THE ELIZABETH SERIES

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

THE SECRET

by Jo
EnyaJo@aol.com

RATING: ADULT

CHARACTERS: Duncan, Methos, Amanda, Joe, Elizabeth, Claire, Benji

SUMMARY: With Duncan's companionship, Elizabeth goes to Paris to see Claire. Seeing Methos doesn't mean anything will be easy, and imagine the surprise he and Amanda have for them.

~~~~~

WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 6, 2013

"Where will we go first?" Elizabeth asked as she looked out the window of the plane edging closer to Orly.

"To see Claire, of course," Duncan said beside her. "That's why we're coming."

Elizabeth turned to him, as if seeing him for the first time. Duncan MacLeod was a very handsome man who was well put together. His clothes were top of the line, he smelled great, and his long hair was pulled into a ponytail with an antique medallion on the band. His smile was infectious. He had done a 360 degree turnaround from how he had appeared in his hotel suite last week. During their time together they talked and talked, only taking time out to eat and sleep. Duncan recounted all his fond memories of Richie, and then detailed his battle with the demon that ended with Richie losing his head.

Duncan had also explained who all the people Elizabeth had seen in ghost form in her house on Christmas were and his relationship to them: Richie, Sean Burns, Michael, Kronos, Melvin Koren as Duncan had first known Kronos. He told her about his friendship with Cassandra and all that entailed. Elizabeth's mind had reeled, hearing more about the horseman than she had ever glimpsed through Pyrius' eyes, but it remained hazy. Until Kronos had appeared as clear as day at the Manor, Elizabeth could never get a handle on what he looked like. When Duncan spoke of Cassandra he included Methos' relationship with her, how Methos reacted to seeing her once again, and his own initial horror at what Methos had done, not only to her but to thousands. Elizabeth remembered how much Methos had wanted to steer clear of Cassandra when they met up with her and Liam in New York, and she still couldn't believe that Methos took Ludmilla's head to save Cassandra. It just didn't seem like something he'd do. She began to think about him in a different light than she had when they were happy.

Not that the talking was all one sided, Elizabeth did her share as Duncan asked questions. He asked her about her marriage to Methos, what it was like to raise a child for so long, her history with Logan, and what her hopes and dreams were for Claire, and about her teacher, Hotohke. Duncan and Elizabeth had been in one of the most populated cities in the world and neither could bear crowds, or even tolerate the few people they did encounter. They talked about everything without hesitation, their marriages being one of the topics.

After that first day with Duncan at the Plaza, he slowly but surely recovered his strength, and started to focus his attention on her. He had rubbed her shoulders when she needed it, held her, and continued with conversations when he might not have wanted to, all for her benefit. She felt so close to him, even though their intimacy had been platonic.

Elizabeth had a glimmer of hope that when she saw Methos they could talk it all out, finally, and perhaps one day get their lives back. If only she wasn't so nervous. Her stomach seemed to be doing acrobatics, and her palms were sweaty. She wasn't courageous enough to consciously look forward to their marriage surviving. So many thoughts, hopes, dreads, and emotions flooded through her as she sat on the plane, but the most important for her was that Duncan was there with her. He had given her strength and she hoped that she had helped him as much. She was, after all, on her way to see her daughter, which entailed locking eyes on her husband. If not for Duncan, she wouldn't be on that plane at all.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she said, "I thought you wanted to see Richie." Taking his hand, she added, "It would give you closure. Remember?"

"Not to be flippant, but Richie isn't going anywhere, however, you, and I, want to see Claire."

"Thank you for coming with me. I couldn't get on the plane by myself last week."

"Seeing him shouldn't be something you dread." Duncan encouraged her, "I know him. He loves you. I certainly know you love him, even though you won't admit it."

Frowning, Elizabeth didn't know what she wanted or loved, except Claire. "Excuse me?"

"You were talking in your sleep the other night. Obviously you were foreshadowing what might happen when you see each other, and you said, 'I've always loved you, you know that, right?' I thought you were awake and talking to me, but when I held you, you called me Methos."

"I don't remember that," she replied reacting as if he told her she had eaten a big bowl of grubs.

He squeezed her hand. "It's okay. When you see him, don't cover your emotions or push too much."

"You're giving me tips on how to talk to my husband?" She smiled because she did feel as if she needed them.

"I've known him longer than you have, and know how to play him."

"I don't want to play him, Duncan. Okay, I admit, it would be nice if all this mess was behind us, but I want it to happen because he does as well, not because I've lied to him or betrayed my own feelings about the whole damn thing."

"Good."

"Now, about you and Amanda. Are you going to see her? Is she in Paris?"

"I have no idea where she is."

"You know her cell number."

"That I do. I need time. There wasn't...," he stopped talking, looking behind and around them for anyone that might be paying attention to them in first class. "The paranormal that came between us, it was Amanda's selfishness, and the fact that she took my friend. I'm positive she took Michael for her own selfish reasons."

"Well, do you actually know why she did?"

"I could have listened to her lies."

"How about listening to her truth?"

"You think the truth would come from her?"

"Duncan, you're being unfair." He was still holding her hand, in his left hand, where he still wore his wedding band. "Why are you still wearing this if you're so sure its over and closed off to even the possibility of talking to her?"

He shrugged, then said, "My fingers are swollen and I can't get it off. The heat you know."

Yeah, there's a lot of heat in February in New York City, she thought. They were quite the pair, indeed. Neither wanted to face the trauma of their marriages, yet neither one of them had taken a step towards actually making advances to each other, even though Elizabeth had felt closer to Duncan in the last few days than she had ever felt to almost anyone in her life. She could tell that he looked at her in a different way as well. Yet, no moves were made. They said their marriages were over, but maybe that wasn't true after all.

~~~~~

Gaining six hours in time zones, they had stepped off the plane about the same time they left New York. Duncan claimed his bag and packaged sword, and she went to find the lost or unrecovered luggage department to get the bags she had checked in on the 31^st in New York. To her relief, two hours later, she had them in hand. She had decided not to pack another bag for this trip, she was taking a chance her things would still be available to her so she brought the original baggage claim ticket. They had waited to fly to Paris until they could get first class seats, and Duncan had been adamant that he would pay for them. She let him, knowing that she would one day pay him back in some way, other than money, which he probably wouldn't accept. He was thoroughly modern in some ways, but so woefully chivalrous in others.

She was going to take the time to check into a hotel, but now that she was in Paris, a city which she had extremely bad memories of, all she wanted was to see Claire. Elizabeth knew from the beginning that it was a great thing to have Duncan with her, but was even more convinced after they had gotten into a taxi. Duncan quickly realized that the driver was taking a long, scenic way, probably in order to expand the fare because usually tourists didn't know better, just like they did in New York. In Paris, she wouldn't have had any idea.

Here she was in the one city on earth she hated. Except for two occasions, one when 'Daniel' turned, and then when she had followed Methos here after she had taken Pyrius' head-and he almost took hers-she hadn't been in Paris since she had killed her mortal husband, Victor, after World War II.

The taxi stopped, and Duncan paid the fare jesting with the driver about his creative route from the airport. Elizabeth got out to look up at the building numbered 399. Her daughter had been living there for over a month, and it didn't look comforting at all. There were gargoyles peeking over the edge of the white marble building, which wasn't a new thing for her. There were lots of them in New York, as they were meant to ward off evil spirits. The ones she was looking at now seemed to be staring right at her, as if she shouldn't have dared come.

Duncan walked to her with their bags in his hand. She took her suitcase as he asked, "Ready?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and they walked up the stairs. For such a ritzy building, there was neither a doorman or security door. "My paranoid husband is living in an unsecured building?" she joked, but wondered if they had the right address.

"Do you know which apartment he's in?"

"Three."

