The Exchange

Calista held her tongue while the new one - Kristen - made her way through every man there. Every man, that is, but Methos. That included her Kronos. Calista forced herself to remain in the room while it happened, watching with angry greenish gold eyes. But she knew how far she could push him, and she knew the benefit of dominance. Kronos had to show that he was not *pussy* whipped (literally), and she had to endure it.

As she seethed inwardly, she tried to come up with a plan that would get rid of both Kristen and Melissa. The mortal would be easy. Just catch her when she went to relieve herself the next time and give just a little *twist* of the neck. The immortal woman was harder. How could she get them both out of town? Then the idea came to her. Why not get Kristen to arrange for Melissa to be traded for the one woman she really wanted to be able to *reach out and touch* so to speak?

And so she waited for the ordeal to be over. Kristen seemed to be enjoying herself, which only increased Calista's disgust. When Kristen was recovered, the Lycine made her way over to the Immortal woman.

"Hello," she said in a guarded tone. There was something about the glint in Calista's eyes that made her want to look for the knife in her back. "He is all yours now, if you want him. I had my fun."

Calista shrugged, but the look in her eyes should have told Kristen it was very unwise to belittle what she had with Kronos. "I was thinking about what they said. About you recruiting more women for their lustful urges. Will you do it?"

"Sure. Better than getting tied up and used like the other gal is. Got any prospects you want me to hit up?"

"No. But I think you can use that to get out of here - to go across the river and get me what I do want."

"I thought old scar face was what you wanted?" Kristen smirked. "Dead or alive?"

Calista growled, low and menacing. Her green eyes turned gold, then a simmering red. At the same time, smoke seeped out of her nose. "I warn you, Immortal, I could rip your head off in my strongest form. Do not trifle with me."

Kristen shrugged; she enjoyed baiting the other woman. "Hey, chill out, babe. I didn't say I wouldn't do it."

"You'd better do it," Calista snarled. "And besides, it benefits you. If you stay here," she licked her lips, "my mate will have you doing that every night."

"It might get a little old after a while," Kristen yawned, pretending complete indifference to having to service all the men in the camp. "So, where do you want me to go and who do you want me to get here?"

"I want you to go to Edan. That is where my mate will send you, anyway. I know the fools in that city will want to," she laughed sarcastically, "save the women our men took from Camelot, so all you need to do is promise their return. Or, the one anyway. I'm sure we can keep the servants." She waved a hand unconcernedly. "Offer them Melissa, in exchange for Lupe."

"Lupe?" Kristen asked. "Will she be willing or need extra *persuasion*?"

"She should not be asked. Go to their Methos. Tell them the terms."

"I'll leave in the morning then," Kristen said with another yawn, as if hiding her excitement. Another Methos! If she worked her cards right, maybe that one would succumb to her charms. If she was good at anything, it was manipulating men, and she knew it. At the same time, getting rid of the one standing between her and *this* Methos wouldn't hurt in the least.

The next morning, after giving a few *private* goodbyes to a few of the men she had decided to cultivate as possibly being useful to her in the future, Kristen took off towards the ford, escorted by a couple of the men. They dropped her off just outside of Edan, wished her luck, and told her when and where to meet them for the return trip.

Methos and company had just returned from Esperanza. Everyone was sitting around in the saloon, trying to work out a plan. Sharpe was there as representative of the army, while Ellison and Ross were there for the Police. Montoya and Grisham had not found any other way in to Sadaam, and the Colonel was seething as he was forced to listen to others make plans.

Kristen had mussed herself up a bit, thinking that if she could convince this town's Methos she had been a victim as well, she could better talk him into the swap. So, walking up to the saloon where she had seen a bunch of men enter, she hyperventilated herself and then ran inside. "Help me please!" she called out melodramatically. "They are after me!"

Grisham and Sharpe stood, Montoya looked mildly interested, and both Jonathan Chase and Jim Ellison seemed to be listening very closely to something. Duncan seemed unsure what to do, but Methos just made a face. "Good," he said, turning away from her.

"Don't just sit there, you idiots!" she yelled. "I got away, but that poor child is still in their clutches. Oh, the horrible things they are doing to her!"

That at least got some interest. "What poor child?" Methos asked. "Was her name Melissa?"

"They had her staked to the ground and they were all having their good old time with her. That's when I got the hell out of there. I sure didn't want to be next!" she said, trying to milk every bit of sympathy she could get. "I did hear another woman say that she would be willing to swap her for some one named Lupe though."

