Did he have anything to do with it?" He listened some more. "Well, you have something to ask him about."

"Who?" Elizabeth asked, knowing they had to be talking about Methos.

Guy shook his head and waved her off as he continued listening. Elizabeth told Duncan, "Of course, it's of no concern to immortals."

"What did Methos do now?"

"You can't think Methos killed a watcher, get real."

"Oh, you're sticking up for him now?" Duncan asked with a bit of 'I told you you'd come around and not think he's a monster'.

"It would focus too much attention on him to kill a watcher," Elizabeth spouted and went to the front door; she had heard the paper being delivered earlier. She picked it up and felt the cold of the day. Shutting the door fast, she opened the paper and saw the headline: "Train derailment".

When she got back to the kitchen, Guy had hung up on Amy's call and was saying, "My wife will be home this evening." He rubbed his hands together. "Finally!"

"Oh? Do you know who will be with her?" Elizabeth asked. She didn't know if it was a good thing or not if Methos came with Amy. But then again, why would he come? She was so confused about how she felt about her husband at the moment. She did love him, but he hadn't acted as she would have hoped when she saw him yesterday, even though he had left their daughter with her. He hadn't wanted to hear word one about how she came to attempt the unforgivable. If he knew what she had been going through, maybe she could be forgiven. Right now though, she knew she didn't have the muster to deal with it and had been looking forward to a few weeks alone with Claire to recharge her batteries. She needed to know how she felt about him and their life that she threw away in a fit of madness, before being confronted by him again. After her dream and talking with Duncan, she knew she had a lot to deal with and Methos would be no help.

She had lost track of Guy and Duncan's conversation, so she went to see if Claire was up so they could think about what they should do that day, the first day of the rest of their lives together. Claire was up with her laptop, and Elizabeth was happy she had purchased it for her. "Were you up all night, honey?"

"I just got up," she said. They were talking quietly since Joey was still asleep in the other twin bed across the room. "How are you mom?"

"I'm fine." There was no use pretending to her daughter, Claire's eyebrows hiked up. After the display following her nightmare it was clear, to everyone else in the house, that Elizabeth was not fine . "Okay, I'm a little tired. Duncan and I talked too long last night."

"What did you dream about, mom?"

"Losing your dad," Elizabeth chose to say.

"Things were fine when I lived with you. Is that why you're breaking up? I left?"

"None of this is your fault or has anything to do with you, honey. This is between your dad and I, and I think we're not 'breaking up,' we've broken up. I don't want you to get your hopes up that things are okay, or will be okay soon. Your dad has left us, and now we have to try to live as happily as we can."

"I'll only be happy if things go back to the way they were," Claire grumbled. She continued to play her computer game and Elizabeth didn't want to get into a big discussion while Joey was still asleep.

She promised Claire, "Things will work out. One day. Hopefully." Elizabeth had been divorced before but never had a child involved in the process. Two immortals divorcing was something she didn't even know the logistics of. They had married in Las Vegas and signed a marriage license. Nevada was the easiest state to marry quickly, it was probably also the easiest place to dissolve a marriage as well.

Claire was ignoring her, totally focused on her computer game, and Elizabeth didn't know what else to say at the moment. The fright of the nightmare was still hanging over her. Fatigue was setting in and she decided to find a quiet corner somewhere and try to get some sleep for an hour or two knowing that the house was full of people. If any lingering ideas about the house or Pyrius came to mind, she would tell herself that they weren't real.

There was a tinny ring from Claire's night stand and she quickly picked up her cell phone. "Dad?" she said in greeting.

Claire's face lit up and Elizabeth realized that Methos had called her. She was going to give them privacy for the call while she got that hour's sleep.

"You're coming home?" she asked. The excitement in her voice wasn't at all disguised. Claire waited as she listened, a smile bright on her face, then said, "We will be! I can't wait to see you!"

Claire clicked off the call. "Mom! Dad's coming home for us."

"Us?"

"He's in a really good mood and told me that we should get ready. 'We', Mom! He must have forgiven you!"