Duncan chuckled. "They have 'three' on the door in France?"

"Well, 'trois' if you want to be technical."

"Should be just down the hall."

Sure enough, as they moved down the hall, she felt an immortal buzz, the impact of which almost made Elizabeth drop her suitcase and clutch the wall. Duncan looked back at her. "What's wrong?"

"He's home."

"Ye-ah. What? Did you want Claire to be home alone?"

"That would've been nice."

"Come on," Duncan encouraged her. "It will be all right. You'll see." He knocked on Methos' door while Elizabeth hovered against the wall, not looking forward to seeing him.

The door opened, and she heard Methos say, "Hey, Mac. Long time no see."

When Methos saw Elizabeth, all her fears came true. His pleasant expression hardened right before her eyes. "We don't have anything to talk about," he said, shutting her out.

"I've come to see Claire, not you."

"She's not here. She's at class."

"I thought you were home schooling her."

"I am."

As was the norm lately, Methos didn't expand on his comment. She noticed that he was no longer wearing his wedding ring, and there was nothing more he had to say. "I'll just wait here for her then," Elizabeth said, walking past Methos into the living room. The place had only the necessities: a chair, couch, and entertainment center with a large screen TV and stereo system against bare white walls that could use a coat of paint. There were still taped up packing cartons in the corner. Elizabeth wondered if they were going to stay put for a while or not. The kitchen was open to the living room with a counter between them. There were two stools, and the remains of lunch that hadn't yet been cleaned up. The kitchen table was covered with old books and a notebook with tons of scribbles that constituted Methos' handwriting on it.

She turned back to see that Duncan had come in and put their bags down as Methos shut the door saying, "Just come in then. Make yourselves at home." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

In the kitchen were white cabinets and white walls. "Geez, Claire loves color, why don't you let her go wild in here?"

"I'm renting."

"As if you couldn't afford the cleanup if you move out."

"Just like you to want to spend all my money."

Not wanting to get into a discussion of the money he left as a penance in Kent, or the fact that she was still using her old credit cards, thinking she would until they were no longer accepted, she said, "I'm keeping the receipts and will send a check when I'm settled."

"When will that be?"

"Who knows? Where's Claire's room?"

Methos tilted his head to a door on the other side of the living room. "You mind?" she said, moving toward it.

"As if I had the choice."

"Methos, she has a right to see where her daughter lives," Duncan intoned.

"She'd still be living in that marvelous house I purchased for my family, if you hadn't almost taken my head and burned it down."

"Oh, so... if I hadn't almost taken your head, we'd still be together? That's our only problem in your eyes? What about how you've shut me out? You've been a bastard since then."

"I'm supposed to give you the time of day when you almost beheaded me?" Methos laughed. "Look at her room, then wait for her outside," he ordered with seemingly little regard.

"Methos," Duncan said. "Maybe you both should talk about what happened, and not-"

"The last thing I need is for you to give marital advice, Highlander." Methos' face suddenly took on the appearance of great fun. "Considering the state of your own marriage."

"You're in a fine mood today," Duncan said to Methos as Elizabeth walked into Claire's room.

Claire had the same white walls, but they were lined with posters. One for the Américaine de Danse à Paris, which made Elizabeth feel better that one thing she had nurtured, dance, was still close to Claire's heart. The rest of the posters were handmade. Actual paintings, but without frames. They had to have been done by Claire. Bold colors, abstract. Her style was much the same as it was while they were on the ship, though she had gotten better.

As soon as she saw Claire's unmade bed, clothes on the floor, and except for the posters, a lack of color, Elizabeth was furious. She had always made Claire make her bed and use a hamper. Methos was letting her slack off, more than likely to be the 'cooler' parent. She started picking up her clothes, then held her shirt to her face. It smelled like her baby. Keeping it to her breast, she walked to the door to look out at the men in the living room as the door opened and Amanda waltzed into the room.

Lost in what she had planned, as Amanda was apt to do, she said, "Look what goodies I got for our dinner, luv," as she set grocery bags on the counter. "This wouldn't exactly be the salmon and oysters we enjoyed on the Lusitania, but I think I could whip up...," Amanda said as she turned around to see Duncan staring at her. Suddenly, her face took on an expression that was a mixture of wide eyed surprise and horror. "Mac!"

"Amanda," he replied stonily. Elizabeth could see Duncan raise his shoulders and tilt his head. She couldn't see his face as his back was to her, but she could imagine he had raised his eyebrow as he asked her, "You were on the Lusitania? Who's we?"

It was only then that Elizabeth realized that Duncan didn't know about Methos and Amanda's long relationship. Methos had told her they were once an item, 500 years ago, after they had rescued her from Robert and Gina's wine cellar. He told her because he had to explain why he and Amanda had been pretty comfortable being in the same room with her in a bubble bath.

Methos turned away from the display of Amanda and Duncan to chuckle with irony and shake his head. He had lied to her even when he was supposedly telling her the truth. He and Amanda had been together less than 500 years ago, and now it was plainly obvious that they had been together very recently. They'd probably been together the whole time...

Elizabeth scanned the apartment more thoroughly with this new information at hand but couldn't see any trace of Amanda's things in the living room. She walked down the hall and saw a white electric shaver, umpteen bottles of perfume, and cosmetics spread out on the bathroom counter. Elizabeth tightened and decided not to look into Methos' bedroom, not wanting to see that unmade, rustled bed.

She returned to the silent living room to see Duncan slump onto the couch. He shook his head as he looked at the floor wide eyed. Amanda looked ready to cry as she said, "Mac..." She shook her head then became silent, clearly not knowing what to say.

Elizabeth felt weird that she wasn't as riled as Duncan clearly was. Methos and Amanda together should affect her, shouldn't it? Try as she might because it was expected of her, she couldn't let the information sink in.

"Let me go over what I just heard you say, 'luv', on the 'Lusitania.' You two were lovers in the early 1900's?"

"Luv is just a term... of friendship...," Amanda stammered.

"Were you on the ship when it was torpedoed?"

"No, thank goodness, that would have been horrible... but not as horrible as right now is," Amanda said wide eyed, her voice had a bit of a stammer to it. She clearly hoped she could rewind the last five minutes and start all over again. When she touched Duncan's arm, he stood up enraged, jerking her hand off him.

"The two of you have known each other all the time I have?! Longer?! Neither of you said one word about it?!"

Methos sighed and closed his eyes, clearly he had expected this conversation to happen any time, and here it was. Elizabeth leaned against the wall wishing she felt as passionate about this as Duncan did. After all, her husband had lied to her as well. All she felt was a deep heaviness that started to pull her down. Leaning her head against the wall, she looked at Methos. When they locked eyes, she had to turn away, not liking the feeling of him looking at her.

"Was I ever going to be privy to your relationship?"

"All you had to do was ask, MacLeod," Methos said matter of fact.

Amanda shot a glare at Methos and said, "Oh, be quiet. Let me handle this."

"Handle this? Handle me, you mean?" Duncan looked as if he didn't know what to do with his hands or his body; he was shifting his feet and looking as if he misplaced his car keys. Either he was going to explode or hit something, or someone. "Like you've been 'handling' me all along?"

"Duncan, you know I love you more than anything or anyone in the world. I always have."

"You don't lie to those you love, Amanda!"

Elizabeth had to second that emotion, and glanced toward Methos to see if it had any affect on him. Duncan pointed at Methos demandingly. "You don't lie to friends either!"

"Oh, what?" Methos asked. If Elizabeth hadn't known better, she might have thought Methos was enjoying all this. "We should have had this little scene twenty years ago? If we had, Liz couldn't enjoy it."

"The minute you two knew... wait a minute." All eyes were on Duncan as he put things together in his head. "Did you two talk about me? Did you have a little powwow after you met me about what an idiot I am and how you have one over me?" he asked Methos.