Everyone stopped at the name. Jonathan Chase, sitting quietly next to Richard Zeeman up to this point, stiffened and turned to look over his shoulder. Lupe was in the doorway, holding a tray of drinks. "No," he said to her.

"It will get her out of harm. I can beat Calista."

"She talked someone into helping me get away," Kristen said, helping herself to one of the drinks. "I can tell you where he said he would meet you."

"He?" Methos said, eyes narrowing. "Which he?"

"Kagan. Irishman," Kristen said glibly, naming the first guy off the top of her head. Duncan immediately bristled.

"She's lying. Kagan is dead. So is she for that matter," he said, pointing to Kristen. "You ought to know that, Methos. You're the one who took her..." Methos silenced him with a kick in the shin. It was clear people who should be dead - like Kronos - were not always deceased here.

"What has Kagan got to do with this? He has control of Melissa?"

She shrugged. "He is just one of the men who took his turn with her. But he is trying to win the favor of that other woman, I think."

"She'd eat him alive," laughed Methos, who knew them both. He thought a moment. He wasn't buying Kristen's story for a minute, but he could use her to get information. "Kronos wasn't there?"

"You mean old scar face?" she said, fanning herself. "Sure, he was there. He's the one that was torturing her the most." Kristen was making it up as she went, hoping to strike a nerve with someone.

Methos shook his head. "So, KAGAN will exchange Melissa for Lupe, but Kronos knows nothing about it?" He looked at her shrewdly.

Lupe came over. "This is Calista's plan. No one else's."

"Yeah, that's right," Kristen said. "Calista doesn't like the attention Kronos is paying the little blonde hussy. She's too pretty. Was. It's a shame, really, what they are doing to her," she said, letting her words trail off.

"All well and good. Not saying Lupe is going anywhere near there," he eyed Jonathan Chase, who was fuming over this, "but even if we agreed to it, it's ridiculous to go ahead without Kronos' knowledge or approval."

"Calista will get it," Lupe said. As she started taking off the apron she was wearing, Jonathan repeated his, "No." She just looked him in the eye and said, "There's no other way."

"No," Jonathan repeated yet again. "You and I both know you can't . . ." He looked at everyone listening and then whispered in her ear.

"I will be all right," she said, and started to walk out with Kristen.

"Stop her!" Jonathan said. Then, because he had to do something, he said, "She's pregnant."

"Oh shit," Kristen muttered under her breath as she found their way suddenly blocked by several large men. She had been so close!

"Put her in a cell," Methos said as they grabbed her arms. "Until I can think this out." Ellison and Grisham did the honors, each grabbing an arm. As they dragged Kristen off, Jonathan delicately pinched his true love's neck in a move that came right out of Star Trek.

"Goodnight, my love," he said as Lupe collapsed. "Now, someone put her in the next cell over." He sighed. "One panther looks much the same as another, doesn't it?" Methos grinned ferally at Jonathan and asked if he could follow Kristen's trail back. "Of course. But while I am . . . busy with Calista, someone is going to have to get Melissa to safety."

Plans were made for there to be several *swat* teams following the panther in. Methos didn't think it would go smoothly, even with Kronos' agreement. His Brother always had a way out. Sharpe volunteered to head the first team with the aid of the men at the fort, and Duncan said he would head up the other. Being immortal, they couldn't really hurt him anyway. As long as he kept his head on his shoulders, anyway.

"But first we have to let them know we've agreed to it," Methos said. "Get Kristen. She's going to have to suffer the threat to her virtue and go back there."

Kristen wasn't exactly willing, but when Methos told her that he knew of at least one black panther and one alpha wolf who would be happy to tear out her throat, she agreed. She headed for Sadaam while Jonathan and the second team made ready to meet her at a spot they had agreed upon. In the meantime, Sharpe and several other men raced back to the fort. He wanted some of his Chosen Men at his side, as well as the Immortal, Connor MacLeod. Something told him that the quiet Highlander would be a good man to have at his side if it came down to a battle to get the girl.

Lupe, meanwhile, was awake and pacing her cage. She was furious, though she understood why he had done it. The worst thing was that she *was* pregnant, and because of this, she could no longer change into her "other" form. As a raven she could just fly out of the cage, but the pregnancy made it impossible! If he got himself killed. . .

Back in Sadaam, Calista was preparing Kronos. "He keeps her all to himself," she sneered. "It undermines your authority!"

"Never fear, my pet," crooned Kronos, "I shall get her yet."

"Better to just get rid of her completely. Show him who is boss." Of course, not long after this, Kristen returned.

"Good news," she said gleefully. "Some chick by the name of Lupe volunteered to come. But only if you give up the kid you swiped from the castle."