Joey lifted his foggy head to look at them through squinted eyes. He looked at the alarm clock near his head, then grumbled and turned over with the pillow over his head. Duncan appeared in the doorway and Claire jumped out of her bed. "Mac! Dad's coming back for us. Isn't that great?"

"For both of you?" he asked.

Elizabeth had to admit she felt a shiver of excitement and Claire's joy had rubbed off on her. "That's what she says, but he didn't talk to me."

Claire started looking for clothes to wear in the pile that consisted of everything she had received for Christmas and her bags from school. "He was in a hurry. He's in London and said he wanted to hurry and come back as soon as possible. He said to be ready when he gets here, so go pack, Mom."

"Why didn't he talk to me?" Elizabeth couldn't believe it was all that simple. If Methos had forgiven her, he certainly would have at least said something to her.

Claire said, "He was in a hurry and was picking up Amy. Come on, get ready to leave."

"Claire," Elizabeth said. "Settle down. If he's in London it will be hours before he gets here."

"Well, don't make him mad anymore. Be ready when he gets here. Will you braid my hair?" Claire jostled Joey in his bed. "Joe! Can you load the other games you have on my laptop? We have to leave soon."

It struck Elizabeth that Claire was acting more excited by the prospect of having Methos back in her life than when she had picked her up at the school and she couldn't help but feel jealousy. If it was true that Methos wanted them both back in his life though, she shouldn't feel that sense of jealousy. Still she couldn't shake an overwhelming sense of dread for what was to come.

~~~~~

Methos was making the trek back to Kent for the second time in two days and felt as if he could drive the route blindfolded. If only it wasn't such a blasted long drive. They had cleared up the mess from the train derailment, but there still had been a slight delay; some of the train cars on their sides and emergency vehicles were still in the area. He realized that he hadn't talked to Amanda since he had dropped her off at the Ritz where she was going to get a room, clean up, then go shopping. They were supposed to meet later for an early supper. That was while he still had the Gardner situation to deal with. For now, he was free and clear of that mess. He got his cell phone out and punched Amanda's number. She didn't answer and he was sent to a voice messaging system. That was another thing he wished had been perfected over the years: answering machines. They were never reliable. He said, "Amanda, change of plans. I'll give you a ring in a few days," then hung up. If and when she ever got the message didn't matter in the least to him, but the thought of her sitting at the bistro where they had planned to meet waiting for him to never arrive did give him pause. He thought he'd try again later in case technology didn't do its job.

Amanda never did say why she and Duncan broke up, and he certainly hadn't wanted to talk about what happened the other night in his house, so he didn't pry. Amy, on the other hand, had been in touch with her husband, Elizabeth's watcher, and may know the reason Elizabeth burned down his house. He looked over to Amy, the trip so far was pretty quiet since he had been planning where to take Claire and she more than likely was picturing her reunion with her family. "Did Guy see what happened to my house?"

"Just the aftermath."

"So he didn't see my dear wife spread gasoline around the property and light it up?"

"I don't think that's the way it went down, Methos."

"What's to say it didn't?"

"Duncan and Amanda were there as well. Guy didn't know what happened inside, but before they arrived, the house was standing. Maybe they torched it."

"Yeah, right."

"We'll find out in a matter of minutes. Will you go a bit faster? I can't wait to get home."

"If you miss your family so much, maybe another line of work would be in order."

"Not on your life, buddy. You're too interesting."

Methos eyed her suspiciously and said, "I just got rid of someone who talked like that."

"I want you to live, not dwell in the past."

"That's my watcher," he said in the same way a father would say 'that's my girl'. It was silly to think that Amy had anything in mind other than what she had been telling him all along: just record the oldest man's movements in the guise of an immortal who had turned just a few years ago. She had even allowed him to read some of her entries in his Chronicle, and he had looked up what she had submitted to the Watchers while he'd been working with Gardner.

Methos couldn't help but think that things were going well for him at that moment. Sure, he had a wife he'd just as soon not ever lay eyes on again, but he had prepared himself for seeing her one more time. He chuckled when the thought, I won't even take her head today, came to mind, even though he had been so angry at her for almost taking his head and burning down his house that there were times he very well could have.

A new life. It was always something that was exciting to Methos. A fresh start, a new name, new location, new occupation. He had wondered during the trip where Claire would be happiest and couldn't help but think that Paris would be great for his girl. She spoke French fluently, she was artistic. He was proud that she was more sophisticated than her peers. She would fit right into Parisian life, which Elizabeth hated. He had never gotten out of Elizabeth just why she hated France and Paris so much, but that was no longer his concern. He was tickled to think that even if she did find out that was where he took Claire to live, she wouldn't come to bother them because of her hatred of the city. If she cared at all. She was probably quite pleased that he was coming to 'take Claire off her hands.'