Amanda wailed, "Mac, no!"

"I introduced you for God's sake! It was all a lie. Why didn't you tell me?! It would have been so easy. When I said, 'Amanda, this is Adam Pierson, Adam, Amanda,' you... either of you, or both of you, could have said, 'Yeah, we've met. His name is actually Methos! I know all about him, in fact, we've been lovers for years!' How hard is that!?"

Amanda bent her head in sorrow and Methos lifted his to gape at the ceiling and exhale loudly. Duncan continued, "You just wanted me on the side!" It looked as if he was going to shove Amanda, but he backed off letting his words do the trick. They worked. Amanda was crying and shaking her head.

"MacLeod," Methos began softly.

He didn't get very far with whatever he was going to say, Duncan took a swing at him. Methos fell to the floor holding his jaw. Amanda shrieked and went to hold Duncan back from Methos. Elizabeth actually enjoyed the punch, she had wanted to do that herself but hadn't worked up the ambition to do it.

"Don't you dare talk to me," Duncan demanded as he pulled away from Amanda. "Since you neglected to tell me what was important when it was important, don't bother talking to me again."

"No problem, Highlander!" Methos roared from his position on his butt. "I see your caveman mentalities haven't left you."

With amazing grace and speed, Methos got to his feet and stood toe to toe with Duncan staring him down. Duncan squinted his eyes at his nemesis, then they turned to her. He asked, "You don't have any thoughts about all this?"

"Sure," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "But it's not a huge surprise."

"You knew too!?"

"I thought they hadn't been together for... what was it, luv," she pointedly asked Methos. "'500 years'?" Duncan's attitude had brushed off on her, and it felt good that she was just then starting to feel something. The only thing was that she didn't want to feel more pain and heartache. She had enough of that. Anger would have been good. If she could have felt half the anger Duncan did, she thought she'd feel better, but all she felt was once again being put upon. A philandering husband wasn't a new thing for her. She'd had four of them, and at the moment, she didn't want to deal with it. Her world was shattered, and she didn't know how to pick up the pieces.

Amanda finally spoke, "Mac. We weren't together when you introduced us. We hadn't been for a very long time. We're just old friends, really. Right? Will you please say something?" she urged Methos.

"Oh now you want me to talk," Methos told her. Not one to make things right when he didn't need to, Methos snickered and stood defiantly in front of Duncan. "The boy is having a tantrum, why should I spoil it?"

Duncan took another swing at him, but Methos was faster. He took Duncan's arm, spun it around, and soon Duncan had flipped over Methos' back and was laying flat on the floor. That made Elizabeth move and she went to check if Duncan was okay.

Methos said, "One time is a flunk; no one goes after me twice. Why don't you both get out?"

"Because you're being challenged on your behavior?" Elizabeth asked. "Who's the boy now? Look at it from our side."

"Oh, she does speak." Methos laughed. "I thought you checked out of the conversation, just as you checked out of the real world. I don't need to hear anything you have to say either, luv. You never say anything worth listening to anyway. Although, why you had a sword raised above my neck when I was sleeping would be something that would be quite amusing."

"Don't throw away all you meant to me, don't do that," Elizabeth warned. "That's all I'm hanging onto. I'd love to tell you why it happened, but you won't listen to me."

"I don't listen to fairy tales."

"It's not a fairy tale! It happened, Goddamnit!" Elizabeth started gasping for air and felt the room get smaller. "Duncan and Amanda were both there. They saw it, it wasn't a fairy tale!"

Amanda said, "We were, Methos. It was real."

"Bah!" was his only reply as he stepped back as Duncan got to his feet.

Beads of sweat started to roll down Elizabeth's back, and all she wanted was to get out of there. She put her hand on Duncan's arm to stop him from talking or doing anything that would rile Methos who would say something to make the situation worse. Elizabeth just wanted to see Claire and get the hell out of there. Suddenly, she had a horrible thought. "What have you been telling Claire about me and what happened?"

"Not much."

She twisted her wedding ring on her finger and worked up the courage to ask, "How about the future, how about us?"

"Listen to me for the last time. There is no us. We are no longer married. You're not my wife. I married you only because I thought you were going to die!"

A knife to her heart couldn't have done more damage to her and she felt she was going to start hyperventilating at any moment. "I know that," she said softly. "The first time, you-"

"When you were 'dead,' I should have just cut my losses and lived peacefully with Claire. What I went to get you back for, I have no idea! I was under that spell you weave so well. I should have known what you really are after watching how you treat friends. Look at Amy, just because she called you on acting stupid, which you did, you didn't talk to her for a year. In fact, what friends do you have? All your friends came from me. I've come to my senses and want nothing to do with you anymore."

"Methos!" Amanda yelled to stop him.

"No, I haven't told Claire anything you've done because I don't think knowing that her mother is a lunatic would do the girl any good at all. How's that? I've been biting my tongue and changing the subject when she asks about you or 'us,' which there will never be again. You hear me? Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

To Elizabeth, it felt like all the air had gone out of the room. She felt she was either going to lose it or start bawling like a baby and never stop. She dropped Claire's shirt that she had been clutching. Taking a look at Duncan, the man who convinced her come there, she felt anger at him for making her. She spun around and walked out of the apartment leaving the door open behind her.

"Yeah, go! It's your gift. Leaving is the only thing in which you excel!" she heard Methos holler, along with Amanda trying to calm him down. "Liz, don't-!" Methos shouted again, but Elizabeth didn't turn back. She opened the door to outside where there would be precious fresh air just as she heard another punch and a body drop. She hoped it was Duncan that had landed the punch, but didn't want to stop to find out. Once outside, she gulped in air, and couldn't stop the flow of tears. She started running down the sidewalk.

Blocks away, Elizabeth fell down, and howled with pain, frustration, and anger. She sat up and clutched her knee, which she was sure was dislocated. She heard the clicking of heels running toward her and turned to see it was Amy. Holding her breath, Elizabeth put her kneecap back in the socket as she screamed. It felt so damn good to scream.

She held up her hand against Amy when she reached her. "No! I don't want to talk to you!"

"Liz, what the hell is the matter? Did you see Claire?"

Elizabeth waited until her knee was healed, and ignored the blood from the scrape and cut on her pants. With Amy's help, Elizabeth got to her feet and then turned on Amy, as she was the easiest target at the moment. "You're either watching him or are friends with me! There's no more pact, there's no more playing both sides. He's declared war on me, and you're not sitting on the Goddamn fence anymore! Take your pick!"

Elizabeth saw her wedding ring on her finger, and twisted it off, then threw it defiantly away. "He's a fucking bastard, and I'll have nothing more to do with him!" She started to walk away mumbling, "That selfish prick... I'm better off without him!"

She spun around and confronted the completely confused Amy, "But you tell him one thing, I will get Claire! She's my kid, and I will have custody of her. You tell him that, as you've probably told him everything else."

"Liz, I don't know what you're talking about. What the hell happened? Calm down."

"I will not calm down! If you're on his side, you're not on mine!"

"I don't know what sides there are! What happened?!"

"Where's Claire?"

"I thought she was at home. She's not?"

"Some fucking watcher you are! Or are you lying to me again?"

"I don't watch Claire, I watch Daniel! I'm not a babysitter."

Elizabeth stared at her as she felt her breathing slowly return to normal. She told Amy calmly, "Please. Where is she? She's not at home."

Amy looked at her watch, then said, "She must be at art class."

"Yes, that's right. He mentioned that. Where is it again?" she asked herself, remembering Claire had mentioned a painter whose studio was just down the street from them.

"Jacques Roullet," Amy said, turning to point down the street. "His studio is down there. I'll take you."