Kronos turned to look at his mate. "I should have anticipated this," he said accusingly. "Calista, she will be no good to us as a slave. Better to keep the blonde."

"But I will have my revenge. You owe me that much. And, at the same time, you will put Methos in his place. And when I kill her, you can overrun Edan."

Kronos smiled. "That's why I love you. You're so single minded. And ruthless. Yes, we'll do it, my pet." He turned to Kristen. "Where do we make the exchange?"

Kristen told them the spot where she had been told the panther would wait. "Just one guy goes with the girl," she said, as if repeating their terms.

"Oh? And who would that be?" asked Kronos, as if he didn't hope.

"You of course," she grinned.

"And who will be with Lupe?" Kronos asked, the same hopeful look in his eye.

Kristen motioned with her eyes toward the man off to the side, away from everyone else, who was caressing the girl in question.

"Methos? But that can't be. I am going to have to kill him to get the girl away!"

"Isn't that convenient then? You kill that one, and get another one in his place," she said with an evil glint in her eye.

"Well, I wasn't going to kill him permanently. Are you telling me there are two Methoses here? The same man?"

"Older. Like you. Makes that one look like an adolescent. If you and he teamed up, you could easily rule this whole world." Even as she spoke the words, Kristen knew them to be true.

Kronos' eyes gleamed evilly. "Yes," he hissed. "Yes." Then he smiled. "You go to the exchange area, and wait for me there."

Kristen shrugged. Consone and Grayson both volunteered to escort her to the spot and make sure she stayed there. Kronos agreed, already making plans in his head. But before they got to the spot, both men glanced at each other. "I smell a trap," Grayson said.

Consone nodded and pushed Kristen off his horse. "You're on your own, puta," he growled, and the two men galloped away.

Kristen walked ahead, looking around her as she went. There did seem to be something wrong. They were not far from the ford, so they were close to Esperanza, but none of them knew about the town and its inhabitants yet.

Night was falling. The exchange had been purposely made to supposedly take place during the hours of darkness for a specific reason. And it was. The night had eyes; the vampires and the weres were hiding silently, as only the dead and animals could. Shortly, Methos, on Alice, and Jonathan, in panther form, trotted up to the meeting place.

As Kristen entered the clearing, she found Methos waiting with a large black panther, its eyes glowing menacingly in the growing darkness. "They're on their way," she said, shivering for some reason.

The two strike teams were also in position. One prepared to battle it out if necessary, the other ready to move up behind anyone crossing the ford.

A few minutes later, Kronos rode up. On the horse in front of him was Melissa, her arms tied behind her, her mouth gagged. She was wearing an obscene outfit, and her face showed sheer terror. She was also blood splattered. "Greetings brother!" he called out as he rode into the clearing. "As you can see, I have the girl!"

"Yes," said Methos, frowning. "Why is she covered with blood?"

"I had to put a knife in the man inside her." He shrugged, laughing evilly. "He'll wake by the time we return."

Calista came out of the woods. "So," she said, looking at the panther. We're fighting in feline form?" And she changed into a tiger.

"The girl, Kronos," said Methos.

"But of course." He pushed Melissa off the horse. Methos dismounted and ran for her.

As Calista jumped forward, to join the attack, there was a pounding of hoof beats and Methos looked up to see himself, as he had once been, his clothes torn and bloody.

"No!!!!" the other Methos shouted as he rushed in. But the fight was already begun, and Methos, though hesitating at the nightmare coming toward him, managed to grab the sobbing girl and get her onto Alice.

Kronos' horde followed right on the heels of the younger Methos. But before they could charge after the escaping girl, they were broadsided by the fighting team, all of them screaming at the top of their lungs. Taken completely by surprise, most of the horde scattered, fleeing in all directions.

Kronos cried out angrily as the younger Methos attacked him; they fell into the mud and rolled around. Through the din the growls of the fighting cats could be heard as well. Calista had immediately realized that she was fighting a male who, in his present form, was stronger than she was, and she tried to get away. She could change into her strongest form, the dragon, but their fights had rules, too. They had chosen feline for the fight, and it had to be completed in that form.

As the younger Methos raised a knife to his "brother", Jonathan clamped his jaws into Calista's neck. She shrieked in feline agony, then went limp. This was when he could finish her off, but he didn't. He stepped back, licking the blood from his jaws.

Methos, meanwhile, was racing away with the recaptured Melissa. He turned his head back to see his former self shove a knife deep into Kronos' chest. He not only could not forget his past, it was living across the river from him!