When he turned into Amy's driveway, she was almost out of the car before he got it parked. "Hey, wait a minute," he told her and got the present out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"What's that?" she asked, just staring at the folded papers.

"Your Christmas vacation. Here."

Amy slowly took it from him, a smile and chuckle escaping. "Methos. Why didn't you show me this before?"

Methos shrugged and turned off the car, then waited for her to open it. As she scanned the itinerary, he told her, "First Israel, then Disney World for the kids, then Aruba for you and Guy, that hotel has excellent baby sitting services, and then New York so you can visit Joe."

"Methos," Amy exclaimed. "This is about a four month trip."

"Yes, and it starts next week."

"We can't leave you and Liz for that long."

"Get replacements for the time. You and your family deserve it, and I talked to Joe and he misses you." Methos got out of the car when he saw Claire run out of the house. He could lose not only Amy now, but anyone who was assigned to him for the time being. He had also bought two tickets for him and Claire to fly to the states in order to dissolve the joke of a marriage he had lived for over a dozen years.

He brought Claire in close as she flew into his arms and thought, Yes. This is the beginning of a great life.

When he looked up again, Amy was showing Guy the itinerary and holding Katie Rose at the door. To his relief, Elizabeth was no where in sight. She had to know that she was beaten and was the good loser. He asked Claire, "Are your things ready? We have a plane to catch."

"Yep. Mom and I are all packed and ready to go, after we have cake. Mom baked a cake for your return."

Elizabeth's packed, too? Oh, the idiocy of that woman! He sighed and told Claire, "Get your things. I'll wait out here."

"Don't be silly," she tugged his hand and moved to the house. "The cake looks really good."

Amy and family had moved inside, and he could see Amy and Elizabeth cautiously greeting each other just inside the door. They had been on the outs since that argument on the ship, and Amy had mentioned that she was also looking forward to seeing her to clear the air and become friends again. Well, they had all the time in the world because he wasn't taking Elizabeth anywhere.

Elizabeth looked out to him, a smile on her face. She opened the door and called out to them, "Come inside. We have cake and coffee."

Claire tugged his hand harder and soon he was on the stoop. He didn't like being so close to her again, and he saw Duncan standing not far away from her. Oh, the load of crap she must have been feeding him while I was gone, Methos thought. He could tell that Duncan wasn't completely welcoming of him; he had that look of suspicion on his face.

"Mac, nice to see you again," Methos said cordially, stepping past Elizabeth, not looking at her. He noticed bags, a LOT of bags, lined up in the living room, and had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't all Claire's.

Duncan nodded with a smile to Methos' greeting, then came forward to hug him. "Long time, no see," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm great." Methos was completely truthful about that, and then looked at Elizabeth.

She smiled and pulled him into a hug, which didn't feel at all right. He pulled away and asked Duncan and Joey, who were both in the living room, "Can you bring Claire in to the wonderful cake? I'd like to speak to my loving wife alone."

He could tell that Elizabeth was stung by his sarcasm. She stepped back against the wall and lost her smile. Claire bounded into the dining room, and Duncan and Joey soon followed. What aggravated Methos was that Duncan had looked to Elizabeth for approval before leaving.

"Seems you have the Highlander hooked around your finger. Quite a trick after all you've done. I would think no one would ever trust you again."

"I knew Claire got it wrong," she said, shaking her head, looking at the floor.

Methos closed the door behind him and walked into the living room scrutinizing the bags on the floor. "You thought I'd want to take you with us?"

"You're not taking Claire anywhere without me."

Methos laughed. "As if you have one thing to say in the matter."

"I mean it, Methos. I just got her back. I'm not losing her again."

Methos walked back to Elizabeth, the urge to do something rash tickled his brain. He leaned in close to say, "You lost her when you went for my head."

"I didn't go for your head."

"Oh? Who was it holding that sword in the air? Ghosts? Goblins? Fairies?"

"It's funny you should say that."

"I'm laughing hysterically," he muttered.

"Really. You mentioned ghosts."

"I'm not going to listen to nonsense. I don't want half-baked explanations, in fact, I don't want anything from you. Claire! Come on. We're going."

Claire appeared at the doorway to the living room with cake in her hand. "It's so good, Mom. How big a piece do you want, Dad?"

"No time for cake. We have to go."

"Okay," Claire said obligingly.

"No," Elizabeth told her. "Go back to the kitchen. We have to talk."