"I don't need anything from you. You're lying again."

"What?"

"You don't watch Claire, you don't have taps on the phone or bugging devises, though you know the name of the guy who's teaching her? Watch your lies, Amy. They're closing in on you!"

"I know because-"

"Stop it! I won't talk to you again unless you quit your damn job. I can't be friends with a watcher, especially his!"

Elizabeth walked past her, back down the street to find the studio. She hoped she wouldn't have to go all the way back to Methos' place, or run into Duncan or any of them. All she wanted was to see her daughter. That was the reason she was in this Godforsaken city, she was going to see Claire!

In the window of one building was a sign that thankfully read "Roullet Gallery." As Elizabeth came to a stop in front of it, she immediately felt better when a pre-immortal hum tickled her neck.

~~~~~

"You really are a selfish bastard," Duncan said, holding his hand, which he thought he might have sprained while taking that last swing at Methos.

"Think what you like, MacLeod." Methos rolled to his knees and got up. "It's been such a delightful day." He worked out his jaw, then pointed to his other cheek. "How about here, too? That would make my day complete."

Amanda stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips. "Just stop it, both of you!" She pointed at Methos. "You, you go after your wife."

"What do you care if they work things out?" Duncan asked her.

"Because I'm in love with you, and Methos loves Liz. She loves him. You love me!"

Duncan laughed and shook his head. After clearing his throat, he said, "I have nothing more to say to either of you. In fact, I don't care if I ever see either of you again."

Methos said, "There's the door."

Amanda leaned against it. "No, we're talking here."

"I'm not hearing anymore about how much you love me, Amanda. Your choices show me that you don't, and never have."

"I don't want to talk about you or us, Mac. It's him." She looked at Methos, who was at the fridge opening a beer bottle. "Since you're here, tell him what you saw in that house. Let's get this all out in the open. He hasn't listened to me about the house either."

The last thing Duncan wanted to do was tell Methos how he had so quickly been overcome by the forces inside that house. He hadn't wanted to admit it to himself, let alone to his number one competitor in life.

"Oh, you're wrong again, luv," Methos said after swallowing a gulp of beer. He leaned on the kitchen counter and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I've heard every single silly word about big bad Pyrius and the cold house and I was particularly amused about how Mac's friend happened to appear, considering you took his head!"

"Shut up!"

"I thought you wanted to talk about it. So, talk Amanda. Tell him why you took... what was his name...?

"Michael," Duncan said, then moved Amanda aside, picked up a suitcase and both packaged swords and walked out without another word. 'Michael' was all that needed to be said. There were a lot more words he could say to her, to both of them, but they would probably just do more harm than good

~~~~~

Elizabeth looked at her reflection in the window, brushed her fingers through her hair and wiped all tears from her face before opening the door to the gallery and walking inside. Claire was sitting on a stool in front of an easel that had three strokes of blue paint on it. For a moment, the blue reminded her of half of Methos' face when he had cut Pyrius, turning him. She shook her head and closed her eyes. There wasn't any reason she should hold onto the visions from Pyrius' quickening as she had. She knew that. She just couldn't help herself. The only thing that cleared Elizabeth's head was when Claire had obviously noticed her and yelled out, "Mom!"

Elizabeth opened her eyes and welcomed her daughter into her arms. She felt so good, smelled just as she expected, and just leaned her cheek on Claire's head as they held each other.

~~~~~

Amy gave up trying to follow Elizabeth and hoped that Guy was doing the job for her. Once again, her job got in the way. If Elizabeth only knew how well she was handling the tenuous situation with the Watchers, that she was being completely unbiased in her reports, protecting only two pieces of information. One, that Daniel Gordon was not the newbie immortal and was in fact Methos, and two, Amy had been creative in not relating in her reports that Claire was a pre-immortal. There hadn't been any secrets from Elizabeth. Amy knew that she and Claire talked on the cell phone all the time. Since Christmas, there hadn't been any secrets at all from Amy's side. From Elizabeth's side though, there were plenty. She still didn't really understand the breakup or why the house had burned down. She hadn't talked to Methos at all since they broke up, only watched him.

Guy walked up the sidewalk to her, and she said, "Why doesn't that woman ever believe me?"

"She's going through stuff," he said with a shrug. "What happened now?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Where is she?"

"With Claire. I heard the argument, so I came to see if you're all right."

Guy pulled her into his arms and Amy felt like crying, but she was too upset. She hated being put in the middle, but she really wanted to keep her job, thinking that Elizabeth would one day be grateful she was the one who handled Daniel Gordon's chronicle. She was helping them, why couldn't Elizabeth see that?

She saw Elizabeth's wedding ring against the building and knew that she would one day regret losing it. She walked over to pick it up, and showed it to Guy. "One day she's going to put this back on."

Guy shrugged. "Or not. They'll figure out what they're going to do. With all the shit between them, I'd be surprised if she did, babe."

"Don't say that."

"I don't like how she treats you. Why do you care?"

"She's my friend."

"Some friend. I don't like it. In fact, I'm starting to not like her."

"Give her time. She's going through something we can't grasp. We just have to be patient."

Guy hugged Amy again and kissed the top of her head. "She'd better make things right with you or I'm going to have to do something."

"What?"

"I don't know. Right now I just consider her an assignment, not a friend."

"I should talk to dad. He's here in Paris." Amy suddenly felt better and thought that her father would have some answers on how to handle being a friend to an immortal you're watching. After all, he had years of experience with Duncan MacLeod. "He'll know what to do. I'm sure of it."

~~~~~

Amanda demanded, "How could you do that to me?"

"It's a big, bad world, Amanda. It's always been my job to make you come to terms with that."

"Oh, I know about the world, Methos. That's why that house didn't devour me too, I'm sure of it."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You lived in that house too, did you get overwhelmed, hear things, see things?"

"Of course not." He walked to the couch to retrieve the remote for the television and clicked it on. Amanda pulled it out of his hand and hit the power button.

"No, let's talk about this once and for all or neither of our lives are going to move forward. We'll just be on pause." She tossed the remote on the far chair and made Methos sit down on the couch with her. "Of course you weren't. You love that house."

"Yes."

"And you're over 5000 years old. Have you ever stopped to think that might have something to do with all this?"

"It has everything to do with everything."

"Stop your annoying habit of being superior and just listen to me. Liz is what? 180? In some ways, in immortal ways, a mere child."

Methos laughed. "Don't let her hear you say that."

"I won't. Mac is just over 400. Again, there are a lot of things for him yet to learn, and... he was also swamped by the forces in that house. I felt something as soon as I walked in there, only, since I've had quite a few centuries under my belt, I wasn't as affected. But Methos, my God. There were men I could see as clear as day. Liz's energy must have made them extremely powerful by the time Mac got there, and then I did too."

"Her energy..." Methos finished his beer. "Is that the same energy that burned it down?"

"If anyone burned down that house, it was me."

Methos did a slow burn as he faced her. "Don't take her blame. It's not attractive."

"Methos, Liz and Mac were paralyzed on the bed. They couldn't move. Men were swirling all around. Pyrius, Sean, Richie, a guy who I suppose was Kronos, other people. All their quickenings had come to life. Even Logan was there. I saw him. He was clear as day. They couldn't move as hard as they tried." When Methos didn't respond with even a flippant remark, she continued, "Then, my quickenings added to the mix. When Michael appeared, I freaked. I didn't want Mac to know he was dead. That I took his head. I wanted to prepare him for that. Then Pyrius started talking again. I don't know what he said, but I was so angry, I pushed him into the lit fireplace. All of a sudden, there was fire everywhere."

Methos was twirling the empty beer bottle in his hands, and Amanda took hold of them to stop it. "We burned alive in that house, Methos. Liz had nothing to do with the house burning down. She was overwhelmed by Pyrius and the spirits."

Methos squeezed Amanda's hands but didn't say anything. She hoped he was ruminating it over, really hearing and thinking about what she had finally confessed to him. "I hope you can forgive me, but I burned down Bethany Stone Manor."

"We loved that house."

"We did have a great time there. Once. It wasn't the same place, Methos. No matter what you remember about it. It wasn't the same house."

"She almost took my head, Amanda."

"It was Pyrius, Methos."

"No," he said strongly. "It was her. It's always been her."

"But I saw him."

"That could very well be true."

"It is true."

"Fine. It's true. She saw and heard Pyrius in some way, and was overwhelmed and scared and everything you can come up with. I'll grant her that. But it was her hands holding that sword. It was her body standing over me while I slept. It would have been her, not Pyrius, that would have had my quickening. It was her. It's always been her. After she took Pyrius' head, against my wishes... it's always been her choice to be affected by it."

"She's young, Methos. That was her first dark quickening."

"It won't be the last, and she'll never get mine."

"She doesn't want yours! When will you get that?"

"Oh, I get it. I just don't... I can't... It's over, Amanda. If you want to worry about a marriage, worry about your own. Mine is over."

"Fine. Just don't belittle what she went through."

"What about what I went through! I almost lost my head to the one person I never thought would be an enemy!"

Methos threw the beer in the garbage and got another one out of the fridge. She waited for him to calm down, then asked, "Feel better now?"

He flicked his eyes to her as he drank from the bottle. To her relief, he didn't say anything more. That could only mean he was thinking about it all.

~~~~~

Joe was sitting at the bar with the fifth owner of Le Blues Bar since Joe quit the Watchers to concentrate on his music. Strumming on his guitar in the corner was Joe's protege, Benji, who was wearing a brightly colored, striped African caftan and his hair was in braids. Since Joe had taken him under his wing and Benji had been able to play on Joe's last CD, he had started to come out of his shell. His eyes twinkled when he saw Amy walk into the bar. He put his guitar down and said, "Hey sister."

Joe was happy that Amy had 'adopted' Benji as much as he had, and acted like a big sister around him. God knew the kid could use all the family he could get.

"Hi, Benji," Amy responded with a smile. "Nice to see you again. How you doing?"

"The kid's doing great. He's going to play a few songs before me and the rest of the band joins him on stage tonight," Joe said with pride. His focus since Caroline died had been his music and breaking Benji out of his shell.

The bar owner, Charlie Mouck, asked, "You're going to be good now, right?"

Benji smiled brightly. "Am I ever anything else?"

Joe laughed. A response like that had taken a long time to prod out of him. Once Benji had loosened up and started to trust Joe, he had shown a bit of cockiness, something that Joe knew was mandatory to get ahead in the music business. You have to know what you're doing, know how good you are, and never let an opportunity to say so go by. It had taken years for Joe to be open about his own music, but now after five rapidly selling albums under his belt, he was starting to be less modest about his talent himself. Joe got off the stool and motioned for his daughter. "Here, take a load off. I haven't seen you forever."

As Amy hugged Joe, he knew immediately something was wrong. He didn't want her to finally look him up after he arrived in Paris only to tell him bad news. He was hoping they could have a nice, quiet dinner with the family tonight and all was well.

"What is it?" he asked. "That bum husband of yours hasn't-"

"Guy's great. It's not him."

"I was just kidding. It's not Katie or Joey. They're not sick?"

"Or the kids. Well," Amy chuckled. "I guess it does have to do with children, only not mine. I need to talk to you." Her eyes scanned Charlie and Benji. "Can I steal you away for a minute? Alone?"

"Sure." Joe asked Charlie, "I hate to take possession here, but can we use the back office?"

Charlie just shrugged, it was fine with him. "But, only if you tell me your secret about dealing with the liquor delivery guy."

"Henri is still plugging away with his delivery business?"

"He'll never retire, and I know he's been creative in his accounting."

"Sure, no problem." Joe looked to Amy and said, "Geez, I thought I was getting too old to work. That guy was ancient when I had this place."

"You're not old, dad," Amy encouraged him. They moved to the back room as she said, "But then again, we're all getting old..."

"I missed your birthday, but the big 4-0 hit hard?"

"I'm only 39, Dad. Don't rush me."

"You're as young as you feel, right?"

"Today I feel a hundred."

Joe followed Amy into the back room and shut the door. "You've been around immortals again, haven't you?"

"Of course. It's my job."

Joe often wondered what it would be like to live to be a hundred, in a young, fit body, with all his limbs. He had to put that aside for now and focused concern on Amy. "What's going on? I've been a bit out of the loop."

"I guess I'm on the outs with Liz again."

"I thought you spent New Years together and things were fine."

"I did too. We were. It's just... something happened between her and Methos that neither she nor he will talk about and now suddenly Liz thinks I've taken sides, that I'm on his side. I suppose because I watch him. But I'm not, Dad. I can't tell her that though, she won't listen."

"Why are there sides?"

"You haven't talked to Methos?"

Joe had been in America touring and hadn't even really seen his daughter or her family. That she was now in front of him and all she wanted to talk about was Methos and Elizabeth, made him feel anxious. Never more so though then when Amy said, "Over Thanksgiving, Liz almost took Methos' head."

"WHAT?"

"I'm not quite sure why, how, or anything. She won't talk about it, just acknowledged that it was her fault. I haven't talked to him. I'm his watcher, not his friend. But Liz won't see that."

"She almost took his head?" Joe had trouble digesting that. For Methos to lose his head, would be one of the worst things Joe could imagine, he had thought he had a while back as all the Watchers still did. For Elizabeth to have almost done it... "I can't believe this. Where's Methos?"

"Here in Paris with Claire."

"The address please?"

"I'll give it to you. You talking to them might help, but I have to ask you something."

He braced himself to ask, "What?" hoping it wouldn't be too terrible.

"How did you balance being friends with your assignment?"

Joe relaxed. He long ago came to terms with his relationship with Duncan MacLeod. "I ended up leaving the Watchers, so I guess... I didn't."

"Great."

"There were a lot of tough times in Mac and my friendship. The watchers always get in the way."

"But you weren't protecting his secrets. You were pretty open in his chronicle, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. I couldn't be with Methos though."

"And yet you are able to stay friends with him all the time you were chronicling him. How did you do it?"

"He liked that I was his watcher. That's a big difference. I'm sure it's all on Liz's side. Methos likes that you're his watcher. What does Liz have against you?"

"I can't figure that out. It's like she's paranoid and the world is working against her or something. You should have seen how she lit into me when I went to see what was going on after she fell down."

"Huh? Wait, wait. I think you need to tell me everything that's gone on, as you know it. Then I'm going to see if Methos is all right."

"He's not, Dad. He can't be. None of them can be."

Joe trudged to a chair and smiled. "I think I'd better sit down then."

~~~~~

Elizabeth couldn't have been more ecstatic, she had mentioned at Claire's art class that she should come and spend the night with her at her hotel, even though she hadn't checked into one, and Claire had said yes without hesitation. After all the time away from her, Elizabeth had imagined that Claire resented her, hated her, or worse yet felt nothing toward her. The phone calls hadn't diminished Elizabeth's worry that her daughter had been turned against her by her father.

Ever since getting to the hotel, she had thought she should call Methos to tell him that she had Claire and wasn't bringing her back. She had a glimmer of an idea that she could have brought Claire to the airport and just taken off with her, but she knew that wouldn't be fair to Methos, no matter how big a jerk he was.