"No we don't. Whatever you have to say is garbage to me, so don't waste my time. Claire, get whatever bags are yours and get out to the car."

"What about Mom?"

Methos was about to say, she can burn in hell, but paused and told his daughter, "We decided we need time apart for the time being. She's not coming with us."

"We decided nothing of the sort," Elizabeth argued.

Methos yanked open the door and pulled Elizabeth outside for some privacy. He looked back and pointed his finger at Claire. "You, stay there."

Outside, Elizabeth said, "You can't just-"

"I can do whatever the hell I want! You lost any say in anything that happens to me or my daughter the minute you lifted that sword! Don't you dare try to sugar coat what you did! Don't you dare!"

"It was the house," she moaned. "You have to listen to me." Then she paused, and shook her head violently. Methos couldn't figure out what she was doing, but it wasn't comforting, and he didn't want to spend anymore time with her than utterly necessary.

In case she was going to state whatever case she thought she had, Methos told her, "Look at you. You're a mess. You're worse than you were at the cabin after James, the only difference is that you know who you are right now. I'm leaving and taking Claire with me. You have to face that fact. It will happen."

"I can't lose her," Elizabeth said softly.

"You already did. I only left her here before because I knew Mac was here and you wouldn't try to hurt her to harm me."

"I would never do that."

"Give me a reason to believe you!" he erupted. "Look at you! You're shaking, and it's not that cold outside. It's like your having a conversation with yourself. You can't care for Claire. Don't pretend to yourself that you can. You know she's better off with me."

Elizabeth's eyes clouded over and he could tell she was about to cry. "Don't make a scene. If you want, we can have Claire come out here and chose which parent she wants to live with, and I am pretty damn positive it won't be you."

When she didn't react, he was on a roll, he yelled, "Claire! Get out here with your bags!"

"Hold on," she quietly said. "We can't make her choose."

"Because you'll lose?"

"You don't know as much about parenting as you think you do." She bowed her head and took a deep breath. Just as Claire opened the door with one of her bags, Elizabeth told Methos quietly, "Just give us a moment. Is that too much to ask?"

He swept his hand to the door and Claire. Be my guest. That was easy. As Elizabeth walked to the house and took Claire's bag from her hand and walked inside with her, the thought came to Methos that she'd try to take Claire out the back door.

He rushed inside to see Elizabeth and Claire sitting on the couch. Elizabeth was brushing back the hair from Claire's face saying, "Your dad and I had a talk and we think it would be better if you went with him for a little while."

"Why can't we all be together?" she whined.

Elizabeth smiled at her and shook her head sadly. "That's not to be. I told you that your dad had a good reason to be angry at me, and he hasn't forgiven me. I don't know if he ever will, and you have to realize that. It's going to be okay though, I promise. Dad will take good care of you and we'll talk on the phone and email. Will you email me when you get settled?"

Claire had started to cry and hugged her mother as she nodded. "I don't want to go."

Methos saw Elizabeth catch his eye and he didn't look away. She had his daughter properly brainwashed. She told Claire, "You have to. Your father's in a hurry for some reason. More than likely to get away from me. I love you, Claire, and I'll miss you so much," she said as she started to cry. "But this is the best thing. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but you have to go, sweetie."

Methos walked over to take Claire's hand. "We'll be all right, Little One. Come on, we have to go."

Claire finally got up from the couch, after another hug for her mother, then pointed out which bags were hers. He asked her to take them to the car, and noticed that they had an audience in the dining room.

After Claire left with two of her bags, sniffing back tears, Elizabeth asked, "Will I see her again?"

"In due time," he said, and only because it seemed like it would make Elizabeth let them leave without a scene.

"In due time for people like us could be decades."

Methos shrugged. Elizabeth bolted off the couch and slapped him hard across the face. He grabbed her, swung them around, and slammed her to the wall. "Don't you dare do that again."

"Don't act like a pious bastard! I'm giving you Claire. Isn't that enough? The least you can do is promise me I'll see her again!" she railed. "Regardless of what happened between us, I'm her mother. I know I need time and want time to figure things out, but I want her back in my life."

Claire reappeared at the door as Methos took a deep breath and let go of Elizabeth. He looked to Claire and asked, "Do you still have that cell phone?"

Claire nodded and produced it from her pocket. "Give it to her," he told her as he walked out with her other bag.

It was a while before Claire followed the house. Methos had packed the trunk with Claire's bags and started the car. He was sitting behind the wheel doing anything in order not to think about his marriage. Flipping through the radio stations, he tried to focus on any of the songs or conversations that he heard. All he could think about was how Elizabeth had ruined the best chance she ever had at a happy life.

~~~~~~

It was quiet, too quiet, after Claire left with her father. Elizabeth buried her head in her hands as she sat on the couch wondering why she had given in so quickly. She loved Claire more than anything or anyone in the world, and she had just let her go. She had trembles of fright while talking to Methos, which she attributed to the nightmare, and all of a sudden she was agreeing with his decision that she had no part in making.

Duncan sat down beside her and asked softly, "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. I just gave away my child."

"Why? We could stop them. Get her back. If you two have time to talk, I'm sure-"

Elizabeth laughed. With how not open to talking Methos was, that would never happen. She was the evil one and he was in the right. Nothing anyone could say would make it better. "She is better off with him," she said as if trying to convince herself.

"Because of the nightmare?"

"Of course. I have a lot to figure out and if it was only Claire and I... I hate to think what could happen if I had another one. Methos told me I could hurt her, and he might not be far wrong."

"You'd never do that."

"I didn't think I'd ever hurt Methos, either. Look what happened. Claire is safer with him, it's best for her. For now." She looked at Duncan's caring eyes and felt herself collapse from the inside out. She had actually given up her child without a real fight. She had done so many things in the past year that she never thought she'd do: foul up her friendship with Amy, ruin Methos' trust in her and break up their marriage, and give away Claire willingly. She wondered if she'd ever feel 'normal' or be able to stick up for herself again. As she leaned against Duncan, who thankfully welcomed her into his arms, she cried. "I just hope he allows me access to her."

The only comfort she felt at that moment was from Duncan's arms around her while he silently held her and just let her cry. Soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Amy sitting down next to her. Elizabeth felt so guilty for having picked fights with her on the ship, and not rectifying the silliness of the spat. It had been about Amy calling her stupid for something Elizabeth couldn't even remember now. Elizabeth didn't want to absorb it, but she had truly been stupid in her actions the past year. In fact, she wondered if she'd ever made a smart choice ever in her life. It might just have been dumb luck she'd lived so long.

She grasped Amy's hand, but didn't want to hear her friend ask her how in God's name she could have allowed Claire to walk out that door with a man who was so angry with her that it was a given she would never see Claire again.

Instead, Amy asked, "Are you okay?"

There wasn't a hint of animosity in her voice or on her face. Elizabeth didn't know how to react to it. She spied Guy standing at the doorway, and he didn't look as if he was ready to dismiss her as a freak. There were a myriad of answers ready for Amy's question, but Elizabeth honestly replied, "I feel empty."

Amy squeezed her hand and said, "We have to take care of that, now don't we?"

"You're not mad at me?"

"Not anymore," she said.

Elizabeth could tell that was a completely honest answer, and she wouldn't have asked for anything else from her at that point. She had a lot of things on her to do list, but the first would be to repair the deep friendship that she and Amy shared for five years, twelve years ago.

Continued