After they called for room service, Elizabeth asked Claire to call her father to tell him where she was. Claire did without a thought. As she called and Methos had obviously answered the phone, Elizabeth realized that she only had her wallet in her coat pocket. No clothes, no sword, no toiletries. Nothing. Claire didn't have pajamas or a clean change of clothes for the next day, let alone for at least a week, which was what Elizabeth was considering when she brought her there. She had no grand plan, and certainly hadn't taken steps to make sure things ran smoothly. Doubt about her mothering skills kicked in full force when she accepted the fact that selfishness had taken over her actions.

Claire said into the phone, "Yeah, just a minute." She held the receiver out to Elizabeth and said, "Dad wants to talk to you."

Guarded, she asked, "Why?"

Claire shrugged.

"Is he in a good mood?"

"I don't know. He wants to talk to you, but he did say I can stay. No school. I should be home tomorrow though."

"Ok. If that's all he wanted to say, I don't need to talk to him." She didn't want to get into another discussion about what a lousy person she was, and the way things had ended in his apartment wasn't good. Not at all.

Claire said, "Here, Mom. He wants to talk to you."

Elizabeth steadied herself and took the receiver from Claire, who turned her attention to the television. They were in a small hotel room, just a room with two beds, a television and stand, with the bathroom down the hall, this being the first hotel she saw. There wasn't any way to shield Claire from an argument with Methos if it needed to come to that. She would just hang up if things got too be too much.

"Hello?" she said hesitantly.

"I'll ignore the fact that you disrupted her class and didn't tell me your plans," Methos said. Before Elizabeth could spout a smart ass response about his nerve or the fact that she didn't need his permission to see her daughter overnight, he said, "But at least you didn't go right to the airport with her."

"Which would be my right."

Silence came over the line until Methos said, "But I trust that you won't." Another pause. "Will you have her home tomorrow morning around ten so we can do double duty with her studies?"

Please he had formed the instruction into a question, she said, "I will. Thank you."

"Enjoy yourselves."

She smiled, thinking that he was probably looking forward to a night without Claire so he and Amanda could have some privacy. That he had another woman, her friend, in his bed with her daughter in the other room so soon after their breakup... Elizabeth said, "We will," then hung up.

~~~~~

After lugging a suitcase and two wrapped swords through the streets of Paris, Duncan was quite relieved to finally reach the plank of his barge. As soon as he had the door unlocked, he dropped the suitcase on the floor, but carefully placed the wrapped swords on his counter. He picked up the suitcase to put it on his bed to unpack it, when he saw that it was Elizabeth's, not his.

For only a moment he was sorry he had picked up the wrong suitcase, until he devised a plan and accepted the mistake was a bit of fate. After all, he was home. He didn't need his suitcase at all. It would be interesting to see how long it took him to go back to retrieve it.

~~~~~

Claire was in the middle of telling Elizabeth all about the wacky old Frenchman who was teaching her to paint, or as Claire said with a giggle, "To find my center. He thinks that painting will reveal all that I feel and think," when Elizabeth felt an immortal sensation. It grew stronger until she knew that the immortal was right outside the door.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Ah, painters...," she said hoping whoever it was would just go away. She wanted this time with Claire alone.

The knock on the door was a good indication that whoever it was wasn't going to go away any time soon. Since she didn't have her sword, she hoped it was at least someone she knew. If she had her druthers, it would be Duncan.

When she went to look out the peephole, she wondered if she would indeed need her sword as she saw Methos standing in the hall. Disappointment and anger filled her gut as she unlocked the door. "You said it was all right she stay here. What are you doing here?"

Methos grinned and raised his hand to show her the backpack. "I brought Claire some things. Her pajamas, clothes for tomorrow, a toothbrush..."

"Oh. Thank you again."

"Rushing to judgment? Thought I'd start something now?"

"Are you serious? After what you said?"

Methos was going to blurt out something, but saw Claire walk up behind Elizabeth to take her backpack and say, "Thanks, Dad. See you tomorrow."

He said cool, calm, and collected, "MacLeod must have taken your suitcase, or I would have brought that over too. I'll expect her back at ten am. Good bye."

With that, he walked down the hall. Because he had left so quickly without a snide remark, or worse, and had actually been pleasant, Elizabeth wondered what his ulterior motive was. He had to have some grand plan in the works. Maybe he was letting her spend some time with Claire because he was going to leave with her so she couldn't find her.

All thoughts were overwhelming, especially when she tried to keep up with all the possible angles he might have. Knowing Methos could sometimes be mentally exhausting. Finally, she just laughed and spent the time with Claire hoarding the memories in case it was for the last time.

~~~~~

Joe wondered if he had gotten the right address from Amy. He never thought Methos would live in an unsecured building. People didn't even have to ring a buzzer to be allowed in. Nevertheless, he walked to the door that Amy said belonged to Methos and rang the bell. To his pleasant surprise, he was greeted by Amanda.

"Oh, Joe. It's wonderful to see you. How are you? Come in," she said hugging him. It seemed as though she needed companionship, and a big hug from Amanda served him well too.

Joe walked in and looked around the somewhat small apartment. "Is he around?"

"Methos went to bring clothes to Claire. She's staying at a hotel a couple of blocks from here with Elizabeth."

"Ah. Maybe Amy got it all wrong."

"What wrong?"

"She said Methos was livid with Elizabeth, that she almost took his head."

"He is. She did. Well, he was really... I wouldn't want to relive this day if you paid me. But, I think after I talked to him he's cooled off a little bit."

"Just talk makes the old man 'come around'? You're a miracle worker, Amanda."

"If I was, I'd be with my husband right now."

"I heard about you and Mac. I have to tell you, I'm sorry. Can you work it out?" When she only shrugged and shook her head with sadness, Joe felt bad. Immortals, for all their time on earth, sure knew how to make each other crazy. "Why aren't you with Mac?"

"I made a mistake and he won't listen to me for me to smooth it over. I needed to stay somewhere. I've had my fill of hotels, and Methos was gracious enough to invite me to stay with him and Claire for while. It's nice to be with Claire. She's grown into such a great child. You know, I thank myself for finding her and bringing her to two people who would do their best for her"

Joe was about to reply to that, but saw her eyes flit to the door, and Joe knew that look. She had felt another immortal.

Sure enough, Methos opened the door and walked in with a smile. "Hey, Joe. Long time no see. I have heard though. The new CD is fantastic."

"Oh, you were the one who bought it," Joe joked, knowing it was the best compilation of songs he'd ever had published. Old habits die hard with his old friends though, so facetious modesty came out.

"Bought? I downloaded it off the Internet." Methos laughed and playfully slapped his back. "Don't kid me, Joe. I've enough of that from everyone else. I know your CD is selling. The guy I bought it from, with real cash, said it's the top selling CD in his store."

"I know," Joe said with pride. "It feels pretty good. Did you notice the guitar playing? First rate."

"Of course."

"Not me, I mean lead guitar. It's a kid I found in New York. Name is Benji. He's almost become a son to me. Homeless kid with a hell of a lot of talent."

"I'll have to listen to it again. Took him under your wing, eh?"

Even though it was nice to see Methos in a good mood, which from Amy's description of what happened earlier he hadn't expected. Joe wanted to get to the point of his visit but Methos asked, "Want a beer? Amanda's cooking up something for dinner, you want to join us?"

"Actually, I've heard some things about what's going on, and wanted to talk about them."

"Such as?" Methos asked innocently.

"What happened with Liz," he said, then told Amanda, "And Mac. You two look pretty settled in here, how about your spouses?"

"They're spouses in name only." Methos handed Joe a beer even though he hadn't asked for it. "That's the trouble with getting married legally. You have all that paperwork to get rid of the mistake."

"Amy told me Liz almost took your head. I just can't believe it."

"Believe it, Joe," Methos said walking into the living room and flipping channels on the TV with the remote. Joe knew that the action was Methos' way of changing the subject, but all of this affected his daughter and he wasn't going to let them just shove it under the rug.

He walked over to sit on the arm of the couch and said, "You know, when Caroline and I had troubles-"

Methos interrupted, "Did Caroline ever try to kill you?"

Joe gaped. "Of course not."

"Then the subject is closed, Joe. You don't know how it is."

"So explain it to me. After all, I'm just a stupid mortal. I'm sick and tired of you all wanting my help, asking my advice, being my friend, until it's something major or something immortal. You know, I really didn't want to bring this up because you are all going through stuff you need help with, but I haven't even heard from you since Carol died, at least no more than a card once in a while. Maybe we're not friends at all."

"Joe," Amanda said touched.

"Not you. I mean the happy go lucky couple sailing the seven seas."

"And I let Caroline die, right?" Methos started fuming.

That was good. Joe wanted him to lose his composure long enough to talk about what was really going on. That he brought up something that Joe still had stuck in his craw wasn't the plan. Since Carol died, it was best for Joe to think it was God's will, it was her time, she was supposed to go after having a great life. He hadn't wanted to have Methos take the blame for choosing Claire over Carol's life.

"Wrong," Joe said emphatically, if only to help him shrug off the comment. "I mean, you and Liz have had some bumps, and you've always gotten over them."

"Not this time. Not when I could wake up at any time to see a sword coming down."

"That must have been rough, buddy. I get that. Just... what now?"

Methos looked at him, then thought about it. "I guess see a lawyer in the states and get a divorce."

Since this wasn't getting anywhere, Joe decided to try another trek. "Are you using Amy?"

"No."

"How come she came to me in tears, frustrated about being put in the middle of all this?"

"How is she in the middle of anything? I haven't even talked to her in...," he searched for an answer. "Since I sold the boat. It must be my 'loving' wife, Joe. Maybe she's trying to use Amy to keep tabs on Claire and it's not working. Tell Amy to shrug it off. Liz changes her alliances faster than I can down a beer. In fact, I need another one. Will you get me one, Amanda?"

"I'm not your maid, get it yourself. I'm busy here," she said having started dinner in the kitchen.

Methos walked past her with a put upon glare which was meant as an exaggeration. Joe was going to tell them that if they just let time go by and let things fester, things between them and their spouses wouldn't get better. But then again, they weren't children and they'd lived a hell of a lot longer than he had. He set the beer bottle on the counter and said, "Well, I've accomplished nothing here today, so I guess I'll move along."

"Oh, please stay for dinner, Joe, so we can catch up."

Joe looked at his watch. "Nah. I gotta be on stage in a couple of hours, and want to get Benji ready for his debut. You guys should come and check him out at the bar tonight."

Methos smiled. "We just might do that. Break a leg."

"Funny," Joe said as they both smiled.

~~~~~

Elizabeth didn't particularly want Claire to keep to her schedule, but asked her when her bedtime was nowadays. Claire pouted. "Dad says ten. He thinks I'm still a baby."

"You'll always be our baby, Claire," Elizabeth said as she took the dirty room service plates and used napkins off her bed and cleaned up a bit. "Why don't you brush your teeth, get into your jammies, and we can talk until you fall asleep."

Elizabeth had felt jet lag take hold of her hours ago, but laughing and talking with Claire was the adrenaline she needed. Claire had taken her backpack down the hall to the bathroom without having to be told ten times, which meant that Methos was really making her toe the line, and it must just be habit. Or, Claire was bored with her and wanted to get to sleep too. Elizabeth couldn't help thinking the worst all the time. She felt so tired, but hoped she wouldn't have a nightmare that night. Her sleep schedule hadn't actually changed when she went to New York, if she slept at all, so she wasn't actually six hours ahead. She figured that she must still be on Kent, England, schedule and would sleep only when it came to her. During her days with Duncan, they had both just slept when tired, no matter what time it was.

Claire came back in her nightgown and got into bed. Elizabeth laid with her and watched her as she took no time at all to fall asleep. All the times she had done this with Claire, at all stages of Claire's life, came back to her. She felt deep love for her child, but there was something terribly wrong. With her. Methos had placed a lot of trust in her, believing that she would take care of Claire and not leave with her, something Elizabeth wanted to do more than anything. She just couldn't find the courage to do so. If she tried to, not only would Methos be pissed but Claire might not want to go with her. Then again, if Claire did, Elizabeth wasn't sure she could take care of Claire for the long haul. After all, Elizabeth hadn't worked in almost a decade except for retail at Cassandra's herbal shop and doing the books for Canterbury Stables. She wouldn't know where to take Claire. She wouldn't know how to go about home schooling her. Elizabeth couldn't speak the languages that Methos had taught her. Elizabeth kissed Claire's cheek, told her she loved her, and laid her head behind Claire's on the pillow. She didn't want to fall asleep for fear of nightmares, but soon lost consciousness along with her daughter.

~~~~~

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Methos took a shower, brushed his teeth, ran his fingers through his short hair, and was ready for the new day. He loved this old building he was living in. He had been the first tenant of the complex when it was first built over three hundred years ago. Methos liked to revisit happy places in his life, and was more than comfortable in that building. A big perk with modernization was that there was a gym upstairs solely for tenants' use. With any luck, the cute thing that lived upstairs, Victoria, would be working out promptly at six as usual. She was a mortal woman who was sure of herself, had attainable yet high goals in life, and filled out her spandex body suit like no one this side of Amanda.

He had put on a t-shirt and workout pants, and a splash of cologne in case he did run into Victoria. He noticed as he went through the living room to the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice that Amanda had already left. She had even folded the sheet and blanket she used on the sofa the night before. He had told her that she could sleep with him last night, but he supposed it was Duncan's arrival and his discovery that they'd been lovers that made Amanda try chasteness for an evening.

After drinking the orange juice, he tested his breath and went back to swig some mouthwash just in case. Then he felt an immortal. Maybe Amanda had brought breakfast. Well, she might have to eat it alone if Victoria was in the gym, working out, already sweaty. Her long red hair came to mind, as well as her usual scent of jasmine and a light yet knowing smile. So what if she was married. A look and a chat was all he wanted from women now anyway.

The knock on the door surprised Methos, and he unlocked and opened the door to say, "Forget your key?"

Instead of Amanda, as he expected, he saw Duncan MacLeod. Methos smiled politely. "Ready for the other jaw today?"

"I don't want to hit you."

"Good, because I don't want to take your head if you tried."

Duncan scoffed. "If you could. I forgot my suitcase last night," Duncan said, walking in and looking around.

"She's not here, Highlander. Did you leave the bag on purpose?"

"Of course not. The last thing I wanted to do was come back here."

Methos pointed to the corner. "There's your bag."

Duncan walked past it to the hall and looked into Methos' bedroom. "She's not here, MacLeod."

"Where did she go?"

"I don't keep her itinerary close at hand. Sorry."

"Since when do you make your bed before noon, if at all? That looks like Amanda made it."

"How would you know how and when I make my bed? Are you my mother?"

"I've seen the ... rat traps you've lived in and how you keep house."

"I have never lived in a rat trap, MacLeod."

"I seem to remember a bit of a cockroach problem."

"That's New York, what can you do?"

"I know you're sleeping with her again."

"It was loneliness, you idiot. She loves you." Suddenly Methos laughed, it started slowly and then built.

"It sure must be funny for you. Getting married, getting divorced or walking away. How many times is it now? Seventy? Well, I take it more seriously. I take my wife sleeping around very seriously."

"She's not sleeping around. It was one night."

"It was many nights!"

"Before you get all worked up, just let me tell you how ridiculous you are. You don't want Amanda, but you'll be damned if you want to see her with anyone else? Go talk to her if you want to get back to her and leave me alone. I have plans, so scoot."

~~~~~

Joe had tried all night to soothe Benji's disappointment over his solo debut in front of a paying audience. The poor kid had a massive attack of stage fright, and Joe was glad he had left Methos' when he did. It took a lot of consoling and encouraging for Benji to take the stage. The audience received him well, but then he hit the wrong chords in the opening of his first song, and things went down hill from there. Joe and his band took the stage half way through the second song, and that seemed to calm Benji down. Since the spotlight was off him, he performed beautifully the rest of the night.

The setback of his first solo performance stuck in his head, and he wouldn't let it go. He was ready to quit the band when they got off stage. It took a lot of talking and playing guitar with Benji half the night to convince the kid to get some sleep. That morning, Joe was beat. He had decided to go see Duncan to get his angle on this whole business, but it seemed to Joe that they didn't want his input in the matter or even friendship at this junction. Instead, he planned a day to get Benji's mind off his debut. With his first solo performance under his belt, he just might play and sing to reflect his real talent that evening if he just relaxed and Joe talked him through it. "All performers have bad nights," he had told Benji. "You just had yours the first time out. No matter. There'll be a different audience tonight and you'll be great."

Seeing the newspaper, Joe flipped through it while drinking his morning coffee. In the entertainment section, the hack reviewer was merciless about the guitarist in Joe's band's solo performance. That putz! The last thing Benji needed was to see that. Since Benji wasn't up yet, Joe immediately called the rest of his band, getting them out of bed to answer the phone, to tell them not to mention it when they saw the kid that night. Joe's purpose that day was to make sure Benji didn't see the review or even hear about it.

~~~~~

Elizabeth walked Claire back home with Claire's backpack over her shoulder. She looked at her watch and said, "Ah, 9:58. By the time you get inside, your father can't hold your being late against me."

Elizabeth hugged and kissed Claire on the sidewalk in front of their building. Claire asked, "Aren't you coming up?"

"I don't think your dad wants to see me." She also didn't know how the conversation, even small talk, would go with him in front of Claire, so didn't even want to attempt it.

"How come?"

"Ask him. See what he says." She wondered if Claire would walk into Methos and Amanda having sex on the living room floor or something, but then again, that was Methos' fault if she did. Elizabeth wouldn't have to deal with that trauma. She just had to deal with what she was responsible for. She asked, off the cuff, "By the way, how long has Amanda been living with you?"

"A couple of days. She's upset about Mac."

"I'll bet. Really upset."

"I don't get grownups. Everyone is apart, yet everyone says they love who they're apart from. Is that normal?"

"Your dad says he loves me?"

"Well," Claire reacted as she always did when she said something wrong. "He hasn't, but I know he does."

Elizabeth smiled. Her daughter wanted to smooth things over. She knew Methos had said nothing of the sort. "I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"I love you lots too Mom. Come inside."

"I have to go."

"When will I see you again?"

"Later," Elizabeth said happily for Claire's benefit. "You have two days worth of schoolwork to catch up on." She didn't know when she'd see Claire again, wanting to go inside with her, but fearing what might happen. She kissed Claire's cheek again and held her one more time. "Now, go inside. I don't want him to say I got you home late."

"Call me later. Maybe we can do something after classes. I'll do them fast."

"You'll do no such thing, young lady. I'll certainly call you later."

Claire gave her a wave and ran into the building. Elizabeth stood there for a while, wanting to walk around the back of the building to look in the window to see how Methos reacted to Claire being home on time. Just to watch how they interact for a while.

Elizabeth walked away finally, knowing that she would probably never see them interact again since she was no longer a part of their life together. Even if by some small miracle Methos did forgive her for almost taking his head, she didn't know if she could forgive him for how he was treating her. She needed to hold onto some sort of dignity, and how things were left in his apartment wasn't at all dignified. Regardless of his bringing Claire her things or not, he was still a bastard.

She walked, not really knowing where she was going, for a long time, until she found herself a couple of blocks from the canal. Elizabeth remembered that there was a dual purpose to coming to Paris. She had already seen Claire, it was time that Duncan came to terms with some things. She walked to the barge, up the plank, and felt his immortal sensation. For a moment, she hoped that he was alone. Thoughts of Amanda going to see him and him taking Amanda back flittered through her head. She could be walking into a sexual situation there too. Then she got a grip. In her mind, Amanda was having sex with everyone! That was probably something else Elizabeth had to come to terms with, her harbored jealousy of Amanda. Amanda had looks, brains, wit, a great body, and had known two of the most important men in Elizabeth's life a hell of a lot longer than she had. If she hadn't been such a good friend all the while, Elizabeth really could hate her.

She sat on the deck and reflected about how she thought of Amanda and Amy. She seemed to give Amanda a lot of breaks and they'd never had an argument that she could think of. Yet with Amy, Elizabeth never seemed to cut Amy much slack, at least not since finding out about Watchers and Amy finding out about her immortality. She wondered if it was because Amy was mortal. Younger.

As she was chewing that over, the door of the barge opened and Duncan appeared. "Hey, why haven't you knocked? I wondered who was out here."

He was only wearing pants and his massive chest was sweaty. He noticed her stare and said, "I was just doing my kata. Not used to being disturbed by an immortal while doing a kata."

Even though he smiled when saying it, she asked, "Would you rather be alone?"

"No, come in."

After she came in and saw her suitcase and sword, she felt better. He said, "You took the news pretty well. Didn't their revelation affect you?"

Elizabeth didn't know how she felt about it all now that she had time to cool off. "Sure, but I guess I was still thinking about Methos' other confession."

"Which was that?"

"That he didn't marry me for love, either time, that he-"

"He loves you, Liz," Duncan said.

"Then why did he say that? He's not stupid. He wouldn't have just said whatever came into his head in the heat of the moment. Maybe our entire relationship was a lie. Since finding out that they'd been lovers in the past, I had wondered if they'd been together since I met him. I try not to picture it, or I wouldn't even be friends with Amy."

"Methos slept with Amy, too?"

Seeing his surprise, she said, "The night Kevin died. Can you imagine? According to Methos, sex is used for many things. I guess they classified that sex as 'Gee, I'm so sorry you're a widow now.'"

"That old bastard really gets around."

"So, see? Methos sleeping around isn't new to me."

"It is to me. I never in a million years thought they even knew each other when I 'introduced' them, let alone had been lovers."

"Well, you'll get used to it. You'll get back with Amanda."

"When the seas part."

Elizabeth smiled and indicated his left hand. He still had his wedding ring on, even after spending most of a day with the revelation. He hadn't taken it off. Duncan had to know what she was thinking and said swimming in bitterness, "Amanda does what she wants behind my back. She tells me or the truth comes out without her telling me. We argue. I think it's horrible, she thinks it's unreasonable to be angry. She promises not to do it again. I accept it." He drew a sigh and shook his head. "Over the years, I've given her so many second chances I've had it. No more. Especially not after finding out about him. They lied to me! They lied every single time they were in the same room with me and didn't tell me. Every single time I kissed Amanda in Methos' presence... and he didn't say a damn thing! And he said he wasn't an actor. Both of them, submit their names to the Motion Picture Academy of Arts!"

Tired of going round and round about something she had no control over and thinking about only made her go nuts inside, she urged, "Come on, Duncan. Forget about them. Let's do what we came here for."

"Which is?"

"I saw Claire, and had a nice evening with her. Thanks for asking by the way," she joked.

"Sorry... That's great. I'm glad."

"Now it's all about you. Show me everything about Paris you love because I certainly hate it. We can start with Richie's grave."

"I don't love Richie's grave," he said dourly.

"But you love Richie and his memory. It's time to bring closure to it, Mr. MacLeod. Also, give me a reason you and everyone else, it seems, loves this city."

Continued